(AFP) – Drama, disruption, and disputes are essential to Donald Trump’s politics, and this week served up another series of extraordinary moments as he completed his first month of a second term in the White House.
**You’re fired, please come back**
Key nuclear security staff were sacked in sweeping federal cuts—before a desperate rush to re-hire them. An official memo admitted “we do not have a good way to get in touch” with the fired employees. Trump responded to concerns by claiming that a lot of corruption and waste had been found in government departments. “We have to just do what we have to do,” he said. “In some cases, they’ll fire people, then they’ll put some people back… not all of them, because a lot of people were let go.”
**The chainsaw revs up**
Trump’s cutter-in-chief Elon Musk brandished a chainsaw high over his head on stage in front of cheering conservatives at a Washington get-together. It was handed to him by right-wing Argentine President Javier Milei, who made the machine a symbol of slashing bureaucracy and state spending in his own country. The chainsaw, which was not turned on, was engraved with “Viva la libertad, carajo”—”Long live freedom, damn it.”
**Ice hockey as geopolitics**
An ice hockey game between the United States and Canada turned into a symbol of the ugly new relationship between the neighbors and allies as Trump repeatedly says he wants to make it a 51st US state. “You can’t take our country—and you can’t take our game,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said after Canada’s emotional 3-2 overtime victory. Trump often calls Canada “the 51st state” and taunts Trudeau by referring to him as a mere US state governor.
**Musk and Trump: ‘brothers’**
“I feel like I’m interviewing two brothers here,” said Fox host Sean Hannity in conversation with the president and the tech billionaire. Sitting next to Musk, Trump joked: “He’s got some very brilliant young people working for him that dress much worse than him, actually.” Musk revealed he would have endorsed the Republican anyway, but the assassination attempt on Trump in July sped up his public announcement.
**Was that a Nazi salute?**
Conservative firebrand Steve Bannon made a gesture on stage seen by some as a Nazi salute. Bannon briefly made the hand signal after telling Trump supporters: “We are not going to retreat, we’re not going to surrender, we’re not going to quit. Fight, fight, fight!” France’s far-right leader Jordan Bardella canceled his speech due to the “gesture alluding to Nazi ideology.”
**A short honeymoon?**
Among independent voters, only one in three support what Trump has done so far, and half oppose it, with the remainder unsure, according to a Washington Post poll. It found 57 percent of voters say he has exceeded his authority since taking office. Polls may not matter to Trump, who is banned by the constitution from a third term in office, though he teases supporters and opponents by suggesting he may run again.
**’Hell of a lot of fun’**
Vice President JD Vance is embracing all the action. Trump “is acutely aware that the American people gave us a window to save the country and that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Vance said. “And thank God for that, because it’s been a hell of a lot of fun the past month.”
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