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The Trump Presidency Timeline

Documenting the chaos since day one. 1610 entries and counting.

national security

trump quietly yeets 750 pages of nuclear safety rules into the sun

Idaho National Lab, now available in ‘move fast and break containment’ mode — safety paperwork sold separately.

Idaho National Lab, now available in ‘move fast and break containment’ mode — safety paperwork sold separately.

The Trump Department of Energy has been busy doing what it does best: secretly rewriting life-or-death rules so rich people can move faster. Over the fall and winter, DOE quietly shredded more than 750 pages of nuclear safety directives governing new experimental reactors — then handed the new, slimmed-down rules to industry while keeping the public completely in the dark. Because nothing says "responsible nuclear stewardship" like classified oopsies. The new orders gut requirements for site security, environmental protections, groundwater safeguards, record-keeping, accident investigations, and even eliminate at least one key safety role. They also raise the radiation exposure threshold before an accident investigation is triggered — in other words, workers can soak up more radiation before anyone is officially allowed to admit something went wrong. All of this is to speed along Small Modular Reactors that just so happen to be backed by billions from Amazon, Google, and Meta, who want cheap power for AI — truly the most comforting reason to weaken nuclear safeguards. Former Nuclear Regulatory Commission chair Christopher Hanson — whom Trump fired in 2025, naturally — points out that secretly relaxing nuclear safety "is not the best way" to build public trust. Edwin Lyman, a longtime nuclear safety expert, is blunter: the administration is taking "a wrecking ball" to the system that kept the U.S. from having another Three Mile Island. But sure, I’m sure everything will be fine. After all, when has a government-industry partnership that hides safety rollbacks around nuclear reactors ever gone badly?
#national-security#forever-grifting#killing-democracy
imperialism

trump threatens to steal greenland, gets neil young instead

Donald Trump eyes Greenland on a map like a toddler spotting a new toy, while Neil Young frantically tries to smother the fire with free classic rock.

Donald Trump eyes Greenland on a map like a toddler spotting a new toy, while Neil Young frantically tries to smother the fire with free classic rock.

Donald Trump has apparently decided that buying Greenland was too 2019, so now he’s talking about annexing the Danish territory for "national security"—but don’t worry, he says he "won't use force," which is exactly what you say when you’ve been loudly fantasizing about taking someone else’s land. In response to this very normal superpower behavior, Neil Young is giving every Greenlander a year of free access to his music archive to help "ease some of the unwarranted stress and threats" coming from what he politely calls "our unpopular and hopefully temporary government." Because nothing says 21st century American diplomacy like: the president menacing an autonomous territory while a 79-year-old rock legend steps in as the de facto State Department of Peace and Love. Young—who’s already tried to stop Trump from blasting his songs at rallies—now requires only a Greenland-registered phone number to get free access, effectively turning his back catalog into a humanitarian aid package for people being harassed by a nuclear-armed real estate guy with impulse-control issues. In other words, the US government is out here LARPing imperial conquest, and the opposition is… classic rock, streaming logins, and a Canadian-American grandpa yelling "wake up people" on his website. But sure, tell us more about how this administration is restoring American greatness, one attempted land grab and celebrity boycott at a time.
#imperialism#killing-democracy
forever grifting

trump discovers the economy again, just in time for the midterms

Trump, bravely enduring another taxpayer-funded flight so he can explain how much he cares about affordability from behind a presidential seal and a merch table.

Trump, bravely enduring another taxpayer-funded flight so he can explain how much he cares about affordability from behind a presidential seal and a merch table.

After starting the year playing wannabe strongman in Venezuela and glad-handing billionaires at Davos, Donald Trump has remembered that the United States actually has an economy and, inconveniently, voters. So he jets off to Iowa for a "speech on affordability" that the White House openly bills as a campaign-style event—because nothing says good governance like turning official travel into a taxpayer-funded rally tour. The Iowa stop is framed as the big kickoff for the midterm push, a chance to "rally Trump's base" under the warm glow of presidential branding. In other words, it's the same old Trump show: use the trappings of office to run a permanent campaign, blur every line between governing and electioneering, and then act shocked when anyone mentions ethics laws or the Hatch Act. But sure, this is all about helping Americans "afford" things—not about helping Trump afford more rallies.
#forever-grifting#money
anti immigration

trump ice discovers bold new tactic: detain preschoolers

ICE, bravely protecting America from the existential threat of preschoolers with backpacks.

ICE, bravely protecting America from the existential threat of preschoolers with backpacks.

