"Knowing Trump responds best to visual stimuli, [Charlie] Kirk had coached [TikTok] to spin up four pages of infographics, 'Trump on TikTok'..."

"... showing his campaign's tens of billions of views on the now-threatened app. A chart... on the first page jumped out at Trump, who had backed a TikTok ban in his first term. 'I'm more popular than Taylor Swift,' he crowed. Many in Trumpworld heard he quickly called Barron, his youngest son, to savor the stat...."

From "How Trump saved TikTok: Backstory of a 2-year campaign" (Axios).

"During the trial it emerged that when [Barron] Trump phoned the British police, he gave the operator the woman’s home address, rather than her actual location..."

"...  which was at Rumiantsev’s home. How Trump knew her address is... unclear.... On November 3, 2024, Rumiantsev 'flew into a rage' and smashed an air fryer after discovering the victim had used the word 'sweetheart' in a message to Trump.... Rumiantsev eventually admitted he was 'jealous to some extent' but claimed the woman was 'leading him [Barron] on.' He told the jury he was merely trying to make her understand how her behaviour looked to others. 'I want to just make clear that her actions towards [Trump] were wrong and it was not fair,' he said. On the night of January 17 last year the pair drank Korean wine, whisky and cognac ordered on Deliveroo. When Trump called repeatedly that evening, she did not answer, [the prosecutor] said. Rumiantsev’s jealousy... 'boiled over.' He spat in her food and kicked her in the ribs...."

I'm reading "Russian guilty of ‘jealous’ attack over Barron Trump friendship/The US president’s son ‘saved a life’ when he called 999 from America and provided crucial evidence that led to the arrest of Matvei Rumiantsev" (London Times).

So Barron took action to save the woman from a man who supposedly thought the woman was being unfair to Barron. Nothing excuses the violence, but I find it interesting that Rumiantsev was — in his version of the story — looking out for Barron. 

"Barron Trump was on a video call with a woman in London when he saw her ex-boyfriend allegedly grab her hair and push her to the floor while shouting 'you are not worth anything'..."

"Snaresbrook crown court was told. Trump phoned the police immediately after he believed he had seen Matvei Rumiantsev, a Russian citizen, repeatedly punch the woman. In court, a dramatic call was played in which Trump’s son can be heard calling 999 operators and telling them: 'I just got a call from a girl I know. She’s getting beaten up.'... Trump, 19, was heard pleading... 'It’s really an emergency, please. I got a call from her with a guy beating her up.' The 999 operator then told off Trump for refusing to answer questions, saying: 'Can you stop being rude and actually answer my questions. If you want to help the person, you’ll answer my questions clearly and precisely, thank you. So how do you know her?' Trump replied: 'I met her on social media. She’s getting really badly beat up and the call was about eight minutes ago, I don’t know what could have happened by now.' He added: 'So sorry for being rude.'"

From "Barron Trump ‘saved woman’s life’ in London/The US president’s youngest son tells court that he saw his friend being assaulted by a former boyfriend during a video call and called the police" (London Times).

Barron made that emergency call on January 18, 2025. The trial is going on now.

What could Barron have said to Biden?

What did Barron Trump say to Joe Biden?

Wrong answers only ...

🔊pic.twitter.com/oPzWdgYeO1

— Wall Street Mav (@WallStreetMav) January 21, 2025

"Mr. Trump told CNBC in March that he still considered TikTok a national security threat, but that young people 'will go crazy without it.'"

"He also said moves against TikTok would benefit Facebook, which he called an 'enemy of the people.' Mr. Trump went on to use TikTok with great success during the campaign, and has said that it was a key vehicle for reaching young people this year. His youngest son, Barron, also encouraged him to lean into the platform to win over young voters, according to two sources familiar with their interactions, who spoke on condition of anonymity.... With Mr. Trump’s brief to the Supreme Court, his position on TikTok has come full circle, and he is now casting himself as the platform’s savior.... 'President Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this juncture,' the brief said, 'and seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.'"

From "How Donald Trump Went From Backing a TikTok Ban to Backing Off/In 2020, he moved to ban the Chinese-owned app. Now, he is opposing the Biden administration’s effort to do just that" (NYT).

"The comment from the Feds is absurd. These are car-sized drones that have flown over New Jersey, New York, and military bases in Virginia."

"If the Feds know who is doing this, they should say so. If they don't know, they should say that. To say that they 'pose no threat,' but we can't tell you what they are is the height of bureaucratic arrogance."

That's the most sensible comment at the WaPo column "New Jersey needs to get a grip. But our drone defenses need work. There’s no need to panic about drones." The column — not the comment, the column — is by Max Boot.

And here's the statement from the Feds the commenter is reacting to: "We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus."

And then there's this:

Yes father, use grok to generate an image of the New Jersey drones delivering McDonalds to that fat slob Chris Christie.

Perfect, now post it on 𝕏 https://t.co/gvnetk4faA pic.twitter.com/JbRCvjRgDo

— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) December 14, 2024

Elite media reacts to Trump's MSG extravaganza by zeroing in on Tony Hinchcliffe (Kill Tony).

I never take the bait anymore when headlines say things like...

• "As Trump courts their vote, comedian at his rally makes racist jokes about Latinos and Puerto Rico Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made crude jokes about Latinos having babies and called Puerto Rico a 'floating island of garbage,' drawing a rebuke from several Republicans" (NBC News) 

• "Trump’s New York homecoming sparks backlash over racist and vulgar remarks/A pro-Trump comedian’s racist diatribe drew widespread condemnation" (Politico)

• "Anti-Puerto Rico comments at Trump rally spur outrage as Bad Bunny supports Harris/The artist’s gesture of support came as a number of speakers at a Trump event in New York made racist and disparaging comments about Puerto Ricans and other Latinos" (WaPo) 

• "A Trump Rally Speaker Trashed Puerto Ricans. Harris Reached Out to Them. Her campaign moved swiftly to highlight that even as a speaker at Donald Trump’s rally in New York made offensive remarks about Puerto Rico and Latinos, she was visiting Puerto Rican voters in Philadelphia" (NYT)

I started watching the rally at 4 Central Time — when I put up a post — so I hadn't seen the Hinchcliffe routine in real time. My first instinct was to watch the entire 12 minutes of his routine. Here. You can use the Althouse method of determining what somebody said. Listen to him, in context:

It seems to me that Hinchcliffe made some deliberately offensive jokes:

• "There's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think it's called Puerto Rico."

• "I think that Travis Kelce might be the next OJ Simpson."

• Purporting to see a black friend in the audience: "He had a Halloween party last night. We had fun. We carved watermelons together."

• "Wars. It is unbelievable what's happening right now. It is incredible. Ukraine versus Russia. Israel/Palestine. It's like bad soccer games. Who even cares?"

It was as though he was challenging the crowd to guffaw and give Trump opponents the opportunity to accuse them of racism or whatever. He just went ahead and told those jokes.

He had 2 defenses ready to insert where needed. One was the conventional comedian's ploy of openly talking about how his jokes are failing. The crowd is tough. Or: This is the wrong crowd for this kind of material (which ought to absolve the Trumpers of agreeing with whatever racism inheres in those jokes (but won't)).

The other defense is to follow the offense with a sharp shift to a declaration about the importance of freedom of speech. This is the old Lenny Bruce move that takes risks. It was very hip and cool when Lenny Bruce did it, but it's hard to bring the whole world along with you if you try that. Ask Michael Richards. And Lenny Bruce paid for it in his own time. 

It isn't really fair to deploy this comedic approach at somebody else's event, especially when it's really important and you know that person has antagonists who are standing by waiting to pounce on any material they can use to call him a racist. But maybe Trump wanted this kind of attention-getting edginess. Hinchcliffe has his fans. I bet Barron Trump is one of them. I've heard Trump say, more than once, that he takes advice from Barron about which comedians young people love.

Hinchcliffe had another comic move. With a foundation of failed jokes before the tough crowd, he was in position to comment when the crowd finally, genuinely responded with real spontaneous laughter at one of them. Here's that joke:

"It feels good in here. The other side's got a lot of crazy endorsements. Swift, Eminem, Leo DiCaprio, Beyonce. Every day the Democratic party looks more and more like a P Diddy party."

He said: "Oh oh okay okay — that's what you guys want all right. Heck yeah...."

"Former President Donald Trump’s youngest child, Barron Trump, was spotted arriving at New York University Wednesday to kick off his first day of college life."

The New York Post reports, ending the mystery of where Barron Trump would be going for college.

The towering 18-year-old was flanked by Secret Service agents as he stepped onto the downtown Manhattan campus with a black Swiss Gear backpack casually slung over his shoulder. Dressed in a white polo, black pants and Adidas Gazelle sneakers, Barron’s first stop was the dean’s office before being whisked off to classes, sources told The Post.

 Good luck to the kid who can't help being incredibly conspicuous.

Theo Von delivers an hour of casual conversation with Donald Trump.

This is what I'd hoped we were going to get from the Elon Musk conversation with Trump. Theo Von is much more adept at creating a conversational back and forth. Perhaps more importantly, the 2 men are in the same room. The cut begins with Trump buttering up Von: "But your thing is going really great. My son's a big fan of yours, Barron":

Instant book.

Screen capture from Axios:

 

ADDED: Speaking of fist pumps caught in iconic photographs, I just noticed this, in The Daily Beast, published July 12th, one day before Trump was shot:

"At the convention, he had a new role: He played the Roman emperor, like a Julius Caesar who survived that 'foul deed' and 'bleeding piece of earth,' fist in the air..."

"... sitting high in the forum, gloating, as his vanquished foes bent the knee. Caesar had a cult of personality as well, the epitome of the strongman authoritarian politician. That Caesar was martyred. But before that he had already eroded republican rule and was on his way to emperor. (Some Trump supporters on X call Barron 'Octavian.').... Playing Caesar, Trump asked gladiators to speak before his speech: Dana White, the U.F.C. chief, to introduce him, which seemed fitting since Trump always treated politics like a blood sport, and Hulk Hogan, the W.W.E. star. Hogan ripped off his shirt to show his muscly arms and a red Trump-Vance T-shirt. He said he was 'bleeding like a pig' the last time he saw Trump at a championship match at Trump Plaza. 'I know tough guys,' Hogan said. 'But let me tell you something, brother: Donald Trump is the toughest of them all.' Trump blew Hogan a kiss...."

Writes Maureen Dowd, in "Trump the Lion, or Trump the Lyin’?" (NYT).

This makes me think of a trend from last year: "The Roman empire: why men just can’t stop thinking about it/Women across the world are asking men how often the ancient civilisation pops into their head – and the answer is frequently startling" (Guardian). Back then, the women were flummoxed. What's up with men thinking about the Roman Empire "three or four times a month," "every couple of days" or "at least once a day."

But here's Maureen Dowd, famously female, going all Roman Empire on us. Why is this happening?

"Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas has unexpectedly emerged as a top contender to become Donald J. Trump’s running mate..."

"... according to three people with direct knowledge of Mr. Trump’s thinking who insisted on anonymity to discuss private meetings. These people said that Mr. Trump’s other current favorites were Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota and three of Mr. Cotton’s Senate colleagues: Marco Rubio of Florida, Tim Scott of South Carolina and J.D. Vance of Ohio...."

Writes Michael C. Bender, in "Trump’s V.P. Pageant Has an Unexpectedly Strong Contender: Tom Cotton/Donald Trump’s interest in the Arkansas senator reflects a desire to choose a running mate with experience and the ability to run a disciplined campaign" (NYT).

The former president has said privately that he views Mr. Cotton as a reliable and effective communicator in cable news interviews. Mr. Trump has also praised Mr. Cotton’s Army service, which included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and the fact that he is a fellow Ivy League graduate. Mr. Trump went to the University of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Cotton attended Harvard, earning undergraduate and law degrees....

