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… “Trump will not attend the 25th anniversary in NYC of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. According to the NYT, Trump wanted to make a speech at the event during the ceremony at Ground Zero in Manhattan on the anniversary, but it has been the policy since 2012 that politicians aren’t not allowed to deliver remarks at the site to keep the ceremony apolitical. Trump wasn’t happy about that, so he won’t be attending.
… The NYT reported that Trump plans to deliver remarks at the Pentagon before flying to his golf course in Ireland which is hosting the Irish Open that weekend.
… NBC: “Milo Yiannopoulos, a self-described libertarian and professional internet troll who became known for his controversial right-wing political views, is in ICE custody. A spokesperson for DHS said that ICE arrested Yiannopoulos, a UK national, at the New Orleans International Airport.”
… “The DHS spokesperson said Yiannopoulos legally entered the US on May 14, 2019, through NYC, but then “chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal.”
… Yiannopoulos has ties to Kanye West, and previously served as the rapper’s chief of staff when Ye tried to run for president in 2020 and 2024. He also served as in intern in former Rep. Marge Greene’s DC office.
… It sounds like Milo got Loomered. Laura Loomer posted:
“For years I have been telling people that Milo Yiannopoulos was an illegal alien. Despite this, Marjorie Traitor Greene hired him to work for her in her Congressional office, let him live in her home, and recently, Candace Owens and Tucker Qatarlson harbored this illegal alien inside their homes when they both ‘interviewed’ him.”
“I was the first person to report on the fact that Milo was in the US illegally where he incited violence against President Trump and worked for Marjorie Traitor Greene. When Milo called for me to be assassinated, I reported him to ICE and the FBI.”
… Trump gave a speech today at NASA which was supposed to honor astronauts from Artemis II, but instead he talked about himself and make it a partisan speech of lies, playing his greatest hits. It went over like a lead ballon to scientists, astronauts, staff and their families, who sat in stony silence.
… Journalist Aaron Rupar, live-tweeting while covered the event:
“Trump is now more than an hour late for a Medal of Honor event at the NASA Johnson Space Center, and the producers of the event are playing long videos to fill the time as Trump posts on Truth Social.”
“Trump is making the astronauts he's supposedly honoring sit around and wait for him endlessly. Ambient music has been playing for a half an hour now as everybody waits for Trump to show up.”
“Trump’s me me me me me routine is not going over well.”
“Trump is speaking to complete silence at the NASA center. Not a single person is applauding or reacting to anything he says during his brazenly partisan speech.”
“This is one of those instances where Trump's inability to deliver a speech that's under a half hour long really hurts him. Nobody wants to hear him riff about Venezuela and Iran for an hour+ at an event that's supposed to be nonpartisan and in honor of other people.”
“Complete silence at the NASA center as Trump brags about the stock market and touts fake foreign investment numbers. Just a brutally awkward speech that is going over like farts in church.”
… WY Republican Gov. Mark Gordon was alarmed by surprise election monitors from DOJ showing up last week without notice during his state’s primaries: “It sounded like the behavior of the observers was a bit aggressive. It just was irregular and I have asked the AG to start looking into the nature of the visits and all that sort of stuff. Their behavior seemed to exceed what the authority that Congress had given them was.”
… Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee, also a Republican, said she was never notified that DOJ officials were showing up:
“It was a poorly managed exercise and one that showed complete disregard for our state laws and administration of our elections. Shortly after learning of their presence, I spoke with a DOJ official who informed me that the decision to deploy monitors to WY was made on short notice, and an email had been sent to me, but it may have gone to the wrong address.”
“Their questions were outside the scope of federal voting rights laws. They requested training guides, asked how our new election equipment was acquired, and wanted to examine our tabulators.”
… Lee said she also had to deny requests by the monitors to interview voters.
… This appears to be a practice run by Trump’s goon squad in a friendly state before the midterms.
