In his real estate days, Donald Trump met President Bill Clinton. After that, he thought that he could be a U.S. president, too. After Trump met Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, he imagined that he could be a dictator, too, and has been working toward that end ever since. Of course, there were some misses, not that he realizes.
During a trip to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta, the Donald said that he had a “natural ability” for medical science. The New Yorker contributor Barry Blitt began designing covers in 1993 and won a Pulitzer Prize in May for his cartoons. He decided to have some fun with the president on the magazine’s cover:
‘This week’s cover, “Natural Ability,” by Barry Blitt:’
At one point, he said he knew more about former Newark mayor and Rhodes Scholar Senator Corrie Booker (D-NJ) than the senator knew about himself. POTUS also asked, according to Axios:
‘[W]ho knows more about lawsuits than I do? I’m the king.’
Then, there was debt. POTUS, never one to be modest, said:
”I’m the king of debt. I’m great with debt. Nobody knows debt better than me.’
In The New Yorker cover story, art editor since 1993 Françoise Mouly talked to the man who designed this humorous cover. She noted that Blitt had done a number of Trump covers, but did he ever imagine putting 45 in the surgeon role? The cartoonist responded
‘I try not to think about what guises or situations I’m going to draw him in next. But let’s just say that nothing would surprise me. I can’t believe I haven’t drawn him as one of the Rockettes yet. Or as part of Winnie the Pooh’s inner circle, say.’
Then, Mouly asked whether political cartoons felt different from how they have in the past. Blitt replied:
‘I don’t know about being an expert. It’s panic time whenever I start the next cartoon. And it’s hard not to feel like drawing caricatures is a little trivial at a time like this. But what else am I going to do?’
The art editor asked him what surgical masks did to his job. Blitt answered:
‘Good question. This was the first cartoon I’ve drawn that required recognizable likenesses despite half the face being obscured. One thing I learned is that Jared Kushner looks almost exactly the same with and without a mask on.’
After that she asked whether the coronavirus quarantine affected his own life:
‘I hate to admit that I’ve been social-distancing for decades. The bulk of my time is spent at my drafting table, or pacing around my studio, talking to myself out loud. When the UPS man comes to the door, I hide to avoid conversation. This is nothing I’m proud of, but it’s old hat for me.’
These are areas where Trump knows better than anyone else, according to Axio:
- ‘Campaign finance: “I think nobody knows more about campaign finance than I do, because I’m the biggest contributor.” (1999.)
- TV ratings: “I know more about people who get ratings than anyone.” (October 2012.)
- ISIS: “I know more about ISIS than the generals do.” (November 2015.)
- Social media: “I understand social media. I understand the power of Twitter. I understand the power of Facebook maybe better than almost anybody, based on my results, right?” (November 2015.)
- Courts: “I know more about courts than any human being on Earth.” (November 2015.)
- Lawsuits: “[W]ho knows more about lawsuits than I do? I’m the king.” (January 2016.)
- Politicians: “I understand politicians better than anybody.”
- The visa system: “[N]obody knows the system better than me. I know the H1B. I know the H2B. … Nobody else on this dais knows how to change it like I do, believe me.” (March 2016.)
- Trade: “Nobody knows more about trade than me.” (March 2016.)
- The U.S. government system: “[N]obody knows the system better than I do.” (April 2016.)
- Renewable energy: “I know more about renewables than any human being on Earth.” (April 2016.)
- Taxes: “I think nobody knows more about taxes than I do, maybe in the history of the world.” (May 2016.)
- Debt: “I’m the king of debt. I’m great with debt. Nobody knows debt better than me.” (June 2016.)
- Money: “I understand money better than anybody.” (June 2016.)
- Infrastructure: “[L]ook, as a builder, nobody in the history of this country has ever known so much about infrastructure as Donald Trump.” (July 2016.)
- Sen. Cory Booker: “I know more about Cory than he knows about himself.” (July 2016.)
- Borders: Trump said in 2016 that Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he was endorsing him for president because “you know more about this stuff than anybody.”
- Democrats: “I think I know more about the other side than almost anybody.” (November 2016.)
- Construction: “[N]obody knows more about construction than I do.” (May 2018.)
- The economy: “I think I know about it better than [the Federal Reserve].” (October 2018.)
- Technology: “Technology — nobody knows more about technology than me.” (December 2018.)
- Drones: “I know more about drones than anybody. I know about every form of safety that you can have.” (January 2019.)
- Drone technology: “Having a drone fly overhead — and I think nobody knows much more about technology, this type of technology certainly, than I do.” (January 2019.)’
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
