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Does Trump Believe He's 'A Monarch Ordained By God'?

Does Trump Believe He's 'A Monarch Ordained By God'?

After Donald Trump defeated Democratic nominee Kamala Harris by roughly 1.5 percent in the popular vote in the United States' 2024 presidential race, many far-right white evangelical Christian fundamentalists didn't view the outcome as Trump narrowly winning a close election. Instead, they declared that Trump had a divine "mandate" from God Almighty Himself.

But Trump's critics — from Democrats to right-wing Never Trump conservatives — reminded Christian nationalists and MAGA Republicans that the U.S. Constitution vehemently rejects the "divine right of kings" concept. July 4, 1776, they stressed, was a total rejection of monarchy, not an endorsement of it.

In an op-ed published on March 17, journalist Marcie Bianco (author of the 2023 book Breaking Free: The Lie of Equality and the Feminist Fight for Freedom) emphasizes that Trump has a radically different view of the presidency than Presidents Barack Obama, Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman. While Obama, Roosevelt and Truman described themselves as "public servants," Bianco writes, Trump sees himself as a "monarch ordained by a god."

"From using the White House's South Lawn to shill cars for his biggest campaign donor to demanding taxpayer-funded ads that claim he victoriously closed the southern border," Bianco observes, "President Donald Trump is demonstrating that, as he stated in his first term, he has 'the right to do whatever I want.' That's his twisted interpretation of Article 2 of the Constitution, which describes the power of the president."

Bianco continues, "Yet the president of the United States is not a king. He’s not a monarch ordained by a god….. As mass protests against the Trump Administration take place across the nation, let us remember the historical role and responsibility of the president and what others who've held the office have had to say about the responsibility that comes with the position."

The journalist/author notes that in a May 1918 op-ed for the Kansas City Star, Roosevelt wrote, "The president is merely the most important among a large number of public servants." And in July 1954, Truman said, "I would much rather be an honorable public servant and known as such than to be the richest man in the world."

Then, in a November 2020 appearance on CBS News' 60 Minutes, Obama described the president of the United States' as a "public servant" who needed to represent the public's interest, not their own.

"We, the American people, are responsible to each other to secure the health of our democracy," Bianco argues. "This means we must elect to office presidents who are committed to public service, and if we fail at that, then we must use our First Amendment rights to protest against them."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Trumps Grifting Off New Saudi Golf Deal While America Isn't Looking

Trumps Grifting Off New Saudi Golf Deal While America Isn't Looking

Many critics of President Donald Trump accuse him of using the presidency to promote his business interests — a claim that Trump and his allies vehemently deny, insisting that Trump maintains a strict separation between the White House and the Trump Organization. President Trump's defenders maintain that he is careful to distance himself from the Trump Organization, now being run by his son, Eric Trump.

But Mohamad Bazzi, a journalism professor at New York University and former Middle East bureau chief for Newsday, argues that a proposed deal between two rival golf tournaments — PGA Tour in the United States and the Saudi Arabia-funded LIV Golf — is a "potential conflict of interest" for the U.S. president.

Bazzi, in an op-ed published by The Guardian on February 28, argues, "If concluded, the deal would directly benefit Trump's family business, which owns and manages golf courses around the world. And it would be the latest example of Trump using the presidency to advance his personal interests.

Bazzi notes that on February 20 at the White House, Trump hosted a meeting between PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and LIV Golf Chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan. The LIV head, Bazzi adds, also manages Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

"A day before his latest attempt at high-level golf diplomacy," Bazzi observes, "Trump travelled to Miami to speak at a conference organized by the Saudi Public Investment Fund — which is managed by Al-Rumayyan but ultimately controlled by the kingdom's de facto ruler and crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Trump's sports diplomacy in the Oval Office and cozying up to Saudi investors in Miami did not get much attention compared with his whirlwind of executive orders and new policies. But these incidents encapsulate Trump's transactional and corrupt approach to governing — and the ways that wealthy autocrats, including Prince Mohammed, will be able to exploit the U.S. president."

The NYU journalism professor points out that in December, the Trump Organization "announced several real estate projects in Saudi Arabia, including a Trump Tower in the capital, Riyadh, and another $530m residential tower in the city of Jeddah."

