Donald Trump’s day yesterday was dominated once again by discussions over Ukraine – and specifically by him accusing Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator”.
But he still found time to declare himself a ‘King’, fight back against a court ruling that would stop him getting his way – and threaten to strip the nation’s Capital of its autonomy. The backlash to Trump’s comments about Zelensky have provoked more high-level criticism than almost any of his other remarks – a high bar – with Even Keir Starmer expressing his disagreement in public.
Oh and he picked up on another mad conspiracy theory about all the gold being gone from Fort Knox. Here’s all the wild and unhinged things Donald Trump did yesterday.
1. Branded Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator
In a bizarrely worded – and lengthy – Truth Social post, Trump signed up to basically all of Russia’s false claims about Ukraine – and Zelensky in particular. He suggested – again – that Ukraine had started the current conflict in Russia, and falsely claimed Mr Zelensky had an approval rating of 4%.
“Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and “TRUMP,” will never be able to settle,” he wrote. It’s unclear why he wrote his own name in inverted commas.
He went on to accuse Zelenskyy of being “A Dictator without Elections !!” Due to the war, Ukraine did delay elections that were scheduled for April 2024. The UK, incidentally, didn’t hold elections during World War II.
Keir Starmer spoke to Zelensky last night to express support for him “as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader”. A Downing Street spokesperson said the Prime Minister had called Mr Zelensky on Wednesday evening and said it was “perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during war time as the UK did during World War Two”.
2. Called himself a King
Meanwhile, in another Truth social post declaring the end of congestion pricing in New York, Trump wrote: “all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
Later a Tweet from the official White House account repeated Trump’s quote and added a computer-generated image of a smiling Trump wearing a crown, Manhattan in the background. It’s made in the style of “Time” magazine but replaces the publication’s name with “Trump.”
Totally normal, not at all troubling.
3. JD Vance warned Zelensky against “badmouthing” trump
JD Vance, the Vice President, seems to be totally OK with his boss badmouthing anyone he likes.
But if someone should dare to return fire, that apparently crosses a line.
“The idea that Zelenskyy is going to change the president’s mind by bad mouthing him in public media, everyone who knows the President will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration,” Vance said.
4. Appealed a ruling that blocked their bid to scrap birthright citizenship
This was one of the first of the early barrage of “shock and awe” orders pushed through by Trump after his inauguration. And it was one of the first to be blocked by the courts – with US district judge John Coughenour in Seattle branding it “blatantly unconstitutional”.
Birthright citizenship is the rule that if you’re born in the United States, you’re a US citizen, regardless of your parents’ immigration status. Republicans have long argued this leads to undocumented immigrants having “anchor babies” – a truly unpleasant term suggesting some people have children to make them harder to deport.
Thus far, four federal judges have issued temporary blocks on the order. White House lawyers filed a notice of appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday.
The appeal comes nearly a week after U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin issued a preliminary injunction in a case brought by New Jersey and 17 others states in Massachusetts federal court.
5. Said he’s going to be very upset if there’s no gold in Fort Knox
There’s a very long-running conspiracy theory that there’s not actually any gold left in the gold reserve at Fort Knox. Elon Musk has been teasing at this theory – questioning if it’s “still there” or “all gone.” He’s called for a “live video walkthrough” – as opposed to, you know, somebody just having a look.
But of course, the Donald weighed in yesterday too, saying on Air Force One that he would be doing so to ” make sure the gold is there,”
Another reporter seemed puzzled. Where would the gold have gone?
“If the gold isn’t there, we’re going to be very upset,” Trump said.
6. Threatened to take over Washington DC because there are too many homeless people in tents
Now this one’s a bit complicated, so strap in.
Washington DC, the city, has a Home Rule authority. It’s not a state – and doesn’t have a governor or Senators. But it has a Mayor – currently Muriel Bowser – and a council which allows the city to govern its own local affairs.
With a few exceptions, the status allows the council to pass local laws and ordinances. For example, during Covid there was a city ordinance that mandated mass wearing even outdoors.
Aaaand Trump, it seems, is unimpressed about how the city is being run. And instead of trying to replace the city’s leadership by encouraging local voters to vote differently – he seems set on stripping the district of its autonomy.
“They’re not doing the job,” **Trump** said. “Too much crime, too much — too many tents on the lawns — these magnificent lawns.”
He argued that he can’t have sights of homelessness when he hosts foreign leaders in Washington. “You just can’t let that happen,” **Trump** said. “You can’t have tents on all your beautiful — your once magnificent plaza and lawns.”
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