Donald Trump has sweeping plans for a second administration. Here’s what he’s proposed

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💃 Ballroom back on

Marine One, carrying President Trump, flies over construction on the new White House ballroom yesterday. Photo: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that President Trump's sprawling ballroom project can proceed for now, despite a lower court's ruling that halted the administration's plans. In a brief order, Chief Justice John Roberts paused the D.C. District Court's restrictions on construction while the court weighs the administration's request. The order didn't address the project's legality or give a timeline for when SCOTUS will weigh in, Axios' Avery Lotz and Josephine Walker write. President Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive for an event announcing the expansion of a foster care initiative in the Rose Garden of the White House on Thursday. Photo: Finn Gomez/Getty Images The big picture: The White House has pointed to the alleged plot against the White House's July UFC fight and the White House Correspondents' Dinner attack as evidence of a heightened threat environment that boosts the need for the ballroom and the renovation of a secure bunker below it. A White House official wrote in a filing sent to the Supreme Court that the project is already 65% complete and that construction of the underground facilities is nearly finished. Zoom out: The joint cost of the ballroom and underground bunker is projected to be at least $600 million, up $400 million from when the project was first announced. Keep reading.

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Hegseth Launches Twisted Attack on Free Press Over Carrier Scandal

The publisher and editor of Stars and Stripes were given the boot after an interview cautioning against censorship.

Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon on Friday fired the publisher and editor of the independent military news outlet Stars and Stripes for “insubordination.”

Long-time publisher Max Lederer and Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin were given “separation notices” that allow five days to appeal the decision, CBS News reports. Reporter Lara Korte announced on social media that she had also been fired.

Korte and Slavin traced the decision back to interviews they did that aired on CBS Sunday Morning in July.

“According to the notice, I am being fired for stating in a CBS interview that censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line. The Pentagon’s public affairs office has charged me with insubordination,” Slavin told CBS.

“I stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent, as required by law and by the department’s own policies.”

“It’s a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve the right to a free and independent press,” Korte wrote in a series of posts about her firing.

Although the newspaper operates within the Department of Defense, it is legally mandated by Congress to remain editorially independent.

Lederer had announced on Wednesday his intention to step down from the post he’s held since 2007, since his opinions on how to run the media organization differed in “fundamental ways” to the Pentagon’s plans for Stars and Stripes, the newspaper reported.

“I think the right step is for me to step down, get out of the way, and let different leadership step in and continue to make this, the great organization that it is, even better,” he said.

Lederer was slated to finish up his tenure on Sept. 30, but now both he and his editor-in-chief have been turfed out.

The move comes after President Donald Trump, Hegseth, and other military leaders downplayed reporting on dire conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln reported by families of service members.

Earlier this year, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell posted a statement about the news outlet on X.

“We are bringing Stars & Stripes into the 21st century. We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members,” the statement said in part.

In the CBS Sunday Morning interview that led to Slavin’s firing, he said he did not know what the “woke distractions” Parnell was referring to were.

In an open letter published on Stars and Stripes Friday afternoon, the new military deputy to the publisher, Navy Capt. Bill Urban, said the military remained “deeply committed” to the editorial independence of the news outlet.

It is funded in part by the American taxpayer, and has a daily circulation of around 1.4 million. The staff are all employed by the Pentagon.

The Department of Defense declined to comment on the situation, but a Pentagon official did confirm the separation notices were “very real.”

Slavin and Lederer did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/hegseths-twisted-attack-on-free-press-over-carrier-scandal/?

ps:What a pathetic administration! They just can't handle the truth!!!!!

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Trump’s DOJ Sets Off Alarm Bells With Election Monitoring Hire

The Florida lawyer served jail time after illegally accessing government election websites.

A lawyer who served jail time for hacking election websites appears to be working alongside the Justice Department officials tasked with monitoring elections.

David Levin was spotted with DOJ attorney William F. Mohrman outside a Minneapolis polling place during the department’s monitoring of Minnesota’s primary, according to Democracy Docket.

The sighting comes a decade after Levin was arrested for illegally accessing government election websites in Florida.

Investigators said Levin used a cyberattack in 2016 to extract usernames and passwords from the Lee County Supervisor of Elections website.

He then used Supervisor Sharon Harrington’s credentials to log in and navigate the site as an administrator. Authorities also found evidence that he separately targeted the Florida Division of Elections website.

Levin initially faced three felony charges before reaching a deal and pleading guilty to two misdemeanors. He served 20 days in jail and received two years of probation.

During the plea hearing, Levin called the event a “silly political stunt” intended to expose security weaknesses in the county elections office. He later said he had been “curious about the integrity of elections” but conceded that his approach was “one of the bigger mistakes I’ve made in my life.”

Levin became an attorney and built an online presence as Dave the Lawyer, offering right-wing political commentary and unsuccessfully running for local office in Florida.

Evidence now points to Levin having joined the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.

A photo from a July 8 ceremony shows him among more than 100 new attorneys and staff sworn in by Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon. His Facebook profile picture also shows him standing in front of a DOJ flag.

The department has not confirmed Levin’s employment or whether he was officially serving as an election monitor in Minnesota.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-doj-sets-off-alarm-bells-with-election-monitoring-hire/?

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Trump Erupts at Republican Nemeses in Late-Night Screed

The president branded the MAGA rebels as “LOSERS” in a bizarre rampage.

President Donald Trump was up all night thinking about his ex-MAGA foes.

Trump, 80, raged against Tucker Carlson, Thomas Massie, and Marjorie Taylor Greene in a late Friday night rant, weeks after they met up and teased that a “movement” was brewing.

