I can't believe I need to spell this out – but Trump is not your daddy
Still, unless you are a very high-IQ individual, with an orange glow, an insatiable appetite for money-making schemes, and a weird belief that you invented the word 'caravan', I think it's safe to say that you're probably not Trump's offspring.
Why am I taking great pains to spell this out? Because a disturbing condition called Trump daddy derangement syndrome (TDDS) is sweeping the world – the main symptom of which is an irresistible urge to call the president of the United States 'Daddy'.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson bears some blame for the spread of this ailment. While speaking at a Trump rally last October, Carlson delivered an unusual speech in which he compared the US under Trump to a patriarch giving his naughty teenage daughter a 'vigorous spanking'. Rather than immediately losing the contents of their stomach because of this imagery, the Maga-loving crowd lapped it up. When Trump came on stage later they yelled 'Daddy's home!' and 'Daddy Don!' Which, of course, plays right into Trump's self-mythologising as a hypermasculine strongman who will be a protector of women 'whether they like it or not'.
While TDDS remained fairly dormant for a few months after that, it seems we are suffering a new outbreak. Last week Nato secretary general Mark Rutte addressed Trump's comments about Israel and Iran not knowing 'what the fuck they're doing' by helpfully explaining that: 'Sometimes Daddy needs to use strong language.'
And sometimes a Nato chief needs to watch their language. After his comments caused a social media storm, Rutte rapidly back-pedalled. 'The daddy thing, I didn't call him 'Daddy,'' Rutte told reporters later that day, despite being on the record saying just that. 'Sometimes, in Europe, I hear … countries saying: 'Hey, Mark, will the US stay with us?' And I said that sounds a little bit like a small child asking his daddy: 'Hey, are you still staying with the family?' So in that sense, I used 'daddy' – not that I was calling President Trump Daddy.'
Nice try, Mark, but I'm not sure that makes things better. Rutte, a Dutchman, is basically calling Europe a helpless child who needs Trump's approval.
Whatever Rutte meant, Trump and his followers seem to have taken 'daddy' as a compliment. Last week Jonathan Lindsey, a Republican lawmaker, told fellow Michigan senate members that a lot of Americans see Trump as a father figure and more people should start referring to him as 'Daddy'. Gay Democratic Michigan senator Jeremy Moss then replied: 'You don't want to know what daddy means in my community.' Just to spell it out, 'daddy' has been gay slang for an older man, often monied, who is sexually involved with a younger man for almost as long as Trump has been alive.
Meanwhile, Trump spoke approvingly of Rutte's comments, saying: 'I think he likes me.' He added: 'If he doesn't, I'll let you know. I'll come back and I'll hit him hard, OK? He did it very affectionately. Daddy, you're my daddy.' Trump's fundraising operation is also flogging T-shirts with his mugshot and the word 'DADDY' on them for just $35. Sigmund Freud, sadly, could not be reached for comment on all this. But if he were available, I think even he might have said: 'Mummy, please make this stop.'
Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
11 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Trump tax cuts needed to be extended - but not like this
While it was necessary to extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts, the Senate has passed a completely irresponsible budget that endangers America's fiscal health. The Trump tax cuts needed to be extended, but not like this This entire piece of legislation is oriented around extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts, which is good policy. In fact, it's just about the only good part of the bill. If not extended, the expiration of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would have been devastating to Americans. If allowed to expire, 62% of Americans would see a tax increase, according to the Tax Foundation. Extending the TCJA would result in a gross domestic product growth of 1.1% in the long run. The issue is that the extension of these tax cuts will result in a revenue loss of $4.5 trillion for the federal government. The economic growth spurred by the act will cover just $710 billion of that shortfall, leaving nearly $3.8 trillion that needs to be paid for somehow. The tax cuts themselves aren't the only significant source of spending in the bill. A sticking point for swing district Republicans has been the state and local tax (the SALT deduction), or the amount of state tax burden taxpayers can deduct from their federal income tax. Certain House Republicans have demanded that the annual limit of $10,000 be raised to $40,000, and the Senate has begrudgingly given them their increase for the next five years. Opinion: Supreme Court's birthright citizenship opinion reveals rising hostility, tension I've written elsewhere about why the SALT deduction is bad policy, but combined with other changes to the alternative minimum tax would result in a $325 billion revenue loss on net. The Senate's version is even more generous on these policies than the House's version was. Additionally, the big ugly mess includes no tax on tips, social security and overtime pay. Neither Trump nor Republicans more generally have made a case for why these types of income are deserving of exempt status, and they amount to nothing more than a populist bribe of voters. These policies add hundreds of billions more to the revenue decreases from the tax cut extension. Other defense and immigration enforcement provisions bring the grand cost of the legislation up to $4 trillion once the long-term economic growth is accounted for. Work requirements for Medicaid benefits and food stamps are the chief sources of new funding to offset these costs, as well as the elimination of certain clean energy tax credits. The House should hold the line against Senate's fiscally irresponsible bill As written, the Senate version of the bill adds even more to the budget deficit than the version the House put together. The House version was a fiscally irresponsible mess, which was estimated to add about $1.7 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, even after considering the economic growth that the bill is projected to create. The Senate version is estimated to add $2.9 trillion under the same metrics. Previously: Trump's 'big beautiful bill' is an ugly fiscal mess created by Republicans | Opinion Some House Republicans have already expressed frustrations with the Senate version of the bill, which House Speaker Mike Johnson wants to pass before Friday, Independence Day. The budget hawks in the House must hold the line against the careless spending the Senate has engaged in. The House bill that passed in the first go-around was a mess, and the Senate made it even worse. The Senate version also exaggerates its benefits and underestimates its costs by making many of its programs temporary. This allows them to gloss over this fact when discussing the benefits while claiming a lower cost. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. All of these games are played in order to avoid tough political conversations about slashing entitlements, the chief cause of our escalating budget crisis. I have little faith in the House's ability to stop this mess of a bill. Our legislators (with one notable exception) are so terrified of the prospect of a Trump primary challenge that they will vote for just about anything to avoid being the one to hold up the president's desired budget. America's takeaway from this should be to laugh hysterically the next time Republicans claim to be the party of responsible spending. For all the talk of slashing government spending, the GOP has put together one of the most counterproductive efforts in modern history. Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for USA TODAY and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.
The Herald Scotland
11 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
What's next for Trump's tax bill? Quarreling House Republicans
House Republicans are already slamming the changes made to the bill in the Senate, from moderate members concerned about cuts to Medicaid and fiscal conservatives who are concerned about the bill's massive price tag. It will add a projected $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. "The United States is $37 TRILLION in the red. This is unsustainable," wrote Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, on X. "I support President Trump and his tax cuts, but we cannot saddle our children and grandchildren with TRILLIONS upon TRILLIONS in new debt." However, House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated in a statement that he plans to push his conference to accept the bill in order to meet the president's self-imposed deadline of July 4. "The House will work quickly to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill that enacts President Trump's full America First agenda by the Fourth of July. The American people gave us a clear mandate, and after four years of Democrat failure, we intend to deliver without delay," he said in a statement. "This bill is President Trump's agenda, and we are making it law." A key House committee plans to meet in the afternoon to begin the process of advancing the Senate's bill in the chamber. Trump indicated that he may be willing to budge on the July 4 deadline given the complications of passing it in the House. "I'd love to do July 4th, but I think it's very hard to do July 4th," Trump told reporters. "It can go longer, but we'd like to get it done by that time if possible."
The Herald Scotland
11 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Trump's tax cuts will be next big win for him
Here's great news: We don't have to wait 20 years. All of this and more is happening now, only five months after the start of Donald Trump's second term as president. Not bad for a guy who progressives have dismissed as a clown. Since June 22, Trump has set back Iran's development of nuclear weapons, forged a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, cajoled NATO allies into increasing spending on their own defense and pushed Canada to drop a digital services tax that hurt U.S. companies. Are you proud to be an American? Tell us what patriotism means to you. | Opinion Forum Trump tax cuts, Big Beautiful Bill will help American workers Trump also has racked up significant wins on the domestic front. The Senate is on the verge of passing the president's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and if the House concurs, the legislation could be on Trump's desk by July 4, Friday. I wish that the bill cut more spending, but the White House Council of Economic Advisers projects that the tax provisions in the legislation would raise take-home pay by as much as $13,300 for a family of four and boost wages by as much as $11,600 per worker. Both would be tremendous wins for ordinary Americans. Trump's critics claimed that federal job cuts orchestrated by the Department of Government Efficiency would lead to a spike in unemployment, but the economy added a higher than expected 139,000 jobs in May and unemployment remained at a historically low 4.2%. Many of those critics also screamed that Trump's tariffs would blow up inflation and crash the economy. But inflation this year is on track for its lowest rate of increase in five years, and the fears of recession appear to be fading. Investors have noticed all of this good news. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are at record highs. And the running of the bulls appears to be just getting started. "The wall of worry is crumbling as stocks reach all-time highs," Terry Sandven of U.S. Bank Wealth Management told CNBC. "Inflation is stable, interest rates are range-bound and earnings are trending higher. That's a favorable backdrop for stocks to continue to forge higher as we begin the second half." Opinion: Conservatives report better mental health than liberals. I think I know why. Trump secures the border and slows illegal immigration In only five months, Trump has regained control of our southern border. Customs and Border Protection recently reported that the agency released zero illegal immigrants into the United States in May. A year ago, more than 62,000 people who entered our country illegally were allowed to stay. Opinion newsletter: Sign up for our newsletter on conservative values, family and religion from columnist Nicole Russell. Get it delivered to your inbox. I don't think Trump is directly responsible for all of this winning. The stock markets, after all, have been on a rapid climb upward for years. At the same time, I know that if Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris had won in 2024 and accomplished half of these milestones, progressives, Democrats and the news media would be talking about where to build her monument on the National Mall. But because Trump is a Republican, they can't allow themselves to acknowledge his win streak. Still, I have a hunch that history will show that the first months of Trump's second term were the beginning of an American resurgence. Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.
