Trump’s Bizarre ‘Circles’ Speech Leaves Detroit Crowd Confused: ‘What the F— Is He Talking About?’
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At a speech delivered to the Detroit Economics Club on Thursday, former President Donald Trump puzzled attendees with an odd and rambling commentary. Not only did he insult the city he was addressing, but he also veered into a seemingly nonsensical monologue involving Elon Musk’s rockets and Joe Biden’s campaign events.
“It’s so simple,” Trump began. “I mean, ya know, this isn’t like Elon and his rocket ships that land within 12 inches on the moon where they want it to land. Or he gets the engines back. That was the first—I really—I said—who the hell did that? I saw engines three or four years ago. These things were coming cylinders, no wings, no nothing, and they were coming down very slowly, landing on a raft in the middle of the ocean someplace with a circle.
Boom! Reminded me of the Biden circles that he used to have, right? He’d have eight circles and he couldn’t fill ’em up. But then I heard he beat us with the popular vote. I don’t know. I don’t know. He couldn’t fill up the eight circles. I always loved those circles. They were so beautiful. They were so beautiful to look at.”
Trump continued to talk about the circles, leaving many viewers, both live and online, baffled. Clips from the rally quickly circulated, prompting widespread confusion and questions. Roger Sollenberger, senior political reporter at The Daily Beast, tried to make sense of Trump’s stream of consciousness.
“So Trump says something that reminds him of SpaceX rockets and he decides to describe them landing on targets, then that image makes him recall another image of circles on the ground—social distancing at Biden campaign events 4 years ago—and he decides to talk about that,” Sollenberger explained.
Others were less forgiving. Fred Wellman, host of the “On Democracy” podcast, summed up the sentiment of many by simply asking, “What the f— is he talking about?” Journalist and conspiracy theory expert Mike Rothschild took to X (formerly Twitter) to describe Trump’s speech as “lethargic and incomprehensible rambling” that lasted for 90 seconds before a “stone cold silent” audience.
However, he noted that the crowd did react when Trump mentioned Elon Musk’s name, with one person applauding. Rothschild sarcastically added, “But sure, let’s give him the nuclear codes and a massive army that he can use to be a dictator on day one.”
National security lawyer Bradley Moss also weighed in, questioning whether this was what Republican strategist Eric Erickson meant when he said Trump was “working hard to win it.” Moss concluded with a blunt assessment: “All I saw was an old man, drowning in bronzer, rambling about nothing.”
As clips of the speech continue to circulate, the confusion and criticism highlight how Trump’s off-script moments are increasingly bewildering audiences, raising concerns even among some conservative commentators.
