Author Sir Salman Rushdie has said he longs for the day when Donald Trump’s new White House ballroom and his proposed “Arc de Trump” are torn down.
asserted
ballroom → say → day
Sir Salman denounced the “horrifying” behaviour of the “thin-skinned” US president and claimed the “cult” he had created was beginning to crumble.
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he → denounce → president
In an exclusive interview with The Independent editor-in-chief Geordie Greig, he said he believed that once Trump was removed from power his beloved ballroom and triumphal arch would be removed too.
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ballroom → say → power
The “demolition of Trump” would be a day to celebrate, he said.
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he → celebrate → Trump
Sir Salman, who has lived in America since 2000 and holds British and American citizenship, said: “I look forward to the day when there is no more Trump and every ugly thing he's built gets torn down.”
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he → live → day
He continued: “When the ballroom gets destroyed… this ridiculous triumphal arch… when that comes down, I think there'll be a moment of the demolition of Trump, which will be very pleasing to see.”
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which → continue → Trump
The proposed 250 feet triumphal arch in Washington – termed the ‘Arc de Trump’ by some – includes a golden-winged Lady Liberty on top, flanked by two golden eagles.
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arch → propose → eagles
Trump had the east wing of the White House bulldozed last year to make way for a 400 million dollar ballroom currently under construction.
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wing → have → construction
An attempt by America’s National Trust for Historic Preservation to stop the project was rejected by the Supreme Court last month in a 5-4 ruling in favour of Trump.
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attempt → stop → Trump
The organisation argued the ballroom was an ‘aesthetic, cultural and historical’ affront.
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ballroom → argue → ?
Sir Salman called Trump a “brilliant liar” and claimed the President would break his promise to give $5,000 to all US adults if his Republican Party wins the coming mid term elections: “He stiffs people all the time.”
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He → call → people
Sir Salman faced death threats for years over his 1988 book The Satanic Verses and only narrowly survived after being stabbed in a frenzied attack in New York in 2022.
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Salman → face → 2022
His assailant Hadi Matar, jailed for 25 years for the assault, praised Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini for having called for Rushdie’s execution in the 1980s.
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assailant → jail → 1980s
Sir Salman’s interview marks the launch of his new documentary – Knife, directed by Alex Gibney – about the attack, which resulted in him losing his right eye.
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him → mark → eye
The film is based on his book with the same stark title.
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film → base → title
One critic called the documentary “intensely upsetting, inspiring and affecting.”
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critic → call → documentary
Sir Salman, who also wrote Midnight’s Children, moved to the US after spending a decade in hiding in Britain as a result of the fatwa against him issued by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini – partly because of the US First Amendment that pledges to uphold freedom of expression and religion.
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that → write → expression
He says Trump has made a mockery of that amendment.
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Trump → say → amendment
“We have a brilliant liar in the White House,” he said.
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he → have → House
“It's the only thing he does well.
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he → do → ?
“The age of Trump, which includes the Biden presidency, has been a very dark time and which things have happened in America that I never believed were possible to happen.
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I → include → America
The idea that the head of the most powerful country in the world is most worried about jokes about him being told on late night television, the enormous power of the presidency that is used because of the thin skinnedness of the occupant of the of the Oval Office - it’s just horrifying.”
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it → tell → Office
Sir Salman dismissed Trump’s offer to give all American adults $5,000 if the Republicans win the mid term elections in November.
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Republicans → dismiss → November
“One of the things we know about Mr Trump is that he never keeps his promises, and he stiffs people all the time.
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he → know → people
So if anybody is foolish enough to vote for him because they think they're going to get $5,000 – it will never show up.”
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it → vote → 5,000
Sir Salman said he believed the mid term elections will show Americans are turning against Trump, including his own hitherto fanatical Maga supporters.
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Americans → say → supporters
“I feel there's a change in the wind.
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I → feel → wind
I think there's a lot of people, even from the cult that he created around himself who are beginning to be disillusioned.
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who → think → himself
And we're going to find out… in the midterm elections.”
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we → go → elections
In his wide ranging interview, Sir Salman also opened his heart about falling in love with fifth wife, American poet and photographer Rachel Eliza Griffiths, nearly 30 years his junior, in a “cute” Hollywood-style chance encounter when he walked into a plate glass door.
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he → range → door
He said some of the senior police tasked with guarding him in Britain after the 1989 Iranian fatwa were “reluctant” to protect him – partly through “racism.”
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some → say → racism
He described why it is harder now to be an immigrant in modern Britain than when he arrived here as a child – and why he still holds a grudge against one of Margaret Thatcher’s Tory ministers for accusing him of likening the UK to Nazi Germany.
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he → describe → Germany
And he explained why he has never read the book claimed by many to be the greatest English classic novel, George Eliot’s Middlemarch.
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he → explain → many
Recalling his ten years under police protection in the UK in the 1990s, Sir Salman said: “The people actually doing the protection, the police officers who were with me were always very sympathetic and professional, many became long term friends.
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many → recall → me
The problems were at higher echelons of command, where you felt they were doing the protection reluctantly.”
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they → feel → protection
Asked if that was the result of racism, his opposition to Margaret Thatcher’s government or over stretched police resources, he replied: “All of the above.
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he → ask → above
It was well known that I wasn't a supporter of the administration.
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I → know → administration
To be fair, Margaret Thatcher authorised and kept going the protection for a long time.
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Thatcher → authorise → time
There were members of her senior members of her cabinet who said very hostile things about me, some of which were not true.
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some → be → which
“For example, Sir Geoffrey Howe [Thatcher’s foreign secretary] said my novel [Satanic Verses] compared Britain to Hitler's Germany – which it does not.
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it → say → Germany
…and 39 more, not listed.
The Aporia