Mr. Cotton has long been considered one of the party’s rising stars, ambition that could hurt his chances with Mr. Trump, who has undermined allies in the past when he perceived them to be intruding on his spotlight....

Bender could be wrong about Trump's determination to hog the spotlight. Trump may actually care about the ongoing project of making America great again. To a Trump hater, MAGA is at best an embodiment of Trump's ego, but Trump may want to pick the person who can carry Trumpism into the next administration and beyond. If he is thinking like that, then he'd pick Tom Cotton, don't you think?

I had Tom in mind for this purpose from just after the 2020 election:

And here's this from February 10, 2013: "I had never heard of the guy, but he impressed the hell out of me."

"Vivague Ramaslimey backpedaling more than his receding hairline."

Tweeted Nalin Haley, quoted in "One Haley Who Isn’t Afraid to Let Insults Fly Nikki Haley’s 22-year-old son, Nalin, has hit the campaign trail and is taking shots at his mother’s political attackers" (NYT).

Nalin, who obscures his own hairline with massive bangs...

... even as high-foreheaded folk lurk behind him, doubles down on the receding-hairline theme:

Someone help me spot the difference I’m having trouble… pic.twitter.com/AiM6OK7ia5

— Nalin Haley (@Nalin_Haley) November 9, 2023

Ha ha. Hilarious. Are we allowed to make fun of how people look? More importantly, should candidates unleash their handsome offspring to hurl insults at their parent's opponents? If the answer is yes, then tremble at the thought of Trump releasing the Barron. But who can imagine Barron launching out onto the political landscape with blithe insults and memes? When Barron springs forth it will be with grandeur and momentousness... won't it?

"Can I use 'It/It’s' as gender pronouns?"

A Quora question.

I see 2 extra problems — extra problems beyond the usual issues surrounding pronoun preferences.

First, you're requiring other people to use a word that is dehumanizing, that portrays you as a thing and not a person.  

I noticed this problem in the context of attempting to answer the question, "What's with the weird, kinda ominous music on the Barron Trump video? Sounds like the music you'd hear on a true crime documentary about the hunt for the Sheep Ranch Killers or something."

I said, "I think it's trying to say: Look, there's a duplicate Trump, and it's bigger and stranger...." I used the word "it" to convey the thinking of someone who regarded Barron Trump as not human but a monstrous thing. 

Second, you're going to force other people to get the punctuation wrong? It's? Not its? 

Just 4 TikToks tonight. Let me know what you like.

1. Barron has grown impossibly tall.

2. Kamala's reaction to Joe's getting covid.

3. All the things he had to apologize to his wife for.

4. How to drink wine in the rain.

"While President Trump has insisted that schools physically reopen, the private school his son Barron is attending is sticking with remote learning. Yes, that feels like a double standard...."

No, it doesn't. It's the same position an ordinary parent is in. You might want the schools to reopen, but you're stuck with they're deciding to do (or what local government is requiring them to do).

The quoted line is the beginning of "'Remote Learning' Is Often an Oxymoron/We need to try harder to get kids back in school" by Nicholas Kristof (NYT).

Now, I do see why Barron is dragged into this. He's a privileged kid and — like other privileged kids, including the offspring of Democratic politicians — he has a nice computer and internet access and a supportive environment and good food. It's the less affluent children who suffer the most with the schools closed.

So... Kristof agrees with Trump! But he still must complain about Trump: "I fear that Trump’s hyperbolic embrace of reopening schools has led Democrats to be instinctively wary." Note the implication that Democrats aren't really very good at looking at the science and deferring to the experts. They're "instinctively wary" — that is, they have an emotional reaction to Trump that keeps them from thinking straight.

"One would think that after what the Right spent years spewing about Chelsea Clinton and the Obama girls that they'd be a little less fragile when it's pointed out that Trump's 14-year-old is tall."

"But of course they aren't. Any mention of silent Barron Trump, even innocuous, causes them to freak out.