“Tucker Carlson just met with Lightweight “Former” Congressman, Thomas Massie, and Marjorie “Traitor” Greene, LOSERS ALL!” Trump’s nearly 300-word diatribe began.

It was not immediately clear which meeting the president was referring to. On Aug. 1, Greene posted an image on X showing her smiling alongside Carlson, who was seated at the head of the table, as well as Massie and former counterterrorism official Joe Kent.

“We said no more foreign wars, and we meant it and supported Donald Trump because he made that promise. But he’s betrayed us all,” Greene wrote at the time. “Our commitment is America First for all Americans, right, left, and center. The movement has begun.”

Three weeks later, Trump seemed to have found the time to hit back with an attack on the one-time MAGA officials who fell out of favor over the Iran war, the Epstein files, and his “big, beautiful bill.”

“Tucker’s ‘Views’ have fallen through the floor, and will only get worse. Nobody cares about him any longer in that he has become totally irrelevant, and happens to be, surprisingly, a very Low I.Q. individual,” he wrote. “Tucker is a loser, and always has been!”

“Marjorie Taylor Brown (Green turns to Brown under stress!), a highly neurotic young woman, went from Ultra Conservative to a Liberal ‘Fool,’ all in a matter of weeks, because I refused to return her phone calls — Not because I didn’t like her, just because I had no time,” he went on.

As for Massie, Trump claimed that the Kentucky representative “turned out to be a failed politician, and a real JERK. He thought it was really wonderful to vote, ‘NO,’ on everything, no matter how good, strong, or proper the Legislation would be.”

“What a team this would be, THREE LOSERS, and a pocketful of change!” Trump continued. “The only chance they have is to join the Radical Left Dumocrats, and try breaking into the Primary System. To all of them I say, PRAISE BE TO ALLAH!”

Trump’s meltdown came as Axios reported that Vice President JD Vance attended a fundraiser on Wednesday at the Southampton, New York home of Omeed Malik, the president of 1789 Capital. The “anti-woke” firm is a major investor in Carlson’s media company.

The Truth Social post left Greene and Massie grasping for answers on why Trump decided to come after them now.

“I wonder if it was being called a traitor at his own rally yesterday that caused him to dictate his lies and insult-laden attack on Tucker, Thomas, and I, while he flew back on the plane. It’s also the bad polling that I’m sure he’s seen by now,” Greene shot back, likely referring to a Trump heckler who was thrown out of a South Carolina rally on Friday.

“President Trump’s demeanor, name-calling, absurd and reckless rhetoric is unbecoming of the office of the president, is a bad example of leadership, and is hurting America’s reputation and place in the world,” she continued. “At this point, he’s no different than an internet troll or one of the many millions of bots that say awful horrible things.”

Massie, meanwhile, mused that Trump was lashing out at them because his policies are failing.

“Trump’s getting roasted today for his disastrous beef policy, the debt hit $40 trillion because of his ‘big beautiful bill,’ he stepped-in-it in Iran, and he’s weeks away from failing his mid-terms in November. He posted this because we are the three he should have listened to,” he wrote on X.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-erupts-at-maga-foes-tucker-carlson-thomas-massie-and-marjorie-taylor-greene-in-truth-social-post/?

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Inside Trump's remake of the White House Rose Garden. First a stone patio, then statues

Instead of adding new roses, President Donald Trump’s White House Rose Garden is growing statues. Read More.   What to know about Trump's 50% tariffs on Canadian goods that just went into effect After trade negotiations crumbled at the eleventh hour, U.S. President Donald Trump's 50% tariffs on scores of Canadian imports kicked in Saturday. Read More.   Trump's trade war with Canada: A timeline of how we got here President Donald Trump's barrage of tariffs — and threats of even more — has strained the United States' longstanding relationship with Canada. Read More.   Trump wants the midterms to be about himself. That may not help in a rare Nebraska swing district “Do they still like Trump in Nebraska? I think so,” the president said during a recent event in Washington. Read More.

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🏎️ It's Race Day!

Race car driver Josef Newgarden taking a practice run past the U.S. Capitol yesterday. Photo: Alex Brandon/AP Even for well-traveled IndyCar drivers, today's Freedom 250 Grand Prix track with the U.S. Capitol in the background is awe-inspiring. "We get to race at a lot of cool cities, but this one is by far the best that we've ever had," IndyCar driver Kyle Kirkwood told AP. "Going by the Capitol building, the views here, all the architecture of all the buildings around here, all the museums, it's stuff that you dream of." The 1.7-mile track includes a lengthy straightaway down Pennsylvania Avenue and another across the National Mall. The Air & Space Museum and National Gallery of Art are both inside the course's perimeter, with a fan zone in between. Kids walking through the Freedom 250 Grand Prix fan zone yesterday. Photo: Allison Robbert/AP The Freedom 250 race begins at 1:10 p.m. ET and stretches 250 miles (147 laps) — the second-longest street race in IndyCar history. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are expected to take an honorary lap in the Beast before the 25 drivers zoom through Washington's streets in a 180-mph blur. Get the latest.

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US and Canada plunge deeper into a trade war After trade negotiations crumbled at the eleventh hour, U.S. President Donald Trump’s 50% tariffs on scores of Canadian imports kicked in Saturday. The new levies are expected to affect about 5% of Canada’s annual exports to the U.S., roughly $20 billion in goods. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney quickly promised Saturday that his government would roll out “dollar for dollar” retaliatory measures starting Sept. 8. Experts warn steeper tariffs raise costs for businesses and almost always trickle down to households in the form of higher prices. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Iran’s president says US memorandum is best path out of stalled war Federal judge vacates Trump policy that suspended processing of immigration visas from 75 countries Supreme Court’s chief justice allows work on Trump’s $400M White House ballroom to continue for now Arizona AG declines to charge Gov. Katie Hobbs over pay-to-play allegations Why the bond market is flexing its muscles, and why everyone needs to care Trump announces plan to lower beef prices, but ranchers and some Republicans are already balking MAHA activists urge Trump against promoting coal to power energy-hungry AI data centers Pentagon dismisses Stars and Stripes leadership after editor, reporter oppose military interference Federal officials announce water cuts as Colorado River supplies continue to plunge TikTok reaches $400 million settlement with US Justice Department over children’s privacy FACT FOCUS: Census Bureau report does not prove Trump’s claim about noncitizen voting in 2020 WATCH: Trump transforms White House Rose Garden with historical statues

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Trade Talks Collapse

The trade dispute between the US and Canada escalated sharply over the weekend after last-minute negotiations ended without agreement. A raft of US tariffs on Canadian goods kicked in Friday at midnight, while Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Canada would apply dollar-for-dollar tariffs going into effect Sept. 8.    The new US tariffs apply a 50% levy to about $20B in Canadian imports, or roughly 5% of the goods exported to the US. Items range from alcohol to agricultural products but exclude energy-related goods (full schedule in the first three links here). Carney said the retaliatory tariffs would be equal in monetary value, with specific items listed in the coming days. Both countries and Mexico signed a free-trade agreement replacing NAFTA during President Donald Trump’s first term. Trump declined a 16-year extension in July, switching to an annual review (see an analysis of issues).  Looking for a 101 on tariffs? Get an overview here.

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💰 Bessent: "Economic D-Day" against Iran

President Trump, who has said he views the Strait of Hormuz "as an American territory," posted this image on Truth Social over the weekend. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who'll hold a news conference today to detail even stronger U.S. sanctions against Iran, writes in a Financial Times op-ed posted yesterday: "At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary." Bessent, who taught economic history at Yale, compared the "full weight of American resolve" against Iran to decisions by FDR, Churchill and the Allied powers during World War II. He warned other countries against "appeasement of the regime." The Treasury secretary argues that U.S. sanctions are working: "Inflation has rarely been higher." Reuters reported last week: "Offers of Iranian crude to Chinese buyers have declined and prices have jumped … as the U.S. blockade has cut Tehran's shipments." Full op-ed (gift link).

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He was waiting for his son to return from the USS Lincoln. Then Border Patrol arrested him When Luis Manuel Aviles was arrested by immigration authorities, his son Joshua Aviles was entering his ninth month on the USS Abraham Lincoln with the Navy — a vessel that set a U.S. military record for uninterrupted time at sea, stirring concerns about supply shortages and deteriorating mental health among soldiers. Read more.

What to know: Luis Manuel Aviles, 48, was arrested after leaving his house to take his car to the mechanic, according to his wife, Argelia Aviles. She said her husband, a handyman in Key West, Florida, has a permit to work in the United States. Originally from Nicaragua, he has lived in the U.S. for 19 years.   The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Border Patrol agents arrested Luis Aviles on Saturday in Key West and that he will remain in ICE custody while the government seeks to deport him. “Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws,” the department said Sunday.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Takeaways from AP’s review of military families detained under Trump’s immigration crackdown

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Drug prices have declined sharply, and Trump is taking credit. The reason behind the drop is complex President Donald Trump has been taking credit for new federal data that shows U.S. prescription drug prices fell 0.8% in July and are down 3.1% from a year ago, the steepest year-over-year drop since 1963. Read more.

Why this matters: The plunging prices, the White House said, resulted from the Republican president’s “most favored nation” drug deals with pharmaceutical firms and the TrumpRx website. The real picture is more complicated, said drug pricing experts, who noted that other factors, including a law from Democratic President Joe Biden’s time in office that allowed Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies, are potentially more significant contributors to the latest consumer price index figures. Also at play, they said, are generic and biosimilar products that have come onto the market, offering competition that drives down the price of expensive brand-name and biologic drugs.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Carney warned about economic coercion. Now Trump is testing the Canadian prime minister Trump wants the midterms to be about himself. That may not help in a rare Nebraska swing district Jared Kushner meets with Democratic leader Jeffries with House control at stake in November Pete Buttigieg returns to South Carolina as he weighs another White House run

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• Trump threatened on Monday to impose a 50% tariff on Canadian automobiles, car parts and steel starting next year as the trade rift with Ottawa continued to deepen. The announcement comes after trade talks between the otherwise reliable trading partners collapsed last week. Long-planned U.S. tariffs on various Canadian goods went into effect after the talks broke off, and Canada has vowed to retaliate.

🇮🇷 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Operation Economic Outcast: The U.S. will impose punishing sanctions on countries and entities that do business with Iran — an attempt to bring the country to heel absent renewed military strikes. More from Barak Ravid.

📰 An independent arbitrator ruled that former Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah was wrongfully terminated last year over social posts tied to the death of Charlie Kirk, and ordered her reinstated with back pay and lost benefits. More from Sara Fischer

🇨🇦 President Trump threatened to hit imported cars, trucks, automobile parts and steel from Canada with 50% tariffs starting on Jan. 1. He wrote on Truth Social: "Canada has been ripping off the United States of America for years. Their ridiculously high tariffs on our Farmers and farm products has made life impossible for these great American Patriots, and has long created a 60 Billion Dollar Deficit between our two Countries." Go deeper.

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Murdoch Paper Savages Trump for Making His ‘Dumbest’ Plan Even Dumber

The Wall Street Journal says the president’s latest move makes no “economic or political sense.”

The Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal blasted Donald Trump for reigniting a trade war with Canada just weeks away from the midterms.

The newspaper’s editorial board savaged the 80-year-old president for announcing a sequel to his “dumbest” tariff plans against a close ally and neighbor by imposing 50 percent import levies on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods over the weekend.

In turn, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that the country is being “attacked” by Trump and vowed to match the U.S. tariffs “dollar for dollar.”

The Journal’s editorial board questioned why Trump has decided to escalate a tariff war with Canada when it makes no “economic or political sense” and during a particularly crucial period for the president and the GOP.

“President Trump took exception last year when we called his tariffs against Canada and Mexico the dumbest trade war in history,” the board wrote.

“It got dumber this weekend as Mr. Trump escalated with another round of border taxes on Canadian imports, a mere 10 weeks before midterm elections.”

Trump’s tariff plans against Canada came into effect on Saturday after talks between the two countries to stop the potentially devastating levies broke down.The tariffs target a long list of Canadian exports, including hockey sticks, agricultural products, wine, and cement. The tariffs will be paid by companies importing those goods into the U.S., with the cost eventually passed on to consumers.

Trump’s tariffs were imposed under a long-dormant law, Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which allows a president to set tariffs against countries that discriminate against “commerce of the United States, directly or indirectly.” Trump is the first U.S. president to use the Depression-era law to impose tariffs.

Carney warned that the Canadian government would impose retaliatory measures against the U.S. starting Sept. 8. The Journal’s board noted that both sides could “still walk back from the ledge,” but Trump’s escalation could “make this harder for Mr. Carney politically since Canadians don’t like being bullied by Washington.”

A fresh trade war, with the cost trickling down to U.S. consumers, could further exacerbate the financial hardships of tens of millions of Americans already suffering in a cost-of-living crisis.

The president has been recording dire approval ratings on the economy throughout his second term, as voters turn on Trump over his original tariff plans and the war in Iran, which has sent gas prices soaring. Backlash to Trump’s handling of the economy could doom Republicans in November’s midterm elections, where the GOP could lose control of both the House and the Senate.

“Mr. Trump’s latest round of border taxes will hit an array of consumer goods, construction materials and manufacturing components. Republicans are already getting pounded on the campaign trail over his tariffs and inflation,” the Journal’s editorial board wrote.

“One reason for Mr. Trump’s frigid approval rating is that voters believe Mr. Trump is waging blunderbuss wars without a strategy, and on trade they’re right.”

In response, White House spokesman Kush Desai told the Daily Beast: “American workers, businesses, and farmers have, for decades, been undermined by unfair Canadian trade practices.

“Canada tore up an incredibly generous and fair trade deal with the Trump administration to instead demand unrestricted access to the American economy while boxing American exports out of its market. President Trump will never waver from putting Americans and America First.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/murdoch-paper-savages-trump-for-making-his-dumbest-plan-even-dumber/?

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US set for largest mass visa revocation in history targeting up to 200,000 foreigners, officials say

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum status in the United States. If it happens, the move would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in U.S. history and would likely face legal challenges.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-rubio-visas-revoke-e9c14fdfd0ada439d2b9d8694e678a46?

Deportees who refused to exit a US flight in Liberia are sent to Equatorial Guinea

Six people who were deported by the United States to Liberia last week resisted getting off the plane and instead were sent to Equatorial Guinea, another ‌African nation that signed a third-country deportation agreement with the Trump administration, a person on the plane and a lawyer in contact with the six said Monday. Read More.

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Insufficient Data

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One of the few issues that unites voters and politicians of both parties right now is data centers. Three-quarters of Americans would oppose a data center being built near where they live, according to a new poll released last week by Heatmap Pro and Embold Research. The two leading lights of the left, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders, have sponsored a bill in Congress to create a temporary moratorium on new centers. They have an unlikely ally in archconservative Governor Greg Abbott of Texas, who said yesterday on ABC’s This Week that data-center companies “basically dug their own grave” and “got the backlash they deserve.”

Standing against this consensus is Donald Trump. The president remains a big booster of data centers. “Communities that don’t take a data center—they’re making a mistake,” he said Thursday during an interview with his on-again, off-again lackey Michael Cohen. “Data centers throw off tremendous amounts of jobs and money.”

This was no one-off. Trump had made several similar comments recently. “If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state and I had a chance to get a big plant in, an AI plant or a data center, I would absolutely want it, because the jobs are enormous and the money paid, the taxes paid, are just enormous,” Trump said last week—although he allowed that the sector could use “a little public-relations help.”

This puts Trump, the most successful demagogue in American political history, in the unusual position of misreading, and opposing, a populist groundswell. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump took many stands that were unpopular among establishment politicians. Some of these positions put him at odds not only with Democrats but also with most Republican elected officials. Trump broke with Republicans in claiming that he would protect social-welfare programs such as Medicare and Social Security, and he broke a bipartisan consensus by attacking free-trade agreements and promising protectionism. On these matters (as well as on his willingness to encourage and participate in gutter racism), Trump demonstrated that a big constituency existed for views that other politicians had deemed electoral liabilities.

Data centers’ political arc has been different. Initially, many officials seemed to back the centers, following exactly Trump’s logic: They offered jobs and tax benefits. But as public opinion turned—driven by a mix of backlash to AI in general, environmental concerns, worries about energy prices, and old-fashioned NIMBYism—politicians changed their view as well.

Why has Trump missed the shift? Presumably one reason is that he is surrounded by advisers and tech executives such as David Sacks and Larry Ellison, who are major boosters of and players in the industry. Tech companies invested heavily in Trump at the start of his second administration, lavishing him with gifts, including a gold-plated bauble and donations to projects such as his inauguration and his ballroom, and Trump has reciprocated by taking policy stances that benefit them. Trump may also be personally profiting from the AI boom; his financial disclosures show he’s become more of a tech investor.

Trump has always tended to adopt the latest thing he’s heard, no matter what it is. He has been willing to alienate corporate interests in the past—when he saw some political upside. But he is not hearing from voters who might alert him to how unpopular data centers are. Trump’s rallies and speeches once created a feedback loop in which he conveyed his message to voters and—crucially—they conveyed their thoughts to him. Now, as his energy sinks, his travel schedule gets lighter, and security makes events more challenging, Trump is getting out less.

Though his stump speeches dragged on for hours, Trump was carefully attuned to audience attention and what did and didn’t work. “You know, if it gets a little boring, if I see people starting to sort of, maybe thinking about leaving, I can sort of tell the audience, I just say, ‘We will build the wall!’ and they go nuts,” he told The New York Times in 2016. I think often about a speech Trump delivered in July 2022. It was billed as the launch of a new policy agenda, but as he read it, both Trump and his audience seemed bored. Then he ad-libbed a riff about trans athletes and the crowd came alive. Trump picked up on the shift and emphasized it; trans issues would become a central talking point for his 2024 campaign.

The president has always been susceptible to fake news and bad at filtering information, but rallies provided a gut check about his base, if not about the broader national reality. Now Trump isn’t even receiving that kind of information. One of his major conduits for information is Natalie Harp, a sycophantic aide who isn’t interested in exposing Trump to criticism. He could read public-opinion data, but as his own approval sinks, he has taken to saying (and may well believe) that polls are fake.

As his world shrinks, Trump’s populist touch has faded. Despite being elected twice on an antiwar platform, he’s launched attacks on Venezuela and Iran. As the Iran war has gotten bogged down, he’s been incapable of reading the public mood. He has dismissed voter frustration over rising fuel costs, saying “I don’t even think about” gas; he previously called affordability a “hoax.” In response to reports that American sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln were struggling with a long deployment, Trump said they hadn’t been deployed “nearly long enough.” And the collapse of trade talks with Canada on Friday threaten Republican prospects in border states including Michigan and Ohio.

Each of these cases represents a growing gap between Trump and his base, but none is as ironic as Trump’s stance on data centers. The AI facilities store terabytes of data, but the president can’t get access to the information about them that he needs.

Related:

• The bubble-wrapped president
• Trump’s 2024 soft launch (From 2022)

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Tehran Trade Squeeze

The Trump administration expanded secondary sanctions against Iran yesterday, threatening penalties against foreign countries and companies that do business with Tehran. The move could restrict their access to the US financial system. The Treasury also sanctioned nearly 60 people, entities, and vessels that it says are tied to Iran's nuclear and missile programs, oil trade, and cyber operations.  The measures add pressure to an economy already strained by previous sanctions and a US naval blockade. The rial hit a record low yesterday, with $1 buying roughly 2.02 million rials, while the IMF projects Iran's economy will shrink more than 5% this year. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did not specify which countries could face secondary sanctions, but China, Turkey, and the UAE are Iran's largest trading partners (see full list). China buys roughly 80% to 90% of Iran's oil exports. Iranian oil reaches China via intermediaries and ship-to-ship transfers that can obscure its origin. Independent refineries, known as "teapots," are among its major buyers.

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Trump's D-Day becomes a waiting game

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Getty Images

President Trump's "economic D-Day" for Iran came and went yesterday with little of the shock or awe it promised, amounting instead to yet another extended ultimatum, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Why it matters: Operation Economic Outcast will unfold not like the Allied invasion of Normandy, but as a sweeping, slow-burn sanctions campaign that could eventually lock Iran's foreign enablers out of the U.S. financial system. Zoom in: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent kicked off the operation by blacklisting more than 60 Iran-linked targets and widening the reach of secondary sanctions. "Every country has a defined timeline to shut down activities we have identified," he said. Bessent declined to name specific countries or deadlines, saying the administration preferred "quiet diplomacy" before resorting to "the hammer of U.S. Treasury actions." "Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?" he told reporters when pressed on the gradual rollout, saying countries deserve a chance to change their behavior. 🇨🇳 Between the lines: The real test will be China, which accounts for roughly 90% of Iran's exported oil and remains one of the regime's most important economic lifelines. If Trump follows through on his threats, secondary sanctions could force Chinese banks, refiners and shippers to choose between Iran and access to dollars, U.S. banks and markets. The intrigue: Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit the White House on Sept. 24, giving Trump another reason to think twice before risking a new confrontation with the world's second-largest economy.

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🗳️ Mail-in maelstrom

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images

The Supreme Court cleared the way yesterday for President Trump to implement parts of an executive order restricting mail-in ballots. Why it matters: The decision could complicate the midterms, putting election officials on a tight deadline to comply with potential changes, Axios' Josephine Walker and Avery Lotz write. Catch up quick: Trump's order, issued in March, directed the Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of citizens eligible to vote and, separately, the U.S. Postal Service to craft rules restricting ballots to those on state-submitted lists of eligible voters. A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general challenged it, arguing that states administer elections under the Constitution. 🏛️ SCOTUS didn't decide whether Trump's order was legal, instead finding that states lacked standing to challenge the executive order because it was an "internal directive" that didn't harm the states that sued. The ruling was 6-3, with the three liberal justices dissenting. What's next: The USPS is still blocked from implementing its rule changes for now due to a nationwide injunction in a separate case earlier this month. The ruling ... The potential impact.

