Today in Politics, Bulletin 41. 1/7/25 Ron Filipkowski Jan 8 ∙ … Trump gave an insane press conference today as he continued to threaten and insult our closest friends and allies. The purpose of the press conference was ostensibly to announce that Dubai businessman Hussain Sajwani, chairman of Dubai-based developer Damac Properties, is investing $20 billion in the U.S. for new data centers. … But then the questions began, and Trump started off by talking about seizing Greenland: “People really don't even know if Denmark has any legal right to it. But if they do, they should he give it up because we need it for national security.” … When asked if he could assure the world that he will not resort to using military force to seize Greenland or the Panama Canal, Trump responded: “No. I can’t assure you on either of those two.” … He then said this about the Gulf of Mexico: “We’re going to be changing the name to the Gulf of America. Which has a beautiful ring to it. What a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate.” … Then on to Canada: “They rely on our military. It’s all fine, but they gotta pay for that.” He was then asked if he would use military force to invade Canada just like he said he might do with Panama and Greenland: “No. Economic force. Canada and the US together. That would be something. You get rid of that artificially drawn line and take a look at what that looks like.” … Trump then said that Canada is basically useless to the US: “We don’t need their cars. They make 20% of our cars, we don’t need that. We don’t need their lumber. We don’t need their milk. We don’t need anything they have. They should be a state, that’s what I told Trudeau when he came down.” … He also threatened Mexico while he was at it. … Franklin Graham also weighed in: “Pray for Canada as they begin to sort out their new leadership after the resignation of their PM Justin Trudeau. We have seen a big shift in Canada over the last few years in how the government and law enforcement view Christians and pastors who dared to speak out. Pray that Canada will get leadership who will respect faith and help preserve religious freedom in their country.” … I’m sure Canadians love all this input from their right-wing American friends on how much they need American leadership to survive. … Justin Trudeau responded: “There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would ever become part of the United States.” … Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly: “His comments show a complete lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country. Our economy is strong. Our people are strong. We will never back down in the face of threats.” … Marge Greene responded to Trump’s press conference by being the first sycophant to file a bill based on what he said: “Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper or other record of the US to the Gulf of Mexico shall be deemed to be a reference to the “Gulf of America. The Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall oversee the implementation of the renaming.” … Meanwhile, Don Jr landed in Greenland this morning with Charlie Kirk on ‘Trump Force One’ where they had lunch with 10 people wearing MAGA hats who supposedly wanted the US to come and take over their territory. Trump also posted a video this morning of a man from Greenland wearing a MAGA hat who felt the same way. The man was convicted drug trafficker Timmy Zeeb, who has an extensive criminal history. … Trump then posted: “Don Jr and my Reps landing in Greenland. The reception has been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen. MAGA. Make Greenland Great Again!” … Trump called in to Junior’s phone and he was put on speaker in the Greenland restaurant. He explained to the 10 people there that it is important for the US to take over their land because “you see the people in the ships sailing around, and they’re not the right ships. So we need security. Our country needs it and the whole world because you’re so strategically located.” … But after we take your country over we are happy to give you a job at our new Trump Tower Greenland! … But Trump ran as a peace candidate who was going to stop US involvement in “endless wars” and promised repeatedly that he was going to end the war in Ukraine “less than 24 hours” after taking office, that “it will be easy,” and “everyone will be happy.” Let’s check in on how that’s going with this from Reuters: “Trump's Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, has postponed his first post-election trip to Kyiv, slated for early January. Reason not clear but it underlines how solving the conflict will be more time-intensive than Trump had planned.” … Imagine that. … Elon Musk responded to photos from Junior’s trip: “If the people of Greenland want to be a part of America, which I hope they do, they would be most welcome!” … Danish PM Mette Frederiksen made it clear today that they will not be selling or handing over Greenland to the US and says that Greenland PM Mute Egede has assured her that there is no support for that among the vast majority of people in the territory. … Greenland has just under 60,000 people and has had self-rule since 1979 with their own parliament, although it is still part of Denmark and that country provides military and foreign policy for the island. Greenland has the ability to gain complete independence from Denmark if they wish by referendum, which could possibly happen during their elections this April. That may be what Trump and his minions are trying to influence, which could also explain why Charlie Kirk went on the trip. … We will also see if Musk’s money will somehow be used to influence the Greenland’s elections. Wouldn’t shock me - his plan to use his vast fortune to someday rule the world is becoming pretty obvious. … The Biden Administration announced a rule change which requires companies that compile consumer credit data to remove medical debt from their reports. More than $49 billion in medical debt from the credit reports of millions of Americans across the country will no longer negatively affect their credit score, and lenders will no longer be able to consider medical debt when evaluating whether or not to give someone a loan. … As a result of this rule change, Americans could see their credit scores skyrocket by an average of 20 points, and more than 20,000 new mortgages could now be approved each year. … Of course, it is Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that enforces this new rule, and Trump and Stephen Miller have pledged to abolish that agency, so we will see whether they choose to reverse this decision along with so much else that helps tens of millions of Americans. … Puck is reporting that Amazon is paying Melania Trump $40 million for the movie rights to her life story. Her husband and son Barron must also make cameos in the film as part of the deal. A source close to Melania: “She is more confident and has taken full control of her public image, which she knows is worth millions, and she’s ready to be paid for the work she puts into the movie and for revealing more about herself.” … The story from Puck quotes the same source as saying that Jeff Bezos “took a personal interest in the movie” which “helped him get back on friendly terms with Trump.” … Bezos’s Washington Post announced today it is laying off 4% of its workforce. … Meanwhile, as Merrick Garland was mulling over whether to release the complete report from Jack Smith’s investigation, Judge Aileen Cannon issued an order out of the blue temporarily blocking release of the report. Cannon has no jurisdiction over the J6 investigation - the case she had dealt with classified documents. So while it seems like this is another breach of judicial ethics by Cannon, it may serve to draw another appeal to delay this until Trump takes office and the report is killed. … Of course, if this was a Trump AG with an incriminating report on a Democrat, they would release it regardless of what a judge with no jurisdiction in Florida says. That is exactly what Garland should do. But knowing him, he will probably dither and it will never see the light of day. It damn well better at least be leaked by a staffer if Garland doesn’t release it. … Liz Cheney: “AG Garland now has a duty to release the Justice Department Report and prevent its evidence from being destroyed. The truth must prevail. The framers of our Constitution knew the lessons of history — that people led by men without character can quickly lose their freedom.” … Yesterday, Meidas went over 250,000 free subscribers on Substack in just 3 months on the platform. This is how to build a movement that provides a serious alternative to legacy media. Thank you especially to the paid subscribers - you are the engine that drives this train. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. … Oral argument was held before an appeals court today on Trump’s attempt to block his sentencing before Judge Merchan in NY this Friday. According to journalist Adam Klasfeld who was on the scene: “Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche had a skeptical reception” from the judges on the court. … Klasfeld’s instincts were right, because they denied the appeal less than an hour later. Sentencing will proceed on Friday. Expect to hear A LOT from Trump about this over the next 48 hours. … Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) was asked on CNN if Trump should pardon J6 defendants: “No.” Needless to say, this resulted in a firestorm from MAGA social media influencers calling for Lawler to be primaried. One posted: “We are going to Liz Cheney him!” … Punchbowl is reporting that Marco Rubio’s confirmation hearing will be January 15 and Elise Stefanik’s will be January 16. Two of the least controversial picks will be first up on the calendar for the Senate. … Ron Desantis said today that he is likely to make the appointment to fill Rubio’s vacated seat in the Senate right around the time of Trump’s inauguration date. He also took a thinly veiled shot at Trump and Musk over their support of H-1B visas. Per Politico, Desantis said he would be appointing someone who “isn’t going to undermine American workers” on visa programs. … Watch for Desantis to seize on every opportunity to disagree with Trump on every issue where he knows the vast majority of the Republican base will agree with him over Trump. … It was a little unclear to me what Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was alluding to earlier this week when she talked about wanting to remodel the press briefing area at the WH. Now, it appears we have the answer. According to Fox, Leavitt will not be getting the nice big office that has been used by her predecessors for the last 30 years because it looks like that is going to Communications Director Steve Cheung. It seems she isn’t happy that the boys in Comms get the big office while she gets a closet. … Rudy Giuliani’s new lawyer Joe Cammarata posted a statement last night on social media after court: “Today my client was unjustly held in Contempt of Court. This case is about lawfare and the weaponization of the legal system in NYC. Mayor Giuliani should get a fair hearing and trial just like Trump should have but did not. The cases against Trump and Giuliani are very similar – it’s the left wing Democrats trying to use liberal Judges in NY to win when they should lose on the merits. The Judge read an extensive decision on the record, which clearly was pre-determined and written before Giuliani’s testimony concluded. Attorneys for the Plaintiffs were associated with Hunter Biden and one attorney was associate counsel in the Obama WH. That’s what this case is about.” … Dan Bongino continues to worry that Trump is going to be assassinated at his inauguration by the Deep State: “There are FBI folks, DHS folks, Secret Service, they are lying to the Trump Transition Team about the status of where they are and what they are doing. Do not trust the FBI and do not trust the Secret Service either until there is a full change in management. Trump is going to be sitting there exposed at the inauguration.” … Lauren Boebert just introduced a bill to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms & Explosives (ATF), which enforces federal gun laws and laws against explosive devices capable of causing mass casualties. Make Domestic Terrorism Great Again. … The Georgia Republican Party has voted to formally remove former Lt. Gov Geoff Duncan from the party after he endorsed Kamala Harris for president. The resolution states that Duncan is now “banned from all property owned or leased by the GA Republican Party and from any events” they host. They also requested that all media outlets now refer to Duncan as an “expelled Republican.” … Duncan responded: “Hard to believe this is a good use of time for a party that’s only got a limited amount of time to figure out mass deportations, world peace, and global tariffs. Learn how to take a victory lap, not light another dumpster fire.” … Today is Rand Paul’s birthday, in case you forgot to pass along birthday wishes. … Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta will no longer do fact-checking and will rely on a Elon Musk-style “Community Notes” system. To me, the biggest flaw in the Notes system on X is that nothing ever happens to the accounts that get noted hundreds and hundreds of times for posting false info or doctored videos. Maybe that’s because one of the Top 10 most Community Noted accounts belongs to Elon Musk. … Business Insider got some reactions from Democrats on the hill to the news from Zuckerberg. AOC: “We got a bunch of billionaire ass kissers.” Maxwell Frost: “I was like, damn, Facebook had fact checkers?” … Two days after Musk trashed his pal Nigel Farage because the right-wing politician recognized that Elon’s new hero Tommy Robinson is a racist thug, he then went after Piers Morgan for saying the same thing. Musk: “Piers’s brain hasn’t received its software update yet.” … UK Reform Party leader Farage announced he will fly to the US to attend Trump’s inauguration. Maybe Musk can convince him that white nationalist prison inmate Robinson is just misunderstood. … Fox is reporting that President Biden will not hold an end of term press conference. Poor Pete Doocy, he had binders full of questions. … Trump’s chief Congressional Liaison James Braid is already pissing off Republicans on the Hill. He called in to their meeting on Dec 19 to “forcefully” demand they raise or erase the debt limit, something many conservatives do not want to do. According to Punchbowl, “several House Freedom Caucus members found Braid’s demeanor overly aggressive and privately complained to each other after.” … You may hear a lot about Trump and Republicans wanting to roll their entire domestic agenda - fiscal and social items - into one giant reconciliation package or at most two of them. The primary reason why they want to do it that way is because a reconciliation bypasses the Senate filibuster, therefore they can pass their entire agenda without needing a single Democratic vote. … Mike Johnson was asked by CNN if he will consider adding Medicare cuts to the package to keep the deficit from exploding after Trump’s huge planned tax cuts: “No, the President has made it clear, Social Security and Medicare have to be preserved and no one is coming in with any intention of cutting benefits.” … The bottom line here is that Trump has never cared a jot about debt or the deficits. The question is, will members of the Freedom Caucus, who have steadfastly maintained that reducing the deficit is their number one priority, give in to Trump on that issue to pass his agenda. That is precisely why Trump wants everything bundled up into one or two packages - to force Republicans to either explode the deficit to record levels or vote against his entire agenda, with no third option. … Punchbowl also reported that several Freedom Caucus members were disappointed that Budget Director Russ Vought wasn’t chosen as WH Chief of Staff over Susie Wiles. … CBS is reporting that the U.S. government will issue refunds to tens of thousands of migrants married to American citizens who applied for a Biden administration program that was struck down in federal court. 94,000 people paid $580 application fees. This program would’ve offered 500,000 unauthorized immigrants married to US citizens a chance to get temporary legal status and a path to permanent residency, if they had lived in the US for 10+ years without committing serious crimes. … DNC Chair candidate Martin O’Malley said that one of his priorities would be to “crack down on scam PACs that divert resources away from our candidates to the pockets of consultants.” I agree with that, but I think I would also like him to name a few to see how serious he is by calling them out.