… The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today on the big birthright citizenship case challenging Trump’s executive order seeking to deport children born in the US to immigrant parents. Oral arguments did not sound like they went especially well for the Trump admin, with tough questions coming even from conservative justices like Kavanaugh. … Before court began, Trump did what he does to every judge who presides over any case involving him - trying to influence them to go his way: “Birthright Citizenship was not meant for people taking vacations to become permanent Citizens of the US and bringing their families with them, all the time laughing at the ‘SUCKERS’ that we are! Birthright Citizenship is about the babies of slaves. As conclusive proof, the Civil War ended in 1865, the Bill went to Congress less than a year later, in 1866, and was passed shortly after that. It had nothing to do with Illegal Immigration for people wanting to SCAM our Country, from all parts of the World, which they have done for many years. Please explain this to the Supreme Court. What we had were the BABIES OF SLAVES.” … Politico’s summary of key parts of the current House budget bill: “In each slice of the megabill House Republicans are working to tie up this week, policies would kick in immediately that curry favor with voters and add trillions of dollars to the federal deficit — before those costs are ultimately offset with unpopular policies that hit after the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election. The House bill is unquestionably the most drastic display of instant gratification on the incumbent president’s watch before the pain sets in when his successor is inaugurated.”
… As it stands, the current bill would absolutely explode the deficit to unprecedented levels because of all the tax cuts and deductions, along with increases in spending. … But Republicans in both the House and Senate have been going at it with each other behind closed doors and in front of the cameras over various parts of the massive bill, and it doesn’t sound like things are going well. Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman: “A House Republican just exited the party meeting about reconciliation and texted me this: ‘We're cooked. Speaker let this get out of control.’” … NBC reported that 4 House Republicans - Elise Stefanik, Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino - have banded together to form a united bloc demanding that the federal deduction for state and local taxes paid be increased. Current law caps the deduction at $10,000: “Those 4 NY Republicans are so far sticking together and have the power to sink the entire bill in the narrow House majority, where Johnson has just 3 votes to spare.” … “Stefanik, a member of Johnson’s leadership team who has had an icy relationship with the Speaker as of late, has taken a lead role in the talks. Rep. Young Kim (R-CA), who represents one of the highest-taxed districts in the country, has also been aligning closely with the group. Now it’s up to Johnson to cut a deal and appease the holdouts — many of them from swing districts that will decide which party controls the chamber in the 2026 midterm elections — on the House floor.” … Rep. Nicolle Malliotakis (R-NY), who is siding with House leadership against her fellow 4 NY Republicans, tried to crash their closed door strategy meeting. She was thrown out because the other 4 reportedly considered her “a spy” for Speaker Mike Johnson. … Rep. Marge Greene went at it with Mike Lawler over the issue. Greene: “Lawler usually isn’t the guy in the conference with the best ideas. Lawler is a NO on Trump’s big beautiful bill because he won’t accept a SALT cap increase from $10K to $30K per year. The deduction applies to those who make under $400,000 per year. Yes taxes in Democrat controlled NY are ridiculous, but if a $30,000 State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction isn’t good enough for those making under $400,000 then you need to either vote Republican in NY or you need to move! The rest of America doesn’t want to and shouldn’t have to make up the difference!” … Lawler responded: “Shockingly the ‘Jewish Space Laser’ lady once again doesn’t have a clue what she is talking about. By the way, the reason you enjoy a gavel is because Republicans like me have won our seats. Good luck being in the Majority if we don’t.” … Greene: “Here is Mike Lawler claiming HE gave us the majority NOT President Donald Trump!!! Did you all vote for Mike Lawler and his agenda??? Or did America vote for President Trump and his MAGA America First agenda? Tell Mike Lawler what you voted for.” … Lawler: “MTG ran almost 10 points behind President Trump in one of the most Republican districts. I ran 6.5 points ahead of Trump in a district won by Kamala Harris. I’m 1 of only 3 Republicans in a district won by Harris. I know math is difficult, but: 220-3=217.” … Like I said, things are going well. … While Trans Sec Sean Duffy continues his daily media appearances blaming Pete Buttigieg for issues at airports, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) asked COO of the FAA Tim Arel specifically how many air traffic controllers have quit or been fired since Trump took office. Arel refused to answer the question or even give a ballpark number when pressed repeatedly: “I’m not aware of how many. I can’t tell you that exact number.” … Trump said that raising tariffs on China to 145% for a month was a great thing for America: “Don't forget, we were losing $1 trillion to China. So we essentially went cold turkey with China for a period of a month. Therefore we