Donald Trump hasn’t set foot in the White House since leaving office more than three years ago, but that didn’t stop him from pretending it’s still his residence this week when he offered a visitor a key to the building.
Trump gave the baffling gift to former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, who visited him at Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday as the former president finished up a day in court in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.
Aso has a history of praising Nazis and Adolf Hitler, yet Trump called it a “great honor” to meet him. Then, he handed Aso a ceremonial key to the White House.
The Washington Post reported that Trump was fond of giving away ceremonial keys while he was president, telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he could use it to gain entry basically forever.
“Even when I’m not president anymore, you can walk up to the front gate of the White House and present it, and they will let you in,” he told Netanyahu, according to the 2022 book by Jared Kushner, who is Trump’s son-in-law and served as a White House adviser.
Trump’s critics let loose on X (formerly Twitter):
