The Trump Presidency Timeline

Elon Musk and Donald Trump torpedoed a bipartisan spending bill, and 9/11 first responders are paying the price. After Musk threw a tantrum on X and Trump backed him up, House Republicans ripped funding for the World Trade Center Health Program out of the budget, leaving 130,000 first responders and survivors without critical healthcare. Firefighter unions are furious, calling it "unthinkable" that, 23 years later, they’re begging for the government to remember the heroes of 9/11. But sure, let’s talk about real patriotism.

straight out of far-right conspiracy land, Trump halted all U.S. aid to South Africa and ordered a plan to resettle White South Africans as refugees, citing so-called “race-based discrimination.” Never mind that the land reform policy he’s railing against is a legal, constitutional effort to undo apartheid-era disparities—Trump and his favorite billionaire, Elon Musk, have been amplifying debunked claims of White genocide for years. Meanwhile, the $440 million in U.S. aid—mostly funding HIV/AIDS treatment—just got cut overnight, threatening millions of lives. South African officials? Not impressed. One minister fired back: “If they don’t give us money, let us not give them minerals.”

A commuter plane carrying 10 people crashed on sea ice near Nome, Alaska, marking one of the state’s deadliest aviation disasters in decades. The Bering Air flight vanished from radar after a sudden loss of altitude and speed, with no distress signal detected. Rescuers found only wreckage and ice. With harsh weather closing in, recovery teams are racing against time. In a state where flying is a lifeline, this tragedy hits hard. It also marks the third major U.S. aviation disaster in just eight days.

In his latest episode of You’re Fired!, Trump announced he’s removing Kennedy Center board members—including chairman David Rubenstein—and installing himself as chairman. Whether he can actually do that is unclear, but when has that ever stopped him? His reason? Something about drag shows “targeting our youth”—a vague and familiar boogeyman. Meanwhile, Kennedy Center staff say they haven’t received “official communication” from the White House, and legal experts are scratching their heads, noting that this has never happened before. But hey, who needs legal precedent when you have Truth Social?

Trump’s latest power trip—gutting USAID by firing 14,000 employees and leaving only 300 behind—just got temporarily shut down by a Trump-appointed judge (ouch). The administration tried to justify the mass layoffs as a crackdown on “fraud,” but the judge wasn’t buying it, blocking the move and ordering 500 employees reinstated. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, who’s been bragging about "feeding USAID into the woodchipper," played his part by locking thousands of workers out of their systems. The lawsuit calls Trump’s actions “unconstitutional and illegal”—which, let’s be honest, is just another Tuesday for this administration.

Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee for FBI Director, received $25,000 from a Russian-born filmmaker who pushed Kremlin propaganda and once got funding from a Putin-backed cultural initiative. Patel, who starred in a conspiracy-laden docuseries aired on Tucker Carlson’s network, was paid by Global Tree Pictures, a company run by Igor Lopatonok—the same guy behind pro-Russia projects and a proposal to stop U.S. aid to Ukraine that was sent to Putin’s office. If confirmed, Patel would be in charge of defending the U.S. from Russian espionage—while cashing checks from Putin’s media allies. But don’t worry, Senate Republicans say this is all just a "smear campaign."

Trump’s latest tax plan is a $5 to $11 trillion budget-busting free-for-all that would balloon the national debt to as much as 149% of GDP by 2035—but hey, at least billionaires get their tax cuts! His proposals include extending the 2017 tax cuts, slashing taxes on tips and overtime, cutting Social Security taxes, and tossing a bone to domestic manufacturers. The catch? No serious plan to pay for any of it. Meanwhile, interest costs alone could soar by up to $2.7 trillion in the next decade, pushing the economy toward a debt spiral. But don’t worry—Trump promises it’ll all magically pay for itself. Just like last time.

Meet Edward Coristine: fired from a cybersecurity firm for leaking info to competitors, bragged about having backdoor access to their systems, and now… has access to sensitive government data under Musk’s DOGE squad. What could go wrong? Coristine, a 19-year-old former intern at Neuralink, was booted from Path Network after an internal investigation found he leaked proprietary data. He later posted online that he could have wiped their servers—but, don’t worry, he totally didn’t. Now, he’s helping Musk’s government hit squad replace federal employees with AI and analyze massive datasets on government personnel. Meanwhile, Senator Ron Wyden is sounding the alarm on the DOGE team’s complete lack of vetting, warning that these guys "have no business anywhere close to sensitive information." But hey, Trump signed an executive order fast-tracking their security clearances, so what could possibly go wrong?

