Trump Jokes About Building Nuclear Missiles During White House Roof Walk
But President Donald Trump raised quite a few eyebrows on Tuesday when he joked about his next big building project: nuclear missiles.
The real estate mogul turned Commander-in-Chief made the remark while taking an impromptu walk on the roof of the White House Briefing Room where press secretary Karoline Leavitt regularly spars with journalists.
After Trump inspected his surrounds, some correspondents shouted out: 'Mr President, what are you trying to build?'
'Missiles,' he replied, as he pointed towards the north lawn. 'Nuclear missiles.'
'Did he say missiles?' confused journalists asked one another below.
The jovial answer came as America's otherwise serious nuclear posturing and ambitions have ramped up in recent days.
On Friday, Trump ordered nuclear submarines to be positioned near Russia in response to escalating threats from Moscow.
The direction came after Trump and Russia's former president Dmitry Medvedev traded blows online, resulting in Medvedev likening Trump to 'Sleepy Joe' Biden and warning that Russia had Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities.
The administration also confirmed this week that it is planning to build a nuclear reactor on the moon as it seeks to push ahead in the global space race.
'We're in a race to the moon, in a race with China to the moon, and to have a base on the moon, we need energy,' Transportation Secretary and interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Trump's impromptu White House roof walk also prompted speculation that the president may be planning more renovations, particularly as he was on the west side of the White House, directly on top of the press briefing room.
Built in 1970, the aging room has become increasingly cramped this year due to the high number of reporters and MAGA influencers vying for space during Leavitt's briefings.
In September, construction also begins on Trump's $200 million ballroom—a 90,000-square foot project that the president first raised in 2010, when Trump called David Axlerod, then an adviser to President Barack Obama, and offered to build it.
'Let me build you a ballroom you can assemble and take apart,' Axelrod recalled Trump saying. 'Trust me. It'll look great.'
Fifteen years later, the project, to be built where the East Wing currently sits, is yet another example of the president putting his stamp on the executive mansion.
'Anything I do is financed by me, so you don't have to worry,' he told reporters. 'It's contributed—just like my salary is contributed. But nobody ever mentions that.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What Might Social Security Look Like in 2050?
Social Security is the most expensive program in America's budget. According to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, it accounts for one-fifth of federal spending. With daunting words like 'privatization' and 'insolvency' now part of the national debate on this perennially hot-button issue, millions of retirees, future retirees, disabled people, spouses, survivors and employees are paying into a system that they fear might not be there for them when it's their time to collect. This article uses current statistics, historical data and future projections to imagine what America's most important social program might look like 25 years from now, in 2050. Find Out: Read Next: COLAs Alone Could Boost Benefits by Nearly 90% According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), the average annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) — required by law to ensure benefits keep pace with inflation — has been 2.6% over the last decade. Presuming that remains unchanged for the next 25 years, annual COLAs will have boosted monthly benefit payments by nearly 89% by 2050. Learn More: The Average Monthly Check Could Grow by More Than $1,750 According to the SSA, the average monthly Social Security retirement benefit is $1,976 in 2025. With COLAs projected to increase by roughly 89% between now and 2050, based on the current average annual adjustment, the average monthly check would grow to $3,734.64 in 25 years, for a combined increase of $1,758.64 per month. Without Action, Checks Will Be Smaller, Not Bigger The SSA's own data show that the trusts that partially fund Social Security are on pace to be depleted by 2033, leaving only incoming payroll taxes to pay benefits. The SSA writes that starting then, the agency will be able to pay only 77% of promised benefits. Only congressional action could prevent this pending depletion and shortfall — and the country has been here before. In 1983, lawmakers reformed the system and prevented a similar calamity just months before it would have arrived. However, according to Brookings, the currently pending crisis is at least double that which President Ronald Reagan faced during his first term. Those Who Most Need Benefits Will Claim Earlier, Get Less The potential congressional reforms to prevent insolvency in 2033 might include reducing benefits, raising payroll taxes, extending the full retirement age or some combination of the three. The precise remedy is impossible to guess, but the SSA's 2024 Research, Statistics and Policy Analysis report predicts a bleak outcome for lower-income households in 2050, no matter what action lawmakers take to keep the program afloat. Out of necessity, lower-earning households will be much more likely to start taking benefits at 62, the earliest age of eligibility. Recipients who claim benefits at 62 will have higher poverty rates than those who claim at 63 or older. Not only will those who claim at 62 be disproportionately low-income, but they'll have lower median benefits than those who can afford to wait. More From GOBankingRates New Law Could Make Electricity Bills Skyrocket in These 4 States I'm an Economist: Here's When Tariff Price Hikes Will Start Hitting Your Wallet 5 Strategies High-Net-Worth Families Use To Build Generational Wealth 3 Reasons Retired Boomers Shouldn't Give Their Kids a Living Inheritance (And 2 Reasons They Should) This article originally appeared on What Might Social Security Look Like in 2050? Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fired Lane County administrator's ethics case closed after 12 years