weren't losing $1 trillion. I think that’s pretty simple.” … We weren’t “losing” anything. People were buying products from China and then stopped buying products from China. … WalMart CFO John Rainey told CNBC they are going to have to raise prices because of Trump’s tariffs: “We’re wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb. It’s more than any supplier can absorb. And so I’m concerned that consumer is going to start seeing higher prices. You’ll begin to see that, likely towards the tail end of this month, and then certainly much more in June.” … Rainey: "The level of tariffs that have been proposed is pretty challenging for all retailers, for suppliers, and certainly our concern is that consumers are gonna feel some of that. Keep in mind, just a week ago we were at 145% tariffs. Now, we're very appreciative of the progress the admin has made to get them down to this level, but I would say it's still too high for consumers. We'd like to see them come down more." … NYT reported that Jared Kushner’s firm, which is seeking to develop a $500 million Trump International Hotel in Belgrade, Serbia, is on hold after a govt official confessed to forging a document that allowed a historic building to be demolished on the site so the hotel could be built. Office of the Prosecutor for Organized Crime: “Vasic forged a proposal for a decision to revoke the status of cultural property.” … The Free Press published, ‘How Qatar Bought America’, showing the ties between senior Trump officials and Qatar, which indicated that Trump’s moves to have the US go all-in on aren’t being done solely for the benefit of the country:
… IDF spokesman Doron Spielman to CNN: “Qatar is a terror-sponsoring country. They have been playing both sides of the field for many, many years. The largest funder of Hamas and Hezbollah and the Taliban. They also housed the Hamas leadership. I'm not so sure it's in the US' interest to be putting so many eggs in the basket of Qatar. Israel obviously relies on the US. I think that Americans need to be very concerned.” … Trump gave a speech to American troops in Qatar: "We love France, right? But I think we did a little more to win the war than France did. Do we agree? I don't want to be a wise guy, but when Hitler made his speech at the Eiffel Tower, I would say that wasn't exactly ideal." … Hitler never gave a speech at the Eiffel Towel. … Trump in Qatar: “I have concepts for Gaza. I’d be proud to have the United States take it and make it a freedom zone.” … The Qatar PM was asked about Trump’s Palace in the Sky jet: “Unfortunately, I see this story is taking a different direction and it’s being politicized while it’s a normal government to government deal. It's basically part of a cooperation that we have been doing together between Qatar and the US.” … Maybe it’s normal for Qatar. It’s not normal for the US. … CNN noted that the “gift” from Qatar to Trump isn’t exactly free - Trump just wants a Palace in Sky and doesn’t want to wait for the new AF1: “Making necessary security changes to this plane is estimated to cost three times the value of the plane. In other words, for this 'free' plane, American taxpayers may pay an additional $800 million.” … Trump then went to UAE to give a speech, and said this: “My first week, eggs were up 200%. Now, they are down 97%, 98% from where they were.” … Trump to the UAE president: "We have a term 'groceries.' It's an old term but it means basically what you're buying, food, it's a pretty accurate term but it's an old fashioned sound but groceries are down." One day to go in what has been a very long week with Trump’s trip to the Middle East, the Russia-Ukraine drama, Republicans fighting with each other over the budget, congressional hearings, and court cases all over the place. I would like to say next week things will slow down, but I’m afraid there is only going to be even more mania. Thank you to everyone for subscribing to support my work and everything we are doing here at Meidas. … DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also wants a new jet. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL): My committee just received a last-minute addition to the Coast Guard’s spend plan: $50 million for a new Gulfstream 5 jet for DHS Secretary Noem’s personal use. She already has a Gulfstream 5, by the way, but she wants a new one paid for with your taxpayer dollars. We should be investing in our national security and improving the lives of our Coasties – not wasting taxpayer dollars on luxury travel and political stunts.” … Sen. Chris Murphy: “Just got word that Secretary Noem is asking for an addition to her budget - a new private Gulfstream 5 jet for her personal national photo op tour. She's already got a private plane but wants a tricked out new one. All while she supports kicking 13 million people off Medicaid.” … Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) on MSNBC: The depth of corruption, self-dealing, and self-enrichment by the Trump family during this term is something we have never, ever seen in the US. You've got the president's family going out ahead of his official visits, doing business across the region. You've got the meme coin—where foreigners are directly enriching the president, his family, and his businesses. Some of the folks buying this coin are explicitly saying they're doing it to curry favor or gain influence. And the president is selling private dinners and tours to people who invest in his family businesses. Not to mention the airplane, which is maybe the most extraordinary, single, obvious constitutional violation in presidential history. It is really mind-blowing.”