Trump’s First Jobs Report: Not Terrible, Just Disappointing
The first jobs report of Trump’s second term is in, and it’s... meh. The economy added 143,000 jobs, missing expectations of 170,000, making it the weakest January for job growth since 2016. But don’t panic—unless you’re an investor, in which case, maybe panic a little. The unemployment rate dipped to 4%, beating forecasts, and wages rose 4.1% year-over-year, so there’s still some life in the labor market. Of course, extreme weather and California wildfires shaved off about 20,000 jobs, but let’s not kid ourselves—this wasn’t the explosive start the administration was hoping for.

Turns out ICE isn’t just rounding people up—they’re also rounding up old press releases, slapping fresh timestamps on them, and letting Google do the rest. Thousands of outdated ICE announcements, some over a decade old, suddenly flooded search results with a brand-new “Updated: 01/24/2025” label, making it seem like mass raids were happening nationwide. Convenient timing, given Trump’s latest deportation crusade. Immigration lawyers and tech experts uncovered the scheme, which conveniently disappeared after media inquiries—because nothing says oops, you caught us quite like quietly reverting the timestamps. But the damage was done: panic spread, fear took hold, and Kristi Noem got her photo op in an ICE vest. Mission accomplished.

Trump’s Budget: Making America Dumb Again
The National Science Foundation is about to get the budgetary equivalent of a guillotine, with cuts as deep as 66% in Trump’s upcoming proposal. The agency, responsible for funding critical scientific research, could see its budget slashed from $9 billion to $3 billion, leaving entire fields—like astronomy and Antarctic research—scrambling for scraps. Meanwhile, incoming budget director Russ Vought, who previously advocated for similar cuts, claims NSF needs to stop "propagandizing for woke ideology"—because, obviously, the real threat to America isn’t falling behind in global scientific leadership, it’s... research. Scientists are already bracing for mass layoffs, but hey, at least China will appreciate the handout.

Well, well, well—another loudmouth “anti-grooming” crusader turns out to be the real predator. Aaron Craig Gleason, a 39-year-old middle school teacher, soccer coach, and right-wing writer, has been arrested and charged with molesting a child under the age of 12.

Yes, you read that right. The same Gleason who spent years accusing LGBTQ+ people of “grooming” children—writing for The Daily Wire, The Federalist, and The Imaginative Conservative—has now been charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a child. Funny how it’s never the drag queens, but always the guys screaming the loudest about them.

Of course, The Daily Wire wasted no time scrubbing his author page from existence, as if that’ll erase the fact that he helped push their anti-LGBTQ+ hysteria. But the Internet Archive never forgets, and screenshots show he spent his time writing about Brett Kavanaugh and defending Trump supporters from accusations of being racist, sexist, and homophobic—because of course he did.

Gleason was arrested in Florida, because where else? He had been working as a teacher at Rocky Bayou Christian School, a fundamentalist conservative institution, where he had been on paid leave for two weeks before his arrest. The school’s superintendent sent out a vague email to parents asking for “prayers” for the school—because naturally, they care more about their reputation than the actual child who was harmed.

And let’s not forget: this is the same guy who posted a video of queer protesters chanting “We’re coming for your children” as a joke, and insisted it was proof of LGBTQ+ “grooming.” Turns out, he was the only predator in the room.

So here’s a fun question for all the right-wing media outlets that spent years screaming about drag queens, rainbow flags, and school library books corrupting kids: when are they going to start talking about the epidemic of child molesters in their own ranks?

Donald Trump has officially handed the keys to the federal government to Elon Musk, and no one is stopping him. With zero congressional oversight, Musk has deployed employees from his own companies, his allies, and hand-picked recruits to seize control of federal agencies, commandeer computer systems, and override career officials—all under the banner of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Some of these unelected operatives have openly flaunted their roles, while others are scrubbing their LinkedIn pages and vanishing from public records to conceal their involvement. Because nothing says transparent governance like mystery hires dismantling agencies in secret.

Musk, meanwhile, has been bragging about it openly, calling DOGE a “wood chipper for bureaucracy” and boasting that he is actively “deleting” government agencies.

The White House, of course, insists that everything is totally fine and that Musk’s people are properly vetted employees with security clearances—because we all know that Trump and Musk are super big on rules. Meanwhile, the actual career federal workers whose jobs and agencies are being shredded are watching this unelected billionaire dismantle the government in real time.

The worst part? Nobody knows how deep this infiltration goes, and Musk isn’t answering any questions. The only certainty is that whatever’s left of the federal government when he’s done will look a whole lot more like a Musk-owned venture than a functioning democracy.

A federal judge just smacked down DOGE’s data grab, blocking Musk’s operatives from rifling through the Treasury Department’s payment systems like a bunch of tech bros snooping through their boss’s email. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that Treasury can no longer provide access to its Bureau of Fiscal Service records, which Musk’s handpicked cronies had been poking around in—because, apparently, national security is just another open-source project to these guys.