"Today, the president is trying to reap more benefits based on his protection of Prince Mohammed — beyond what Kushner and the Trump Organization have already amassed from Saudi investments during Trump's time out of office," Bazzi argues. "Trump is corrupting the presidency by using it to negotiate international golf agreements and other deals that will ultimately enrich his family — and hardly anyone is objecting."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Senate Republicans Will Force 'Major' Changes In House GOP Budget

Senate Republicans Will Force 'Major' Changes In House GOP Budget

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was reminded how small his House majority is when, on Tuesday, February 25, a spending bill narrowly passed in a 217-215 vote. The bill didn't receive any Democratic votes at all, but only one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massey of Kentucky, voted "no."

Had there been a few more GOP defections, the bill would not have passed. And now, according to Politico, the bill faces another hurdle: Senate Republicans.

In an article published on February 26, Politico reporters Jordain Carney, Katherine Tully-McManus and Benjamin Guggenheim explain, "Despite a razor-thin 217-215 House vote Tuesday, GOP senators indicated Wednesday they would not accept Speaker Mike Johnson's fiscal framework as-is — heralding a rough road for President Donald Trump's legislative agenda on Capitol Hill.That's not to say they want to start from scratch: Most Senate Republicans said Wednesday that they were prepared to switch to the House's one-bill approach after spending more than two months pushing a competing two-bill plan. But they want major, contentious changes to policy choices embedded in the House plan."

According to a Politico source, conservative Sen. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told senators "that there will need to be changes to the House budget and that there will be an informal meeting next week to start trying to reconcile the two sides."

Thune, the Politico journalists report, described the bill passed in the House as "a first step in what will be a long process, and certainly not an easy one."

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) said of the bill, "It doesn't fit the president's plan in its current form, so we would have to make some changes."

Carney, Tully-McManus, and Guggenheim note, "Immediately after the House approved its plan Tuesday, Thune called for any Republican tax bill to include a permanent extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That was an implicit criticism of the House budget blueprint, which allows for $4.5 trillion in net tax cuts — which tax writers in both chambers say won't be enough to allow for TCJA permanency along with Trump's other tax priorities."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Emboldened Neo-Nazi Terrorists 'Quickly Rebuilding' As Patel Takes Over FBI

Emboldened Neo-Nazi Terrorists 'Quickly Rebuilding' As Patel Takes Over FBI

The Base, a paramilitary neo-Nazi/white supremacist group founded in 2018, was a major target of the FBI and its former director, Christopher Wray, during Joe Biden's presidency. And in 2022, according to The Guardian's Ben Makuch, The Base "seemed to disappear" in the United States.

But Makuch, in an article published on February 24, warns that The Base appears to be "regrouping" in 2025.

"An international neo-Nazi terrorist group with origins in the U.S. appears to be quickly rebuilding its global and stateside ranks, according to information obtained by The Guardian from its digital accounts," Makuch reports. "Founded in 2018, The Base has been the intense focus of a years-long FBI counterterrorism investigation that has resulted in more than a dozen of its members arrested. It has plotted an assassination, mass shootings and other actions in Europe, which made it a proscribed terrorist organization in several countries."

The Base's "regrouping," according to Makuch, "comes at a time when the Trump Administration has made it a policy goal to move away from policing far-right extremism" and the FBI is now under the direction of Trump loyalist Kash Patel.

Makuch reports, "Experts say federal law enforcement ignoring far-right groups such as The Base could expose Americans to increased domestic terror threats…. A flurry of new images on The Base's various social media accounts, some closed and some open, show members claiming to be in the U.S. and across Europe brandishing pistols or military-style rifles and donning the trademark skull mask of the accelerationist neo-Nazi movement — one that demands acts of terrorism to bring down world governments. In one photo, a member is holding a knife and what appears to be a pistol in front of the Base flag in the United Kingdom, while others feature members in Bulgaria, Italy, Belgium and Sweden. "

Steven Rai of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) warns that The Base's activities in the U.S. need to be taken seriously.