Oregon's ethics board chose to drop the 12-year-old case against former Lane County Administrator Liane Richardson, who was fired in 2013 as part of a scandal over her pay, at its Aug. 8 meeting. In her recommendation to dismiss, Susan Meyers, executive director of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, said Richardson's case was "very old" and predated all members of the current OGEC board. "I don't have a good explanation" for why the investigation had taken so long, Meyers said, but given its age "it would be very difficult to proceed with any completion of the investigation or contest case simply because of the time that has passed and accessibility to any witnesses," leading her to recommend the board close the case. The board agreed with Meyers in a 7-0-1 vote, with OGEC Commissioner Iván Resendiz Gutierrez abstaining due to his affiliation with Lane County. In 2013, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission began investigating Richardson, who Lane County Commissioners fired that August and the parties agree not to sue. Richardson was promoted on an interim basis in 2010 and hired permanently in 2011. Commissioners said Richardson cashed out PTO and deferred payment in violation of county policy. This occurred while Richardson oversaw the county as it faced a $13.5 million budget shortfall which led to the county laying off employees, proposing forced furloughs and Richardson publicly declining a controversial pay raise. The initial version of the report that led to her firing was highly redacted, and the full version, released later, was unclear on whether Richardson acted entirely on her own or with the tacit approval of county commissioners. Subsequent investigation also found she had pressured the Human Resources director to recommend that raise, and appointed a city of Eugene police officer, with whom her husband alleged she was having an affair, to an internal county committee that recommended approval of her deferred pay cashout, and had scheduled him to attend an out-of-state conference with her and other county employees. In the fall out, Marion County's District Attorney declined to press charges, but the state bar association rejected Richardson's application over her conduct as Lane County administrator. Alan Torres covers local government for the Register-Guard. He can be reached by email at atorres@ on X @alanfryetorres or on Reddit at u/AlfrytRG. This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Ethics case of Liane Richardson dismissed by board Solve the daily Crossword
CNN
22 minutes ago
- CNN
Republicans reprise anti-transgender ‘Kamala is for they/them' ads for the midterms
LGBTQ issues Donald Trump Senate election US electionsFacebookTweetLink Follow Shortly after former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced his plans to run for Senate, a group backing Republicans released an ad with an echo of last year's presidential campaign. 'Roy Cooper sides with they/them,' read the language on screen in the ad, produced by the Senate Leadership Fund. Republicans are reprising a key attack line from last year's presidential race for elections this year and next, betting that anti-trans messaging will help them counter Democrats running on GOP-led cuts to Medicaid and other parts of Trump's policy megabill. Trump allies spent tens of millions of dollars airing an ad highlighting 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris' one-time commitment that detained immigrants would have access to treatment associated with gender transition as was required by federal law, including surgical care. The ad's tagline mocked the pronouns used by non-binary individuals, saying 'Kamala is for they/them; President Trump is for you.' Widely cited by strategists in both parties as having shaped the campaign, that ad is now being mimicked in North Carolina and another competitive Senate contest in Georgia. Trans and gender identity issues have also come up in this year's race for Virginia governor. One ad attacking Sen. Jon Ossoff aired during a basketball game and referenced the broadcast. 'Man-to-man defense isn't woke enough for Ossoff – he's playing for they/them. Call and tell Sen. Ossoff, stop dunking on defenseless girls,' said the ad, from an affiliate of SLF and backed by more than $350,000. Chris LaCivita, Trump's 2024 co-campaign manager and an architect of the 'Kamala is for they/them' ads, said it made sense for Republicans to bring back messaging they see as driving a wedge between Democrats and key voting blocs. 'The purpose of the ads in the 2024 campaign was built around the need to increase our vote share with men, Hispanics, and moms. The ads in question - there were three - achieved the results that we were looking for,' said LaCivita in an email. 'That's what is playing out right now across the country, in Senate, House and gubernatorial races.' Democrats argue that Republicans are using the issue as a distraction. 'Republicans have given in to the most extreme fringes of their party by abandoning pocketbook issues in favor of an anti-freedom agenda that is obsessed with letting politicians make decisions that should be left to parents and doctors,' said Viet Shelton, a spokesperson for the Democrats' House campaign arm, in a statement. 