The Trump Presidency Timeline

Documenting the chaos since day one. 1619 entries and counting.

killing democracy

January 18, 2026

trump-pardoned insurrectionist tries pro-ice rally, gets snowballed into the sidewalk

Jake Lang, freshly pardoned by Trump for trying to overturn democracy, bravely discovers that Minneapolis is less enthusiastic about fascism than his Telegram group chat suggested.

Jake Lang, a January 6 rioter who went from allegedly swinging a baseball bat at cops to getting presidential clemency from Trump, decided his next act should be a tiny pro-ICE, anti-Islam, anti-Somali hate rally in Minneapolis—and it went about as well as his last coup attempt. He threatened on social media to burn a Quran on the steps of City Hall, because nothing says "constitutional patriot" like staging a religious bonfire to celebrate masked federal agents dragging people out of cars. Instead, only a handful of far-right fans showed up, and they were promptly drowned out and chased off by hundreds of counterprotesters who forced at least one of them to ditch an offensive shirt. Lang left with bruises and scrapes on his head, discovering the hard way that Minneapolis is not, in fact, eager to host a "Nazis for ICE" pop-up event. Meanwhile, police rolled in with an armored van and riot gear, because when Trump’s DHS dumps 2,000 federal officers into a city, the cosplay has to be consistent. All of this is happening against the backdrop of Trump’s latest immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities, where daily protests have erupted over ICE officers breaking down doors, yanking people from homes and cars, and generally treating a major metro area like a live-fire training exercise. The operation has already claimed at least one life: Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, was shot by an ICE officer on 7 January—because nothing says "law and order" like killing citizens in their own communities. A federal judge has now had to explicitly rule that immigration officers may not detain or teargas peaceful protesters who are just watching, which is not the kind of thing a healthy democracy needs spelled out. One Liberian man, Garrison Gibson, who fled a civil war and has lived in the U.S. for decades, told reporters he’s now afraid to leave his house after federal agents smashed in his door with a battering ram. His T-shirt read "Immigrants make America great"—a risky statement in Trump’s America, where the government’s position is closer to "Immigrants make great targets." But sure, tell us again how this is all about "protecting the border" and not about turning federal law enforcement into a roaming intimidation squad for the president’s culture war.

Source: theguardian.com

Source Article

#killing-democracy#anti-immigration

retribution

January 18, 2026

send in the cops, the pen signed something

Trump, moments before demanding the FBI raid a Bic ballpoint for conspiring with the deep state.

Donald Trump is now demanding that Biden’s entire Cabinet be arrested because some documents were signed with an autopen — a perfectly legal, long-used presidential tool that’s about as controversial as a stapler. In other words, the guy who tried to overturn an election is shrieking "lock them up" over a robo-signature device every modern administration has used. Because nothing says "rule of law" like insisting your rival’s Cabinet should be hauled off in handcuffs for using the same basic technology that signs half of Washington’s holiday cards. This isn’t about signatures, it’s about a would-be strongman normalizing the idea that political disagreements are crimes and the presidency comes with its own personal police force. So while lawyers, historians, and anyone who’s ever worked in government calmly point out that autopens are standard practice, Trump is out here demanding arrests on TV like he’s ordering off a menu. But sure, tell us again how he’s the victim of a weaponized justice system — right after he finishes explaining why a robot pen is now grounds for mass political purges.

Source: today.com

Source Article

#killing-democracy#fascism

corruption

January 18, 2026

america first, ethics last: trump launches conflict-of-interest etfs

The New York Stock Exchange celebrates the launch of "America First" ETFs, where the only real underlying asset is the president’s ego and a total absence of shame.

Donald Trump has discovered a bold new innovation in governance: why merely be president when you can also be a walking SPAC? The Trump Media and Technology Group has spun Truth Social into a whole patriotic financial ecosystem: five "America First" ETFs, a nuclear fusion company (sure), a crypto bank-in-waiting, and a meme coin that crashed faster than his approval ratings. All of this is happening while Trump sits in the White House, insisting there are no conflicts of interest, because nothing says "clean government" like a president whose personal brand is literally ticker-symbolized. Instead of a standard presidential blind trust, Trump parked his Trump Media shares in a revocable trust run by Donald Trump Jr – in other words, a blind trust where the only thing blind is the ethics office. As Yorkville America and Crypto.com shovel billions into Trump’s financial playground, the administration is busy helping out the new friends: a pardoned Binance ex-CEO after a $2bn investment, a conveniently paused SEC investigation into Justin Sun after he dropped $200m into Trump’s token, and a mysteriously vanished federal inquiry into Crypto.com right after Trump took office. But yes, the White House swears that "neither the president nor his family" will ever have conflicts of interest. Ever. Meanwhile, Trump’s crypto arm, World Liberty Financial, is trying to become a federally regulated bank, prompting Elizabeth Warren to point out the obvious: this would make Trump the first president in US history to literally oversee his own financial institution. Ethics watchdogs are openly saying the quiet part out loud – that anyone who wants something from the government can just buy some Trump-branded financial products to signal loyalty. In other words, US foreign and domestic policy now comes with a prospectus and management fees. "America First" has finally been translated into its true meaning: America is first in line to buy the president’s bag.

Source: theguardian.com

Source Article

#corruption#forever-grifting

trade war

January 18, 2026

world’s dumbest greenland heist spooks the global economy

Artist’s impression of Trump’s Greenland strategy: set the global economy on fire and hope Denmark folds before the bond market does.

Donald Trump is once again holding the global economy hostage because he wants Greenland, and apparently the 21st century is just fanfic now. His latest tantrum: threatening 10% tariffs on European imports in February, cranking up to 25% by June, not because of any coherent trade strategy, but because he’s mad Europe won’t hand over a giant icy island like it’s a Monopoly property he landed on. The IMF has been screaming for a year that this kind of on-again, off-again trade war is poison for investment, but Trump has discovered that weaponized uncertainty is fun. Businesses in the UK and EU had just finished pretending they could plan around those much-vaunted Trump trade deals signed with great photo-op ceremony last summer. Now he’s casually lighting them on fire, right as France is in a budget crisis and Germany is trying to crawl out of stagnation, because nothing says "stable global partner" like using tariffs as a ransom note for someone else’s territory. At home, the genius plan is also busy kneecapping Trump’s own economic goals. Tariffs are already at their highest levels since World War II, and while inflation hasn’t exploded yet, analysts are warning that once pre-tariff inventories run out, prices will jump. That would force the Fed to stop cutting interest rates—directly sabotaging Trump’s obsession with cheaper money, even as he harasses Jerome Powell and files legal action against him for the crime of not being his personal rate-cut butler. Markets have mostly adopted the "Taco" doctrine—Trump Always Chickens Out—after last year’s aborted all-out tariff threat. But there are cracks: gold and silver prices are soaring in a classic flight to safety while the AI bubble props up stock indices. Investors are basically betting that he’ll bluff and back down again. If they’re wrong, and they finally price in the fact that the president is using tariffs as a blunt-force weapon against major allies for a vanity land grab, then—as IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva put it—buckle up. In other words, Trump’s trade policy is now just a very expensive vibes-based Greenland fan project.

#trade-war#killing-democracy

killing democracy

January 18, 2026

trump discovers the 'illegal orders' are the ones that say no to him

Elissa Slotkin, moments before being informed that citing the Constitution is now a hanging offense in Trump’s America.

Elissa Slotkin, former CIA officer and current senator, made the unforgivable mistake of reminding U.S. troops they don’t have to follow illegal orders. In response, Donald Trump did what any totally normal, definitely-not-authoritarian president would do: call it “treason”, boost posts suggesting the lawmakers should be hanged, and unleash his pet prosecutors and defense secretary to make sure everyone else gets the message.

Slotkin and a group of Democrats with military and intel backgrounds recorded a 90-second video citing the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Constitution – you know, the things Republicans swear they worship until someone actually uses them. Trump labeled it treasonous, amplified calls for their execution, and now his DOJ attack dog in DC, Jeanine Pirro, wants to "interview" Slotkin while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tries to retroactively demote Mark Kelly’s retired Navy rank. Because nothing says "support the troops" like weaponizing the Pentagon to punish a former astronaut for a YouTube video.

Slotkin, who has literally studied authoritarian regimes for a living, points out that Trump is running the classic strongman playbook: physical intimidation, legal intimidation, and public threats to scare critics into silence. In other words, he’s turned the U.S. government into a vibes-based dictatorship where the president screams "treason" at anyone who suggests the military shouldn’t become his personal goon squad. But sure, tell us again how this is all about "law and order."

Source: theguardian.com

Source Article

#killing-democracy#fascism#lawlessness

anti immigration

January 18, 2026

spreadsheet fascism meets the deportation machine

America, now with a handy dashboard for tracking how efficiently we can ruin people’s lives.

The Times pulled the receipts on Trump’s favorite hobby — mass deportation — and turned it into a neat little 2:27 data explainer, because nothing says functioning democracy like needing a graphics desk to map out how many people your government is ejecting. Using internal data, they line up Trump’s deportation numbers against Biden’s and show how Trump’s DHS treated human lives like defective inventory to be shipped back out as fast as possible. The video walks through how Trump’s "deportation machine" was engineered to maximize fear and volume: more arrests of people with long-standing ties to the U.S., fewer protections, and a system designed to grind through due process like it was an optional software add‑on. Biden’s approach looks "softer" on a chart, but the point is clear: Trump’s team built an industrial-scale removal apparatus that any future wannabe strongman can flip back to turbo mode with a signature. In other words, we didn’t just get cruel policies; we got a permanent infrastructure of cruelty, complete with dashboards, metrics and performance targets. Because nothing screams land of the free like a finely tuned deportation pipeline waiting for its next authoritarian upgrade.

Source: nytimes.com

Source Article

#anti-immigration#killing-democracy

killing democracy

January 18, 2026

hillbilly elegy to authoritarianism

JD Vance, seen here workshopping whether to call it populism, nationalism, or just good old-fashioned bootlicking.

JD Vance, once the earnest memoir guy warning about Trumpism, has completed his final Pokémon evolution into Trump’s favorite boot-licking mini-me. Now vice-president and 2028 candidate in everything but FEC paperwork, he tours the country telling heartwarming Mamaw stories while insisting that Democrats invented violent crime, because nothing says "populist authenticity" like using your grandmother as a prop for law-and-order demagoguery. In office, Vance has helpfully abandoned most of the beliefs he used to say out loud. On foreign policy, free speech, and transparency, the former critic of Trump has "reconsidered"—which in practice means doing exactly what Trump wants and pretending he always has. He played shutdown hardball, leaned on redistricting, and went on a diplomatic cosplay trip to Israel, all while positioning himself as the natural heir to the movement if and when the current Dear Leader term-limits himself via mortality. The free-speech warrior phase didn’t survive contact with power either. After the assassination of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk, Vance turned from "controversial speech must be protected" guy into "we demand retribution for anyone who reacts the wrong way" guy, using the vice-presidency to police political emotion and thought. He literally escorted Kirk’s casket on Air Force Two and guest-hosted the podcast from his ceremonial office—state power and propaganda blending together like it’s totally normal. And while Vance skipped the Mar-a-Lago situation room cosplay while Trump directed an attack on Venezuela, he was very much present for the part that mattered: the White House meeting with oil executives to carve up the country’s resources. When Trump wandered off to admire the site of his future ballroom—because of course he did—Vance shared a knowing grin with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, another 2028 hopeful. In other words, American imperialism as a reality show, with JD Vance auditioning to be the next host.

Source: theguardian.com

Source Article

#killing-democracy#fascism#imperialism

killing democracy

January 18, 2026

davos 2026: spirit of dialogue meets spirit of coup

Donald Trump explains that seizing foreign presidents with US troops is actually very legal and very cool, flanked by people who definitely know better and are pretending they don’t.

The World Economic Forum picked “A Spirit of Dialogue” as its 2026 theme, and then invited Donald Trump – the guy who spent the last year treating international law like a non-disclosure agreement. He shows up in Davos with the largest US delegation ever, because nothing says “rules-based order” like flying in the whole wrecking crew: Marco Rubio at State, hedge-fund guy Scott Bessent at Treasury, Wall Street broker Howard Lutnick at Commerce, and real-estate pal Steve Witkoff as “special envoy,” which is apparently now a job title for friends of the regime. Over the past year, Trump threatened blanket tariffs, demanded NATO cough up more cash, ordered the Fed to slash rates “immediately,” and then spent the follow-up months trying to force a pro‑Russian peace on Ukraine. In just the last few weeks, he’s sent US troops to Venezuela to physically seize Nicolás Maduro, talked casually about annexing Greenland, and threatened to attack Iran over its internal repression. In other words, the old postwar order is now whatever Trump felt like tweeting and then half‑remembering in a briefing. The rest of the world is, very belatedly, noticing this might be a problem. Central bankers – the people who normally think “strongly worded footnote” is going too far – issued an unprecedented joint letter defending Fed chair Jerome Powell’s independence after Trump spent months trying to turn monetary policy into a campaign slush button. UN chief António Guterres is out here saying the quiet part loud: when leaders “pick and choose which rules to follow,” they’re not just undermining global order, they’re setting a perilous precedent. Translation: Russia started shredding the rules in Ukraine, but the United States, under Trump, is now enthusiastically lighting what’s left on fire. Meanwhile, global military spending has surged to $2.7 trillion as democracies and dictatorships alike panic-buy weapons in response to Russia, China, and the increasingly unhinged US. Senior diplomats quietly admit that Trump’s little adventure of projecting force into places like Venezuela could spark a global backlash – because nothing says “defending freedom” like kidnapping another country’s president. So Davos 2026 is billed as the last‑chance saloon for the old world order: Zelenskyy pleading for Ukraine, Europeans begging for free trade and NATO, Guterres begging for international law – all while Trump roams the Promenade surrounded by US tech giants demoing AI, the same US military machine that just tried regime-snatch in Caracas, and a global elite still pretending this is fine as long as the canapés keep coming.

Source: theguardian.com

Source Article

#killing-democracy#imperialism#lawlessness

killing democracy

January 18, 2026

trump turns louisiana senate race into personal loyalty test

Bill Cassidy, smiling like a man who just realized his real opponent isn’t Julia Letlow or the Democrats, but the guy rage-posting endorsements from the Oval Office.

Donald Trump, still treating the federal government like his personal HR department, has now publicly encouraged Rep. Julia Letlow to primary Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana—because nothing says "healthy democracy" like the president using his office to punish a senator for voting to impeach him for inciting an insurrection. On Truth Social, Trump blasted out that Letlow has his "Complete and Total Endorsement" and urged her to "RUN, JULIA, RUN!!!"—which is less a campaign slogan and more a direct order from the Dear Leader. Letlow, who reportedly wouldn’t even consider running without Trump’s blessing, dutifully responded that she is "honored" by his endorsement and that her mission is to make the country "safer and stronger"—in other words, more obedient to Trump. She added that the Senate seat "belongs to the people of Louisiana," which is a bold thing to say while openly waiting for Mar-a-Lago to tell her whether she’s allowed to pursue it. The White House, ever the subtle authoritarian project manager, has quietly assured her that support will be there if she jumps in, but didn’t want to move too early and upset Cassidy, who’s been a useful vote for them, including to confirm noted public health menace and conspiracy enthusiast Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as HHS Secretary. Cassidy, for his part, is insisting he’s running as a "principled conservative" and says he’s confident he’ll win if Letlow runs. This is the same Cassidy who voted to impeach Trump for "incitement of insurrection" and has been critical of RFK Jr., but still hasn’t bothered to actually haul Kennedy back before his committee for promised quarterly oversight hearings. So he’s trying to split the difference: mildly skeptical of the regime, but not so skeptical that he actually uses his power to check it. In Trump’s GOP, though, voting to impeach him is the only thing that really matters, and the punishment is clear: someone younger and more compliant gets a Truth Social coronation and a shot at your job. So the 2026 Louisiana Senate race is shaping up less as a contest of ideas and more as a public loyalty ritual to a president who demands total fealty, deploys primaries as retribution, and has turned the entire party into a constant audition for his approval. But sure, tell us again how this is just normal politics and not a slow-motion party purge in a personality cult that happens to control the federal government.

Source: nbcnews.com

Source Article Also: theguardian.com

#killing-democracy#fascism

imperialism

January 18, 2026

trump accidentally invents canadian nationalism

Mark Carney walks beside Donald Trump, slightly out of focus—symbolizing Canada’s new foreign policy of pretending the neighbor from hell is just background noise.

Donald Trump has managed to do what a century of Canadian history classes could not: make Canadians genuinely patriotic. After returning to office, he slapped tariffs on key Canadian sectors, joked about Canada as "the 51st state," and followed it up with enough erratic foreign-policy chest thumping that a third of Canadians now think the US might one day take "direct action" to control their country. Because nothing says "stable ally" like your northern neighbor quietly workshopping invasion scenarios in poll questions. Canadians have responded in the most polite way possible: by stopping coming to America and taking their money elsewhere. Trips south are down over 25%, US tourism is out billions, and California is now reduced to running "please come back" ads like a clingy ex. Meanwhile, US liquor is getting yanked off shelves, imports of American booze are collapsing, and Mexico just leapfrogged the US as a car supplier. In other words, Trump’s "America First" strategy is doing wonders—for Canadian tourism, Mexican automakers, and every politician north of the border who can spell "sovereignty." On the political front, Trump even rewrote Canada’s federal election script. The Canadian Liberals were headed for the dumpster with Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives cruising to victory, until Trump’s second-term chaos and tariff tantrums helped panic Canadians into rallying around Mark Carney—the technocrat who sold himself as the guy who could actually stand up to the orange hurricane next door. Trump’s big win? Turning America into a perceived "enemy or potential threat" for nearly half of Canadians and supercharging a "Buy Canadian" defense and procurement push that explicitly shifts away from US suppliers. But sure, tell us more about how this is all 12-dimensional trade genius.

Source: bbc.com

Source Article Also: nbcnews.com Also: nbcnews.com Also: nbcnews.com

#imperialism#trade-war

killing democracy

January 17, 2026

trump’s doj bravely defeats cat toy in 35 minutes

Marine One bravely survives direct contact with a homeless man’s cat toy, in what Jeanine Pirro briefly hoped would be her Nuremberg moment.

Jeanine Pirro, now inexplicably in charge of the US attorney’s office in DC, just racked up another stunning loss in her war on reality. A jury took about 35 minutes to acquit Jacob Winkler, a homeless man accused of aiming a laser at Marine One while it ferried Donald Trump—aka the world’s most fragile helicopter passenger. The alleged weapon? A red dot from a cat toy keychain. Because nothing says “serious federal law enforcement” like trying to send a homeless guy to prison for five years over something you buy in a PetSmart impulse bin. Winkler’s public defenders politely translated this clown show: the federal government in the capital of the richest country on earth is burning scarce resources trying to make a felon out of a man with nothing but a novelty trinket, while “real threats” go unaddressed. In other words, Trump and Pirro are using the justice system as a cosplay security detail for the Dear Leader, and the actual safety of DC residents can go stand in line behind his feelings. This is all part of Trump’s “crime emergency” in DC, where he sent in troops and had DHS and FBI agents doing neighborhood patrols like some budget Pinochet reboot. Pirro’s office has been cranking out federal cases against locals for “assaulting federal officers” and “threatening” Trump—most memorably losing a case against a guy who threw a Subway-style sandwich at a CBP agent in body armor while calling them “fascists.” The jury, once again, declined to pretend that’s terrorism. Pirro’s office issued at least 16 press releases this week, but somehow none of them mentioned getting demolished in court over a cat toy and a hoagie. The Trump administration keeps trying to criminalize dissent and poverty; juries in DC keep replying: lol, no. But sure, tell us more about how this is all about “law and order” and not a flailing authoritarian ego trip.

Source: theguardian.com

Source Article Also: nbcnews.com

#killing-democracy#lawlessness

imperialism

January 17, 2026

stable genius calls for new iranian government, what could go wrong

Trump, fresh off trying regime change in his own country, thoughtfully workshopping regime change in someone else’s.

Donald Trump has announced that it’s time for “new leadership in Iran,” because nothing says respect for sovereignty like the guy who tried to overturn his own election casually calling for regime change in another country. In an interview with Politico, Trump declared that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is “a sick man” and that Iran is “the worst place to live anywhere in the world” — a bold statement from the man who keeps trying to turn the U.S. into Florida with nukes. While Khamenei accuses Trump of encouraging “agitators,” Trump has been busy telling Iranians to “take over institutions” and promising that “help is on its way,” which is definitely not ominous language when the Pentagon is simultaneously preparing to send a carrier strike group, additional aircraft, and land-based air defense systems to the region. In other words, we’ve reached the “spontaneous grassroots freedom uprising, coincidentally backed by a massive U.S. military build-up” portion of the program. Thousands of protesters have already been killed — at least 3,090 dead and over 22,000 arrested, according to HRANA — but Trump briefly tried on his “human rights guy” costume by saying he “greatly” respects that “over 800” scheduled hangings were allegedly canceled by Iran’s leadership. The White House could not provide any source for that number, but why let facts get in the way of a good self-congratulatory fantasy? Meanwhile, the U.S. is evacuating key personnel from its largest Middle East base as Trump “weighs potential military action,” because nothing calms a brutal crackdown like dangling the prospect of another American war in the region. So to recap: an authoritarian U.S. president who tried to cling to power at home is now cheerleading institutional takeovers abroad, musing about regime change, and parking a carrier strike group off Iran’s metaphorical lawn. But sure, this is all about freedom and human rights, and definitely not about another round of made-for-TV geopolitics starring Donald J. Trump.

Source: nbcnews.com

Source Article Also: theguardian.com Also: theguardian.com Also: theguardian.com Also: theguardian.com Also: theguardian.com

#imperialism#national-security

corruption

January 17, 2026

trump to regulate netflix-warner deal, immediately invests in netflix-warner deal

Trump, bravely fighting corporate concentration by personally investing in the corporations he’s supposed to regulate.

Donald Trump looked at America’s antitrust laws, ethics rules, and that whole "not personally trading in stuff you’re about to regulate" norm and said: what if we just didn’t? Days after bragging he’d "be involved" in the government’s decision on the $82.7bn Netflix–Warner Bros Discovery merger, Trump went out and bought at least $1m in their bonds. Because nothing says "independent regulator" like literally buying a financial stake in the companies whose merger you’re about to review. The White House disclosure shows four purchases in mid-December, just over a week after the deal was announced and right after Trump mused about their "very big market share" and promised he’d be part of the call on whether it goes through. Meanwhile, a rival $108.4bn hostile takeover bid from Paramount Skydance — backed by David and Larry Ellison, both very friendly with the Trump crowd — is also in the mix. So on one side, the president is personally invested in the target companies; on the other, his buddies are bankrolling the competing bid. Regulatory capture? No, no, this is regulatory arbitrage for friends and family. An anonymous administration official insists Trump’s portfolio is "independently managed" and that neither he nor his family can "direct, influence, or provide input" on investments. In other words: it’s just a wild coincidence that the blind trust keeps clairvoyantly buying into firms whose fate is about to be decided by the guy who owns the trust. Meanwhile, critics like Elizabeth Warren and the Writers Guild are pointing out that the merger is an "anti-monopoly nightmare" that will kill jobs, crush wages, and jack up prices. But sure, let’s pretend the real concern here is consumer choice, not the president quietly loading up on bonds while he gets ready to play antitrust cop on his own portfolio.

Source: theguardian.com

Source Article Also: theguardian.com

#corruption#forever-grifting

forever grifting

January 17, 2026

trump promised to cut your power bill in half, instead he doubled down on the shutoffs

A Baltimore resident sorts through her electric bills, trying to find the line where Trump cut them in half. Spoiler: it’s printed right next to the ‘affordability crisis is a hoax’ disclaimer.

Donald Trump promised to cut Americans’ energy bills in half within 12 months of taking office. Instead, the average household electricity bill went up 6.7% in 2025, costing families about $116 more than the year before – because nothing says “populist champion of the working class” like jacking up the price to keep the lights on. Washington DC households got hit with a 23% jump, Indiana 17%, Illinois 15%, and the midwest in general got the full “forgotten Americans” treatment in the form of steep utility hikes. And it’s not just electricity. Gas prices climbed another 5.2%, and power shutoffs for unpaid bills are exploding. In New York, disconnections rose fivefold in a year, as more people – not just the poorest, but middle-income families too – are deciding whether to pay the utility or eat. Mark Wolfe of NEADA helpfully translated Trump’s promise into reality: instead of a 50% cut, his actions have raised home energy costs for everyone. Naturally, faced with data, Trump did what he always does: declared the affordability crisis a “hoax” and a “fake narrative” invented by his enemies. So on the campaign trail, it was “I’ll cut your total electric bill – cars, AC, heaters, everything – by 50, five-zero percent, less.” A year in, it’s: your bill didn’t go up, you’re just too woke to appreciate these premium, freedom-infused kilowatt-hours. In other words, the only thing getting slashed in half is the distance between his lies and the shutoff notice taped to your front door.

Source: theguardian.com

Source Article Also: theguardian.com

#forever-grifting#killing-democracy

forever grifting

January 17, 2026

trump’s $22m man discovers discovery

Chris LaCivita, moments before realizing that suing a news outlet means they get to ask questions under oath about the $19.2 million.

Trump 2024 co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita has quietly dropped his big, tough-guy defamation lawsuit against the Daily Beast — the one he launched after they reported that his firm took in over $20 million from the campaign. You may remember his legal strategy slogan, “Fuck around and Find Out,” which has now been updated to “Actually, never mind.” The Daily Beast didn’t retract, didn’t apologize, and didn’t pay him a cent, which is a bold move for a media outlet facing a guy whose campaign literally called him the “$22m man.” LaCivita had claimed the reporting created a “false impression” that he was personally profiting excessively from Trump’s campaign, insisting the multimillion-dollar figure referred to gross ad spending through his consulting firm, not his own pockets. The Beast even tweaked its story — down to $19.2 million and clarifying the money went to his firm — and he still pressed on, demanding damages he said would cost “millions” to repair his reputation. Cut to ten months later, and suddenly the man who was “really looking forward to making my case in front of a jury” has decided maybe the whole discovery-and-cross-examination thing isn’t as fun as it sounded on the plane with Trump egging him on to “sue those bastards.” In other words, the Trump orbit once again tried the classic move: use defamation suits as a political pressure washer to blast the press into silence over inconvenient facts about where the money goes. And once again, when it came time to actually prove anything in court, the tough talk turned into a quiet withdrawal. But sure, tell us again how the real threat to democracy is mean journalists asking where the campaign cash ended up.

Source: theguardian.com

Source Article

#forever-grifting#corruption

killing democracy

January 17, 2026

congress discovers contempt, still avoiding the mirror

James Comer bravely investigates everyone connected to Epstein except the administration actually sitting on the Epstein files.

House Republicans have discovered a bold new innovation in governance: pretend to investigate Jeffrey Epstein while aggressively not investigating the guy who actually controls the files. James Comer and friends subpoenaed Bill and Hillary Clinton for testimony on Epstein, then clutched their pearls when the Clintons said they wouldn't play along with the Mar-a-Lago Kangaroo Court Cinematic Universe. The response? Threaten them with criminal contempt of Congress — because nothing says "serious child exploitation probe" like using it as a campaign content farm for Fox and Truth Social. Meanwhile, the actual Trump administration sits on the Epstein files like it's the nuclear codes, infuriating even their own supporters. A pro-Trump podcaster is now publicly raging that he "voted to get these damn files released" and instead got the usual Trump special: promises, conspiracies, and zero transparency. Autoworkers are heckling Trump as a "pedophile protector," which is not exactly the Rust Belt branding reboot his team was hoping for. So the White House and its congressional appendages are trying to rerun 2016: slap the word "Clinton" on everything, scream "Epstein" a lot, and hope no one notices who's actually in charge of the documents. They blast out old photos of Bill with Epstein and Maxwell, dangle contempt charges, and posture as crusaders for justice — all while slow-walking or stonewalling the full release of the files. In other words: maximum theater, minimum truth. The punchline is that outside the MAGA Cinematic Universe, nobody worships the Clintons the way the base worships Trump. If the Clintons did something wrong, most Democrats are not going to storm the Capitol over it. But holding them in contempt while hiding key Epstein records just broadcasts the real message: this isn’t about victims, or justice, or transparency. It’s about power, distraction, and protecting the guy in charge — a government so steeped in bad faith it’s now in open contempt of the public, not just Congress.

Source: theguardian.com

Source Article

#killing-democracy#lawlessness#forever-grifting

killing democracy

January 17, 2026

nationwide coffee break from fascism

Americans briefly stop working to protest the government that keeps trying to work them over—Wall Street calls it a disruption, the rest of us call it Tuesday under Trump.

On the anniversary of Trump’s inauguration, the Women’s March organizers are helpfully beta-testing what happens when a country briefly stops pretending everything is normal. They’re calling it the “Free America Walkout,” a coordinated weekday action where people walk out of schools, offices, and businesses to protest the administration’s escalating attacks on immigrants, gender-affirming care, and healthcare, plus the casual deployment of National Guard troops in US cities — because nothing says “totally healthy democracy” like soldiers in the streets and ICE at the door.

Instead of just weekend rallies that let Republicans call protesters “unemployed Antifa,” organizers are going for weekday disruption: no shopping, no working, no commerce — in other words, a one-day simulation of what happens if the people this government is steamrolling decide to hit pause on propping it up. Over 600 local events are planned, from walking into lawmakers’ offices in Houston to mutual aid, teach-ins, and chats with groups like Leaving Maga, where former cult members explain that yes, it really is that bad.

The walkout is being treated as a “stress test” of the democracy Trump is busy stress-fracturing, with American University sociologist Dana Fisher tracking participation like it’s a national EKG. Women’s March director Rachel O’Leary Carmona calls it movement muscle-building to “drive fascism back away from American democracy” — a nice, polite way of saying that when your government is raiding schools, gutting healthcare, and targeting trans people, maybe it’s time to do more than post a sad Instagram story and vote for “norms” every four years.

And based on sign-ups, this is the most engagement the organization has ever seen, which is both inspiring and deeply bleak: the good news is people are “ready to lace up our boots and get out in the street”; the bad news is they have to do it because the president is basically running a live-action authoritarianism pilot and seeing how much he can get away with before the credits roll.

Source: theguardian.com

Source Article Also: today.com

#killing-democracy#fascism

killing democracy

January 17, 2026

trump takes a sledgehammer to the consumer watchdog

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, seen here right before the Trump administration tries to turn it into a WeWork for payday lenders.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau just had what polite people call an “exceptionally turbulent year” and what normal people call “being pushed down the stairs by a government that works for the banks now.” The Trump administration has been busy trying to deny the agency funding and lay off most of its staff, because nothing says “populist champion of the little guy” like kneecapping the only federal office whose entire job is stopping financial companies from robbing you in broad daylight.

In other words, the CFPB’s mission is to protect consumers from predatory lenders, junk fees, and fine-print scams — which makes it a natural enemy of an administration whose donor class really prefers the “predatory” part of capitalism without all that annoying “enforcement” and “laws” stuff. So the plan is simple: starve the watchdog, fire the people who know what they’re doing, and then act shocked when Wall Street starts treating the country like its own personal ATM again. But sure, tell us more about how this is all about “reining in the deep state” and not just another gift basket for the financial industry.

Source: npr.org

Source Article Also: nbcnews.com

#killing-democracy#corruption#oligarchy

forever grifting

January 17, 2026

america turns politics into draftkings for fascism

Young American replaces day job with betting on Trump’s verbal diarrhea, proving once and for all that in this economy the only stable career path is monetizing the collapse of civic norms.

In the most on-brand development for late-stage Trumpism, 25-year-old former risk analyst Logan Sudeith now clocks 100 hours a week betting on whether Donald Trump will say specific phrases at press conferences, who Time will pick for Person of the Year, and how many times a sports announcer will say "air ball." He made $100,000 last month lying in bed with a laptop, DoorDashing every meal, and treating American political collapse like a particularly stupid Bloomberg terminal. Because nothing says healthy democracy like turning the president’s brain worms into a high-frequency trading strategy.

Sudeith insists he’s “not a fan of Trump,” he just spends “most of [his] day listening to him and tracking what he is doing” so he can scalp a few thousand dollars when the president blurts out "drill baby drill." In other words, Trump’s endless stream of nonsense is now a literal financial instrument. Even better, Sudeith openly says he might become a single-issue voter based on which candidate is nicest to prediction markets. Forget policy, rule of law, or basic human rights: the real constitutional principle now is whether Logan in Atlanta gets to keep betting on the next authoritarian tantrum.

Meanwhile, platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket are booming by letting people monetize every twitch of the news cycle, from elections to Google search trends, turning civic life into a 24/7 speculative arcade. Regulation, conflicts of interest, the small matter of people with inside information? Don’t worry about it, bro, the market will sort it out. Trump turned the presidency into a reality show; the prediction markets just added a sportsbook and called it innovation.

Source: npr.org

Source Article

#forever-grifting#killing-democracy#money

anti science

January 16, 2026

trump cures autism (by terrifying pregnant women about tylenol)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. explains cutting-edge fetal medicine to Donald Trump, who nods along like a man who just discovered the word ‘acetaminophen’ this week.

Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told pregnant women to "fight like hell" not to take Tylenol, because nothing says sound medical practice like a twice-impeached game show host and America’s most famous antivax crank freelancing as fetal medicine experts. They loudly implied a link between acetaminophen and autism that, at the time, wasn’t backed by strong evidence. Actual scientists then did what this administration treats as a hate crime: a rigorous, large, gold-standard evidence review. Their conclusion? No link between Tylenol use in pregnancy and autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability. The researchers specifically said they launched the review to clean up the confusion and panic caused by Trump’s statements, which had pregnant women flooding clinics with calls because they were suddenly afraid to treat fevers — which actually do endanger mothers and babies. After sifting thousands of studies, tossing the junk, and focusing on high-quality data (including sibling comparison studies), they landed on the same answer every time: acetaminophen doesn’t cause the neurodevelopmental disorders Trump and RFK Jr. have been fear-mongering about. In other words, the science is fine. The politics are the disease. Naturally, the Trump HHS response was to accuse the Lancet team of bias and "engineering" the result by insisting on basic scientific standards, which is now apparently suspicious behavior in Trump’s America. They clung to an older, thinner review they liked better because it supported their narrative, while ignoring the far more comprehensive analysis that demolished it. Trump, undeterred, is still on Truth Social warning pregnant women about Tylenol like it’s asbestos in a bottle, while the FDA’s own written advisory quietly admits acetaminophen remains the safest OTC option and calls the supposed link an "ongoing area of scientific debate" that autism researchers now say is basically settled. But sure, let’s keep rewriting federal health guidance around whatever Donald Trump thinks he heard on a podcast.

Source: nbcnews.com

Source Article Also: npr.org

#anti-science#killing-democracy