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🛂 Mass visa crackdown

Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photos: Anna Moneymaker and Win McNamee/Getty Images

The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreign nationals who have applied for or are seeking asylum in the U.S., AP's Matthew Lee reports. Why it matters: If carried out, the move would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in American history — and would likely face legal challenges. The big picture: The move would target asylum seekers on B1 or B2 visas that the administration argues were used as a pretext to enter the country. B1 visas are generally issued for business trips, and B2 visas are generally issued for tourism, family visits or medical care. Current applicants for the visas are asked to affirm that they won't apply for asylum and prove that they intend to return to their home countries. What's next: The revocations won't necessarily result in immediate deportation, administration officials told AP. Most with pending asylum cases would be recategorized but would lose their status as business or tourism travelers. Keep reading.

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The fight to reshape mail voting

An election worker processes mail-in ballots. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed President Donald Trump to move forward with a controversial executive order targeting mail ballots, though it still faces legal hurdles before it can be implemented.

At the center of the dispute is the order Trump signed in March, which gives the US Postal Service an unprecedented role in deciding who can vote by mail. It calls for the Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of people it considers eligible to vote. States that send ballots by mail would also have to provide the Postal Service with lists of eligible voters and include information on the envelopes so the ballots can be tracked.

The fight itself is nothing new. President Trump has spent years trying to overhaul mail-in voting while making baseless claims of widespread fraud. Now, the White House is touting the decision as a major victory for election security — and it may be creating more uncertainty than clarity ahead of the November midterms. For voters, though, the takeaway is simple: If you’re planning to vote by mail, nothing changes yet. The legal wrangling is just getting started, with plenty more court fights ahead.

+ Read more: What Trump’s Supreme Court win means for mail ballots

+ CNN Explains: How secure US elections really are ps:How much more pathetic can this administration be??

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Trump’s theory of global power faces a reckoning

President Trump has reshaped US foreign policy around the idea that American strength can compel both adversaries and allies to fall in line. That approach is facing major tests with Iran and Canada as tensions with the two countries deepen. The US has been at war with Iran for six months, with no end to the conflict yet in sight. Trump on Monday also said that the US “will always be far bigger, richer, and stronger than Canada” after threatening steep tariffs. His rhetoric comes as a growing number of experts have warned that a prolonged effort against Canada, Iran and third-party countries targeted by sanctions could invite retaliation, potentially raising US energy and food prices and rattling financial markets.

+ Analysis: Trump’s foreign policy faces its most critical test in Iran and Canada

+ Plus: Trump is threatening 50% tariffs on Canadian cars. Here’s what else he’s targeting

+ USAFacts: Who does the US trade with? See top trading partners when combining total imports and exports

Editor’s note: CNN has partnered with the not-for-profit USAFacts to share government data and insights that we believe are relevant to our audience. ps:What policies? He makes things up as he goes along!!!!!

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Supreme Court sides with Trump administration on mail voting restrictions ahead of midterms The Supreme Court’s conservative majority didn’t decide the legality over President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting mail-in voting. The ruling says that states who sued did not have the legal right to challenge the order. Read more.

Why this matters: It remains unclear how much can be implemented before the fast-approaching midterm elections. The decision leaves room for additional court challenges that could further slow Trump’s order, and other similar cases have already been filed. The U.S. Postal Service laid out how it would implement the order last week, but time is running short to impose major changes. While the emergency order is not final, it does have the potential to create chaos around voting across the country.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ What the court’s order actually means US Postal Service issues new rule for mail ballots, but its impact on the midterms is uncertain California Supreme Court hears arguments over sheriff’s seizure of ballots Darline Graham, Ralph Norman go head-to-head in South Carolina’s GOP Senate runoff Trump-backed businessman Mike Mazzei looks to secure GOP nomination for Oklahoma governor El-Sayed distances himself from popular streamer’s comments on Israel and Jewish Americans

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US set for largest mass visa revocation in history Unless challenged or revised, the Trump administration is preparing to announce the revocations of up to 200,000 business and tourism visas for foreigners who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum status in the United States, according to State Department documents obtained by The Associated Press and two U.S. officials. Read more.

Why this matters: “We are coordinating with DHS to identify and revoke the nonimmigrant visas of foreigners who have come to the United States claiming to be short-term visitors, but then file for asylum to stay here permanently,” said State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott. The revocations would not necessarily result in their immediate deportation, the officials said. Most of those with asylum cases currently pending would be recategorized but would lose their status as business or tourism travelers, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the revocations are not final yet.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Deportees who refused to exit a US flight in Liberia are sent to Equatorial Guinea Wife of active-duty Army sergeant is deported to Honduras under Trump’s immigration crackdown Trump’s trade war with Canada could rattle economies in states with key Senate races What to know about Trump’s tariffs The long list of goods affected Trump moves toward levying new tariff on China, AP sources say Economists don’t expect reopening the US to Mexican cattle imports to reduce high beef prices Trump’s ‘economic D-Day’ threats become warnings for countries to sever financial ties with Iran Photos of daily life in Tehran as Iran braces for new US sanctions

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Secret Oval Office Warning That Trump Ignored Is Leaked

The president’s error could define his entire second term.

