Inside Trump’s merch room
Plus: Tate McRae is front-loading her re-release
If you’ve ever wondered what that White House room with all the Trump merch is, it’s the Oval Office study that past presidents used as an office and today’s POTUS uses like a storefront. In other news, FLOTUS got to sign an E.O.
Welcome to this week’s issue of Whig. Read to the end for the Pope’s four favorite movies. — Hunter Schwarz
Note: I’ll be off the rest of the year for the holidays. If you don’t already, subscribe to my newsletter Yello about politics, civics, and design. Be safe, touch grass, and I’ll see you in 2026!
Shutdown ends, and oh boy, here comes some Epstein files:
The longest government shutdown in history ended after 43 days last Wednesday after President Donald Trump signed a bill passed by the House reopening the government. There were no healthcare subsidies in the deal. Now the House is set to vote this week on releasing files related to the late, disgraced Jeffrey Epstein.
Emails released last week by the House Oversight Committee reveal that Epstein called Trump “dangerous” and said he has “not one decent cell in his body” weeks after he took office in 2017, and lots of other stuff. You can read more here. For what it’s worth, Epstein’s brother says the “bubba” mentioned in the emails isn’t former President Bill Clinton.
Trump eases off food tariffs:
Looks like someone was paying attention to the election results and is pivoting to domestic issues. Trump said Friday the U.S. will exempt “some foods like coffee,” as well as bananas, tomatoes, beef, and more than 200 agricultural products from reciprocal tariffs.
Trump’s company sought to hire more foreign workers this year than last:
The Trump Organization has requested for at least 184 foreign workers to be brought into the U.S. to work temporarily at Trump properties, including Mar-a-Lago and Trump Winery in Charlottesville, Va. That’s the highest recorded, according to Labor Department data reviewed by Forbes.
Trump has faced backlash from some in his own party about comments he made in an interview with Fox News that the U.S. doesn’t “have certain talents” and has to “bring in talent.”
Inside Trump’s merch room:
I don’t know if you’ve seen photos of the White House room that’s decorated like a shopfront with shelves of MAGA hats and merch, but that’s the Oval Office study, a room just off to the side of the Oval Office. The New York Times did a deep dive photo essay on the room through history, which has been used by past presidents as an office and was infamous for being a meeting place during that Clinton scandal.
The room now has shelves with hats available on Trump’s website with slogans that reference an unconstitutional third presidential term, including “4 More Years” and “Trump 2028.” A wall where former President Joe Biden used to display a framed illustration of John F. Kennedy now shows a poster of Trump with his fist raised after the failed Butler, Pa., assassination attempt.
In Trump’s first term, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called the room a “gift shop,” and in his second term, Trump’s taken foreign leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to see it, per the Times.
FLOTUS signs executive order:
Signing executive orders isn’t in the FLOTUS job description because there is none, but that didn’t stop First Lady Melania Trump from co-signing an E.O. with her husband last Thursday for foster care, an issue she advocates for.
The order creates a “Fostering the Future” program to be funded through a public-private partnership and it increases access to vouchers and grants for young people transitioning out of the foster care system, according to the White House.
Cheney’s funeral will be at the Washington National Cathedral:
Funeral services for the late Dick Cheney, who served as former President George W. Bush’s vice president from 2001 to 2009 and died on Nov. 3 at the age of 84, will be held Thursday at the Washington National Cathedral. Bush and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) are among those scheduled to give tributes.
Michelle Obama says America’s not ready for a female president:
Former First Lady Michelle Obama says “don’t waste my time” to people who want her to run for president, because she thinks the U.S. isn’t ready for a female president in the first place.
“As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready,” Obama said during a book tour stop with Tracee Ellis Ross in Brooklyn. “That’s why I’m like, ‘Don’t even look at me about running, because you all are lying.’”
Obama has long said she wouldn’t consider running for office, but her comments have sparked a lot of discussion online. What do you think?