Rai told The Guardian, "The Base has released a slow but steady trickle of propaganda over the past several months that has mostly highlighted their presence in Europe, so this shift in focus towards the U.S. should raise alarms. The timing of this shift is particularly noteworthy. While neo-Nazi accelerationist groups like The Base have been on their back foot due to intense law enforcement pressure, which disrupted their most integral organizers and propaganda artists, they may sense an opening with the recent change of administration in the U.S…. Violent extremists are absolutely paying attention to the changes in the national security establishment in the U.S."

Terrorism expert Colin Clarke, who serves as director of research at the Soufan Center, stresses that The Base are well-aware of changes in leadership at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Clarke told The Guardian, "I think groups like The Base, far-right extremist groups that are strategic, have been waiting for the right opportunity before reinvigorating their respective organizations. This means that far-right extremist groups likely perceive the reelection of Trump as a green light to rebuild without fear of arrest or prosecution."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

'Disastrous': Mass Firing Of Federal Employees Leaves 'Gaping Holes' In Government

'Disastrous': Mass Firing Of Federal Employees Leaves 'Gaping Holes' In Government

Since President Donald Trump's return to the White House less than a month ago, thousands of federal government workers have been laid off.

Trump, with the help of ally Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is gutting the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fear their agency will suffer a similar fate, and Trump proposed eliminating the U.S. Department of Education altogether.

In an article published on February 15, six Politico reporters — Liz Crampton, Marcia Brown, Danny Nguyen, Ben Lefebvre, Catherine Morehouse and Eric Bazail-Eimil — detail the ways in which Americans are likely to be affected by these mass layoffs of federal workers.

"Americans could soon start to feel the repercussions of the Trump Administration's decision to fire thousands of government workers — from public safety to health benefits and basic services that they have come to rely on," the journalists explain. "Trump's directive to slash thousands of jobs across agencies is leaving gaping holes in the government, with thousands of workers being laid off from the Education Department, the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Veterans Affairs and multiple others."

The reporters continue, "At the U.S. Forest Service, where some 3400 workers are slated to be cut, wildfire prevention will be curtailed as the West grapples with a destructive fire season that has destroyed millions of acres in California. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wasn't spared: Almost half of the agency's 2800 probationary employees were cut, while about 400 employees appeared to have taken the 'buyout' offer, meaning the agency responsible for protecting Americans from disease outbreaks and other health hazards will lose about a tenth of its workforce. That's on top of more than 2000 probationary employees fired from the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC's parent agency."

According to the Politico journalists, a source "familiar with" activities at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said that as many as 200,000 civil service workers who were in the probationary period are likely to be laid off.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is being rocked by layoffs as well.

"Haphazard cuts at GSA could be disastrous for the millions of Americans who rely on the agency's services like Login.gov, the central login system for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security," the reporters note. "The agency also streamlines much of the federal government's real estate, acquisition and other technical services, and cuts to these could have a domino effect across the government."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Pete Hegseth

'Rookie Mistake': GOP Senator Says 'Fool' Could Have Written Hegseth Remarks

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) is among the Republicans who voted to confirm Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; the only Republicans who joined Senate Democrats in voting against Hegseth's confirmation were Kentucky's Mitch McConnell, Maine's Susan Collins and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski.

The defense secretary and former Fox News host declared that membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is off the table for Ukraine, and Hegseth said that a return to Ukraine's pre-war borders is "unrealistic."

Interviewed at the Munich Security Conference, Wicker told Politico, "Hegseth is going to be a great defense secretary, although he wasn't my choice for the job. But he made a rookie mistake in Brussels…. I don't know who wrote the speech — it is the kind of thing Tucker Carlson could have written, and Carlson is a fool."

Former Fox News host Carlson is an unapologetic defender of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Wicker's criticism of Hegseth is gentle compared to the scathing criticism he is getting from Democrats and Never Trump conservatives, but the Mississippi Republicans clearly believes that President Donald Trump's defense secretary didn't handle himself well during the NATO Summit.

Wicker told Politico, "I prefer we didn't give away negotiating positions before we actually get started talking about the end of the Russia-Ukraine War.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

House Gridlock: GOP Factions Spar Over Tax Breaks And Medicare Cutbacks

House Gridlock: GOP Factions Spar Over Tax Breaks And Medicare Cutbacks

When Republican President Donald Trump started his nonconsecutive second term on Monday, January 20, small GOP majorities in both branches of Congress and a 6-3 GOP-appointed supermajority on the U.S. Supreme Court awaited him. But Republicans in Congress don't necessarily see eye to eye when it comes to funding Trump's legislative and budgetary goals.

