Trump has spent the last few days barking insults at women, making weird noises and getting ready to host his favourite Middle Eastern dictator – but Epstein is still taking up everyone’s attention
Donald Trump has spent the last few days barking insults at women, making weird noises about his favourite McDonalds order and getting ready to host his favourite Middle Eastern dictator – you know, the one accused of the vicious chainsaw murder of an American journalist – at the White House.
And still all you people want to talk about is the Epstein files. The House will almost certainly vote today to release almost everything the Justice Department has on Epstein and co – after Trump gave his blessing for them to do so. And with every day that goes by, Trump’s voice sounds more like it’s been overdubbed by RFK Jr.
Meanwhile, in Trumpworld
- Donald Trump croaks
- He made a noise like a fictional cannibal
- He called a female reporter “piggy”
- He absolutely refuses to criticise an avowed white supremacist
- The Barbz will never stand down in the face of injustice
Here’s everything you need to know
Trump’s health
1. What do Donald Trump and a Shetland pony have in common?
They’re both a little hoarse. B’dum tish. Anyway, he’s been particularly croaky the last couple of days, so someone brought it up in the Oval last night. “Your voice sounds rough, are you feeling alright?”, a reporter asked. Trump replied: “I was shouting at people because they were stupid about something having to do with trade in a country.”
A reporter then suggested that the comment “sounds like a follow up”, which Trump misheard. “What? I thought said there was a polyp – I don’t want to hear that,” he said. Trump has still not confirmed why he had an MRI scan last month, claiming it was a totally normal thing to do as part of a regular physical. It is not.
I’m loving it
2. ‘I like the fish – khuuuuuuuurgh’
Trump made a bizarre, Hannibal Lecter-esque vocalisation while describing his favourite food. He was giving a rambling speech, for some reason, to the McDonalds Impact Summit in Washington DC, in front of a crowd of franchise owners, operators and suppliers.
Trump said: “No matter who you are, everybody loves something at McDonald’s. There’s always something to have.”
“I like the fish,” he continued, before making a weird sound that was somewhere between Anthony Hopkins’ infamous fictional cannibal salivating over a census taker’s liver and Homer Simpson being overcome by the sight of a donut.
3. He tried to strong-arm McDonalds into changing the recipe of a beloved item
Well, maybe not a beloved item. But the Filet o Fish. Anyway, he tried his best to get them to make a change.
“You could do a little bit more tartar sauce, though, please. Seriously,” He said, gesturing to the executives on the front row, he added: “Do you understand that? Yes, he understands.”
It would not be the first time a major corporation has changed a recipe at the whim of Donald Trump, who is definitely not acting like a king or dictator. Coca Cola recently re-introduced cane sugar to its products in the United States after years of using high-fructose corn syrup. Trump had demanded the change be made on social media, despite famously being a Diet Coke drinker.
4. He lied about being a former McDonalds fry cook
Elsewhere in the speech Trump declared himself to be “one of your all-time most loyal customers.” He also claimed to be the first President ever to have been a fry-cook at McDonalds. Trump was never employed at McDonalds, but did a photo op where he posed as one during the 2024 election.
No President has ever gone to the Oval Office after working at McDonalds earlier in their life, however Barack Obama once worked at a Baskin Robbins.
5. Trump’s playlist is getting weirder
Before he took to the stage to give a speech to his favourite fast food company, Trump played The Undertaker’s walk on music. Seriously.
6. He got a round of applause for scrapping workers rights
During the speech, he crowed about scrapping the Joint Employer Rule, which was expanded under Obama in 2015. The rule classified franchisers like McDonalds as “joint employers” of the staff of franchised restaurants – making the larger corporation liable for wage, union and labour violations by franchise owners. It gave employees greater protection from unscrupulous bosses, and more avenues of redress when things go wrong.
Trump, of course, reversed it in 2017 to “safeguard small businesses” – screwing over workers in the process.
“As you know,” he croaked, “In my first term I also stopped a mortal threat to the franchise business model by terminating Obama’s infamous Joint Employer Rule.”
The crowd, made up largely of franchise owners, erupted in applause.
“In other words, you were screwed,” he continued. “You got lucky on that one, I tell you.”
Epstein
7. Trump lost his temper with a reporter and called her “piggy”
Trump barked a shocking two-word insult at a female reporter who asked him a question about the Epstein files. The US President, taking questions on Air Force One en-route to Washington, snapped at a journalist. Jennifer Jacobs had asked about his name being mentioned hundreds of times emails sent by America’s most notorious paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein – part of a 22,000-document trove released by Congress last week. Trump leaned forward, pointed his finger at her and shouted: “Quiet! Quiet, piggy.” Jacobs is a senior White House reporter for CBS News.
8. House to vote on releasing more files
The House is expected to vote today on a bill to force the Justice Department to publicly release the files it holds on Epstein. It’s been in progress for months – and until this weekend had been firmly opposed by both Republican leadership and Trump.
