“The Donald J. Trump Amy and T.J. Podcast”

President Trump has been inserting his name on just about everything these days, so we figured we’d beat him to the punch. All jokes aside, this week President Trump announced he is naming a new fleet of battleships after himself, calling them “the largest, deadliest and most versatile best looking warships anywhere on the world’s oceans.”  This of course comes on the heels of him adding his name to the front of the Kennedy Center, renaming the U.S. Institute of Peace to the “Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace," adding his likeness to the National Park Pass, a commemorative one dollar coin and the list goes on and on. What’s next? Oh, there’s plenty, and as many have pointed out, this is something only seen before in dictatorships and never before seen in the United States of America.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, folks, is Tuesday, December twenty third, were just two
days away from Christmas, or as it's going to be
known from now on as Trump Christmas, and welcome to Trump,
Amy and TJ. This latest episode of our podcast road
I say it somewhat facetiously being a little bit silly,

(00:22):
but it ain't that far of a freaking stretch right now.
This dude is putting his name on every thing. It
appears the latest are ships, but we thought we'd hop
on there's some stuff he's putting his name on that
people does not make it all the headlines.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yeah, I didn't realize that he was naming other buildings,
throwing banners with his face up everywhere. He's on a
one dollar coin next year, which is actually kind of
against the law, because don't you have to have been
dead for two years before you can be on a
US minted coin.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Kind of against kind of I don't really understand we're
used to in this country, in the United States of
America that presidents.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Aren't put into their names, aren't put on buildings, their images,
aren't put on coins or banners until they're dead.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
And there's a reason for that.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
And we're not shrines to these individuals as they're living.
They're not gods, they're not kings, they're not dictators.

Speaker 3 (01:23):
They're presidents.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
And that is a service. It's considered a service. Right.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
He's a public servant, correct.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
He was elected to basically guide the United States of America.
He is the people's president. This is a democracy, This
isn't a dictatorship. And yet the things we're seeing him
do are very much akin to what we're used to
seeing with certain types of governments, like oh, I don't know,

(01:53):
the Third Reich dictatorships.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
I mean, really, these are the marking and the.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Leanings of tyrannical rulers, not democratically elected presidents.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
At all under any circumstance. Ever, is this is what's
supposed to be happening now, rogues, I am what argument
can be made on the other side, you know what,
I'm not going to get to that. I will do
that after the break because I need some time to
come up with something of this. But yeah, all right,
we jumped on here because folks, yes, you did her
here probably just yesterday the President announced a whole new

(02:30):
fleet of battleships going to shore up the navy by
having this whole. It's they sound awesome. This new fleet,
the Golden Fleet, is that what they call it? The
gold fleet?

Speaker 3 (02:41):
Well, that's how they're described because they're Trump.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
Class, So the Trump class of ships, battleships, Trump class battleships.
So that made us gouid us to thinking, are you
kidding because we just what a few days ago, we're
talking about the new name of the Performing Arts Center.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
It's no longer than Kennedy Center. Yes, oh no, no, no,
it's not the Kennedy Center. It's the Trump Kennedy Center.
And note whose name is first. So yes, these headlines
and these questions and these concerns were all actually occurring
really starting in September when we saw banners being unveiled

(03:20):
with his face over federal buildings. There were things we
just haven't seen before as a nation. And it has
snowballs we.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Won't see again. I don't think we'll see it again.
That's fair well in our lifetime certainly, who knows. But again,
this is one thing I will say, Robes this country
figures it out, you know, it overcomes whatever comes at us.
A lot of people say he's moving the country forward.
Their supporters of his knock yourself out. But anybody who
thinks that this dude is ruining the country as the
end of the country, we're gonna be fine. I really do.

Speaker 3 (03:50):
Believe we're learning lessons apparently.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
Yeah, and we will continue to do so. We've been
learning it from our inception. And I really and I'm
not making an uh determination or making a statement about
him being bad. But for those who might have a
problem with him, I am not worried about the country
getting past it. I'm worried about the country.

Speaker 3 (04:10):
Getting through it.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
Yes, okay, how long it might take.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
Fair, it's not getting past it. We will get past it.
But how are we going to handle getting through it?

Speaker 1 (04:19):
Like?

Speaker 3 (04:19):
Can you imagine though this is?

