Sarah Huckabee Sanders turned Thursday's White House press briefing over to "special guest" President Trump for a few minutes, but there was a catch: He appeared on two TV screens, in a pretaped pep talk for the Republican tax overhaul, thus avoiding any questions. Trump "did avoid some zingers" about his mental acuity, Jeanne Moos noted at CNN, but reporters were unimpressed with the lecture from Trump's disembodied head. Some wags on Twitter compared the spectacle to The Wizard of Oz, "but there was no curtain-grabbing Toto to disturb the stagecraft at the briefing," Moos said, immediately mixing her metaphor. "Instead of making the trek from the Oval Office the president made like Star Trek."
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.
-
July 9 editorial cartoonsCartoons Wednesday's political cartoons include AI in the job market, a book on GOP blowback, and a new line of Barbie doll
-
What is 'career catfishing' and why are Gen Z doing it?Under The Radar Successful job applicants are increasingly disappearing before their first day
-
The countries around the world without jury trialsThe Explainer Legal systems in much of continental Europe and Asia do not rely on randomly selected members of the public
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partnersSpeed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US borderSpeed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked callSpeed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side dealThe pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policiesSpeed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final daySpeed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidentsThe Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