… Axios: “Republicans will have some stiff competition for eyeballs when they hold their first-ever midterm convention next month in Dallas - the NFL, American television’s undisputed champion of ratings. The GOP’s Sept. 9-10 convention in Dallas will go head-to-head with the two opening games of the NFL season, which are expected to draw huge audiences each night.”
(I was the first one who reported that this event was the same time/dates as the opening primetime games of the NFL season)
… “Some GOP operatives are privately incredulous that a convention designed to draw attention to the party’s fall candidates was scheduled opposite the NFL. They fear the GOP will struggle to persuade voters - particularly men, who powered Trump’s 2024 comeback - to choose politics over football.”
… “The convention’s opening night will overlap with the NE Patriots playing the Seattle Seahawks in a Super Bowl rematch. It will be on NBC and its streaming platform, Peacock. In Dallas that night, JD Vance will deliver the convention’s keynote speech. The convention’s second night will coincide with a rivalry matchup between the SF 49ers and the LA Rams, which will be streamed on Netflix. Trump is the keynoter in Dallas that night.”
… Right-wing podcaster Matt Walsh: “I was already extremely skeptical about this ‘midterm convention’ idea and then I realized that they’ve scheduled it to compete directly with the opening nights of the NFL season. Almost nobody (myself included) is going to choose to watch midterm convention speeches over football. I really don’t understand the strategy here.”
… AP: “AIR FORCE VETERAN. SMALL BUSINESSMAN. TRUMP CONSERVATIVE.” The all-caps headline on TX Republican congressional candidate Carlos De La Cruz’s website used to align him with Trump. Not anymore. “NATIVE TEXAN. AIR FORCE VETERAN. SMALL BUSINESSMAN. PROVEN CONSERVATIVE,” it reads now.
… “As the two-month sprint to Election Day begins, a small collection of Republican candidates have quietly begun to distance themselves in subtle ways from Trump now that they’ve won contested primaries in which his endorsement was often the most coveted prize. The shift is easy to miss, often only a few words or new pictures. And Republicans insist there is no shift at all.”
… “But from CA to TX and KY to AK, candidates in recent weeks have tweaked their campaign messaging to downplay their connection to Trump. A handful of others have highlighted their opposition to his policies. It’s an extremely delicate balance for vulnerable Republican candidates, who must expand their appeal beyond Trump’s MAGA base to win in the general election this fall, but are also afraid to trigger a backlash from Trump or his hard core supporters if they create too much distance.”
… Texas Tribune: “One of the things Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is best known for among his congressional peers is the hundreds of millions of dollars he’s raised, funneling cash to fellow Senate Republicans from the vast donor network he’s built over decades as a mainstay of the TX GOP. But don’t expect him to raise money for Ken Paxton in the TX Senate race.”
… Instead, Cornyn said he’s going to fundraise to help colleagues elsewhere: “What I’m doing is I’m raising money to help in places like NH and MI and AK. Paxton’s a poor campaigner. He’s lazy and doesn’t raise money. And he basically is not offering a very compelling case for his election. He’s making this harder than it needs to be. But so be it - we are where we are.”
… Semafor: “Trump’s trade war with Canada is handing a political gift to Democrats in this pivotal battleground state. Democratic candidates across MI are unifying against Trump’s 50% tariffs on an array of Canadian goods, hitching Republicans to a trade battle against a trusted neighbor that polls show is unpopular. The alignment is a helpful way for Democrats to change the subject from US-Israel policy, a topic that has bitterly split them in this state in particular.”
… “Taking on Trump over Canada trade also helps Democrats sidestep their own past divisions on the issue. The party has long cleaved between pro-business factions and labor allies, and some Democrats - especially in MI - remain open to targeted tariffs, not to mention critical of free trade pacts. But at the moment, in a swing state that counts Canada as its top export destination, Democrats are focused on where they agree.”
… Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed: “These tariffs are simply about Trump’s ego, and he wants us to have to pay for them. And Mike Rogers is going to do nothing but rubber-stamp it.”
… “It’s not just El-Sayed making the most of the opportunity to hammer Trump’s trade tactics. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson is linking Republican opponent John James to them at every turn, dubbing the Canada tariffs a ‘John James tax.’
