Trump calls the Boss a ‘dried-out prune,’ sells watches with a delightful typo and more

It’s another installment of ‘You Might Want to See This’ from the Fight the Fire crew

Compiled by Sam Bellamy

Baby, you were born to run

Foreign leaders are scrambling to attract researchers, scientists and students eager to flee Trump’s attacks on academic freedom, according to The New York Times.

Among those courting Americans — and foreign nationals fearing deportation Trump by and his able flunky Marco Rubio – is Eva-Maria Holzleitner, the minister of women, science and research in Austria.

“The destruction of freedom of science and democracy in the U.S.A. leaves me speechless,” she says an Instagram video. “We are working on programs to provide a safe haven for students and scientists at risk.”

Similarly, The Times reports, “the Australian Academy of Science began a global talent search last month, with its president stating there was an “urgent and unparalleled opportunity to attract the smartest minds leaving the United States.”

Additionally, The Times says France and Spain have launched programs to attract U.S. talent. Ireland, Belgium, South Korea and China are also considering initiatives.

Denmark, the little country that could (and won’t) give up Greenland, turned to Instagram with a message set to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”

In the video, Brian Mikkelsen, the chief executive of the Danish Chamber of Commerce, contrasts his nation with Trump’s America: “We want you to know there is an alternative. In Denmark, we value science. We believe in facts.”

The choice of the Boss as a soundtrack was fortuitous. On Friday, Trump ranted on Truth Social about Springsteen condemning him at a show in the UK earlier this week. Springsteen called Trump’s administration “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous.”

Trump’s response: “I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States. Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy.”

For good measure, Trump added that gentleman from Asbury Park is “dumb as a rock” and “just a pushy, obnoxious JERK.”

Then the Orange One issued what sounds an awful lot like a threat: “This dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country. Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!”

Seems like the only appropriate response is “Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty. And meet me tonight in Atlantic City.”

Bone saws and sawbucks – lots of sawbucks

Jeff Bezos’s servility to Donald Trump somehow didn’t extend to joining the president for a lavish soiree in Riyadh with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week. Perhaps the Amazon founder with the Lilliputian principles was just too afraid he’d meet the same fate as slain Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

An Amazon deputy did go in Bezos’s place, but there’s been no indication that MBS (as the prince is known), Trump or anyone else at the gathering mentioned Khashoggi, who – the CIA concluded – was murdered and dismembered by a bone saw in 2018 on orders by the prince.

In fact, according to this Daily Beast piece, Bezos hasn’t publicly referred to Khashoggi since a memorial in 2019. The Post also made scant mention of Khashoggi in its coverage of Trump’s visit this week.

And, shamefully, The Post has eliminated a fellowship honoring Khashoggi that had been established by the late Fred Hiatt, the paper’s editorial page editor, in 2019. When Hiatt died unexpectedly four years ago, there was apparently no one left to give Bezos hell if the fellowship, like Khashoggi, disappeared.

After Khashoggi’s murder, Amazon’s plans for a $1 billion investment in data centers in Saudi Arabia stalled. When I checked this week, though, I see there’s been a change of heart – Amazon announced a $5 billion investment in data centers there a few months.

The centers are expected to be ready in 2026, well ahead of the 10^th anniversary of Khashoggi’s slaying.

I’d like to make a bigly withdrawal

Of all his jumbo screwups and jumbo assaults on democracy, it appears it is Trump’s acceptance of a jumbo jet from Qatar that finally has Republicans crying, “Enough!”

In this transcript of a recent interview, Atlantic writer Russell Berman says quite a few in the GOP are concerned about Trump accepting a $400-million gift from a foreign government. Publicly, they’re playing it safe by focusing on obvious questions about security rather than dwelling on the blatant influence peddling.

There are still Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, who are trying to make the controversy go away by saying that if Trump is “he’s talking about it and if he’s public about it, then there can’t be anything wrong with it,” Berman says.

“But,” the writer adds, “that’s not how it works, right? ... If you announce that you are robbing a bank, it doesn’t make it any less illegal than if you go into the bank without announcing it beforehand.”

Get your Rump watch here, get your Rump watch

Shockingly, some customers have been disappointed, even driven to tears, by the quality of Trump-licensed and Trump-promoted watches.

WJAR-TV, an NBC affiliate in Rhode Island, recently recounted the harrowing ordeal of Tim Petit, who bought a “limited edition” pink “Inauguration First Lady” model from GetTrumpWatches.com for $640 for his wife, Melanie Petit.

“Buy it for yourself or for the Trump Woman in your life,” the promo copy says.

When the watch arrived, the couple was devastated to see the word “RUMP” on the watch face. The one they ordered, it seems, was supposed to have a T leading off.

Tim — we’re not making this up — told a TV reporter, “I’m very disappointed. I wanted to do a special thing for her. And we expected that it would have the integrity of the President of the United States and good follow-through.”