Jack Schlossberg for Congress:
JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg announced he’s running for Congress last week with a logo that uses his first name to pay homage to his famous relative. In an interview with MS NOW, Schlossberg pitched how online he is as an asset.
“New media is completely polluted and the air is dirty. I figured out a way to breathe in that environment, and we need to elect candidates who understand how to do that, and I think that’s what makes me an effective representative,” he said.
🎬 No. 1 movie: Lionsgate’s Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.
💿 No. 1 album: The Life of a Showgirl by Taylor Swift for a sixth week.
🎵 No. 1 song: This week’s Billboard Hot 100 has been delayed, according to chartdata.
Gaga covers Rolling Stone for fourth time:
In her new Rolling Stone cover story, Lady Gaga reveals, among other things, that she secretly co-founded the Massachusetts skin-health research firm Outer Biosciences that her fiancé Michael Polansky is CEO of, and how she handles her relationship with her outspoken conservative father who literally does Fox News hits. “I just try to focus on my relationship with my dad outside of what we don’t agree about,” she said.
She also spoke openly about the creative process that brought her to Mayhem. Gaga said the critical rejection of 2013’s Artpop was “impactful” and “the first time that I ever had major criticism about a piece of work that I’d made.” And for 2020’s Chromatica, “I was as great as I could be for someone that smoked weed all day, knocked back a couple bottles of wine, and passed out.”
“There came a time in my life where I would enter rooms, and there were no instruments anymore. It was about trying to control me to be a piece of a business,” she said. But everything led her to where she is now: “What would Mayhem sound like if I hadn’t become a jazz singer? What would it have sounded like if I hadn’t made Artpop?”
Robyn is back:
Some good things take time. Swedish pop legend Robyn dropped her first new song in seven years Friday, it’s called “Dopamine,” and it took 10 years to make, she told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe.
“Since it was written 10 years ago there were many versions of it,” including some that were “too nostalgic. I hate nostalgia,” she said.
Tate McRae is front-loading her re-release:
Usually, new songs are tacked onto the end of deluxe edition albums. Tate McRae is doing the opposite. McRae announced the tracklist for the deluxe edition of So Close to What today on social media. Out Friday, the album will open with four new songs including one titled “Trying on Shoes” before going into her newest single “Tit For Tat” and then the rest of the album. Revolutionary.
Cher is going to be the musical guest on SNL for the first time since 1987:
Somebody hold my meat purse. Saturday Night Live invited Cher back as musical guest next month for the first time in 38 years, not counting her performance at “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert.” The “Believe” star will perform on the show’s Dec. 20 episode with host Ariana Grande.
Skims is valued at $5 billion:
Kim Kardashian, who shared photos on Friday hanging out with Britney Spears, might not know the price of milk, but the price of the apparel brand Skims that she co-founded is now $5 billion. That’s how much the company was valued for last week after announcing it raised $225 million in a new funding round led by Goldman Sachs.
Wicked: For Good sets PG pre-sale record:
Wicked: For Good, which opens Friday, is already off to a fast start. The film is Fandango’s top-selling PG-rated ticket pre-seller ever, according to the ticketing company, beating the $174.7 million that Beauty and the Beast made before its release in 2017.
The Pope is pro-movie theaters:
Pope Leo told a group of actors and filmmakers who visited Vatican City Saturday that more should be done to protect the movie-going experience.
“Cinemas are experiencing a troubling decline, with many being removed from cities and neighbourhoods,” he said. “More than a few people are saying that the art of cinema and the cinematic experience are in danger. I urge institutions not to give up, but to cooperate in affirming the social and cultural value of this activity.”
Among those in attendance were Cate Blanchett and Spike Lee, and the Vatican said the Pope’s four favorite movies are The Sound of Music, It’s a Wonderful Life, Ordinary People, and Life is Beautiful, according to Reuters.
Thanks for reading! See you next time. ⭐