Deadline Poet / August 12, 2025

Republicans Look to Rename the Kennedy Center Opera House After Melania Trump

—Headline, The New York Times

Calvin Trillin
Donald Trump and Melania Trump
President Donald Trump and Melania Trump walk on the White House lawn on December 23.(Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)

The sycophant caucus is quick to encourage
Rebranding by Trump that’s been truly Homeric.
So sooner or later we may get to see
The Statue of Liberty newly named Eric.

Calvin Trillin

Calvin Trillin is The Nation’s “deadline poet.”

More from The Nation

Does Dementia Have You?

Does Dementia Have You? Does Dementia Have You?

Take this simple test.

OppArt / Ruben Bolling

Donald Trump during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025.

A Desperate Trump Is Stirring Up Race Hatred A Desperate Trump Is Stirring Up Race Hatred

A barrage of bad economic news has spurred Trump to unleash his hate-infested id on any nonwhite target that flits through his overtaxed brainpan.

Chris Lehmann

Woman, Life, Freedom

Woman, Life, Freedom Woman, Life, Freedom

Posters in support of the people of Iran displayed at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, France.

OppArt / Andrea Arroyo

Cow

Cow Cow

Invasion.

OppArt / Steve Brodner

Olivia Nuzzi at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, DC, in 2023, when she was Washington correspondent for New York magazine.

I Still Feel a Tiny Bit Sorry for Olivia Nuzzi I Still Feel a Tiny Bit Sorry for Olivia Nuzzi

She violated every journalism ethics code. But her childhood set her up to fall for a string of incompetent daddy-figures too lame to protect her.

Joan Walsh

The White House Press Tracker Is a Parody of Media Criticism

The White House Press Tracker Is a Parody of Media Criticism The White House Press Tracker Is a Parody of Media Criticism

With his approval number plummeting, Trump turns to a familiar strategy: launch a culture war against journalists.

Chris Lehmann