DarylCagle.comThe tit for tat between President Trump and Speaker Pelosi looks like a lot of middle school nonsense, and inspired my cartoon yesterday. I decided to give them a lot of spittle, because the whole thing is a bit slimy.
This is a “pox on both their houses” cartoon, which tend to make everyone mad. Cartoons, like this one, that bash both sides equally, tend to get more reprints from “even handed” editors.
President Trump had his mind on the FBI’s Russia probe when he kicked Attorney General Jeff Sessions out.
Remember when Trump kicked out his National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, because of Flynn’s ties to Russia?
That seems like a long time ago, but the news happens so fast now, it really wasn’t that long. This seemed like a good time to update this one. Since I drew this one, I’ve started drawing Trump fatter, and with a bigger face and neck. I spent some years living in New York where Trump was in the news throughout the 1980’s, and he was a skinny guy. It has taken me some time to adjust my thinking of him as fat.
Doesn’t it seem like the characters who get the boot are the most fun to draw?
The mid-term election is coming on Tuesday and president Trump’s strategy is to gin up fear and loathing of immigrants to motivate his base to come out and vote.
Editors don’t like blood in cartoons –but maybe delicious immigration red meat blood is different –it seems to work for Trump.
Paul Manafort has lots of fancy, $15,000 suits from the House of Bijan, which seems to be the most expensive men’s clothing store around. Customers shop at this store by appointment only, but I suspect that Manafort had the fancy tailor come to him. Manafort paid clothing bills of hundreds of thousands of dollars by bank wire transfers, from his secret bank accounts on the island of Cyprus. These bank accounts were so secret that Manafort claims to have known nothing about them – at least that’s what he claims to the IRS, not to his tailor.
My blue, home state of California has taken the lead in pushing back against President Trump, from dozens of lawsuits to legislation about taxes, the environment and immigration among many other things. Trump doesn’t like push-back and California’s “sanctuary cities” really make Trump mad – that’s why I drew that face-off.
I love the bromance cartoons with Trump and Putin. Here’s my newest one.
In the crush of cartoons criticizing President Trump for his trade war with China, I haven’t noticed any that are supportive of Trump’s tariffs. Trump’s promises about tariffs and renegotiating more favorable trade agreements around the world were a driving force in his election. Frankly, I don’t mind the tariffs and the approach. I consider this to be a mildly pro-Trump cartoon.
China had all they wanted in their trade relationship with the USA; Trump’s tariffs give China new and different things they want from America, that Trump should be willing to give up. That’s a negotiating tactic I see all the time as an artist working with businesses, but it seems to be lost on the pundits.
And I love drawing Xi Jinping as Winnie the Pooh – I’m going to stick with that. Here’s an earlier one.
When President Trump described illegal immigrants as infesting America, I remembered an old cartoon I drew early in 2015 with Trump as the Pied Piper. Of-course, the Pied Piper legend was about a goofy troubadour who played his “pipe” to rid a town of rats, then, as the result of a payment dispute, he led the children out of town. Trump’s recent executive order that supposedly stopped jailing immigrant children seems to do little or nothing about the kids, who will continue to be imprisoned, one way or another –perhaps on military bases.
I lived in New York in the 1980s, and Trump was a big, local celebrity; he was a thin playboy, before he turned orange, and it took me some time to realize that present day plump-Trump doesn’t look much like the Trump I knew. Trump has filled out his figure and trimmed his formerly giant, bushy eyebrows. I had a svelte 1980s Trump in my memory as I drew this oldie with Trump entrancing the Republican Party.
Now it bothers me to look at this one. Looking at the kids in cages bothers me more.
Forcibly separating children from their parents at the border makes for lots of great editorial cartoons. I did this one over the weekend and I’m working on another one now.
There is an interesting disconnect in the press about the criticism of this ugly Trump policy. The more alarm raised by critics, and the more attention raised to the separations and detentions, the more likely it becomes that refugees will be deterred from entering into the USA illegally, and therefore, the more Trump will be beloved by his heartless base – who see the Bible as supporting Trump’s immigration planning.
Still, the bad press must sting the ICE agents and the people who carry out this heartless policy, like a bit of pee to the eye.
I drew a pro-Trump cartoon again – I know how my readers hate that! Trump is getting hammered in the press today for testy comments following a testy G7 summit in Canada, with Trump saying, “We’re like the piggy bank that everyone is robbing.”
I think “suckling” is a better fit than “robbing”. Trump ran his campaign on toughening up trade relationships, which is something I like. Trump also complained about our allies not paying enough for their defense, and depending on the US military subsidizing them. I also liked that Trump promised to get us out of foreign wars. I’d like to see Trump do more to keep these promises, especially the one about keeping out of wars. Trump seems to want to meddle around the globe poking every bee hive, at least as much every other president –better that he meddles with tariffs than wars.
My readers, who strongly object when I draw something that veers out of my liberal slot, will have plenty to complain about with this cartoon.