… In a battleground manufacturing-heavy House district in the Detroit suburbs, Dem nominee Christina Hines said that “Canada is not the problem.” Hines used her opposition to the tariffs to cast her Republican opponent Mike Bouchard as a loyalist who “falls in line” with Trump:
“He’s a really nice young man, but he supports everything that this president does. What we need is someone that’s actually going to stand up and fight for us.”
… The 2026 ‘Defend the Vote’ March on Washington was held today, which drew thousands to the National Mall to protest the erosion of voting rights. It marked the 63rd anniversary of the historic 1963 march led by MLK Jr.. AOC spoke at the event:
“We the people demand guaranteed health care for every American as a right and not a privilege. We the people demand that one job with no need for overtime should be enough for our most basic needs, which also include rest. And we must recognize that that can only happen in an economy where Black women are not the first to be pushed out and the last to be brought back in.”
“This November, the first of many tides is coming—coming to respond to every right they are trying to take. The tide is coming, and this time we intend to win it all. I’ll see you on the streets.”
 |
… Penn Live: “75% of PA Democrats would not vote for Sen. John Fetterman if he were running for re-election this year. The latest PennLive poll also found that Gov. Josh Shapiro has a 31-point advantage over Republican challenger Stacy Garrity, the state treasurer, while Trump remains highly unpopular and voters have a low opinion of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).”
… “Fetterman will be up for re-election in 2028 and there are several candidates considered potential Democratic primary challengers, including Reps. Brendan Boyle and Chris Deluzio and former Reps. Conor Lamb and Susan Wild.”
… “Not surprisingly, Trump is still underwater with PA voters as 40% approve of him and 57% disapprove.”
… Fetterman on Greta Van Susteren’s Newsmax podcast: “I can’t explain where I’m at anymore. If you seen the latest NYT poll. I don’t understand it - I’m more popular with Republicans. I can’t explain it. I don’t know why Democrats are upset with me. Ok, take me out. But that’s because I’m honest, that’s the space that I occupy.”
Reminder there is no Bulletin tomorrow because I’m off Saturdays. It was another long week for me to cover all of this and I’m sure for you to read it. Believe me, I know better than anyone how exhausting this regime can be, but I think it is so important to remain super informed, vigilant and active.
That is why my limited time off is always spent unplugged and out in nature. Tomorrow we are kayaking on a river that empties out into the Atlantic in Kennebunk. It’s a tidal river, so we will ride the tide from the mouth of the river inland until it peaks, then ride it back out to the ocean. Forecast is 76 degrees and sunny.
I will be back with the Weekend Bulletin on Sunday night. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.
… Trump tried to put out the fire with farmers and ranchers furious about his policies with this Truth Social post: “I have heard that they have had a tremendous problem with the Big Processors, who many say are a nasty Monopoly. So, in order to break this powerful monopoly, with much of its ownership based outside of the US, I am authorizing legal documents to be drawn in order to allow Farmers and Ranchers to be given the right to PROCESS THEIR OWN FOOD. This should move quickly.”
… Meredith Lee Hill with Politico: “Trump, after intense backlash from farmers and ranchers over his new beef import plans, says he’s drawing up legal docs to allow farmers ‘to process their own food.’”
… “Ironically, it’s Reps. Thomas Massie and Chellie Pingree (D-ME) who have similar legislation in Congress - to allow farmers to sell beef etc directly to local buyers by exempting small local processing and slaughter facilities from mandatory federal USDA inspection requirements. Lawmakers believe this has to be done via Congress.”
… “Lots of anger among farmers and ranchers still over Trump’s latest plan to import some beef - which GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (who is up for reelection) and other Republicans have warned the WH for months it would harm US farmers.”