Politico reporters Benjamin Guggenheim and Meredith Lee Hill, in an article published on February 9, detail some major tax disagreements within House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) Republican majority.

"Prominent House Republicans are privately warring over how to advance tax cuts that are expiring and President Donald Trump's long list of other tax demands — with Budget Committee Chair Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) and deficit hardliner Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) locked in a struggle against Ways and Means Chair Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) and other senior Republicans," Guggenheim and Hill explain. "The dispute is hindering Speaker Mike Johnson's plan to advance a budget blueprint this week, as different GOP factions continue to squabble over the costs of the tax plan, how to offset them to reduce their deficit impact and possible cost-saving changes to programs including Medicare and assistance for low-income Americans."

The Politico journalists note that "budget hawks" like Roy and Arrington are "still scouring for additional and highly controversial spending cuts."

"The number that lawmakers had tentatively settled on last Thursday — around $4.7 trillion — would make it virtually impossible to implement anything above an extension of the expiring tax cuts," Guggenheim and Hill report. "House Republicans agreed during their White House meeting last week that they would permanently extend the 2017 tax cuts, which are estimated by Congress' official accountants as costing $4.6 trillion."

But a House Republican, quoted anonymously, told Politicothat Roy and Arrington "will make the tax cut portion not passable."

According to Guggenheim and Hill, "Centrists and even some more conservative Republicans are also increasingly alarmed that Arrington keeps raising Medicare reforms as a potential spending offset, according to three Republicans familiar with the ongoing talks. Trump made it clear on the campaign trail that he doesn't want to touch Medicare, but Arrington has suggested a variety of changes to the program that would lower costs in the Ways and Means’ jurisdiction."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Consumer Confidence Falls As Voters Blame Trump For 'Chaos'

Consumer Confidence Falls As Voters Blame Trump For 'Chaos'

During the 2024 presidential race, Donald Trump repeatedly claimed that the U.S. economy was terrible under then-President Joe Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris. But according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) figures, unemployment stayed under 4.0 percent from February 2022 through April 2024. And U.S. unemployment was 4.1 percent in December 2024, Biden's last full month in office.

Nonetheless, voter frustration over inflation worked to Trump's advantage, and he narrowly defeated Harris by roughly 1.5 percent (according to the Cook Political Report) on Election Day.

Wall Street Journal reporters Rachel Wolfe and Joe Pinsker examine consumer confidence in an article published on February 7, laying out some reasons why it appears to be declining during Trump's second presidency.

"The Trump bump in consumer confidence is already over," Wolfe and Pinsker report. "Tariff threats, stock market swings and rapidly reversing executive orders are causing Americans across the political spectrum to feel considerably more pessimistic about the economy than they did before President Trump took office. Consumer sentiment fell about 5 percent in the University of Michigan's preliminary February survey of consumers to its lowest reading since July 2024. "

The WSJ reporters continue, "Expectations of inflation in the year ahead jumped from 3.3 percent in January to 4.3 percent, the second month in a row of large increases and highest reading since November 2023…. Morning Consult's recent index of consumer confidence, too, fell between January 25 and February 3, driven primarily by concern over the country's economic future."

Wolfe and Pinsker cite 58-year-old Paul Bisson as an example of someone who voted for Trump in 2024 but now has reservations about his economic policies, including tariffs.

Bisson told WSJ, "I don't like the turbulence. I don't like the chaos in the market…. That will make the economy worse, and that's not what we signed up for. We've already cut back. There's no more cutting back to do."

Nicholas Schuch, a 38-year-old Durham, North Carolina resident who voted for Harris, also views the economy as chaotic during Trump's second presidency. And he is thinking of moving to a country he believes has a better monetary policy.

Schuch told WSJ, "I was thinking Switzerland, potentially…. I just expect things will be chaotic, and that that is what life is now."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Cassidy Hutchinson

Johnson Fears Disclosure Of Salacious GOP Texts To Hutchinson

Former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson was a key witness for the January 6 Select Committee in 2022, and in 2024, she was among the conservative Republicans who said she would be voting for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for president.