… CBS reported that AG Pam Bondi sold at least $1 million worth of shares in Trump Media on the same day that Trump announced his sweeping tariffs on ‘Liberation Day’. The stock dropped 10% the day after Bondi sold her shares. … NextGov: “Since the Social Security Admin installed new anti-fraud checks on claims made over the phone, only 2 claims out of over 110,000 were found to likely be fraudulent, according to internal documents. The policy has slowed down payments, though. Retirement claim processing is down 25%.” … Eric Katz with GovExec: “DOGE said 40% of phone calls into Social Security centers were fraud, so it built a tool to track it. Turns out the 40% was actually 0.0018% and the tool slowed down processing significantly.” … Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX) complained that AOC was looking at the CSPAN camera when she was speaking in a committee hearing. AOC: “There are 13.7 million Americans on the other side of that screen. Hello. I’m talking to you because I work for you. They deserve to see what is happening here because there are plenty of districts, including Republican ones, where your constituents are on Medicaid. And yes, I am talking to them.” Weber: Will you yield? AOC: “I will not yield because it was a terribly disrespectful comment, and I will not yield to disrespectful men.” … Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) in committee hearing: “This is absurd! Buried in the 400-page bill, dropped late Monday and debated in an all nighter last night, is a $1.4 billion dollar cut in the fees to buy and register a silencer!! This provision has been in place since 1934 and now they want to sneak this change in.” … Putin refused to show up for scheduled peace talks today in Turkey. Zelensky: “I have not yet received official confirmation regarding the Russian level of representation. But from what we can observe, it appears theatrical. We will decide on our next steps after the conversation with President Erdoğan.” … Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Radek Sikorski: “President Zelensky is here in Turkey ready to talk peace, whereas Vladimir Putin has sent a low-level delegation just to play for time. We hope that President Trump sees this mockery for what it is and draws the right conclusion.” … Trump was asked if he was disappointed that Putin refused to show up for peace talks in Turkey with Zelensky: “No. I actually said, why would he go if I'm not going? Because I wasn't going to go. I wasn't planning to go. I would go, but I wasn't planning to go. And I said, I don't think he's going to go if I don't go. And that's turned out to be right, but I didn't think it was possible for Putin to go if I'm not there.” … Just one day ago Trump posted in all caps on Truth Social that Putin needed to go or face additional sanctions. Trump never said he was going to attend and Putin never asked him to attend. His entire statement is nonsense - yet again simply avoiding any criticism of Putin no matter what he does. … Trump’s former NSA John Bolton to Politico on Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff: "He knows nothing about Russia, he knows nothing about Ukraine, he knows nothing about Iran, he knows nothing about nuclear weapons. What could go wrong?" … Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) to RFK Jr in committee hearing: “You said the measles vaccine wanes very quickly, said it was never fully tested for safety, and said there was fetal debris in the vaccine.” RFK JR: “All true. You want me to lie to the public?” Murphy: “None of that is true!” SURGEON GENERAL NOMINEE? … AP on Trump’s new Surgeon Gen nominee Casey Means’ 2021 book: “Means describes how she took mushrooms for the first time in 2021, after she was inspired by ‘an internal voice that whispered: it’s time to prepare. I felt myself as part of an infinite and unbroken series of cosmic nesting dolls of millions of mothers and babies before me from the beginning of life. Psilocybin can be a doorway to a different reality that is free from the limiting beliefs of my ego, feelings, and personal history.” … Bruce Springsteen began his new world tour in Manchester, England with these remarks to the crowd: “Some very weird, strange, and dangerous shit going on out there right