Speaker 2 (04:21):
This is actually I think a fair question to ask,
ask yourself even what do you think the Founding fathers
would think about what is happening right now?

Speaker 1 (04:36):
Okay, now I have to say, you're asking you're asking me,
which might have a different view of country and those
Founding fathers.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
Okay, that's fair, But I guess just looking at there's
a whole other issue.

Speaker 3 (04:46):
I understand making that point.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
I understand the point being that we were leaving they
we were leaving England that was ruled by kings and
queen's and we were leaving that type of government to
establish a democracy by the people for the people. This

(05:10):
reeks of days gone by, and not when America was great,
but when England was great.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
But it doesn't. Is it dismantling our way of life
or is it just I guess, propping up and giving
putting on a display of this country that we don't
necessarily want.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
It's not a well you say, a display of this country.
It's a display of one person.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Okay, But he's our representative. He's a leader of the
free world, not just this country. He is the leader
of the free world. And he wants his name on
that building, this building, in front of that president, on
that banner, and on this ship. So yes, folks, we
decided we decided to go take a look. This is
just what he's been doing this year.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
Now.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
This first one was this the first one.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
This is the.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
The Preace Institute. We're talking about the US and Steatitute
of Peace. Oh, yes, one that's in the headlines a lot.
I didn't even know about this. It was the US
Institute of Peace.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yes, it's an independent nonprofit group created by the United
States Congress Independent. That is exactly what it is described as.
But earlier this month I did not know this. It
was renamed it is now. It's not the US Institute
of Peace, It's the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
He settled nine wars. You know this, right, Uh huh,
it's nine.

Speaker 3 (06:32):
According to him.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
He says nine. But look, there were headlines. This is interesting.
There were headlines. I was looking back from last week
with the whole Kennedy Center, Snapoo or hubbub whatever. Trump
now shares one more thing with history's worst dictators. Another headline,

(06:53):
the United States of Donald Trump. Okay, this was before
this latest one. This latest headline that Trump is now
dedicated an entire new fleet that he's ordered of battleships
bearing his name. He calls them the largest, deadliest, and
most versatile, best looking warships anywhere on the world's oceans.

Speaker 3 (07:17):
He might be true and all that fine.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
Yes, twenty to twenty five new battleships have been ordered
that he is attaching his name to. They have nuclear capabilities.
We should point that out. And this is directly from
the mouth of President Trump. These are the best in
the world. They will be the fastest, the biggest, and
by far one hundred times more powerful than any battleship

(07:40):
ever built.

Speaker 1 (07:41):
That's awesome. I think all of that is wonderful. Yes,
we should have the most powerful military in the world.
The issue not issue, but why does he insist on
naming things after him? At the US Institute of Peace
is now the Trump Institute of Peace. They defended it
at the time, changing of the name by saying, well, yeah,

(08:02):
it reflects what they say, the greatest negotiator in US history.
Like they were saying, yeah, this makes sense. Of course
he should have this.

Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yes, that is what the people around him have said
about all of his choices to name things after himself.
In fact, that really reminds me of something our new War.

Speaker 3 (08:19):
Secretary, Pete Hegseth said yesterday. Can I quote him here?

Speaker 1 (08:23):
I'd like to all reflect on this moment. Is the
first time you've officially called him the War Secretary.

Speaker 3 (08:28):
I said that with my tongue in my cheek.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
For decades, for centuries, the American people will look back
and thank President Trump for having the vision and the
willingness to invest right now in capabilities we need. And
that is why the War Secretary Pete Hegseth says, these
battleships should and of course need to bear the name

(08:53):
of President Trump.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
Of course, it's not just battleships and the Institute of
Peace and the Performing Arts Center that is now named
after Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy. We had
you remember, folks, the gold cards were called the Trump
Gold Cards. That's another one, Trump RX. He's naming all
this stuff after him. The gold card was this these.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
There's also a platinum card coming in twenty twenty six.
Did you know about It's a Trump Platinum card. We
can get into the distinguished between the two. But this
is about people paying to be citizens, yes, for a
certain amount of time.

Speaker 3 (09:32):
So yeah, the.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
Idea here, you can have these things. You can have
a new fleet, you can have new cards for entry.
Why do they all have to say Trump in front
of them? You and I were happened to be watching
a movie earlier.

Speaker 3 (09:50):
Elf.

Speaker 1 (09:50):
That movie came out in what year, twenty three, twenty
something year old movie. We just watching it randomly. He's
walking down the street Will Ferrell and looked behind him said, wow,
says Trump. We just saw that this morning. What I'm
saying this is something I guess should we be surprised.
This isn't new, He's done this. We can't go a neighborhood.

Speaker 3 (10:11):
But that was.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
That was. Let me just say this though, I actually
think you can. You should be able to separate Donald J.
Trump the businessman from Donald J. Trump the president. He
clearly he cannot, and clearly no one's stopping him. Clearly
he has surrounded himself with people who will just say
that sounds like a great idea, and it's happening. The
National Park Pass you want to go to a National park,

(10:34):
the pass is now going to bear President Trump's image
alongside George Washington. They're going to be right next to
each other on this National Park platform.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
There before. What was on there before not what it
was just an image. I don't think it was a
president at all.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
But in honor of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary
of this country, President Trump has chosen to put his
image right next to George Washington's image. And in addition
to the National Park past having his image on it,
also did you know that Trump's birthday, June fourteenth, is
now going to be added to its list of free

(11:12):
admission days. It's Flag Day but that's not a national
that is not a federal holiday. But notably, at the
same time, he made his birthday now a free admission day.
He's taken away MLK Junior Day and June tenth as
free admission days even though they are actually federal holidays.
Is popular, but they will no longer give you free
admission even though those are the actual federal holidays.

Speaker 1 (11:34):
Well, Flag Day was much more popular than MLK Day anyway.
Certainly June teenth, I mean, who celebrates June teenth?

Speaker 2 (11:43):
Tongue in cheek, I know exactly what you're saying. Yes, so, okay,
we went over. The Kennedy Center is now obviously Trump's.
The US Institution of Peace is now Trump's Institution of Peace.
The National Park past now has Trump's face on it. Oh,
we didn't talk about the text for investment accounts for children.
They're now Trump accounts, right, so now they get one

(12:04):
thousand dollars from the Treasury Department into their Trump accounts
Trump rx dot com.

Speaker 3 (12:08):
That will help people shop for lower priced cards. We
talked about the Trump Gold Card.

Speaker 2 (12:12):
And the forthcoming Trump Platinum Card, and then also there
are now going to be one dollar coins issued the
US Treasurer has confirmed that the US Mint is drafting
one dollar coins featuring the image of President Trump on
both sides.

Speaker 3 (12:31):
Again, there is a law on both sides.

Speaker 1 (12:35):
Thots.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
I haven't seen the draft, have you.

Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, it's what you would expect.

Speaker 2 (12:40):
I mean, it's just some strong looking, yes, very strong
face of President Trump. That's concerning because that's never happened before.
Banners on federal buildings. In September, we started to see banners.

Speaker 3 (12:53):
I hadn't seen them. I looked at the pictures.

Speaker 2 (12:55):
It is disturbing bearing his face draped over several federal buildings,
alongside Abraham Lincoln in one, alongside Teddy Roosevelt in the other.
We're talking about the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor,
Health and Human Services. And by the way, this is
all at taxpayer's expense. They have the dollar figures, thousands
and thousands of dollars. And now what's next, you ask, well,

(13:17):
have you not heard? Trump has been hinting heavily that
he would like for the new Washington Commander's Stadium, which
used to be the old RFK Stadium, to be named
after him, and when pressed about it, Karen Levitt said
that would be a beautiful name, as it was President
Trump who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible.

Speaker 1 (13:37):
Look, remember, he joked and suggested that his name be
in front of Kennedy's. It's there, it's there. So this
isn't all. This is the stuff that has been done, folks.
There is plenty of other stuff that's been proposed. It
sounds so far fetched, but you gotta take this guy seriously.

(14:01):
Don't you stay here? We'll explain where else they might
be trying to put his name and image. We continue
here on Trump, Amy and TJ. This episode here dedicated
to I guess he's rebranding the country. Is that fair

(14:25):
to say? You? Branding? Is everything?

Speaker 3 (14:27):
A very marketable way to say it.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
He's branding this country. This is Trump's America. He might
change the name through Trump's America. In fact, if Carolyn
Levitt came out in the press conference and said this
was something they're thinking about.

