Trumpster fire

English

Etymology

Blend of Trump +‎ dumpster fire, an analogy to the way a dumpster fire causes everybody to focus on the flames and to the destructive qualities of a fire.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹʌmpstəˈfaɪ(.)ə(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹʌmpstɚˈfaɪəɹ/

Noun

Trumpster fire (plural Trumpster fires)

1. (US, politics, informal, derogatory) Donald Trump's use of controversy to distract the public from the perceived disastrous state of the government
   • 2016 March 12, Jonah Goldberg, “In a Slow-Motion Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Media Figures Embrace Trump One by One”, in National Review:

     How you feel about Donald Trump and this “news”letter is how I feel about the raging Trumpster fire raging through my party and my country: Would that we could spare time to talk about something else.

   • 2016 May 25, Eric Levitz, “Why Is Hillary Clinton Suddenly Tied in the Polls With a Widely Reviled Demagogue?”, in New York Magazine:

     And considering how thoroughly the Trumpster fire has humiliated political soothsayers this cycle, it seems unwise to offer a single, definitive answer.

   • 2018 October 15, Anna Harstedt, “Witches will gather in Brooklyn to hex Brett Kavanaugh”, in Metro US:

     The book store's co-owner, Dakota Bracciale, who identifies as a witch, told Metro that the ritual is a gathering for people who want to challenge the “Trumpster fire” and Kavanaugh's SCOTUS confirmation.

   • 2019 August 19, “Editorial: Trump’s plan to move BLM jobs west is a shallow pretext to gut the agency’s mission”, in Los Angeles Times:

     Part of the problem with the constant flow of news out of the White House — from offensive tweets to potentially disastrous policies — is that acts that would have seemed outrageous in previous administrations slip past, hidden by the smoke of the Trumpster fire.

   • 2019, Clay Jones, Tales from the Trumpster Fire: A Cartoon Anthology:

     (see title)

   • 2020 January 24, Hardy Haberman, “Putting out the Trumpster fire”, in Dallas Voice:

     With regard to the Trumpster fire, voting him out of office would remove the fuel.

See also

• Reaganomics
• Trumpster diving

References

• “Trumpster fire”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.