A federal judge had to step in and issue a temporary restraining order to stop the Trump administration from removing a 5-year-old boy and his father after ICE scooped them up in Minnesota and quietly shipped them to Texas. Because nothing says "law and order" like grabbing a kid after preschool and flying him a thousand miles away to a detention center in Dilley.

The Department of Homeland Security insists they weren’t targeting little Liam Conejo Ramos, they were just coincidentally arresting his dad right after preschool drop-off, then moving both of them across the country. Critics say ICE is using kids as "bait"; DHS says, actually, this is fine and "consistent with past administrations," which is a hell of a defense: we’ve always been awful, your honor.

The family’s lawyer points out they did everything by the book: entered in 2023 using the CBP One app, showed up for court, followed every protocol, posed no flight risk—and still got detained. Then Trump killed the app last year, because why have an orderly, legal process when you can have chaos and child detention instead? Meanwhile, a school board chair on the scene says there were multiple safe adults ready to take the child, but ICE somehow chose the "drag him to Texas" option on the menu.

For now, the judge has barred ICE from removing or transferring the father and son outside the Western District of Texas. In other words, the only thing standing between a 5-year-old and Trump’s deportation machine is a federal court order. But sure, tell us more about how this is all about "border security" and not a deliberate policy of terrorizing immigrant families.

#anti-immigration#killing-democracy
imperialism

trump parks a floating nuke airport off iran ‘just in case’

The USS Abraham Lincoln, bravely defending American freedom by lurking off yet another country we might bomb ‘for stability’.

The USS Abraham Lincoln, bravely defending American freedom by lurking off yet another country we might bomb ‘for stability’.

The US is rolling out a "multi-day readiness exercise" in the Middle East, which is Pentagon-speak for "we moved a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, guided-missile destroyers, and a bunch of strike aircraft right next to Iran and are now doing donuts in the Gulf." Air Forces Central says the drills will "demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse and sustain combat airpower" across CENTCOM’s turf, because nothing says stability like rehearsing how fast you can light up a region that's already on fire. This comes as Trump brags to Axios about a "big armada next to Iran. Bigger than Venezuela"—in other words, he's now measuring foreign policy in carrier groups per ego unit. Officially, the USS Abraham Lincoln is there to "promote regional security and stability", which is a very poetic way of describing parking several dozen fighter jets and nearly 5,000 sailors within strike distance while Trump alternates between threatening Iran with attacks and insisting, without evidence, that "the killing has stopped" after a crackdown that activists say may have killed more than 30,000 protesters. The White House keeps hinting that airstrikes are still on the table "just in case", while CENTCOM runs joint drills and practices shooting down drones in anticipation of the counterattacks their hypothetical humanitarian bombing campaign might provoke. Meanwhile, even usually compliant Gulf partners like the UAE are backing away, publicly declaring their airspace and waters are closed for any Iran attack. But not to worry: the US insists all this will be done with "host-nation approval" and "respect for sovereignty"—as long as that sovereignty doesn’t get in the way of the next photo op with a carrier battle group.
#imperialism#national-security
killing democracy

trump-kennedy center drives lincoln guy out of the building

The Trump-Kennedy Center, where Lincoln’s legacy is welcome as long as it fits on the marquee under Trump’s name.

The Trump-Kennedy Center, where Lincoln’s legacy is welcome as long as it fits on the marquee under Trump’s name.

Philip Glass has decided that his new symphony about Abraham Lincoln probably shouldn’t premiere at the newly rebranded “Trump-Kennedy Center”, because nothing says “government of the people, by the people, for the people” like slapping Trump’s name on a memorial to a president who literally died defending the Union. In an 88-year-old burst of basic integrity, Glass pulled his Symphony No 15, “Lincoln”, saying the Kennedy Center’s current values are in "direct conflict" with the work’s message. That’s the polite composer way of saying: I wrote a piece about Lincoln, not a soundtrack for a gold-plated personality cult. The withdrawal follows Trump’s second-term hostile takeover of the Center’s leadership, his installation of a new board of loyalists, and his ongoing attempt to turn America’s premier arts institution into a culture-war stage set where everything is either “woke” or worshipful. Meanwhile, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse helpfully summarized the new management style as what happens "when the brigands took the ship"—they looted it and hired their friends. In other words, the Kennedy Center has gone from national arts institution to federally subsidized MAGA banquet hall with orchestral accompaniment, at least when anyone is still willing to play there. And hovering over all of this: the administration is simultaneously dealing with the fallout from federal agents killing US citizens in Minneapolis during Trump’s mass deportation campaign, because of course the regime that’s busy rewriting the arts is also busy rewriting who gets to stay alive in the country.

