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The Trump Presidency Timeline

Documenting the chaos since day one. 1630 entries and counting.

trumps america

trump’s deportation machine logs its deadliest year—and calls it ‘low risk’

Land of the free, home of the detained: a roll call of people who came seeking safety and got a death sentence by paperwork instead.

Land of the free, home of the detained: a roll call of people who came seeking safety and got a death sentence by paperwork instead.

In 2025, ICE delivered a real milestone for the “law and order” crowd: 31 people died in its custody, the agency’s deadliest year in more than two decades. As Trump’s second-term immigration dragnet ramped up to record detention levels, people seeking asylum and longtime residents alike died of seizures, heart failure, stroke, respiratory failure, tuberculosis, and suicide in a system that can’t reliably provide soap, let alone competent medical care. Nearly 75% had no criminal convictions, but sure, this is all about “bad hombres.” Facilities were packed, conditions were described as unsanitary with inadequate food and medical care, and families say their loved ones begged for treatment before dying. Human rights advocates say this is exactly what happens when you treat detention like a campaign stunt and a profit center; the Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, responded with the bureaucratic equivalent of a shrug and a spreadsheet. A spokesperson triumphantly claimed the average death rate is just 0.00007%, without providing the data—because nothing says “comprehensive medical care” like 31 corpses and a made-up denominator. December 2025 was the perfect encapsulation of Trump’s America: record detention numbers and the deadliest month of the year in ICE custody, as the administration bragged about cracking down while quietly building a body count. Advocates warn it will only get worse as Trump tries to expand the detention archipelago and speed up deportations. In other words: the system is working exactly as intended.
#trumps-america#killing-democracy
forever grifting

trump invents the tax refund as a campaign ad

Scott Bessent explaining that if you ignore the deficits, the service cuts, and the chaos at the IRS, this is actually a huge win because you might get your own money back slightly later than you should have.

Scott Bessent explaining that if you ignore the deficits, the service cuts, and the chaos at the IRS, this is actually a huge win because you might get your own money back slightly later than you should have.

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent is out promising a “gigantic refund year” in 2026, because nothing says responsible governance like bragging that the government accidentally over-withheld your paycheck all year and will now heroically give you back your own money. The magic comes from Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (yes, that’s really what they called it), which showers new deductions on tipped workers, overtime earners, and seniors—just don’t look too hard at the exploding deficit, shredded social spending, or the part where almost nobody updated their withholdings because the IRS and employers were left in the dark.

Under OBBBA, tipped workers can deduct up to $25,000, overtime pay gets its own deduction, and older adults pick up an extra $6,000 on top of the standard deduction. Small businesses get juiced with bigger depreciation and R&D write-offs, and there’s even a branded “Trump savings account” for babies, because of course the tax code now includes a MAGA 529 knockoff. Meanwhile, thanks to the shutdown, the IRS didn’t have time to fix W‑2s, employers got almost no guidance, and any screwups are—naturally—your problem. In other words: the administration broke the machinery, slapped Trump’s name on a few tax perks, and is now selling your over-withholding as proof of their economic genius.

Critics point out that the bill blows up deficits and guts needed programs, but hey, you might get a few extra bucks back in April while the safety net quietly dissolves. This is the Trump model in a nutshell: short-term sugar high for workers, long-term structural giveaway for the rich, and a big shiny “refund” headline to wave around on Fox while the bill comes due later. But sure, gigantic refund year—what could possibly go wrong?

Source: theguardian.com

#forever-grifting#money
killing democracy

trump eyes the fed, markets reach for the panic button

Wall Street tries to model the risk of an AI bubble, private credit blowups, and Donald Trump treating the Federal Reserve like another failed Trump-branded venture.

Wall Street tries to model the risk of an AI bubble, private credit blowups, and Donald Trump treating the Federal Reserve like another failed Trump-branded venture.

Global investors are apparently bullish on 2026, betting that stocks will keep climbing as long as Donald Trump doesn’t finish turning the Federal Reserve into his own personal campaign ATM. A Deutsche Bank survey of 440 investors found that the top risk to markets is an AI/tech bubble, but the second biggest fear is Trump appointing a new Fed chair who slashes interest rates "by a lot" – because nothing says "independent central bank" like a president openly shopping for a human rate-cut machine. Markets are quietly gaming out the scenario where Trump picks a loyalist willing to blow up decades of Fed credibility for a few quarters of sugar-high growth and a nicer Dow Jones chart for his rallies. Investors are also worried about a crisis in private credit and the usual shadow-banking funhouse, but the fact that "loss of Fed independence" is now a standard risk-line in bank research notes tells you everything about where American institutions are. In other words: the global economy’s 2026 outlook is "pretty good" – unless the guy who once suggested defaulting on US debt decides the central bank should work like his casinos did.

