Catching up on the weekend

In case you missed it, this is some of what happened this weekend.

ITEM 1: ABC tweeted, “Satellite images show that President Trump’s project to build a $300 million grand ballroom appears to have removed two historic magnolia trees on the White House grounds, as well as the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden.”

The magnolia trees had to go. They owned slaves.

ITEM 2: According to Grok, “The White House ballroom project involves a total addition of approximately 90,000 square feet to the East Wing. Of this, the main ballroom space itself is estimated at around 25,000 square feet, designed to accommodate large state dinners and formal events for up to 650 seated guests.

“The remaining roughly 65,000 square feet is allocated to supporting infrastructure and modernization of the East Wing. This includes expanded offices, professional kitchens, food preparation and service areas, staff facilities, storage, and other operational spaces spread across two lower levels beneath the ballroom. These enhancements aim to update the aging East Wing facilities while integrating seamlessly with the historic structure.”

So Trump is not destroying the East Wing. He’s building it back better.

ITEM 3: Chelsea Clinton said, “Although I spent many of my formative years living in the White House, I always knew it wasn’t my house. It was my home, absolutely, but not my house. The White House belongs to the American people, and that’s why we call it the People’s House.”

The silverware and furniture were a different matter entirely.

ITEM 4: Mayor-to-be Mamdani said, “The dream of every Muslim is simply to be treated the same as any other New Yorker.”

Doesn’t that now mean getting sucker punched on the streets, pushed ahead of oncoming subways and having your bodega looted?

ITEM 5: Mamdani said, “My aunt stopped taking the subway after 9/11 because she did not feel safe in her hijab.”

Jon Gabriel tweeted, “2,976 people stopped taking the subway after 9/11 because they were murdered.”

ITEM 6: ABC tweeted, “Polling places opened Saturday for the start of in-person voting for two of the year’s most closely watched elections: The New York City mayor’s race and the contest to pick New Jersey’s next governor.”

The lines were slow, inconveniencing those who vote in both races.

ITEM 7: The New York Post reported that ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith “stated during First Take on Thursday that President Trump is coming, after the FBI announced a sweeping probe into two separate illegal sports gambling-related cases that included the arrest of Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones, along with members of Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese mob families.”

Democrats could prevent this by not committing crimes.

ITEM 8: ABC tweeted, “NBA commissioner Adam Silver is speaking out for the first time following the bombshell NBA gambling probe, saying he was deeply disturbed by the allegations that were presented by federal authorities.”

He wasn’t surprised by the allegations as much as he was surprised they were caught.

ITEM 9: CNN reported, “President Donald Trump is considering plans to target cocaine facilities and drug trafficking routes inside Venezuela, though he has not yet made a decision on whether to move forward with them, three US officials told CNN.”

Hey, this story may actually be true.

ITEM 10: Johnny MAGA tweeted, “This is insane. Trump is headed to a 3 leg trip to Asia for meetings in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea—and he just unexpectedly brought the leadership of Qatar on Air Force One for another meeting while refueling.

“The man never stops.”

He just wanted to thank Qatar for the plane.

ITEM 11: NBC tweeted, “A boy who swallowed up to 100 high-powered magnets purchased online has undergone major surgery to remove them.”

Eating magnets? I don’t get the attraction.

ITEM 12: Eric Daugherty tweeted, “Kamala Harris declares to America that she’s not done and might run for president in 2028 to quash the MAGA movement.”

And in 2029, she’ll publish her sequel, 107 More Days.

ITEM 13: Rasmussen Reports tweeted, “Voters are almost evenly divided over America’s immigration policy, and the division falls largely along party lines.”

There’s a shocker. It’s as if the two parties held different beliefs.

ITEM 14: The No. 2 Democrat in the House, Katherine Clark, said of the shutdown, “Of course there will be families that are going to suffer, but it is one of the few leverage times we have.”

Then she shoved her granny and her wheelchair off a cliff.

ITEM 15: Democrats are upset that banking billionaire Timothy Mellon donated $130 million to pay the troops during the shutdown.

This marks the first time Democrats do not want billionaires funding the government.

ITEM 16: Cheeseburger Chef Charles Schumer said, “I am closely tracking Tropical Storm Melissa as it threatens to hit Haiti, the DR, Jamaica, and other Caribbean islands. This is exactly the type of crisis that USAID was designed to help.”

FEMA was set up to help Americans in Hurricane Helene. Chuckles should have tracked that because a year later they are still rebuilding.

ITEM 17: Jay Plemons tweeted, “CNN pivoted from ‘Trump is destroying the White House’ to ‘Trump is renovating the White House because he’s planning to stay for a third term.’”

