bauble

At the Oval Office, he also loves to host those who have presented him with shiny baubles — like Apple CEO Tim Cook, who had given him a gold trophy with his company’s logo on it.

A Christmas tree was dusted off, tinsel and baubles were unpacked, and the hotel was decked out with decorations.

He does this by flashing shiny, fleeting baubles that further his parochial interests, while more consequential matters drift by like a passing cloud, unnoticed – leaving the hard, complex stuff to fade into neglect.

This was, that meaningless bauble aside, a season of relative failure.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has stated the American dream depends on the creation of new jobs and affordable mortgages and cars, not “cheap baubles from China.”