Source: theguardian.com

#killing-democracy#money
trumps america

making america hungry again

A grocery aisle full of snacks, soon to be reserved exclusively for people whose food is subsidized by tax cuts instead of SNAP.

A grocery aisle full of snacks, soon to be reserved exclusively for people whose food is subsidized by tax cuts instead of SNAP.

The Trump administration is ringing in the new year the only way it knows how: by helping more than a dozen states take food away from poor people and calling it reform. Backed by the White House, these states are moving to ban candy and snack foods from SNAP benefits in 2026, because nothing says serious anti-poverty policy like micromanaging what broke people are allowed to eat while keeping billionaires’ tax breaks fully stocked. The pitch, of course, is that this is all about health and responsible choices—in other words, the same crowd that thinks school lunch pizza is a vegetable now wants to be the nation’s nutrition police, but only for people who can’t afford groceries. No talk of raising benefit levels to match food prices, no talk of wage growth, just another round of public shaming dressed up as policy. The government that can’t regulate corporations selling ultra-processed junk somehow found its spine when it comes to policing a single mom’s grocery cart. So in 2026, if you’re rich, you can buy whatever garbage you want and call it ‘freedom.’ If you’re on SNAP, your pantry is now a culture-war battlefield, and the Trump administration is right there in the aisle, ripping the chips out of your cart while telling you it’s for your own good. But sure, tell us again how this is about health and not about punishing people for being poor.

Source: npr.org

#trumps-america#killing-democracy
trumps america

trump fights ‘somali fraud’ by defunding everyone’s daycare

A Minnesota daycare playground sitting empty, presumably waiting for the Trump administration to finish "investigating" rumors before letting kids have swings again.

A Minnesota daycare playground sitting empty, presumably waiting for the Trump administration to finish "investigating" rumors before letting kids have swings again.

The Trump administration heard some unsubstantiated claims about fraud in Somali-run child care centers in Minnesota and, in a bold move for efficiency, decided the solution was to blow up federal daycare funding for the entire country. Because nothing says "targeted oversight" like punishing millions of families based on rumors about one immigrant community the right has already spent years fearmongering about. Instead of, say, investigating specific centers, doing basic due process, or using any tool besides the blunt instrument of collective punishment, federal officials have launched a probe and slapped a nationwide pause on daycare funds. In other words, parents from Minneapolis to Miami get to scramble for child care because the administration wants to send a message to Somali Americans: you’re not just under suspicion, you’re collateral damage. This is the Trump playbook in miniature: take racist talking points, skip the evidence part, and then build policy on top of vibes and bigotry. The Somali community gets smeared, immigrant-run businesses get stigmatized, and working families everywhere get screwed. But sure, tell us again how this is about "protecting taxpayers" and not just another episode of Trumps-America: Punish First, Verify Never.
#racism#trumps-america
trade war

trump’s economy: tariffs, tantrums, and totally not a recession

President Trump enjoys an Andrea Bocelli concert in the East Room, bravely persevering through the hardship of $8 eggs he helped create.

President Trump enjoys an Andrea Bocelli concert in the East Room, bravely persevering through the hardship of $8 eggs he helped create.

NPR helpfully kicks off 2026 by asking the big question: what fresh hell will Trump unleash next? The piece notes that Americans think the economy is trash, Trump’s approval is circling the drain at 38%, and 63% of people say the country’s headed in the wrong direction. Technically, we’re not in a recession, but functionally we’re in the part of the horror movie where the audience is screaming at the characters to stop opening doors labeled "tariffs." Trump, naturally, has made everything more expensive on purpose, slapping tariffs on anything that moves and then acting shocked when prices go up. By a 2-to-1 margin, Americans say he’s raised prices, which is what happens when your economic policy is just angry Facebook comments with legal force. There’s even a looming Supreme Court decision on whether his tariff free-for-all is, you know, legal — because nothing says "stable constitutional democracy" like having to ask the Court if the president is allowed to keep using trade law as a personal rage toy. So what’s the grand plan to fix affordability? So far, Trump has half-heartedly rolled back a few tariffs on agricultural goods, floated a bailout for farmers he punched in the face, and mumbled something about maybe tax credits, maybe yelling at corporations, who knows. The White House keeps trying to put him in front of "affordability" events, but he just boomerangs back to immigration panic and culture-war grievance, because actually governing is hard and screaming about brown people is easy. In other words: the economy’s on fire, Trump’s holding the gas can, and the big 2026 question is whether voters finally connect the arsonist to the flames.
#trade-war#money#killing-democracy
killing democracy

