You can normally tell when Donald Trump is about to do something, because he tells you he’s about to do it. Here’s all the wildest moments from the last 24 hours in Trumpworld
You can normally tell when Donald Trump is about to do something, because he tells you he’s about to do it.
Anyone surprised by Trump’s invasion of Venezuela two weeks ago wasn’t paying attention. Over the Christmas period, he repeatedly brought up the idea of “ground attacks” on the country in interviews – often unprompted. It’s like he’s been told a secret and either lacks the capacity to keep it, or thinks people will think he’s cool if he teases it out in public.
So now, after several days of comments and Truth Social posts warning Iran that if they executed protesters he’d step in and do something about it, it seems like Trump is about to bomb Iran in the next 24 hours or so.
So while we wait for that to happen…let’s think for a moment about the other place he’s always banging on about. Starts with a colour.
Meanwhile in Trumpworld
- Heckler wins ‘hero of the day’ – and £250k
- Trump gives remarkably racist speech
- He explained why he really wants to own Greenland
Here’s what you need to know
1. Americans urged to leave Iran
The ‘virtual’ US embassy in Tehran has urged Americans to leave Iran, further fuelling speculation that Trump is going to start bombing the country.
“US citizens should leave Iran now. Consider departing Iran by land to Türkiye or Armenia, if safe to do so,” a statement read. This is the third alert in five days. The embassy also said US-Iranian dual nationals must exit Iran using their Iranian passports.
2. And the hero of the day award goes to…
The Ford factory worker who caused Donald Trump to absolutely lose his s**t. During a tour of the Ford plant in Detroit, Michigan, a line worker The Washington Post identified as 40-year-old TJ Sabula, heckled the President, shouting “Paedophile Protector”.
Trump responded by twice yelling – or at least mouthing, it is unclear from the footage – “f**k you” and giving him the finger. It was an extraordinary loss of cool from a President who – even more than most – is not used to being exposed to real people.
Sabula has been suspended from his job pending an investigation.
“As far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever,” Sabula told the Post, but says he’s been “targeted for political retribution” for “embarrassing Trump in front of his friends.”
A GoFundMe was set up for Sabula to help him “pay some bills”. It has, so far, raised more than QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS.
3. Trump Threatens to oust Senator who challenges him over Fed Chair probe
As regular readers will know, the Justice department has threatened a criminal probe into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Trump has been trying to get rid of him for ages, but insists – as he does every time he uses the Justice department to go after his enemies – that the decision was nothing to do with him.
Not that he doesn’t like the idea. He was asked about it last night in an interview during his Ford factory tour – specifically looking for a response to Republican Senator Thomas Willis saying slapping Powell with a subpoena es excessive.
“He’s not going to be a Senator any longer because of views like that,” he said.
4. Trump’s speech last night was particularly racist
Trump’s speech at the Detroit Economic Club last night saw him brand the anti-ICE protests in Minnesota “fake riots”, claiming without evidence that anyone protesting against his thug squad but be “practiced”.
But it was the racism that really stuck out from the unhinged hour-long address.
He threatened to imprison Ilhan Omar in a sustained racist attack on the Minnesota congresswoman.
“We intend to imprison any fraudster politician or public official involved in these sick plots to loot and pillage our country,” he said. “Think of that, Ilhan Omar. She lives in Somalia. They don’t have a government, they don’t have a military, they don’t have police, they don’t have anything. All they have is murder and robbing ships.”
There is no evidence Ms Omar is involved with or aware of fraud in Minnesota. He went on: “She comes from a country with nothing, and she comes here and she tells us about our Constitution.” Putting on a mock impression of Ms Omar’s voice, he said: “I have a constitutional right to rip off the country.”
And after a week where several US government departments were slammed for using white supremacist-coded messages in their social media, Trump made a pointed remark about America deporting Somalis and returning to its “native spirit”.
He said: “As we liberate our country from this cultural scourge and the plague of corruption and fraud, we will rediscover the natural energy and native spirit that truly makes America great again.”
“We’re getting them out, we’re getting them out,” he went on. “And we’re not going to pay them. We’re not going to pay Minnesota any more money…for any of that crap.”
5. He threatened to unlawfully strip people of their US citizenship
Trump threatened to strip anyone originally from Somalia who is convicted of fraud of their US citizenship – which would be illegal under US law. Citizenship can only be revoked under very limited circumstances, and only over crimes that relate directly to their citizenship status. “If you come to America to rob Americans, we’re throwing you in jail and we’re sending you back to the country from where you came,” he said.
6. ICE agents adopt chilling new threat
ICE agents in Minnesota have begun to use a chilling new catchphrase following the killing of Renee Good in the city last week. A string of videos have emerged in recent days of officers threatening peaceful protesters to stop following them, or to comply with their demands.
A number are shown saying variations of “have you not learned?” – a reference to an ICE agent gunning down the mum-of-three on a Minneapolis street last Wednesday. Charming.
ICE agents ask if protesters ‘haven’t learned’ from events in Minnesota
Trump’s surge of as many as 3,000 anti-Migrant heavies into the state continued overnight, with tensions continuing to rise.
Ms Good was shot three times by an ICE officer as she was attempting to move her car around him and drive away. She died at the scene. Despite clear video evidence she did not pose a threat to the officer or those around him, Trump officials branded her a “domestic terrorist”, and backed the agent who shot her as acting in self defence.
At least five prosecutors have resigned over the Justice Department’s handling of the shooting.
7. Trump lets slip the real reason only owning Greenland will do
Donald Trump has let the real reason he wants to own Greenland so much slip in a post on Truth Social. The US President has long insisted control of the territory is important for US national security.
He’s mostly cited vague concerns about Russian and Chinese ships having free rein in the region around Greenland to back up his claim. But a post Trump published on Truth Social this afternoon suggests another reason – one which would make ownership much more advantageous.
“The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security,” he wrote. “It is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building.”
The Golden Dome is a proposed missile defence system – similar to Israel’s Iron Dome – which Trump has suggested the US is building throughout his first year back in the Oval Office. Details of the Golden Dome are scant, but US arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin has come forward with a concept for a “layered defence shield” to “safeguard the American homeland.”