
Trump Flirts With Female Reporter: Wish More Were ‘Like You’
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Chrisleys Spill to Lara Trump on Their Life After Jail: ‘We Have Changed’
Todd and Julie Chrisley have opened up to the daughter-in-law of the man who released them from jail. Lara Trump, who is married to Donald Trump’s second son, Eric, has scored an exclusive interview with the Chrisley Knows Best stars. The husband and wife were convicted of tax evasion and of defrauding community banks of more than $30 million for personal loans. Todd was sentenced to 12 years, Julie to seven, with both going behind bars in January 2023. The pair were pardoned by Donald Trump on May 28 this year, after they had each served two years of their respective prison sentences. The show, which ran for 10 seasons, followed real estate tycoon Todd and his wife and children and was canceled by the USA Network following their imprisonment. The Chrisley family have long been Trump supporters.
Lara Trump, who is married to Donald Trump’s second son, Eric, has scored an exclusive interview with the Chrisley Knows Best stars, to air on Fox News this Saturday night.
The pair were pardoned by Donald Trump on May 28 this year, after they had each served two years of their respective prison sentences.
Todd and Julie Chrisley open up to Lara Trump on life after jail. screen grab
The husband and wife were convicted of tax evasion and of defrauding community banks of more than $30 million for personal loans.
Todd was sentenced to 12 years, Julie to seven, with both going behind bars in January 2023. Chrisley Knows Best was canceled by the USA Network following their imprisonment.
The show, which ran for 10 seasons, followed real estate tycoon Todd and his wife and children.
In a preview of her interview, Lara Trump discovered the couple went 28 months without speaking to each other.
“It was surreal,” Julie Chrisley said. “People have asked `Was it weird, was it awkward?’ It really wasn’t.”
Todd Chrisley then adds, “I was never away from her, because she was in my spirit the entire time. I thought of her every second of my day, so when I hugged her the first time it was like I was home. I knew I was coming home to the same woman that I left.”
The Chrisley patriarch added, “Now, when I say the same, I’m talking about in my heart spiritually. We have changed, and if we did not change in these 28 months it would have been wasted.”
The Chrisley family have long been Trump supporters. Daughter Savannah spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention. President Trump called Savannah and her brother Grayson to share the news their parents were due to be pardoned.
In a video of the call, the president told Savannah, “It’s a great thing because your parents are going to be free and clean. I don’t know them but give them my regards, I wish them a good life… they were given a pretty harsh treatment given what I’m hearing.”
Savannah Chrisley had American criminal justice reform advocate and former federal prisoner Alice Marie Johnson as a guest on her podcast Unlocked last year.
Lara Trump talks to the Chrisley family. screen grab
Trump granted Johnson clemency in June 2018, allowing her to leave jail after 21 years. In February of this year, Trump named her his “Pardon Czar”. Johnson was instrumental in the Chrisley pardon, and was in the background when Trump called the family to break the news.
At a May press conference after their release, Savannah explained, “Alice obviously came on my podcast before she ever got the (Czar) role and what I respect about her is she’s not in the art of giving favors, neither is President Trump, and when she got the role she looked into our case and saw the injustices.”
Todd said at the same Nashville media call, “As bad as this experience has been, there’s also been a lot of lessons to come from it. Whether you believe it or not, even though this pardon has happened, I still was convicted of something that I did not do.”
He also confirmed they have started filming a new reality show, which will air on Lifetime at a date to be announced. “We’re blessed to have our family back and we’re blessed to be coming back to television,” Todd said. “Because we do have a much bigger story to tell than we ever have.”
Trump Flirts With Female Reporter: Wish More Were ‘Like You’
President Donald Trump joked that his political career could end after he told a female reporter she was beautiful and wished there were more reporters like her. The awkward scene took place in the Oval Office on Friday as a peace deal facilitated by the U.S. was signed by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. The deal has been touted as an important step toward peace in the Central African nation of Congo, where conflict with more than 100 armed groups has killed millions of people since the 1990s. Trump took credit on Friday not just for the Washington Accord, but also for his role in other foreign conflicts. He said he would be “putting a lot of pressure” on both sides to honor the agreement. Under the agreement, the United States will also get access to the DRC’s deposits of metals and minerals.