The lawsuit—brought by unions representing retired Americans and federal employees—accuses Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent of handing DOGE workers “full access” to systems containing millions of Social Security numbers, birthdates, addresses, and even bank account details. Because why not just upload the entire federal payroll to Twitter while they’re at it?

While the judge allowed two DOGE-linked figures, Tom Krause and Marko Elez, to retain “read-only” access, that’s cold comfort when the entire scandal started with Musk’s people being given near-unrestricted access in the first place. Notably, Elez has since resigned after being outed for racist social media posts—because, of course, these guys come with bonus baggage.

And the backlash isn’t just coming from lawyers. On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Treasury Department, waving anti-Musk signs that read “America: We’ve Been Hacked” and “Impeach President Musk”—a phrase that’s sounding less like a joke and more like a warning.

Democratic lawmakers aren’t letting this slide, either. Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer, Ed Markey, and Ron Wyden joined the protests, with Wyden delivering the message loud and clear: “Tell Elon Musk to take his hands off your money.” Meanwhile, Congress is demanding answers about who these DOGE employees actually are, what systems they’ve accessed, and what Trump’s administration is doing to stop them—which, let’s be honest, is probably absolutely nothing.

This isn’t just a data breach—it’s a full-scale government takeover, and Musk is looting it in real time. The only question left is how much damage he can do before someone finally stops him.

Looks like even Republicans are starting to realize that letting Elon Musk run the federal government like his own personal startup might not have been the best idea. Democrats are demanding an investigation into whether Musk and his Doge cultists have illegally accessed classified information at agencies like the U.S. Treasury, OPM, and USAID, because, shocker, no one can actually prove they were ever properly vetted before waltzing into federal systems.

The House Oversight Committee put it bluntly: “There is no evidence that [Musk] or any of his operatives are entitled to access our government systems.” Which, if you’re keeping track, means we’ve handed national security over to an unelected billionaire with zero oversight, and we’re only now asking questions.

Meanwhile, a judge just slapped Doge’s hand away from Treasury’s payment system, temporarily limiting its access after reports that Musk’s people literally tried to block USAID payments—because nothing says "government efficiency" like shutting down humanitarian aid.

And for the first time, even some Republicans are starting to squirm. A new poll shows support for Musk’s takeover cratering among GOP voters, dropping from 47% after the election to just 26% now. Turns out, even some conservatives draw the line at handing the country over to a Twitter-addicted tech bro who fires people for fun.

Schumer summed it up best: “This is not what democracy looks like.” No kidding. It looks like a billionaire-backed coup, and it’s happening in broad daylight.

Another stellar DOGE hire bites the dust. Marko Elez, a 25-year-old staffer at Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has resigned after being linked to a deleted social media account that promoted racism and eugenics—because vetting isn’t part of the efficiency plan.

Elez, who had been granted access to the U.S. Treasury’s payment systems, was reportedly tied to posts advocating for white supremacist ideology. His departure comes amid growing concerns over how DOGE is staffing federal agencies with young, unqualified Musk acolytes who somehow keep getting access to sensitive government infrastructure.

This resignation raises more questions than answers about who’s actually overseeing DOGE’s hiring process and how many other extremists have been slipped into federal positions under the guise of “efficiency.” But don’t worry—nothing to see here, just another totally normal day in the Trump-Musk dystopia.

Trump’s war on competent governance continues—now with mass layoffs of federal health workers. The administration is reportedly preparing an executive order to slash thousands of jobs at HHS, the FDA, and the CDC, because "efficiency" meansgutting the agencies responsible for managing viral outbreaks, drug safety, and public health.

The plan? Force agencies to cut a set percentage of their workforce, leaving officials scrambling to decide who’s “essential” and who gets the boot. This follows Trump’s buyout scheme, where workers were pressured to resign while still getting paid until September—because why fire people when you can trick them into quitting first?

HHS employs over 83,000 people, handling everything from disease response to medical research, but sure—let’s just start slashing jobs and see what happens. And, of course, the White House is denying it’s happening, because transparency is for losers.

So if you thought the government’s response to the next pandemic couldn’t get worse, just wait—we’re about to find out what happens when you fire the experts and replace them with Musk’s Twitter followers.

Virginia’s Community Health Centers Are Running Out of Money—And Trump’s Chaos Is to Blame

Even though a federal judge paused Trump’s disastrous funding freeze, half of Virginia’s community health centers still can’t access their grant money. Now, some are shutting down services, and others are closing locations entirely—all because the government’s financial pipeline is in shambles.

Virginia has 31 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) that serve over 400,000 patients a year, many in rural areas with limited access to healthcare. These clinics provide:

• Primary care
• Dental services
• Behavioral health
• Substance abuse treatment