Trumpiana: Whac-A-Mole, rock & roll!

On a scale of one to ten, the self-styled dealmaker-in-chief rated his “G-2” meeting in South Korea with President Xi of China bringing a temporary ceasefire in their trade war a 12.

But opinion was divided on whether the famous author of the Art of the Deal got a treat or was tricked royally before Halloween.

Donald Trump pumped a fist in the air as he boarded Air Force One. “Our Farmers will be very happy!” he posted on Truth Social afterward thanking Xi for agreeing to start buying U.S. soybeans again and suspending the restrictions on rare earths for one year.

China “successfully orchestrated a game of Whac-A-Mole” in response to tariffs, “forcing the U.S. to pivot from soybeans to rare earths to TikTok,” as Jonathan Czin, a Brookings fellow cited by the New York Times put it, to get what it wanted.

Trumpiana: Shapeup, shakeup, shut up, shutdown, showdown! (October 4, 2025)

“By flexing China’s near monopoly on rare earth minerals and its purchasing power over U.S. soybeans, Xi won key concessions,” including a reduction in tariffs and a delay of U.S. export controls on American technology for Chinese firms, suggested the Times.

But on his three country swing through Asia, leaders of Japan, Malaysia and South Korea chose to rock with the ‘Tariff King,’ rolling out the red carpet to flatter and charm Trump to win a reprieve from his tough trade policies.

Nearly 100 dancers greeted Trump on the red carpet in Malaysia. Japan’s newly elected first female Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, served American rice at lunch, and announced she would nominate Trump for the coveted Nobel Peace Prize. So did Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, whose ceasefire agreement with Thailand was brokered in part by Trump.

South Korea went a step further presenting Trump with a replica of an enormous ancient gold crown and the Grand Order of Mugunghwa—the nation’s highest civilian award given for the first time to an American president.

As Trump stared at the golden crown symbolising “the divine connection between the authority of the heavens and the sovereignty on Earth, as well as the strong leadership and authority of a leader,” he is rumored to have said he would “like to wear it right now.”

It’s not clear whether, he did don the crown there, but a follower on Truth Social responded with a ‘new character unlocked’ image of Trump wearing the crown and the medallion and drawing a sword.

Trump also did not lose the opportunity to claim for the umpteenth time  that he averted a war between India and Pakistan by pressuring them on trade even as he praised India’s Modi as the “nicest looking guy” and “tough as hell.”

“Prime Minister Modi is the nicest-looking guy. He’s a killer. He’s tough as hell. No, we will fight. I said, Whoa, this is the same man that I know,” Trump said to mollify a sulking Modi, who had skipped the APEC summit to avoid an awkward embrace with the Don.

Back home, Trump returned to his favourite pastime of making fun of Democratic leaders with an altered White House video showing him and First Lady Melania handing Mexican Sombreros to Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer at a Halloween party for kids.

Another meme falsely accusing the “Democrats of keeping the government shut down over free healthcare for illegal aliens,” depicted the two leaders as clowns standing before a haunted Capitol.

READ: Trumpiana: Never say never – Nobel nixed, Nixon fixed! (October 25, 2025)

“Worked really hard, 24/7, took in Trillions of Dollars, and Chuck Schumer said trip was ‘a total dud,’ even though he knows it was a spectacular success. Words like that are almost treasonous!!!” He posted ominously on Truth Social.

Calling Democrats “Crazed Lunatics” suffering from “a sick form of the now ‘legendary’ Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS), ” he asked Republicans to play their “TRUMP CARD,” and go for the “Nuclear Option — Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW! to  IMMEDIATELY end this ridiculous, Country destroying ‘SHUT DOWN.’”

Then as the shutdown entered its 32nd day with growing pain all around, Trump turned to a few more urgent matters like inspecting construction on The Kennedy Center “bringing this building back to life. It was dead as a doornail, but it will soon be beautiful again!”

More importantly he showed off his latest White House makeover — “The Refurbished Lincoln Bathroom in the White House — Highly polished, Statuary marble!” — “very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln” — with 25 pictures.

The White House also fired all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency that would have reviewed Trump’s pet project— building  a $300 million 90,000-square-foot “big beautiful ballroom” after razing down the White House’s historic East Wing.

Meanwhile, “to fight the enemy within,” Trump’s renamed Department of War ordered thousands of specialized National Guard personnel to complete civil unrest mission training over the next several months, the Washington Post reported.

Post took it as an indication that Trump’s plans “to send uniformed military forces into urban centers – once reserved for extraordinary emergencies – could become the norm.”

Then sending media on another red herring chase, Stephen K. Bannon, the pro-Trump podcaster who briefly served as White House chief strategist in his first term, claimed ‘there is a plan’ for Trump to run for a constitutionally-barred third term. Trump was an “instrument of divine will,” he told The Economist echoing, as Trump himself has, the language of the divine right of kings.

But days after reposting a 2019 video of an altered version of a Time magazine cover with imaginary campaign signs for 2024, 2028, 2032 and far beyond, Trump, who has often joked about being “president for life,”  admitted “it’s pretty clear” he’s “not allowed to run” again.

But now that he has the golden crown, why does he have to run ever again!