'Rather than getting involved in personal matters, House Republicans should perhaps spend their time expanding the middle class, lowering costs, and protecting freedoms.' The Trump administration has moved across government to target trans rights in particular, from removing trans people from the military to ordering investigations of hospitals that provide particular medical services for trans children. The White House often promotes its actions against trans-friendly policies, posting Wednesday about a move to restrict visas for trans female athletes competing in women's sports. Trans people make up less than 0.6% of the United States population ages 13 and older, according to the Williams Institute, a public policy research center focused on sexual orientation and gender identity at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. North Carolina and Georgia host US Senate elections that are expected to rank among the most competitive contests of next year's midterms. In both races, Republicans are launching transgender-focused attacks against Democrats, centered on policies governing youth sports participation and bathroom access. The North Carolina GOP issued a statement slamming Cooper, saying that he 'championed radical transgender ideology' and 'vetoed bills to keep men out of women's sports.' In another statement, the Senate Leadership Fund criticized Cooper's 'vetoes that allowed boys in girls' sports.' Meanwhile, one of Ossoff's challengers, Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter, is running an ad featuring a person wearing a dress and a wig complaining that Carter 'helped Trump' in 'banning people like me from competing in women's sports.' Ossoff campaign spokesperson Ellie Dougherty said that 'National Republicans are scrambling to hide from Trump's budget law after facing intense backlash in Georgia for gutting Medicaid and defunding hospitals.' Winsome Earle-Sears, the GOP nominee for governor in Virginia, has also been regularly targeting Democratic opponent Abigail Spanberger with attacks focused on transgender policies, as Republicans look for an opening in the challenging off-year race. Earle-Sears wrote on social media last week that Spanberger and Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, 'think your daughter should compete and share a locker room with biological men.' Sam Newton, communications director for the Democratic Governors Association, argued that party leaders at the state level had successfully navigated similar attacks from Republicans in recent elections. 'In battleground and red-state races for governor in 2022, 2023 and 2024, voters consistently rejected Republicans who made clear they only cared about stoking division with culture wars in favor of Democratic candidates who won by staying laser-focused on addressing the biggest issues impacting working families every single day. This cycle will be no different,' Newton said. The 'they/them' ads come as some Democrats who could run for president in 2028 have debated in public where they should stand on the participation of trans female athletes in girls' sports. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2028, told conservative influencer Charlie Kirk on his podcast in March that transgender athletes competing in women's sports was 'deeply unfair.' And Pete Buttigieg, another potential 2028 contender, also voiced sympathy for conservative complaints about transgender sports policies in an interview on NPR this week. 'I think most reasonable people would recognize that there are serious fairness issues if you just treat this as not mattering when a trans athlete wants to compete in women's sports,' Buttigieg said. Others have argued for resolve and attempted to build up infrastructure to support pro-transgender policies. The Human Rights Campaign, a leading LGBTQ rights organization, is planning a series of town halls in red-state cities over the summer aimed at supporting LGBTQ individuals and policies. 'Stories move people. Shared humanity is powerful. When the American people get to know who we are, and not who Donald Trump says we are, everything changes: hearts and minds first, policy and politics next,' HRC spokesperson Brandon Wolf said about the tour. Wolf urged Democrats to 'be bold, stand up to the bullies, and to say unequivocally: we refuse to compromise on freedom.' Another effort is underway in the Christopher Street Project, a PAC formed earlier this month to endorse and raise funds for candidates that advocate for pro-transgender policies. The group released a list of 16 initial endorsees including Rep. Sarah McBride, the first transgender member of Congress, and prominent Democrats such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Pramila Jayapal, Katherine Clark, and Jamie Raskin. During an interview last month at the Center for American Progress, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice-presidential nominee, also advised his party to avoid looking 'weak' and backing down to Republicans. 'I think it's a mistake to focus just on economics and allow trans children to get bullied or something. I think they have to go – or we look weak, if we don't do it,' Walz said. One minor Democratic candidate for California governor, meanwhile, tried to turn the tables on Trump and Republicans with their own line. The ad from Stephen Cloobeck's campaign shows Trump's photo next to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. 'Trump is for they/them,' the narrator says, with the names of Epstein and Maxwell highlighted. 'Stephen Cloobeck is for you.'