Source: theguardian.com

#killing-democracy#fascism
killing democracy

white grievance whisperer gets a west wing punch card

Tucker Carlson attends a White House meeting with Trump and oil executives, presumably to ensure the talking points are as toxic as the product.

Tucker Carlson attends a White House meeting with Trump and oil executives, presumably to ensure the talking points are as toxic as the product.

Tucker Carlson spotted in the East Room with Donald Trump and oil executives is the least subtle visual metaphor in American politics: the propaganda department, the fossil fuel barons, and the aspiring autocrat all in one handy photo-op. NPR walks through how Carlson went from bow-tied cable clown to one of the far right’s most influential voices by doing the unthinkable in 2015: realizing that a nativist white grievance campaign might actually be the GOP’s whole deal, not a bug.

Jason Zengerle’s new book lays out the trajectory: Carlson rode conservative print media into TV, got fired from CNN and MSNBC, found his true home at Fox, then was ejected in 2023 right after Fox paid nearly $800 million for lying to the country. Naturally, he landed on X, where he’s embraced the full attention-economy spiral by pushing the "great replacement" conspiracy theory in ever more explicit terms—because nothing says "serious public intellectual" like laundering white nationalist talking points into prime-time content.

Now Carlson isn’t just yelling from the sidelines; he "has a seat at the table" with Trump, happily feeding advice to a man who already thinks the Constitution is more of a restaurant suggestion than a founding document. Zengerle notes Carlson’s real throughline is "fame, fortune and power," and suggests he might run for office himself. In other words: the guy who mainstreamed replacement theory and grievance politics is no longer just shaping the base—he’s shaping policy, and possibly auditioning to be the next demagogue on the ballot. But sure, tell us again how this is all just "populism."

Source: npr.org

#killing-democracy#fascism
killing democracy

trump declares war on boats, accidentally murders fishermen

Artist’s impression of Trump’s ‘war on drugs’: a random boat, an airstrike, and zero due process, but plenty of flag graphics on cable news.

Artist’s impression of Trump’s ‘war on drugs’: a random boat, an airstrike, and zero due process, but plenty of flag graphics on cable news.

The Trump administration’s latest innovation in law-and-order cosplay is now getting its day in court: the families of two Trinidadian men killed in an October U.S. strike on a small boat are suing for wrongful death and extrajudicial killing. The Pentagon called it a hit on a drug-smuggling vessel full of “narcoterrorists.” The families say Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo were fishermen and farm workers just trying to get home. The government’s evidence so far: Trump posted on Truth Social that they were bad guys. In other words, the usual rigorous intel vetting process.

This is the first lawsuit targeting Trump’s shiny new campaign of blowing up alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific — a campaign that has already hit about three dozen vessels and killed at least 125 people, according to the Defense Department. The administration’s legal theory is that the U.S. is in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels, which is a very fancy way of saying, “We wanted to use bombs instead of indictments.” The lawsuit points out the tiny problem that there is no actual armed conflict here, meaning the laws of war don’t apply and these are just… murders. Ordered, the complaint notes, by “individuals at the highest levels of government,” because nothing says limited government like claiming war powers against fishermen.

Trinidad’s own government says it has no information linking Joseph or Samaroo to any illegal activity, and no evidence anyone on the boat had drugs or weapons. But the U.S. didn’t bother notifying the families, because why add basic human decency to your extrajudicial killing program? Instead, their loved ones just stopped calling one day and never came home, while Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth bragged that six “narcoterrorists” had been successfully obliterated. The families are suing under the Death on the High Seas Act and the Alien Tort Statute — quaint little relics that say you’re not supposed to vaporize foreign civilians on the ocean because the president got bored of sanctions.

The complaint calls the strike “simply murders,” and it’s hard to argue with that when your big legal move is to rebrand drug interdiction as a forever war and let the Commander-in-Chief play drone whack-a-mole with boats in the Caribbean. But sure, tell us again how this administration is the last line of defense against tyranny, as it literally claims global war powers to kill unarmed fishermen without charges, evidence, or notice to their families. Rule of law, Trump-style: if the president tweets you’re a narcoterrorist, you’re a legitimate target; if he’s wrong, your survivors can file some paperwork after the funeral and hope a judge still remembers what the Constitution is.

