In what might be the least surprising display of presidential pettiness since, well, the last time Donald Trump opened his mouth, our 78-year-old commander-in-chief has once again demonstrated that emotional maturity remains firmly on his presidential bucket list.
During what should have been a straightforward celebration honoring the World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers, Trump decided that basic courtesy was simply too much to ask of the leader of the free world. “We have a couple of senators here. I just don’t particularly like ’em, so I won’t introduce,” he said.
Trump: “We have a couple of senators here, I just don’t particularly like them so I won’t introduce them”
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 7, 2025
A narcissistic sociopath
pic.twitter.com/CZW2KSya3K
For those keeping score at home, this is a man twice elected to the highest office in the land, who has access to nuclear codes, and yet can’t manage the bare minimum of diplomatic niceties at a baseball celebration. If my toddler nephew acted this way during a birthday party, he’d be put in time-out. Trump gets to do it in the White House while people nervously laugh along.
The awkward tittering that followed his remark clearly caught even Trump off guard. “I didn’t think it was that big a deal, actually,” he added with his own chuckle. Initial speculation suggested Trump might have been taking a swipe at California’s Democratic senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla. Both men have frequently found themselves in Trump’s crosshairs, with Schiff particularly drawing presidential ire after leading impeachment proceedings against Trump during his first term. But in a twist that perfectly encapsulates the bizarre theater of Trumpian politics, neither senator was actually present for the event — making Trump’s snub both petty AND pointless.
The absurdity continued as Trump, a Queens native who has repeatedly professed his love for the New York Yankees, struggled to maintain his baseball allegiances while honoring the team that had defeated his beloved Bronx Bombers. “I love the Yankees,” he announced to the room full of Dodgers players and staff. Trump then proceeded to namecheck the late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner as “a good friend of mine,” before immediately adding, “He had very few friends.”
Just minutes before channeling his inner Little League coach, Trump had issued a bombastic threat to slap a 50% tariff on Chinese goods if Beijing didn’t back down in an escalating trade war. The entire spectacle was a reminder that America has twice elected a man who seems pathologically incapable of rising above schoolyard taunts and petty rivalries.
Perhaps the White House staff should consider installing a “Be Best” poster in the Oval Office — a gentle reminder from the former First Lady’s anti-bullying campaign that even presidents should try to play nice. Though given Trump’s track record, they might need to supplement it with a picture book explaining what “nice” means. With small words. And lots of pictures. Preferably of himself.
Published: Apr 7, 2025 03:04 pm