Hutchinson told NBC News, "I have known for quite a long time, number one, that I would never in my life vote for Donald Trump ever again."

Now, with President Trump back in the White House, Hutchinson's name is back in the headlines — and she is being mentioned as a possible witness by a pro-Trump U.S. House subcommittee.

But according to the Washington Post, House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) staff is warning aides to Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) that subpoenaing Hutchinson could bring to light "embarrassing information" and sexually explicit texts she allegedly received when she was working in the White House during Trump's first presidency.

The Daily Beast's Josh Fiallo reports, "Trump's return to power has Republicans clamoring to seek retribution against political foes who probed Trump, his advisers, and his supporters about the infamous day. Sordid texts supposedly sent to Hutchinson appear to have thrown a wrench in at least a portion of those plans, however."

Fiallo adds, "Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Republican from Georgia, floated the idea of issuing a subpoena to Hutchinson seeking digital communications that might implicate Trump rivals like former Rep. Liz Cheney in wrongdoing."

Fiallo notes, however, that the "supposed texts are not stopping Loudermilk from pushing forward with an investigation — or, reinvestigation, as it’s been called — entirely."

"Johnson has still asked Loudermilk to chair a new select subcommittee to scrutinize those who probed the Capitol attack," the Daily Beast reporter explains. "Joe Biden issued [former Rep. Liz] Cheney a blanket preemptive pardon to protect her from criminal prosecutions. Hutchinson, a witness called to testify by Cheney, did not receive such a pardon."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

CNN Checks Trump's Rapid-Fire Lies At Emancipation Hall Speech

CNN Checks Trump's Rapid-Fire Lies At Emancipation Hall Speech

After being sworn in for a second term by U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts on Monday, January 20, President Donald Trump gave his inaugural address — which was followed by a different speech later in Emancipation Hall.

CNN's Daniel Dale gave Trump many fact-checks during his first term as president. And he wasted no time fact-checking Trump's Emancipation Hall speech.

Dale's colleague Jake Tapper told him, "I know there are a lot of familiar lies that were just told, but bring us up to speed on what you think the biggest ones were." And Dale responded, "There were a bunch, Jake."

Dale noted that while there was only a "smattering of falsehoods" in Trump's "scripted" inaugural speech, he "returned to his familiar lie-a-minute style" during the "unscripted" Emancipation Hall speech.

"He said the 2020 election was totally rigged," Dale told Tapper. "We know that's a lie. He said his opponents tried to rig it this time; that is more nonsense. He said California Democrats tried to cheat, and that he thinks he would have won the state this time if it were not rigged. Well, it was a free and fair election in that state as well; he lost by more than three million votes."

Dale continued, "He claimed he won Alabama this time by 48 points — more like 30, 31. And then, on immigration, he spoke of the jails of every country in the world being emptied into this country. He has never provided any evidence for his familiar claim that foreign countries are deliberating emptying prisons to send people here as migrants."

The CNN fact-checker also debunked Trump's false claims about the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building.

"He repeated the claim that former House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi has admitted that she rejected a Trump offer of 10,000 National Guard troops on January 6, 2021," Dale told Tapper. "First of all, there is no basis for the claim Trump even made her such an offer. It wouldn't even have made sense, given he, the president, is the commander of the DC National Guard — the speaker of the House has no authority to deploy them or for a deployment."

Dale added, "And second of all, (Pelosi) never admitted that such an offer was made. She has steadfastly rejected that. She is on tape, on January 6, expressing frustration with the security failure that day, and saying: I take responsibility for not having them better prepared."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Trump Pardons January 6 Felons -- Including Thugs Who Brutalized Police

Trump Pardons January 6 Felons -- Including Thugs Who Brutalized Police

During his 2024 presidential race, Donald Trump repeatedly promised to pardon the January 6 rioters — who he described as "hostages" — if he won the election. And Trump did exactly that after returning to the presidency on Monday, January 20, 2025.

President Trump pardoned more than 1500 defendants who faced charges in connection with the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building, including some who were charged with violent crimes. Many Trump critics denounced the pardon as an attack on the rule of law. But according to New York Times reporter Aishvarya Kavi, there was a celebratory mood outside a jail in Washington, D.C.