The awkward scene took place in the Oval Office on Friday as a peace deal facilitated by the U.S. was signed by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, with the aim of ending the decades-long, deadly fighting in eastern Congo.
White House Correspondent Hariana Veras speaks during a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe in the Oval Office. Ken Cedeno/Reuters
As the signing ceremony began, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt invited reporter and “friend” Hariana Veras to address the press and attendees in the room, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the foreign ministers from the two African nations.
Veras, a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who covers the White House, told Trump what she had seen on the ground in the DRC upon news of the peace agreement.
“I saw hope. They have hope now for a better day in Congo,” she said, adding that Congo’s President Felix Tshiseked wanted to nominate Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump to an African reporter: “She’s beautiful … you are beautiful and you’re beautiful inside. I wish I had more reporters like you.” pic.twitter.com/NEsCcxQciv — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 27, 2025
“So beautifully stated,” Trump replied, before telling Veras she was also “beautiful”.
“I’m not allowed to say that,” he joked. “You know that could be the end of my political career, but you are beautiful—and you’re beautiful inside. I wish I had more reporters like you.”
The lighthearted scene came during an otherwise serious signing ceremony to mark an agreement between Rwanda and the DRC after decades of bloodshed.
The deal has been touted as an important step toward peace in the Central African nation of Congo, where conflict with more than 100 armed groups has killed millions of people since the 1990s.
The conflict has sparked a humanitarian crisis and widespread displacement in eastern DRC, where a militia allegedly backed by Rwanda occupies large pieces of land.
“So we’re here today to celebrate a glorious triumph, and that’s what it is, for the cause of peace,” said Trump, who noted that he would be “putting a lot of pressure” on both sides to honor the agreement.
U.S. President Donald Trump presents a picture of himself with the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe. Ken Cedeno/Reuters
“This is a long time waiting. The signing of a historic peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda. The conflict has continued, and it’s been going on for many, many years.”
The deal has been dubbed the Washington Accord—although Trump joked that it should have been called the “Trump Accord.”
Under the agreement, the U.S. will also get access to the DRC’s deposits of metals and minerals, such as gold, lithium, and copper.
Trump took credit on Friday not just for the Washington Accord, but also for his role in other foreign conflicts.
The spectacular end of Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s bromance
President Trump praised Elon Musk, his adviser and the outgoing head of the president’s Department of Government Efficiency, for waging war on the federal workforce. The president suggested that Musk, like many others before him, had become “hostile” upon leaving his administration. Musk responded by railing at Trump in real time on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Trump said he was “very disappointed” with Musk’S criticism of his “one big beautiful” spending bill. He also suggested Musk was upset that the Republican-backed reconciliation bill did not include an electric vehicle mandate, which would have benefited EV manufacturers, including Tesla. This article includes information that may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may notAlways match what’ll be in the next article. The next article in this series will focus on technology and business.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways
During a press conference in the Oval Office last week, President Trump praised Elon Musk, his adviser and the outgoing head of the president’s Department of Government Efficiency, for waging war on the federal workforce.
“Elon has worked tirelessly to lead the most sweeping and consequential government reform program in generations,” Trump said alongside Musk, who wore a black DOGE hat and “DOGEfather” T-shirt while standing next to the president.
For nearly an hour, Trump heaped effusive praise on the billionaire Tesla chief executive, SpaceX founder and owner of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, whose stint as a special government employee had come to an end.
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“Elon’s really not leaving,” the president added. “He’s gonna be back and forth I think.”
What a difference a week makes.
Trump and Musk’s unlikely bromance unraveled in spectacular fashion on Thursday, with the president telling reporters in the Oval Office that he was “very disappointed” with Musk’s criticism of his “one big beautiful” spending bill, and Musk railing at Trump in real time on X.
What did Trump say?
Musk listens as Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office on May 30. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“I’m very disappointed in Elon,” Trump said before a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “I’ve helped Elon a lot.”
The president suggested that Musk, like many others before him, had become “hostile” upon leaving his administration.
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“I’ll be honest, I think he misses the place,” Trump said. “People leave my administration, and they love us, and then at some point they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it, and some of them actually become hostile.”
“They leave, and they wake up in the morning, and the glamour is gone,” the president added. “The whole world is different, and they become hostile. I don’t know what it is.”
