Could Be Awkward

April 29, 2011 11:20 AM

The Washington Post has invited Donald Trump as its guest for the annual White House Correspondents Dinner. WaPo writers Ezra Klein and Dana Milbank are not amused, with the latter pointing out that his paper had recently taken Trump to task for his rampant birtherism. No word yet on how the POTUS might react.
posted by Halloween Jack (62 comments total)

give him the rope and he will hang himself. once again.
posted by krautland at 11:21 AM on April 29, 2011

I'm starting to believe this is true about the average American voter.
posted by elwoodwiles at 11:23 AM on April 29, 2011 [9 favorites]

Maybe this'll be the year that my dream of White House Correspondents Dinner as Friar's-Club-style roast finally comes true.
posted by box at 11:23 AM on April 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh pleaaaase let him come. Seth Meyers will crucify him.
posted by Ironmouth at 11:28 AM on April 29, 2011

"Boehner will likely request a move to his usual seat on Justin Bieber's lap"

Cheap shot, but heh.
posted by LMGM at 11:28 AM on April 29, 2011

Maybe this'll be the year that my dream of White House Correspondents Dinner as Friar's-Club-style roast finally comes true.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 11:29 AM on April 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

Our paper is becoming irrelevant! Quick, do something tasteless and outlandish!
posted by Avenger at 11:30 AM on April 29, 2011 [15 favorites]

Maybe posting links to Gawker sites should be suspended until those websites, y'know, work.
posted by docgonzo at 11:32 AM on April 29, 2011

Old style Gawker link
posted by Artw at 11:33 AM on April 29, 2011

The New York Times has invited Michael Sorrentino as its guest for the annual White House Correspondents Dinner.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 11:35 AM on April 29, 2011

Does he still have Bill the Cat's brain? Here's hoping he coughs up a hairball into David Arquette's lap.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:37 AM on April 29, 2011 [10 favorites]

"George Will must be rolling in his grave.'

Snark, or the writer confusing Will and David Broder?
posted by orthogonality at 11:37 AM on April 29, 2011

Artw beat me to it! In general, putting "ca." at the beginning of any Gawker blog URL (e.g. ca.io9.com) will get you the oldskool layout.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:38 AM on April 29, 2011

What I can't understand, re:Trump and his presidential aspirations, is where are the people with the dirt on the guy? I can't imagine that someone like Trump doesn't have, like, a bajillion skeletons in closets all over the world...snarky business dealings, mistresses, breathtakingly bad decisions, etc. I have to think there should be a boatload of people out there just salivating at the opportunity to spill the beans.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:38 AM on April 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

There is enough out about him in public to ruin a candidate already, why dig for more?
posted by furiousxgeorge at 11:41 AM on April 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

It's interesting that Milbank isn't complaining about reporters, politicians, and celebrities being in bed together, just that there's more of it than before. He laments that there used to be a quiet brunch in a TV producer's backyard, but now it's a fete at a multimillionaire's Georgetown mansion. I don't see the difference.

"There’s nothing inherently wrong with savoring Johnnie Walker Blue with the politicians we cover."

Um, yeah, actually there is.
posted by headnsouth at 11:43 AM on April 29, 2011 [10 favorites]

Donald Trump is the respectable face of the Klan. (Apparently, more respectable than I had thought.)
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:43 AM on April 29, 2011 [4 favorites]

Given the complete irrationality of the current electorate, I fear that they might like Trump more if we continue dragging skeletons out of his closet. He's already an attention-seeking caricature of himself. Let's not fuel those flames.

This is almost exactly what happened in Italy with Silvio Berlusconi. I don't think you'll find a single person in that country who will claim that he's a decent individual, and yet he wins elections with a decent majority.
posted by schmod at 11:46 AM on April 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

With the proliferation of A-list parties and the infusion of corporate and lobbyist cash, Washington journalists give Americans the impression we have shed our professional detachment and are aspiring to be like the celebrities and power players we cover.

the impression?!?!
posted by mrgrimm at 11:56 AM on April 29, 2011 [6 favorites]

I honestly don't understand how any respectable media outlet of any kind gives this guy even one sentence of coverage (let alone an invitation of this kind). Granted, there aren't all that many respectable media outlets. Which I suppose answers my own question.

I haven't confirmed all these, but this list shows an astounding number of bankruptcies for one "successful" guy whose "lifestyle" has never suffered as a result. It's intensely disgusting.
posted by Glinn at 12:21 PM on April 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Obama just shouldn't go. Fuck them. They'll write their silly little whiny articles about how the President didn't show up and it'll ultimately just make them look stupid. Credit to both Clinton and Bush for attending all of them but Jesus, for the last few years this stupid event has basically taken every annoying, unfair stereotype of elitst, Hollywood-driver news media and made it impossible to defend against them.

Honestly, if one of the largest papers in the country, and the paper of record for DC is inviting a person that the President just told to said paper was a distraction and a "carnival barker," then he's self-hating to even entertain them. They're mocking the President, which is a lot different than making fun of him.

"Celebrity guests?" Why the fuck should anyone attend the WH Press Corps dinner? What in God's name could they possibly have to celebrate?
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 12:24 PM on April 29, 2011 [7 favorites]

I wish the Onion would stop causing the absurd to become reality.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 12:25 PM on April 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Agree completely. Obama should skip it and the tradition should die. Colbert perfected the form, anyway.
posted by gerryblog at 12:26 PM on April 29, 2011 [4 favorites]

"We thought, who's sticking up for the crypto-racist frauds?", asked Marcus Brachuli, "Nobody, that's who."
He jabs at the table with his finger, making a rhythmic thump-thump to emphasize his point. "We could not let that stand."
posted by boo_radley at 12:26 PM on April 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

What I can't understand, re:Trump and his presidential aspirations, is where are the people with the dirt on the guy?

Oh, journalists are starting to come out with the dirt. See a number of examples cited in the Obama Birth Certificate thread.

Examples:

Rolling Snake Eyes: Trump's First Casino Partners Had Alleged Mob Ties.

Donald Trump's Racial Discrimination Problem -- "In the 1970s, he was sued by the feds for not renting to African-Americans."

Deferments Helped Trump Dodge Vietnam -- How the presidential aspirant avoided fighting for his country.

posted by ericb at 12:29 PM on April 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Damn. Link FAIL.

Proper link: Rolling Snake Eyes: Trump's First Casino Partners Had Alleged Mob Ties.
posted by ericb at 12:33 PM on April 29, 2011

Just wait until someone realizes he is wearing something funny on his head.
posted by found missing at 12:35 PM on April 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

Making Boehner and Trump sit together is just more segregation of Orange Americans.
posted by klangklangston at 12:42 PM on April 29, 2011 [7 favorites]

I plan to keep hammering on Trump until he actually becomes a laughing stock. Last go round I was a delegate for Obama. I had to switch from Independent to Democrat so I could stand with Obama (if you know anything about Iowa's first in the nation caucuses this actually has a meaning). This time around I am thinking of caucusing with the Republicans, since Obama has the Dem. nomination locked up. I figure a few hours of my life and I get to influence the election in a way a single general election vote never could. The problem is that so far the GOP has yet to field a single candidate that isn't a weird caricature. About the only person I could conceivably stand with would be Romney.

I actually want a decent GOP candidate. I would like for the choice to be difficult when I am at the polls. I would like to believe even if my candidate doesn't win that the other side has the best interest of the country (and the people in it) in mind. I hate voting against a candidate. I hate voting because I despise the opponent. Obama was one of the first clear choices for me. I didn't care who he was running against. He was my guy. I would hope that the GOP could field a candidate that they could rally behind and believe in. If Trump is this person then their party is doomed.
posted by cjorgensen at 1:30 PM on April 29, 2011 [7 favorites]

!! Trump / Palin 2012 !!
posted by Theta States at 1:36 PM on April 29, 2011

I don't get why Donald Trump is still even a thing. He's hideous to look at, has a toxic, grating personality, and compared to the likes of Buffett, Gates, and countless 20/30-something Internet billionaires he's not even all that wealthy. I could understand the appeal if he was a J.R. Ewing-esque combination of evil business genius and charming rogue, but the man has zero charisma and doesn't even strike me as all that bright. I blame indiscriminating, drama-addicted reality TV fans.
posted by Atom Eyes at 1:38 PM on April 29, 2011 [7 favorites]

Obama just shouldn't go. Fuck them. They'll write their silly little whiny articles about how the President didn't show up and it'll ultimately just make them look stupid.

No, this is exactly the wrong thing to do. This makes Obama look weak and afraid of him. Obama should go and call him a liar and attention whore carnival barker to his face in front of the entire Washington press corps and right next to the WaPo editors who invited him.
posted by vibrotronica at 1:38 PM on April 29, 2011 [7 favorites]

Trump isn't running for anything. Why do people fall for this?
posted by y6y6y6 at 1:40 PM on April 29, 2011 [5 favorites]

I'm now of the opinion that all Republican politicians have varying degrees of sociopathy, otherwise they wouldn't be Republican politicians. I will happily caucus for the viable candidate whom I consider to be most unelectable in the general.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:41 PM on April 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

I think politics in general require a degree of sociopathy. The President gets $400,000 annually in salary, which isn't a bad amount considering his medical, housing, and transportation costs are zero. Pretty good money if you can get it. 1.6 million for four years? 3.6 if you get a second term?