… Taylor Popielarz with Spectrum News: “Sequence of events: On Wed, Trump appears on Glenn Beck’s radio show. During the interview, Beck, who operates his own ranch, urges Trump to let farmers and ranchers process their own meat:
Beck: “There’s people that want to build processing plants everywhere. The regulations are killing us, just killing us. Trump: So you’re saying with less regulation, you think that the ranchers and farmers would do a very good job of processing the beef? Beck: Yes. Trump: Wow.”
… Then Friday, Trump posts that he is “authorizing legal documents to be drawn in order to allow Farmers and Ranchers to be given the right to PROCESS THEIR OWN FOOD.”
… WSJ: “The Abu Dhabi royal sometimes referred to as the ‘spy sheikh’ is a major shareholder backing a new US bank the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture is preparing to launch. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan and co-investors are behind an entity that owns the largest stake—49%—in the holding company that World Liberty Financial created to house its banking venture.”
… “The sheikh last year backed a $500 million investment into World Liberty Financial in exchange for a 49% stake in the company.”
… Nothing to see here.
… CBS: “3 fired Stars and Stripes journalists sued Pete Hegseth and two other top Pentagon officials in federal court, claiming the Trump admin is attempting to fire them illegally as part of its ‘extraordinary censorship efforts’ against the military news outlet. The plaintiffs - publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte - were given separation notices last week. The cause cited was insubordination.”
… “They alleged that they were fired both for ‘speaking up as private citizens in support of the press’s freedom to cover military operations,’ and because of their reporting on rough conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. The lawsuit names Hegseth, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell and aide Andrew Brey as defendants.”
… “The newspaper published a piece detailing flagging mental health and food and water shortages aboard the Lincoln, which has been deployed for 9 months. A day after that story ran, the lawsuit says, the defendants ‘ordered plaintiff Max Lederer, Stripes’ publisher, to present notices of separation to Slavin and Korte.’”
… Daily Mail: “A sailor who jumped from the USS Abraham Lincoln in an apparent suicide attempt earlier this month now faces punishment from Trump’s Navy after spending months trapped at sea because of the Iran war. The servicemember, a married father of two children, faces non-judicial punishment for violating the military code.”
… “Earlier this month, he hurled himself overboard in an apparent attempt to drown during a mental health crisis as living conditions aboard the ship deteriorated. Sailors aboard the Lincoln are said to have endured moldy showers, broken toilets, laundry outages, food shortages and long stretches without hot water.”
… “Navy documents accuse the servicemember of ‘intentionally faking an illness or hurting themselves to avoid work, duty or service,’ while a separate charge claims he failed to report to his required place of duty during the mental-health crisis. His wife said he repeatedly requested paternity leave to meet his newborn daughter for the first time but was denied each time.”
… The sailor’s wife: “I think they’re insane for doing this to people who need mental help. Instead of giving them help, this is just another huge stressor.”
… Guardian: “Trump’s war on Iran has driven the US military into a severe financial crisis, with the US navy forced to transfer money from its payroll and other sources to cover the costs of combat, according to documents seen by the Guardian, and interviews with navy officials, contractors and defense analysts.”
… One Pentagon memo about navy funding seen by the Guardian warns that there are “shortfalls in payroll” accounts due to the dept “raiding” them to fund combat operations. A Navy official said money is shifted around in imaginative ways:
“The money for payroll was robbed to pay for overseas contingencies and is being backfilled by money that hasn’t been spent. They are backfilling payroll so we get enough money in our paycheck.”
… My favorite congressman Joe Neguse: “The House of Representatives has been out of session for 127 days this year. 54% of 2026. And it’s only August!”
… But Congress is FINALLY back in session next week. Capitol Hill reporter Jamie Dupree: “Next week on the House floor - nothing about affordability, grocery prices, or gas prices. But there will be a vote on a GOP resolution condemning Democratic Socialists and socialism in general. The House already passed a resolution condemning socialism on Nov. 21, 2025.”
… Perhaps Democrats could offer an amendment banning the govt from acquiring an ownership interest in private companies and forcing it to divest of the ownership stakes Trump has coerced from at least 31 different companies so far.
… Fox brought on members of Congress to defend Trump’s foolish distraction of trying to rename Lake Ontario:
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY): “I don’t think people care about the name of the lake. I do think they care about fair trade”
Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA): “Trump is very good at leverage. He wants to do things that irritate people who he’s negotiating with so he can get a better deal.”
… That argument doesn’t really make sense when you consider that Canada couldn’t care less what Trump tries to call the lake.
… But Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running for Governor of WI, said he disagreed with Trump: “I believe the Great Lakes are the Great Lakes and should stay Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario, etc.”
… Legendary sports broadcaster Al Michaels, who had the famous line “Do you believe in miracles, yes!” at the end of USA hockey’s defeat of the USSR in the 1980 Winter Olympics, let off his NFL preseason broadcast last night with this as an overhead shot of Huntington Bank Field, with Cleveland’s downtown and Lake Erie in view:
“That is Lake Erie. We think it is still called Lake Erie - we’re not quite sure at this point. But we’ll be by Lake something like Ontario or whatever it’s going to be called by the time we get to Buffalo. Anyway, you know what I’m talking about. Read the news.”
… Guardian: A senior Democratic senator is calling for a criminal investigation into RFK Jr, following reporting that indicated he lied during Senate confirmation hearings last year. Ron Wyden said in a statement that he would be pressing Republican colleagues, who currently control the Senate, to issue a criminal referral of Kennedy to DOJ.”
… Wyden: “RFK’s platform is built on lies and grifts that leave a trail of dead children in their wake. There are consequences for lying to Congress. And when Democrats retake the majority in the Senate, RFK will be at the top of the list of Trump officials the finance committee will hold accountable for endangering American families.”
… MS NOW: “House Democrats are launching a new probe into Donald Trump Jr. and the venture capital firm he joined as a partner shortly after his father won a second term, alleging possible fraud and insider trading. In a letter, Rep. Jamie Raskin asks the younger Trump to account for the recent run of success at 1789 Capital, whose investments over the past year and a half, he says, have been timed with ‘almost clairvoyant accuracy.’”
… Raskin: “With Don Jr.’s new leadership role, 1789 Capital has developed an uncanny ability to identify companies that are about to receive massive influxes of cash from the Trump Admin or to benefit from significant changes in federal policies and regulations. They say there is no such thing as a sure thing in investing, but this is about as close as you can get.”
… “Raskin specifically asks 1789 Capital to turn over records of its communications with federal govt officials and elected officials. He also asks for a list of companies it has invested in, among other materials.”
… WaPo: “White South Africans who come to the US as refugees could get up to $4,500 per person in initial federal support beginning Oct. 1, nearly double the current amount. The assistance - up from about $2,400 - would be the highest level to date.”
… “Trump froze refugee admissions from around the world after taking office in 2025. But weeks later, he launched a program to bring South Africans of European-descended Afrikaner ethnicity into the US as refugees. The boost in taxpayer-funded aid would hypothetically be available to any incoming refugees, but South Africans have made up more than 99% of refugee arrivals this year.”
… Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) on data centers: “People are scared of things that they don't even realize aren't reality. They're not loud, they're not hot, they're not consuming. It's gonna be really good for the economy."
… Maybe he could lobby for one to be built near his house.
… Trump attacked Fox on Truth Social again: “Jonathan Hunt of FoxNews did a particularly inaccurate report on the Failing Islamic Republic of Iran. I don’t want to meet, they do. In fact, they are begging to make a deal. Bret Baier should straighten out his flunkies, for a change!”
… Baier responded on their evening news broadcast: “First of all, Jonathan Hunt’s not a flunky. He’s a great reporter. Second of all, Mr. President, we didn’t say you wanted to meet. In fact, we played a soundbite you didn’t want to meet and there are no negotiations. We said that Scott Bessent is hoping to meet with G-20 countries to increase the pressure on Iran and Gulf State allies, including Qatar, are inside Tehran trying to get Iran to agree to concessions. That was what was said.”
… I just wish Baier would call out the lies Trump tells every day about other people and things, instead of just the lies about him.
