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Rationing Dolls and Pencils: Trump’s Ramblings Preview the Economy He’s Wrecking [1]
['Joan Walsh', 'John Nichols', 'Mitch Therieau', 'Juliana Spahr', 'Elie Mystal', 'Chris Lehmann', 'Benjamin Y. Fong', 'Katrina Vanden Heuvel', 'Zephyr Teachout', 'James K. Galbraith']
Date: 2025-05-05 16:50:17+00:00
Rationing Dolls and Pencils: Trump’s Ramblings Preview the Economy He’s Wrecking The president spewed absolute nonsense on Sunday. It should spark speculation about his mental capacity.
President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on Sunday, May 4, 2025. (Chris Kleponis / CNP / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
On Sunday, President Donald Trump warned parents that Christmas might be tough this year, claimed that high stroller prices don’t matter, and said he doesn’t “know” if he has to uphold the Constitution.
“I don’t think that a beautiful baby girl needs—that’s 11 years old—needs to have 30 dolls. I think they can have three dolls or four dolls.… They don’t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five.”
That was Trump’s pitch to NBC’s Kristen Welker on Meet the Press when she asked about prior comments that maybe girls will get fewer dolls for Christmas this year. And lest you thought he misspoke, and his staff would get him in line, on Air Force One that same day, he continued his War on Christmas, and on America’s little girls, telling reporters, “A young lady, 10-year-old girl, 9-year-old girl, 15-year-old girl, doesn’t need 37 dolls.”
Nobody wants to hear the serial sexual abuser and friend of the late predator Jeffrey Epstein talk about “a beautiful baby girl that’s 11 years old” or “a 10-year-old girl, 9-year-old girl, 15-year-old girl,” as though he’s reminiscing about his time on Epstein’s notorious island. Ick factor aside, it’s amazing to hear the president tell America’s parents in May that come December they’ll have to ration their children’s toys. Or is he suggesting America’s little girls are spoiled and will grow up to be the insolent feminists hated by the manosphere?
You could argue, and many will, that the real news in Welker’s interview came when Trump said, “I don’t know” whether it’s his job to uphold the Constitution—although The New York Times put it on page 13—or whether everyone in the country, whether citizens or not, has a right to due process. The Supreme Court knows, and it has already said yes, although what it will do as Trump continues to flout its rulings is a huge unanswered question.
But Trump’s blithely acknowledging that ordinary Americans are going to feel the pinch of his tariffs is important too. Oh, also small businesses? Who cares?, he essentially told Welker. “Why do you always mention that?” he asked petulantly. “You know, you pick up a couple of little businesses. What about the car business? They’re going to make a fortune because of the tariffs.” I remember when Republicans claimed to be the party of small business, which was always a façade, anyway. But boasting that he cares more about auto titans than struggling entrepreneurs is just part of his second term’s blatant fronting for billionaires—and himself.
Meanwhile, there was plenty of reporting Sunday that the impact of tariffs can already be seen in the supply chain. Global trade expert Christopher Mims of The Wall Street Journal assembled some of the indicators—including declining shipping volume at major American ports—in a Bluesky thread.
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