For this sum you have to spend way more than that of your own money. The press, paparazzi, nutjobs, general citizens, and other politicians get to crawl up into every aspect of your life, get to question every decision you ever made in life, get to follow you and yours around, ever action you take (or fail to take) is scrutinized in the minutest detail from TV pundits to bartenders.

I'm not exactly crying rivers for the people that get into these positions, but I think it takes a particular mental illness to want to do the job (and an ego to think you're the best suited person). To know what this is going to do to your family and still want to do it?

I'll pass.
posted by cjorgensen at 2:04 PM on April 29, 2011

Given the complete irrationality of the current electorate, I fear that they might like Trump more if we continue dragging skeletons out of his closet.

Qv. Silvio Berlusconi.
posted by adoarns at 2:09 PM on April 29, 2011

I don't understand why people are so upset at having Trump as a candidate. I think he's exactly the kind of candidate we need to get America back on track.

For most of our political history there's been a wink-wink, nudge-nudge along with a gentlemen's handshake between the politcal establishment, business interests and the mainstream media. And while it seems to have been getting more blatant in its connectedness, there has still been a veneer of deniability that has given the whole process the perception of respectability. What we need now is a candidate who isn't afraid of respectability. Or having a moral center or even good taste. What we need is a candidate who embraces the political establishment for what it is, and then is willing and able to take it to the next level. If Trump becomes president, we can have a chance at some real change.

I foresee a Trump driven America where the facade of separation between government, business and media is finally disolved. With the viel finally lifted, the organizations can work together out in the open, without any competing interests of checks and balances. In that new atmosphere, the most patriotic institution of business will spearhead the direction with government passing and/or dismantling the laws to open the doors to progress, while the media will report on the great strides business is taking to secure the prosperity of our country.

We all know that there is a debt crisis in America due to a lack of funds available for entitlement programs such as Medicare, veteran's benefits, Social Security and the plethora of other hand-outs that have been draining the coffers of the American Dream. And while we certainly could increase the tax rate on the financially stable in this country, that wouldn't be fair to those individuals and families who have had the foresight to make their generational inheritance work for them.

Further, I am sure we are all aware of the importance of the business community to the very foundational existence of America. For without business, this nation would just be a group of people with ideals and principles -- and who is going to respect that? No, business is the life blood of this country. And as with all the things American, the bigger the better, the more patriotic. So it follows that the biggest businesses would be the most patriotic and therefore the most American.

In order to cut costs, any and every means of revenue should be pursued. In this new age, the antiquated institutions in Washington D.C. will be relocated to Trump office buildings in New York City, the business center of the world. The old capitol buildings will be converted to a theme park and museum and renamed Six Flags American Adventure. But do not fear, the old capitol will not fall completely out of favor. It will still be used to host foreign dignitaries at the newly developed Trump Hotel and Suites, with state dinners sponsored by Omaha Steaks, Applebees and Pizza Hut.

Further cost reductions would be made by contracting (and later completely privatizing) the military. After the Supreme Court of the United States and the Congress are converted into the the Supreme Board of Directors of the United States (SBODOTUS), the decision will be made to have the military take on the task of municipal police duties as well. After a time, the military will also be cross-trained in firefighting and medical services, so as to further reduce bureaucratic redundancy. This will have the net effect of not only reducing the amount of money given to greedy public unions (now illegal, along with all collective bargaining), but also save on costs to vetrans services, and fix the healthcare problem once and for all.

Public education will undergo a long needed transformation. The SPODOTUS will partner with Univeristy of Pheonix, National University and ITT Tech to create an educational program serving all students K-9. By the ninth grade all students will be qualified in their pre-identified field to enter the workforce. There will be an extended track for those qualified for the financial services industry and pharmaceutical research. There will also be a specialized track at the remaining private universities of Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford for those who have shown generational competence in business and government.

It's changes like this that will put America back on the track to competitive greatness. And only a candidate such as Trump to make it happen. We need a candidate like Trump to take the reigns of America's destiny and steer in in the right direction. Sure, it may not be the direction the founder's intended, but it's the direction that we need for business to succeed. It will take a real patriot such as Trump to make those changes that would be best for all of America.
posted by bionic.junkie at 2:19 PM on April 29, 2011 [12 favorites]

No, this is exactly the wrong thing to do. This makes Obama look weak and afraid of him. Obama should go and call him a liar and attention whore carnival barker to his face in front of the entire Washington press corps and right next to the WaPo editors who invited him.