#killing-democracy#imperialism#lawlessness
killing democracy

trump proudly quits earth again

Donald Trump ceremonially tearing up the Paris deal while the planet literally sets new heat records in the background, because branding is everything.

Donald Trump ceremonially tearing up the Paris deal while the planet literally sets new heat records in the background, because branding is everything.

The United States has officially left the Paris climate agreement for the second time, because when Donald Trump finds the self-destruct button for the planet, he really likes to slam it twice just to be sure. The US now joins the climate non-party VIP lounge with Iran, Libya, and Yemen, but stands alone as the only country that actually walked away from the deal on purpose. In other words, the world’s richest country just told everyone drowning, burning, or starving, “good luck with that,” and went back to chanting “drill, baby, drill” at a stadium rally.

This isn’t just leaving Paris; the administration is also bailing on the entire UN climate framework, amounting to a full-on retreat from climate governance while the planet sets new heat records like it’s trying to win a prize. Experts warn this “we will be the bad guys” energy gives fossil fuel lobbyists in China and elsewhere a handy excuse to slow-walk the energy transition, while low-income countries are told that the US won’t fund their transition away from fossil fuels at all. Because nothing says global leadership like telling the global south, “we caused most of the problem, but you’re on your own.”

Meanwhile, renewables are now the cheapest new power almost everywhere, China dominates clean energy supply chains, and the US is choosing to be the guy in the corner burning coal to power AI data centers that will, presumably, generate even more climate denial memes. As one expert notes, it’s not clear America even has any credibility left to lose, but Trump is out here stress-testing that theory anyway. Pulling out of the key global climate agreement right as every scientific report says things are worse than we thought is less “policy” and more “suicidal performance art” — but sure, tell us again how this is all about sovereignty and freedom.

Source: theguardian.com

#killing-democracy#anti-science
killing democracy

the whistleblower comes for the rubber stamp

Alex Vindman, seen here committing the unforgivable crime of telling the truth about a president’s extortion scheme, now applying for a new job where Trump can’t fire him for it.

Alex Vindman, seen here committing the unforgivable crime of telling the truth about a president’s extortion scheme, now applying for a new job where Trump can’t fire him for it.

Alex Vindman — the guy who politely told Congress that Trump was trying to extort Ukraine like a mob boss with nuclear codes — is now running for Senate in Florida. His launch video helpfully reminds voters that the last time they saw him, he was under oath explaining how the president tried to shake down Volodymyr Zelenskyy for dirt on the Bidens and 2016, and then got his career kneecapped for the crime of telling the truth. In other words, he’s running on the radical platform of "maybe presidents shouldn’t run personal blackmail operations through U.S. foreign policy."

Vindman, a Ukrainian-born Army vet and retired lieutenant colonel, points out that Trump responded to his testimony with a classic authoritarian move: retaliation. Trump blocked his promotion, had him and his twin brother Eugene booted from the National Security Council, and generally treated the federal government like his own personal HR department for vengeance. Vindman now describes that period as a "reign of terror and retribution" — because nothing says "totally normal democratic administration" like purging national security officials for insufficient loyalty to the dear leader.

He’s aiming at GOP Sen. Ashley Moody, the former Florida attorney general who was magically elevated to the Senate after Marco Rubio abandoned legislating to go be Trump’s secretary of state. Moody’s job description is pretty simple: be a "yes" vote for Trump and the billionaires, which Vindman sums up neatly as, "She’s not Florida’s senator. She’s theirs." Meanwhile, Florida Democrats are trying to win a statewide race in a state Trump carried by 13 points and Rubio by 16, so this is basically a boss-level attempt to unseat a handpicked loyalist in the middle of Trump’s second-term chaos of thug militias, tariff-driven price hikes, and health care costs exploding.

The Democratic primary is crowded with other hopefuls, but Vindman is leaning hard into the contrast: one guy tried to stop a corrupt president from hijacking U.S. foreign policy for personal gain, got purged for it, and is now running to check that same regime from the Senate. The other proudly votes yes on whatever the Mar-a-Lago Politburo and its billionaire backers slide across her desk. But sure, tell us more about how the real threat to democracy is people being mean to Trump on the internet.

Source: nbcnews.com

#killing-democracy#lawlessness#retribution
racism

white house runs open mic night for white nationalists

President Trump, half in shadow, presumably to symbolize that the white nationalist part of the messaging is only *semi*-overt now.

President Trump, half in shadow, presumably to symbolize that the white nationalist part of the messaging is only *semi*-overt now.