Speaker 3 (14:44):
I wouldn't even be surprised.

Speaker 1 (14:46):
You wouldn't drop a draw raise even.

Speaker 2 (14:48):
Though you dropped your pen yes when you said it,
because you were so you didn't know what else to do.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
We wouldn't be surprised at this point now I am surprised.
Let's get through the others that are possibilities. There are
actually bills that have been introduced, not going anywhere yet
or ever, dulles Mount Rushmore and the one hundred dollars bill.
There are proposals. Legit folks have put together legit resolutions

(15:17):
and are introducing bills to add this dude's face to
Mount Rushmore, to the one hundred dollars bill, to change
oh my goodness, here it is the Trump train. That's
what they want to change, the DC Metro to the
Trump train.

Speaker 2 (15:31):
I just would tell all of those folks who are
proposing these bills that they have something on their nose
and they might want to get.

Speaker 1 (15:36):
A oh oh, you've been watching too much South Park.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but that is absolutely the truth.

Speaker 3 (15:45):
This isn't this is absurd.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
This doesn't happen in this country. It hasn't happened in
this country ever. And that's just the truth. I actually was.
I mean, look, you can go online and read a
bunch of folks, but it actually is cautionary and I don't.
We can laugh about it, we can joke about it,
but this is actually slightly alarming I saw a couple

(16:08):
of things. First of all, on the Atlantic, they actually
had this CEO of or the President.

Speaker 3 (16:14):
I don't know what his title is of Mount Vernon.

Speaker 2 (16:16):
Right, And he relayed a story that he said he
personally witnessed with President Trump. He said, Trump came and
visited Mount Vernon. Of course, that's George Washington's home. It's
a beautiful place. Been there if you haven't been, it's
a great place to visit. But he said when President
Trump visited in twenty eighteen, he said that this was

(16:37):
his quote. If George Washington was smart, he would have
put his name on it. You got to put your
name on stuff or no one remembers you. And it's
interesting that the person in charge of Mount Vernon remembered that.
It is now seeing what's happening, he said, you know
what he told us what he was going to do.
That's the thing about President Trump. When he says he
wants something or likes something, or is going to do something,

(17:00):
listen to him.

Speaker 3 (17:01):
Believe him. He follows through with what he says. Period.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
I don't take it away from him as being a
good businessman. Branding is good business. It just is. However,
I where do we get that's business. I don't take
any fault with him putting his name on everything as
a businessman. But that's that's that's my house too though.

(17:28):
That's that's my ship too. That's my memorial to JFK two.

Speaker 3 (17:33):
All paid for by American taxpayers.

Speaker 1 (17:36):
And for folks to just for us to have zero
say in some of these things and are being told
to it comes off. I think ilhan Omar calls. She said,
it's he's weirdly obsessed with me, right, and how he
goes after her, And I think it's weird. It's a

(17:56):
weird obsession for an adult you have who's in the
White House to have this obsession, I don't get it.

Speaker 3 (18:06):
It's the ego of tyrannical rulers.

Speaker 1 (18:10):
Ego at this point, this age, You've won the White House,
You've overcome all these things. You've beaten everybody, chill out,
you've beaten everybody. My man, you like it or not.
Who he's beat everybody who's come after him? Has he not?

Speaker 3 (18:26):
He has?

Speaker 1 (18:27):
Even when Joe Biden beat him, he came back and
won the White House again. I mean, he's The story
is pretty unbelievable, Like it's okay, brother, take your victory
that and and own you're good. Why these other things
are necessary? We will never forget Trump's name. That well,
we won't be allowed to for various reasons. Robes do

(18:47):
we have to have the entire country labeled with this guy.
And it's hard to talk to any American who would say,
you know what this makes? You know what? The own
only thing I can hear from people is just being
dismissed at a Trump. And I don't know.

Speaker 2 (19:04):
If that's dangerous. That's dangerous. I think that's dangerous. And
again we have said this plenty of times. This is
not about politics.

Speaker 3 (19:11):
This is not.