And then then they'll release three days of reportage on how a "visibly angry" and "confrontational" Obama "ruined what was usually a lighthearted and friendly meeting" barf fart spew. For fuck sake, when Obama released his longform two days ago proving that Donald Trump was a racist, lying fuckwit, Trump held a press conference to brag about it.

You ever seen right-wing trolls on a left-wing website? They're sociopaths. They don't want to argue anything; they just want to say something nasty and then have another thing ready to say no matter what your response is. There is nothing Obama can or can't do that won't garner a nasty response so fuck it. At the very least, don't bother, don't mention the dinner, and let them stop feeling like they're fucking important.

Asshole media: your comments have been rated too low to display.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 2:30 PM on April 29, 2011 [4 favorites]

bionic.junkie: if you'd toned that down a bit, it would have been Faze-worthy.
posted by leotrotsky at 2:45 PM on April 29, 2011

Trump is using Nixon's playbook.

The wealthy loser who's baiting the acting president and using political jiujitsu to garner his numbers on the GOP polls. I was laughing reading Trump's response to Obama's birth certificate because he demonstrated to me that he doesn't care about the people who see through him. They are not going to support him. He's gunning for those who don't or don't mind his superficiality.
posted by Jan Coztas at 2:46 PM on April 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

if you'd toned that down a bit, it would have been Faze-worthy.

The Donald doesn't tone it down, so neither will I. Trump 2012!!!1!
posted by bionic.junkie at 2:55 PM on April 29, 2011

For this sum you have to spend way more than that of your own money. The press, paparazzi, nutjobs, general citizens, and other politicians get to crawl up into every aspect of your life, get to question every decision you ever made in life, get to follow you and yours around, ever action you take (or fail to take) is scrutinized in the minutest detail from TV pundits to bartenders.

I'm not exactly crying rivers for the people that get into these positions, but I think it takes a particular mental illness to want to do the job (and an ego to think you're the best suited person). To know what this is going to do to your family and still want to do it?

I'll pass.

On the other hand, the presidency has been overwhelmingly enriching for President Obama, when you consider that his presidential campaign stimulated his book sales. He probably wasn't a millionaire when he started running for president.

In fact, even an unsuccessful presidential run can be very enriching these days. See: Sarah Palin; Mike Huckabee.

When I think of presidential candidates (aside from vanity candidates like Forbes, Perot, Bloomberg, and Trump), I don't think of them as spending their own money to get elected. That would be just stupid.
posted by mrgrimm at 3:18 PM on April 29, 2011

And then then they'll release three days of reportage on how a "visibly angry" and "confrontational" Obama "ruined what was usually a lighthearted and friendly meeting" barf fart spew. For fuck sake, when Obama released his longform two days ago proving that Donald Trump was a racist, lying fuckwit, Trump held a press conference to brag about it.

Obama won the election the day John McCain said he would suspend his campaign and not show up for the debate in Oxford, Mississippi. McCain had been beaten handily in the first debate, and ducking out of the second debate made him look scared. McCain realized this too late and showed up after all, but the damage was done. Not showing up to the press corps dinner would be showing weakness in front of the press corps. Donald Trump does't decide where the President goes and does not go. Maybe Obama shouldn't be confrontational, but he shouldn't show Trump any respect whatsoever, and, if asked, he should say something like "Who cares what that liar says?"

You ever seen right-wing trolls on a left-wing website? They're sociopaths. They don't want to argue anything; they just want to say something nasty and then have another thing ready to say no matter what your response is. There is nothing Obama can or can't do that won't garner a nasty response so fuck it. At the very least, don't bother, don't mention the dinner, and let them stop feeling like they're fucking important.

I have indeed locked horns with right wing trolls in many places across the internet. The only thing they respect is power. if Obama stands next to Trump, it will be obvious who has the power.
posted by vibrotronica at 3:27 PM on April 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

To be honest, Berlusconi is not a good comparison for a lot of reasons that someone more versed in Italian political culture than I could elucidate. I know it's an easy reference, guys, but you really can't conflate Italian political climate with that in America. It's a little disingenuous to claim otherwise.
posted by nonmerci at 3:36 PM on April 29, 2011

What I can't understand, re:Trump and his presidential aspirations, is where are the people with the dirt on the guy? I can't imagine that someone like Trump doesn't have, like, a bajillion skeletons in closets all over the world...snarky business dealings, mistresses, breathtakingly bad decisions, etc. I have to think there should be a boatload of people out there just salivating at the opportunity to spill the beans.

I think you're underestimating just how much a lot of people want him to run, just so he'll lose.
posted by Navelgazer at 3:48 PM on April 29, 2011

I'll actually be working the event tomorrow night, and I've worked a few of them in the past. I'd like nothing better than for Trump to tee himself up for Obama, the host and other speakers.

There's a certain distance presented by something like the Friar's Club roast, where the guest/victim of honor can pretend they're all just kidding, that they REALLY all love him/her. Not the case at the Correspondents' Dinner, at least not any more. Sure, it's mostly a big pile of self-congratulatory glad-handing and "Yaaaaay us!" boosterism, but lately the barbs thrown from that podium typically hook and hold (if/when they're thrown at all -- I'm lookin' at you, Leno!)
posted by Shotgun Shakespeare at 3:50 PM on April 29, 2011

"George Will must be rolling in his grave.'

Snark, or the writer confusing Will and David Broder?

No, really. George Will has already purchased and excavated his own grave; and whenever he feels particularly schoolmarmish and disapproving, he goes down to the cemetery and rolls around in it. His dry-cleaning bills are outrageous!
posted by steambadger at 3:53 PM on April 29, 2011 [6 favorites]

hahahaha. i initially read ... pointing out that his paper had recently taken Trump to task for his rampant birtherism as pointing out that his paper had recently taken Trump to task for his rampant blitherism.

i like my initial read better.
posted by msconduct at 4:38 PM on April 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Obama should totally go. While wearing a small kenyan flag lapel pin.
posted by ArkhanJG at 5:13 PM on April 29, 2011 [3 favorites]

The more I think about, the greater are the similarities to Joaquin Phoenix. Maybe this is all an elaborate reality show stunt or the new Michael Moore movie...?
posted by dave78981 at 6:04 PM on April 29, 2011

The Washington Post gets most of its revenue from "Kaplan Higher Ed". It is no longer a journalistic entity but one in the business of defrauding students. It can bring anybody to the party it wants.
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:09 PM on April 29, 2011

bionic.junkie, that was positively Swiftian.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:43 PM on April 29, 2011

There is only one thing I want to know about Donald Trump. I cannot help it, I am just that curious.

What in the hell is going on with his hair? Seriously. How is that hairstyle produced? Is he bald from forehead to ears, and actually has a ducktail he combs all the way forward?
posted by aeschenkarnos at 5:56 AM on April 30, 2011 [1 favorite]

What in the hell is going on with his hair? Seriously. How is that hairstyle produced?

The best example I read is that it's wood grain.
posted by dirigibleman at 6:38 AM on April 30, 2011 [2 favorites]

It turned out to be awkward for someone [nytimes] but not President Obama. The thing is the president had the podium.
posted by rdr at 9:04 PM on April 30, 2011 [1 favorite]

Obama was great, video really deserves a new thread but I don't have the guts.
posted by Ad hominem at 11:33 PM on April 30, 2011

Thank fucking Christ, Obama. Now, if you could only have been that charismatic when you were selling the health care bills…
posted by klangklangston at 12:00 AM on May 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

While Obama evicerated Trump, Seth Meyer did unspeakable things to his corpse. I'd like to think that this is the last we ever hear of Donald Trump, but as George W. Bush and Trump himself have shown, rich failed losers are the herpes of our society.
posted by dirigibleman at 1:07 AM on May 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Don't be a quitter Donald. Hang in there. Please.
posted by notreally at 7:45 AM on May 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Here's the CSPAN video of Obama's intro video and speech. The intro video is trolling hard, and I love it.
posted by stoneweaver at 10:56 AM on May 2, 2011

(Same video as in the NYTimes link, just without the NYTimes bit.)
posted by stoneweaver at 10:57 AM on May 2, 2011

Wow. In the interview of Trump after the event, the NY Times got this absurd nugget [via Joe. My. God.]:

"It’s like in golf. A lot of people — I don’t want this to sound trivial — but a lot of people are switching to these really long putters, very unattractive. It’s weird. You see these great players with these really long putters, because they can’t sink three-footers anymore. And, I hate it. I am a traditionalist. I have so many fabulous friends who happen to be gay, but I am a traditionalist." - Donald Trump, telling the New York Times why he opposes gay marriage.

Apparently, gay marriage should be illegal, because fuck long putters, am I right?
posted by mccarty.tim at 8:23 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]