Today in Politics, Bulletin 178. 7/25/25 Ron Filipkowski Jul 25 ∙ … Fox reported that Ghislaine Maxwell is seeking a pardon from Trump after her second meeting with Dep. AG Todd Blanche today. Her attorney David Markus: “We are going to take it one day at a time. Things are happening so quickly. We haven’t spoken to the president about a pardon just yet. But the president said this morning that he has the power to do so and we hope he exercises that power.” … This is what Trump said this morning when he was asked if he would consider a pardon or commutation for Maxwell: “I’m allowed to do it.” … ABC’s Katherine Faulders: “Ghislaine Maxwell answered questions for about 9 hours over two days after being granted a limited form of immunity.” … Trump became annoyed that he kept getting Epstein questions as he was leaving the WH to fly to Scotland: “They should focus on Larry Summers , Bill Clinton, and lots of closer friends of Jeffrey Epstein. I had nothing to do with the guy.” … Q - What are you hoping Todd Blanche gets out of the meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell? Trump: “People should really focus on how well the country is doing or the fact that Barack Hussein Obama led a coup.” … Q - How do you think the Supreme Court's ruling that benefited you on presidential immunity would apply to Obama? Trump: “He has done criminal acts, no question about it. But he has immunity and it probably helps him a lot. He owes me big. Obama owes me big.” … Q - Do you maintain that you did not write a letter for Jeffrey Epstein's birthday? Trump: “Somebody could've written a letter and used my name.” … Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) was asked by CNN’s Manu Raju whether he is hearing from constituents about the Epstein files: “It's the No. 1 phone call that we get by far. It's probably 500 to 1.” … Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), who just announced his candidacy for governor: “You’d have to have your head in the sand to say that this is going to go away.” … NYT also published a photo where Trump signed a copy of his 1997 book Trump: The Art of the Comeback to Epstein, writing, “To Jeff — You are the greatest!” … Trump posted: “Democrats have gone absolutely CRAZY, and are playing another Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax but, this time, under the guise of what we will call the Jeffrey Epstein SCAM. As things are revealed and, I hope will take place quickly, you will see that it is yet another Democrat CON JOB. Hopefully, the Grand Jury Files will put an end to this HOAX. Everyone should see what is there, but people who are innocent should not be hurt.” … The grand jury transcripts will not be released, as he knows. The Epstein fiasco was instigated by his own supporters, not Democrats. When he’s talking about protecting “innocent people” he’s referring to his previous statement that he only wants AG Pam Bondi to release materials that she deems “credible” - which means nothing with his name on it. … But Aaron Rupar reports that Fox remains laser-focused on Tulsi Gabbard’s Obama hoax: “Total mentions on Fox Business yesterday: Obama-101. Epstein-5.” … Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) on MSNBC: "Maxwell is a bad person who has hurt young girls and young women. She should not be trusted. She's already lied multiple times under oath. I am sick that folks in the MAGA world are somehow giving her some kind of grace. She's a monster!” … Garcia also talked about how Democrats should handle the situation: “We should not be scared of what's in those files. We don't care who you are, how powerful you are, if you're in politics, what party you are, the amount of money you have — if you've committed these horrific crimes, it should be out to the American public." … VP JD Vance continues to duck and dodge around Trump’s Epstein problems: “It's bogus for the WSJ to publish a hit piece without showing us the letter. I have no idea if the book exists - WSJ won't show it to us. I have no idea if the letter exists - WSJ won't show it to us. What I find absurd is the idea that Trump was writing poems to Epstein, and I find it equally absurd that a major American paper would attack the president without revealing the basis for the attack.” … Vance: “We all know what's going to happen. They're going to dribble little details out for days or weeks in an effort to assassinate the president's character. They won't show us this book or allow us to refute it until they've wrung every bit of fake news out of the story. And everyone will just move on from the fact that the WSJ is acting like a Democrat SuperPAC. It's disgraceful, and it's why the president sued.” … Neera Tanden responded to Vance: “Does Trump not remember drawing a nude picture to a pedophile? Did he do that so much he needs a physical evidence reminder? If someone asked me if I did that I could say no without looking at the document. Trump couldn't because he did it.” … Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) suggested Vance is secretly stabbing Trump in the back on Epstein: “Vance hung out with the owner of the WSJ on the eve of this story being published. What did they talk about? This is an insane response. What does he know? And what did he put in motion against his boss?” … NYT: “This spring, the FBI and DOJ made