‘The Ides of Trump’ campaign could be a bonanza for the U.S. Postal Service

March 15, 2017 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle

A Brooklyn resident displays her postcard to President Donald Trump, part of a nationwide campaign called The Ides of Trump. Photo by Mary Frost

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Thousands of Americans have a message — actually, a written message — for President Donald Trump today: “Beware the Ides of Trump.”

March 15, a day known throughout history as the ides of March, is (more or less) the fateful day Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. Since then, it’s had a bit of a gloomy connotation.

Flash forward to March 15, 2017. Email, Twitter and Facebook may rule, but Trump opponents have chosen to actually snail mail postcards — lots of them — to the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Specifically, postcards that express their vocal opposition to the new president.

The goal is to send Trump a million postcards in one day, something sure to please the U.S. Postal Service.

Organizers say on their website (idesoftrump.com), “We will show the man, the media and the politicians how vast our numbers are and we will bury the White House post office in pink slips, all informing the president that he’s fired!”

According to the internet reference website Snopes, The Ides of Trump was the brainchild of two Californians, Zack Kushner of Berkeley and Ted Sullivan of Los Angeles, who say they were inspired by the Women’s March.

“To be honest, we have no idea the number of people participating,” Sullivan told Snopes via email. “This is a true grassroots movement.” The pair say they plan more political actions in the future.

Some participants have downloaded humorous glossy postcards bearing the phrase, “Greetings from the Resistance.” Others have drawn imaginative cards covered in insults. Still others have held postcard parties where they cranked out “issue” postcards by the hundreds, some plain, others decorated with tacky gold foil or colored with crayons the hue of pink slips.

One Brooklyn woman (who did not wish to be named) is sending postcards with the simple message, “I don’t like you.” (That’s sure to sting the infamously oversensitive leader of the free world.)

Another postcard writer, Zoje Stage, posted a photo of her card on Twitter, where participants are using #TheIdesOfTrump hashtag.

Her postcard reads, “Trumpcare is a joke. You should call it Trump Couldn’t Care Less. How about we get the same health care that Congress gets?”

The idea is pretty popular in Brooklyn. Williamsburg’s The Well held a postcard party on Tuesday, providing free postcards, postage and $2 beers. In DUMBO, 68 Jay Street Bar also provided cards, stamps and arts and crafts supplies.

The only rule is no violence and no threats, organizers say on their website. “This is about being heard, via postcards. We understand that the ides of March has a history, but that’s not what we are — in any way — calling for here,” they said.