wisconsin candidate promises the thing washington keeps chickening out on

Mandela Barnes, apparently unaware that in modern America you’re supposed to *talk* about accountability, not actually try it.

Mandela Barnes, apparently unaware that in modern America you’re supposed to *talk* about accountability, not actually try it.

Mandela Barnes went on Meet the Press to commit the ultimate D.C. heresy: saying out loud that Donald Trump should actually be held accountable for the stuff he did, not just booked for another Sunday panel. The Wisconsin gubernatorial hopeful framed his race as part of a larger effort to make sure Trump and his enablers don’t just skate by on vibes, nostalgia, and whatever’s left of the Fox News legal defense fund. Barnes talks about using state power to protect democracy and voting rights while Trump and his party keep trying to speedrun authoritarianism. In other words, he’s proposing that laws should apply to former presidents too, which in our current system counts as a radical leftist position. While national Republicans keep pretending January 6th was just an especially spirited tourist visit, Barnes is out here saying, "No actually, crime is crime, even if you had the nuclear codes once." Because nothing says "healthy democracy" like the fact that a state-level candidate has to promise to do the accountability work Congress, DOJ, and half the political class have spent years slow-walking. But sure, let’s keep asking whether holding a coup-curious ex-president "to account" might be too divisive.

Source: nbcnews.com

#killing-democracy#lawlessness
killing democracy

trump saves tesla from success, hands ev crown to china

Journalists admire a Tesla in Mumbai, unaware that back in Washington, Trump is busy making sure America loses the EV race on purpose.

Journalists admire a Tesla in Mumbai, unaware that back in Washington, Trump is busy making sure America loses the EV race on purpose.

Elon Musk spent 2024 lighting money on fire to get Donald Trump back into the White House, and in a plot twist no one could have predicted except everyone who has ever met Donald Trump, the payoff was Trump kneecapping the very industry Musk depends on. The Trump White House yanked EV subsidies, scrapped emissions rules that nudged companies toward cleaner cars, and generally did everything possible to make sure the US lost the electric vehicle race to China—because nothing says "America First" like turbocharging Shenzhen. The result: China’s BYD sold 2.26 million battery EVs in 2025, while Tesla limped in at 1.63 million, with deliveries down 9% year-on-year and a grim final quarter. BYD didn’t just beat Tesla in a one-off quarter; it pulled away for the year, while US policy under Trump loudly signaled: "If it helps the climate or the future, kill it." In other words, BYD got industrial strategy and scale, while Trump gave US automakers culture-war tweets and a regulatory bonfire. This all comes after Musk briefly ran a performative "cut government costs" sideshow for Trump and posed in front of the White House in a Tesla like a rejected stock photo model. Then they fell out, and—shockingly—the guy famous for petty revenge and zero impulse control suddenly turned on EVs too. US climate policy, industrial competitiveness, and a once-dominant domestic EV champion all got dragged into the feud. But sure, tell us more about how this is 4D chess and not just full, weaponized stupidity masquerading as governance.

Source: theguardian.com

#killing-democracy#full-stupid
killing democracy

trump declares war on wind, loses to danish lawyers

Artist’s impression of a deadly national security threat: wind turbines quietly making cheap electricity instead of oil barons obscene profits.

Artist’s impression of a deadly national security threat: wind turbines quietly making cheap electricity instead of oil barons obscene profits.

Ørsted, Europe’s biggest offshore wind developer, is dragging the Trump administration into court after the White House randomly decided that a nearly finished $5bn offshore wind farm is now a grave "national security" threat. The Department of the Interior froze leases for five major offshore wind projects with all the legal precision of a late-night Trump tweet, offering no actual details about the supposed risks—because nothing says "serious security review" like "we just made something up to help oil buddies".

The Revolution Wind project had already spent nine years in environmental and regulatory purgatory, secured every required federal and state permit in 2023, and is about 90% built—foundations in, 58 of 65 turbines installed, and scheduled to deliver "reliable, affordable power" in 2026. So naturally, Trump’s team slapped on a "stop-work order" in August, tanked Ørsted’s market value, got smacked down by a federal judge, waited a few months, and then tried again with a broader lease suspension. In other words, it’s not energy policy, it’s bureaucratic sabotage in service of Trump’s fossil fuel donors and his personal vendetta against tall white spinny things he finds "ugly".

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse politely translated the move as an effort to raise energy prices, kill American jobs, and supercharge climate chaos—so yes, from the administration’s perspective, it’s going great. Ørsted and partner Skyborn now say litigation is "necessary" to protect their rights and avoid "substantial harm" from the suspension, which is legalese for "this is blatantly unlawful garbage and we’re done pretending it’s not". But sure, tell us more about how this is all about "national security" and not just another front in Trump’s war on renewables and the rule of law.

Source: theguardian.com

#killing-democracy#forever-grifting
killing democracy

moonshot fascism: flags, billionaires, and a dead nasa

Jared Isaacman at the White House, auditioning for the role of ‘NASA Administrator Who Gets the Flag Shot Before the Budget Collapses.’

Jared Isaacman at the White House, auditioning for the role of ‘NASA Administrator Who Gets the Flag Shot Before the Budget Collapses.’

Donald Trump has decided that what his second term really needs is a photo-op on the moon, ordering “American space superiority” and demanding a flag-planting before he’s out of office. To make that happen, he’s put billionaire Jared Isaacman – SpaceX fanboy, private astronaut, and definitely not a space policy expert – in charge of NASA. Because nothing says serious national space strategy like handing the keys to the agency over to a guy whose main qualification is being friends with Elon Musk. In the past year, Trump’s people tried to ram through an “extinction level” science-killing budget for NASA, slashed jobs, and let Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) run a chainsaw through the agency’s expertise. The result? A year of disruption, chaos, and lost institutional knowledge – all so they can now panic-rush a moon landing before China and get Trump his historic selfie. In other words, they deliberately kneecapped NASA, then yelled at it to run faster. The Artemis program is limping forward on an over-budget, years-delayed Space Launch System that everyone admits is unsustainable, but they’ll keep using it anyway because it’s the quickest way to stage Trump’s lunar campaign ad. Long term, they’ll probably hand even more over to SpaceX and other friendly billionaires, further hollowing out the public agency while calling it “efficiency” and “innovation”. So yes, the US might get back to the moon – but only after turning NASA into a billionaire playground and a prop department for Trump’s great-power cosplay. But sure, tell us again how this is about science and humanity’s future, and not about one president’s ego, a new space arms race with China, and a nice fat transfer of power and money from a public institution to a cluster of tech oligarchs.

Source: theguardian.com

#killing-democracy#forever-grifting
imperialism

trump discovers human rights now that they come with airstrikes

Trump, bravely promising to rescue Iranian protesters with the same steady judgment and strategic genius that brought you 'bomb first, Google later.'

Trump, bravely promising to rescue Iranian protesters with the same steady judgment and strategic genius that brought you 'bomb first, Google later.'

Donald Trump, noted fan of police brutality, child separation, and chanting crowds demanding journalists be jailed, has suddenly discovered a deep concern for peaceful protesters — in Iran. On Truth Social, he warned that if Tehran "shots" and kills demonstrators, the US is "locked and loaded and ready to go," because nothing says "defending democracy" like threatening another round of Middle East chaos from your phone.

This comes after Trump already ordered strikes on Iran's nuclear sites in June, which US officials insist set back Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, while Iran responded by lobbing missiles at a major US base in Qatar. In other words, the region is already one misstep away from full-blown disaster, and Trump’s answer is to dangle another intervention like a reality show cliffhanger. Iran’s Ali Larijani warned that US interference would "destabilise the entire region" and destroy American interests — a bold statement given that Trump has been doing a stellar job of that all by himself.

Inside Iran, protesters are being shot and killed over economic collapse and rage at the clerical regime, while Trump tries to position himself as their would-be savior with zero plan, zero details, and maximum bluster. He’s not outlining sanctions, asylum, or diplomacy — just vibes and war talk. So the man who tear-gassed protesters in Lafayette Square is now threatening to bomb another country’s government for attacking its own citizens. America First apparently now means "foreign authoritarian crackdowns are bad, domestic ones are just good crowd control."

#imperialism#national-security#killing-democracy
trade war

world's dumbest pasta war gets a 90% off sale

A lonely box of Barilla on a US supermarket shelf, quietly wondering why it had to star in Trump’s latest trade war cosplay.

A lonely box of Barilla on a US supermarket shelf, quietly wondering why it had to star in Trump’s latest trade war cosplay.

Trump’s Department of Commerce has graciously decided not to nuke Italian pasta from orbit, walking back threatened tariffs of up to 92% on Barilla, La Molisana, Garofalo and friends to a mere 2%-14%. In other words, after promising to almost double the price of your spaghetti in the name of economic nationalism, they’ve now generously agreed to only jack it up a bit—on top of the existing 15% tariff Trump already slapped on most EU goods. Because nothing says “stable trade policy” like swinging a wrecking ball and then bragging you only shattered half the building.

The administration claims this climbdown reflects Italy’s “constructive willingness to co-operate,” which is a polite diplomatic way of saying “we stared down a completely made-up crisis Trump manufactured and tried to minimize the damage.” Thirteen companies that account for 16% of Italian pasta imports were told their livelihoods could face a “fatal blow” so Trump could cosplay as Tariff Man again, then partially spared when someone at Commerce apparently discovered basic math and the existence of American grocery shoppers.

The pasta reprieve comes right after the White House also delayed huge tariff hikes on furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities, all while insisting it is engaged in “productive negotiations” with trade partners. Sure. If by “productive” you mean: threaten to torch supply chains, freak out businesses and consumers, then dial it back and declare victory. It’s less a trade strategy and more a hostage situation where your lasagna, your couch, and your bathroom vanity keep getting tied to the railroad tracks for the sake of Trump’s next “tough on foreigners” soundbite.

Source: theguardian.com

#trade-war#full-stupid
imperialism

trump rediscovers the monroe doctrine, decides latin america is his personal HOA

CIA-backed counterrevolutionaries at the Bay of Pigs, a vintage reminder that U.S. regime change in Latin America has been going badly since before Trump figured out how to spell ‘Venezuela’ on Twitter.

CIA-backed counterrevolutionaries at the Bay of Pigs, a vintage reminder that U.S. regime change in Latin America has been going badly since before Trump figured out how to spell ‘Venezuela’ on Twitter.

Trump’s latest Venezuela "pressure campaign" — boat strikes, oil tanker seizures, and a CIA strike on a Venezuelan dock he swears is a drug hub — is being politely described as part of a long history of U.S. intervention in the Caribbean basin. In other words, we’ve gone from the Monroe Doctrine to the Teddy Roosevelt "Big Stick" to Trump’s "blow up first, justify later" foreign policy, all wrapped in the comforting language of "protecting U.S. interests" and fighting drugs. NPR walks through the greatest hits of American empire in Latin America — Guatemala, Cuba, the Cold War, the drug war — to gently remind everyone that every time Washington decides a government is too leftist, too uppity, or insufficiently deferential to U.S. corporations, out come the coups, covert ops, and "strategic denial" of anyone else having influence. Trump slots himself right into that tradition, using the CIA and the Navy like personal collection agencies for geopolitical grievances, because nothing says "defending freedom" like unilaterally attacking infrastructure in another country and calling it law enforcement. Experts note how the U.S. spent decades insisting communism was a "foreign ideology" that had to be extirpated from the Americas. Now the label just got rebranded: swap "communism" for "narco-state" and you’ve got the same script, new villain. The continuity is the point: from United Fruit in Guatemala to oil tankers off Venezuela, it’s always about who gets to profit and who gets bombed. But sure, tell us again how this is about democracy and not about a reality-TV president LARPing as regional policeman with a CIA drone strike budget.

Source: npr.org

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#imperialism#killing-democracy
retribution

fiscal hawk discovers 'sanity' when enemies need water

Trump explaining that water is too expensive now that his enemies are the ones who need it.

Trump explaining that water is too expensive now that his enemies are the ones who need it.

Donald Trump has suddenly rediscovered "fiscal sanity", and—what an incredible coincidence—it showed up just in time to veto a bill finishing a Colorado water pipeline backed by people who aren’t exactly in his fan club. The White House claims this is about protecting taxpayers, which is adorable coming from the guy who turned the national debt into his own personal beanstalk while shoveling tax cuts at billionaires and defense contractors like Halloween candy.

Critics, meanwhile, are pointing out the obvious: this looks a lot less like sober budgeting and a lot more like petty political retribution dressed up in an accountant’s visor. In other words, if you cross Trump, even basic infrastructure like drinking water becomes a hostage in his never-ending revenge tour. Because nothing says responsible governance like weaponizing water access to settle political scores—but sure, let’s call it fiscal prudence and not what it is: targeted punishment with a line-item veto.

#retribution#killing-democracy
healthcare

trump discovers a new preexisting condition: republican control of congress

The Capitol, majestically looming over Washington, where lawmakers just rang in the new year by letting your health insurance blow up and hoping Trump wakes up in a benevolent mood.

The Capitol, majestically looming over Washington, where lawmakers just rang in the new year by letting your health insurance blow up and hoping Trump wakes up in a benevolent mood.

Congress let enhanced Obamacare subsidies expire, so millions of Americans are starting 2026 with the fun surprise of massive premium hikes — because nothing says "pro-family values" like turning health insurance into a luxury product. After engineering the longest government shutdown in U.S. history over this fight, Republicans still couldn't manage to pass anything, and now a bipartisan group of senators is frantically trying to duct-tape together a deal to resurrect the subsidies before the health care markets fully implode.

The catch: according to Sen. Peter Welch, this is only "doable" if Donald Trump deigns to bless it, since he effectively owns the Republican majorities in both chambers. In other words, the health coverage of millions now depends on whether Trump feels like being "Health Care President" for a news cycle instead of "Let It Burn President." Meanwhile, premiums are jumping from $900 to $3,200 a month for people like a Vermont farmer Welch cites, and rural hospitals are staring down a revenue cliff — but sure, let's keep pretending this is about fiscal responsibility and not about using human misery as a bargaining chip.

Over in the House, a handful of Republicans dared to sign a discharge petition with Democrats to force a vote on a three-year extension of the subsidies, openly defying Speaker Mike Johnson and the Trumpist wrecking crew. One of them, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, admits he doesn’t even like the bill but understands that maybe letting constituents go bankrupt from medical bills is politically suboptimal. So the current governing model is: Congress breaks the system, Trump refuses to lead, a few Republicans try not to look like cartoon villains, and millions of Americans get to play "Will I Still Have Health Insurance?" as their new annual tradition.

Source: npr.org

#healthcare#killing-democracy#full-stupid
full stupid

nothing says 'perfect health' like ignoring your doctors

President insists he’s in perfect health while explaining blood like a guy who just discovered a WebMD sidebar.

President insists he’s in perfect health while explaining blood like a guy who just discovered a WebMD sidebar.

Donald Trump, 79, has announced that his health is perfect because he takes more aspirin than his doctors recommend and refuses to stop, which is definitely how medicine works and not how you get a brochure on internal bleeding. He cheerfully explains that the mega-dose makes him bruise easily, his doctors told him to cut back, and he said no because he’s “a little superstitious” — in other words, US health policy is now being run on the same logic as a lucky casino tie.

Trump helpfully walks the Wall Street Journal through his medical theory: he doesn’t want “thick blood pouring through my heart,” he wants “nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?” Yes, if your primary care provider is a 1997 Men’s Health article and a Fox & Friends segment. Meanwhile, staff are reportedly begging him to slow down, keep his eyes open in public events, and wear compression socks for leg swelling — which he tried and then ditched because he “didn’t like them,” a bold stance from the man who also finds democracy, briefings, and reality “boring.”

The White House, never missing a chance to weaponize tech and vibes, produced an AI-generated summary of Trump’s electrocardiogram to declare his “cardiac age” is 65, because nothing says “transparent government” like replacing an actual medical report with ChatGPT: Cardiology Edition. His Navy doctor obligingly calls him in “exceptional health” and “perfectly suited” for the job, which is the same language we usually see right before a 3 a.m. rage post about dishwashers and windmills.

Trump now complains that getting an advanced cardiovascular imaging scan was a mistake because it gave critics “ammunition” by suggesting something might be wrong — not with his heart, of course, but with the narrative. The overriding concern isn’t whether the president is healthy; it’s whether anyone notices he might not be. But sure, the real problem here is the aspirin dosage, not the fact that the most powerful man in the world treats medical advice, public scrutiny, and basic aging the same way he treats subpoenas: something to ignore until it becomes a headline.

#full-stupid#killing-democracy
anti science

trump and rfk jr heroically declare war on vaccines, science, and basic survival

Donald Trump and RFK Jr., proudly standing over the smoking wreckage of America’s vaccine leadership, wondering why all the scientists keep running for the airport.

Donald Trump and RFK Jr., proudly standing over the smoking wreckage of America’s vaccine leadership, wondering why all the scientists keep running for the airport.

The US spent more than $10 billion building the world’s leading mRNA vaccine ecosystem, so naturally Trump’s second administration handed the keys to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a man whose brand is being wrong about vaccines in public for decades. In a move that would make even Big Tobacco say "tone it down," RFK Jr. has spent the past year actively sabotaging the country’s own scientific success: cancelling a $766m bird flu vaccine contract with Moderna, orchestrating a "coordinated wind-down" of federal mRNA funding, and axing another $500m across 22 projects. Because nothing says "America First" like kneecapping the technology you literally helped invent and build. The administration has turned once-trusted health agencies into anti-vax propaganda mills. HHS and the FDA are now slow-walking approvals and quietly dropping recommendations for mRNA vaccines, helpfully turbocharging falling vaccination rates and public distrust. The FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research – now run by Vinay Prasad, RFK Jr.’s fellow anti-mRNA enthusiast – will decide whether vastly superior mRNA flu shots get approved in early 2026. In other words, cutting-edge vaccines are waiting on a guy whose whole career is "what if we just didn’t trust data?" A stall or rejection would confirm that the administration’s health policy is basically: Let the virus sort it out. Meanwhile, the only mRNA work escaping the wrecking ball is personalized cancer vaccines, apparently because the White House doesn’t realize they’re vaccines. So the future of life-saving tech in the US now depends on the president and his health secretary being too scientifically illiterate to notice it. Researchers and companies are openly talking about leaving the US for the UK and EU, who are dangling hundreds of millions to lure them away – small change compared with what Trump has torched, but a bargain for anyone who thinks "not sabotaging cancer and flu vaccines" is a good baseline for civilization. So the country that led the world in mRNA vaccines is now led by a president and a health secretary trying to strangle that success in the name of vibes and conspiracy theories. The message to scientists and industry is clear: invest years and billions in American innovation, and if it works too well, the government will defund it, discredit it, and hand your fate to RFK Jr. and a YouTube contrarian. But sure, tell us more about how this is the "pro-life" administration.

Source: theguardian.com

#anti-science#killing-democracy
forever grifting

trump slaps his name on the kennedy center, immediately starts looting

Protesters look up at the newly christened Trump-Kennedy Center, wondering when exactly the national arts budget got converted into a loyalty-points program for MAGA cronies.

Protesters look up at the newly christened Trump-Kennedy Center, wondering when exactly the national arts budget got converted into a loyalty-points program for MAGA cronies.

The Kennedy Center was supposed to be a national monument to the arts. Instead, it’s become a live-action case study in how fast the Trump crowd can turn a cultural institution into a MAGA yacht club with better chandeliers. After Trump purged Biden appointees from the board, installed himself as chairman, and handed the presidency to professional yes-man Richard Grenell, the place allegedly pivoted from supporting artists to supporting Trump’s friends’ minibar tabs at the Watergate. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s investigation into the center’s finances describes it as a “slush fund and private club for Trump’s friends and political allies”, with millions in losses and a mission that now seems to be less about ballet and more about grift. In other words, the arts are canceled; the grifting is sold out for a multi-year run. Grenell, naturally, responded by screaming “partisan witch hunt” on X and blaming “financial chaos” on the previous leadership, because nothing says fiscal responsibility like allegedly handing out free access and luxury rooms to your buddies. And just when you think the tackiness has peaked, Karoline Leavitt proudly announces that the board has “voted unanimously” to rename it the Trump-Kennedy Center—despite that tiny constitutional-ish snag where Congress actually has to do that. Within 24 hours, workmen are bolting Trump’s name onto the facade while the Kennedy family points out that this is, legally speaking, not how any of this works. But sure, who needs statutes when you’ve got a tarp, some metal letters, and a personality cult?

So the ‘secular temple to the arts’ is now a Trump-branded loot crate, and the only performance being perfected is public corruption.
#corruption#forever-grifting#killing-democracy
oligarchy

jesus saves, trump invoices

The president of the United States auctions off a portrait of Jesus at his own private club to a room full of billionaires and indicted sidekicks, then wishes for peace on Earth while the CIA allegedly blows up stuff in Venezuela. Totally normal democracy stuff.

The president of the United States auctions off a portrait of Jesus at his own private club to a room full of billionaires and indicted sidekicks, then wishes for peace on Earth while the CIA allegedly blows up stuff in Venezuela. Totally normal democracy stuff.

Donald Trump rang in 2026 at Mar-a-Lago by doing what he does best: turning religion, public office, and foreign policy into a live infomercial for himself. At his $1,450-a-ticket New Year’s Eve bash, Trump played auctioneer for a freshly painted portrait of Jesus that sold for $2.75m, because nothing says humble carpenter from Nazareth like a multimillion-dollar impulse buy at the president’s private club.

The painting, done onstage in minutes while a band crooned Hallelujah, was hyped by Trump as the work of “one of the greatest artists anywhere in the world” – which, in Trump-speak, is what he usually says right before someone ends up with a federal subpoena or a cameo on Newsmax. Half the proceeds, he announced, would go to St Jude’s children’s hospital and half to the local sheriff’s department, because if you’re going to launder your image through charity, you might as well cut in law enforcement too. “These people are loaded with cash, just so you know,” he told the room full of donors, in case anyone forgot they were supposed to be both worshipping Jesus and opening their wallets.

The guest list was a who’s-who of the American decline cinematic universe: Rudy Giuliani, still haunting public life; Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem; Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife; Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani; Brett Ratner, currently filming an Amazon documentary about Melania for those who felt the Trump era deserved a director’s cut; House Republican Tom Emmer; and DC attorney general Jeanine Pirro, proving once again that in Trump’s America, the justice system is just another banquet table. While Trump wished for “peace on Earth”, reporters asked about a reported CIA-directed strike on a dock in Venezuela, because nothing pairs with a soft-focus Jesus auction quite like covert military action in Latin America.

Earlier in the day, Trump spent his time presidentially calling Colorado governor Jared Polis a “scumbag”, labeling George Clooney “mediocre”, and insisting Democrats are a “bunch of cheaters and thieves”, all while bragging that his tariffs had produced a “World Record on investments”. He also fixated on Minnesota governor Tim Walz and alleged social services fraud, proclaiming that “they stole $18 billion” and promising to “get to the bottom of all of it.” In other words: accuse everyone else of scams, then go back to your private club, sell a Jesus painting for millions to your rich friends, and call it charity and patriotism. Other than that, we’re going to have a great New Year.

#oligarchy#forever-grifting
trumps america

trump admin to trans feds: lose your healthcare or your job

OPM headquarters, where bureaucrats carefully review which marginalized group’s healthcare to cancel before lunch.

OPM headquarters, where bureaucrats carefully review which marginalized group’s healthcare to cancel before lunch.

The Trump administration rang in the new year by telling transgender federal workers and their families to pick between their jobs and their health. The Office of Personnel Management announced that all federal employee and USPS health plans will no longer cover what it calls “chemical and surgical modification of an individual’s sex traits” – or, as every major medical association refers to it, medically necessary gender-affirming care. Because nothing says “small government” like micromanaging your kid’s puberty blockers from the White House.

The Human Rights Campaign has filed an EEOC complaint on behalf of affected federal employees, arguing that ripping gender-affirming care out of health coverage is sex-based discrimination and an obvious attempt to drive trans people and anyone who loves them out of the federal workforce. One postal worker with a daughter diagnosed with gender dysphoria now gets to watch Trump’s OPM reach into his family’s medical decisions and hit “deny claim” – all while still demanding he deliver everyone else’s mail on time.

This isn’t a one-off; it’s part of a coordinated crusade. The Department of Health and Human Services, under Robert F. Kennedy Jr – who has decided he’s a medical expert now – is pushing rules to block gender-affirming care for minors nationwide, even threatening hospitals with loss of Medicare and Medicaid funds if they treat trans kids. In other words, the administration is using the full weight of the federal government to override doctors, parents, and every major medical association in the country, all to score culture-war points by literally targeting children’s healthcare. But sure, tell us again how this is about “protecting kids” and “freedom.”

Source: theguardian.com

#trumps-america#killing-democracy