RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A mystery was afoot in conservative Washington circles this week after an apparent mix-up made for an unexpected jab at President Trump. Let us set the scene. The venue: a Washington hotel where Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization, was hosting a conference for high school students, where Mr. Trump spoke on Tuesday [7-23-19]. The décor: a presidential seal on the onstage screen, a fitting background for a speech by the president of the United States. The problem: The presidential seal was not, in fact, the presidential seal at all, as The Washington Post reported. Instead of the customary bald eagle, the altered image showed a double-headed eagle, similar to that featured in Russia’s national emblem. Instead of arrows, the eagle clutched a set of golf clubs in a talon. It appeared as the president emerged onstage. The fake seal’s appearance at the event seemed to catch everyone off guard. A White House spokesman told The New York Times that officials did not review the image before it appeared. Turning Point USA initially said it had no idea how it ended up there.”
–Sarah Mervosh and Niraj Chokshi, “How a Fake Presidential Seal Ended Up Onstage With Trump,” The New York Times online, July 25, 2019