Life in Post Democracy Era: The Trump 2/Elon Dictatatorship

[China]

TRUMP BRAGS ABOUT GOLD-PLATED OFFICE WHILE TELLING AMERICANS TO CUT EXPENSES

Austerity for thee but not for me. As Donald Trump advises the American public on how to save some money — buy fewer dolls, five pencils max — to counteract the effects of tariff-induced price increases, he’s making clear that cost-saving measures don’t apply to his office decor budget.

During a Tuesday meeting with newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the president bragged to reporters about his renovations to the Oval Office.

“You see the new and improved Oval Office,” Trump said to Carney. “As it becomes more and more beautiful with love — you know we handle it with great love — and 24-karat gold, that always helps too.”

Yes, love and 24-karat gold leaf has indeed transformed the Oval. Who needs dignified classicism when you can make one of the most famous rooms on the planet look like an overstuffed and inbred cousin of Versailles? Trump has decked out every mantle and surface he can see with gold-plated vases, moldings, and reliefs of a canary yellow that screeches nouveau riche petulance at all who behold it.

Earlier this week, in that very same office, Trump defended himself to NBC News when asked on Sunday about comments he’d made a few days earlier about how Americans could cut back on their spending by only purchasing three to five dolls for their little girls, instead of 30, as his tariffs take a toll on consumers.

Only a man who has never stressed over a credit card payment would think that the children of this nation are being gifted 30 dolls — or other toys — at any given time, or even that they would accumulate that many over years.

The president also added that a person doesn’t “need to have 250 pencils, they can have five.”

Much like Trump’s fascination with the concept of groceries and the way the peasant class goes to a store to buy goods, the president’s fixation on dolls is yet another sign of how deeply out of touch he is with not only the economic conditions of the average Americans, but the way his actions as president affect everyday consumers. Trump further endeared himself as an attentive champion of the working class by scoffing to reporters later on Sunday that the only prices hit by his tariffs are those on “the thing you carry the babies around in.”

Americans are already beginning to feel the effects of higher prices. No major tariff deals have been announced even as Trump claims he’s in negotiations with dozens of countries. China, the U.S.’s third-largest trade partner, has made clear they are not interested in a deal so long as Trump’s astronomical tariffs remain in place. As domestic stockpiles and inventories of goods dwindle, things are only going to get worse. But don’t worry, while you struggle to stretch your budget, you can sleep easy knowing the president’s office is full of love — and 24-karat gold.

[The Evil Genius]

Good lord.

[China]

In case you were wondering:

AI firm to buy $20M in Trump cryptocurrency 'to advocate' for U.S. trade policies

An artificial intelligence and machine learning driven supply chain firm says it plans to buy $20 million in cryptocurrency backed by President Donald Trump with the stated purpose of influencing U.S. trade policies.

Freight Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: FRGT) said in a Securities & Exchange Commission filing and announcement April 30 it had entered into a $20 million deal “with an institutional investor.”

The Houston-based logistics company also goes by Fr8Tech.

“Capital from the financing is exclusively earmarked for purchasing Official Trump Tokens ($TRUMP), making Fr8Tech one of the first public companies to make $TRUMP a cornerstone of its digital asset strategy,” the company said in a statement.

Trump has been promoting the $TRUMP cryptocurrency meme coin via social media. That includes hosting a VIP dinner at his country club in Northern Virginia later this month for the top holders of the crypto coin.

The $TRUMP token is a joint venture involving an arm of the Trump Organization and Celebration Cards LLC / Fight Fight Fight LLC.

Fr8Tech CEO Javier Selgas said his company focuses on trade between Mexico and the U.S. and the $TRUMP purchase will help it advocate for better trade relations between the two countries.

Click on the link for the full article

[TK]

[TK]

[TK]

[TK]

[China]

Spiked Bezos-Trump Cartoon Goes Viral After Its Creator Wins the Pulitzer Prize For ‘Fearless’ Commentary

The Washington Post on Monday celebrated the Pulitzer Prize win of Ann Telnaes, the longtime cartoonist who quit the Post in protest after a scathing cartoon lambasting Jeff Bezos, the Post’s billionaire owner, was spiked by her editors.

The Post put together an article following the Pulitzer announcements titled, “Read The Washington Post’s 2025 Pulitzer Prize winners.” The article noted Telnaes’s win for illustrated reporting and commentary, quoting the winning announcement, “For delivering piercing commentary on powerful people and institutions with deftness, creativity — and a fearlessness that led to her departure from the news organization after 17 years.”

The spiked cartoon that Telnaes resigned in protest over also quickly went viral after her win, which as her second having won the same Pulitzer in 2001. The Post’s commentary on her win included a full biography of Telnaes, but did not again mention her leaving the paper and did not included the cartoon in the sampling of her work it also ran.

“As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable,” Telnaes wrote in early January of her resignation. “For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job. So I have decided to leave the Post. I doubt my decision will cause much of a stir and that it will be dismissed because I’m just a cartoonist. But I will not stop holding truth to power through my cartooning, because as they say ‘Democracy dies in darkness.’” Telnaes’s cartoon showed the corporate owners of major papers, including Bezos, offering Donald Trump bags of money as an offering — a reference to donations made to Trump’s inauguration. Mickey Mouse can also be seen groveling on the ground in front of Trump, an apparent swipe at Disney for settling a Trump lawsuit against ABC News.



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[The Evil Genius]

This level of petty is .

[The Evil Genius]