The Disney World Trump animatronic is here, and it's something else


An animatronic version of President Trump made its jerky debut Monday at the Hall of Presidents inside Disney World's Magic Kingdom.
The figure has Trump's signature elaborately coiffed hair and longer than average tie, but is missing a smartphone with the Twitter app open and any piece of Make America Great Again ephemera. The Hall of Presidents, first opened in 1971, was shut down shortly after the inauguration to get the animatronic Trump up and installed. Trump, like every president since Bill Clinton, recorded the presidential oath of office and a speech for the attraction; he stands between Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
"Above all, to be American is to be an optimist — to believe that we can always do better — and that the best days of our great nation are still ahead of us," robo-Trump says. "It's a privilege to serve as the president of the United States, to stand here among so many great leaders of our past, and to work on behalf of the American people." So far, the response has been pretty harsh; on Walt Disney World Magic's Twitter page, people say the figure looks like Jon Voight, Biff from Back to the Future, some guy's grandma in drag, Hillary Clinton "if they were already making a Hillary then heard the news and had to change it to a Trump," and "an answer to the question, 'What would it look like if Chucky grew up?'" Catherine Garcia
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
'Forever': Judy Blume's controversial novel gets a modern adaptation
The Explainer The Netflix series gives the 1975 novel all the trappings of modern teen life
-
Why does the GOP want to ban state-level AI regulation for a decade?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION House Republicans are pushing to block states from making their own AI laws for the next ten years, even as expert warn the results could be disastrous.
-
6 elegant Queen Anne Victorian homes
Feature Featuring original diamond-glass doors in New York and a registered historic landmark in Arkansas
-
Gabbard fires intelligence chiefs after Venezuela report
speed read Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has fired the top two officials leading the National Intelligence Council
-
Trump vows to lift Syria sanctions
speed read The move would help the new government stabilize the country following years of civil war
-
Senate rejects Trump's Library of Congress takeover
speed read Congress resisted the president's attempts to control 'the legislative branch's premier research body'
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israel
speed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
-
White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugees
speed read An exception was made to Trump's near-total ban on admitting refugees for the white South Africans
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs