Trump lookalike buffalo spared in Bangladesh after last-minute government intervention
Trump lookalike buffalo spared in Bangladesh after last-minute government intervention
DHAKA - A buffalo in Bangladesh nicknamed “Donald Trump” for its flowing blond hair has been spared from sacrifice after shooting to fame, and will instead be cared for at the national zoo.
Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a South Asian nation of 170 million people, celebrates Eid al-Adha, the “feast of the sacrifice”, on May 28.
The 700kg bull, a rare albino buffalo with a flowing helmet of light hair resembling the signature look of the US president, was due to be slaughtered to mark the day.
But hours before it faced the knife, the government stepped in to save the animal, which has become an online sensation.
Curator of the National Zoo, Atiqur Rahman, said the animal would be well looked after.
The 700kg bull, a rare albino buffalo with a flowing helmet of light hair, was due to be slaughtered to mark the day.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“We have designated a shed for the albino buffalo and assigned a caregiver,” Mr Rahman told AFP on May 27. “He will be quarantined for two weeks.”
Crowds in Bangladesh had flocked to snap photographs with the unlikely social media star.
Mr Zia Uddin Mridha, 38, the buffalo’s former owner, said his brother had named it “Trump” because of its “extraordinary hair”.
Mr Mridha said a constant stream of curious visitors – social media fans, onlookers and children – came eager to see the animal.
However, he sold the bull ahead of Eid al-Adha.
But police has swooped after the government ordered that the buffalo be spared.
“The livestock department requested us to take the buffalo from the owner as it is a rare animal,” Mr Mohammad Ruhul Quddus, officer-in-charge of Dhaka’s Keraniganj Police Station, where the buffalo was taken, told AFP.
“They said that the albino buffalo is still very young, and can be raised for a few years.”
More than 12 million livestock including goats, sheep, cows and buffaloes are expected to be sacrificed during the holiday, when many poorer families get a rare chance to feast on meat. AFP
According to Bangladesh's home ministry, authorities stepped in at the last minute, citing security concerns after a surge of public interest ahead of the festival. Watch Trump Faces Explosive Backlash After Wild Meme Targets Obama, Comey And Political Rivals Home minister Salahuddin Ahmed ordered that the buffalo be spared, the buyer refunded, and the animal moved to the national zoo in Dhaka."At the last moment, the decision was taken to spare the buffalo from sacrifice due to security concerns and the unusual level of public interest," a ministry official said.
It became a nationwide curiosity after videos of the animal went viral. Crowds gathered at the farm, with visitors travelling from far afield to see its blond fringe and calm demeanour.Iran also mocked Trump by sharing a viral video of the buffalo, claiming the animal had lost its appetite after being compared to the American leader amid the ongoing US-Iran conflict.In a post on X, the official account of Iran in Russia wrote: "Poor thing! Bangladeshi buffalo upset by comparisons to Donald Trump."
This graduation season, a typical commencement speaker is not onstage
Donald Trump has broken with tradition by largely avoiding graduation ceremonies at private colleges.
Since Teddy Roosevelt, American presidents have regularly given commencement addresses at this time of year.
They have used these speeches to college graduates to explain their approach to foreign policy, poke fun at themselves, offer deeply personal reflections or just share their advice on life.
But setting aside the substance of the speeches, the locations themselves are telling — and that is especially true for President Donald Trump.
Over the years, presidents have made a statement by speaking at their own alma maters, notable universities in battleground states, faith-based institutions, historically Black colleges, women’s colleges, trade schools and even community colleges, plus giving regular graduation addresses at the nation’s military service academies.
Earlier this month, Trump spoke at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy for the second time since his first term. Last year, he spoke at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, another repeat. In his first term, he also spoke at the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy.
But the only nonmilitary colleges at which Trump has given commencement addresses in both of his terms were the private, evangelical Liberty University in 2017 and the University of Alabama in 2025, both just months after taking office.
That is a striking break from his predecessors, and there are four major reasons for it.
Trump likes safe spaces
Despite his combative persona, Trump often avoids going into situations where he might be challenged publicly.
Over the years, he has prematurely ended tough interviews with journalists and even skipped some political debates, instead preferring tightly screened political rallies, softball interviews with conservative media and dinners at his private country clubs in Florida and New Jersey.
For the commander in chief, military academies are the ultimate safe space.
His two nonmilitary addresses were also safe picks. Founded by televangelist Jerry Falwell, Liberty University is currently ranked America’s most conservative college by one rating site. Meanwhile, the University of Alabama sits in a state that handed Trump some of his highest percentage wins across his three presidential campaigns.
Trump likes looking tough
A master marketer, Trump also likes to make appearances at places that project raw strength and toughness.
That includes getting tours of auto manufacturing facilities, giving speeches at Fraternal Order of Police lodges, making visits to the border wall and snagging ringside seats at Ultimate Fighting Championship matches. He’s even constructing his own UFC octagon on the White House lawn.
Military graduations, with their rows of sharply dressed cadets and flyovers by the Blue Angels, provide the exact kind of backdrop that Trump loves.
He’s not alone in taking advantage of the symbolism. But past presidents have used their commencement speeches at military academies to talk about the importance of character or outline their vision for achieving “peace for all time,” while Trump tends to talk more or less like he does at a campaign rally.
Trump has attacked private colleges
The president doesn’t just prefer speaking at military graduations. He also has some big reasons to avoid speaking at private colleges.
The main one is that he has harshly criticized U.S. colleges and universities as “woke” and “anti-American” institutions “dominated by Marxist maniacs and lunatics” and “infested with radicalism” that are “turning our students into communists and terrorists and sympathizers.”
Needless to say, that is hardly the language of the typical commencement speech congratulating graduates on their hard-earned degrees.
In his second term, he’s also tried to cancel billions of dollars in federal grants and force colleges to rewrite their curricula, threatened their accreditation and tax-exempt status, made it harder for international students to attend and restricted student loan forgiveness.
That’s enough to make even the most Republican-leaning college administrator think twice about risking a backlash with an invite.
Colleges regretted inviting Trump
Long before he became president, Trump gave two commencement addresses at private colleges. Both schools later came to regret it.
In 1988, when he was known as a high-flying New York real estate developer, Trump gave a graduation speech at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, receiving an honorary doctor of laws degree as part of the custom. In 2004, when he was better known as the host of the reality TV show “The Apprentice,” he gave a speech at Wagner College on Staten Island.
Once his political career was launched, students and faculty on both campuses unsuccessfully petitioned the schools’ boards of trustees to revoke the honors.
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But on Jan. 8, 2021, just after the attack on the Capitol, the two schools separately announced that they had officially stripped Trump of the honorary degrees. A Scottish university had already rescinded an honorary degree it gave him, leaving the president with just two honors awarded by Liberty University.
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