Donald Trump had barely returned to the White House long enough to survey his new Italian marble toilet when he was back in the Beast and off to Florida to play golf. Meanwhile, people can’t get food stamps
Donald Trump had barely returned to the White House long enough to survey his new Italian marble toilet when he was back in the Beast and off to Florida to play golf. Even as he crowed about his pristine refurbished bathroom facilities, and flew off for a weekend on the links, he was quibbling whether he could help the poorest Americans to feed their families. Oh and he gave a convicted fraudster a job. Because, of course he did.
Meanwhile in Trumpworld
- A bunch of Trump officials have moved into military housing
- He gave George Santos a job…in the Justice department
- He is so very proud of his fancy new toilet
- Senate Republicans defied him for once
Here’s everything you need to know, and probably more.
King Trump
1. Trump officials are moving into military housing…
In exactly the kind of news story you want to see when people around the country are unable to work or feed themselves due to a shutdown, which they blame on you, it’s emerged that as many as six senior Trump officials are currently living in military housing. As in, on military bases, in houses normally occupied by military officers.
One of them is Pete Hegseth, the (sigh) ‘secretary of war’ – which is almost understandable given he is, you know, in charge of the military and might wish to be close by.
And some would say officials like Deputy White House Prince of Darkness Stephen Miller are moving into more secure accommodation as a safety measure. Others might suggest that’s a bit rich when Trump has been removing security protection from his predecessors and their staff since literally day one of his administration. And given this very week the White House interfered in the prosecution of a man who showed up to Barack Obama’s house with guns and ammo.
2. Well, this was predictable
Speaking of Taylor Taranto, the pardoned J6 rioter who showed up at Obama’s house with guns and ammo. After the White House suspended the prosectors on the case, who were after a 27 month sentence – and scrubbed all references to J6 and Trump literally giving out Obama’s address on Truth Social from the sentencing memo – Taranto ended up being freed yesterday, after being sentenced to 21 months, which he’d already served on remand.
3. Trump suggests saying critical things about him could be “treasonous”
Trump came back from his tour of Asia on a bit of a buzz it seems – and when top Democrat Chuck Schumer tried to harsh that buzz by saying the trip was a “total dud”, Trump was unimpressed.
He took to (where else?) Truth Social, to moan: “Worked really hard, 24/7, took in Trillions of Dollars, and Chuck Schumer said trip was “a total dud,” even though he knows it was a spectacular success.”
Then he somewhat chillingly added: “Words like that are almost treasonous!!!”
Which given the crime of treason is one of few federal capital crimes in the US – meaning perpetrators can be prosecuted and sentenced to death by the federal government, even in states that have banned the death penalty, is pretty chilling.
4. Convicted fraudster George Santos teases government job
Convicted fraudster and former Congressman George Santos, who Trump gave a get out of jail free card this week, looks to be getting a job in the government. He tweeted: “Changes are coming and I can’t wait to be part of the solution!”
Challenged over his apparently being given a cushy job, despite defrauding people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars – which he now no longer has to pay back to his victims – He replied: “No, it’s called reform and rehabilitation… this is the United States of America and it’s a beautiful thing.”
Santos was sentenced to 87 months in prison for his crimes, and served just 84 days of that before being released by Trump for no good reason, so “rehabilitation” is a stretch. And which department is he going to work for? The Department of Justice.
The Gold House
5. Trump is exceptionally proud of his new toilet
Donald Trump has been crowing all day about the refurb job he’s had done on the Lincoln Bedroom – or more specifically, the Lincoln Bedroom Bathroom.
This particular bathroom was last updated during the Truman administration in the 50s, in a turquoise art deco style, so it’s not super unreasonable for it to be refurbished at some point. Trump said the decor was “totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era’. On the other hand, there’s people in London who would pay £100 extra a month for a bathroom like that in zone 2.
Unfortunately, Trump being Trump, he refurbished the ageing bathroom with wall to wall veiny marble and gold. Trump is so chuffed with it, he even went as far as saying it’s how it might have looked at the time of Abraham Lincoln. Which would have been a good trick since Lincoln never set foot in there.
It didn’t exist until the 1950s, when the White House was rebuilt from the inside out. And it only became known as the ‘Lincoln Bedroom’ in the early 60s, when Jackie Kennedy redecorated it with a bunch of Lincoln-era furniture.
It’s also not remotely likely that Lincoln’s White House would have been decorated with Italian marble and gold fittings. The White House of the 1860s was fairly austere, with tin bathtubs and utilitarian fixtures. There was running water but it was fairly…basic.
6. Leavitt went a little over the top
“When I first learned a toilet like that existed inside the White House, I was horrified,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed on Twitter.
“President Trump is making the People’s House more elegant and beautiful for generations of Americans to come!”
Which is only true if you think Trump’s hotels are “elegant and beautiful”, because that’s what the bathroom looks like now.
https://x.com/TrumpDailyPosts/status/1984305502134931718
The Shutdown
7. Trump said he’d only fund food stamps if ordered to by a judge
Trump posted earlier claiming that while he’s found money to fund wages for the troops, it would be illegal and wrong for him to divert money to pay for food assistance programmes during a government shutdown. “If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding, just like I did with Military and Law Enforcement Pay,” he wrote.
Of course, two judges ruled nearly simultaneously that his administration must continue to fund SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, using contingency funds during the government shutdown.
8. SNAP is for democrats
He then went on to claim food assistance benefits are mostly claimed by Democrats. Citing no evidence, he ranted: “When you talk about SNAP you’re talking about largely Democrats. I wanna help Democrats and Republicans. But when you’re talking about SNAP, if you look, it’s largely Democrats. They’re hurting their own people.
9. Senate Republicans defy Trump for once
Trump yesterday demanded Republicans in the senate do the unthinkable and change the rules of the Senate to scrap the filibuster – allowing them to force through their benefits slashing budget with a simple majority, which they (just) have.
Republicans replied “nah”.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has repeatedly said he is not considering changing the rules even as he seeks to end the shutdown, arguing that the filibuster is vital to the institution of the Senate and has allowed them to halt Democratic policies when they are in the minority. The leader’s “position on the importance of the legislative filibuster is unchanged,” Thune spokesman Ryan Wrasse said Friday. A spokeswoman for Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Republican, said his position opposing a filibuster change also remains unchanged.
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