The guy who loves to hate fake news apparently does like to create fake awards.
Pomp and circumstance are the fun parts of being president, after all. On this trip to Japan, Trump has managed to find time between Twitter tantrums to play a round of golf with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe (anyone think he did his typical cheating?), eat some cheeseburgers (he normally eschews the native cuisine, but apparently, on this trip, he did sample some Japanese barbecue, though the menu was adjusted to be fairly bland) and attended a sumo wrestling match.
And because he wouldn't want the attention to be off of him for even a second, Trump decided that he wanted to be part of a ceremony honoring sumo wrestler Asanoyama, as he is known professionally, for attaining grand champion status. Shaking his hand isn't ostentatious enough. So he had an award created: the "President's Cup," a typically Trumpian garish 60 pound, four-and-a-half foot tall trophy with a giant eagle on top that did not exist until Trump wanted to be a bigger deal at a sumo wrestling match.
Trump apparently tried to give this almost certainly made up award the solemnity it deserved, a Mexican tourist who was at the match told the Post.
“He didn’t smile at all; he didn’t do any gestures,” Jaime Tiktin told the Post. “It was kind of strange to see him not moving his lips at all.”
“I think he was being respectful,” Tiktin, who doesn’t approve of Trump’s policies towards Mexico, said. “I hate to say that, but I think he was respectful.”
Trump’s appearance at the ring was created some problems for the stadium, which follows strict protocols. Those who are ringside traditionally sit on Japanese cushions called zabutons, but Trump was allowed to sit in a chair. Attendees sometimes throw their zabutons in joy or anger, which apparently concerned Trump’s security. One Japanese newspaper ran a story with the headline “Mr. Trump to watch the final day matches. Fear of zabuton.”
While Asanoyama appeared to be impressed by the size of the trophy, reportedly he was not entirely sure who Trump is, telling The Washington Post he planned to look him up on Wikipedia later.
And while it's entirely petty and not really relevant to the current constitutional crisis in which we exist, Trump also gave us some interesting reference points for his claims of height and weight.
