The Strangest Thing Donald Trump Has Said in Some Time
Donald Trump’s most amusing habit is meting out casual abuse to his sycophants. His recent answer to a question about the wedding of Donald Trump Jr. may, depending on how deserving one deems Trump’s eldest son of mistreatment—poor Don Jr. was, after all, born into the Trump life—qualify as his most hilarious riff ever.The scene is the Oval Office, today, midday. Trump is asked by a reporter whether he plans to attend Don Jr.’s wedding to the Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson this weekend. Here is the president’s full response: Uh, he’d like me to go, but it’s gonna be just a small, little, private affair, and I’m gonna try and make it. 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.” Uh, that’s one I can’t win on. If I do attend, I get killed. If I don’t attend, I get killed by the fake news, of course, I’m talking about. No, but he’s, uh, got a very, uh, person who I’ve known for a long time, and hopefully they’re going to have a great marriage. Now let us analyze.[Jonathan Chait: Big Brother is ReTruthing you]Trump immediately confides that his son wants him to attend the ceremony, but he will not commit at this point, even though the wedding is just a few days away. He first floats the explanation that it will be “just a small, little, private affair,” as if there may not be space in the party for him, the father of the groom—who, we have already established, wants him to attend.Trump then pivots to a new excuse: He is waging war with Iran. This conflict, although serious, has not prevented the president from engaging in activities such as marathon social-media-posting sessions, regular golf outings, and an event two weeks ago to promote a future UFC bout at the White House. (“It’s going to be the biggest event we ever had,” Trump told reporters at the time. “The White House doesn’t really do athletic events for the most part.”) Well, a White House cage fight comes along only once in a lifetime