The medical emergency in the Oval Office

The buzzword in politics, in the wake of the socialist takeover of New York City, is “affordability.” That was certainly on Donald Trump’s mind today during an Oval Office announcement for cheaper GLP-1s, or, as Trump called them, “fat drugs.” Trump took brief potshots at Gavin Newsom and the Obama Presidential Library, and, of course, continued to urge pregnant women not to take Tylenol. 

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, when Trump called him out, said he was “not yet” on GLP-1s. “Good,” Trump said, adding “CMS administrator Mehmet Oz, he doesn’t take it” – obviously, since we can all agree Dr. Oz looks great. Trump did, however, roll call the quite large White House head of communications Steven Cheung. “He’s taking it,” Trump said.

Duly outed, Cheung later said, less troll-like than in his usual style, “It’s important to encourage others to explore options to address concerns by speaking openly and honestly about it.” 

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., spoke, and so did Dr. Oz, who also touted reduced costs for fertility drugs, saying he was hoping it would lead to more “Trump babies,” a phrase that could lead to lots of frightening AI meme images. The event cut short at its midpoint during remarks from David Ricks, CEO of Eli Lilly, when a representative from a healthcare company fainted behind the lectern. “You OK?” Ricks asked to the person, who was obviously not OK at that moment. Dr. Oz rushed to his side. RFK Jr. rushed off stage left. A half hour or so later, the event resumed, and Trump said that the man, who did not appear to be in need of GLP-1s, was, in fact, OK.

“You saw he went down. And he’s fine. They just sent him out,” Trump said. “He’s got doctors’ care. But he’s fine.”

Trump sat at the Resolute Desk and took what felt like 100 questions. No one takes questions like Trump. There were some fun statements about tariffs, which Trump claims have brought $21 trillion into the federal coffers. The ongoing Supreme Court tariff case is “one of the most important cases in the history of our country,” of “the eight wars I ended, I would say five or six were ended because of tariffs,” and, of course, “If I didn’t come along, our country would be destroyed right now.”

Then it was back to the fat drugs. A reporter asked about potential side effects. Trump isn’t a doctor, but he’s friends with Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, and, we presume, Dr. Drew. He said what you might expect the average Sunday afternoon football viewer to say: “I’ve heard about very little side effects in respect to these drugs. It’s all positive. And that’s usually not the case. You see these crazy commercials on television where they tell you 15 different things that can go wrong. And then they tell you to buy it.”

True enough, Mr. President. Next, the press conference came full circle to affordability. Trump would not address repeated questions about grocery prices. But a reporter, obviously quite friendly to the administration, brought up yesterday’s Wal-Mart statement that this year’s Thanksgiving dinner will cost less than last year’s. Thank you for bringing that up, said President Trump. 

“Our Thanksgiving meal this year will cost 25 percent less than Joe Biden’s. To me, that’s better than anything there is. That’s better than a poll. You’ve got everything included. From the trimmings from the turkey. From everything. Lotta different items. That is a big factor. And I was angry last night with the Republicans. I said, you don’t talk about this stuff. I had to rely on a question from a reporter to get that out. We should be talking about it. We had the highest inflation in the history of our country under Biden. Gas prices are close to two dollars a gallon. Under them, it was four or five. When gasoline goes down and energy goes down, everything else follows. What the Democrats do is they lie. We are the ones who’ve done great on affordability. They’ve done horribly at it. They take commercials out, ‘under Democrats you have affordability.’ It’s just the opposite. Every price is down.”

This includes, after today’s announcement, the price of GLP-1s, which many people will need after an inexpensive Thanksgiving feast. Trump closed with this less-than-gracious thought about the retiring Nancy Pelosi:  “I thought she was an evil woman who did a poor job, who cost the country a lot in damages and in reputation.” You’d expect nothing less about Pelosi from Trump, her sworn enemy. But she’s got doctors’ care, and she’s fine.