If he were really settling in for a third term, he’d tear down the Capitol and install a golf course.

Hmm. Not a bad idea.

ITEM 18: Michael Steele said, “The symbolism is [Trump’s] not leaving. That’s what bothers me about it. Who puts in a giant ballroom if you’re leaving?”

It’s an investment.Trump is spending $300 million to not be treated like a lame duck.

ITEM 19: Senator Betsy Warren said, “I’ve launched an investigation into the contracting and approval process for the demolition of the White House—and whether the corporate donors funding Trump’s ballroom are seeking favors with the Administration. The American public deserves answers.”

Well, we know Big Pharma got favors from Betsy Wetsy.

ITEM 20: Fox tweeted, “The Trump administration says it plans to deport Salvadoran illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia as soon as Oct. 31.”

Franco still dead. Maryland Man still not deported.

ITEM 21: Mayor Brandon Johnson said, “If there was ever a time for working people to unite, this is that time. Because here’s what we do know, the ultra-rich and the billionaires, they have certainly united against us.”

Wait a minute. Governor Pritzker can’t help being a billionaire. He was born that way.

ITEM 22: ABC tweeted, “Some members of the Chicago Board of Education are calling for virtual learning options for students in the face of ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the city.”

Gotta protect the illegals who help fluff those enrollment numbers for federal funding.

ITEM 23: Zero Hedge reported, “President Trump announced on Saturday afternoon that he will increase tariffs on Canada by 10% in response to an anti-tariff advertisement by the province of Ontario that featured Ronald Reagan, and which is roiling one of the world’s biggest bilateral trade relationships.

“Trump said the ad campaign misrepresented Reagan’s speech on tariffs, and aimed at interfering with the upcoming Supreme Court hearing on his administration’s global tariffs.”

The president told PM Carney, “There you go again.”

Later, the Snow Mexicans caved and pulled the misleading ad. Statehood? Trump owns Canada.

ITEM 24: The Hoodline reported, “Dr. May Lau has surrendered her Texas medical license following a lawsuit by Attorney General Ken Paxton over her prescriptions of what he termed dangerous gender transition drugs to minors. The surrender signifies the culmination of a contentious legal struggle and effectively ends Lau’s medical practice in the state.”

Now that she can no longer perform tranny surgery, maybe she can open a butcher shop.

ITEM 25: In an editorial on Sunday, the Washington Post supported the new East Wing and Ballroom Trump is building:

Trump joins a long list of presidents who have left their imprint on the White House. Theodore Roosevelt replaced greenhouses to construct the West Wing. William Howard Taft constructed the first Oval Office in 1909. Richard M. Nixon converted a swimming pool into the press briefing room in 1970. The modern East Wing wasn’t even built until World War II to cover up an underground bunker. Harry S. Truman gutted the White House interior and added the balcony that bears his name. Purists decried it. Now it’s a hallmark.

The White House cannot simply be a museum to the past. Like America, it must evolve with the times to maintain its greatness. Strong leaders reject calcification. In that way, Trump’s undertaking is a shot across the bow at NIMBYs everywhere.

Jeff Bezos is just doing this to get more staff members to quit without having to pay them severance.

ITEM 26: Zero Hedge reported, “Milei’s Mandate Marches On In Decisive Midterms Win For His Party.”

He took copious notes in class and studied hard for those midterms. We’ll see how he does in the finals.

ITEM 27: The College Fix reported, “Duke U. professors not happy about overwhelmingly popular ‘Iryna’s Law.’”

What Duke and the rest of North Carolina need is a Crystal Mangum Law that gives women as much prison time as a rapist would for falsely claiming they got gangraped by a lacrosse team.

ITEM 28: Breitbart reported, “Western Union Reports Fewer U.S. Dollars Being Sent Home by Migrants.”

That 12% drop is roughly $7 billion. Mexico is paying for for that wall. Boy howdy is it paying. Western Union, too.

ITEM 29: WCVB reported, “Biden to receive lifetime achievement award from Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston.”

Wait a minute. I thought you had to drive an Oldsmobile Delmont 88 into a pond with a young woman aboard to get a Teddy.

ITEM 30: We Love Trump reported, “Democrat Congresswoman in ‘Early Stages of Dementia,’ Per Police Report.”

Democrats have called off their primaries because they have found their 2028 presidential nominee.

FINALLY, Democrats are demanding to know why Trump is negotiating with Chairman Xi but not them. It’s a personal preference for the president. He deals only with sane people.