Trump's Goals: Power, Money, Adoration
And a reminder of our zoom gathering tonight!
News breaks, and thoughts:
California is suing Trump over tariffs. Go, Gavin Newsome.
An article was positioned at the top of the page of the NY Times today titled, Why Harvard Decided to Fight The Trump Administration. I find this to be annoying and a waste of space because it’s obvious why they did it, and I am so happy they did. Harvard is the oldest university in our country, and while I have my issues with them, clearly they do a lot of good in the world in terms of research and free thought. They have enough wealthy donors, I assume, to help them stay afloat, but I also am sure they did it on principle.
A top Pentagon advisor was escorted out of the Pentagon and put on leave for apparently leaking documents. He was also on the Signal chat a few weeks ago. We don’t have many details, but my first inclination is to think this is smoke screen, as if to say “look, we are being diligent!”
One has to read everything that Trump does as coming from an ulterior motive, to either:
1. enchance his power
2. get him more money
3. hide illegal and immoral activities.
Not necessarily in that order.
A federal judge scolded Trump yesterday concerning the return of the Maryland man deported to El Salvador recently. “To date nothing has been done,” the judge, Paula Xinis, told a lawyer for the Justice Department. “Nothing.” She intends to force Trump officials to answer questions — both in writing and in depositions — about what they had done so far to get the man, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, out of the prison.
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen just landed in El Salvador to try to see Mr. Garcia and press for his release. This will be interesting, glad he’s going.
Two federal judges ordered Trump to unfreeze climate money. Yes.
Another federal judge threatened to open a contempt inquiry into the Trump administration over what he called its “willful disregard” for his order temporarily halting deportations under an obscure wartime law. The judge said there was “probable cause” to find the administration in contempt for its actions. My question is, if he is found in contempt, what happens?
Last night at the Town Hall with Jim Acosta, the idea of media literacy and media tactics was discussed, an extremely important topic to grapple with, and incredibly complicated. Maga is beating their opposition in the use of media— social media, radio, cable— and now Trump has the White House Press room as his personal megaphone to spew lies. Here is an interesting interactive piece on how the Press Room has changed since he took office. Every thing he says on Truth Social, or to reporters as he boards Air Force One, is calculated and basically a manipulated tv show. He knows how to use the press. Trump even duped Bill Maher recently, someone I have never liked, I find him smug, a self centered egotist. Maher went to the White House to have dinner with Trump (??) and called him “gracious and measured,” and said “he laughs” (I assume at Maher’s jokes). Maher asked Trump to sign a paper he had brought that had all the insults Trump had lobbied towards Maher over the years. Maher was charmed! Here is a clip on CNN of Maher discussing his visit in a video. After the video, the anchor let us know that CNN and HBO (Maher’s home) are owned by the same company. She and her guest went on to say that they didn’t think this debaucle will affect Maher’s audience. That’s corporate spin; I believe the comedian’s stupid actions will drive many people away. I hope so.
But back to the media conversation. We are watching legacy media become unreliable. There are many great journalists still at those outlets, but the gatekeepers/owners are the problem. Last night, they were called them “corporate media,” which is what they are. The landscape is shifting rapidly, and it is the time to support free speech and break free from monied interests if we can. We still need legacy media to a certain degree, but always should take into consideration the corporations behind the writers. In fact, my while my work with The New Yorker is ongoing, it is changing in ways that might have to do with corporate financial pressures. But that is for another post which I hope to write when I am ready to be open about it.
Lawyer Jennifer Rubin just stated on a live broadcast that the number of law firms that have resisted Trump’s advances is far greater than those who hav capitulated. She says, “its a matter of momentum,” and “I am optimistic, but it’s going to be a long hard slog, and this is not the end of it. The first thing is to resist and get back power and stop him.” Jenn, along with lawyer Norm Eisen, run a very active site called Contrarians. I highly recommend them.
Completely unaware of this, I just got a notice that apparently I have been “rising” on the list of humorists on Substack. Haha, just below Bill Maher, I am #14. Anything you guys want to do to help me keep going and gain more followers, I would welcome it. It has been part of my job for years now trying to figure out how to use my skills to do the best and most effective work.
What a busy news day and it’s only 2:00 on the East coast. I hope you all are hanging in there, and thank you again for your support. Let’s do this thing! I feel some momentum.
Reminder: tonight is my regular zoom for paid subscribers. Join us! Link below: