Twelve Weeks 😱 ✡️🌻 😱 🚀🚢🚢

Stalemate:  There’s not much to report on the Iran front mostly because nothing has changed.  Trump continues to insist that the Strait of Hormuz is open and under US control.  It is not.  Last night on Newsmax, Treasury Secretary Bessent, one of those who Trump left on his decoy Air Force One during the Three Plane Monty plane episode, said that “next week we ​are going to apply measures like have never been seen in ​the history of economic ​isolation on Iran,” whatever that means. Once upon a time Bessent was a respected hedge funder, now he’s just another member of the MAGA cult, mimicking nonsensical Trump talking points. At least Bessent started off with some real credentials, the same can’t be said of War and Beer Secretary Pete Hegseth.  The former weekend Foxie denies that there’s anything wrong on the almost nine months deployed USS Abraham Lincoln air force carrier.  Hegseth claims that the reports of dwindling food supplies, contaminated water, a lack of personal hygiene products, and most critically declining morale are “misrepresented.”  His assertion is refuted by the wife of a sailor whose husband jumped overboard after sending her a series of increasingly desperate emails about his deteriorating mental state, something that he had shared with others aboard the carrier including his superior officers and medical professionals before he jumped.  Hegseth, who’d rather talk about testosterone, wants to write that sailor’s suicide attempt off as an isolated event but reports in military focused publications, including the Stars and Stripes and the Military Times, indicate otherwise. Yesterday, it was announced that a fresh air force carrier is finally being sent to the Middle East to relieve the Lincoln.  That’s good news for those on the Lincoln, but not so good news for military preparedness in other critical parts of the world, including Asia where China is watching closely, chomping at the bit at the thought of being able to move on Taiwan. As to the Three Plane Monty escapade, while Bessent and Secretary of State Rubio appear to have shrugged off being left on the “target” plane, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt may not be as forgiving. On Wednesday, Trump announced that because she’s having trouble balancing motherhood with her position as his lying mouthpiece, Leavitt is quitting to return home to her toddler and her newborn baby. Reports are that Leavitt’s decision may have had little to do with the stress of motherhood and more to do with whatever was being “discussed” during the now viral video of her shouting match with Trump which took place with his human Xerox machine Natalie Harp looking on. One indication that Leavitt’s departure wasn’t expected is that her replacement hasn’t yet been picked. A long list of names are being floated including CNN’s token Trump mouthpiece Scott Jennings, Stephen Miller’s wife Katie, lawyer Alina Habba, on again off again advisor Jason Miller, the extraordinarily rude and kind of hard to look at White House Communication Director Steven Cheung, and a number of other lesser known but attractive women in Trump’s orbit including the aforementioned Xerox girl.

More 💩:  Yesterday, the board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts which is now composed of Trump sycophants voted to put his name back on the Center’s walls, this time by etching it into the Center’s stone.  They also want his name permanently affixed to everything within the Center’s walls just in case some future president tries to remove evidence that he ever existed.  In addition, they voted to close the Center for two years for “renovation.” If this sounds hinky, it’s because it is.  In May US District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the removal of Trump's name from the Center, ruling that adding it violated federal law because only Congress has the authority to change the congressionally designated memorial's name.  Then again, it’s Trump’s world, and the Supreme Court keeps on insisting that he’s a Supreme Deity.  More litigation enroute?  It’s not just the Kennedy Center that Trump is screwing around with, his ambitious plans for Trumpifying the White House and its grounds which includes his massive new ballroom, an underground military bunker, and a new Marine One helipad are estimated to be costing in excess of $900 million.  He’s also asked Congress for an additional $2 billion so that he can expand his imprint on other parts of Washington DC because things like his planned Arc d’Trump and gilding statues and memorials aren’t free, and despite his assertions, are not being covered by contributions.  Washington DC isn’t the only place where the Trump administration is overspending on our dime. Before she was ousted former Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem spent $464 million on a fleet of used and luxury planes.  The planes which were purchased via a no-bid contract are now mostly laying idle, because Homeland lacks the pilots to fly them and the mechanics to maintain them.  New Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin wants everyone to know that he had nothing to do with the purchase, Noem of course disputes his claim, saying that since most of the planes were delivered after she was ousted, the waste is on him.  While Mullin isn’t responsible for purchasing the planes, he is responsible for DHS ordering $20 million of electric shock gloves for ICE officers to wear while rounding up migrants.  What could possibly go wrong? The NY Times reports that after Alex Pretti was killed in Minneapolis, federal authorities opened investigations into left wing groups rather than the border patrol guy whose actions led to Pretti’s death.  Imagine what they’ll do after their new electrified gloves shock a few people to death?   

Corrupt 💩: In March 2025, the Trump Organization and Eric Trump sued Capitol One claiming that the bank had unlawfully "de-banked" roughly 385 Trump related accounts for political reasons.  In response, Capital One told the court that while it had closed over 300 Trump related accounts in 2021, the closures were the result of an internal anti-money laundering compliance review rather than motivated by politics. That’s not what the Trump’s wanted to hear in court which probably explains why his administration is rolling back major anti-money laundering and corporate transparency requirements originally enacted under the 2021 Corporate Transparency Act to prevent criminals from hiding illicit funds in anonymous shell companies. Not only is Trump rolling back the reporting rules, but he’s also ordering that all records collected as a result of the bill be destroyed.  Ironically, Marco Rubio was the sponsor of the Transparency Act. We won’t know if the polls are correct until after the midterms which take place in twelve weeks take place, assuming they take place at all or take place without federal interference, but the DOJ under Trump’s newly confirmed Attorney General/personal lawyer Todd Blanche is already taking steps to shelter Trump from the Congressional oversight that will swamp him if the Democrats get control of the House.  The DOJ has issued a non-binding memo stating that Trump can assert executive privilege to shield private advisers outside the federal government from congressional and legal investigations.  That would be unprecedented but then again Trump is king, isn’t that what SCOTUS keeps telling us.