… AP: “Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said Friday that inflation is still too high and suggested the central bank may have to raise interest rates in the coming months to bring it down, a clearer signal than he had sent previously about his economic outlook.”
… “In his first high-profile speech at the Fed’s annual conference, Warsh acknowledged that inflation has cooled a bit, but “they do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved. We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed. Otherwise, we have work to do.”
… If the Fed raises rates, Trump will go ballistic.
… NOTUS: “For more than a year, the National Park Service has been quietly working to fulfill an unprecedented directive from Trump officials: Parcel off a corner of Yosemite National Park to give to a private developer. National Park Service staff are trying to arrange a land exchange between a Nevada-based company and the federal govt.”
… “Since the spring of 2025, the Trump admin has been looking into ways it could cede a roughly quarter-mile strip of land inside Yosemite to a company that, through a web of limited-liability companies, is operated by real-estate developer and investment firm Kingsbarn Realty Capital. Officials are proposing the Park Service give up the land or ‘interest’ in the land in the form of an easement, and in return receive land of equal value somewhere in CA that has yet to be decided.”
… “The private developers own an 83-acre plot of land just outside the western boundaries of Yosemite, about 5 miles from one of the park’s defining ancient sequoia groves. Jeff Pori, the CEO of Kingsbarn, wants to build a short road connecting the property to one of Yosemite’s central thoroughfares. The new road would give the land exceptionally rare private access to a park that is otherwise almost entirely buffered by national forests.”
… WSJ: “Some US companies with close ties to Trump are taking steps to gain favor with Democrats, worried they will become targets if Republicans lose control of the House. Big tech companies, in particular those that made major donations to Trump’s legacy projects, are preparing for congressional and even potential criminal investigations, according to advisers, lobbyists and board members.”
… “Meta Platforms and others are writing big checks for Democrats ahead of the midterms, a counterbalance to the tens of millions they gave to the WH ballroom and Republican initiatives. Other companies, including Paramount Skydance and Kalshi, are hiring former Democratic aides to bolster their govt relations efforts.”
… “Some companies are creating internal task forces to game out responses to potential congressional inquiries, particularly regarding their substantial financial support for Trump and his political operations. Meta and Palantir are among the companies whose executives and advisers have discussed the likelihood they will face requests for info, future congressional hearings and even subpoenas.”
… Cooper Teboe, a Silicon Valley donor adviser and Democratic strategist, said Democrats could launch a wave of investigations if they take control of the House. His advice to companies who’ve been publicly cozying up to Trump and ignoring Democrats:
“Get right with God. You’re going to be totally fucked next year or you’re going to figure it out this year and you’re going to make amends—and amends are going to be much more costly than they were previously.”
… Daily Mail: “It’s beloved by liberal America and one of the biggest platforms for progressives to bash the President. But ABC’s The View wants outgoing WH press secretary Karoline Leavitt to join the panel show, two sources tell DM. Leavitt is said to be considering the idea, which has been met with enthusiastic support from Trump and other WH officials.”
… “The View wants to host Leavitt as a guest soon as a bit of a test run, one source said, but producers are serious about adding her to the all-female daytime lineup as a permanent fixture. A second source said that official talks have not yet begun, but that ABC reps have made it very clear to people close to Leavitt that they want her.”
… A senior producer on The View:
“Absolutely a horrible idea - just terrible to think of putting her there. They will quit, a bunch of them. Whoopi, Joy, Sonny, Ana. They’d walk, they wouldn’t renew. It’s not even that they don’t want conservatives, that’s not what it is. You’re going to spin this that they don’t want a conservative on the panel, but that’s not fair. They had Meghan. They had Jedediah. They even have Alyssa now.
The problem is not conservatives. But someone as intellectually dishonest as Karoline Leavitt would cause an uproar because her claim to fame is being a lying shill. If they tried to hire her, there would be an exodus. No one here wants that. They may be sniffing around but they’re not going to sign her. The downside is too big.”
