Members phkrause Posted February 26 Author Members Posted February 26 Supreme Court decision President Donald Trump on Monday threatened countries around the world to abide by any tariff deals they agreed to, despite the U.S. Supreme Court striking down many of his far-reaching taxes on imports. Any country that wants to “play games” with the Supreme Court decision, Trump posted, will be met with “a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to.” Read more. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ EU hits pause on US trade deal as it seeks clarity over latest Trump maneuver Ontario’s premier says ‘the walls are closing in’ on Trump after Supreme Court tariff decision US military builds up the largest force of warships and aircraft in the Middle East in decades State Department orders nonessential US diplomats to leave Lebanon as tensions with Iran soar US military moves forces and equipment out of northeast Syria base Rubio heads to Caribbean to reassert US interests after Venezuela strikes and Iran threats Judge blocks release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on Trump classified documents case Armed man shot and killed at Mar-a-Lago was never interested in politics or guns, cousin says Texas man was fatally shot by a federal immigration agent last year during a stop, new records show FDA proposes new system for approving customized drugs and therapies for rare diseases New Mexico launches investigation of forced sterilization of Native American women Trump administration to stand by tough Biden-era mandates to replace lead pipes Police are finding suspects based on their online searches as courts weigh privacy concerns Supreme Court agrees to hear from oil and gas companies trying to block climate change lawsuits Federal court rejects GOP-led Utah Legislature’s latest try to block House map that helps Democrats PacifiCorp to pay $575M to resolve federal government’s claims over wildfires in Oregon, California FBI director invites fresh scrutiny over travels with appearance at US men’s hockey team celebration Melania Trump donates her white and black-trimmed inaugural ball gown to the Smithsonian Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 26 Author Members Posted February 26 Vaccine skeptic stepping down from No. 2 post at CDC Ralph Abraham is stepping down as the second highest-ranking official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, continuing the churn within the top ranks of the Trump administration's health team. https://www.axios.com/2026/02/23/cdc-ralph-abraham-rfk-kennedy-resigns? What Does Trump Want With Cuba? Cuba is spiraling into a humanitarian crisis. The country’s long-standing economic and political turmoil reached new heights this week as the effects of the Trump administration’s oil blockade took hold. https://theintercept.com/2026/02/20/podcast-trump-cuba/? Trump Menaces Iran With Massive Armada Capable of Prolonged War Fresh from the conflict with Venezuela last month, the USS Gerald R. Ford — America’s newest and largest aircraft carrier — is speeding through the Mediterranean and toward a potential war with Iran. Another aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln is already deployed to the Middle East. The military pressure campaign, which could allow the U.S. to begin sustained attacks in a matter of days, is part of the Trump administration’s multipronged effort to pressure Iran to cease a nuclear program whose key sites, according to President Donald Trump, were “completely and fully obliterated” in U.S. attacks last year. https://theintercept.com/2026/02/19/trump-iran-military-navy-carrier-planes/? More U.S. Troops Are Headed to Nigeria The Trump administration is increasing the U.S. military’s presence in Nigeria, where decades of American military assistance has coincided with increased violence and instability. https://theintercept.com/2026/02/19/more-u-s-troops-are-headed-to-nigeria/? Trump’s Latest Deportation Tactic: Targeting Immigrants With Minor Family Court Cases Should a person be deported because once, a decade and a half ago, they left their toddlers home alone for a half hour to buy them pajamas at Walmart? That’s what the Trump administration is arguing in a little-noticed federal appeals court case being decided in California, with sweeping implications for both the immigration and child welfare systems. A ruling is expected in the coming months. https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-immigration-deportation-family-court-sotero-mendoza-rivera? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 26 Author Members Posted February 26 The Mapmaker’s Dilemma (Illustration by Akshita Chandra / The Atlantic) View in browser Partisan gerrymandering—the practice of drawing districts in a way that is designed to aid one party and hurt the other—is one of the more pernicious phenomena in American politics today. It’s fundamentally antidemocratic because it’s designed to circumvent or at least dampen the will of voters. For the same reason, it’s very difficult to overcome through democratic means: You can’t exactly vote out the people in power if they’ve drawn districts designed to stop you from doing so. And legal remedies are scant. The U.S. Supreme Court has concluded that although partisan gerrymandering is distasteful, the federal courts have no role in stopping it. Some states have specific constitutional protections against gerrymandering, but many do not. But partisan gerrymandering does have one ultimate weakness—a foe that doesn’t always win, but whose victories are especially satisfying. That foe is gerrymandering itself. If you have never heard of a dummymander, this is probably a good time to learn the word. Dummymander is the term that the political scientists Bernard Grofman and Thomas L. Brunell coined for what happens when a gerrymander backfires, hurting the party that it was designed to help. Dummymanders are nothing new, but the bunch of new districts drawn in recent months mean that they could play an important role in the outcome of the midterms. Over the summer, President Trump set off a frantic round of redistricting when he began pushing Republicans in Texas and in other states to redraw their maps to favor Republicans. States typically draw new maps only after each decennial census, and Trump’s pressure to break that precedent was a sign of his concern about potential GOP losses in the 2026 midterms. Democrats in some states considered their own counter-gerrymanders—in California, policy makers even got voters to approve going around an anti-gerrymandering commission set up in 2010. Now the action is mostly reaching its end as the deadline for finalizing 2026 maps nears, although some questions remain. (Among them: Will the Supreme Court issue a ruling weakening the Voting Rights Act in time for Republicans to draw new maps for this cycle?) The consensus among election analysts is that the redistricting will end up giving Republicans only three or four new seats, if any. But Democratic prowess in recent special elections raises the possibility that rather than a cold-blooded political hit, the GOP’s efforts could end up as a Pyrrhic victory. In late January, a Democrat won a Texas state Senate seat in Tarrant County—in a district that Trump won by 17 points in 2024. Most House districts won’t see a shift that big, but victories like these have raised the possibility of Democrats catching enough of a blue wave that maps drawn to help Republicans might actually hurt them. The math is simple: In order to draw more districts favoring Republicans, GOP legislators had to spread their own voters a little thinner. But if they spread them too thin and Democrats have a good year, Republican candidates will become vulnerable. Many of Grofman and Brunell’s examples of dummymanders come from late in the 20th century, when Democrats still held lots of southern seats because of historic party support, but were on the verge of losing them to Republicans. For example, they write that the map Georgia Democrats drew after the 1990 census looks more like a Republican gerrymander than one drawn to help Democrats, which the authors blame on “the belief that it is good to be as thin as possible as long as you still remain breathing.” Entering the 1992 election, Georgia had nine Democratic House members. Three won, but three lost, and three more retired. Dummymanders also happen when a party has a great deal of control and gets greedy, the journalist Alan Greenblatt wrote last year. Before the 1894 elections, Democrats sought to expand the number of districts they could win, but an economic crisis in 1893 doomed them. The party lost 114 seats in a 357-seat House, reducing it to a regional, southern party. Such a huge collapse is hard to imagine today, in part because partisan gerrymandering has already made so few districts competitive. But this also means that Republicans in particular don’t have a lot of good prospects for gerrymandering without spreading themselves too thin. The time is too early to declare the presence of any particular dummymanders for 2026, but one place to look is North Carolina. Maps in the Old North State have changed rapidly. In the 2022 election, a court-ordered map produced a 7–7 split between the two parties. In 2024, a new GOP-drawn map produced a 10–4 Republican majority, although Republicans won nearly the same percentage of the overall vote as they did in 2022. Last year, the GOP-led general assembly acted again, with Trump’s urging, to make the district of Representative Don Davis, a Democrat, more Republican. This attempt to engineer an 11th Republican district may very well work. North Carolina Republicans are experienced and adept mapmakers. But they targeted Davis at the expense of removing Republicans from another district, which is held by the Republican Greg Murphy. Democrats hope, and some conservatives worry, that a big Democratic wave could knock out Murphy and save Davis. In Texas, meanwhile, Republicans drew districts that assume Trump’s success in courting Hispanic voters will translate to the future—but some of his actions since he took office are alienating the same voters. Whatever the results, any dummymander that emerges in 2026 might be short-lived. The new precedent set by so many states changing their maps during this cycle may mean that legislatures move quickly to correct any errors they made that helped the other party. But gerrymanderers are always making maps based on the last election—which means voters might have a chance to give them their comeuppance. Related: Welcome to the gerrymandering apocalypse John Roberts says partisan gerrymandering is not his problem. (From 2019) Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 26 Author Members Posted February 26 ⚖️ "Deportation judges" to speed cases Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios The next big phase of President Trump's mass deportations is set to begin as "deportation judges" attempt to speed through 3.6 million backlogged cases, Axios' Brittany Gibson writes. Why it matters: Faster immigration court rulings could allow ICE to carry out more deportations, as most cases end in final removal orders. 🎨 The big picture: Trump spent much of 2025 purging the beleaguered immigration courts. 55 immigration judges were fired, and another 80 retired. About 1,700 applications have been received after a campaign asking people to apply to be "deportation judges" across social media. Keep reading. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 26 Author Members Posted February 26 US women’s hockey team declines invitation from Trump to attend State of Union address The U.S. women’s hockey gold medal-winning team has politely declined an invitation from President Donald Trump to attend his State of the Union address on Tuesday. Read more. What to know: Logistics played a role in the decision, as many of the women players were not scheduled to arrive in North America until Monday evening. The men’s team flew by charter to Miami earlier Monday. The women took a commercial flight and were scheduled to land in Atlanta. Trump also invited the U.S. men’s gold medal-winning team. When extending the invitation to them on Sunday night, Trump said, “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that.” Trump joked that if he did not also invite the women’s team, “I do believe I probably would be impeached.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of both teams. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ FACT FOCUS: A look at Trump’s false and misleading claims ahead of the State of the Union ICE officer training is ‘deficient’ and ‘broken,’ former agency lawyer tells congressional forum ‘Abolish ICE’ gets most votes in Chicago snowplow-naming contest; ‘Stephen Coldbert’ also a winner Witness who saw friend fatally shot by immigration agent in Texas last year dies in car accident RFK Jr. fought pesticides for years. Now he’s backing their production Hegseth and Anthropic CEO set to meet as debate intensifies over the military’s use of AI US military strikes alleged drug boat in Caribbean Sea, killing 3 Utah judge is set to rule on disqualifying prosecutors in the Charlie Kirk case Education Department hands off more of its responsibilities to other US agencies France ups the ante in beef with US ambassador, says ministers will no longer meet him US sheds light on its allegation of Chinese nuclear test and urges nations to push for disarmament Isaac Hayes estate settles lawsuit accusing Trump of unauthorized song use Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 26 Author Members Posted February 26 Medical influencer Dr. Peter Attia resigns post at CBS News after name included in multiple Epstein files Attia, a medical influencer whose emails with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were revealed in the latest Justice Department release of files, has resigned from a post with CBS News. Read more. Why this matters: Attia was one of a group of people named last month by CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss as a contributor to network programming. He was the subject of a “60 Minutes” profile last October. But shortly after the appointment, Attia’s name surfaced in hundreds of Epstein documents. While Attia said he was guilty of no wrongdoing and did not attend any of Epstein’s sex parties, he admitted in an apology earlier this month that some of his emails were “embarrassing, tasteless and indefensible.” Despite some public pressure, CBS News did not cut ties with Attia after the documents surfaced. Instead, Attia resigned from the network on his own, according to published reports confirmed by CBS News on Monday. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ WATCH: Former UK ambassador to US Peter Mandelson released on bail after arrest in Epstein probe Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 Trump Insiders Now Frantically Briefing Against the President’s War Plans At least five major outlets received near-identical warnings from anonymous administration insiders. Trump insiders appear to be running a briefing campaign against the president’s Iran war plans—and they are not being subtle about it. Over roughly 48 hours beginning Sunday, at least five major news outlets each received strikingly similar tip-offs from anonymous U.S. officials warning that a major military operation against Iran would carry grave risks. As the Daily Beast reported on Monday, Trump’s indecision over whether to bomb Iran is sending the Pentagon into meltdown.The USS Gerald R. Ford—the U.S.’s largest warship, already at sea since last June—has entered the Mediterranean and is expected to be within striking distance of Iran within days. Plane-tracking data has registered multiple flights toward Diego Garcia, the U.S. military base in the Chagos Islands, south of Iran across the Arabian Sea. The U.S. has also moved 13 guided-missile destroyers into Middle Eastern and Mediterranean waters to counter Iranian threats, according to reports. Diplomatic talks between U.S. envoys and Iranian officials are scheduled for Thursday in Geneva. Trump’s flip-flopping appears to have led officials to begin issuing ominous briefings against an Iran strike on Sunday, when the New York Times reported that the president, 79, was weighing a limited strike “in the coming days,” citing officials and sources familiar with the administration’s internal deliberations, all of whom spoke anonymously. By Monday, Axios had spoken to two sources with direct knowledge who said Gen. Dan Caine—the Joint Chiefs chairman and Trump’s most trusted military adviser—had privately been warning that any Iran campaign risked dragging the U.S. into a prolonged conflict. The same report revealed that Vice President JD Vance, as well as envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, had each separately urged the president to give diplomacy more time. The Washington Post then reported that Caine had made his concerns explicit at a White House meeting last Tuesday—attended by Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and adviser Stephen Miller—warning that American munitions stockpiles had been significantly drained by the defense of Israel and support for Ukraine. The Post added that Arab nations had privately told Washington they would not permit their territory to be used for a strike, a logistical complication one unnamed former Pentagon official said was a critical obstacle. The pattern was flagged by journalist Branko Marcetic, who posted on X: “Someone in that administration is trying to head off what they realize will be a disaster.” The Wall Street Journal, whose account aligned closely with the Post’s, added a particularly sobering detail—that American interceptor supplies would last roughly a fortnight against a full Iranian missile assault, the Journal reported, with Patriot, THAAD, and SM-3 stockpiles already running critically low. The Journal also reported that a prolonged conflict could imperil preparations for a future war with China. The outlet’s account also outlined additional vulnerabilities. American pilots would face Iranian air defenses during multiple bombing runs. Iranian missiles could target U.S. troops at bases across the Middle East. The Ford is now on course for an 11-month continuous deployment, which would set a record. The carrier has been experiencing sewage problems, and sailors, the Journal reported, are overtaxed, with some considering leaving the Navy. The danger of overextending crews is not theoretical, the report said. It pointed to a Navy investigation into the loss of multiple fighter jets from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman during Houthi operations in the Red Sea in spring 2025, which concluded that the ship’s relentless operational tempo was to blame. Politico detailed how a defense official said that Pentagon staff had spent recent weeks going to bed expecting a 3 a.m. phone call to come in—only to wake up to their regular alarms. “That is the story of the Trump approach to war and peace,” the outlet’s Playbook newsletter reported. The State Department on Monday ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel and family members of staff from the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon, amid growing fears about how Iranian-backed militia groups might strike American targets in response to any U.S. attack. Axios disclosed that CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper, whose area of responsibility directly covers Iran, has not been invited to Trump’s Iran planning meetings—a notable departure from precedent, since Cooper’s predecessor, Gen. Erik Kurilla, regularly briefed both Trump and former President Biden. The president furiously batted away the reporting on Monday, posting on Truth Social that it was “100 percent incorrect” that Caine opposed military action. He accused the outlets of writing “incorrectly, and purposefully so.” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the president “listens to feedback from all members of his national security team, and he is always the final decision maker.” The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Pentagon for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-insiders-now-frantically-briefing-against-the-presidents-iran-war-plans/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 Egomaniac Trump’s Name MIA From His Own Business HQ The parent company for Truth Social is shying away from its association with the president. Donald Trump’s name is conspicuously absent from his media company’s offices in his adopted home state of Florida, a columnist has found. Trump—who loves to put his name on everything from golf courses and steaks to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts—is missing from the headquarters of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the company that owns the Truth Social app. As noted by Sarasota Herald-Tribune columnist Chris Anderson, there is not a “single trace” of the president’s name or branding at the TMTG offices, and the building looks like “every other office” on the street. “The business registry inside the lobby might as well be a list of Nobel Peace Prize winners, because Trump’s name is not on that either,” Anderson wrote. “Go up a floor to where the leased office for Trump Media is located, and it is even stranger. Not a single word. There is only a paper sign attached to the door that reads: ‘No photos or video allowed. Visitors will be prosecuted.’” The lack of Trump’s name in the Sarasota offices of his media company is certainly unusual. In Florida alone, there are three golf courses that bear the name of the 79-year-old, with the state’s House of Representatives passing a bill to rename Palm Beach International Airport after him. Last month, a four-mile stretch of road leading from Palm Beach International Airport to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home was officially renamed President Donald J. Trump Boulevard. The president naming things after himself has been a hallmark of his branding for decades, dating back to his failed business ventures such as his casinos, vodka, university, as well as numerous buildings. Trump has continued massaging his ego in his political career, including introducing a “Trump Gold Card” visa and an “America the Beautiful” pass that charges non-U.S. citizens more to enter national parks and features Trump’s face. The Republican is hoping to rename New York’s Penn Station after himself, as well as Washington’s Dulles International Airport. The 79-year-old has also shown his desire to go full dictator during his second term by having a massive banner bearing his face displayed at the Washington headquarters of the Department of Justice. Elsewhere, Trump announced in December 2025 a new class of heavily armed warships that will be named after himself—an honor usually reserved for U.S. leaders after they have left office. https://www.thedailybeast.com/egomaniac-donald-trumps-name-mia-from-his-own-business-hq/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 How Trump Could Bury Any of His Goons’ Crimes: Lawyer Former U.S. pardon attorney Liz Oyer explains what could be in store for Trump and his allies. Donald Trump will likely pardon anyone in his administration who may face prosecution—and possibly himself, a former U.S. pardon attorney says. Liz Oyer, whom Trump fired last March after she refused to recommend the restoration of Trump-supporting actor Mel Gibson’s gun rights, said the president may have already drafted pardons “in case something should happen to him.” It is “likely” that the president “will very broadly grant pardons to members of his administration who may have committed crimes in the course of their official duties,” Oyer told The Daily Beast Podcast host Joanna Coles. As for mass pardons, Trump is no stranger to that; on his first day back in office, he pardoned about 1,500 accused or convicted Jan. 6 rioters. “Frankly, it would not surprise me if he has already written some of those pardons and signed them and has them stashed in a drawer somewhere, just in case something should happen to him—to make sure that the people who have worked for him in this administration are protected," Oyer said of the 79-year-old. Oyer, who previously told The Daily Beast Podcast about the high-priced “pardon economy” for those outside Trump’s administration, added that Trump might not even need to pardon himself, the legality of that move aside. “There’s not a clear answer under the law as to whether the president can pardon himself,” she explained, referring to the Justice Department stating in a legal opinion a few days before Richard Nixon’s 1974 resignation that the president couldn’t pardon himself. The Supreme Court hasn’t weighed in on it. Regardless, Oyer said, the court has already granted Trump “such broad immunity” through its 2024 ruling. That opinion, which Trump called a “big win,” appears to have “emboldened” him. “He knows that he’s not likely to be able to be held accountable criminally for anything he’s doing during his presidency, and therefore he probably won’t need a pardon because of the broad legal immunity that the Supreme Court has already given him,” she said. Trump asserted in 2018 that he had the “absolute right” to pardon himself, citing “numerous legal scholars,” none of whom he named. When reached for comment, the White House responded with a boilerplate statement about the Daily Beast along with a dig at former President Joe Biden. “Anything said on the Daily Beast podcast is equivalent to screaming into the void. No one listens to this Trump Derangement Syndrome therapy session,” spokesperson Abigail Jackson claimed, even as Sunday’s episode of The Daily Beast Podcast has surpassed 200,000 views on YouTube alone. “And the only pardons anyone should be critical of are from President Autopen, who pardoned and commuted sentences of violent criminals including child killers and mass murderers– and that’s not to mention the proactive pardons he ‘signed’ for his family members like Hunter on his way out the door," Jackson continued, linking to a story about Biden changing 37 death row sentences to life in prison because he opposes the death penalty. https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-trump-could-bury-any-of-his-goons-crimes-lawyer-liz-oyer/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 Trump’s Own Officials Go Public to Debunk His Bizarre Greenland Flex American officials told the media to ignore Trump’s latest diplomatic ramblings. The Pentagon has not received any orders to send a U.S. hospital ship to Greenland, despite Donald Trump bizarrely claiming one is “on its way. ”The 79-year-old president drew ridicule after posting on Truth Social on Saturday that the U.S. is going to send a “great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there. ”Adding to the confusion, the post came shortly after the Danish military announced that a U.S. sailor was receiving urgent medical treatment in a Greenland hospital after being evacuated from a nuclear-powered submarine that had been forced to surface off the coast of the island. As noted by The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Navy has two hospital ships: the USNS Comfort and the USNS Mercy. Both are currently in a shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, and have not received any deployment orders. In fact, the Comfort is undergoing repairs that are not expected to be completed until April, and the Mercy is also out of service for months, as it is in the middle of a one-year maintenance period that began last July. Even if the Pentagon had received orders to send one of the floating medical treatment vessels to Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, a request from Danish officials would need to be submitted first before any ship could dock on the island, a U.S. official told the Journal. Such a request is highly unlikely to be approved. In a scathing social media post, Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, resoundingly rejected the idea of Trump sending a hospital ship to its shores, noting the territory would not need any help from the U.S. to treat its sick. “It’s a no thank you from here,” Nielsen wrote. “We have a public health care system where treatment is free for citizens. That is a deliberate choice—and a fundamental part of our society. That is not how it works in the USA, where it costs money to see a doctor.” An exasperated Nielsen added that Greenland is always open to discussions but urged Trump to “talk to us instead of just making more or less random statements on social media.” Trump has repeatedly threatened to damage the relationship between NATO ally Denmark and the U.S. by continuing to state his desire to take over Greenland. Trump claims that the U.S. must control the mineral-rich island in the Arctic region for national security reasons. Last month, the thin-skinned president also warned Norway’s prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, that he no longer has the “obligation to think purely of Peace” because he was not awarded last year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Asked by NBC News whether using military force to seize the island was an option, Trump replied: “No comment.” Trump later said that a “framework of a future deal” had been agreed with regard to Greenland to ensure greater U.S. influence on the island, although specific details of the deal were scant. The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon, the Navy, and the White House for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-disputes-donald-trumps-bizarre-greenland-flex/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 Trump Melts Down After Favorite General Sounds Alarm on His War Plotting The president blasted the media over reports that one of his most trusted aides has urged caution on Iran. President Donald Trump threw a Truth Social tantrum to shut down reports that his favorite general is urging caution on his plots against Iran. Trump, 79, blasted the press on Monday for reporting that Gen. Dan “Raizin” Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had warned top administration officials about the significant risks of a military campaign against Iran. Citing officials with knowledge of the discussions, both Axios and The Wall Street Journal reported that Caine has been cautious about the Iran face-off over concerns of possible casualties, depleted air defenses, and an overworked force. Trump had been weighing an initial strike in the com days as well as a military assault later this year if Tehran doesn’t accept his demands to give up its nuclear program, according to The New York Times. The commander in chief decided to address the matter himself on Truth Social. “Numerous stories from the Fake News Media have been circulating stating that General Daniel Caine, sometimes referred to as Razin [sic], is against us going to War with Iran,” he began. “The story does not attribute this vast wealth of knowledge to anyone, and is 100% incorrect.” “General Caine, like all of us, would like not to see War but, if a decision is made on going against Iran at a Military level, it is his opinion that it will be something easily won,” Trump continued. Trump said Caine knew Iran well, crediting the general with overseeing Midnight Hammer, the June 2025 operation that launched strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. The president has consistently claimed that the facilities were “blown to smithereens” by powerful B-2 bombers, but a preliminary assessment previously downplayed the impact of the strike. “Razin Caine is a Great Fighter, and represents the Most Powerful Military anywhere in the World,” Trump argued. “He has not spoken of not doing Iran, or even the fake limited strikes that I have been reading about, he only knows one thing, how to WIN and, if he is told to do so, he will be leading the pack.” “Everything that has been written about a potential War with Iran has been written incorrectly, and purposefully so,” he added. “I am the one that makes the decision, I would rather have a Deal than not but, if we don’t make a Deal, it will be a very bad day for that Country and, very sadly, its people, because they are great and wonderful, and something like this should never have happened to them.” Trump, who touts himself as “The President of Peace,” has repeatedly threatened Iran over its nuclear program and its hostile response to anti-government protesters last month. Officials have told The Times that