Mediaite70%

‘Grab Whatever You Want’: Trump Reportedly Told White House Guests to Take Swag That Could Sell for ‘Thousands of Dollars’ 50%

By Michael Luciano56%

7/7/2026, 5:49:13 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 19 faulty reasoning types, including Anecdotal, Biased Writer Voice, and Ambiguity (Equivocation), with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 54.8% saturation with 222 hits. Analysis detected 1,189 faulty-reasoning hits from 405 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 50.7% and a BS Rank of 50% (10,235 of 20,473 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 50.00% of the article peer group.

President Donald Trump reportedly invited a German delegation to take various items from a room in the White House, saying they could be sold for “thousands of dollars.” 
In a piece published by The Wall Street Journal on Sunday, the paper described a previously unreported meeting of European heads of government back in January, after Trump reiterated his desire to acquire Greenland, the autonomous North Atlantic and Arctic Circle territory from Denmark. 
Trump insisted that the U.S. must have Greenland for national security purposes, even though the U.S. maintains a military base on the island and  under an agreement with Greenland  can increase the troop presence there. 
However, Trump has indicated he wants Greenland to become a U.S. territory. 
European leaders were so concerned about the president’s designs on Greenland that they convened a meeting in January, where French President Emmanuel Macron declared, “We are drawing a line here.” 
As Macron spoke, he had deployed French troops to Greenland to engage in joint military exercises with Denmark, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. 
In March, less than two months after the meeting of European leaders, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited Trump at the White House. 
According to an official cited by the Journal, Merz was surprised to see Trump acting “normal,” but the trip soon took a turn for the weird. 
Trump led Merz and the German contingent to a room adjacent to the Oval Office, which Trump called “the Lewinsky room,” where former President Bill Clinton did not have sexual relations with that woman. 
The room contained “MAGA memorabilia and Florsheim shoes. 
Trump invited his guests to help themselves: 
When Merz visited, he was surprised to find Trump “normal,” an official later said. 
Trump listened, asked questions, seemed open to new information and knowledgeable about some topics—though surprisingly unaware of others, including the military situation in Ukraine. 
During their chat, Trump told Merz he had something to show him, and walked the chancellor of Germany into a small study off the Oval Office. 
It was, Trump announced, “the Lewinsky room” and he had filled it with MAGA memorabilia, including red hats and boxes of Florsheim dress shoes. 
“Just grab whatever you want,” a congenial Trump told his German guests, adding that their wives could sell the swag for “thousands of dollars.” 
 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 18.3%Michael Luciano: 5.0%Mediaite: 4.9%Confirmation Bias18.3%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.9%Mediaite: 0.9%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 12.8%Michael Luciano: 2.7%Mediaite: 3.6%Availability Heuristic12.8%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.9%Mediaite: 1.0%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.0%Mediaite: 0.7%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 9.1%Michael Luciano: 1.7%Mediaite: 1.9%Overconfidence Bias9.1%This article: 17.3%Michael Luciano: 7.3%Mediaite: 9.1%Framing Effect17.3%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.3%Mediaite: 0.5%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 9.1%Michael Luciano: 0.5%Mediaite: 0.4%Status Quo Bias9.1%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.0%Mediaite: 0.1%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.5%Mediaite: 1.2%Optimism Bias0.0%This article: 5.9%Michael Luciano: 2.0%Mediaite: 1.6%Pessimism Bias5.9%This article: 54.8%Michael Luciano: 15.7%Mediaite: 14.8%Negativity Bias54.8%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 1.4%Mediaite: 1.5%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 1.9%Mediaite: 1.8%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.3%Mediaite: 0.3%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 1.1%Mediaite: 2.0%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 2.4%Mediaite: 2.1%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 8.4%Michael Luciano: 0.9%Mediaite: 1.4%Halo Effect8.4%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 1.3%Mediaite: 0.8%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.1%Mediaite: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 5.4%Michael Luciano: 1.6%Mediaite: 2.3%Recency Bias5.4%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.5%Mediaite: 0.6%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.0%Mediaite: 0.1%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 3.3%Mediaite: 3.7%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.9%Mediaite: 1.1%Straw Man0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 4.3%Mediaite: 3.6%Appeal to Authority0.0%This article: 9.1%Michael Luciano: 2.4%Mediaite: 2.4%False Dilemma9.1%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 1.6%Mediaite: 1.2%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.1%Mediaite: 0.3%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 6.2%Mediaite: 7.5%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 8.4%Michael Luciano: 0.6%Mediaite: 0.4%Red Herring8.4%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.4%Mediaite: 0.8%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 5.9%Michael Luciano: 4.3%Mediaite: 6.5%Appeal to Emotion5.9%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 1.8%Mediaite: 1.5%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 16.3%Michael Luciano: 3.6%Mediaite: 2.9%Post Hoc (False Cause)16.3%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.0%Mediaite: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 1.4%Mediaite: 1.2%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.1%Mediaite: 0.1%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.1%Mediaite: 0.3%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 36.0%Michael Luciano: 5.4%Mediaite: 2.8%Anecdotal36.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.2%Mediaite: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 19.3%Michael Luciano: 2.8%Mediaite: 2.8%Ambiguity (Equivocation)19.3%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.0%Mediaite: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.0%Mediaite: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.3%Mediaite: 0.3%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 0.0%Mediaite: 0.1%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 1.3%Mediaite: 0.5%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 14.3%Michael Luciano: 1.3%Mediaite: 3.2%Unattributed Quote14.3%This article: 6.9%Michael Luciano: 2.5%Mediaite: 3.3%Quote-first Misdirection6.9%This article: 30.1%Michael Luciano: 6.9%Mediaite: 8.5%Biased Writer Voice30.1%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 2.0%Mediaite: 1.6%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 2.3%Mediaite: 2.1%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Luciano: 1.5%Mediaite: 1.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 5.9%Michael Luciano: 2.5%Mediaite: 1.5%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…5.9%

405 words analyzed.

Speakers

2speakers48%attributed speech209writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 20 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 28 words • 0.0% coverageWall Street Journal • 44 words • 100.0% coverageDonald Trump • 37 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 30 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 24 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 26 words • 0.0% coverageDonald Trump • 34 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 8 words • 100.0% coverageDonald Trump • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 14 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 24 words • 100.0% coverageDonald Trump • 26 words • 0.0% coverageDonald Trump • 24 words • 0.0% coverageDonald Trump • 24 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Wall Street Journal

100%flagged-word coverage
44 attributed words22% of attributed speech100% writer coverage
0%50.0%100.0%Biased Writer Voice+78.9 ptsWriter: 21.1%Wall Street Journal: 100.0%100.0%Unattributed Quote-27.8 ptsWriter: 27.8%Wall Street Journal: 0.0%0.0%Quote-first Misdirection-13.4 ptsWriter: 13.4%Wall Street Journal: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.