an all-out push involving hundreds of employees to scour the Jeffrey Epstein files with a single goal in mind — find something, anything, that could be released to the public to satisfy the mounting clamor from the angry legions of Trump’s supporters. During the inquiry, DOJ officials diverted hundreds of FBI employees and fed prosecutors from their regular duties to go through the documents at least 4 times — including once to flag any references to Trump and other prominent figures.” … House Oversight Ranking Member Robert Garcia to Meidas: “There were Republicans on this committee who had said they wanted to release the files. So we knew that. We also knew they weren’t expecting us to bring this up at the subcommittee meeting. We also knew their attendance likely wasn’t going to be as strong as ours. Summer Lee made the motion and they were stunned. They were essentially forced to take that vote right then. And 3 of them broke with the remaining Republicans and joined the 5 Dems - so we got that subpoena of the Epstein files.” … Garcia: “It’s very important that a 30-day deadline is set for turning over the documents. Here’s why that’s especially important: If Ghislaine Maxwell’s deposition to the Oversight Committee goes forward on August 11, we can’t just take what she says at face value. We have to verify it.” … Trump posted: “After many years Australia has agreed to accept American Beef! Now, we are going to sell so much to Australia because this is undeniable and irrefutable Proof that U.S. Beef is the Safest and Best in the entire World. The other Countries that refuse our magnificent Beef are ON NOTICE. All of our Nation’s Ranchers, who are some of the hardest working and most wonderful people, are smiling today, which means I am smiling too.” … We will not sell any beef in Australia. Also, the cost of beef is at an all-time high in the US right now. Exporting domestic beef decreases available supply and will raise prices even more if Big Ag decides they can make more money selling it abroad. Big Ag First, but not Americans First. … Australian Aaron Smith posted on X: “American beef in Australia is like sending instant coffee to Italy.” … Harry Enten on CNN: "Inflation in my mind was what cost Joe Biden the presidency more than any other factor. It brought him down. But guess what? Donald Trump at this point, his net approval rating on inflation among independents - it's actually worse than Biden's was a year ago. Minus 45 points!" … Trump left for a 5-day trip to Scotland today to open up a new golf course in that country and visit his other courses at taxpayer expense. The Scots are giving him their usual warm welcome: … The estimated cost to taxpayers of Trump’s trip to Scotland based on GSA numbers is conservatively estimated at $9.7 million, raising the total to $52 million for Trump’s golf outings over the last 6 months. … Former chief ethics counsel in the George W. Bush admin, Richard Painter to HuffPost: “He’s using the presidency to market his golf courses. At the taxpayer’s expense, he’s promoting himself.” … Jordan Libowitz with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington: “We’ve reached a point where the Oval Office is an extension of the Trump Organization, and American taxpayers are footing the bill. A president should not be spending time trying to make money in a foreign country while in office, but if they do, at the very least they could pick up the tab for their business trips.” … On he way to AF1, Trump was asked why the value of the US dollar has fallen so much since he has taken office: “A weak dollar makes you a hell of a lot more money. When we have strong dollar you don’t do any tourism, you can’t sell crackers.” … This is what Trump said exactly 7 days ago: “If you have a smart president, he will never let the dollar slide. If you have a dummy, it could happen.” … James Surowiecki, former editor of The New Yorker’s financial page: “Unsurprisingly, the Financial Times is reporting that Japan does not agree with Howard Lutnick's description of the deal - and that there is no written agreement for the $550 billion. Lutnick has been saying taxpayers will get 90% of the profits from these factories - Japan says profits will be ‘based on the degree of contribution and risk taken by each party.’ If the US contributes nothing, it gets no profits.” … “It's frustrating that we have no real idea of what this deal involves. But that's not surprising, given that the FT says ‘the deal was pulled together in a slapdash manner during a 70-minute meeting between Japan’s chief negotiator Ryosei Akazawa and Trump.’ The only rule that really matters to Trump is ‘Win that day's headlines.’ So you send Lutnick out to brag about a $550 billion ‘signing bonus’ that hasn't been agreed to in writing, and that isn't actually a bonus, and may not be $550 billion, because who cares if it turns out later not to have been true.” … Trump was asked what’s going to happen next week when his Aug 1 deadline for countries to make trade deals expires. He says he’s going to send them letters imposing tariffs and that will be a deal: “When those letters go out, that means they have a deal, it's done. They pay that tariff and that's a contract essentially. When that letter goes out, that’s a deal.” … Tourism groups continue reporting dismal numbers for the US - especially from Canadians. Border crossings by car from Canada to US are down 28%. Crossings at this point in 2024 - 11.2 million. 