both Washington and Tehran were also considering an off-ramp introduced by Rafael Grossi, director general of the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency, where Iran would be allowed to produce very small amounts of nuclear fuel solely for medical purposes https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-melts-down-after-favorite-general-sounds-alarm-on-his-war-plotting/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 Insiders Admit Trump May Have Killed Presidency in Just a Year Trump’s State of the Union speech has taken on added importance as the president slumps in the polls. A former Trump official is warning the president could be in trouble if he doesn’t nail his State of the Union speech. The unnamed ex-official, with insider knowledge of Tuesday’s speech, said it will be typically firebrand—but admitted that the administration knows that it is on the back foot after a series of public flops. “It’s an offensive speech, but the backdrop of it all is that they’ve been in a defensive posture for several weeks now,” they told Politico. A Washington Post–ABC News poll, conducted between Feb. 12-17, has Trump’s approval rating at worrying lows. In fact, the WaPo-ABC data suggests he has sunk to a five-year nadir. It shows that Trump’s net approval is deep in negative territory on several key issues: border security is at -3, the economy -16, immigration -18, tariffs -30, and inflation -33. As 2025 bled into 2026, Trump appeared to have abandoned the “America First” issues that led him to the White House. Indeed, this week, his administration continues to pummel suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and mull over an offensive in Iran. All of this has weakened his footing compared to a year ago, with the midterms in November looking less and less appealing for the Republican Party. “We were 1,000 percent on offense a year ago,” the former official recalled. “We felt like we were firing on all cylinders. And early on, we didn’t have many points for scrutiny. Now, a year in, there is a record to kind of hang the president on. That makes this much more challenging.”It could get worse if Trump goes off-script and fails to hammer the messaging that the nation wants to hear. “Last year was all about promise and potential. This year has to be about the current reality,” said Kevin Madden, a GOP communications strategist in Washington, D.C. “I expect the President and his team know that this speech presents a moment of opportunity to really address the affordability angle. We know it was the driving issue of 2025, and we know it’s going to define 2026.” Trump has repeatedly swatted away affordability as a genuine issue, calling it a “hoax” cooked up by political opponents last year. His own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, urged him to stay on message. During a meandering 90-minute speech in Pennsylvania in December, he admitted as much, telling the crowd that Wiles, whom he called “Susie Trump,” had instructed him to focus on the economy. “There’s a lot of wins to talk about, and not just the stock market,” said a senior White House official. “The pieces in the OBBB (One Big Beautiful Bill) to help people were designed to take effect this year, ahead of the midterms, so people will feel the impact before they have to vote.” Veteran D.C. pollster Whit Ayres cautioned that staying on message is vital for Trump because this is connected to his approval rating. “The single most important variable in midterm elections is the president’s job approval. When it’s above 50 percent, the party loses seats but not that many. When the president’s job approval is below, the average loss of seats is 32,” he warned. Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, suggested that the address will touch on Trump’s “accomplishments,” as well as laying out an agenda. “President Trump’s State of the Union Address will celebrate 250 glorious years of our nation’s independence and excellence, highlighting incredible stories of American heroes throughout the speech,” she said in a statement shared with the Daily Beast. “In one year, President Trump has turned our country around from the brink of disaster, and he will rightly declare the State of Our Union is strong, prosperous, and respected. The President will proudly tout his Administration’s many record-breaking accomplishments, and also layout an ambitious agenda to continue bringing the American Dream back for working people.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/insiders-admit-trump-may-have-killed-presidency-in-just-a-year/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 Trump’s Trigger-Happy Deportation Chief Reveals Wild Plans for New Social Media ‘Judges’ Colleagues have slammed Daren Margolin, who was once fired for discharging a gun in his office, as wildly unfit for his new role. Donald Trump’s new deportation chief has lifted the lid on his aggressive plans to race through millions of backlogged immigration cases. Retired Marine Colonel Daren Margolin says he’s now received more than 1,700 applications from people responding to social media ads for “deportation judge” vacancies at his office. He told Axios he’d already interviewed the first cohort, who he expects to begin work before the end of the month. Marketed online under the banner “YOU BE THE JUDGE,” listings available on the Justice Department website suggest applicants for these positions actually need only be a licensed attorney, with an undergraduate degree and some “qualifying” litigation experience. Almost all states require prospective judges to have a minimum of five to ten years’ courtroom work already under their belt. Rates of pay for the vacancies at Margolin’s office range between $160,000 and $210,000, marked up by a 25 percent “recruitment incentive” for first time federal employees, with “potential for remote and intermittent/full-time telework.” “The reality is, we will never have enough judges to handle currently 3.6-plus million cases, and I believe 25 to 30 million people who are here in the United States illegally,” Margolin told Axios on Monday. His postings on the DOJ website offer the opportunity to “DEFINE AMERICA FOR GENERATIONS.” The retired Marine Corps colonel currently serves as Trump’s head of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, a Justice Department division in charge of overseeing asylum claims and deportation orders. His appointment in October made headlines after it emerged he had previously, while serving at Marine Base Quantico in 2013, been relieved of command for firing a gun in his office. As chief of security at the site, it was Margolin’s express responsibility to enforce a ban on service personnel bringing personal weapons onto the grounds. He told Axios he had retired from the office of which he is now head in 2024 because of his “disgust” over the Joe Biden administration’s immigration policy. “Personally, I felt like a co-conspirator in treason,” he said. That claim is only partly true, according to others who worked for the division at that time. Sources previously told the Daily Beast Margolin had in fact resigned after a long-running series of disputes over office conduct with upper management, and a failed lawsuit to secure himself a higher rate of pay. Those with firsthand experience of working alongside Margolin further described him as “lazy” and “extremely dysfunctional,” adding that he shows a “fundamental lack of understanding” of both the law and the administrative duties of his division. “He’s a total moron,” one person said. “Such a f---ing dope,” another added. Former division employees came forward and spoke with the Daily Beast because they said they feared Margolin had been appointed as a MAGA “puppet” to oversee the “rubberstamping” of deportation targets set by the Trump administration. “Margolin was chosen specifically because of his incompetence—he’s just going to be a mouthpiece, relaying orders and telling everybody else they have to follow them,” one person said. “I’m so worried about the agency,” another added. “It really breaks my heart to see.” The Daily Beast has contacted Margolin’s office and the Justice Department for comment on this story. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-trigger-happy-deportation-chief-daren-margolin-reveals-wild-plan-for-judges-recruited-off-social-media/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 FedEx joins other US companies in seeking a refund after Trump tariffs are ruled illegal FedEx is suing the U.S. government, the latest company to request a refund on what it paid for tariffs set by President Donald Trump last year after the Supreme Court ruled last Friday that the tariffs are illegal. More than 1,000 companies have filed suit in the U.S. Court of International Trade in efforts to recoup costs from the illegal tariffs. Read more. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ US consumer confidence improves modestly in February after cratering the first month of 2026 From dabblers to day traders, small investors’ impact on Wall Street grows even in volatile market Renters use ‘rent now, pay later’ services to manage monthly payments, but fees raise concerns How the rich pass on their wealth. And how you can too 5 questions heading into Trump’s State of the Union address Trump’s State of the Union will seek to calm voters’ economic concerns ahead of midterm elections From Cabinet secretary to doomsday president: What being the designated survivor is like Trump administration sues New Jersey over restrictions on immigration arrests Hegseth warns Anthropic to let the military use company’s AI tech as it sees fit, AP source says US military boards third oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean Lebanese government urges Hezbollah militant group to avoid getting involved if the US strikes Iran US ambassador defends travel bans on 3 Chilean officials as a ‘sovereign decision’ Texas Rep. Gonzales resists calls to resign over allegations of an affair with an ex-staffer Body of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson is to lie in state in South Carolina Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 Pollution fight The Trump administration delivered a serious blow to US climate policy by repealing the longstanding scientific finding that greenhouse gas pollution poses a danger to humans. Now come the court battles — and there are plenty of opponents. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 Make or Break (Yuri Gripas / Sipa USA / AP) View in browser Will Gottsegen: How do you think the president will use tonight’s speech to defend some of the most divisive aspects of his governance over the past year—like, say, tariffs, which have raised costs for Americans, and hard-line immigration policies, which have resulted in civilian deaths? Jonathan Lemire: His advisers want him to stay on message, particularly on the economy, by saying that we’ve had job growth and that inflation has cooled (although not by as much as many had hoped). He’ll surely point to the Dow hitting 50,000 in recent days. He’ll talk about his trade deals and the like. But the speech comes at a vulnerable moment. His sweeping tariff policy was overturned by the Supreme Court just a few days ago. He’s been raging about it ever since. Also his signature immigration policy, these mass deportations, has become broadly unpopular, especially after the two killings in Minneapolis and these scenes of federal agents seemingly terrorizing people. My sense is he might just claim a broad victory, and that’s not going to land well with some Americans. He has repeatedly played down the affordability crisis, deeming it a “hoax.” That will be a hard thing for him to sell in an economy that is clearly doing really well for people who are rich and less so for those who aren’t. The other issue I return to is immigration. His two biggest strengths in the 2024 campaign were his vow to be a strong steward of the economy and his immigration promises. Americans seem to like that he closed the southern border. They decidedly don’t like this supercharged expansion of ICE operations when it’s targeting, in some cases, people who have lived here for years, if not decades—people who are known as friends, neighbors, classmates, and co-workers. Will: What’s the best-case outcome for Trump tonight? And what’s the worst? Jonathan: I think that the best-case scenario would be if he were to—suspend your disbelief here—stay on track, even appear somewhat bipartisan, and extol his successes while also suggesting that he understands there’s more to be done. He needs to acknowledge there are plenty of Americans out there whose lives have not gotten better, or who want to see him do more. The worst-case scenario would be, frankly, typical Trump bluster. If he says affordability is a hoax again, if he says the economy has never been better for everybody—well, a lot of Americans are going to disagree with that. If he’s going to claim that his immigration policies are popular or are targeting only the so-called worst of the worst, none of that is going to fly either. Will: Republicans are starting to worry about this year’s midterms. What are the risks for the party if tonight doesn’t go well? Jonathan: Republicans have been on a losing streak. Their polls started to sink even last summer, when the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was passed and Americans learned more about it, including how it slashes services for the less well-off, while benefiting the rich with tax cuts. We saw, this fall, a number of Democratic victories in November elections. And even in recent weeks, two deep-red districts, one in Texas, one in Louisiana—districts that Trump won by 10-plus points just 15 months ago—swung to the Democrats. Republicans see these losses as alarms going off. It is customary for the party that does not control the White House to do well in the midterm elections. Some swing toward Democrats is to be expected. But right now, some GOP strategists are telling me that they fear it could be a blue wave. The margin in the House is so slim that even a bit of a tilt toward the Democrats would probably put the House in their hands. But if it is going to be a rout, the Democrats could open up a pretty significant margin in the House and even have a shot at controlling the Senate. If Trump does have a big night and delivers a strong speech, I think Republicans will start to feel better about things, and that could lead to more fundraising and more optimism in the party. However, if it’s a divisive speech, you’ll hear Democrats condemn it as such, and say, Look, we can’t have more of this. Will: At a time when television viewership is declining and many people are siloed in echo chambers online, how much of an effect can a State of the Union really have? Jonathan: No one speech is going to alter the course of a presidency, and I think there’s no question that State of the Union addresses are less important than they used to be. But this will be the biggest audience who watches Trump all year. I think it matters in Washington, in terms of setting political momentum. This is likely not going to be a defining moment of the presidency, but it is, for a party staring at the midterms with faltering poll numbers, a moment for Trump to at least have a little bit of a reset or stem the bleeding. Related: Trump’s suddenly high-stakes State of the Union How the Supreme Court spared America Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 Trump uses longest-ever State of the Union to try to convince voters that US is ‘winning so much’ President Donald Trump insisted he'd sparked an economic boom at home and imposed a new world order abroad in hopes that the speech can counter his sliding approval ratings. Read more. What to know: Trump’s main objective was convincing increasingly wary Americans that the economy is stronger than many believe, and that they should vote for more of the same by backing Republicans during November’s midterm elections. In all, Trump spoke for a record 108 minutes, breaking — by eight minutes — the previous time mark from his address before a joint session of Congress last year. The president championed his immigration crackdowns and his push to preserve widespread tariffs that the Supreme Court just struck down. Trump vowed to plow ahead, using “alternative” laws to impose the taxes on imports and telling lawmakers “Congressional action will not be necessary.” Several Supreme Court justices attended the speech. Trump’s address came as two U.S. aircraft carriers have been dispatched to the Middle East amid tensions with Iran. Trump said: “My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy.” RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Takeaways: Sales mode on economy, heavy on patriotism, dark turn on Democrats FACT FOCUS: A look at Trump’s false and misleading claims in his State of the Union speech Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s rebuttal speech questions whether Americans feel the ‘golden age’ Trump describes US men’s hockey team feted at State of the Union; Trump says women's team will be honored ‘soon’ Army pilot wounded in Maduro raid gets Congressional Medal of Honor during Trump’s speech Photos of Trump's State of the Union address Read the complete transcript of Trump's 2026 State of the Union WATCH: Rep. Al Green reacts after ejection from the speech Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 Court says the IRS can continue to share immigrants’ taxpayer data with ICE A Washington, D.C., federal court on Tuesday rejected a request from an immigrant rights group to temporarily block the IRS from sharing certain taxpayer data that could make it easier to identify and deport people who are in the U.S. illegally. Read more. Why this matters: The immigrants’ rights group Centro de Trabajadores Unidos and other nonprofits are suing the federal government over a data-sharing agreement. In declining the preliminary injunction request, Judge Harry T. Edwards wrote that the nonprofit groups “are unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claim,” since the information the agencies are sharing isn’t covered by the IRS privacy statute. A representative from Centro de Trabajadores Unidos did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The agreement allows ICE to submit names and addresses of immigrants inside the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records. The creation of the data sharing agreement was so controversial that the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service resigned last year over the deal. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Legal advocates seek to halt CBP policy pressuring unaccompanied children to self-deport Residents want local governments to end contracts that let ICE train on their gun ranges Judge bars government from ‘wholesale’ search of Washington Post reporter’s seized devices Pentagon appeals order blocking Sen. Mark Kelly’s punishment for call to resist unlawful orders States sue Trump administration over changes to childhood vaccine recommendations Appeals court questions shifting reasons for Trump’s EPA killing clean energy contracts House rejects bill requiring aircraft locator systems to prevent midair collisions like last year’s Ukrainian envoy says US raised concerns about strikes aimed at Russia that impacted US oil interests US embassy to offer its first consular services at an Israeli settlement in the West Bank Trump cites health care issues in Greenland saying he’s sending a hospital ship. His claims are off Rubio flies into the Caribbean for talks with leaders unsettled by Trump policies Canada approves latest Gulfstream business jets after Trump tariff threat Gov. Gavin Newsom takes heat from Republicans and LGBTQ+ lawmakers during book tour Trial begins for group accused of antifa links in shooting at Texas immigration detention center Justice Department lawsuit says UCLA failed to protect Jewish employees from hostility Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 MAGA Melts Down After Trump’s Olympic Stunt Falls Flat The president’s supporters were incensed. The MAGAverse was outraged early in President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday evening by what they perceived as an insult to the U.S. men’s hockey team.Many attendees stood and cheered loudly, applauding the Olympic gold medalists; chants of “USA! USA!” rang out as the athletes entered. Some of the president’s supporters online were quick to note, however, that not everybody in attendance stood to applaud, with several rushing to point the finger at Democrats, including the president himself. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen [The Democrats] get up,” Trump joked, adding, “And actually, not all of them did get up.” Several Democrats in the chamber stood to applaud the hockey players, though some remained seated; others initially stood before sitting down as the cheering continued. During his speech, the president announced that Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He did not mention whether other players would also be receiving the honor. Popular MAGA X account End Wokeness posted a clip of the moment, pointing out the location of Democratic lawmakers in the chamber and noting that they “rsed nd” for the hockey team. Others quickly adopted the same narrative, with Outkick founder Clay Travis writing, “This is wild, many Democrats have such Trump derangement syndrome that they refused to stand and clap for the US gold medal hockey team.” The Federalist co-founder Sean Davis also noted the lack of applause, while senior Trump adviser Jason Miller responded to his post and called the Democrats in question, “Terrible human beings. Really pathetic.” Former press secretary for President George W. Bush, Ari Fleischer, noted that the hockey players were positioned among reporters, writing on X, “I love the contrast of the USA chanting hockey team in the middle of the of the (sic) press gallery where of course the press are not supposed to cheer or take sides. What a look.” NewsBusters’ Curtis Houck responded to Fleischer’s post, calling reporters who didn’t clap “extremely out of touch.” The men’s hockey team’s visit to Washington D.C. following their gold medal win in Milan on Sunday has caused significant controversy, with many fans criticizing the players for partying with FBI Director Kash Patel immediately following the game and laughing at a joke Trump made at the expense of the U.S. women’s hockey team, which also walked away with gold. During a phone call with the team in the locker room, Trump joked, “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that.” “I think if I didn’t do that, I do believe I probably would be impeached,” he added. Several players could be seen laughing uproariously in response. The president also invited the players to D.C. for the State of the Union and a visit to the White House during the call. While the women’s team declined the president’s invitation, citing previously scheduled commitments, the majority of the men’s team attended, meeting with the president at the White House prior to the State of the Union and even offering him a chance to handle their Olympic medals despite his history of coveting other people’s awards. “Yeah, I’ll put it on,” Trump said when Matthew Tkachuk offered him his gold medal. “And I’m not giving it back.” Players who did not visit the White House with their teammates included Brock Nelson, Kyle Connor, Jackson LaCombe, Jake Oettinger and Jake Guentzel. In addition, captain Auston Matthews and Clayton Keller, both of whom visited the White House, did not attend the State of the Union. Guentzel was given permission by his team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, to attend, but chose to return home instead, while Winnipeg Jets player Kyle Connor told reporters he opted out in order to prepare for the team’s game on Wednesday. https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-melts-down-after-trumps-olympic-stunt-falls-flat/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 Trump’s SOTU Speech Was Bad. The Actual State of Our Union Is Worse Trump’s 108-minute speech broke records for its length as well as its lies, insufferability, offensiveness, and the danger its contents present for the future of the country. If you took every true thing President Donald Trump said during Tuesday’s State of the Union address and tattooed it onto the genitalia of a flea, there would still be room for the Gettysburg Address. (Depending on the endowment of the flea and the size of the font you were using.)For almost two hours on Tuesday night, Trump unleashed a torrent of lies in a desperate attempt to persuade America—and the world—that we all have no idea about the reality we are living in, and that he knows better. Zombified Republican members of Congress clapped like circus seals and brayed like asses on cue as Democrats, with few exceptions, sat more or less inert throughout the president’s bloviatathon. While the contrast may have made Trump and his MAGA legions feel as though their message was getting through, the reality was that the address likely achieved little of consequence. Trump’s poll numbers will likely remain low and will continue falling. He will achieve little more this year. His standing at home and abroad will not improve. All in all, it was a craven, meandering, mean-spirited flop. It broke zero new ground. Indeed, it was a version of MAGA for Dummies: the Trump stump speech with a few cheap flourishes that made it seem more like a game show than an address to Congress. “You get a Congressional Medal of Honor! And you get a Congressional Medal of Honor from our lovely spokesmodel Melania! And you get a Purple Heart! And you get reunited with your uncle!” Amid the cheeseball hoopla, if there was a theme beyond the astonishing scope of the lies Trump told throughout, it was stolen glory. Trump told stories of heroes—ideally, really gory stories; he seemed to get what little energy he had from those—and then have the heroes stand up so the president could soak up the applause for them as though it were for him. Indeed, confusion over who the heroes actually were was another subtheme of the day. Trump coveted the gold medals around the necks of the U.S. men’s hockey team, who allowed themselves to be used as political props to such a degree that one of the players felt compelled to let the president wear his medal around his neck for a bit. When a 100-year-old warrior was given one of the two Congressional Medals of Honor that were handed out, Trump actually, Trumpily, produced the mega-cringe moment of the night when he—America’s most famous draft dodger—said he would like to figure out how to give the nation’s highest honor for valor to himself. Using the Congressional Medal of Honor as a political prop was particularly gross. Had a Democrat done something similarly cheapening to the medal, there would certainly have been calls for his impeachment. For all the set pieces arranged during the night, the evening was strangely drained of drama. It was more like the kind of speech you’d see in Hitler’s Germany or Stalin’s Russia or Kim’s North Korea, where everything the leader said was cheered loudly by cortex-numbed followers, oblivious to the lies involved, or the malevolence, or the damage being done to their country, to our country. The only drama during the entire affair came early, when Trump had a chilly encounter with members of the Supreme Court as he entered, and then later lectured them and essentially announced he was going to ignore their judgment and continue imposing tariffs without the approval of Congress. Congress, of course, cheered its own complicity in its demise as a coequal branch of government. Trump, 79, did manage to remain standing for the entire 108 minutes of the address, although as it progressed, he seemed to be clinging for dear life to the podium with his left hand and slowly sinking into the Congressional dais from which he was speaking. Watching the speech, one could not help but wonder whether Trump was only being kept vertical by his girdle, his support hose, and the thick coating of orange spray tan which encased his body like an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus. Trump’s lies took many forms. He began and ended with the lie that “our nation is back, bigger, better, richer, and stronger than ever before.” (None of those things is true.) He lied about the state of the economy, he lied that he was creating a lot of jobs (he is not), that he was defeating inflation (he’s not), that he had attracted 18 times more investment to the U.S. in a year than Biden did in four (ridiculous). He lied that Americans other than the very rich would benefit from his “Big Beautiful Bill,” that he had ended eight wars (that drew jeers), that he had reduced crime in American cities, that he had a healthcare plan that could work, and that America was more respected around the world than ever before. The opposite is true after his attacks on our allies, on international institutions, on the rule of law, and on democracy in America. Between the lies were long sections devoted to racism; he made a particularly scurrilous attack on the Somali community, but also was vicious in his attacks on immigrants. He made a strong pitch for measures that would provide even more tax cuts for the very rich and for the SAVE Act, which would be the most sweeping voter suppression bill passed in America in the modern era. (It was ostensibly created to solve a problem that does not exist—illegal aliens voting in elections—but is actually designed to make it harder for communities that support Democrats, especially communities of color, to vote.) Trump also jammed a sharpened stake through the already faintly beating heart of irony when he announced that he, a convicted fraudster, was launching a fraudulent “war on fraud,” a vastly overstated problem, and that it would be headed by Vice President JD Vance, the leading fraud of his generation. As a consequence, the speech did not just break records for its duration and its lies, but also for its insufferability, its incoherence, its offensiveness, and the danger its contents present for the future of the country. Remarkably, broadcast networks (which, for those under 40, are relics of America’s media past that are absolutely irrelevant to modern political discourse) covered the speech from beginning to end, although there is speculation that no one in the entire viewing audience was able to remain awake or attentive for the entire duration of the speech. Because for all its carefully orchestrated Price is Right theatrics, on the whole, the speech was also brain-deadeningly boring. Truly, had you gone to ChatGPT and said, “Based on past Trump speeches, give me what you think his 2026 State of the Union would have been like,” you surely would’ve been presented with a better-written speech. Further, ChatGPT hallucinations would certainly have been more interesting than those woven through Trump’s remarks as he veered from fantasy to delusion. Trump arrived at the Capitol for the speech with the lowest public approval ratings of his career. In recent polls, literally every single major policy initiative of the president was unpopular with the public. His ratings among Republicans are growing weaker whereas, for the most part, independents and Democrats have washed their hands of him altogether. This speech did not help. We know the price of gas isn’t what he said it was. We know inequality is growing. We know that the rich act with impunity. We know he has thrown our allies like the Europeans and valiant friends like Ukraine under the bus. We know that he is destroying our healthcare system, our education system, our environment, and the rule of law in America, and that his sights are set on doing the same to our democratic institutions. The dollar is plummeting. International trust in the U.S. has cratered. Our allies are seeking ways to go it alone. Indeed, from a historic perspective, this speech may well be remembered as the first State of the Union of a failing United States, the first of an authoritarian United States, the first of an internationally isolated United States, the first of a United States that was ceding global leadership to China, the first in which the United States government has been an active enemy of the interests of the American people. Trump repeatedly sought to suggest his achievements were historic. One of the few truthful things he said