Donald Trump ignored several intelligence warnings about the potentially disastrous consequences of launching a war against Iran, according to a report.

Details of an Oval Office meeting in February, leaked to the Wall Street Journal, reveal that the president sought advice on whether an all-out attack to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program and force regime change could work.

During the meeting, then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told Trump that a Middle East conflict would see Iran close the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping route, cause oil and energy chaos across the world, and that killing Iran’s supreme leader would result in a replacement who would push harder for Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons.

Trump had also received similar warnings from top military leaders that a war on Iran would result in multiple deaths and a severe dwindling of U.S. munition stockpiles. Despite this, Trump joined Israel in launching an attack on Iran on Feb. 28, with each of the predictions surrounding the conflict coming true.

Trump started the deeply unpopular war believing that it could be resolved in a matter of weeks. Instead, the conflict has dragged on for nearly six months with no real end in sight.

“This was all predictable and predicted,” Eric Brewer, a deputy vice president at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, told the Journal. “You can draw a straight line from the fact that the war was launched without any clear political objective to the mishandled diplomacy in trying to end it.”

Trump was reportedly buoyed at the very start of the conflict after one of its main objectives was achieved. During a Feb. 28 fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff informed the president that Israel had killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Trump wanted Ratcliffe and Witkoff to share the news with those at the fundraiser, prompting a round of applause. The 80-year-old president is then said to have “crossed his arms and puffed out his chest” while soaking in the praise, sources told the Journal.

However, the praise was short-lived. As the war dragged on, with the Strait of Hormuz closed, leaders from Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar contacted the White House urging an end to the war.

Several Republicans also warned Trump that the Middle East conflict, which has sent gas prices soaring and resulted in the deaths of 18 U.S. servicemembers, could severely damage the GOP’s chances in the midterms.

Officials revealed that Trump was privately furious at the backlash and asked his aides why Iran wasn’t folding as the bombardment of the country continued.

Even a friend of Trump urged the president to end the war. Trump then asked if he should “bomb the s--t out of Iran” in order to bring an end to the conflict, the Journal reported.

The friend advised that this would not be a good idea and would only pull the U.S. further into another forever war in the Middle East.

The White House defended the war in Iran as a success, stating that Trump has severely damaged Iran’s military and nuclear facilities and is preparing to target Tehran’s economy with a naval blockade and sanctions.

“He will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said in a statement. “It would be wise for Iran to reach a deal. Otherwise, they know what could happen.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for further comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/secret-oval-office-iran-war-warning-that-trump-ignored-is-leaked/?

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Trump’s Cabinet Is the Worst in U.S. History—Every Single One of Them

Even after less than two years in office, all the president’s men (and yes, they are nearly all men at this point) are making powerful cases that they are the very bottom of their respective barrels.

The hottest competition in Washington, D.C. these days is not any political race nor is it the ridiculous “grand prix” that bumped its way across the city’s potholed streets this week as the latest entertainment to soothe Mr. Harp, our president.

No, it’s the ongoing contest among Trump’s Cabinet members to demonstrate who is the worst among them. When Trump spoke of “the worst of the worst” during his campaign, not everyone was clear on the fact that he was referring to his future stable of advisors.

Those in hot pursuit of the “distinction” of being the most corrupt, most incompetent, and most dangerous can be comforted by one fact: No matter where they finish among a group that seems dedicated to finishing off this country, each will very likely end up being the worst ever to hold their particular post.

That is no small distinction. We have had some bad Cabinet secretaries in our history. Remember Don Rumsfeld? Remember Nixon’s Attorney General John Mitchell? What about former Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall, who was at the center of the Teapot Dome Scandal? He was the first Cabinet secretary ever to be convicted of a crime and sent to prison. How about A. Mitchell Palmer, Woodrow Wilson’s atrocious attorney general who drummed up Steven Miller-like hatred for foreigners and oversaw mass arrests and deportations during one of America’s first Red Scare eras? Let’s go back further? Grant’s Secretary of War William Belknap resigned just before he was impeached for receiving kickbacks.

Bad as all these guys were, their scandals and failures were merely a prelude to Team Trump’s disastrous tenure. When they stole, they stole less. When they hate-mongered, they did it at a smaller scale. When they sought to obstruct justice, they were just setting the stage for the real wholesale debasement of our justice system that we are seeing today.

Before we go on, I want to make it clear: I’m not drawing these conclusions lightly. I’m not making a big bold statement for dramatic effect. I’ve written many books and articles about presidents and their cabinets. I’ve studied them for years. I’m sure that other historians, over time, will validate my conclusion. Just as they already recognize Trump as the worst president in our history, they will see his Cabinet as the worst ever.

This is not a mere matter of my not liking their politics, although candidly, championing fascist white nationalist authoritarian corruptionalism (and make no mistake, even if it is not a word, the biggest “ism” that defines their “movement” is “corruptionalism”) is not so great. Further, it is not a condemnation merely of their oligarchic distance from and contempt for the American people—even though with something like 15 billionaires and nearly 60 centimillionaires it is quite clear they are, collectively, the most out-of-touch leadership of the executive branch in our history.

No, these guys are earning their bad reputations the old-fashioned way.

Let’s start with the most senior Cabinet post, Secretary of State. Here we have Marco Rubio, who has overseen the most disastrous collapse in American standing ever. He has gutted the State Department and overseen the shutdown of USAID that has eviscerated U.S. soft power and will result in the deaths of millions upon millions of people worldwide in the next several years. Perhaps 750,000 have already died, most of them children. Diplomacy on his watch? A catastrophe from Ukraine to Iran. Alliances are crumbling. Our enemies are beaming.