Trump also suggested that Musk was upset that the Republican-backed reconciliation bill did not include an electric vehicle mandate, which would have benefited EV manufacturers, including Tesla.
“He knew the inner workings of the bill better than anybody sitting here. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem and he only developed the problem when he found out we were going to cut the EV mandate.”
How did Musk respond?
Musk in the Oval Office on May 30. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!” Musk wrote on X.
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“Whatever,” Musk continued. “Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill.”
“In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that [is] both big and beautiful. Everyone knows this!” Musk added. “Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way.”
Musk, who was one of Trump’s most fervent and visible supporters during the 2024 campaign, wasn’t done.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk wrote. “Such ingratitude.”
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Trump wasn’t done either.
“Elon was ‘wearing thin,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!”
“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Trump added. “I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
Musk tried to get the last word in, suggesting Trump’s name is in unreleased FBI files on Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender.
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“Time to drop the really big bomb,” Musk wrote. “@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”
“Mark this post for the future,” Musk added moments later. “The truth will come out.”
On Thursday night, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that “this is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ because it does not include the policies he wanted.”
She added “The president is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again.”
How did we get here?
Trump and Musk on the South Portico of the White House on March 11. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
The split capped a longtime partnership for the pair, with Musk stumping for Trump on the campaign trail, and the president, after installing Musk as the head of DOGE, boosting Tesla amid criticism of Musk with an unusual event at the White House. (“Trump turns the White House lawn into a Tesla showroom,” NBC News proclaimed.)
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But in the last few months, there had been reports that Trump was privately growing tired of Musk.
On May 27, three days before Musk’s farewell press conference in the Oval Office, CBS aired a clip that showed him expressing disappointment that Trump’s signature spending bill would undermine his DOGE work.
Then on Tuesday, Musk went full blast on the spending package.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” he wrote on X. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
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“Call your Senator, Call your Congressman,” Musk wrote on Wednesday. “Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL.”
That brought us to Thursday, when Trump was asked about Musk’s attacks during his Oval Office meeting with Merz.
“Elon and I had a great relationship,” Trump told reporters. “I don’t know if we will anymore.”
In a phone interview with CNN on Friday morning, Trump said he was “not even thinking about” Musk and would not be speaking with him anytime soon.
“I’m not even thinking about Elon. He’s got a problem. The poor guy’s got a problem,” Trump said, adding: “I won’t be speaking to him for a while I guess, but I wish him well.”
How Trump Covets Arab Leaders’ Absolute Power and Gold Palaces
President Donald Trump is on a four-day trip to the Middle East. The U.S. president has been offered an intriguing insight into what absolute, unquestioned, undemocratic power looks like. Trump has been lost for words to describe the moneyed splendor his hosts have displayed in his honor. He has been shown a colonnade of delicate arches and white pillars with gold and flower accents, a massive chandelier hanging from the dome, and enough carpet to decorate ten Mar-a-Lagos. He was shown through a golden arch that McDonald’s can only dream about. Trump was keen to thank his hosts for the camel greeting they laid on for him. He barely noticed the young women shaking their hair in a traditional ceremony as he arrived for his final stop on the four- day tour. In his case, that would be his father, Fred Al-Sayed, the late President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan.
He likes to boast that he has transformed the Oval Office. Like the gilded hotels he has built in his name, it is a very public testament to his love of gold.
But even Trump has been lost for words to describe the moneyed splendor his hosts have displayed in his honor during his four-day trip to the Middle East.
President Donald Trump tours the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, including the mausoleum of the late founder Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Dr. Yousef Al-Obaidi, Director-General of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center (SZGMC) and Ameena Alhammadi, Acting Director of Culture and Knowledge Department of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. / Win McNamee/Getty Images
With his harem of White House acolytes—Hegseth, Leavitt et al—the U.S. president has been offered an intriguing insight into what absolute, unquestioned, undemocratic power looks like.
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And you’d better believe he wants it.
It’s like he went to sleep on Air Force One and woke up in Trump heaven.
He couldn’t get over the huge swathes of marble in Saudi Arabia as he buddied around with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Al Saud. There was more white marble in Qatar. “The job you’ve done is second to none,” he gushed to the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. “You look at this, it’s so beautiful. As a construction person, I’m seeing perfect marble. This is what they call perfecto.”