A combination of "family members, fervent supporters and former detainees" gathered outside that detention center to celebrate the pardons, Kavi reports in an article published by the Timeson January 21. And some of them were dancing to the Village People's 1978 disco hit "YMCA," which has become an unlikely favorite at Trump and MAGA events despite its longtime connection to gay culture.

"The scene outside the jail was a departure from the usual vigil held in the back of the facility, under windows that the detainees can peer out of," Kavi explains. "Men and women who were imprisoned and their families called supporters throughout the night, updating them on the status of their release — but also, to proclaim their innocence, as they ordinarily do."

Kavi continues, "The crowd had been buoyed by Mr. Trump's promise to issue sweeping pardons on Day 1 of his presidency. They were already anticipating the fulfillment of another vow of his, to pursue his rivals by prosecuting them. Mr. Trump told NBC News in December that the entire January 6 Committee 'should go to jail.'"

The Times reporter notes that many supporters of the January 6 rioters "sought to rewrite the violent history of the January 6 attack — a narrative that Mr. Trump himself has endorsed at rallies, in news conferences and on television."

Goshen, Indiana resident and MAGA supporter Scott Tapley, who was outside the jail, told the Times, "I'm so glad to see they’re being released. This is just an unspeakably joyous, happy day."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet


Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman Warns Trump Voters Are About To Get 'Brutally Scammed'

Although Paul Krugman retired from his New York Times column after almost 25 years, the liberal economist is still keeping busy and making media appearances — including an interview with The New Republic's Greg Sargent posted on January 14.

Trump aggressively campaigned on the economy last year. But Krugman, during an appearance on The New Republic's podcast, laid out a variety of reasons why he believes Trump voters will suffer economically after he returns to the White House.

Krugman told host Sargent, "A lot of people are going to get brutally scammed. Those are his most fervent supporters…. Probably the local business elites are the most fervent MAGA types out there — more so even than the working class, but that doesn't mean that Trump cares about their interests. Small businesspeople are the people that he's, all through his life, hired as contractors and then not (paid), right? Scamming people like that is what his whole life has been (about)."

Small businesses and consumers, the economist warned, will suffer the consequences if Trump follows through on the aggressive tariffs and mass deportations he is proposing.

"Trump has really radical policy ideas," Krugman told Sargent. "I obviously think they're terrible, but they are radical. He wants Smoot-Hawley-level tariffs. He wants mass deportations. He wants to take away the independence of the Federal Reserve. How do you justify all of that when we're pretty much a Goldilocks economy?"

Trump hammered President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris relentlessly over inflation during his 2024 campaign, but Krugman warned that the tariffs Trump is proposing will be quiet inflationary.

The economist told Sargent, "If we take the totality of stuff that Trump seems to want to do — he wants to raise tariffs but cut taxes on high incomes — it's basically working-class voters (who) are going to face higher prices and upper-income voters (who) are going to benefit from tax cuts. This really is very much contrary to their interests, then you add in all the other stuff. Even more than usual for a Republican, he appears to have an extremely regressive economic program in mind — one that really will effectively redistribute income away from working-class voters to the top."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Judge Aileen Cannon

Judge Cannon Allows Release Of Special Counsel Report On Trump Coup

On Monday, January 13 — a week before Donald Trump's second inauguration — the news broke that Judge Aileen Cannon had OK'd the release of part of former special counsel Jack Smith's final report on his two criminal cases against the president-elect.

Smith's final report contains two volumes: one dealing with Smith's Mar-a-Lago documents case (which Cannon dismissed), the other dealing with Smith's election interference case (which Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed without prejudice at Smith's request after Trump won the 2024 election). And Cannon gave the go-ahead for the release of the election interference portion of the report, while setting a January 17 hearing for the classified documents part.

After the news broke, CNN's Dana Bash brought on legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid for analysis.

Reid told Bash, "What we were looking for today is whether she would try to block (the full release) of Jack Smith's reports. As a special counsel, he is required by regulation to submit reports detailing his investigative decisions to the attorney general. He has submitted two reports to Attorney General Merrick Garland…. The classified documents report is not expected to be released anytime soon, because that case is still active."