That record also reflects terribly on the rest of Trump’s national security officials, including notably his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. But even without sharing the blame on those counts, Hegseth is surely the worst ever at the Pentagon (or the War Department) given his record of gross mismanagement, losing a war to a much lesser power, depleting our most important military assets, lying about casualties, shutting down departmental transparency, firing top generals and admirals for racist and sexist reasons, violating international law, overseeing war crimes, and wasting hundreds of billions on ill-considered projects that will actually make us weaker.

But wait, you say, what about Scott Bessent? Under his “leadership” we have just seen the national debt pass $40 trillion—by the end of this term, Trump’s contribution to that debt will undeniably be the greatest of any U.S. president. The dollar is weakening and its time as the world’s reserve currency may be coming to an end. Bond markets are howling, and his interventions are not helping. And his mismanagement of the IRS has included efforts to cut a corrupt sweetheart deal with Trump.

Can Attorney General Todd Blanche be worse than Mitchell or Palmer? At a trot, ladies and gentlemen. He has already made it clear that the Department of Justice serves only one American, the president. He has overseen the cover-up of the Epstein scandal (and cut a deal with Ghislaine Maxwell), the negotiation of Trump’s tax amnesty, efforts to offer payouts to insurrectionists, vindictive prosecutions against Trump’s enemies… and he’s just getting started. Just wait until you see what he does to tamper with election outcomes.

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has overseen widespread attacks on our national parks and, through his championing of fossil fuels, on our environment and that of the planet as a whole. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins is presiding over the most sweeping food safety crisis in our history at the same time as food prices are skyrocketing and the president is turning to foreign beef suppliers to make up for a shortage caused in part by a screwworm outbreak that the USDA should and could have prevented. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has the distinction of having just been called out by Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney for being particularly unhelpful in the failed U.S.-Canada negotiations that have led to the current trade war with our former friends to the north. Lutnick has also championed Trump’s disastrous tariffs (along with the worst USTR of all time, Jamieson Greer, whose terrible trade policies will be studied for years to come) while he and his sons are seen as tightly wrapped up in the efforts by top administration officials to cash in on their high offices.

Over at the Department of Labor, we have only an Acting Secretary in Keith Sonderling, but the department has, unsurprisingly, been battered by the anti-labor policies of the administration and new questions that have arisen concerning the output of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, once a bastion of credible economic data reporting.

RFK Jr.? Need we say more? He is the anti-HHS Secretary, waging an active war against science and health while promoting crazy crackpot quackery. Vaccine science is being set back by two centuries in some parts of America, and the results are mounting as diseases like measles and tuberculosis spread and available cures or measures to prevent flu or COVID or other diseases are being kicked to the curb.

At Scott Turner’s Housing and Urban Development department, they are doing less and less for fewer and fewer Americans. They have systematically weakened civil rights enforcement, cut fair housing programs and budgets, and undercut reasonable programs to help the homeless. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is a laughing stock, overseeing decaying air traffic systems, cutting back on infrastructure investments, fighting common sense fixes for mass transit, fear-mongering about urban transit systems, and all the while spewing idiocies and filming reality TV projects.

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, despite catering to the needs of the fossil fuel industry, has been one of the masterminds behind our current national energy crisis—spiking prices, failed measures to offset the consequences of the Iran War, depletion of the national petroleum reserves to historically low levels and attacks on the clean energy sources of tomorrow that the world is embracing, thus ensuring foreign companies own wind and solar and battery markets for decades to come. All this to support Trump’s crazy anti-windmill fetish.

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, a woman who is on the record confusing AI with A1 steak sauce, is working to shutter her entire department. But along the way she is offering up choice ideas like, just the weekend, suggesting that more kids in elementary school need to be put on the track to trade schools. Meanwhile, Veterans Secretary Doug Collins has presided over massive cutbacks at VA hospitals and has made it harder and harder for veterans to get the care they need and deserve. (No surprise, given how badly Hegseth treats the troops or how often Trump derogates them.)

And last, but not least, we have Markwayne Mullin—and before him Kristi Noem—at the Department of Homeland Security. They have overseen the creation of a national Gestapo, serial violations of due process and the law in the mistreatment of both American citizens and immigrants. They have overseen the murder of Americans and the deaths of many in their concentration camp-like detention centers. They have cut deals to deport people, innocent and otherwise, to foreign countries they have nothing to do with.

The Cabinet, of course, cannot do it all alone. Prime Minister Stephen Miller is widely viewed as a candidate for the Hague. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought is often cited alongside Miller as one of the principal architects of the administration’s destruction of U.S. institutions. Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton has none of the requisite experience for his job. The list goes on and on: Witkoff, Kushner, Natalie Harp… remember DOGE and Elon? Everywhere you look, you see previously unimaginable incompetence, bad governance, malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance.

Of course, none of this would be possible without President Trump and Vice President Vance. You don’t get a Cabinet like this by accident. You don’t do this much damage by accident. You must wage a careful campaign to destroy what is best about America, to pillage the ruins of the government you’re destroying for cash to line the pockets of high officials, and to put in place the kind of scumbags and goons that will oversee, as this Cabinet has, rendering the MAGA agenda into one of the darkest chapters in American history.

No, it’s no accident. But it’s a disaster.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-cabinet-is-the-worst-in-historyevery-single-one-of-them/?