And this was just the Emir’s administrative offices. Trump was keen to thank his hosts for the camel greeting they laid on for him.
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Later, arriving for dinner at the Lusail Palace, he stopped in his tracks, stunned at the opulence.
President Donald Trump and Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani welcome guests ahead of a state dinner, at Lusail Palace in Lusail, Qatar, May 14, 2025. / Brian Snyder/Reuters
“This is a home,” he said. “This is a serious home.”
The doors were all solid gold. The Qatar royals ushered Trump through. The significance was unmistakable.
Trump said he’d never seen anything like it, meaning the palatial home, not the camel meat on the menu. He might have been hoping it wasn’t the same camels that welcomed him earlier, but it seemed he was still struck by his surroundings.
Spreading his arms out, he looked around and declared, “Nice house! Nice house!”
The Emir was there to see Trump off the next morning with “YMCA” blasting from the speakers. Nothing was being left to chance.
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At the Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque in the United Arab Emirates, Trump walked spellbound through a colonnade of delicate arches and white pillars with gold and flower accents, a massive chandelier hanging from the dome, and enough carpet to decorate ten Mar-a-Lagos. He was shown through a golden arch that McDonald’s can only dream about.
U.S. President Donald Trump tours the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, during a visit to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, May 15, 2025. / Brian Snyder/Reuters
“Isn’t this beautiful?” said Trump, standing in his socks with UAE President and ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khaled Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. “It is so beautiful. I am very proud of my friends.
“This is a beautiful culture.”
He barely noticed the young women shaking their hair in a traditional ceremony as he arrived for his final stop on the four-day tour. His mind was still on the real estate.
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Sitting next to the sheikh for a press briefing a few hours later, a giant, gold-framed picture of his host’s father, the late Sheikh Zayed, dominated the wall behind them.
You can be sure that Trump noticed that. Autocrats like to remind their public what they look like. In Trump’s case, that would be Donald. Not his father, Fred.
President Donald Trump meets with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a visit to Qasr al Watan (Palace of the Nation) on May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. / Win McNamee/Getty Images
They also gave him a huge (gold) medal. Autocrats like those, too.
President Donald Trump receives the Order of Zayed, the country’s highest civilian award during a bilateral meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at Qasr al Watan (Palace of the Nation) on May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. / Win McNamee/Getty Images
The president has made no secret of his desire to upgrade the White House. He’s been talking for years about building a ballroom. What he would give now to replace the timeworn elegance with halls of “perfecto” marble.
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But the palaces are not the only thing the green-eyed president envies in these temples of boom. Here, the gilt has no guilt.
Saudi Arabia is, indeed, home to the holiest city in Islam, but the oil-rich region is a mecca to money and the oceans of marble and gold and the magic carpets are supposed to show the world that the royal rulers can do what they want.
And this is what Donald Trump truly covets.
No pesky opposition with their insults, their impeachments, and indictments. No press with awkward questions and ingratitude. No judges quoting the Founding Fathers. No need to grovel for votes.
Absolute power.
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In 100 days of shock and awe in Washington, Trump flexed his muscles and discovered that habits die hard in what was one of the world’s most enduring democracies.
He brought his most trusted Cabinet members along with him to the Middle East. His hobbled Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, whipping boy Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, shouter-in-chief Stephen Miller, Head of Insults Steven Cheung, Trump Whisperer Scott Bessent, Special Envoy for Golf Courses Steve Witkoff, and the World’s Most Powerful Woman, Susie Wiles, were all there, along with Press Gang Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Secretary of State, “Little” Marco Rubio, the grown-up who is actually supposed to be on this kind of thing, came on a separate plane.
Most of them had no obvious reason to be there. Other than, perhaps, to see how it’s done.
Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and Senior Advisor to the President of the United States views view an exhibit in the old district of Diriyah on the outskirts of the Saudi capital Riyadh on May 13, 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was also on the tour. / Win McNamee/Getty Images
Trump also invited a slice of America’s biggest dealmakers. Elon Musk was there, of course, with his frenemy Sam Altman. Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Jane Fraser from Citicorp, and a series of powerhouse CEOs from Amazon, Palantir, Google, Boeing, IBM, and many others. They were all in Saudi at the behest of Trump.