The Trump White House, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Labor have apparently decided that the best use of official government social media is to moonlight as a promo team for the extremist right. In the last month, they’ve pumped out posts referencing neo-Nazi literature, ethnic cleansing, QAnon conspiracies, and even floated deporting nearly a third of the U.S. population — because nothing says "public service" like casually workshopping ethnic cleansing on Instagram. One ICE recruitment ad, jointly posted by the White House and DHS, splashed the phrase “WE’LL HAVE OUR HOME AGAIN” across the screen — which, fun twist, just happens to be the title of a white nationalist anthem beloved by Proud Boys and other extremists, and quoted by the white supremacist who murdered three Black people in Jacksonville in 2023. But sure, we’re told, to some people it just sounds "patriotic" and to others it’s merely a "faint dog whistle." Meanwhile, anyone familiar with far-right codes hears not a whistle but a full-blown air raid siren coming from official U.S. government accounts. In other words, this isn’t fringe trolls in anonymous forums — it’s people with .gov email addresses and security badges laundering extremist iconography into the bloodstream of state communication. The line between "governing" and "posting through your fascist phase" has fully collapsed, and the administration’s idea of recruitment now includes borrowing the soundtrack of a violent white supremacist movement. But hey, as long as the font is on-brand, right?

Source: nytimes.com

#racism#fascism#killing-democracy
imperialism

trump launches board of peace, keeps board of bombs fully funded

Trump unveils his 'Board of Peace' in front of a backdrop of places that need rebuilding from all the peace he’s been delivering.

Trump unveils his 'Board of Peace' in front of a backdrop of places that need rebuilding from all the peace he’s been delivering.

Trump has spent the past year rattling sabers, dropping bombs, and threatening pretty much anyone with a shoreline, so naturally he’s now rolling out a grand new branding exercise called the global "Board of Peace." Because nothing says committed to nonviolence like treating military force as your first draft and a peace board as the marketing copy. The shiny new plan is being sold as Trump-the-Peacemaker’s big vision for the world, even as the actual work of rebuilding Gaza remains a brutal slog of shattered infrastructure, displaced civilians, and underfunded relief. In other words, the people picking through the rubble get photo ops and vague promises, while Trump gets another podium to brag about his "historic" peace efforts. So we now have a president who regularly reaches for the military option, then turns around and demands credit for being a statesman because he stapled the word "Peace" onto a board. Gaza’s reality is concrete dust and humanitarian crisis; Trump’s reality is a press release about his soaring ambitions. But sure, let’s all pretend the Board of Peace is going to fix what the bombs broke.

Source: npr.org

#imperialism#killing-democracy
corruption

treasury bravely protects billionaires from embarrassment

Pictured: the moment Washington decided the real problem with the tax system was that the public found out how rigged it is.

Pictured: the moment Washington decided the real problem with the tax system was that the public found out how rigged it is.

The Treasury Department has heroically canceled $21 million in Booz Allen Hamilton contracts after a contractor leaked IRS data showing how the ultra-wealthy — including Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos — pay little or nothing in taxes. Because nothing says "restoring trust in government" like making sure no one ever again finds out how thoroughly the tax code has been engineered to kiss the ring of the billionaire class.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tore up 31 contracts and declared this an "essential step" to rebuilding confidence, which is an interesting way of saying: we can’t have the peasants seeing the receipts. The leaker, Booz Allen contractor Charles Edward Littlejohn, already got five years in prison for exposing how the richest people on earth treat the IRS like a suggestion box, but apparently that wasn’t enough punishment for the crime of publicly humiliating Trump and his fellow tax contortionists.

Booz Allen, for its part, insists it’s shocked — shocked! — by Treasury’s decision, stressing that the leaks happened on government systems, not theirs, and that they helpfully assisted in the investigation that put Littlejohn behind bars. In other words: they’re very committed to ethics, as long as those ethics begin and end with protecting the confidentiality of billionaires’ shell games, not the public’s right to know that the system is a joke.

So the message is clear: if you’re a billionaire, the government will bend over backwards to safeguard your privacy as you legally acrobat your way out of paying taxes. If you expose that rigged circus? Enjoy prison, canceled contracts, and a federal government that treats transparency like the real crime.

Source: npr.org

#corruption#oligarchy
killing democracy

melania’s $75m vanity doc bombs harder than trump says it sells out

Empty cinema seats eagerly await the sold‑out crowds that exist only on Trump’s social media and in Amazon’s balance‑sheet fan fiction.