Speaker 2 (19:12):
About Republicans or Democrats, or policy or any of that.
This is about a specific human being. If you would
afford me, I would like to read a paragraph that
Slate magazine reported and wrote last week, and I just
thought it summed it up so well. I wanted to
share this with you all if you didn't get a

(19:33):
chance to read this article. American political culture has long
rejected the idea that sitting office holders or even living
persons should be honored with buildings or institutions named for them,
or have their names and faces on currency coins. Or
postage stamps. This sort of behavior is alien to a

(19:54):
republic or a democracy. It is common, however, in dictatorships.
Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Francisco Franco had their faces
on stamps, currency, and coins during their respective despotic reigns.
Joseph Stalin appeared on numerous stamps while he was the
dictator of the Soviet Union and renamed a major city, Stalingrad,

(20:16):
after himself. Kim John Un sometimes appears on North Korean stamps.
They go on and on and on, basically to show
where we do see this kind of behavior. It's not
in democracies. It just isn't.

Speaker 1 (20:30):
Oh, yes, that this.

Speaker 2 (20:33):
Is foreign to us. I don't think we know how
to handle it. I don't think we know how to
react to it. I don't think we know how to
deal with it because we've never had to before, you know.

Speaker 1 (20:45):
I get. The one thing that gives me comfort is
that we just have protections in place. We have enough.
Don't get me wrong, they haven't all worked to stop
a lot of stuff going. We just have enough checks
and balances in this country that we are going to
be okay and we can overcome anything. Not a suggestion

(21:09):
we have to overcome him. But if you think we do,
the country is gonna be okay. That actually does give
me a little comfort. That know what, what I am.
I am concerned about him. I am concerned about who's
around him. I am concerned what we've seen in the
past in recent weeks. But this is getting a little
bizarre right going.

Speaker 3 (21:28):
I think it's getting a lot. Bazire say I'm.

Speaker 1 (21:30):
Gonna build a wall and they're gonna pay for it. Okay,
you hear that as a policy thing, But there are
things coming out of him now, that speech last week,
and for the nation erratic, manic, manic those I'm worried
and Rose is not. This is who is sitting How

(21:54):
can I just don't understand how anybody could sit at
a desk and think to yourself in a quiet moment that, yep,
I think, name this whole class of new ships after me,
and that's cool, you know what. Sure, I want to
put my name in front of John F. Kenney's and
for what individual thinks to themselves, that's okay. And if
he does, I'm saying, we have got to be concerned

(22:16):
about him more than the country. We are gonna be okay,
But we have a guy here leading us robes that
is displaying some behavior that all of us understand. What
you just say, Alien, we all understand this isn't normal
for your friend, for your teacher, for your mate, for

(22:38):
your anything, so certainly not your president. And if this
kind of behavior is being displayed when he has time
to think it through, this is just a moment. He
has time to plan this stuff out. Babe, I am
getting worried. I was worried about Biden. That's true, we were.
We watched him get old in front of our eyes.

Speaker 3 (22:57):
Yes, it's tough to see your parent get old.

Speaker 2 (23:00):
Everyone I think can relate to what it's like to
watch your grandparents, your parents' age. It's it's frightening because
we all know we're headed there. But it's one thing.
It's a natural progression. This is what happens to us,
our minds and our bodies start to break down. But
to see it happen with the leader of the free world,
that is concerning.

Speaker 1 (23:22):
There are two different directions of decline. Almost one is
seem to be just slowing down. The other seems to
be taking off in a direction and in a way
that is alarming. He just is right now, all this
saying normal you put your name in front of John F.

Speaker 2 (23:40):
Kennedy's, it isn't normal, It isn't presidential, and it isn't American.

Speaker 1 (23:46):
So I'm yeah, folks, yeah, I guess at some point
we got to stop laughing about it. You know, we
started this off and I'm a kind of a joke.
This is Trump, Amy and TJ. And now we've gotten
to the animal. I ain't laughing about.

Speaker 2 (23:58):
Anything, right, I know, I know, you know. It's just
it's something to pay attention to. And we will continue
to do just that as we wrap up twenty twenty
five and who hold on type for what is coming
for twenty twenty six, But I'm sure it's not going
to be boring. And with that everyone, thank you for
listening to us. I made me roboch Well, laughter versus crying.

(24:23):
I'll choose the laughter. I made me robock alongside TJ.

Speaker 3 (24:26):
Holmes. We will talk to you soon.