was that he has overseen “a turnaround for the ages.” Unfortunately for us all, he was right for all the wrong reasons. This speech marked the low point in the standing of the United States, perhaps since the country became active internationally in the late 19th century. But, worse, listening to Trump, extrapolating from his administration’s recent performance and from what we could conclude would happen to our institutions, economy, people, and standing in the months ahead, this speech may in fact, have marked a turning point of immense consequence. The state of our union, contrary to Trump’s opening and closing words, is miserable and declining faster than the value of Trump’s cryptocurrency scams. And as long as the racist, misogynist, corrupt, decrepit wannabe dictator who delivered Tuesday’s message remains in charge and enabled by a Republican majority in Congress that is little more than a fascist cheering section, it seems certain the state of our union is likely to deteriorate rapidly. As a consequence, while Trump’s speech will fade from memory as quickly as any of the game show episodes on which it was based—and while the ratio of the consequence of the speech to its duration may be a number too small for mathematicians to calculate—Tuesday’s address, I’m afraid, was nonetheless important Because although the president’s speech was, by any metric, bad, it did inadvertently remind objective observers worldwide that the state of our union is even worse. https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trumps-state-of-the-union-speech-was-bad-the-actual-state-of-our-union-is-worse/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 Trump Humiliated During His Big Speech With Republican Losses Democrats extended their winning streak in state-level special elections. While President Donald Trump was yelling at Democrats and berating the Supreme Court at his State of the Union address, members of his Republican party were getting trounced at the polls. Three Democrats won special elections for state House seats in Maine and Pennsylvania, helping the party keep slim majorities in both legislatures and offering insights into voters’ priorities in two states that will likely prove decisive for congressional control come November. In Maine, Republican Sen. Susan Collins is facing a tough re-election campaign that Democrats see as one of their best chances for picking up a Senate seat during the midterms. Collins endorsed Republican Janet Beaudoin in Tuesday’s race, but voters chose Democrat Scott Harriman by more than 6 points, according to the Maine Morning Star. In Pennsylvania, where several crucial House races will help determine which party keeps control of the lower chamber of Congress, Democrats Ana Tiburcio and Jennifer Mazzocco easily won, Lehigh Valley News reported. All three districts at play leaned blue, but Republicans in Maine especially brought in big names hoping for an upset. Besides Collins, former Gov. Paul LePage, who’s running for Congress, also campaigned for the Republican candidate, while Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin stumped for Harriman earlier this month, The Hill reported. The wins offered a clear rebuttal of Trump’s insistence during his record-long State of the Union that he has overseen an economic “turnaround for the ages,” and that the affordability crisis was a “dirty, rotten lie” concocted by Democrats. In both states, affordability, housing, and ICE’s violent enforcement tactics emerged as voters’ top issues, according to the Morning Star and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. During his speech Tuesday, Trump ranted about “illegal aliens” while ignoring the killings of U.S. citizens Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal immigration agents. Prior to Tuesday’s contest, Democratic candidates had outperformed Trump’s 2024 electoral results by 10 to 14 points in 20 state-level special elections in Virginia, New York, Minnesota, and Connecticut. In a Texas district that Trump won by 17 points in 2024, a first-time candidate for state senate, Taylor Rehmet, defeated his Republican opponent by 13 points, becoming the first Democrat in decades to hold the seat. Those performances have put a handful of new seats in play in the midterms, leaving Republicans scrambling to fire up their base before November. https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-humiliated-during-state-of-the-union-with-republican-losses/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 Republicans’ Favorite Pollster Rips Into Trump’s Big Gaffe Frank Luntz advised the president that it is not wise to “mock Americans.” Veteran pollster Frank Luntz said President Donald Trump made a grave error by mocking people’s concerns about “affordability” during Tuesday’s State of the Union address. Luntz, who has worked with high-profile GOP figures such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, criticized Trump for a moment during his 108-minute speech when he suggested Democrats were wrong to address the cost-of-living crisis. While attacking former President Joe Biden, Democrats, and the “green new scam” for causing high inflation, Trump said the “same people in this chamber who voted for those disasters suddenly used the word affordability—a word they just used, somebody gave it to them—knowing full well that they caused and created the increased prices that all of our citizens had to endure.” “You caused that problem,” he added while gesturing at Democrats. In a post on X, Luntz suggested that Trump’s decision to attack a phrase used to describe how tens of millions of Americans are still struggling financially was a “misstep” by the 79-year-old president. “Mocking the word ‘affordability’ when Americans are still feeling the squeeze at the grocery store is the kind of moment that clips badly,” Luntz wrote. “That’s the word Americans use. Don’t mock Americans.” In response, White House spokesman Kush Desai told the Daily Beast: “The mistake was Joe Biden and Democrats inflicting the worst inflation and affordability crisis in a generation on the American people. President Trump is absolutely right to mock Democrats now trying to claim an issue that they are responsible for creating in the first place, and he is absolutely right to highlight the work he has and continues to do to deliver affordability relief for the American people.” For months, Trump has tried to convince the American people that they are not struggling with affordability and that the economy is actually doing fine. Trump has even suggested that the word “affordability” is a “hoax” orchestrated by Democrats rather than a legitimate concern. “Inflation is plummeting, incomes are rising fast, the roaring economy is roaring like never before,” Trump said during his Tuesday night address. His repeated head-in-the-sand approach to the cost-of-living crisis and refusal to listen to voters’ concerns could have disastrous consequences for the GOP in November’s midterms, as the state of the economy consistently ranks as the top voter concern in every election. On Sunday, an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll found that 57 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy. Nearly half (48 percent) say the economy has gotten worse since Trump became president in January 2025, compared with just 29 percent who think it has improved. During a speech in Rome, Georgia, last week, Trump complained that he has to listen to the “fake news talk about ‘affordability, affordability.’” “What word have you not heard over the last two weeks? Affordability. Because I’ve won. I’ve won affordability,” he added. While delivering the official Democratic response to Trump’s speech, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger asked Americans: “Is the president working to make life more affordable for you and your family? We all know the answer is no.” “Americans deserve to know that their leaders are focused on addressing the problems that keep them up at night,” Spanberger said. “Problems that dictate where you live, whether you can afford to start a business, or whether you have to skip a prescription in order to buy groceries.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/republicans-favorite-pollster-frank-luntz-rips-into-donald-trumps-big-gaffe/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Posted February 27 White House Explodes at MAGA’s New Enemy Over State of the Union Rebuttal The White House was not pleased with the Democrats’ response to Trump’s State of the Union. The White House was quick to fire off a scathing retort to the Democrats’ response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union on Tuesday evening, delivered by newly elected Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger. In a post made to X as Spanberger was discussing the president’s immigration crackdown, the official @RapidResponse47 account wrote that the governor should “spare us the sanctimonious bulls--t.” “For Spanberger, criminal illegals > Americans‚” the post continued, before going on to accuse Spanberger of “repeatedly undermin[ing] border security” during her time in Congress and terminating Virginia’s agreement with ICE weeks after becoming governor. Reached for comment, the White House continued to attack Spanberger. “Abigail Spanberger’s fellow Democrats in Congress refused to stand for putting American citizens before illegal aliens, locking up violent criminals, protecting parental rights, stopping fraud, combating drug cartels, and more. The Democrat Party is more divisive, radical, and far-left than ever before, and Spanberger should be ashamed,” deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement. The attacks came after the White House had published a pre-emptive response to Spanberger’s speech earlier in the day, accusing Spanberger, along with “the rest of the Radical Left lunatics in her party” of being “fully against President Trump’s agenda of lowering costs, bringing back manufacturing, and securing our borders.” The response went on to detail Spanberger’s positions on immigration, law enforcement, inflation and cost-of-living concerns, climate change, gender and diversity initiatives, and her support for a “Democrat takeover of federal elections.” Trump allies were quick to adopt the administration’s talking points against Spanberger, with the @HouseGOP posting on X during her speech, “FACT CHECK: The brave men and women of ICE are keeping us safe by removing DANGEROUS criminals from our country. Why are Democrats like @GovernorVA Abigail Spanberger trying to stop this?” Interim Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell also got involved in what was his second meltdown of the day, making multiple furious posts about Spanberger “tanking” her speech. The 59-year-old had earlier exploded in a statement to the Daily Beast’s The Swamp. “Abigail Spanberger didn’t practice her speech enough - her pace is like a staccato song. Fast and then too slow,” Grenell wrote. “Her articulation is terribly off.” He also claimed that she was known as a “failure” by her CIA colleagues “because she was unable to grasp the focus of the CIA without partisanship.” “She was frustrated by the mission of the CIA and the demand to keep politics out of the job - ultimately she left to be an open Democrat activist.” The Daily Beast has contacted Spanberger’s office for comment. Spanberger addressed several of her party’s concerns with Trump’s leadership in her response speech, including affordability and the cost of living for Americans, as well as the president’s widely criticized hardline immigration crackdown. “Is the president working to make life more affordable for you and your family?” Spanberger asked during her speech, delivered from Colonial Williamsburg. “We all know the answer is no.” She went on to discuss the role of law enforcement in American society, explaining that “it is a unique responsibility to do the serious work of investigating crimes, comforting victims, and making arrests.” “It‘s about building trust and that requires an abiding sense of duty and commitment to community,” she continued, before criticizing the president’s oversight of ICE raids in cities like Minnesota. “Our president has sent poorly trained federal agents into our cities, where they have arrested and detained American citizens and people who aspire to be Americans. And they have done it without a warrant.” “They have ripped nursing mothers away from their babies. They have sent children, a little boy in a blue bunny hat, children too far off detention centers and they have killed American citizens in our streets. And they have done it all with their faces masked from accountability.” “Our broken immigration system is something to be fixed, not an excuse for unaccountable agents to terrorize our communities.” Spanberger also discussed the Trump administration’s botched handling of the Epstein files, as well as its involvement in “crypto scams” and the president’s plotting to get billionaires to pay for his controversial White House ballroom. “You have to ask: who benefits from his rhetoric, his policies, his actions?” Spanberger asked. “He’s enriching himself, his family, his friends. The scale of the corruption is unprecedented.” “This is not what our founders envisioned, not by a long shot.” Prior to her election as Virginia’s first female governor last November, which flipped the state from red to blue as part of a series of victories for Democrats around the country, Spanberger served in the House of Representatives from 2019 to 2025. https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-house-explodes-at-magas-new-enemy-over-state-of-the-union-rebuttal/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 28 Author Members Posted February 28 Trump’s War Lie Obliterated by His Own Words The president’s comments came as the U.S. embarks on the biggest military buildup in the Middle East since the Iraq War. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech exposed his own lies about “obliterating” Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Last year, after the U.S. military’s middle-of-the-night attack on the Iranian regime, the president insisted the Pentagon had completely destroyed the nation’s nuclear enrichment facilities and said it would take “years” to rebuild. However, in his joint sitting to Congress on Tuesday night, Trump told the audience: “They’ve already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.” The comments were viewed as an attempt by Trump to justify his potential involvement in yet another foreign war, despite coming to office as an “America First” president who would avoid such entanglements. Observers likened it to the infamous claims made by George W. Bush ahead of the Iraq invasion, when he insisted that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and posed an immediate threat. After the invasion, no WMD stockpiles were found. The U.S. and Iran will hold further nuclear talks in the Swiss city of Geneva on Thursday, and Trump last week warned that “bad things” would happen if they couldn’t strike a deal. But as America embarks on the biggest military buildup in the Middle East since the Iraq War, the issue is particularly contentious for Republicans as they head towards the midterm elections in November. Figures such as MAGA warrior Steve Bannon, former Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, and libertarian-leaning Senator Thomas Massie have all spoken out about US intervention. “Americans do not want to go to war with Iran!!!” Greene exclaimed on X last week. “They want to be able to afford their lives and get ahead. They want to be happy and enjoy life. They want their government to put elite pedos in jail. And they voted for NO MORE FOREIGN WARS AND NO MORE REGIME CHANGE.” Even the president’s favorite cable news network remains deeply skeptical, with Fox’s Rachel Campos-Duffy, the wife of Transport Secretary Sean Duffy, saying last week: “I think that the president needs to make a better case as to why this is in American interest to potentially go into a kinetic war.” Last year’s Iran strike, dubbed by the Pentagon as “Operation Midnight Hammer”, involved the use of about 75 precision-guided weapons to hit Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan—the core of Iranian nuclear infrastructure. This included the use of 30,000-pound “bunker bombs,” marking America’s first ever operational use of this weapon. But the attack was carried out without congressional approval, prompting calls for impeachment from some Democrats. Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna are now pushing new laws that would curb Trump’s use of military force in Iran, but House Republicans—and some Democrats—are resisting. After last year’s Iran strike, Trump bragged about its success, telling Americans: “Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace.” But now, after making the same claim for months, the president is considering “an initial limited military strike on Iran,” in order to pressure the country to bend to his will and strike a favorable nuclear deal. “They were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program, in particular nuclear weapons. Yet they continue starting it all over,” he said during his speech on Tuesday night. “We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again, and are at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions.” “My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon.” Trump’s State of the Union speech was a chance for the president to recalibrate ahead of the midterms, at a time when polls show Americans are increasingly questioning his leadership and priorities. But things got off to an interesting start when one of Donald Trump’s own Supreme Court appointees—Neil Gorsuch—refused to show up to the State of the Union address, days after striking down his signature economic policy. Another dramatic moment unfolded soon after the speech began when Texas congressman Al Green was escorted out of the House chamber for holding a sign reading “Black people aren’t apes!”, an apparent reference to the racist video Trump previously posted of Barack and Michelle Obama. The speech later descended into a screaming match as the president embarked on a racist tirade over illegal immigrants and alleged fraud by Somalis. “Liar!” screamed Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, whose state recently reeled from the fatal shooting of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti. “You kill Americans!” https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-war-lie-obliterated-by-his-own-words/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted February 28 Author Members Posted February 28 Top MAGA Lackey Makes Shocking Admission About Trump Presidency Mike Johnson has addressed the looming potential disaster facing Trump. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, one of Trump’s most loyal lieutenants, says the MAGA figurehead’s presidency might effectively be cut short come November. After a State of the Union address full of President Donald Trump’s usual insults and rambling, Johnson spoke to Newsmax live and was surprisingly candid about the future of Trump’s presidency. “He needs all four years, not just two to fix the mess,” Johnson said, adding, “If we lost the midterms, heaven forbid, if we lost the majority in the House, it would be the end of the Trump presidency in a real effect, so we gotta keep this going.” Trump himself has previously warned that he could be “impeached” if Republicans lose too many seats in the House. Puck News reports that the president has a $1.4 billion war chest to see off this potential disaster. However, Trump has been historically reluctant to bankroll the campaigns of Republican juniors. But Puck suggests that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair, and former campaign manager Chris LaCivita have been poring over what races Trump should fund, if any. “No major decisions have been made, and they’re still working to get the big guy to green-light the spending,” one campaign operative told Puck. Trump was perhaps reminded of the urgency with which he needs to act as members of his party got trounced at the polls even as he delivered his State of the Union address. Three Democrats captured state House seats in special elections in Maine and Pennsylvania, allowing the party to preserve narrow majorities in both chambers and providing an early read on voter priorities in two states expected to be pivotal to congressional control in November. This contradicted Trump’s insistence that he has masterminded an economic “turnaround for the ages,” and that the affordability crisis was a “dirty, rotten lie” concocted by Democrats. In both states, affordability, housing, and ICE’s heavy-handed enforcement tactics were voters’ primary concerns, according to the Morning Star and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Elsewhere, Democratic candidates outperformed the president’s 2024 electoral results by 10 to 14 points in 20 state-level special elections in Virginia, New York, Minnesota, and Connecticut. In a Texas district that Trump carried by 17 points in 2024, first-time state Senate candidate Taylor Rehmet beat his Republican rival by 13 points, becoming the first Democrat to hold the seat in decades. Those results have newly competitive seats emerging ahead of the midterms, putting additional districts into play and forcing Johnson to make on-air pleas to voters. https://www.thedailybeast.com/top-maga-lackey-makes-shocking-admission-about-trump-presidency/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
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