Empty cinema seats eagerly await the sold‑out crowds that exist only on Trump’s social media and in Amazon’s balance‑sheet fan fiction.

Amazon dropped about $75m on an authorised Melania Trump hagiography – including a "considerable" personal payout to the first lady – and UK audiences have responded with the enthusiasm of a dental waiting room. Vue’s flagship London cinema managed to sell one ticket for the first screening and two for the second, while entire multiplexes across Blackburn, Castleford and Hamilton remain wide open, just like the legal loopholes Trump uses to rename the Kennedy Center after himself.

Naturally, Trump is on Instagram and Truth Social insisting the film is a "MUST WATCH" and tickets are "selling out, FAST!" – because nothing says historic demand like three people in a 200-seat theater. The documentary lovingly chronicles the 20 days before Trump’s 2025 return to power, was screened at the White House, and will officially premiere at the newly christened (and legally disputed) Trump-Kennedy Center, which is what you get when a personality cult collides with a national arts institution.

Melania is an executive producer with "full" creative control – she supposedly built the trailer, picked the music, and shaped the global ad campaign currently tanking in 27 countries. To complete the vibes, the film marks the comeback of Brett Ratner, who’d been sidelined by multiple sexual misconduct allegations until Trump personally pushed for him to get Rush Hour 4 greenlit. In other words: the president used his bully pulpit to revive a disgraced director’s career and help sell a taxpayer-adjacent propaganda doc about his wife, and the public’s response so far is a resounding, beautifully democratic no thanks.

Source: theguardian.com

#killing-democracy#forever-grifting
killing democracy

trump gets his very own state media app

TikTok logo hero shot, now proudly brought to you by rolling outages, algorithmic glitches, and just a little light pro-Trump censorship allegedly.

TikTok logo hero shot, now proudly brought to you by rolling outages, algorithmic glitches, and just a little light pro-Trump censorship allegedly.

Gavin Newsom just announced that California is investigating whether the newly "Americanized" TikTok is quietly doing what the Trump administration has loudly dreamed of: scrubbing criticism of Dear Leader from one of the biggest platforms in the country. The timing is chef's kiss: three days after a Trump-approved deal to spin off TikTok's US operations into a Trump-aligned business group, thousands of users report their political posts — especially those critical of Trump or mentioning a federal-agent shooting in Minneapolis — are suddenly getting "zero views" or vanishing from feeds. But don't worry, TikTok swears it's just a "major infrastructure issue" and a power outage. Because nothing says random technical glitch like only the anti-Trump and "Epstein" content falling into the memory hole. Newsom's office says it has independently confirmed instances of TikTok suppressing content critical of President Trump and is launching a probe into whether the company is violating California law. Meanwhile, users are discovering that even trying to send the word "Epstein" gets flagged, political videos are mysteriously missing from the For You page and search, and creators are watching fresh uploads die at zero views while monetization tools sputter. Celebrities like Meg Stalter are bailing from the platform, saying it's now "completely censored and monitored" under the new ownership. In other words, the Trump White House finally found a way to fix Big Tech bias: buy the platform, then blame the censorship on a power outage and some bugs. And just to complete the authoritarian synergy, the whole mess is wrapped in the patriotic branding of "USDS Joint Venture LLC" with Oracle — one of Trump's favorite corporate courtiers — sitting on a nice stake and retraining a special US-only algorithm. The official line is that this protects Americans from foreign influence. The practical result looks a lot more like a state-approved social media feed where criticism of Trump and inconvenient names like "Epstein" get quietly throttled while the administration shrugs and points at some server racks. But sure, tell us again how the real threat to free speech is college kids protesting on campus.

Source: bbc.com

#killing-democracy#fascism
killing democracy

trump’s fake prosecutors keep getting caught playing dress‑up

Lindsey Halligan, briefly starring in the role of ‘U.S. Attorney’ in Trump’s community theater production of The Justice Department, before the judge closed the show for false advertising.

Lindsey Halligan, briefly starring in the role of ‘U.S. Attorney’ in Trump’s community theater production of The Justice Department, before the judge closed the show for false advertising.

Lindsey Halligan, a Trump loyalist who wandered into the Justice Department from the glamorous world of insurance law, is now officially not employed by DOJ after a federal judge said she had to stop “masquerading” as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Halligan, who had exactly zero prosecutorial experience, nonetheless managed to pose as the top federal prosecutor while pursuing two failed cases against Trump’s perceived enemies, because nothing says independent law enforcement like sending the president’s personal lawyer to go settle scores.

