Led By Barrasso, Trump Gets A Birthday Cake That Was All Wyoming

From beginning to end, the birthday cake that was delivered to former President Donald Trump on Thursday while meeting with U.S. Senate Republicans was a Wyoming operation.

Sen. John Barrasso had invited Trump to meet with the Republican Caucus on Thursday in his first trip back to Capitol Hill since leaving office in 2021. Barrasso, Wyoming’s senior senator, is the No. 3-ranked Republican in the Senate and is chairman of the Senate Republican Conference. He organized the meeting Trump attended Thursday.

Barrasso told Cowboy State Daily that he wanted to surprise the 45th president with a cake at the end of the meeting as he knew his birthday was coming up, due to it falling one day before his own father’s birthday. Trump turned 78 on Friday.

It was Carly Rapp, one of Barrasso’s staffers from Sheridan, who bought the vanilla cake. Then, Barrasso’s chief of staff Dan Kunsman, a Laramie native, brought the cake out to the former president.

“It was all Wyoming,” Barrasso said.

Trump’s Cake

The cake had four candles on it for each number making up “45” and “47” — 45 to symbolize Trump’s role as the 45th president and 47 as a nod to his current bid to be the 47th president.

“What we’re trying to do is make him 47,” Barrasso said.

After deliberating about the difficulty of having to cram 45 candles onto a cake and the possible safety risks, Barrasso said he opted to go for the large number route instead.

The cake had an American flag on the top and “45” on its side.

Trump was emphatic that you have to make a wish before cutting a cake for that wish to come true. He wouldn’t reveal what that wish was, but did say it had to do with everyone in the room.

Only the 45 candle was actually lit, which Trump blew out with a single huff after closing his eyes and pausing for a few seconds in a show of dramatic flair.

After receiving an applause from the room of enthusiastic supporters, Trump firmly shook Barrasso’s hand and thanked him.

Barrasso said 46 of the 49 Republican senators who attended the meeting, many ate a slice of cake. He said Trump did not as he and Barrasso went directly to a press conference immediately after he blew out the candles. Barrasso, on the other hand, described the cake as tasting “delicious.”

Unified Room

Trump retains a firm grip over the Republican Party weeks after becoming the first former president to be convicted with a felony.

Barrasso said Thursday’s meeting was emblematic of the unity among Senate Republicans and their desire to get Trump back into the Oval Office.

“I thought it would be really important to have a unified conference and committee from Day 1 when President Trump takes office,” Barrasso said. “People are very unified because they know we need to get this country back on track.”

Although the party seemed split immediately following Trump’s departure from office, Trump’s 2024 campaign has seemed to reinvigorate spirits in the Republican Party.

Barrasso has also at times had a somewhat rocky relationship with Trump, but the two appear to have mended any fissures. Trump has endorsed both Barrasso’s general election campaign and campaign for Senate Whip this year, and Barrasso told Cowboy State Daily he texts with the former president “regularly.”

When Trump first entered the room, he thanked Barrasso for inviting him and talked warmly about his wife, Bobbi Barrasso, who died in January. Trump had also offered his condolences to Barrasso shortly after her death.

Trump also paid a visit to the House Republicans and was greeted just as warmly.

“It was wonderful to see my great friend and the best president of our lifetime,” Rep. Harriet Hageman told Cowboy State Daily. “We need to all get behind President Trump for four more years of prosperity rather than four more years of bad energy policy and out-of-control inflation.”

Barrasso feels similarly and said America is not on the right track under President Joe Biden because of his policies on the southern border, energy and attempting to curb inflation. He said if the election were held today, Barrasso believes Trump would win. But he also stressed there’s a long time still left to go before the November election.

“In four and a half months a lot can happen,” he said.

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Some Critics

Some people took a more critical reaction to Trump’s birthday celebration while others expressed surprise about the Senate Republicans fawning over a president many were reluctant to defend after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.

The Wyoming Democratic Party took a more humorous approach. Posting a photo of Barrasso enthusiastically smiling at Trump as he blew out his candles, the party remarked that people should find “somebody who looks at you the way John Barrasso looks at Trump blowing out birthday candles.”

Biden’s campaign wished former President Trump a happy 78th birthday Friday with a satire list of 78 Trump “accomplishments,” highlighting his legal troubles and some other controversial moments from his time in office.

Late night TV comedian Jimmy Fallon was even more critical of Trump’s birthday.

“Down at Mar-a-Lago, they’re planning a big party with candy ankle monitors and a bouncy jail house,” he remarked. “Trump’s birthday should be fun. The last time people gathered to say, ‘Are you 1, are you 2, are you 3,’ they were counting guilty verdicts.”