In a fawning interview with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) that aired Saturday on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, a Christian news outlet, Trump recounted the trip as if it were a sporting event. Huckabee — whose daughter is White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders — had asked him elaborate on “the effusive praise” from officials.
“They had these beautiful, soft towels. Very good towels,” Trump said. “And I came in, and there was a crowd of a lot of people. And they were screaming, and they were loving everything. I was having fun. They were having fun. They said, ‘Throw ‘em to me! Throw ‘em to me, Mr. President!’
“So next day, they said, ‘Oh, it was so disrespectful to the people,’” Trump continued, referring to the press. “It was just a made-up thing. And also, when I walked in, the cheering was incredible.”
“You were a rock star!” Huckabee interjected. “I saw the video of it!”
“The cheering was, it was deafening,” Trump continued. “They turned down the sound so that you just heard the announcers: ‘Donald Trump.’”
WH pool: "In a surreal scene, Trump handed some packages of "Arroz Rico"...and held up his arm and softly shot paper towels into the crowd" pic.twitter.com/ZoZlBKzQjY
During his visit Tuesday to survey the damage caused by Hurricane Maria, Trump was widely condemned for not showing empathy for the ongoing suffering in Puerto Rico and making the trip a spectacle.
In addition to tossing the paper towels, he joked to the island’s officials that the cost of the storm has “thrown our budget a little out of whack,” downplayed Maria as not “a real catastrophe” like Hurricane Katrina (the 2005 storm in which many more lives were lost), and told a family of hurricane victims to “have a good time.”
Trump in the Saturday interview continued to obsess over receiving praise for the federal response to the storm.
“They were praising us. The congresswoman, who is terrific, Jenniffer González-Colón ... she has been incredible in her praise of the job we’ve done.”
While meeting with Colón and other officials on the ground Tuesday, Trump repeatedly asked them to publicly praise the federal response to the storm.
“She was saying such nice things about all of the people who have worked so hard,” he said at the time. “Jenniffer, do you think you can say a little bit about what you said about us?”
After again discrediting the coverage of his trip, Trump lauded himself for the word he most frequently uses to deride the news media.
“The media is, really, the word — I think one of the greatest of all terms I’ve come up with — is ‘fake,’” he told Huckabee. “I guess other people have used it, perhaps, over the years, but I’ve never noticed it.”
Affluent Americans may want to double-check how much of their bank deposits are protected by government-backed insurance. The rules governing trust accounts just changed.
Former NBA guard Darius Morris has died at the age of 33. He played for five teams during his four NBA seasons. Morris played college basketball at Michigan.
Jason Fitz and Frank Schwab join forces to recap the draft in the best way they know how: letter grades! Fitz and Frank discuss all 32 teams division by division as they give a snapshot of how fans should be feeling heading into the 2024 season. The duo have key debates on the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders and more.
Ohtani tagged Braves ace Max Fried for a two-run shot in the first inning then hit a solo shot in the eighth as the Dodgers prevailed in a battle of NL favorites.