* On the way to the Capitol, it’s customary for the incoming presidential couple to stop by the White House for a tea and coffee reception with their outgoing counterparts. But this wasn’t Bush-Obama. Custom was, however, observed, but can you imagine the awkward small talk among those who don’t like each other? Where do you begin? “Nice hat. Is that you, Melania?”
* Beyond ironic that Trump’s swearing-in was in the Capitol Rotunda, where insurrecting, Trump-supporting “patriotic” punks once roamed and rioted.
* How long before Secretary of State Marco Rubio realizes that Trump is still the “con man” he once labeled him? Just ask Rex Tillerson, who once tried to run Trump’s “Deep State Department.”
* Attorney General Pam Bondi STILL can’t bring herself to admit that Trump lost in 2020.
* The Fraternal Order of Police, which endorsed Trump, condemned his pardon of J6 rioters.
*DOGE: Department of Government Effrontery.
* Trump timing: Trade-war rhetoric with Canada is ratcheting at the same time as Trump is insulting our neighbor to the north with suggestions that it be annexed as the 51st state. BTW, Canada is the world’s largest national buyer of U.S. goods.
* “Promises made and promises kept.”–White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, on Trump tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China.
* Gulf of Mexico name game. Gulf of America? Gulf of Trump? Gulf of Narcissism? Gulf of Exxon? Gulf of God? Gulf of Golf? Gulf of Grift? Gulf of Tonkin?
* Trump’s nationalistic suggestions for the redrawing of international borders have become a global concern. Foremost among those who are much less concerned: Vladimir Putin.
* Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) said that the controversial, Fox-vetted Pete Hegseth was not only unqualified to be secretary of defense, but would be an easy target for blackmail. And one of Hegseth’s myriad tattoos has become controversial. It is “Deus Vult” or “God will it” in Latin. It’s been around since the Crusades and has been adopted, no surprise, by some white extremist groups. BTW, Mitch McConnell voted against the nomination. VP Vance cast the tie-breaker.
* Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna has filed a bill directing the federal government to add Trump to Mount Rushmore. No, you can’t make this stuff up; it’s Mount RushNoMore.
* No, the Manhattan Project was not Trump Tower.
* Greenland, Iceland, Newfoundland: Could Trump resist a naming rights offer?