MIKEY SMITH: 12 wild Donald Trump moments as he floats second meeting with Putin and Zelensky
Donald Trump is gearing up for his meeting with Vladimir Putin tomorrow and ...it could be going better.
In a phone-in interview with Fox News Radio this morning, the US President admitted he won't be able to get a ceasefire out Russia's dictator when he comes to Alaska tomorrow - but said there would be a second meeting, this time including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, where they would "divvy" things up.
But hey, at least he can give out awards to Kiss and Frank Spencer.
Meanwhile Trump's shock troops are patrolling the streets of Washington DC's Georgetown neighbourhood, presumably cracking down on overcooked organic pasta and overpriced pastries.
Here's everything that has happened in Trump World in the last 24 hours that you need to know about. Everything is fine.
1. Trump floats second meeting with Putin and Zelensky to 'divvy' up Ukraine
In a call-in interview to Fox News Radio this morning, Donald Trump indicated any peace deal to end the Ukraine war would come not after tomorrow's summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, but after a second meeting - this time including Volodymyr Zelensky.
He told host Brian Kilmeade: "The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that's going to be a meeting where they make a deal. And I don't want to use the word 'divvy' things up. But you know, to a certain extent, it's not a bad term, okay?"
He said he had three locations in mind for such a follow-up meeting - but he said remaining in Alaska would be "by far the easiest" way for the three leaders to hold talks.
He also said he was unsure if there would be a joint press conference at the end of tomorrow's summit...and that there was about a "25%" chance the meeting would fail.
And if that's the case, he won't call Zelensky, and will head straight back to Washington.
2. At the vanguard of Trump's cultural revolution will be... Frank Spencer
The Kennedy Centre, Washington's performing arts hub, gives out honours every year.
They're a bit like boomer lifetime achievement awards.
In 2024, director Francis Ford Coppola, singer and guitarist Bonnie Raitt and the Grateful Dead were honoured.
So after the Donald staged a coup of the Centre's board, installing himself as chairman and vowing to 'de-woke' it, he announced last night he wants to host the awards himself.
This seems like a poor use of the President's time, but I suppose the cultural revolution has to start somewhere.
The list of honourees for this year includes Gloria Gaynor, Kiss, Sylvester Stallone and Frank Spencer himself, British Actor Michael Crawford.
Of course Crawford doesn't make the list because of his 70s sitcom work, but for originating the title role in Phantom of the Opera, Trump's favourite musical.
(Trump's taste in musical theatre is every bit as basic as his love for McDonalds, but everyone love a cheeseburger from time to time and Crawford absolutely killed in Phantom).
Crawford has yet to respond to his nomination.
3. Donald Trump has no idea who Kiss are...but they have had some thoughts about him
Announcing their Kennedy Centre Honour, Trump mis-pronounced rock legends Kiss as "Kriss".
Trump is clearly so unaware of Kiss. They don't appear on any of his playlists, even though Crazy, Crazy Nights would go down a storm at his rallies. He fired Gene Simmons in week three of Celebrity Apprentice in 2008, but there was no indication on the show that he knew who he was.
But Simmons and co-founder Paul Stanley certainly have some views about Trump.
In 2022, Simmons said on Bill Maher's podcast that he was initially happy when Trump won in 2016, but within a couple of years he had thought again.
He said: "Look what that gentleman did to this country and the polarisation - got all the cockroaches to rise to the top. Once upon a time, you were embarrassed to be publicly racist and out there with conspiracy theories. Now it's all out in the open because he allowed it."
"I don't think he's a Republican or a Democrat. He's out for himself, any way you can get there. And in the last election, over 70 million people bought it hook, line and sinker,"
Paul Stanley has said Trump is a "a true danger to democracy" and likened him to a "mob boss."
He said January 6 Capitol riot was "armed insurrection," accusing the president (and certain senators) of stoking the flames.
Both Stanley and Simmons released statements saying they were honoured to be recognised by the Kennedy Centre.
4. Trump said all of the Kennedy Centre honourees "came through me"
He says he had a veto on all suggested Kennedy Centre honourees, adding that he turned down "some wokesters".
All of which is just deeply weird.
5. Trump's new job stats guy was at the Capitol on January 6th but only as a 'bystander'
Remember that guy with the sad goatee, the ostentatious pocketwatch and the picture of a Nazi ship in his office, whom Trump tapped to lead the Bureau of Labour Statistics, replacing the career civil servant the President fired for being too competent?
Yeah, he was at the US Capitol on January 6th 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the seat of Government in attempt to violently overturn the 2020 election.
In a fairly astonishing scoop, NBC News even found footage of him in the crowd on the capitol grounds, reportedly about an hour after the mob burst through police barricades.
The footage appears to show him, dressed casually in a white tee shirt and red jacket, leaving the grounds and not entering the building.
The White House says he was in Washington that day for in-person meetings with his then employer and did not cross any barricades or participate in any demonstrations.
"These pictures show EJ Antoni, a bystander to the events of January 6th, observing and then leaving the Capitol area," White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in an e-mailed statement to NBC.
"EJ was in town for meetings, and it is wrong and defamatory to suggest EJ engaged in anything inappropriate or illegal."
6. Trump says he can keep his police state going indefinitely
Trump was asked whether he thought Congress would approve the extension needed for his takeover of the Washington DC police department to last longer than 30 days.
He said he doesn't need Congress to approve it if he declares a "national emergency."
The people who were told they were overreacting to this move are starting to look pretty smug.
7. Stop calling me a dictator!
Speaking of his police state, Trump is starting to get a bit sensitive about people calling him a dictator as a result.
He said: "Already they're saying, 'He's a dictator!"
"The place is going to hell and we got to stop it. So instead of saying 'he's a dictator' they should say 'we're going to join him in making Washington safe.'
"They say 'he's a dictator!' and then they end up getting mugged."
8. DC residents protest against random traffic stops
Residents in one Washington, DC, neighbourhood lined up last night to protest the increased police presence
After law enforcement set up a vehicle checkpoint along the busy 14th Street Northwest corridor, hecklers shouted, 'Go home, fascists' and 'Get off our streets.'
Some protesters stood at the intersection before the checkpoint and urged drivers to turn away from it.
For two days, small groups of federal officers had been visible in scattered areas of the city. But more were present in high-profile locations Wednesday and troops were expected to start doing more missions in Washington on Thursday, according to a National Guard spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the planning process.
On Wednesday, agents from Homeland Security Investigations patrolled the popular U Street corridor. Drug Enforcement Administration officers were seen on the National Mall, while National Guard members were parked nearby. DEA agents also joined Metropolitan Police Department officers on patrol in the Navy Yard neighborhood, while FBI agents stood along the heavily trafficked Massachusetts Avenue.
Hundreds of federal law enforcement and city police officers who patrolled the streets Tuesday night made 43 arrests, compared with about two dozen the night before.
D.C. Councilmember Christina Henderson downplayed the arrest reports as 'a bunch of traffic stops' and said the administration was seeking to disguise how unnecessary this federal intervention is.
'I'm looking at this list of arrests and they sound like a normal Saturday night in any big city,' said Henderson.
9. This pretty much sums it up
Locals reacted with some derision to a large group of troops and officers being deployed to the well-to-do neighbourhood of Georgetown, where one is more likely to find an organic wine bar or viral cupcake store than a violent crime in progress.
(That might sound glib, but in the last 12 months there have been exactly 226 recorded crimes in Georgetown, of which zero were violent crimes. There were two burglaries
"Georgetown?" Robbie Sherwood, an Arizona Democrat staffer joked. "Did they bust somebody for pairing Chardonnay with a steak?"
10. An apology
Something has happened that almost never happens this way round.
Something I assumed was a cheeky parody account on Twitter is actually the real thing.
A few weeks ago, a Twitter account called GovPressOffice, purporting to be run by the office of California Governor Gavin Newsom started posting some notably edgy content.
It aped the Donald's posting style, sporadically saying things in ALL CAPS, and referring to Newsom as "YOUR FAVOURITE GOVERNOR".
It keeps issuing ultimatums about California doing some gerrymandering of its own to combat the rigging going down in Texas and other red states at Trump's behest.
It signs tweets off with "Thankyou for your attention in this matter", just like the Donald does.
And while I prefer the Renfield comparison, it refers to Stephen Miller as "Voldemort", which is medium funny.
Here's a few examples of the fun being had over there.
So being a rigorous, sceptical reporter, I obviously assumed it was a prank. Someone got hold of an official looking handle and was having some fun with it.
I was wrong. There's a genuine paper trail to suggest @GovPressOffice is indeed official, and linked to Gavin Newsom, with official posts on Newsom's website linking to it as recently as June.
So I apologise for being too sceptical for my own good, but also, you're welcome for being able to enjoy this madness.
11. Russia will face 'severe consequences'
Trump was asked if Russia will face any consequences if Putin doesn't agree to stop the war after they meet in Alaska tomorrow.
Trump replied: "Yes they will."
Asked, not unreasonably what those consequences will be, he replied: "There will be...I don't have to say, but there will be severe consequences."
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12. Melania threatens to sue Hunter Biden
Melania Trump has demanded that Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and threatened to sue if he does not.
Trump takes issue with two comments Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, made in an interview this month with American journalist Andrew Callaghan. He alleged that Epstein introduced the first lady to now-President Donald Trump.
The statements are false, defamatory and 'extremely salacious,' Melania Trump's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, wrote in a letter to Biden. Biden's remarks were widely disseminated on social media and reported by media outlets around the world, causing the first lady 'to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm,' he wrote.
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