Judge David Novak — a Trump appointee, just to really underline how bad this was — found she was unlawfully holding the role and politely suggested she stop LARPing as a U.S. Attorney. He declined to refer her for disciplinary proceedings, generously blaming it on her “inexperience” rather than the obvious problem: a Justice Department being run like Trump’s personal Patreon perk. Halligan now joins fellow Trump fixer Alina Habba, who was also disqualified as an acting U.S. Attorney in New Jersey but somehow managed to cling to a DOJ job afterward, as part of the growing alumni network of Make Prosecutorial Misconduct Great Again.

In other words, Trump’s DOJ staffing strategy remains consistent: don’t pick seasoned prosecutors who know the law; pick personal loyalists who know him, shove them into top jobs they’re not qualified for, and then act shocked when courts notice that the nation’s premier law enforcement agency is being run like a third-tier revenge law firm with government letterhead. But sure, we’re told, the real threat to the rule of law is career civil servants and law professors posting mean things on the internet.

Source: nbcnews.com

#corruption#killing-democracy
forever grifting

trump invents state capitalism, forgets to tell the ethics office

Smartphone in a glossy shop window, powered by rare earths and good old-fashioned taxpayer-funded corporate welfare.

Smartphone in a glossy shop window, powered by rare earths and good old-fashioned taxpayer-funded corporate welfare.

The Trump administration is dropping $1.6 billion of public money into USA Rare Earth, an Oklahoma-based "critical minerals" firm, in what officials are spinning as a bold move to counter China's dominance in rare earths. The deal is "non-binding"—because nothing says serious industrial strategy like a shrug emoji—and includes a $1.3 billion loan from the Commerce Department that magically comes with the US government taking an equity stake in a private mining company. In other words: the state is now literally buying into corporate winners, but don't worry, it's still socialism only when poor people get healthcare. USA Rare Earth, which just happens to control deposits of "heavy" rare earths used in defense tech, also raised $1.5 billion from private investors, and its stock popped 20% on the news. So the market loves this brave new world where taxpayers quietly underwrite capital gains for whichever firm the Trump Commerce Department points at. The agency, naturally, "did not immediately respond" to questions, presumably because they're busy picking the next lucky magnet startup to shower with billions. This is part of a growing pattern: a $1.4bn deal with Vulcan Elements, money into MP Materials (owner of the only operational US rare earths mine), and now a direct stake in USA Rare Earth, all under the banner of "national security" and "supply chain resilience." Meanwhile, Trump is bragging about a "framework" for a future deal over Greenland that—what a coincidence—also involves rare earth access. So yes, reducing dependence on China is a legitimate strategic goal; turning that into a barely-disguised state-run venture capital fund for politically favored extractive industries is the very on-brand part. But sure, this is all about freedom and the free market. The government picks winners, takes equity, backstops risk, and boosts stock prices with press releases, while the upside flows to private shareholders and connected executives. When Beijing does it, it's authoritarian state capitalism. When Trump does it, it's just another beautiful deal—funded by you.

Source: bbc.com

#forever-grifting#oligarchy
trade war

trump threatens to annex canada’s trade policy

Donald Trump explains that Canada only exists at his pleasure, while a map of North America quietly files for emancipation.

Donald Trump explains that Canada only exists at his pleasure, while a map of North America quietly files for emancipation.

Donald Trump woke up, opened Truth Social, and decided that Canada is now a Chinese colony and therefore must be punished with 100% tariffs. The alleged crime? A narrowly targeted Canada–China deal that lowers Chinese levies on Canadian canola oil and trims Canada’s tariffs on a limited number of Chinese EVs from 100% to 6.1%. In other words, normal trade tinkering between two sovereign states, rebranded by Trump as an act of war requiring immediate economic carpet-bombing. China’s foreign ministry carefully explained that the agreement “does not target any third party,” which is diplomatic code for: please calm your unhinged neighbor. Prime Minister Mark Carney then patiently reminded everyone that Canada is not pursuing a free-trade deal with China, has never considered it, and that under USMCA they’d be required to notify the US if they did. So far, no one has found the clause in USMCA that says “Canada only exists because Donald Trump says so,” though Trump came close by declaring that “Canada lives because of the United States” and uninviting Carney from his very serious-sounding “Board of Peace.” Because nothing says ‘rules-based international order’ like threatening your closest ally with massive tariffs over a canola and EV side deal, then calling it ‘negotiating’. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried to mop up the mess by claiming the threat only applies if Canada lets China “dump goods,” which is adorable given Trump is the one publicly accusing Canada of becoming a Chinese “drop off port” while Canada is literally imposing tariffs. Carney, being a polite Canadian hostage in this relationship, spun it as just the president’s “strong negotiating” ahead of the USMCA review, even as he quietly said the quiet part out loud: Canada needs to diversify away from the US so it’s less dependent on the guy who thinks your national economy is his personal reality show subplot. So to recap: Canada tweaks a couple of tariffs, China says it’s a win-win, and Trump responds by threatening to bludgeon the Canadian economy unless they stop acting like an actual country. But sure, this is all about fair trade and not about one man’s need to constantly prove he can hurt allies whenever they forget who’s boss.
#trade-war#killing-democracy
killing democracy

trump’s tariff tantrum meets ted’s bloodbath math

Ted Cruz explains to donors that the economy is on fire and Trump’s response was to yell at the smoke detector.

Ted Cruz explains to donors that the economy is on fire and Trump’s response was to yell at the smoke detector.

On a secretly recorded donor call, Ted Cruz helpfully confirmed what everyone already suspected: when confronted with basic political reality, Donald Trump’s presidential instinct is to scream “fuck you, Ted” and hang up. Cruz says he warned Trump in 2025 that his shiny new round of sweeping tariffs might turn the 2026 midterms into an economic “bloodbath” if 401(k)s tanked and prices kept climbing. In other words, the GOP’s big concern about Trump’s trade policy isn’t that it wrecks people’s lives — it’s that it might wreck their House majority.

Cruz reportedly told Trump that if voters hit election day with retirement accounts down 30% and grocery prices up 10–20%, Republicans would lose the House, lose the Senate, and Trump would spend “the next two years being impeached every single week.” Trump, noted master dealmaker and stable genius, responded by yelling and cursing at multiple GOP senators, because nothing says “serious steward of the economy” like throwing a profanity-laced fit when someone explains how math and inflation work.

The public, rudely failing to appreciate this 4D chess, currently gives Trump a 34% approval rating on the cost of living, with 64% disapproving — a fun number if you’re into watching your own coalition peel away in real time. Meanwhile, Cruz used the same recording to torch Vice-President JD Vance as Tucker Carlson’s puppet, accusing the Vance–Tucker tag team of ousting national security adviser Mike Waltz for wanting to bomb Iran. So the party of law and order now features a president running an economy into the ground with tariffs, a veep allegedly installed by a TV demagogue, and a senator live-commentating the implosion on hidden tape. But sure, tell us more about how this is all going according to plan.

Source: theguardian.com

#killing-democracy#trade-war#full-stupid
anti immigration

trump closes asylum, opens human export business

Pictured: the ‘world’s greatest democracy’ literally air-mailing asylum seekers it refused to let speak to a judge.

Pictured: the ‘world’s greatest democracy’ literally air-mailing asylum seekers it refused to let speak to a judge.

Trump’s second-term immigration brain trust has apparently decided that if you can’t legally deport people back to countries that might kill them, you just outsource the problem. Enter Costa Rica, one of several Central American countries strong-armed into taking plane-loads of asylum seekers the US refused to even let ask for asylum. These people — including 81 children — were flown in chains on deportation flights despite not being criminals, because nothing says "land of the free" like shackling desperate families and dumping them in countries they’ve never set foot in.

Among them: a Russian family who fled after the husband documented election irregularities in Putin’s happy fun democracy and tried to get the evidence to Navalny’s network. They did the “legal” thing under Biden’s system, got a CBPOne appointment, and then watched Trump stroll back into the White House and, within hours of inauguration, nuke the entire asylum process and cancel their slot. When they turned themselves in at the border anyway and requested asylum — that thing protected by both US and international law — they were handcuffed in front of their child, locked in Otay Mesa for a month, then loaded onto a military plane and secretly shipped to Costa Rica.

Once there, this supposed “safe haven” locked them in a migrant detention center for two months, prompting Human Rights Watch to call it “reprehensible.” The family didn’t even know where Costa Rica was on a map, but Trump knew it was far enough away that Americans wouldn’t see what was being done in their name. In other words: the US government grabbed a political dissident fleeing an authoritarian regime, denied him the right to request asylum, chained his family up, and disappeared them into a third country where they’re still in legal limbo — and we’re all supposed to pretend this is just "border security" and not a dress rehearsal for how you treat dissidents once you’re done with the immigrants.

#anti-immigration#killing-democracy