Today in Politics, Bulletin 120. 4/28/25 Ron Filipkowski Apr 28 ∙ … Trump was up at 5 AM ranting and raving about how unfair the media is and how all his bad poll numbers are rigged. He posted this at 5:32 AM: “We don’t have a Free and Fair ‘Press’ in this Country anymore. We have a Press that writes BAD STORIES, and CHEATS, BIG, ON POLLS. IT IS COMPROMISED AND CORRUPT. SAD!” … 5:24 AM: “These people should be investigated for ELECTION FRAUD, and add in the FoxNews Pollster while you’re at it. They are Negative Criminals who apologize to their subscribers and readers after I WIN ELECTIONS BIG, much bigger than their polls showed I would win, loose a lot of credibility, and then go on cheating and lying for the next cycle, only worse. They suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome, and there is nothing that anyone, or anything, can do about it. THEY ARE SICK, almost only write negative stories about me no matter how well I am doing, AND ARE TRULY THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!” (I don’t change his spelling or grammar. You get those exactly how he posted them). … Fox Business host Larry Kudlow: “Trump has done a fabulous job - we're 100 days in. You got all these polls trying to show how bad he's doing. They are all fixed. They are all fake.” … MAGA social media influencer Philip Buchanan (Catturd) joined the MAGA CryFest with his hero: “Fake polls from fake news doesn’t fool anyone anymore.” … Harry Enten on CNN - "If the House GOP is under any illusions that Trump's fall in the polls won't bring them down, they're living on fantasy island. Three recent generic House polls show Democrats up by 4 pts on average, a big shift from 2024. Polls look like April '05 & '17, prior to big Democratic midterm gains.” … China’s Foreign Ministry said that Trump continues to lie about speaking to President Xi about a trade deal. Spokesman Guo Jiakun responded to Trump’s most recent claim in his TIME interview: "The two heads of state have not called each other recently. I would like to reiterate that China and the US have not conducted consultations or negotiations on the tariffs issue. If the US really wants to solve the problem through dialog and negotiation, it should stop threatening and blackmailing.” … Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins told CNN that Trump is ready ask Congress to bail out farmers with billions in tax dollars if they face bankruptcy because of Trump’s tariffs: "First of all, the prayer is that that doesn't need to happen. But secondly, if it does, for the short term, just as in Trump 1, we are preparing for that. I'm in constant conversations with our friends on the Hill where the funding comes from, and everyone is committed - food security is national security.” … I thought MAGA was against socialism and government handouts? … Sec of Education Linda McMahon: “Unlike the previous administration who falsely promised an illegal student loan bailout, the Trump Department of Education will not force American taxpayers to take on debts that are not theirs.” … Except they will for farmers, apparently. Maybe Linda didn’t get the memo on that. … Jeremy Warner, Economics Editor, Daily Telegraph (UK) on Trump’s tariffs: “What’s now increasingly obvious, however, is that Trump is in ragged retreat; he’s compromising all over the shop, such that if the plan was to upend the established global order, one can almost definitely say that, beyond the rhetoric, it is already over. Rank lack of professionalism and organization has defined the endeavor all along, and now it’s coming apart at the seams. Sensing an admin on the run, no one is any longer hurrying to do a trade deal with the US. From Britain to Canada and beyond, getting the right deal rather than a quick one has become the new mantra.” … “Trump has in the meantime made himself – and the US – into an international laughing stock, never mind the damage that policy uncertainty is inflicting on the global economy. You’d be forgiven for thinking that chaos is itself the policy goal. Repeatedly forced to row back on its demands and aspirations, the WH has been left looking back-footed and ridiculous. … “Hopes of an early trade deal with Japan turned to dust after its trade representative took great offense at the abrasive, street-fighting manner of Howard Lutnick, and returned to Tokyo in a state of apoplectic rage.” … “According to Anthony Scaramucci, the way to interpret Trump is to take him seriously but not literally. As we are now learning, it should in fact be the other way around: he should be taken literally, but not seriously. His policy positions change with such frequency – often dramatically so – that it is impossible to know what’s real and what isn’t. One moment, he wants the chairman of the Fed Reserve fired, the next he says he’s never had any such intention. It would be nice to think that tomorrow we might awake to find it’s all been a bad dream, but sadly, this is no nightmare: the bewildering confusion of it all is entirely real.” … JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon told a group of 500 investors during IMF conference that the “best case scenario” for the US economy is “a mild recession” caused by Trump’s tariffs. … Fox’s chief political analyst Brit Hume wondered how Trump could claim that tariff revenue was going to replace income taxes at the same time he is negotiating trade deals to eliminate tariffs: “So what happens to the revenue from tariffs if he reaches all the new trade deals he's promised?” … WSJ reports that people are opting in to Social Security benefits earlier than they planned because of DOGE: “Pending Social Security claims for retirement, survivor and health insurance benefits totaled 580,887 in March, up from 500,527 a year earlier. While multiple factors likely contributed to the increase, agency officials said at a March 28 meeting that ‘fearmongering has driven people to claim benefits earlier.’” … Kathleen Romig, Dir of Social Security and Disability Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told NYT that changes to the program, talks of more radical changes by Musk and others, and deep staffing cuts have seniors who planned to opt-in at 67 or 70 choosing to do it now at 65: “That is leading people to make decisions based on fear.” … Trump endorsed himself in Canada’s election today: “Good luck to the Great people of Canada. Elect the man who has the strength and wisdom to cut your taxes in half, increase your military power, for free, to the highest level in the World, have your Car, Steel, Aluminum, Lumber, Energy, and all other businesses, QUADRUPLE in size, WITH ZERO TARIFFS OR TAXES, if Canada becomes the cherished 51st State of the United States of America. ALL POSITIVES WITH NO NEGATIVES. IT WAS MEANT TO BE!” … Conservative PM candidate Pierre Poilievre was apoplectic, since every time Trump talks about Canada he costs him votes. He posted on X: “President Trump, stay out of our election. The only people who will decide the future of Canada are Canadians at the ballot box. Canada will always be proud, sovereign and independent and we will NEVER be the 51st state. Today Canadians can vote for change so we can strengthen our country, stand on our own two feet and stand up to America from a position of strength.” … Adam Klasfeld with AllRiseNews reported from the courtroom in the big Jenner & Block lawsuit which will establish precedent on Trump targeting law firms. Jenner's lawyer to the court on the harm being caused by firms who have caved to Trump: “The harm that’s flowing from that is that it’s incentivizing and reaffirming the construct in which the executive branch says accommodate our views or face the music." … Klasfeld: “Jenner's lawyer notes that Trump located his levers of power against the firms, common in all of these executive orders: Security clearances, govt contracting, EEOC investigations, and access to federal buildings.” … “Judge Bates appears skeptical that he can touch the security clearance provisions, where Trump has broad latitude. Jenner's lawyer responded Trump's actions here are so transparently retaliatory that he has latitude.” … “Multiple times throughout the hearing, Judge Bates has raised his voice incredulously about the DOJ's arguments. ‘Isn't Jenner still entitled to due process?’ Bates presses the DOJ. ‘Can the president just decree in the government contracting arena?’” … Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) posted this on X today: “We should arrest 100 more judges. Arrogant elitist black robes have been raping our core principles for decades. If the DOJ needs a list, I have it.” … MAGA activist and podcaster Laura Loomer, who is jewish and doesn’t like AG Pam Bondi: “How come there aren’t any Jews over at the DOJ in senior roles? Everyone knows Jews make the best lawyers. Maybe that’s why the DOJ under Blondi is doing such a bad job securing victories for Trump, and why liberal activist judges are winning. Gotta get some Jewish lawyers.” … Yes, she calls her ‘Blondi’. … Karoline Leavitt held a press briefing with Tom Homan this morning on immigration. Reporter: Have there been any negotiations between the US and El Salvador to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release? Leavitt: “The president of El Salvador told all of you in the Oval Office - El Salvador does not intend to smuggle a designated foreign terrorist back into the US.” … Homan was then asked if Mexico was paying for the new border wall construction: “They have been in a roundabout way.” … Congress is now back in session after ANOTHER two week recess, and Rep. Marge Greene says she’s energized to take on Republican leadership: “I’m flying back to Washington tomorrow, and I’m ready to rip some people apart. I didn’t run for Congress to cozy up to Republicans, I ran to hold them accountable to the American people’s agenda.” … Greene then warned that MAGA voters may not show up for Republicans in the midterms if the budget framework contemplated by leadership ends up passing: “Not delivering President Trump’s campaign promises of NO TAX on tips, overtime, and Social Security will cost Republicans the midterms bigly.” … Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) on Fox Business: “Right now, we are hemming and hawing over all the provisions of the tax cut. We're stuck in this process of reconciliation. We have a static number that we work with with the CBO and the Joint Tax Commission that says we have to be within these numbers. Even though we could get dynamic growth, we can't look at dynamic scoring. So, were trying to thread a very narrow needle.” … “The Senate is putting out a number that we don't have to comply with. We want the cuts. It's a bone of contention on our side. This is not going to be an easy process. There's going to a lot of horse trading going on in the next several weeks. But we want the cuts. We have to have the cuts.” Translation: They want to estimate huge economic growth way higher than reality (“dynamic scoring”) to project bigger revenues to hide the fact that their budget is going to absolutely explode the deficit to record numbers. But CBO won’t let them. So they either have to do almost no spending cuts, big defense spending increase, big border increase, massive tax cuts, with insane deficits; or they have to cut entitlement spending to draconian levels - which will wipe out 20-30 Republican House seats in the next election. … Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) on Fox Business: “We want to implement Trump's agenda. I know there's a lot of things he's talked about. You know, now he's talking about no income tax, anybody earning under $200,000, no income tax on tips, overtime, etc. Those things cost money. And so we're going to have to find the ways to pay for that, because we can't continue to borrow and we can continue to increase the nation's debt.” … “We have members that are in those swing districts that are going to be pretty vulnerable. And we don't want to lose the majority. So we want to make sure that they're protected. But then again, we also have to satisfy the members of the Freedom Caucus that want bigger, bigger spending cuts and some somewhere in the middle, we're going to have to negotiate. We're going to have to compromise.” Someone asked how the chowder competition went. They were all very different - people in Maine are so creative with arts, crafts, and food. I voted for the one that had smoked shrimp which was also very creamy but had a dash of some kind of asian chili sauce in it. There was only one that went with a traditional clam chowder, which was also very good. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. … Steve Bannon told his MAGA audience that Greene is right that Republicans are selling them out: “You get screwed every day of your life and in broad daylight. They’re not making any real cuts to federal spending - none. You know what the tell is? The debt ceiling. Wait until you see what they ask for in the debt ceiling raise - it’s going to be $5T over 2 years. Then we’re going from $37T to a $42T national debt. And they’re not going to cut defense spending. They’re going to add another $150B.” … “When Pete Hegseth puts out a trillion dollar defense budget, I’m not feeling good. I’m not feeling like they have control of the building. You are not going to be able to touch social programs until you get cuts in defense. And people up there right now are selling you a bill of goods.” … 140 members of Yale’s Class of 1984 signed a letter to their classmate, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: “Scott, please take a moment to step back, look down the road a piece, and think hard about whether you want to be responsible for enabling the descent of America into fascism.” It calls on Bessent to “be brave,” to “stand up for what you know to be right,” and to act as “a voice of reason in the midst of this insanity.” … Right-wing podcaster Megyn Kelly had Colin Carroll on her show, who was fired last week at the Pentagon by his friend Pete Hegseth for leaks. Kelly asked him, “Is Pete Hegseth okay?” Carroll: "Honestly, I don't know. He was very focused on the leaks. And I think it’s kind of consumed the team a little bit. Like if you look at a pie chart of the secretary’s day, at this point, 50% of it is probably leak investigation and the press.” … “That can’t be. That’s a bad thing for America, it’s a bad thing for the president’s objectives. And in order to combat that image, it’s ‘hey, I’m gonna go work out with the troops.’ While that is important, and it’s a good thing to do to get out there and helps recruiting and helps morale, if you’re taking a half day trip to the Naval Academy at the same time the budget is due, and we really need some support here - come on, you gotta weigh priorities.” … Charlotte Observer editorial said that Trump lied about FEMA aid to NC when Biden was president, and since he took office they have been getting screwed: “Payments have been delayed for hundreds of FEMA grants and reimbursements. Reimbursements of more than $60 million for debris removal and other operations are overdue, and $105 million from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund has been frozen. The state is still awaiting over $1 billion in related Dept of Ag funding that was due March 21.” … Swing-district GOP Rep. Mike Lawler, who is also rumored to be running for governor of NY, held a town hall last night which included a lengthy list of rules outside for his constituents. People had to bring proof that they were residents of the district. It prohibited “shouting, yelling or standing.” No signs were allowed. Questioners had to be given a ticket by his staffers. There was also no recording permitted. But that didn’t stop people. … A Bloomberg reporter was there: “Boos, shouts and insults dominated Mike Lawler’s rowdy town hall on Sunday as the GOP lawmaker’s constituents seethed over President Trump and Republicans in Congress. ‘Folks, if you want me to answer the questions, let the question be asked, then listen to the answer,’ Lawler pleaded as some of the 700 people who were packed into a West Nyack high school ridiculed him for describing himself as a moderate.” … “Attendees chanted ‘blah, blah, blah’ as Lawler tried to explain and defend Trump’s tariffs. At another point, Lawler warned a man to leave one of his staffers alone. Before the town hall ended, many attendees had left. At least one person was escorted by police from the event, while others were given warnings.” … Attendee Maureen Aitchison: “There was passion and democracy happening. That’s what I saw. But you know, he wasn’t giving answers to the questions that were asked, so people were getting upset.” … IL Gov. JB Pritzker gave a fiery speech in NH that indicated he’s running for president: “It’s time to stop wondering if you can trust the nuclear codes to people who don’t know how to organize a group chat. It’s time to stop ignoring the hypocrisy in wearing a big gold cross while announcing the defunding of children’s cancer research. Autistic kids and adults who are loving contributors to our society don’t deserve to be stigmatized by a weird nepo baby who once stashed a dead bear in his car. Our military service members don’t deserve to be told by a washed-up Fox TV commentator, who drank too much before being appointed SecDef, that they can’t serve their country simply because they are Black, gay, or a woman.” … Pritzker was also critical of leaders of the Democratic Party for being too timid to forcefully take on Trump. The crowd of over 800 gave him a loud ovation when he said, “It’s time to fight, everywhere, all at once. Let’s start with something that should be easy to say: It’s wrong to snatch a person off the street and ship them to a foreign gulag with no chance to defend themselves in a court of law. It’s time for mass protests, mobilization, and disruption. Republicans cannot know a moment of peace.” … Snowflake Donald Trump, Jr. claimed Pritzker’s comment was intended to incite violence. He responded on X: “Are you trying to inspire a 3rd assassination attempt on my dad? Two wasn't enough for you?” … Pritzker said when Dems regain power, “we’re going to hold people responsible. They can’t just get away with what they’re doing right now. Anybody that’s breaking the law, anybody that’s breaching the Constitution as a regular matter of the way they run their offices, those people all should be investigated if they are breaking the law. Think about the privacy of Social Security and Medicaid records and all of that DOGE went in and just breached, as if that’s OK. How about IRS records, right? I mean, all of that.” … He also took a shot at one of his main competitors, CA Gov Gavin Newsom: “What I find ironic about the current conversation surrounding our party, is that the voices flocking to podcasts and cable news shows to admonish fellow Democrats for not caring enough about the struggles of working families are the same ones who, when it comes to relieving the struggles of real people, have been timid, not bold." … Another presidential candidate, Pete Buttigieg was on Jon Stewart’s podcast: "When a WH official suggests reporters be imprisoned, some student gets stuffed into a van because she wrote an op-ed, agents pick up the wrong guy and send him to El Salvador, that is the behavior of a government not constraining itself. That should horrify conservatives and libertarians." … After Trump posted on Trump Social that all NFL owners and GMs were idiots because they didn’t draft Hall of Fame player Deion Sanders’ son Shedeur in the first round because he had “great genes”, he was then passed over 2 more times by every team before he was finally drafted in the 4th round by the Cleveland Browns. Fox’s Pete Doocy asked Leavitt if Trump deserves credit for Sanders getting drafted: "All I will say is the president put out a statement, and a few rounds later he was drafted, so I think the facts speak for themselves." … Financial Times reported that the US and Ukraine are now close to signing a minerals deal after Trump agreed that it Ukraine does not “owe” the US money for aid provided to that country since Russia’s invasion. Ukraine’s PM Denys Shmyhal: “It was agreed that assistance provided prior to the signing of the agreement will not be counted towards it.” The framework of the deal provides that the US will help Ukraine mine and process minerals and rare earths in exchange for a percentage of as much of 50%. … Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov publicly announced Russia’s terms to end the war, which are even worse than the ones they got Trump to start peddling months ago: Ukraine will not be allowed to join NATO. Ukraine must be completely demilitarized and "denazified." Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions must be recognized internationally as a permanent part of Russia. All sanctions will be lifted against Russia will be lifted. All frozen assets will be returned to Russia. The US will not be permitted to take over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. … Janis Kluge, German Institute for Intl & Security Affairs: “Based on Lavrov's statements, there is zero chance for a ceasefire in the next months. Russia has been pretty consistent on what they want (i.e. not shown any willingness to compromise). For Russia, ‘demilitarization’ of Ukraine is the crux of any deal.” … Trump’s former NSA John Bolton on CNN: “Putin has long made it clear that he seeks to recreate the Russian Empire, which Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff either do not understand, or, worse still, do not oppose.” … Politico reported that Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley will not move forward with the nominations of Trump’s US Attorney picks for NY. Chuck Schumer would not return his “blue slip” to free up the nominations after fraud charges were dropped by DOJ against NYC Mayor Eric Adams. Grassley: “We’re going to honor the blue slip.” At least Schumer finally got something done. At least temporarily. … A memo from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said that Elon Musk will avoid at least $2.37 BILLION in legal liability “through his efforts to gut the federal workforce and exert influence over federal agencies.” The letter noted that Musk’s companies "were subject to at least 65 actual or potential actions by 11 different federal agencies." The memo requested that the Trump admin respond to info requests from Congress on Musk’s federal entanglements, including contracts and awards given to Musk’s companies. … Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter with the memo's findings to each Musk company doing business with the government and requested responses from each no later than May 11: SpaceX, Tesla, the Boring Company, xAI, and Neuralink. … Trump issued a new executive order today mandating that truck drivers must speak English: “President Trump believes that English is a non-negotiable safety requirement for professional drivers, as they should be able to read and understand traffic signs, communicate with traffic safety officers, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints, and cargo weight-limit station personnel, and provide and receive feedback and directions in English.” … It has always been US law that you had to be proficient in English to obtain a CDL license. The Admin claims the order was necessary because the policy wasn’t being properly enforced. … Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) issued a statement that his cancer has returned: “The sun is setting on my time in public service, and this will be my last term in Congress. I will be stepping back as Ranking Member of the Oversight Committee soon.” … Andrew Solender from Axios reported that the candidates to replace Connolly as ranking member on Oversight are AOC, Ro Khanna, Jasmine Crockett, Robert Garcia, Maxwell Frost and Melanie Stansbury. AOC is the likely frontrunner. … Punchbowl reported that Rep. Stephen Lynch will now take over on a temporary basis for Connolly on Oversight. … 60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley revealed to viewers last night that Executive Producer Bill Owens resigned in protest over editorial restrictions being placed on the show because principle stockholder Shari Redstone needs the Trump admin to approve her sale of parent-company Paramount to tech billionaire Larry Ellison: “Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways. None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires.” … “He did it for us and you. Stories we pursued for 57 years are often controversial — lately, the Israel-Gaza War and the Trump administration. Bill made sure they were accurate and fair. He was tough that way. But our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it.” … NBC’s Yamiche Alcindor: “A White House official confirms to me that Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts will not be visiting the White House when the Super Bowl champions come later this afternoon. The White House says Hurts and other players who can’t attend had ‘scheduling conflicts.’”