Reid added, "Trump had co-defendants in that case. Their cases are still active even though Trump's has been dismissed. So, all eyes are on the January 6 report. And…. Judge Cannon cleared the way for this report to possibly be released. "

Reid noted, however, that based on conversations with sources, she "wouldn't be surprised" if Trump's lawyers "appealed" Cannon's ruling and went "higher up the legal food chain to try to block this release."

Reid told Bash, "Even though sources on both sides tell me there's not a lot of news in this report….. the Trump team had made it clear: They are going to fight Jack Smith and the Justice Department every step of the way."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

MAGA Hardliners Blast Vance Over Remarks On January 6 Pardons

MAGA Hardliners Blast Vance Over Remarks On January 6 Pardons

Hillbilly Elegy author JD Vance was once a scathing critic of Donald Trump, but by time he ran for the U.S. Senate via Ohio in 2022, he had given himself an ultra-MAGA makeover and become a forceful Trump defender. That defense played a role in Trump's decision to make Vance his running mate in 2024.

But now, the vice-president-elect is drawing angry criticism from some MAGA Republicans for saying he favors pardons for some but not all of the January 6, 2021 rioters.

President-elect Trump, since winning the 2024 election, has doubled down on his promise to pardon rioters who have faced federal charges for their attack on the U.S. Capitol Building that day. And he hasn't ruled out the possibility of pardoning January 6 rioters who violently attacked police.

Vance, during an appearance on Fox News, drew a distinction between violent and nonviolent defendants.

Vance told Fox News' Shannon Bream, "If you protested peacefully on January 6.… you should be pardoned. If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned. And there's a little bit of a grey area there."

The London Times' Hugh Tomlinson notes that Vance's comments have angered some Trump supporters, and Vance has responded that he has long been a supporter of the January 6 defendants.

"Social media posts have circulated comparing Vance to Mike Pence, Trump's vice-president during his first term in office," Tomlinson explains. "Pence is loathed by hardline MAGA supporters for refusing to block certification of the 2020 election result on the day of the riot. Some who marched on the Capitol chanted 'Hang Mike Pence.'"

On X, formerly Twitter, Vance posted, "The president saying he'll look at each case (and me saying the same) is not some walk-back. I assure you, we care about people unjustly locked up. Yes, that includes people provoked and it includes people who got a garbage trial."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Bannon's 'Woke Right' Drives Split In MAGA Movement

Bannon's 'Woke Right' Drives Split In MAGA Movement

During the United States' 2024 presidential race, much of the Republican Party rallied about Donald Trump's campaign. A long list of Never Trump conservatives endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, but they tended to be people who were no longer influential figures in the GOP.

President-elect Trump's victory was not the "landslide" his supporters say it was; he won the popular vote by roughly 1.5 percent. But he has the support of most Republicans in Congress.

In an article published by the London Evening Standardon January 7, however, journalist Sarah Baxter (who heads the Marie Colvin Center in upstate New York) argues that major divisions are emerging in the MAGA movement as Trump prepares for his return to the White House.

"The fall-out is already consuming the MAGA movement and has led to a split between nativist flame-throwers like Steve Bannon and globalist tech-bros like Elon Musk, as they wrestle for power and influence in the second Trump era," Baxter explains. "Musk, the world's richest man and biggest troll with his own platform, X, has the advantage for now, but the spat has the potential to tear MAGA apart."

Part of this MAGA infighting, according to Baxter, is what she calls the "rise of the woke right" — which she describes as MAGA Republicans who have strong feelings of victimhood.

"Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration expert at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, has identified five key features of the new woke right," Baxter writes. "These boil down to an obsession with identity politics; an ingrained sense of victimhood; a preoccupation with microaggressions; support for affirmative action for one’s own tribe; and a zero-sum mindset — somebody wins, somebody loses."

Baxter adds, "As with the far left, it can extend to glorifying foreign autocracies, such as Russia and Hungary."

Baxter describes "patriotic correctness" as "the right's version of political correctness."