2025 - 8.0 million. … NY Post: “For foreign tourists, the shine is coming off the Big Apple. Some 2 million fewer visitors from other countries are expected to make the trip to NYC this year, which could cost the city $4 billion in foreign tourism dollars for 2025. The drop - which could be as much as 14% - will have a brutal effect on the NY economy, as foreign tourists usually spend big.” … NYC Tourism & Conventions: “Although international visitors make up 20% of total visitation, they account for approximately 50% of all visitor spending, making them essential to NYC’s economy. Combined, this downward revision represents an estimated loss of over $4 billion in direct spending.” … Matt Levy with Spread Love Tours: “There is an absolute real-world decline in tourism and revenue due to Trump’s tariffs, and aggressive posting towards our friendly northern neighbors. For 2026, I would bet hard money it will go to 0 dollars from Canada. The kids, the parents want to go, but the school boards are saying, ‘Why are we going to go spend money to generate taxes in a country where the president hates us?'” … “Levy noted that all of his Canadian revenue from 2025 came from groups that put their deposit down pre-election. His company was slammed with a staggering 85% drop in revenue from Canadian visitors this year, he said — effectively wiping out a national demographic that makes up 30% of his total revenue.” … SFGate: “According to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority data, the first 4 months of this year showed a decrease in the overall number of visitors. Air traffic into Harry Reid Intl Airport is also trending downward, as domestic travel for the first half of 2025 was down 4% compared to last year. Vegas hotel occupancy dropped nearly 15% in June and another 17% in early July - the steepest decline among the top 25 US tourism markets. 13.2% fewer international travelers visited Vegas in June compared to last year. … Mark Wayman, a recruiter for executives in the gaming and casino industries, told Business Insider that Las Vegas bookings through the summer are “the worst I’ve ever seen.” … Yahoo Finance jobs analyst Amanda Goodall: “83% of the country saw a drop in job listings in June. But yeah, ‘no recession,’ ‘labor market is strong.’ West Virginia: -14.3% Iowa: -7.1% Nebraska: -7.0%. The only ‘growth’? Vermont, D.C., and North Dakota - barely.” … Bloomberg: “Paychecks for more than 40% of American workers are lagging the rate of inflation, and it’s likely middle- and lower-earners who are getting squeezed, according to job-search firm Indeed. … MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace continues to destroy CNN’s Jake Tapper during the hour they go head-to-head. Tapper averaged a putrid 488,000 viewers per day last week during the hour compared to Wallace’s 1,152,0000. … With Trump’s approval ratings in the toilet - especially in Maine, Sen. Susan Collins told Semafor that she doesn’t want Trump anywhere near her reelection next year: "I’ve never had his endorsement and I’ve never sought it. I run my own race." … Semafor reports that former Democratic Rep. Wiley Nickel is expected to drop out of the race for the open US senate seat in NC since former governor Roy Cooper is expected to announce he is running next week. Nickel is planning to run for District Attorney of Wake County. … They also reported that Cooper is close friends with Maine Gov. Janet Mills and that he may be attempting to persuade her to run against Susan Collins. … Politico: Little League International said the Cacique Mara Little League team from Venezuela will not participate in the Senior League Baseball World Series in SC this year, despite qualifying for the tournament, after being unable to obtain visas. Venezuela is among the countries the Trump admin has placed restrictions on travel to the US. The tournament, which starts Saturday, features 13-16-year-old baseball players. Little League Intl called the news ‘extremely disappointing, especially to these young athletes’.” No Bulletin tomorrow since I have Saturday’s off, so next one will be the Weekend Bulletin out Sunday night. I will be a little earlier than usual with that one because my wife has an entry in a pottery competition on Sunday night and I have to go to that to cheer her on. (She has been working very hard at it!) Thanks again for supporting my work and everything we do at Meidas. It certainly has been a long week covering all this insanity, as you can tell by the Bulletins I’ve cranked out this week which were pretty long and very crazy. 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. … CNBC asked FCC Chair Brendan Carr about his attempt to coerce media companies into more favorable coverage of Trump: “Frankly, the media industry across this country needs a course correction. Broadcasters have a federal license and they are obligated to operate in the public interest. It’s good that we’re starting to see some changes.” … Journalist Olga Nesterova reports that Trump is redirecting FEMA money to deportations: “FEMA is preparing to distribute $608M to the states for the construction of new immigrant detention facilities. The funding is part of the Trump admin’s broader effort to ‘expand the nation's capacity to detain migrants, amid heightened immigration enforcement and surging border apprehensions’.” … Even Alex Jones’ attorney Robert Barnes thinks right-wing podcaster Candace Owens is screwed after Brigitte Macron sued her for continuing to claim she is trans: “It's apparent that the people defending Candace Owens thinking she will easily win the libel suit by Macron have not read the entire complaint. Owens told some of the dumbest, obvious lies one can tell. She has 0% chance of winning in court.” … Reuters: “The US lifted sanctions designations on several allies of Myanmar's ruling generals, two weeks after the head of the ruling junta praised President Trump. Washington’s decision came after junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing sent a letter to Trump praising the president for his ‘strong leadership in guiding his country towards national prosperity with the spirit of a true patriot.’” … Human Rights Watch: “The action suggests a major shift is underway in US policy, which had centered on punitive action against Myanmar's military regime, which only 4 years ago carried out a coup d'etat against a democratically elected government and is implicated in crimes against humanity and genocide." … Not sure if Trump was trying to patch things up here with this post about Elon Musk or send him a veiled threat. If it was the former, it didn’t work: “Everyone is stating that I will destroy Elon’s companies by taking away some, if not all, of the large scale subsidies he receives from the U.S. Government. This is not so!” … Musk responded: “The ‘subsidies’ he’s talking about simply do not exist. Trump has already removed or put an expiration date on all sustainable energy support while leaving massive oil and gas subsidies untouched. SpaceX won the NASA contracts by doing a better job for less money. Moving those contracts to other aerospace companies would leave astronauts stranded and taxpayers on the hook for twice as much!” … Fox host Sean Hannity played the clip of Trump and Fed Chair Powell yesterday but, what a surprise, he cut out the part of the video where Powell fact-checks him when Trump tries to lie about budget numbers. If you know someone who gets their news from Fox, chances are they aren’t seeing 5% of the news that is in this Bulletin. If that. It is a pure propaganda network. … Scott Jennings tried to defend Trump on CNN: “He’s clearly mad about the cost overruns.” Host Abby Phillip wasn’t having it: “You got to understand what the cost overruns are for the building. When they started renovating it, they found asbestos. They found toxic soil contamination. DHS then recommended all these security measures, which will be extremely expensive.” … Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was fuming that Powell called out Trump when he started lying: “No executive branch officer should even harbor - much less display -severe contempt for any POTUS And yet, Jay Powell clearly does.” … Everyone must worship Dear Leader at all times. Even when he lies about you. … CNN reports that Powell has told associates that he will not resign before his term ends May 2026 because that will be viewed as a surrender of the Fed’s independence to Trump: “The top central banker has privately argued that he must stay put for more than just personal reasons - the fate of his chairmanship is now linked with that of the Fed’s overall independence. He has said that stepping down now would undermine the institution’s longstanding freedom from political interference.” … Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD): “He feels very strongly that his responsibility is to maintain that independence. I’ve asked him if he’s planning on resigning and he says ‘no, that would reduce the independence of the Federal Reserve.’” … Politico’s Kyle Cheney: “Trump has withdrawn Alina Habba's nomination to be US Attorney in NJ, part of a multistep maneuver intended to keep her in the position as acting US attorney beyond an initial Friday deadline. Here's how it works: 1) Habba resigns as interim US attorney. 2) Trump withdraws Habba's nomination to take the job permanently. 3) AG Bondi appoints Habba First Assistant US attorney. 4) Habba automatically becomes acting US attorney because of the vacancy.” … It is unclear whether this is going to work or what the district judges are going to do about this shady maneuver. Cheney: “The reason Trump has to withdraw her nomination is because the Federal Vacancies Reform Act prohibits the nominee for a Senate-confirmed office from holding the post on an ‘acting’ basis.” … Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) announced that, at Trump’s request, he will be leading a select subcommittee to investigate the work of the J6 Committee. To CNN: “I got called in by the president. We sat and talked for a while. And he was asking, ‘what is the stall?’ Because he had expected it to be done early in the year. We talked about it, he engaged with the speaker’s office.” … Trump has long wanted to create an official alternate history of what happened on J6 that exonerates him and puts the blame on Democrats somehow. He apparently wasn’t happy that Mike Johnson didn’t prioritize that, so expect the circus to begin soon under Loudermilk. … Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has packed up and went home after failing to negotiate a cease fire in Gaza. First he failed in his negotiations with Russian, then he failed with Iran, now he has failed in Gaza. Trump: "Hamas didn't really want to make a deal. I think they want to die. Israel is gonna have to finish the job - they're gonna have to fight and they're gonna have to clean it up. You're gonna have to get rid of it." … AOC: “The forced famine of more than 2 million people in Gaza, including 1 in 5 children, is the direct result of Israel withholding food aid. The US govt must pressure Israel to immediately let in more aid and stop shooting people trying to feed their families before thousands more die. Trump campaigned on bringing peace, yet 7 months into his admin he has withdrawn from ceasefire talks while children starve. End the genocide now.” … Sky News: “A British surgeon who recently returned from Gaza says there is ‘profound malnutrition’ among the population - and claims IDF soldiers are shooting civilians at aid points ‘almost like a game of target practice’. Dr Nick Maynard spent 4 weeks working inside Nasser Hospital, where a lack of food has left medics struggling to treat children and toddlers. The conditions inside the hospital, in the south of the Strip, have been documented in a Sky News report.” … Maynard: "I met several doctors who had cartons of formula feed in their luggage - and they were all confiscated by the Israeli border guards. Nothing else got confiscated, just the formula feed. There were 4 premature babies who died during the first 2 weeks when I was in Nasser Hospital - and there will be many, many more deaths unless the Israelis allow proper food to get in there." … Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ): “I served in Iraq. I know what it means to fight terrorists while doing everything possible to protect civilians. That was my mission. But Netanyahu’s current approach to humanitarian aid in Gaza is wrong. Protecting civilians should be a core part of any counterterrorism strategy. That includes allowing food, water, and medical aid to reach those in need. Right now, too many innocent people are suffering.” … State Dept Spokesperson Tammy Bruce was asked on CNN if Israel and the US have an obligation to do more to ensure that aid is reaching those in need in Gaza: “Well, it's horrible that Hamas has decided to not agree to a ceasefire while focusing on taking actions that is causing the starvation of the people of Gaza.” … Author Peter Beinart was on CNN where he had this confrontation with Scott Jennings: “The blood is on our hands as Americans because it is our weapons that is responsible for those children starving to death. Jennings: No, the blood is on the hands of Hamas. Beinart: One of my closest friends was blown up by Hamas. I have probably a lot more experience with suffering from Hamas, with all due respect, than you do. If we want to see who is more to blame for the starvation of children in Gaza - let CNN in. Israel has not allowed western journalists in since October 7th. Let them go in, let CNN go in and decide for themselves. How about that?” … During his first term, books about Trump were big sellers. Not so much anymore. Politico: “2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America, by Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf sold roughly 6,000 hardcover copies in the first week of publication. Trump in Exile, by the WSJ’s Meridith McGraw, has sold roughly 2,000 copies since its release last Aug, according to BookScan. Axios’ Alex Isenstadt’s “Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power,” has sold around 3,000 copies so far, according to BookScan.” … CNN: “Two high-ranking officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with a connection to the likely incoming NOAA administrator were placed on administrative leave. While the reasoning behind the move is not clear, the two officials affected - Steve Volz, who heads NOAA’s satellites division, and Jeff Dillen, deputy NOAA general counsel — led the investigation into whether NOAA’s scientific integrity policies were violated during the so-called Sharpiegate scandal of Trump’s first term.” … “The inquiry found then-acting NOAA administrator Neil Jacobs and another NOAA official violated the agency’s scientific integrity policy by backing Trump’s hand-drawn version of the forecast for 2019’s Hurricane Dorian. Trump’s modification to the NWS’s forecast, drawn in a Sharpie, suggested the storm would hit Alabama. Hurricane Dorian did not strike AL, instead making landfall in Cape Hatteras, NC.” … Former NOAA official: “It’s an interesting coincidence that less than a week before Neil Jacobs’ senate committee vote, the 2 dedicated career civil servants who investigated him for scientific integrity violations around Sharpiegate were dismissed from service.” … Former GOP Rep. George Santos reported to prison today to begin serving his 7 year sentence for fraud: “Well, darlings… The curtain falls, the spotlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed. From the halls of Congress to the chaos of cable news what a ride it’s been! Was it messy? Always. Glamorous? Occasionally. Honest? I tried… most days. I may be leaving the stage (for now), but trust me legends never truly exit.”