By Ben Meiselas
It has been an absolutely brutal Thursday morning for Donald Trump. The data keeps pouring in, and it’s clear: Americans overwhelmingly blame Trump and the MAGA Republicans for the disastrous government shutdown and the collapse of the American economy for 99% of Americans. Unless you’re a millionaire or billionaire, you’re likely hurting.
A new report shows federal spending spiked by $220 billion in the last fiscal year, up 4% overall, while foreclosures have surged nearly 20% year over year. Ninety-three farm bankruptcies were filed in the last quarter alone, nearly double from the end of 2024. That’s the Trump effect. His policies are wrecking working families, small businesses, and rural America all at once.
And what is Trump doing while millions of Americans struggle? Selling Trump Watches. Literally. He appeared in a bizarre video ad that’s playing all over right-wing TV stations saying, “Hello everyone. It’s President Donald J. Trump and it’s Trump time. Check out this red beauty…” It’s surreal. A president hawking merchandise, profiting off the presidency, while his shutdown crushes families and farmers.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson is on camera with crocodile tears, pretending to care about the very shutdown his own caucus caused. He says he’s “a very angry man” about the crisis, but offers no plan. Just more lies and excuses. Senate Majority Leader John Thune tried to spin the disaster by claiming Trump wants to “overhaul Obamacare” and provide “better health insurance.” Yet after nearly a decade of these promises, Republicans still have no plan. Not even a, well, concept of a plan.
They could end the suffering today by simply permanently extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies. But instead, they hold the government, and the American people, hostage for political games.
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Back to the news: as Trump’s team stumbles, the dysfunction is spilling everywhere. Marjorie Taylor Greene, yes, even she criticized her own party on CNN this morning, calling out Johnson for refusing to swear in Arizona’s newly elected Democrat, Adelita Grijalva. Swearing her in would give Democrats the final vote needed to release the Epstein files, so Republicans are stonewalling democracy itself, and protecting the nation’s most notorious pedophile and his associates while doing so.
At the same time, Trump and Netanyahu are bragging about the reported Israel–Hamas ceasefire, with Netanyahu even posting AI-generated propaganda calling for Trump to get a Nobel Peace Prize. Meanwhile, this is all coming as reports show Israeli tanks opening fire in Gaza despite claims that a ceasefire was starting. I hope we see a real ceasefire soon. For the sake of humanity, I hope it holds, that the hostages are brought home, and that the atrocities being committed against Palestinians in Gaza come to a permanent halt. But spare me the AI art trying to spike the football amid the horrific devastation we’ve witnessed over these past two years, especially as the bloodshed continues as of this moment, and as Trump turns the military against U.S. citizens here at home.
This is where we are: Trump bragging about watches, Netanyahu posting AI fan art, and American families facing eviction while MAGA Republicans shut down the government and hold health care hostage.
And just when you think it can’t get more absurd and dangerous, Trump, who seemed to confuse habeas corpus for a person, apparently recently ordered a military strike on a Colombian boat, not a Venezuelan one, sparking an international incident. Colombia’s president says that Colombian citizens were on board. The White House called the accusation “baseless,” but even U.S. officials privately believe the boat was likely Colombian.
What the hell is going on in the United States? And don’t even get me started on RFK Jr. suggesting that circumcision could lead to autism. Seriously…
Every day feels like a new low. But we’re documenting it, exposing it, and fighting back. And I know you are too. Because democracy depends on it. Unlike the legacy media, we will never, ever both-sides what we are witnessing at this moment in our history. And we will never apologize for that.
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P.S. Speaking of the legacy media, I hope you have a moment to read my response to Rupert Murdoch, here.
