Donald Trump Messed Up So Many Things This Weekend We've Had To Do This Round-Up

"God help us."
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Even for Donald Trump, this weekend ranks as one of his more remarkable ones, as he managed to upset both the military and the residents of an American town just reduced to ashes by wildfires – all in the space of a few hours.

The President spent some of the weekend touring sites hit by the still-burning wildfires in California, where the remains of 77 people have been recovered and the number unaccounted for has has risen at 993.

Here’s a round-up of the erm... highlights.

It’s Called ‘Paradise’

It should have been easy. Standing in the still-smouldering ruins of a town devastated by the California wildfires, Trump just had to express shock at the extent of the damage and sympathy for the victims.

Instead, he got the name of the town which has become a byword for the destruction wrong. Twice (watch the video above).

Speaking to reporters, he said: “If you’re watching from New York or you are watching from Washington DC, you don’t really see the gravity of it.

“And what we saw at Pleasure, what a name right now. But we just saw, we just left Pleasure …”

He had in fact just left the town of Paradise.

Trump went to CA. to see the devastation. Suggested we “rake” more often, and called city of Paradise, “Pleasure.” Twice. God help us.

— Sylvia Plath’s Typewriter (@BitchIsBack2017) November 18, 2018

His comments have not gone down well with residents of the areas affected - one told the Guardian: “My kids lost everything. I voted for him – and now? He can kiss my red ass.

“What he said was ridiculous. It hurts my heart. A lot of us voted for him and he [talks] down to us?”

The Finnish President

Trump had already come under fire over the weekend for suggesting the humble rake could stop wildfires because that’s what they do in Finland.

With seemingly no knowledge of the wildly different climates in California and a country which partly sits within the Arctic Circle, he said: “I was with the president of Finland and he said, ‘We have a much different —we’re a forest nation.’ He called it a forest nation, and they spent a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things.

“And they don’t have any problem. And when they do, it’s a very small problem.”

The Finnish President, Sauli Niinisto, was asked about the comments on Sunday and said he spoke briefly with Trump about forest management on 11 November, when they both were in Paris for Armistice Day events.

But Niinisto could not recall raking ever coming up.

Someone please show Donald Trump a globe so he knows how close to the North Pole Finland is in comparison to Southern California. https://t.co/L0FgA0RL7x

— Billy Procida (@TheBillyProcida) November 17, 2018

Adam ‘Schitt’

Trump has a habit of thinking up nicknames for his opponents – think “Crooked Hillary”, “Crazy” Joe Biden and “Lyin” Ted Cruz.

His latest appears to be directed at Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, whom he labelled “Adam Schitt” in a tweet on Sunday.

So funny to see little Adam Schitt (D-CA) talking about the fact that Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker was not approved by the Senate, but not mentioning the fact that Bob Mueller (who is highly conflicted) was not approved by the Senate!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2018

It’s not totally clear if it was deliberate or a typo but the tweet was still online on Monday morning.

Schiff himself was not amused, tweeting “did you write this one yourself?”, referencing Trump’s bragging that he had written answers to questions set by the Special Counsel investigation into Russian collusion “very easily”.

Wow, Mr. President, that’s a good one.

Was that like your answers to Mr. Mueller’s questions, or did you write this one yourself? https://t.co/Yd27sayt7C

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) November 18, 2018

On Bin Laden

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump launched an extraordinary attack on retired Navy Admiral, William McRaven, the man who oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL mission that killed Osama bin Laden.

The President said he should have been brought to justice sooner and suggested the former Al Qaeda leader was living a life of luxury in Pakistan

He said: ”[McRaven is] a Hillary Clinton backer and an Obama-backer, and frankly ... wouldn’t it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that?

“You know, living – think of this – living in Pakistan, beautifully in Pakistan in what I guess they considered a nice mansion, I don’t know, I’ve seen nicer.”

McRaven hit back at Trump, referencing remarks he made in August, he said: “I stand by my comment that the President’s attack on the media is the greatest threat to our democracy in my lifetime.”

This morning's interview was a perfect distillation of Trump. In span of minutes, he says no one has been "more with the military" than he has, then trashes Admiral McRaven as a hack who didn't catch bin Laden fast enough

— Sam Stein (@samstein) November 18, 2018

Trump’s latest attack on a military figure comes after a string of incidents which question his stated commitments to the US’s armed forces.

Earlier this month he cancelled a trip to honour US soldiers killed in World War One because it was raining.

And Trump has yet to visit any serving on the frontline in stark contrast to his predecessors.

Presidents Obama and Bush both made trips to combat zones swiftly within their first terms but Trump has yet to do so despite being in office for nearly two years.

The Cartoon Bear

Back on the subject of wildfires, and once again an old Trump tweet has come back to haunt him.

Smokey Bear is the US National Park Service’s longtime mascot and helps raise awareness around fire safety and in 2015 Trump took an exception to the cartoon.

In a tweet, he wrote: “Who is paying for that tedious Smokey Bear commercial that is on all the time - enough already!”

Who is paying for that tedious Smokey Bear commercial that is on all the time - enough already!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2015

As is now customary on Twitter, his newly-relevant tweet gained some fresh promotion and a few more replies.

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