He already owns a dozen or more golf resorts around the world, a string of skyscrapers bearing his name, a New York City penthouse and a West Palm Beach palace . . . not to mention a king’s ransom in bitcoin, and a stash of who-knows-what-else-because-he-refuses-to-disclose-his-financials.

But that’s not enough for Donald Trump. Now he has his eye on the three public golf courses in the nation’s capital — the only local courses available and affordable to the general public in Washington.

He’ll have a fight on his hands; but when has that ever stopped him from going after something he wants? Those courses are overseen and operated by the National Links Trust, which is five years into a 50-year lease with the National Park Service (NPS). The NPS, in turn, is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, which owns the land and whose head, Secretary of the Interior Douglas Burgum, is a member of the Presidential Cabinet.

So now Trump claims the Trust is in default on its lease, and has had a notice of default served on it — but without specifying how it has allegedly defaulted. And the Trust, quite naturally, is opposing the action. [Dominick Mastrangelo, The Hill, December 22, 2025.]

I smell another law suit in the offing, from an individual who probably deserves a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the most litigious human being who ever lived.

But that’s not all.

*. *. *

We all know how he loves to see his name emblazoned on everything, and the bigger the better. In addition to all of those Trump Towers, he illegally — because he didn’t bother with the requisite Congressional approval — had his name added to (and above) JFK’s name on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

And now, just when we think it can’t get any worse, he has announced from his little cottage at Mar-a-Lago his plan for the U.S. Navy to build the first “Trump-class” battleship as part of what he says will be a new “Golden Fleet.”

(Clearly, someone must have told him about the Golden Fleece of ancient Greek mythology, which is said to have symbolized kingship, authority and adventure. And we know about his love affair with all things golden.)

Flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense (for now) Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, Trump described his vision of the ships, the first of which is proposed to be named the USS DEFIANT:

“They’ll be the fastest, the biggest, and by far 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built.” [Konstantin Toropin and Aamer Madhani, Associated Press, December 22, 2025.]

Of course, they will. Isn’t everything of Trump’s, including his signature, bigger and better than everyone else’s has ever been in the history of the world?

He also said he would have a direct role in the design of the new ships, declaring:

“The U.S. Navy will lead the design of these ships along with me, because I’m a very aesthetic person.” [Id.]

*. *. *

Sorry, I had to stop for a moment . . . I was laughing so hard my iPad slid off my lap. But I’m back now.

This dream of his involves spending countless billions of dollars on a behemoth to be armed with hypersonic missiles, nuclear cruise missiles, rail guns, and high-powered lasers: all technologies that are now in various stages of development by the Navy. And all of this from the wild imagination of a man who knows nothing — zip, zilch, zero — about ships, or naval architecture or engineering, or warfare in general. But that apparently doesn’t matter, because he is, after all, “a very aesthetic person.”

Admittedly, the project is only in the beginning design stages, and isn’t slated for actual start of construction until the early 2030s. By that time, a successor in the White House may just copy a page from Trump’s playbook and decide to place his or her own name on the finished product instead.

And wouldn’t that be the ultimate comeuppance?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/23/25