The US President has spent 14 days playing golf since the Iran war started, but his busy schedule means he’s reluctant to RSVP to Don Jr. Here’s your roundup of the latest nonsense to emerge from Trump’s America
If I were trying to set myself up as a dictator, which I’m not, but if I was, there’s a number of things I would do.
They would include obvious things like securing the generals, putting my people at the top of the Police and exerting control and influence over media coverage of my actions. But high on the list would be setting up a giant pot of cash to reward my most fanatical supporters, although I’d probably be quite careful to keep that bit a secret. More importantly, I would also build a massive, heavily fortified underground bunker to escape to if it all goes south.
In entirely unrelated news, Trump’s Republicans faced a huge backlash in the Senate today over Trump’s demands for a $1.8 billion “slush fund” to pay January 6th rioters compensation and a further billion to pay for the construction of a six-storey state of the art underground facility beneath his vanity ballroom, to include a fully functioning hospital, command and control centres and thousands of drones.
Hm. A giant pot of cash for my allies and a heavily fortified underground facility. That rings a bell.
Quick parish notice – After today I’ll be taking a break from the daily roundups for a week or so. By the time I return, I fully expect America to still be at war with Iran, and either Cuba or Greenland to be the 51st State.
Meanwhile in Trumpworld
- Trump might not go to his own son’s wedding
- He insists he doesn’t need approval for the Arc De Trump. (He absolutely does)
- Democrats release ‘autopsy’ of 2024 failure
- Trump gives biggest hint he’s going to invade Cuba
- And he finds a new ‘election fraud’ lie to trot out
Here’s what you need to know
1. Trump might not go to his own son’s wedding
Donald Trump Jr is getting married this weekend, reportedly in the Bahamas. So, not unreasonably, someone asked the President in the Oval Office whether he planned to attend the ceremony.
“That’s one I can’t win,” Trump replied, bafflingly. “He’d like me to go, but it’s going to be just a small little private affair and I’m going to try and make it.” Yikes.
He went on: “I’m in the midst – I said,’you know this is not good timing for me. I have a thing called Iran and other things.” It should be noted at this point that in the 82 days since the Iran war started, Donald Trump has spent at least 14 playing golf. “He’s got a very — a person who I’ve known for a long time,” Trump said of his son’s bride-to-be, Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson. “And hopefully they’re going to have a great marriage.”
2. He insists he doesn’t need planning permission for the Arc De Trump. He absolutely does
Trump was today granted approval for the design of the 250-foot “Arc De Trump” he plans to slap on a roundabout in Washington DC by the US Commission of Fine Arts. Which is hardly surprising because Trump nominated every member of the Commission. The Arch, which would be significantly taller than the 99 foot tall Lincoln Memorial, would dominate the DC skyline, and feature a series of gold statues, including a winged Lady Liberty-like figure on top holding a torch. It’s all pretty gauche. Not to mention it would ruin the sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and the Lee House at Arlington Cemetery – something that has prompted a group of veterans and historians to sue the Trump administration. Citing the Commemorative Works act of 1986, they said Trump needed to get authorisation from Congress before building a commemorative work in the District of Columbia.
The Trump administration claims it doesn’t need to get approval, because…get ready for this…Congress had already approved two tall columns on a nearby bridge in the 1920s. Which were never built.
The Federal Aviation Administration is also looking into whether it would pose a risk to aircraft, being as it is about a mile from the Pentagon and two miles from Reagan National Airport.
3. Trump gives biggest hint yet that he’s going to invade Cuba
Asked about Cuba in the Oval Office earlier, Trump said previous Presidents had thought about intervening on the island for decades, but “it looks like I’ll be the one that does it.” It comes just 24 hours after he insisted there would be no further “escalation” in the pressure campaign on Cuba’s communist government, and the indictment of former President Raul Castro on decades old murder charges.
4. Democrats publish ‘autopsy’ of 2024 election defeat
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin released a critical study of the party’s failures in the 2024 campaign on Thursday after frustrated party operatives publicly demanded the release of the post-election autopsy.
The 192-page report was concluded last December and authored by Democratic consultant Paul Rivera. It calls for “a renewed focus on the voters of Middle America and the South. Millions of Americans are suffering from poor access to healthcare, manufacturing and job losses, and a failing infrastructure, yet continue to be persuaded to vote against their best interests because they do not see themselves reflected in the America of the Democratic Party,” the report says. It’s all pretty obvious stuff, which makes it doubly weird that the party’s higher ups have sat on the report for so very long.
5. Trump finds a new ‘election fraud’ lie to trot out
Trump has falsely claimed that election fraud is going on in Maryland. He claimed the state had “got caught with 500,000 mail-in ballots that were corrupt” – which is manifestly untrue. The Maryland State Board of Elections said some voters received a primary ballot for the wrong party ahead of the state’s 2026 gubernatorial primary due to a vendor error. Voters who may have been affected will receive a replacement ballot and any original ballots already sent to election offices will be voided. Voters have been instructed to destroy their original ballots if they have not yet returned them. And even if they tried to vote fraudulently, the ballots and envelopes have unique identifiers, so they will be automatically voided. Trump either has no idea about how elections in the US are conducted, or he does a good impression of someone who doesn’t.