President Donald Trump arrived in Las Vegas, a city known for its unique shows, and delivered a speech-turned-comedy show of his own.
Trump began his speech like he began most of his campaign rallies: boasting about his own success before disparaging the Biden administration.
After becoming president on Monday, Trump said he’s “been moving with urgency and historic speed to fix every single calamity of the Biden administration,” referring to the raft of executive orders that he’s signed and Biden-era policies that he’s reversed.
But before long, his infamous scowl — so persistent that it even appeared in his official portrait — was completely erased, replaced by a white-toothed grin. Trump seemed to be having fun as his first week back in office came to a close — while many Americans are anxious about what his onslaught of orders could mean for them.
The 78-year-old Republican regaled the Circa Resort & Casino crowd with stories and jokes. The way he delivered his remarks fell somewhere in between that of a stand-up comic and a dinner party guest. He paused for laughter like a comedian familiar with timing but gossiped about his predecessor as if they had gone to middle school together.
At one point, he shared what a world leader allegedly divulged to him about trying to get in touch with then-President Joe Biden last year.
The anonymous world leader was told the then-president would phone back in two months. “Two months?” Trump told the crowd. “Yeah, it’s his schedule, he’s extremely busy sleeping.” The audience roared in laughter.
“So two months comes along and there’s no call and they say, ‘He didn’t call,’” the president said, pausing as he broke into laughter himself. “These stories are not very exaggerated, I’ll tell ya.”
His followers burst into applause. Trump was feeding off the crowd.
But his lighthearted jabs stood in stark contrast to the stack of executive orders he signed this week that are poised to disrupt the very functioning of the country. From ending birthright citizenship to withdrawing from the Paris Climate Treaty to his assaults on reproductive health care, his orders have the potential for sweeping consequences. Experts and advocates have warned about how these actions could impact the American people. Lawsuits are already underway to challenge some of these moves.
But in the Las Vegas casino on Saturday, there was no shred of fear; Trump and his supporters seemed nothing short of thrilled at the start of a new era.
He eventually told the crowd what they came to the rally to hear: “No tax on tips!”
“If you’re a restaurant worker, a server, a valet, a bellhop or one of my caddies…I go through caddies like candy. If I play badly, I blame my caddies…Or any other worker who relies on tips for income, your tips will be 100 percent yours,” he promised. He was renewing a vow made in Sin City in June, when he promised to exclude tips from federal taxes.
In Nevada, a quarter of the typical restaurant workers’ pay came from tips, he said. “That’s a lot. You haven’t been reporting them for the last 10 years,” the president said.
The “deal” is that there’ll be no taxes on tips, “but we’re gonna go after you viciously for all the money you didn’t report for the last 10, 15…” Trump joked, laughing along with his supporters.
At one point he even quipped that the idea for no tax on tips came from a “young, beautiful waitress” in one of his hotel restaurants. But he interrupted himself, saying he couldn’t describe her that way because now, calling a woman beautiful marks “the end of your political career...You’re probably not even supposed to say young.”
Earlier, he bragged about getting rid of the “woke crap” during his first week.
But he was only getting started. He asked the waitress to repeat her idea of cutting taxes on tips. He recalled telling her: “Thank you very much, you just won the election for me,” Trump said in a joke that absolutely slaughtered this crowd.
But this crowd also cheered when Trump announced that the “heroes of ICE” have been arresting migrants across the country. The agency arrested nearly 600 people on Friday alone. These arrests come in the wake of Trump’s anti-immigration policies ordered this week.
He ended the speech in a familiar fashion: robotically shifting his arms to the Village People’s Y.M.C.A. to the smiles of the crowd.
