Donald Trump’s wild week noticed him soften down over his ballroom and chase a toddler round

Trump found himself chasing a toddler around a stage in Las Vegas, which was more entertaining than anything ever put on at the Sphere. Here’s your weekly roundup of the nonsense coming out of Trumpworld

Donald Trump should have worked out now that he can’t win them all. He’s spent half the week fuming at various people – his Defence Secretary, the DC circuit court, Jeannine Pirro. And he spent more time than you’d expect chasing toddlers around in Vegas, but we’ll come to that. Yes, Trump suffered various setbacks this week – but it looks like he’s going to win at least one thing – the confirmation of Todd Blanche, his former personal lawyer as Attorney General.

Let’s take a look at how this week has unfolded in Trumpworld

Trump fumes over ballroom blockage

We talk about Trump having meltdowns a lot around here. But the one he suffered when the DC appeals court ruled 2-1 that no, he didn’t have the right to demolish bits of the White House without congressional approval.

“We are aware of no instance in American history in which a President, unilaterally and using privately collected funds, demolished substantial portions of the White House that Congress authorized to be built and American taxpayers paid for. Until now,” judges Patricia Millett and Bradley Garcia wrote in their opinion.

It’s part of a long running court battle where critics of his plan to build a dictator bunker and massive ballroom on the site of what used to be the East Wing, Trump had demolished without asking.

The court of appeals upheld the injunction, but gave a two week stay to allow Trump to take it to the Supreme Court.

And in a FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SEVEN WORD POST on Truth Social, Trump said he was going to do just that.

He argued in the post that the judgement was illegal, because he, like, really really wants to build a ballroom and dictator bunker.

He wrote: “The Military and Secret Service are viewing this horrendous, politically motivated, and unlawful ruling as a National Security threat to our Nation in that the entire Complex is being built for the protection of our Country and, additionally, all future Presidents.”

He went on to moan: “The Circuit Court also refused to acknowledge that the desperately needed, and totally secure Ballroom, which is being built ahead of schedule and under budget, is a Gift from President Trump and Great Patriots of the United States of America. The entire Complex, Military and all, is largely built, fabricated, and paid for. Much is already on site, or being delivered. Why didn’t they bring this case long prior to construction starting?”

Now, I can answer that one. They didn’t bring the case before construction started, because you repeatedly lied about what you were doing, and nobody knew what you were actually planning to build until construction had started.

It’s going to be an interesting case for the Surpemes. The law is pretty clear that he didn’t have the right to do what he did. And allowing a President free rein to demolish whatever national landmark he wants to because he needs a subterranean palace to hide out in when it all goes south….a ballroom, sorry, he needs a ballroom…is a pretty terrible precedent to set.

But, on the other hand…what are they going to do, order him to put the East Wing back up?

He ripped up the new helipad

In another unnecessary and costly renovation which Trump is not handling at all well, the President ordered an estimated $5-6m worth of work that had been done on the new helipad on the South Lawn be torn up because he didn’t like the angle.

Trump ordered a massive round helipad, featuring a massive Seal of the President, be installed because apparently the new Marine One choppers have been damaging the grass.

A great deal of work had been done on this already when this week, Trump took a look at it and decided he didn’t like the natural slope of the lawn. He apparently wanted the helipad to line up with the horizon, so workers ripped up the work they’d done and got to work levelling the South Lawn off. Trump insists chopper manufacturer Sikorsky is paying for the work in full, but he says a lot of things.

Pirro survives for now

Despite being one of the least effective prosecutors in the United States, former Fox News blowhard Jeannine Pirro is still apparently a US Attorney. For now.

Trump and Pirro are on the rocks after she dropped the charges against the Olympic canoeist who Trump claims “vandalised” the Lincoln reflecting pool. Late last week the Justice Department and the Department of the Interior came out and admitted the damage to the pool’s surface wasn’t actually vandalism, it was just Trump’s handpicked contractors doing a shoddy job.

Pirro remains unfired for now, but Trump remains convinced sick vandals took a box cutter to his lovely pool.

Two Brits go to Washington

Early this week, Ed Miliband flew to DC for a 90 minute “warm and productive” meeting with Marco Rubio. They discussed the special relationship, NATO and Ukraine – as well as, of course, the Strait of Hormuz. Rubio’s team put out a slightly sniffier readout of the meeting, noting there had been a discussion of Europe paying for its own security.

But the most fun happened just before the meeting, when reporters loudly asked Miliband if he still thought Donald Trump was an idiot and a racist. Miliband neither confirmed nor denied.

A few days later, another familiar face showed up in a photo with a member of the Trump administration. Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick is, for some reason, in Washington and met with JD Vance. It’s the second time they’ve met in the last 12 months. Almost exactly this time last year, Vance visited the UK, and Jenrick – then still a Tory – managed to get an audience for him and Chris Philp. It is entirely unclear what brings Jenrick, whose job is – and I had to look this up – Treasury spokesman, is doing in Washington the week before a crucial by-election…

Trump is running out of bombs

Trump and “secretary of war” Pete Hegseth reportedly had a barney while they were at Camp David for a cabinet meeting last week.

The topic of the row is something that people have been reporting for quite a while – and that apparently everyone was kind of aware of except Trump. America’s munitions stockpiles are running out.

According to The Washington Post, Trump demanded answers from Hegseth about why he’d been misled on the shortages, which threaten to limit his ability to expand the offensive in Iran, should he decide to bomb even more things.

Pete, naturally, blamed his deputy, Stephen Feinberg, for the shortages and for Trump not being kept up to date.

After this blowup was reported by The Washington Post, the White House nonsense machine kicked in. Karoline Leavitt herself declared that the falling-out “never happened”.

In previous administrations, the outright denial of a story would probably be enough to kill a story, or at least make the public think it might not be true. It tells you a lot about how casually this administration lies to the American people that this has not happened.

Anyway, Trump kind of confirmed it was true in a late-night rage post on Truth Social, where he insisted America still had loads of bombs left…but had a pop at the “leakers” who told The Washington Post what had gone on.

Cassidy caves

And now we get to Trump getting exactly what he wants.

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said Friday he’ll back Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general, likely paving the way for Blanche to be confirmed to lead President Trump’s Justice Department.

The Louisiana senator announced his support on the Senate floor after Blanche’s confirmation was thrown into doubt over opposition from two other Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.

Blanche’s path to confirmation has been complicated over a settlement of Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service that’s drawn intense scrutiny by Republicans and Democrats alike.

The settlement called for the creation of a $1.8 billion slush fund to compensate people who feel mistreated by the criminal justice system – largely aimed at January 6th rioters – and provided Trump and family members with immunity from tax audits.

“Mr. Blanche is not perfect,” Cassidy said, before arguing essentially that Blanche is likely better than anyone else Trump could nominate.

Trump chased a toddler around a stage in Vegas

Not much more I can add to this one, except to say that it was at least as entertaining at anything that’s ever been put on at the Sphere.