Among the many things to be pondered as we approach 100 Days since inauguration is whether the First Couple even talk to each other.
Melania, who varies her housing among New York, Palm Beach and the White House, was elegantly and appropriately dressed for the Pope’s funeral, while Donald stood out nearly as much as Blitt shows him, in bright blue despite Vatican instructions that men should wear dark suits. (Prince William wore navy and, though correct by Vatican standards, was criticized for it.)
It doesn’t matter, beyond, as Blitt suggests, our nation’s leader standing out like a clown in the crowd, though I do wonder how many identical blue suits the man owns.
But if Melania wasn’t able, or motivated, to say “I think you need to wear something dark,” or to instruct White House aides to pack something appropriate, it raises the question of whether there is anybody left who can say to the president, “Hang on, now …”
It also raises the question of whether the president is aware that he looked like a clown in front of a massive worldwide audience? I suppose that, if he watches only Fox, Newsmax and OAN, perhaps he doesn’t.
There was a time, O Best Beloved, when presidents read newspapers and kept up with the media overall, fuming at Herblock and Mauldin and fretting over what Walt Cronkite might say.
Trump responds to the media in furious, somewhat paranoid Truth dispatches that suggest he is getting his information from Fox & Friends and other second-hand sources that come with friendly partisan analysis. No surprise: We know that staff in his first administration carefully crafted flattering briefing materials so he’d read them.
Now we see that nobody will even let him know that bright blue is the wrong look for a funeral.
Who, then, has the nerve to tell him that tariffs don’t work the way he thinks they do, or that threatening to invade Western allies to seize territory is … well, I doubt they’d use the word “batshit” specifically, but it would be nice if they found a way to warn him off.
Perhaps, in this second bite of the apple, he has succeeded in surrounding himself with people who are not just tractable and loyal, but no more well-versed or politically savvy than he is. You won’t draw a lot of criticism and correction from people who also don’t know what they’re doing.
I don’t put much faith in the idea that Trump’s core group of supporters are feeling regret, though polls seem to indicate that independents who voted for him more as a protest than an endorsement are having second thoughts.
The MAGA faithful, however, are at least as ill-informed as he is, and many welcome the chance to blame others for the state of the world as they see it, so are eager to believe that all migrants are violent criminals and that high school athletics are being overwhelmed with waves of trans players.
And if he says he has 200 new trade deals in a world that has 193 nations, his core group doesn’t question either the unlikely speed or the illogical numbers. They honestly believe that he’s deep in talks with China (the 201st nation?) and on the verge of defeating Xi Jinping in a stare-down.
Bagley is not the only observer who finds that highly unlikely.
Espinoza puts Dear Leader’s boasting in perspective, and it’s important to note that, whatever the capabilities of the two men in this cartoon, China takes a much longer view of the future, both for cultural reasons and because Xi Jinping isn’t going to be running for office and doesn’t have to keep a legislature on his side.
Which is to say that, while China has much to lose in the trade war, they are prepared to take some hits and to outlast the opposition, while Trump is going to feel the pain as soon as the shelves at Walmart and Target and elsewhere begin to go empty.
A man elected by fury over egg prices can’t expect people to tighten their belts and to absorb a lot of inconvenience, never mind any real pain.
Voters may not remember when Mr. Art of the Deal broke ground for a fabulous Foxconn industrial development in Wisconsin, that was going to add 13,000 jobs in exchange for $4 billion in tax breaks, but never came close to those promises.
Or that, when he ran in 2016, he promised coal jobs while Hillary Clinton promised job training to help miners transition to new opportunities. Dear Leader still promises more coal jobs, but the numbers are not on his side.
But people are going to notice layoffs at auto plants, just as they will notice price jumps as tariffs kick in.
Though the prices won’t matter if there’s nothing on the shelves, and West Coast sources are already observing empty docks as Chinese imports come to a near halt. Trump’s decision to wage a trade war with China seems likely to harm him far more than it does Xi Jinping.
Juxtaposition of the Day
Meanwhile, Trump’s Ukraine policy is also shifting in ways that leave cartoonists, Ukrainians, Russians and everyone else wondering what comes next?
As Brown suggests, Trump and his cohorts left Ukraine as a sacrifice to Putin. But as Boris notes, Trump and Zelenskyy had a sit-down at the Vatican in which it seems there was some rapprochement and Trump has recently pleaded with Putin to halt his attacks on Kyev.
So which side are we on? Do we want to save Ukraine? Do we want to please Putin? Does Dear Leader believe there’s a way to do both?
Who knows?
Well, Putin probably knows as much as anyone does. Smith may just be guessing that Russia is tapped into Hegeth’s loose lips, but it’s highly likely, given Russia’s proven abilities in cyberspace.
You don’t need to groom spies when you can simply exploit fools, and when the head of the nation’s security can’t even keep an eye on her own purse, there’s not much information that requires digging to uncover.
Meanwhile, we’re squelching the information that ought to get out:
