Why Qatar is Bribing Trump

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.  Its corruption is unprecedented.  Qatar's gift of a jet is just one example.

Judd Legum:

Appearing Monday on Fox News, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that she was "absolutely" sure that Qatar did not "want something in return" for the $400 million 747 airplane because "because they know President Trump and they know he only works with the interests of the American public in mind."

This is not a credible position.

Qatar is the second-largest purchaser of U.S. military equipment, just behind Saudi Arabia, and has a keen interest in ongoing access to high-tech weaponry. In March, the Trump administration "approved the sale of eight MQ-9B Predator drones and a large package of bombs and missiles to Qatar in a deal valued at nearly $2 billion." Arming Qatar with advanced unmanned aircraft, a development that may not be welcomed by all of its neighbors, marked a policy shift for the United States. Included in the deal were "200 Joint Direct Attack Munitions, 300 500-pound general-purpose bombs, 110 Hellfire II missiles, [and] Seaspray 7500 maritime radars." These transfers can be controversial due to Qatar's ties with several radical groups, including political and financial support for Hamas.

Qatar is also home to Al-Udeid Air Base, "the largest U.S. military facility in the Middle East" with about 13,000 American troops. The presence of the base serves as a security umbrella for the country and enhances its diplomatic stature in the region. Qatar has spent about $1.8 billion to modernize the facility, reflecting its commitment to a long-term American presence.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump acknowledged the relationship between Qatar's gift and security guarantees. He said that Qatar offered him the plane because the United States "kept them safe."

Open Corruption

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.  Its corruption is unprecedented.

Karen DeYoung, Natalie Allison and Mariana Alfaro at WP:

Qatar is discussing donating an aircraft to the U.S. government for President Donald Trump to use temporarily, but no final agreement has been reached, according to Qatar’s media attaché to the United States. The subject remains in talks between lawyers at the U.S. Defense Department and Qatar’s Defense Ministry.

While the deal is not final, ethics experts are raising concerns about the possible donation from a foreign government, which they say would be unconstitutional, violating the emoluments clause, which forbids U.S. officials from accepting gifts or other things of value from foreign officials without congressional approval.

Trump appeared to confirm the discussions in a social media post Sunday evening, criticizing those who say that Washington should pay for the plane. He said the Pentagon would be receiving the 747 aircraft free to use temporarily as an Air Force One plane.

Eric Lipton and David Yaffe-Bellany at NYT:

The sale of face-to-face access to President Trump using the Trump family’s own cryptocurrency has done more than benefit him financially, though it has certainly done that.

Mr. Trump announced last month that leading buyers of a digital coin his family is marketing would be rewarded with a private dinner with him at one of his golf courses and that the very top bidders would win a tour of the White House.

The auction, which ends Monday, has set off a spectacle that has drawn bipartisan criticism, triggered a suspicious trading pattern, and left a sitting United States president wide open to attempts to corruptly influence him.

Since the announcement, crypto investors around the world have raced to expand their holdings of $TRUMP — a digital currency called a memecoin, which is typically treated more as a novelty investment than an actual currency.

 Certain buyers, in interviews and statements, have said they bought the coins or entered the dinner contest with the intention of securing an action by Mr. Trump to affect United States policy.

...

The contest has presented a straightforward opportunity for foreign-based investors to interact with the president. Under federal law, noncitizens are barred from donating to political campaigns. But nothing stops them from buying a $TRUMP memecoin.

In Mexico, Javier Selgas, the chief executive of a transportation logistics company, announced last month that he intended to buy $20 million worth of $TRUMP tokens to try to convince Mr. Trump to lower tariffs targeting Mexico, which would benefit his company. (After the announcement drew international attention, a spokesman said the firm “currently does not have plans” to send a representative to Mr. Trump’s dinner.)

The Best People

 Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.  MAGA people (e.g., Hegseth) have replaced the normals (e.g., Mattis) that populated the first Trump administration.

Jessica Glenza at The Guardian:

Donald Trump nominated Casey Means, a wellness influencer and medical doctor with an inactive license for US surgeon general this week – his second nominee to serve as “the nation’s doctor”.

Trump abruptly withdrew his first nominee, Dr Janette Nesheiwat, before her Senate confirmation hearing, amid criticism from the right and confusion about her medical credentials.

His new nominee, Means, is a 37-year-old Los Angeles-based medical entrepreneur who shot to prominence in right-leaning wellness circles by criticizing mainstream medicine and advocating for a healthier food supply.

...

 “We should not toss out the window everything Casey is saying, but I would proceed with caution given her training,” said Prof Gabby Headrick, as assistant professor and director of nutrition programs at George Washington University’s Milken School of Public Health.

“Typically and historically, the person appointed to that role and confirmed is someone who has an active medical license, someone who has completed residency, and has held a leadership role in a medical institution. Casey Means does not have the resumé … She also is not trained in nutrition.”

Means also faces opposition from the far right. Activist Laura Loomer, who was critical of Trump’s first nominee, is skeptical of Means – calling her “unfit” for surgeon general and promoting events with Means’s critics.

Loomer previously described Nesheiwat as “a pro-Covid vaccine nepo appointee who is currently embroiled in a medical malpractice case”. Covid vaccines and the technology that underpins them have become a target of right-leaning politicians.

Paul Schwartzman, Spencer S. Hsu and Jeremy Barr at WP:

Jeanine Pirro, the Fox News host chosen by President Donald Trump to become interim U.S. attorney in D.C., is the archetype of what he has shown to prefer in his appointees: combative, camera-ready and loyal enough to have sought to discredit the results of the 2020 election that he lost.

Yet Pirro, a former New York judge and prosecutor, also possesses enough political baggage that she is sure to provoke fierce partisan debate if Trump nominates her as the permanent leader of the nation’s largest U.S. attorney’s office.

Less than 24 hours after Trump announced Pirro’s appointment, hailing her as “incredibly well qualified,” Democrats and Republicans staked out vastly divergent positions on her looming arrival in Washington. She’ll replace the president’s first interim choice, Ed Martin, who is departing after 15 turbulent weeks in office.

Rich Shapiro at NBC:

Long before she was a Fox News host who pushed pro-Trump election conspiracy theories, Jeanine Pirro was an ambitious New York politician whose career stalled after she was recorded plotting to bug her then-husband’s boat to catch him in an affair.

The revelation rocked Pirro’s campaign for New York attorney general nearly 20 years ago, resulting in days of front-page headlines in the city’s tabloids (“BUG THIS LOVE BOAT!” blared the Daily News cover).

The conversation took place in 2005 between Pirro and the former commissioner of the New York Police Department, Bernard Kerik, a close ally of Rudy Giuliani’s.

“What am I supposed to do, Bernie? Watch him f--- her every night?” Pirro said, according to a transcript obtained by WNBC-TV’s Jonathan Dienst in 2006. “What am I supposed to do? I can go on the boat. I’ll put the f-----g thing on myself.”

Peter Aitken at Newsweek:

Pirro is the 23rd current or former Fox News employee Trump has recruited for his administration since taking office earlier this year. However, his relationship with the network runs far deeper and longer than just this year nominees.

During his first administration, Trump regularly called Fox News hosts live on air to have impromptu, off-the-cuff interviews. He also allegedly would consult any number of hosts off the air, including Fox News powerhouse Sean Hannity.

Trump, however, decided to elevate that special relationship in his second administration by appointing hosts, many of whom have only ever had glowing praise for Trump during their broadcasts, to key Cabinet positions and high-profile roles. Comedian and TV host Bill Maher quipped on Friday night during Real Time with Bill Maher that "I've heard of state-run TV; this is TV run state."

A Millionaire Tax?

 Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics.  It includes a discussion of tax issues.

Trump has reportedly floated the idea of raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Emily Brooks at The Hill:

Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist, who has long worked to have politicians sign pledges to not raise taxes, said that Trump called him to ask his opinion about the matter on Wednesday.

“I told him I thought that it was a job killer, that it was bad for the economy, that it was political death,” Norquist said, reminding him of the many times he promised to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent. And suggestions from staff to the contrary, Norquist said, would not serve him politically.

“That’s what Darman did to Bush,” Norquist said, referencing the Office of Management and Budget director for former President George H.W. Bush — who lost reelection after making the promise, “Read my lips: no new taxes,” before agreeing to tax increases.

“That’s kind of a disgusting thing for a staffer to do to a president, is to tell him to go out and change his mind and say, ‘Oh, I lied when I ran for office,’” Norquist added.

Trump referenced the infamous Bush quote in a Truth Social post on Friday when he said Republicans should “probably not” raise on those pulling multi-million-dollar incomes, musing that Democrats could use it against Republicans.

But Trump also said it was not that broken promise that lost Bush in 1992: “NO, Ross Perot cost him the Election!” Trump said, referencing the independent presidential candidate who pulled nearly 19 percent of the popular vote.

 

Along with Newt, Grover has been warning against this move for some time. 

Leo XIV on Trump and Vance

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. 

Zach Kessel and Jon Levine at The Washington Free Beacon

Pope Leo XIV, formerly known as Robert Prevost, voted in several Republican primaries before being elevated as successor to Pope Francis, election records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show.

Leo XIV, who previously lived in Chicago, voted in Republican primaries during the 2012, 2014, and 2016 election cycles, according to records from conservative polling firm Pulse Decision Science.

Illinois does not allow voters to register with a political party, so the pope’s voting record does not mean he was a registered Republican. The records do, however, indicate that he only voted in primary elections on the GOP side.

Federal Election Commission and Illinois State Board of Elections databases do not list the newly elected pope as having donated to any political campaigns.

Matt Knee, Pulse Decision Science’s chief data officer, told the Free Beacon the pope’s voting history and public pronouncements lead him to believe Leo XIV is a former Republican.

"The fact that he hasn’t voted in a Republican primary since 2016 and, in fact, didn’t vote in the general in ‘16—and his public statements—if I had to guess, he certainly would fit the profile of a former or Never Trump-type ex-Republican," Knee said.

 Isaac Schorr at Mediaite:

Pope Leo XIV’s social media presence is causing quite the stir.

Shortly after news broke that he had been selected as the new pontiff, observers began scouring over his X account for clues as to his leanings.

It wouldn’t take Sherlock Holmes to decipher them. His last post on the platform was a retweet that read “As Trump & Bukele use Oval to 🤣 Feds’ illicit deportation of a US resident (https://bit.ly/3ROMjnP), once an undoc-ed Salvadorean himself, now-DC Aux +Evelio asks, ‘Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?'”

A few posts down, Leo XIV shared articles about Vice President JD Vance’s explanation of ordo amoris, one of which bore the headline “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”

 

JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others https://t.co/hDKPKuMXmu via @NCRonline

— Robert Prevost (@drprevost) February 3, 2025

As a result, President Donald Trump’s most faithful fans online are not taking to the new pope especially well. “THIS IS THE NEW POPE!” wrote Laura Loomer, the self-proclaimed “white nationalist” with considerable influence on the president. “His name is Robert Prevost. He’s the first American Pope. He is anti-Trump, anti-MAGA, pro-open Borders, and a total Marxist like Pope Francis. Catholics don’t have anything good to look forward to. Just another Marxist puppet in the Vatican”

Trump's New York Endorsements

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. It includes a chapter on congressional and state elections.

David Freedlander at New York:

President Donald Trump waded into the murky waters of New York Republican politics on Wednesday, when, seemingly out of the blue, he posted two “Truths” to the social-media site he owns. In the first, he gave his “Complete and Total Endorsement” to the reelection of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a MAGA die-hard who has thrilled the Republican faithful with his culture-war battles on immigration and transgender-athlete bans. In the second, he gave a Complete and Total Endorsement to Mike Lawler, the Hudson Valley congressman who is one of only three Republican members of Congress representing districts that Kamala Harris won last year.

Not endorsed was Elise Stefanik, the North Country Republican congresswoman who reluctantly returned to the House after Trump pulled her nomination to be ambassador to the United Nations in order to preserve the Republicans’ slender majority in the chamber.

All three have been making moves to run for governor, and so to most Republicans in New York, this was seen as a clear effort to sideline at least Lawler and clear a path for Stefanik to win the nomination. But Republican operatives in the state say that it is not so simple and that Trump’s posts — which he made himself, without telling aides — were more about Republicans holding on to the House.

The Senate Map

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. It includes a chapter on congressional and state elections.

Adam Wren, Rachael Bade and Lisa Kashinsky at Politico:

Brian Kemp’s decision not to run for Senate isn’t just a setback for Republicans in Georgia. It is the latest sign that the GOP’s prospects across the Senate map are far less certain than just a few months ago.

It could turn worse, too, as President Donald Trump’s tariffs cause global market chaos ahead of next year’s midterms and a cloudy economic picture comes into fuller view.

Republicans are still widely expected to keep the Senate. But after Kemp and former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu rejected GOP recruitment efforts — and with hardline conservative Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton primarying the establishment Sen. John Cornyn — the GOP is bracing for a more turbulent cycle than once expected.

That’s not to mention other brewing challenges in Louisiana and North Carolina, where MAGA figures are threatening primaries against longtime incumbents.

Bonkers

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.

Eric Garcia at The Independent:

President Donald Trump made a series of increasingly erratic posts throughout his weekend at his Palm Beach estate. The first one came late Friday evening when he posted an AI image of himself as the Pope after he had previously joked that he would like to replace the late Pope Francis.

Then on Sunday, Trump threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on foreign films, supposedly to save the American film industry and address an unexpected “security threat.”

“This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Lastly, late in the evening, Trump entertained the idea of re-opening Alcatraz, the notorious former prison on an island off the coast of San Francisco, which closed in 1963 – largely because it was too expensive to operate, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

...

It later emerged that a local TV station in Florida, where Trump was at the time, had broadcast the Clint Eastwood movie Escape From Alcatraz, shortly before the president’s statement about the famous prison.

As if that weren’t enough, the official White House X account commemorated May 4th, Star Wars Day, with an image of Trump with a lightsaber, though, tellingly with a red blade, the color of the villainous Sith lords.

This came the same weekend that Trump had a largely disastrous interview with Meet The Press’s Kristen Welker, wherein he said he did not know if he had to uphold the US Constitution as his administration conducts its mass deportation strategy.

In the same interview, Trump repeated his threat to annex Greenland through military force. He also brushed off fears about a recession ignited by his trade war with China.

Where does Trump's latest BS — reopening Alcatraz, casting himself as the next pope, and not saying whether it's his job to uphold the Constitution — land on Jon Stewart's "OK or Not OK" chart? pic.twitter.com/1hTym9ndr0

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) May 6, 2025

Legal Incompetence

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.

Mark Berman and Jeremy Roebuck at WP:

Justice Department lawyers defending the Trump administration’s policies are encountering mounting criticism and frustration from federal judges, a sign of deepening tension between the executive branch and courts weighing its aggressive uses of power.

In recent hearings and rulings, judges appointed by presidents of both parties have criticized the statements and behavior of administration officials, accusing them of defying court orders, submitting flimsy evidence, providing inadequate answers to questions and even acting like toddlers.

The cases involve lawsuits challenging everything from President Donald Trump’s push to increase deportations to his efforts to punish law firms. Most are in the early stages of litigation. But the judicial pushback suggests a break from the goodwill courts have traditionally shown toward assertions by government lawyers.

The “deference that judges would give to attorneys from Main Justice is evaporating,” said John E. Jones III, a former federal judge in Pennsylvania appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush. Justice Department lawyers, he added, have “lost a fair measure of their credibility.”

At a hearing in D.C. last week about law firms, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates seemed unimpressed by some of the Justice Department lawyer’s answers, responding at one point: “Oh, give me a break.”

U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell was similarly skeptical Friday as she ruled Trump’s actions against a different law firm were unconstitutional, writing that Justice Department lawyer Richard Lawson, “when asked, was unable to fill in basic details” about the sanctions.

In Virginia, a judge scoffed at evidence the government offered in an immigration case in March to claim one couple were members of a violent gang. “I expect more from the government than this kind of very shoddy work,” U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema told the Justice Department lawyer, adding that if it were a criminal case, “I’d throw you out of my chambers.”

Trump on Abiding by the Constitution: "I Don't Know"

 Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.

Amanda Terkel and Lawrence Hurley at NBC:

In an interview last month with “Meet the Press,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “Yes, of course,” when asked whether every person in the United States is entitled to due process.

Trump, however, isn’t so sure.

“I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know,” Trump replied when asked by “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker whether he agreed with Rubio. His comments came during a wide-ranging interview at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, which aired Sunday.

The Constitution’s Fifth Amendment says “no person” shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”; it does not say that person must be a U.S. citizen, and the Supreme Court has long recognized that noncitizens have certain basic rights. Trump has also said that while “we always have to obey the laws,” he would like to see some “homegrown criminals” sent to El Salvador as well, a proposal that was widely panned by legal experts.

When Welker tried to point out what the Fifth Amendment said, Trump suggested that such a process would slow him down too much.

“I don’t know. It seems — it might say that, but if you’re talking about that, then we’d have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials,” he said. “We have thousands of people that are — some murderers and some drug dealers and some of the worst people on Earth.”

“I was elected to get them the hell out of here, and the courts are holding me from doing it,” he added.

“But even given those numbers that you’re talking about, don’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?” Welker asked.

“I don’t know,” Trump replied. “I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said.”

Self-Service Replaces Public Service

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.  Its corruption is unprecedented.

Zachary Basu at Axios:

What's happening: Trump, his sons and their associates have launched a wave of high-dollar projects monetizing their proximity to the most powerful government in the world.

• World Liberty Financial: The Trump-backed crypto venture, where founders include Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and his sons, has raised more than $550 million by selling tokens to buyers around the world. Trump himself serves as the company's "chief crypto advocate," while his administration pursues policies — including a federal crypto reserve — that have boosted the value of assets held by the firm.
• OFFICIAL TRUMP: The president's meme coin surged more than 60% last week after its website advertised an "intimate private dinner" with Trump for the top 220 coin-holders — plus a "special VIP" reception and White House tour for the top 25. The website later scrubbed references to the "White House."
• The Executive Branch: Donald Trump Jr. and his business partners — including Witkoff's sons, Zach and Alex — are launching an exclusive D.C. club with a $500,000 membership fee, pitched as a private hangout for donors and business moguls to rub shoulders with top Trump officials.
• Foreign deals: At least 19 foreign Trump-branded projects will be in development over the next four years, according to ethics watchdog CREW. Just this week, the Trump Organization announced a deal to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar. Trump, whose first foreign visit will be to Saudi Arabia, also hosted a Saudi-backed LIV golf tournament at his Doral club in Florida last month.
• Merchandise: The Trump Organization is selling "Trump 2028" hats, a nod to the president's musings about an unconstitutional third term. Trump hawked Bibles, sneakers, perfume and trading cards during the 2024 campaign, and his political operation continues to rely on MAGA merchandise to raise funds.
• Corporate boards: Dominari Holdings, a small public financial services company with headquarters in New York's Trump Tower, saw its stock price surge more than 1,200% in about six weeks after Trump Jr. and Eric Trump joined its advisory board and took equity stakes worth millions. Trump Jr. also has been named to the board of a digital firearms retailer, called GrabAGun, that's due to go public this summer.

Trump Media Strategy: Influencers > Reporters

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics.  Among other things, it discusses Trump's media strategy.

Alex Isenstadt at Axios:

The White House has launched a new Drudge Report-like website devoted to promoting pro-Trump news stories.

Why it matters: The site, called White House Wire, represents the administration's latest effort to circumvent the mainstream media and present itself in a positive light

...

What they're saying: A White House official said the site serves a key strategic purpose: To give pro-Trump influencers a central hub to disseminate Trump-favorable coverage.

• "It's a place for supporters of the president's agenda to get the real news all in one place in a shareable and readable format," the official said.
• "The website will be a one-stop shop for news and is part of the Trump administration's effort to provide transparency and institute policies that put America first," they added.

Justin Baragona at The Independent:

For the second day in a row on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt held a press briefing exclusively for members of what she called the “new media,” claiming she was fulfilling a promise she made at the start of the Trump administration to speak to “all media outlets.”

Of course, as she laid bare at the start of Monday’s presser, these sessions are mostly a way to take softball questions and applause lines from a host of MAGA sycophants who are absolutely ecstatic to be given the opportunity to sit in the White House and play reporter.

“This is our first official influencer briefing,” Leavitt said at the start of Monday’s event. “Millions of Americans are now turning to social media and independent media outlets to consume their news, and we are embracing that change, not ignoring it.”

Bad Economic News

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.

Amalya Dubrovsky, Karen Friar and Alexandra Canal at Yahoo Finance:

An update on gross domestic product (GDP) showed a sharp drop in growth. The US economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.3% in the first quarter, according to an advanced estimate released by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis on Wednesday.

The decrease primarily reflected an increase in imports as Trump's tariff push rattled confidence and businesses rushed to stockpile. Economists had expected a drop in growth of 0.1%. In the fourth quarter of 2024, real GDP increased 2.4%.

Prior to the GDP release, an ADP read on private payroll growth in April showed a pullback in hiring amid what the report called a "difficult" environment defined by an "unease" among businesses.

On the inflation front, the March reading of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge showed prices eased last month as investors brace for an uptick in pricing pressures following the implementation of President Trump's tariff agenda.

At the same time, inflation in the first quarter clocked in hotter than expected, complicating the path forward for the Federal Reserve. The "core" Personal Consumption Expenditures index, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, grew by 3.5% in the first quarter, above estimates for 3.2% and above the 2.6% seen in the prior quarter.

Americans are noticing.   Ariel Edwards-Levy, CNN:

A 59% majority of the public now says President Donald Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions in the country, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, up from 51% in March and on par with the worst numbers Joe Biden saw during his presidency.

Americans remain broadly unhappy with the nation’s economy, the survey finds, and there’s little enthusiasm for the White House’s sweeping new trade policies. With the impact of new tariffs still largely to come, 6 in 10 already say that Trump’s policies have increased the cost of living in their community, with just 12% saying his agenda has helped to bring prices down.

One Hundred Days of Chaos

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start. 

Lloyd Green at The Guardian:

In nearly 100 days on the job, Donald Trump has outlasted Liz Truss and a fabled head of lettuce. That’s a fact, not an achievement. Like the hapless British prime minister, the 47th president blazes a trail of wreckage. Chaos is his calling card. If, when and how the carnage ends is anyone’s guess.

The US simultaneously wages economic war on its allies and China. Tariffs soar. It’s as if Trump forgot the words “Smoot-Hawley” and “Great Depression”. The president risks higher inflation and a recession for an idealized yesteryear that never quite was. Back on Earth, markets signal potential capital flight and stagflation.

Ben Kamisar and Bridget Bowman at NBC:

There’s a clear trend when it comes to Trump’s approval rating around the 100-day mark: It’s slightly higher than in his first term (in most polling), but it has fallen compared with ratings in recent months, and he’s below where previous presidents were at a similar point after having taken office.

Among adults polled for the new NBC News Stay Tuned Poll powered by SurveyMonkey, 45% approve of Trump’s job performance, compared with 55% who disapprove. The online survey of 19,682 adults was conducted April 11-20 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

...

Other recent polls conducted in April, of both adults and registered voters, find Trump at similar levels of approval. (Margins of error on those surveys range from plus or minus 2 to 4 percentage points.) This month’s CNBC All-America Economic Survey (conducted April 9-13 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points) found his approval at 44% and his disapproval at 51% among American adults, Fox News found him at 44% approval among registered voters and 55% disapproval, and Gallup’s most recent survey of adults this month has him with a 44% approval rating and a 53% disapproval rating.

Trump’s lowest mark in recent polls comes from an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos survey released Sunday, which found him at 39% approval and 55% disapproval among adults last week. And his highest mark of the month came from CBS News/YouGov, which still had him in negative territory, with his approval rating at 47% and his disapproval at 53%. A CBS News/YouGov survey released Sunday had Trump’s approval rating at 45% and his disapproval at 55%.

...

A New York Times/Siena College poll released Friday found that half of registered voters said they felt Trump had made the economy worse since he took office, 27% said the economy was about the same, and 21% said he had made it better.

The Most Corrupt Thing Any President Has Ever Done

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start. 

Michael Tomasky at TNR:

Trump is using the White House to sell his worthless memecoins -- a way for rich people to put money directly into his pocket.

Trump announced this week that the top 220 buyers of his $Trump (strump, as in strumpet) meme coin between now and mid-May will be invited to an exclusive dinner on May 22 (“a night to remember”) at his golf club outside Washington, D.C. The Washington Post and other outlets have reported that in the days since the announcement, “buyers have poured tens of millions of dollars” into the coin; further, that the holders of 27 crypto wallets have acquired at least 100,000 coins apiece, “stakes worth about a million dollars each.” Holders of crypto wallets are anonymous, if they want to be, so the identities of these people (or businesses or countries or sovereign wealth funds or whatever they might be) are unknown and will presumably remain so until the big dinner or, who knows, maybe for all time.

...
This doesn’t create the “appearance” of corruption or set up the “potential” for conflict of interest. It is corruption, and it’s a standing conflict of interest. Patently, and historically. Chris Murphy is right: This is the most corrupt thing any president has ever done, by a mile.

Yeah Science!

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.  His HHS secretary is an antivaxxer.

Heather Souvaine Horn at TNR

“On Earth Day, We Finally Have a President Who Follows Science,” the statement declared of an administration that has cut so much funding for science that 75 percent of 1,200 scientists responding to a survey by the journal Nature said they were considering leaving the country. The Trump administration has also laid off thousands of researchers, sidelined climate research, frozen all new grants from the National Science Foundation, appointed noted anti-scientific kooks who praise discredited measles treatments, and reportedly plans to completely eliminate the EPA’s science and research arm.

The release further listed eight “key actions President Trump is taking on the environment.” He’s “promoting energy innovation for a healthier future,” the release announced, as Trump attempts to revive coal—a fuel so old its use predates the birth of Christ—while cutting black lung programs for coal miners. He’s “championing sound forest management”—an odd way of describing rolling back forest protections while firing so many U.S. Forest Service workers that their ability either to fight fires or administer logging contracts has come into question.

The third item on the list says, “President Trump is ending the forced use of paper straws,” which can contain PFAS and are probably not much if at all better than plastic ones. This is more accurate than the last two statements, but technically Trump only signed an order reversing federal purchasing policies that favor paper over plastics. And the idea that he did this to protect people from PFAS (known as “forever chemicals”) is risible, given that the administration has reversed a plan to limit PFAS in industrial wastewater, is trying to reverse bans of PFAS in consumer goods, and just canceled about $8 million in grants for research on how to prevent PFAS “from accumulating in crops and the food chain,” according to reporting this week from The New York Times.

 Karen Freifeld at Reuters:

President Donald Trump's nominee for NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, was arrested on fraud charges in 2010 and faced lawsuits in two states for writing $2 million in bad checks to casinos, according to government records and court filings.

Isaacman is a billionaire pilot and astronaut who founded the Shift4 Payments (FOUR.N), opens new tab company as a teenager and commanded the first civilian space crew in 2021 aboard a SpaceX capsule.

 

 

Going After Judges

 Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.

Andrew Solender at Axios:

Democratic lawmakers reacted with ferocity — and some Republicans with cheers — to the Friday arrest of Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly helping an undocumented defendant avoid arrest by ICE agents.

Why it matters: To Democrats, the arrest marks a significant escalation in President Trump's efforts to consolidate power and use federal law enforcement to crush legal obstacles to his agenda.

• "It is remarkable that the Administration would dare to start arresting state court judges," said House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). "It's a whole new descent into government chaos."
• "The Trump administration again is breaking norms in how it's dealing with immigration, the legal system, and normalcy. ... This is stuff I expect from Third World countries," Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) told Axios.
• Said Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio): "They arrested a judge?! They can no longer claim to be a party of law and order. This will have to be a red line for congressional Republicans. Unbelievable."

Tal Axelrod at Axios::

Behind the scenes: Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have urged patience, insisting to the base that they're hard at work targeting "deep state" provocateurs and other enemies of MAGA. Friday's arrest took some pressure off.

Patel has "been taking a little heat from our base, actually," Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said on Charlie Kirk's podcast. "Kash and Pam both — [Trump faithful] want to know: What are they doing? They need to get started. This just shows you they do a lot of stuff behind closed doors and they can't do it in public, but they're acting fast on it."

"Just because you're not seeing something in the news does not mean that it's not happening," Mike Davis of the Article III Project, and a top Trump ally, added on Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast. "There's a lot going on. There's a lot more that's coming. I can assure you … we're firing on all cylinders in the Trump administration."

Aaron Blake at WP:

Attorney General Pam Bondi actually seemed to lean into the idea that this was part of the larger pattern of judicial wrongs that the administration now seeks to right. Her commentary is unlikely to temper fears that the administration is trying to send a message to other judges who would stand in its way.

Appearing on Fox News, Bondi discussed the Wisconsin case and another in which a local New Mexico judge resigned after a man the government has alleged is a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was arrested at his home.

...

 When Fox host John Roberts asked about the perception created by arresting judges — “They’ll say this is a government that is expanding the powers of the Article One of the Constitution, now they’re arresting judges,” he said — Bondi didn’t dispute that.

“No one is above the law, John,” she said. “No one is above the law in this country.”

At another point, fellow host Sandra Smith asked, “So when you see these judges trying to obstruct your efforts to make this country safer, what is your message to them?”

Bondi responded: “We are going to prosecute you, and we are prosecuting you.”

The big question for our democracy and our separation of powers is just how broad is the administration’s definition of obstructing its efforts to make the country safer. Obstruction is a legal term, but also a political one.

At the very least, the administration appears to be content to send a signal to other members of the judiciary to look at what’s happening and think the administration is more than ready for an ugly power struggle.

Trump Administration Counts Jews at Columbia

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.

Sarah Boxer at CNN:

Staff members at Columbia University and Barnard College in New York City said they were taken aback earlier this week after receiving text messages on their personal devices linking to a survey which asked, in part, if they were Jewish or Israeli.

The survey on Monday came from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and outlined that it was part of a federal investigation into workplace practices at the schools.

The second question on the survey asks respondents to check boxes for all that apply, inquiring if they are Jewish, Israeli, have Jewish/Israeli ancestry or practice Judaism.

Debbie Becher, an associate sociology professor at Barnard, said she was “shocked” to receive the text. “At first, I thought it was spam,” Becher, who is Jewish, told CNN. “I was alarmed that the government would contact me in this way about such a serious matter.”

In a text message sent to one Barnard College staff member seen by CNN, the employee’s name appears at the top of the message, which encouraged recipients to contact an email address from the EEOC if they want to confirm the text’s authenticity, the message shows.

Columbia had sent out an email to staff and faculty on April 15 stating it had received a subpoena from the EEOC “in connection with an investigation into alleged harassment of Jewish employees at the University from October 7, 2023, to the present.”

In 2016, Michael Wilner wrote in The Jerusalem Post:

Over the course of a months-long investigation of that relationship by The Jerusalem Post – resourcing court documents, media archives and original interviews with campaign aides, close personal confidantes, past lawyers, business partners and employees – both supporters and detractors of the Republican nominee agreed on one critical revelation: Trump seems to have something of an affirmative prejudice toward Jews.

They believe he considers Jews a group of rich, smart, successful and generally powerful deal makers – all traits which Trump himself aspires to, and has sought to emulate, while simultaneously touching on tropes described by historians of the topic as classically antisemitic.

“In some ways, Donald Trump and his relationship with the Jews is the latest chapter in a very long history of ambivalence and dichotomous relations,” Jonathan Sarna, author of American Judaism: A History, said in an interview. “The line between philosemitism and antisemitism is often a difficult one – the line is thin. It’s not bright red. Often you can find within the same person both tendencies, and Trump is a study in that.”

Chaos

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.t.

Alex Isenstadt and Marc Caputo at Axios:

• The promise of Elon Musk's DOGE is fizzling out, and many administration officials wanted him out of the White House well before he said Tuesday that he'll "significantly" cut back on his government work.
• Pete Hegseth's Pentagon is awash in firings, leaks and public warnings of internal ineptitude.
• Lots of officials are dumping on Trade Adviser Peter Navarro, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and others for their tariff strategy that provoked a global market meltdown, even though it's really Trump's policy.
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett is covering his own hide amid lots of leaks about him being the voice of sanity. Oddly, good press can be one way to end up on Trump's bad side.
• Last week in the West Wing, the simmering tension between Bessent and Musk boiled over into a prolonged and heated shouting match over an IRS commissioner appointment.
• And after juicing economic unease by dumping on the Fed and suggesting he might try to fire Chairman Jerome Powell, Trump has backed away from all that — and much of his harsh talk on tariffs. For now, anyway.

People are noticing.  Jared Gans at The Hill:

President Trump has seen his favorability ratings start to take a hit in the first three months of his presidency amid growing criticism of his handling of the economy and various controversies, according to the initial polling averages from Decision Desk HQ/The Hill.

The averages show that Trump is currently underwater after starting his term in January with a net positive approval rating. DDHQ/The Hill’s average had his approval rating above 50 percent for the first days of his presidency. By late April, his average approval rating had fallen under 45 percent.

Reading Trump's Lips

 Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics.  It includes a discussion of tax issues.

I received an interesting note from the President. pic.twitter.com/cGQvDrhwWU

— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) April 22, 2025

We lived through this scenario with George HW bush and Dick Darman. https://t.co/4A7jdXQjGK

— Grover Norquist (@GroverNorquist) April 18, 2025

2015: Trump recalls the Bush “read my lips” broken tax promise. pic.twitter.com/rcQw4oh08v

— John Kartch (@johnkartch) April 16, 2025

Malevolence Compounded by Incomptence: Oveview

Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.

MAGA people (e.g., Hegseth) have replaced the normals (e.g., Mattis) that populated the first Trump administration. Luke Broadwater at NYT:

The defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, shared sensitive military information in not one, but two Signal group chats. The I.R.S. has had three different leaders in the span of a single week. A Salvadoran man living in Maryland was deported because of an “administrative error.” And, in yet another misstep, administration officials kicked off a war of threats with Harvard University by sending a letter to the school prematurely, two people familiar with the matter said.

...

The administration’s tariff policy has whipsawed back and forth so rapidly that businesses planning their futures can barely keep up.

Also this month, the president fired more than a half-dozen national security officials on the advice of the far-right agitator Laura Loomer, who was granted access to the Oval Office and ticked through a list of officials she deemed disloyal.

In general, however, the president has been reluctant to fire those close to him in part because he doesn’t want to be seen as giving a victory to the news media.

...

Also this month, the president fired more than a half-dozen national security officials on the advice of the far-right agitator Laura Loomer, who was granted access to the Oval Office and ticked through a list of officials she deemed disloyal.

In general, however, the president has been reluctant to fire those close to him in part because he doesn’t want to be seen as giving a victory to the news media.