1) Brought A Fan Onstage Who Might Not Have Been The Best Example His Fandom
On Saturday night Donald Trump held a campaign-style rally in Melbourne, Florida in front of thousands of his adoring supporters.
One in particular, Gene Huber, caught his eye, so much so he invited him up on stage to say a few words.
During his few seconds of fame, he said: “Mr President, thank you sir. We the people, our movement is the reason why our President of the United State is standing in front of us today.
“When President Trump promised all those things he was gonna do for us, I knew he was gonna do them for us.
While Huber’s Facebook posts before the rally have led some to suggest the stunt was staged...
... the most interesting details came from an interview he did shortly after his appearance.
He said: “President Trump, I want to thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to come on stage like that.
“Mr President, I’ve been with you for two years, you probably heard this. every single second, every day, I’m with you.
“I’ve got a six-foot cardboard box of President Trump in my house and I salute that every single day and I pray and I tell him ‘Mr President, I pray for your safety today’.
“And I’m not lying, I do that every single day to the President but it’s cardboard. Mwah ha ha...”
That laugh though...
2) Appeared To Invent A Terrorist Attack
During the same speech Trump returned to one of his favourite topics - the supposed threat posed by immigration.
“Sweden. Who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible.”
No incident occurred in Sweden on Friday and the country’s baffled government later asked the US State Department to explain Trump’s comments.
Since then, Trump has clarified his position, saying he was referring to a Fox News report that ran on Friday about alleged migrant-related crime problems in the country, rather than an incident that had taken place in Sweden the same day.
But it was too late...
3) Adopted Vote Leave’s Slogan
Trump, who proudly labelled himself ‘Mr Brexit’ following the EU Referendum result, adopted the mantra of Vote Leave during the rally, pointing to Brexit as an example of people “taking back control”.
He said: “I am here to tell you about our incredible progress in making America great again,” Trump told the cheering crowd last night.
“You are all part of this incredible movement.
“It’s a movement that is just sweeping... across our country, is sweeping, frankly, across the globe - look at Brexit.
“Look at Brexit. A much smaller example but is still something you can look to.
“People want to take back control of their countries and they want to take back control of their lives and the lives of their family.”
Even in Britain it’s still uncertain just what ‘taking back control” actually means.
The phrase has been thrown around continuously by Brexiteers, most notably by an BBC Question Time audience member.
She said: “I want my country back and I want freedom.
“I don’t believe our country is free anymore. You only have to look at the European Union and what’s going off there.
“I want my country back. I want Britain to be Britain. We’re all just so frustrated with all this rubbish we’re hearing.”
The clip led recently passed writer and critic, AA Gill, to take issue with the sentiment, writing “getting our country back” means “snorting a line of that most pernicious and debilitating Little English drug, nostalgia”.
He wrote: “In the Brexit fantasy, the best we can hope for is to kick out all the work-all-hours foreigners and become caretakers to our own past in this self-congratulatory island of moaning and pomposity.”
Adding: “They reckon they can get out of the marriage, keep the house, not pay alimony, take the kids out of school, stop the in-laws going to the doctor, get strict with the visiting rights, but, you know, still get a shag at the weekend and, obviously, see other people on the side.”
4) Continued To Plug ‘The Southern White House’
The Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida is Trump’s very own private club where membership is a hefty $100,000.
Oh hang on, actually he bumped it to $200,000 when he became President.
Despite spending a large chunk of his election campaign slamming Hillary Clinton for lax email security, Trump dealt with his first major international incident at the resort in a dining room surrounded by members of the public.
One of those present wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post: “HOLY MOLY!!! It was fascinating to watch the flurry of activity at dinner when the news came that North Korea had launched a missile in the direction of Japan.
”The Prime Minister Abe of Japan huddles with his staff and the President is on the phone with Washington DC. The two world leaders then conferred and then went into another room for hastily arranged press conference. Wow. . . the centre of the action!!!”
Membership lists seen by The New York Times “nearly 500 paying members include dozens of real estate developers, Wall Street financiers, energy executives and others whose businesses could be affected by Mr Trump’s policies”.
5) Cost Taxpayers More On Travel In One Month Than Obama Did In One Year
Shuttling back and forth between the White House and Mar-a-Lago isn’t cheap - as well as the travel costs there’s also the Secret Service to pay for.
Last weekend was the third in a row that Trump spent at the resort.
Added to this, Trump’s sons Eric and Don Jr - who both now require a Secret Service detail - were in the United Arab Emirates opening a new golf course.
Also boosting the cost to the taxpayer is the price of the New York police department’s security provided for Trump Tower where Melania and son, Barron still reside after refusing to move to the White House.
The total travel costs for the first month of the Trump family come to an estimated $11.3 million according to analysis by The Washington Post.
In contrast, Judicial Watch estimate Obama’s travel expenses totalled an average $12.1m in each of his eight years that he was President.