Writes (the amusingly named) Ed Scarce at Crooks and Liars.

Example of innocuousness:

I can’t get past the fact that Barron Trump is like 6’6” at 14 years old. he doesn’t even fit in the picture when he stands up pic.twitter.com/ysBXmKrGh0

— Matt Sullivan (@msully_94) August 28, 2020

Scarce concedes that some of the tweets about Barron are a bit "mean":

Why does Barron Trump look like he was sent back in time to kill his father pic.twitter.com/xq85JaqUg3

— 𝚆𝚎𝚜𝚝 🏜 (@southheastt) August 28, 2020

The tweeter of that comments on his own post to say: "Hello everyone I would like to make it clear that this is a joke and I do not hate Barron, he seems like a nice young man and I would absolutely run duos with him on Fortnite and get some epic victory royales."

I really don't care. Do you?

"Melania has been overheard referring to Ivanka as 'The Princess'.... Ivanka, when younger, called Melania 'The Portrait' because she spoke as often as one."

Writes Dwight Garner in "A New Book Brings Melania Trump Into (Slightly) Better Focus" (NYT). Also:

[Melania] spends much of her time with Barron and her parents. Barron speaks Slovenian...  “Trump has complained to others,” [author Mary] Jordan writes, “that he has no idea what they are saying.”...

[O]ne of her former New York roommates... told the author that Melania, in those pre-Trump days, liked to watch “Friends,” ate seven fruits and vegetables a day, didn’t drink alcohol and walked with weights on her ankles to keep toned.

Jordan confirms that the first lady and her husband sleep in separate bedrooms. He likes darkly colored walls and rugs; she prefers light ones. They rarely seem to interact. He uses Irish Spring soap....

When someone once hazarded a joke about Trump’s penis size, the author writes, Melania replied, “Don’t say this — he’s a real man.”

Donald Trump appears to dwell in the White House, for the most part, like a sultan among his pillows. Melania is self-exiled with her parents and son. On many days, Jordan writes, her press office doesn’t answer questions about where she is....

"Mick Mulvaney... blamed the media for exaggerating the seriousness of coronavirus because 'they think this will bring down the president, that’s what this is all about.'"

The NYT reports on remarks by the acting White House chief of staff at the Conservative Political Action Conference today.

Mr. Mulvaney also criticized the news media for generally not wanting to portray Mr. Trump in a positive light. But he chose a bizarre example, claiming it refuses to cover what he described as Mr. Trump’s loving relationship with his 13-year-old son, Barron.... “[T]he press would never show you that because it doesn’t fit that image of him, the press wants him to be this terrible monster.”

I liked the 2 times at yesterday's Las Vegas rally when Trump talked about computers — first, to say what's wrong with movies and second, enacting a scene between him and Barron.

1. Explaining his "Bring back 'Gone with the Wind'":



"What I say is: Make great movies. Not this computerized crap. Computerized garbage."

2. Talking about the bad $5 billion Obamacare website:



"I have a son at home — he's a genius with computers" — mimes typing on a keyboard, does his Barron voice — "'Hi, Dad. What's up, Dad? Get outta here'/'Hey, listen, I'm the President of the United States, Barron, don't talk to your —'/'Dad, can't you see I'm playing with my computer?' The guy talks to me, he's working with his computer. These guys are genius. You know, they grow up with that. It's like walking. But he's looking at me. I could have given him their health care site. He would have done it for nothing, and it would have been better than what they have there..." — mimes typing and does the Barron voice again — "'Come on, Dad. I'm busy, Dad. Whatdya want? Whatdya want, Dad?'" — the crowd cheers, chants "Barron, Barron!" — "Whoa! Wow!... He's gonna like — he's a good boy. He's a tall boy. He's up there. Just turned 13. I say" — looks up — "'Hi, Barron. How ya doin'?"

I love the father-son interaction where the father tries to use his I'm the President of the United States,  in the classic don't talk to your father like that format.

And I totally agree with him that computerized movies are crap.