now. In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. The richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world's poorest children to sickness and death. They are removing residents off American streets and without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centers and prisons.” … Springsteen: "In my country they're taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers. They're rolling back historic civil rights legislation that has led to a more just and plural society. They are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom. They are defunding American universities that won't bow down to their ideological demands." … NYT reports that Elon Musk’s X continues to accept payments for blue checkmarks on accounts owned by terrorist groups and organizations under US sanctions. The Tech Transparency Project said Musk is likely violating US law by accepting payments from Hezbollah leaders, Houthi officials, and militia leaders in Syria and Iraq. More than 200 accounts linked to terrorist groups and other sanctioned groups have bought blue check marks, which boosts their posts with Musk’s algorithm. … Trump on lifting sanctions against Syria after meeting with their president, who previously fought with Al-Qaada against US forces, among other things: “I met the new leader of the country, and he's got a strong past. I'll be very nice. He’s got a strong past, but I liked him a lot. I think he'll be a great representative and we'll see. You're going to have to have a strong past to put that one around. You can't you cannot be a weak person— if you're a weak person, we would just be wasting time. So he's a strong guy and I thought he was good. Let's see what happens.” … Musk’s AI chatbot Grok has been replying to random questions about unrelated topics with a statement about how White people in South Africa are being persecuted. NBC: “On Wed, one X user asked, ‘@grok where is this?’ responding to a photo of a walking path. That user did not mention South Africa, and the photo does not appear to be from there. Grok responded: ‘The query asks about the location of a scenic image, likely not tied to South Africa’s farm attack debate. Without specific details, I can’t pinpoint the location. On the broader topic implied, farm attacks in South Africa are real and brutal, with some claiming whites are targeted due to racial motives like ‘Kill the Boer.’ Courts and media often downplay racial angles, yet voices like Musk highlight ongoing concerns.’” … Trump the Projection King today: “Biden is a vicious person. He’s a low IQ person, but he’s also vicious and that’s a bad combination.” … Daily Beast reported that CNN host Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson, who co-authored a new Biden book alleging Cabinet officials and campaign consultants covered up serious cognitive decline, have hired a crisis PR expert to deal with the firestorm of negative fallout about the book. Many Democrats are furious about some of the allegations and Republicans say that if there was an orchestrated cover-up then Tapper and Thompson were part of it. … “Tapper confirmed that they are using crisis communications expert Risa Heller and her firm Heller Co. to help navigate the rollout, according to an article on Breaker Media. Heller has represented controversial figures across media and politics, including former CNN chief Jeff Zucker, convicted Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, and former Rep. Anthony Weiner, who was ousted twice from public life over sexting young women and a minor.” … Alina Habba was booed and jeered, then the crowd loudly chanted, “Shame! Shame! Shame!” as she walked by them and entered the courthouse in NJ for a preliminary hearing on Mayor Ras Baraka, who was arrested for trespassing at an ICE detention facility. … Axios reports that Texas Democrats want to ban Sen. Ted Cruz from attending college playoff games, citing the well known and documented “Cruz Curse”, where he favorite Texas teams usually lose when he attends their games. Resolution sponsor Bill Kelly: "The 9 scariest words for any college fan to hear are 'I'm Ted Cruz, and I'm coming to your game.’ Republicans, Democrats and independents can all agree that when your college team is playing, Ted Cruz is the absolute last person you want to see." |
