Nothing could quite prepare us for the vacuum of taste and ethical conduct, bordering on outright corruption that occurred yesterday, as he turned the South Lawn into a low-rent auto dealership
The other week Donald Trump complained bitterly that Volodymyr Zelensky had disrespected the Oval Office by not getting on his knees, saying thankyou or offering the President a foot rub.
And we’ve pointed out previous occasions where the President’s reverence for the White House was somewhat less overwhelming than you might expect.
He has, after all, promoted his hats from behind the Resolute Desk, and hung a copy of his mugshot right outside the door.
But nothing could quite prepare us for the vacuum of taste and ethical conduct bordering on outright corruption that occurred yesterday.
On government property, the President allowed his unelected right hand man to drive five of his costly electric vehicles in front of the White House for a promotional event, with Trump himself admitting he hoped it would help Musk make more money.
It’s been pointed out that had, say, Hunter Biden held an art sale on White House grounds, Trump and his allies would have had a raging conniption that could be heard from space.
Here’s more on that, and a few more things Trump and his cronies did last night that you should know about.
1. ‘Tariffs are a tax cut…’
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt kinda lost it a little when pressed on who will actually bear the brunt of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The Associated Press’ Josh Boak asked why Trump was prioritising tariffs over tax cuts for American workers – contrary to what he said he’d do on the campaign trail.
“He’s actually not implementing tax hikes,” she replied. “Tariffs are a tax hike on foreign countries that have been ripping us off.”
Then she came out with one of the most baffling sentences that has ever been said in the briefing room: “Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people.”
Boak responded: “I’m sorry, have you ever paid a tariff? Because I have. They don’t get charged on foreign companies. They get charged on the importers.”
At this point, Leavitt snapped at Boak: “I think it’s insulting you’re trying to test my knowledge of economics and the decisions this president has made.”
2. Speaking of tariffs…
If anyone was wondering how comprehensively thought through the President’s tariff plan was…
Trump slapped 50% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Canada. Then cancelled them a few hours later.
3. “Everything’s computer!” Trump does a massive ad for Tesla on government property
Donald Trump had his shiny new Tesla delivered to the White House yesterday evening.
He posed next to and inside a frankly quite ugly $80,000 red Model S vehicle, declaring “Wow…everything is computer” as he marvelled at the vehicle’s controls.
He spent about half an hour talking with reporters, and trying out four other Teslas parked up on government property.
He genuinely held and read out Tesla marketing material during the bizarre and manifestly unethical spectacle, before declaring Tesla a “great product, as good as it gets.”
Asked whether he thought turning the South Lawn into a car dealership would boost Tesla sales, he said: “Well, I hope it does…when somebody is a great patriot, they shouldn’t be hurt – he’s a great patriot.”
4. Oh and people vandalising Tesla dealerships will be declared DOMESTIC TERRORISTS
As a late addition to his list of blatantly despotic attacks on dissent and protest, Trump vowed to label anyone committing “violence” against Tesla dealerships terrorists.
“I’ll do it,” he said. “I’m going to stop them. If we catch anyone doing that…because they’re harming a great American company.”
He added: “Let me tell you, you do it to Tesla, and you do it to any company, we’re going to catch you, and … you’re going to go through hell.”
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5. Gave this wild answer to a question about Canada
Asked if Canada was still a “close ally” of the United States, Leavitt was less than effusive.
“Canada is a neighbour,” she said. “They are a partner. They have always been an ally, perhaps they are becoming a competitor now.
“But as the President also laid out in his Truth social post today, he believes that Canadians would benefit greatly from becoming the 51st State of the United States of America.”
6. The White House demanded a university snitch on protesters. They refused
More from last night’s briefing on Trump’s attempt to round up dissenters and have them deported if at all possible.
On top of arresting and threatening to deport graduate student Mahmoud Khalil for helping to organise pro-Palestinian protests, the White House apparently asked Columbia University (and perhaps others) to snitch on other legal protesters.
Leavitt said: “Columbia University has been given the names of other individuals who have engaged in pro-Hamas activity, and they are refusing to help DHS identify those individuals on campus.
“And as the president said very strongly in his statement yesterday, he is not going to tolerate that.”