But despite hauling a member of Congress into the Situation Room last week in a bid to stop them signing a petition to push through the bill, Trump had a change of heart over the weekend – telling House Republicans they should vote for it. As it became apparent that the bill will pass the House, most likely with significant support from Republicans, Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson changed their approach from outright opposition to declarations of indifference. “I DON’T CARE!” Trump wrote in a social media post Sunday. “All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT.”
His blessing all but ensures that the House will pass the bill with an overwhelming margin, putting further pressure on the Senate to take it up. And yesterday Trump said he would sign the bill if it passes both chambers of Congress, adding, “Let the Senate look at it.”
9. Trump insists Epstein’s friends were all Democrats
Trump told reporters Epstein was connected to more Democrats than Republicans, and didn’t want the files to “detract from the great success of the Republican Party.” It should be noted that at the time when they were friends, Donald Trump was also a Democrat.
Today, several survivors of Epstein’s abuse rallied outside the Capitol Tuesday morning. Bundled in jackets against the November chill and holding photos of themselves as teenagers, they recounted their stories of abuse. “We are exhausted from surviving the trauma and then surviving the political conflicts that surround it,” said Jen-Lisa Jones, one of the survivors. She added that she had voted for Trump, but had a message for the president: “I beg you Donald Trump, please stop making this political.”
Diplomacy
10. Trump welcomes Saudi Crown Prince
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman makes his first visit to the White House since Saudi agents killed Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The US-Saudi relationship was sent into a tailspin by the vicious murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi, a fierce critic of the Kingdom. US intelligence agencies determined Prince Mohammed likely directed the agents to carry it out. Prince Mohammed denies involvement in the killing of Khashoggi, a Virginia resident. And Trump has been lovebombing the Crown Prince since returning to the Oval Office. He’s long expressed his admiration for both the Kingdom and its ruler, choosing Saudi for his first foreign trip as President and visiting it as part of the first trip of his second term. Mohammed Bin Salman was the first world leader to speak to Trump following his second inauguration.
Fashy business
11. Trump stands up for Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes
In a tarmac interview over the weekend Trump had nothing bad to say about two people causing a massive row in the Republican Party: White Nationalist Nick Fuentes and Ex Fox News presenter-turned vlogger Tucker Carlson. Tucker host recently hosted Fuentes for a friendly interview, where he declined to challenge his guest’s bigoted beliefs or a remark about problems with “organized Jewry in America.”
Trump has no difficulty criticising people he doesn’t like. In the last few days he’s described Marjorie Taylor Greene as a “traitor”, mocked Rep. Thomas Massie’s second marriage after his first wife died and demanded that comedian Seth Meyers get fired from his late-night television show.
But asked about the remarks, Trump praised Carlson, saying he had “said good things about me over the years”. And he said nothing about Fuentes – whom he hosted for dinner at the White House during his first term as a guest of (sigh) Kanye West. “If he wants to interview Nick Fuentes, I don’t know much about him, but if he wants to do it, get the word out,” Trump said of Carlson. “People have to decide.”
Later he added: “Meeting people, talking to people for somebody like Tucker — that’s what they do. You know, people are controversial.” He added: “I’m not controversial, so I like it that way.”
12. And people are not pleased
Pro-Israel conservative leaders are gathering Tuesday in Washington to discuss “Exposing and Countering Extremism and Antisemitism on the Political Right.” The meeting features U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, and Morton Klein, president of the conservative Zionist Organization of America.
“We are disappointed in President Trump,” Klein said, adding that he should “rethink and retract” his comments.
At the recent annual summit of the Republican Jewish Coalition, which was similarly focused on condemning antisemitism within the party, executive director Matthew Brooks called it “the early stages of an undeclared civil war within the Republican Party, as it relates to Israel, and antisemitism and the Jewish community.”
And finally…
13. Nicki Minaj is going to the UN at the invitation of the White House
Mike Waltz was National Security Advisor until he accidentally leaked military plans to the Atlantic, by allegedly inviting the editor of the Atlantic to a Telegram chat. Nowadays he’s the US ambassador to the United Nations, a job a man might be given were he to want to fade quietly into obscurity while still pulling down a government salary. Nevertheless, for some reason he’s hosting an event at the US Mission to the UN about violence against Christians in Nigeria. And Nicki Minaj has been invited to give a speech. To the United Nations.
Waltz responded to reports of the speech by tweeting Minaj was “not only arguably the greatest female recording artist, but also a principled individual who refuses to remain silent in the face of injustice” Minaj replied: “Ambassador, I am so grateful to be entrusted with an opportunity of this magnitude. I do not take it for granted. It means more than you know.”
She added: “The Barbz & I will never stand down in the face of injustice. We’ve been given our influence by God. There must be a bigger purpose.”