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He wants them all to know that this is where he sees America’s future. Not in the hidebound countries of Europe, behind the great wall of China, the unpredictabilities of India and Africa or yesterday’s Kremlin.
He greeted every Arab leader as an old friend and spoke in trillions rather than billions. Millions are so last year.
These desert kingdoms are Trump’s model. In past years, the Arab rulers would have looked to America for a lead. Now America is looking to them.
The money has been there for a long time, ever since oil was discovered below the sand. The human rights abuses towards women and LGBTQ communities, in particular, have always made the royal rulers unpalatable, even as the deals were done.
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In Trump’s world, that is no longer a barrier. His administration is following similar paths toward controlling the media and demonizing minorities.
President Donald Trump tours the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque with Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan during a visit to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, May 15, 2025. / Brian Snyder/Reuters
Those close to Trump say there are two subjects closest to his heart: airplanes and real estate.
The idea that Qatar would “gift” a $400 million Air Force One jumbo jet to the president may have shocked and astonished those who believed in America’s lasting role as an arbiter of the world’s morality.
But observing the naked greed on the face of the U.S. president in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE this week, it seems that may just be the beginning.
Before it was first called the White House in 1811, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was known as the “president’s palace.”
Don’t be surprised if Trump revives the name. And sits inside as King.
NYC Restaurateur Reveals Trump Was An Annoying Guest: ‘He Wasn’t Very Bright’
New York City restaurateur Keith McNally says President Donald Trump once frequently dined at his famed Balthazar eatery. In his newly published memoir, “I Regret Almost Everything,” he recalled the former real estate tycoon behaving rather unscrupulously. McNally told People in an interview Tuesday that Trump became a regular for two years after the restaurant opened in 1997. In a book excerpt published by the outlet, the proprietor recalled trying to rent some real estate from Trump — long before his polarizing pivot into politics. He ultimately decided not to lease the space; Trump’s apparent willingness to renege on his guarantee, meanwhile, presumably sounds familiar to untold American voters who’ve experienced just how flimsy a Trump promise can be.
McNally told People in an interview Tuesday that Trump became a regular for two years after the restaurant opened in 1997. In a book excerpt published by the outlet, the proprietor recalled trying to rent some real estate from Trump — long before his polarizing pivot into politics.
“Even though I missed meeting Henry VIII by four hundred years, I did meet his modern-day equivalent, Donald Trump,” wrote McNally, per People. “Walking through a series of overdecorated spaces, we passed one that was noticeably less gaudy than the others.”
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“I asked the Don if that restaurant space was also for rent,” he continued. “‘No, that one’s taken. I guaranteed it to someone else a month ago.’ … There was a pause before Trump added with a smile: ‘But just because it’s guaranteed doesn’t meant mean it’s locked in.’”
McNally ultimately decided not to lease the space; Trump’s apparent willingness to renege on his guarantee, meanwhile, presumably sounds familiar to former campaign sites and untold American voters who’ve experienced just how flimsy a Trump promise can be.
The president did, after all, refuse to acknowledge that he has a duty to uphold the U.S. Constitution — which he vowed to do as part of his presidential oath of office — when asked during his “Meet the Press” interview Sunday about due process rights and the mistaken deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Keith McNally (left) told People that Donald Trump “wasn’t too bright,” but that he was “very decent” to him. Left: Erik T. Kaiser/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images; Right: Alex Brandon/Associated Press
McNally has worked in the restaurant business for decades and opened many famous New York eateries, including The Odeon, Pastis and Minetta Tavern. He famously once banned former CBS talk show host James Corden for berating Balthazar’s waitstaff.
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The restaurateur slammed Corden as “a tiny Cretin of a man” in a viral Instagram post in 2022, and even though he buried the hatchet shortly after, McNally described Trump’s demeanor in the late 1990s more favorably Tuesday than he previously described Corden’s.
“Even then he seemed like a caricature of a rich, pushy New Yorker with diabolical taste,” McNally told People. “But he wasn’t offensive. In fact, he was very decent to me.”
“All the same, he wasn’t too bright,” he continued, “and if someone had told me that one day he’d be President I’d have thought they were certifiable.”
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