March 17, 2017
In its daily newsletter Friday, the White House linked to a column in The Washington Post titled "Trump’s budget makes perfect sense and will fix America, and I will tell you why."
Apparently, the staffer charged with putting that letter together only read the headline.
The satirical piece from Post columnist Alexandra Petri gives faux praise to President Donald Trump's proposed budget, which would significantly decrease or eliminate funding to a number of agencies and programs, like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Meals On Wheels program, and increase defense spending.
Here's a selection from the column:
This budget will make America a lean, mean fighting machine with bulging, rippling muscles and not an ounce of fat. America has been weak and soft for too long. BUT HOW WILL I SURVIVE ON THIS BUDGET? you may be wondering. I AM A HUMAN CHILD, NOT A COSTLY FIGHTER JET. You may not survive, but that is because you are SOFT and WEAK, something this budget is designed to eliminate.
The column then goes on to highlight a number of the proposed cuts specifically, such as the Trump administration's plan to scale back federal funding for affordable housing programs:
Affordable housing is a luxury and we are going to get rid of it. Donald Trump does not live in affordable housing and neither should you.
The column title and a link to the article were listed at the bottom of the White House's daily newsletter under a section called "News Reports."
This screenshot of the White House's daily newsletter on Friday, March 17, 2017, shows a link in the letter to a column that mocked President Donald Trump's proposed budget.
As of 12:40 p.m., it was still there.