"The biggest crybaby 'victims' are the January 6 rioters and their defenders, who have partially succeeded in rewriting the history of that day," Baxter says. "Those awaiting pardons by Trump fancifully promote themselves as unfairly punished patriots who stood up for 'We the People' in defense of the U.S. Constitution against hordes of Antifa and agent provocateurs in the FBI and 'deep state'…. The left's embrace of cancel culture has been enthusiastically adopted by the right."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Divisions Within GOP Are Threatening Trump's Tax Cut Package

Divisions Within GOP Are Threatening Trump's Tax Cut Package

President-elect Donald Trump has been calling for his GOP allies to pass "one powerful bill" that will tackle a variety of his legislative goals after he returns to the White House, from tax cuts to immigration and the U.S./Mexico border.

But some GOP senators, according to Politico, aren't as enthusiastic about the possibility of one big megabill as Republicans in the House of Representatives. And Bloomberg News reports that some Trump allies believe there is too much "infighting" among Republicans in Congress for the president-elect to get everything he wants on taxes in 2025.

In an article published on Wednesday, January 8, Bloomberg reporters Nancy Cook, Steven T. Dennis, and Billy House explain, "Republicans broadly agree that there's little room for error on what is a rare opportunity for the GOP to update the tax code without having to make any concessions to Democrats. There’s also time pressure: households and privately-held businesses will see their Internal Revenue Service bills rise if Congress doesn’t act by the end of the year. But Republicans openly disagree on how to meet that deadline."

The journalists add, "Hashing out those differences is likely to be a key topic of conversation later Wednesday when Trump meets with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill."

Cook, Dennis, and House note that Stephen Miller, Trump's pick for deputy White House chief of staff, has "pushed lawmakers to first pursue a border security bill" — and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) agrees.

"That pits them against House Republicans, many of whom want to cram all the party’s legislative goals — immigration, energy production and taxes — into a singular bill," according to the Bloomberg News journalists. "That's an approach that yields to the reality that the tiny House GOP majority — a fractious group of lawmakers willing to torch members of their own party during heated disputes — will have a hard time passing even one bill, let alone two."

Cook, Dennis and House point out that near the end of the 2024 presidential race, Trump, "promised to extend the personal tax cuts from 2017 and expand the state and local tax deduction, while also creating new tax breaks like no taxes on tips, overtime pay or Social Security checks."

"Trump has vowed to Wall Street executives that he would reduce the corporate tax rate to as low as 15 percent," the Bloomberg reporters observe. "That laundry list of promises surprised even some of his closest economic advisers, who privately said Trump was unlikely to turn all of this rhetoric into reality."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Kremlin Excited By Trump's Imperialism Toward Greenland, Canada And Panama

Kremlin Excited By Trump's Imperialism Toward Greenland, Canada And Panama

During the 2024 presidential race, many supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris — from lifelong Democrats to right-wing Never Trump conservatives — argued that Ukraine would be much better off if she won, as Donald Trump has been highly critical of the Biden Administration's aggressive support for military aid to that country.

President-elect Trump, however, defeated Democratic nominee Harris. And his pick for national intelligence director, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii (an ex-Democrat turned MAGA Republican), has been an outspoken defender of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Gabbard's comments, critics say, have been so pro-Kremlin that state-operated Russian media outlets have dubbed her "Russia's girlfriend."

The Daily Beast's Julia Davis, in an article published on 2024's penultimate day, lays out some reasons why the Kremlin is glad to see Trump returning to the White House.

Trump and the MAGA movement have often been described as "isolationists." Yet Trump's recent post-election comments about Greenland and the Panama Canal have had a more expansionist or imperialist quality — which, according to Davis, "delights" the Kremlin.

"President-elect Donald Trump's social media posts about annexing Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal startled America's allies and delighted foreign foes," Davis reports. "In Russia, the statements were interpreted to mean that Trump isn't really opposed to foreign wars of conquest after all. To them, Trump's tirades revealed that — just like Russian President Vladimir Putin — Trump would be delighted to invade any country that couldn't fight back."

Davis adds, "He would expect accolades and a lavish victory parade after seizing foreign territories, just like the fallout from Russia stealing Crimea in 2014. Trump infamously described the annexation of Crimea as a 'genius' and 'savvy' move."

The Daily Beast reporter notes that in pro-Kremlin Russian media outlets, Trump's "stated intentions towards Greenland, Canada, and Panama" are "being celebrated as implicit validation for Russia's current and future land grabs."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet