This Weekend in Politics, Bulletin 381.

… The ‘Rededicate 250’ National Jubilee of Prayer was held today in DC. And it turns out it was God who wanted the ballroom. Speaker Eric Metaxas: “It’s hard to believe that it would take two centuries for the Lord to raise up a great man to bring that ballroom finally to stand where it needs to stand.”

… Speaker Mike Johnson gave a prayer: “We've seen sinister ideologies sow confusion. We witnessed attacks on our history and heroes and spiritual identity. These voices insist to the young and impressionable that our story, the American story is one of oppression and hypocrisy and failure. That this story can only be understood through the lens of our sins. Father, we reject that. We rebuke it in your name.”

… Trump’s prerecorded message for the event with lot of edits was a complete disaster. He looked like a cadaver, sounded like he's on a ventilator, and can't even properly read the sections that come from a book he's never read (the Bible). This was the worst I have ever seen him look and sound. He could barely talk. I can’t do it justice with the written word so here is a link to it if you want to watch it via X or from Bluesky.

… Franklin Graham: “America has become completely sick with sin. Transgenderism, same-sex marriage, opening women’s locker rooms to men are just the tip of the iceberg - video games are full of violence. This grieves the heart of God, and will bring his judgment if we don’t repent as a nation.”

… Mike Johnson in the Fox booth before the event: “The people who oppose this want to erase the history of American and pretend we aren’t a nation dedicated to God. The naysayers who have created this new term ‘Christian nationalism’ as a pejorative, a derogatory term, are trying to silence the influence and voices of Christians, and I think that’s wildly inappropriate.”

… Johnson was asked about a few other topics besides union of church and state:

• On affordability and inflation: “As soon as we get the Strait of Hormuz straightened out, we will get back to the kitchen table issues.”

• Q - “What is your message to Black voters about redistricting? Johnson: This brings back fairness and certainty to the system.”

• On mifepristone: “By mailing the drugs to women across state lines, you go around state laws. It’s a serious problem. Abortions have increased in numbers since Dobbs overturned Roe, and that’s a great concern to us. The mailing of this drug is a very dangerous thing.”

… Financial Times posted a chart showing how busy Trump has been making stock trades in 2026. The financial disclosure just released only covers the 1Q of 2026, when he made 3,642 trades in the first 3 months of the year.

… WaPo: “Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of 7 Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial, failed to make a runoff after voters in his state heeded Trump’s call to oust him. The loss marked a bitter end to Cassidy’s 2 terms in the Senate and the most significant defeat for a Republican who sought to hold Trump accountable for the J6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol since Rep. Liz Cheney lost her primary 4 years ago.”

… “The president has been intent on rewriting the history of Jan. 6 and eager to punish those who blamed him for sparking it. Cassidy has rarely bucked Trump since he returned to the WH. Cassidy voted to confirm RFK Jr. last year despite concerns about Kennedy’s criticisms of vaccines - a deeply personal issue to the senator, a physician who has described watching patients die of diseases that vaccines can prevent.”

… Cassidy in his concession speech: “When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to. But you don’t pout. You don’t whine. You don’t claim the election was stolen.”

… Trump posted: “Bill Cassidy, after falsely using his ‘relationship’ with me during his political career, and winning Elections because of it, voted to impeach me on preposterous charges that were fake then, and now, are criminally insane! His disloyalty to the man who got him elected is now a part of legend, and it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!”

… Pete Buttigieg on CNN: “In my experience, Sen. Cassidy is a normal, honest, and very conservative Republican. It turns out people like that have less and less of a home in Trump’s Republican Party. We are seeing more extreme candidates. It’s organized more and more around one man, who remains deeply unpopular.”

… Cassidy played this in the worst possible way. He took a stand on impeachment thinking Trump was finished. Then Trump comes back and he sells out on everything thinking he could appease him somehow. He sold his soul and lost anyway. He loses with his integrity gone. What a legacy.

… Trump posted: “Bad Congressman Tom Massie voted against Tax Cuts, the Border Wall, our Military and Law Enforcement. Actually, he voted against almost everything that is good. The Worst Republican Congressman in History. KY, vote the bum out on Tuesday. We can’t live with this troublemaker for another two years. He is a true negative force!!!”

… Rep. Thomas Massie, whose election is Tues: “You can tell that I’m ahead in the polls and they’re desperate. That’s why they’re sending the Secretary of War to my district tomorrow. That’s why the president’s losing sleep and tweeting about this. That’s why AIPAC has dumped another $3 million into my race this weekend.”

… Massie: “3 billionaires from outside of KY have funneled millions of dollars in here. They’re trying to buy a seat. Miriam Adelson has given so much money to my opponent that instead of paying for the ballroom, they’re going to need taxpayer money for the ballroom now.”

… Trump posted: “Word is that Rand Paul and Lauren Boebert, two very difficult, and highly unreasonable, Republican Votes, are right now in KY, which I won by 31 points, parading around like fools for the Worst ‘Republican’ Congressman in the History of our Party! His name is Thomas Massie, and he is a disloyal, ungracious, and sanctimonious FOOL, who almost never votes for even the best of Republican Values.”

… He wasn’t done with Bobo: “Is anyone interested in running against Weak Minded Lauren Boebert? You remember Lauren moved to the District when it became obvious that she couldn’t win in her original Congressional District (The Third!) — A Carpetbagger, indeed! Even though I long ago endorsed Boebert, if the right person came along, it would be my Honor to withdraw that Endorsement, and endorse a good and proper alternative. Just let me know, or announce your Candidacy, and I will be there for you!”

… Boebert responded: “Yes, I saw the President’s post. No, I’m not mad or offended. I knew the risks when I agreed to stand by my friend Thomas Massie. I was, and will be, America First, America Always, and MAGA. Onward.”

… Right-wing podcaster Owen Shroyer: “What do Lauren Boebert, Thomas Massie, and Marjorie Taylor Greene have in common? They all forced the vote on the Epstein Act.”

… Greene: “There were only 4 of us, Republicans, that signed the discharge petition to force the vote to release the Epstein files. Thomas Massie, Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert, and myself. Trump has come after us one by one ever since then. Even now, all the files are still not released, and the Epstein class remains protected.”

… Greene: “Wars are being waged, the markets are being manipulated, and the average American is being driven further into ruin while the Epstein class reigns and has yet to face any accountability. I will never regret signing that discharge petition, refusing to back down, and resigning as I want nothing to do with a President and a Party that bows to the Epstein class.”

… Bloomberg’s Steven Dennis: “Reminder Trump can’t pass bills or confirm nominees the rest of this year if he loses 4 Rs on partisan votes, and he now has an unfettered Bill Cassidy, potentially an unfettered John Cornyn looming, alongside an unfettered Thom Tillis, plus Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins.”

… Axios: “Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones and recently began discussing plans to use them to attack the US base at Guantanamo Bay, US military vessels and possibly Key West, FL, 90 miles north of Havana, according to classified intelligence shared with Axios.”

… “The intelligence - which could become a pretext for US military action - shows the degree to which the Trump admin sees Cuba as a threat because of developments in drone warfare and the presence of Iranian military advisers in Havana.”

… Senior US official: “When we think about those types of technologies being that close, and a range of bad actors from terror groups to drug cartels to Iranians to the Russians, it’s concerning. It’s a growing threat.”

… This is an Admin that hunts down leakers of classified information and launches investigations including subpoenas to media companies who print the info to discover their sources. But they seem completely disinterested in leakers to Axios. I wonder why.

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… New CBS poll - Is the economy good? Yes-29%. Approval of Trump’s handling of inflation-29%.

… The Senate parliamentarian stripped the section to pay $1 billion of taxpayer money for the ballroom from the Republican bill to fund DHS. The parliamentarian said it was inappropriate for that part of the bill to only be approved by the Judiciary Committee since it involved multiple federal agencies that several committees have jurisdiction over. So the ballroom money must now be approved with 60 votes.

… Sen. John Fetterman was back on Fox again for one of his daily appearances on the regime propaganda network to assure Trump that he can count on his vote for the ballroom. These are two of his quotes verbatim:

• “Like, the Reflecting Pool and the ballroom - I don’t care about those things. I think the it’s entirely appropriate. I mean, I think I’ve seen a picture, assuming it’s not AI, you know, so far the Reflecting Pool looks good. But if that’s $13 million, really that’s small. I mean, America is turning 50 years old. You know, why wouldn’t we want to make sure everything looking great. And now we do need a ballroom. You know, we do. I mean, I, I, really, um, I think we have, you know, much bigger fish to fry. So I’m saying, build it, or not, and that’s where I’m at. Not just because the president asks for one doesn’t mean I’m going to oppose it necessarily.”

• “Right now it become, um, people like, it’s, you know, America’s the good guy. You know, Iran is the bad guy. I mean, of course, nobody likes to see gas at this prices right now you know. I blame Iran, you know. I don’t blame Iran. I don’t blame the admin, you know.”

… Iran’s response to the latest US peace proposal had 5 conditions of their own for Trump before they would agree to any peace deal.

• End the war on all fronts across the Middle East.

• Lift of US sanctions on Iran.

• Release of all Iranian funds that have been frozen.

• Compensate Iran for all war damages.

• Recognize Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.

… In other words, leave Iran in a better position that they were before the war. No wonder Trump was furious.

… Trump lashed out on Truth Social with another threat: “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”

… Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) on Fox: “Putting troops on the ground is a whole new level of escalation, so I think the president is weighing that very carefully. If Iran in the coming days and weeks doesn’t make the choice for a path to peace, I’m afraid we’re gonna have to use our military and I think the president will use that thoughtfully and very carefully.”

… Sen. Lindsey Graham on NBC:

• Q - “Do you agree with the president that he shouldn't be taking Americans' financial situation into account when dealing with Iran? Graham: That's his Churchill moment. Do I worry about gas prices? Yes. But Trump is right—whatever price we have to pay, we’ll pay.”

• Q - Is it worth losing the midterms? Graham: It’s worth losing my job.”

• Q - Should be bomb their energy infrastructure? Graham: “Hurt them more. Maybe they will make a deal if you hurt them enough.”

• On Cassidy and Massie: “Massie is going to lose. You can disagree with Trump but if you try to destroy him, you’re going to lose because this is the party of Trump. Thank you President Trump for endorsing me.”

… Sen. Chris Van Hollen: "You heard Lindsey Graham. He said 'this is the party of Donald Trump.' It's a personality cult. We need checks and balances, a personality cult of rubber-stamps."

… The Express: “While golfing itself poses little concern, it is Trump’s comprehensive security arrangements that ultimately burden American taxpayers the most, costing millions every time he ventures out for a game. The 79-year-old’s golf outings since the start of his second term have been meticulously documented, along with the estimated costs associated with those trips.”

… “The figures are striking. Trump has played golf on 106 of 482 days since returning to the WH in January 2025, representing 22% of his presidency. It appears that 19 of those days have occurred in 2026 alone - but that isn’t even the most concerning statistic. That honor goes to the estimated total expense of Trump’s golf trips since January 20, 2025, which currently stands at $148.4 million.”

… The estimated expense is based on the average price per round calculated from the cost per trip identified within the GAO’s 2019 Report on the cost of 4 Golf Trips taken by Trump in his first Presidency, yet, regardless of how one interprets it, it remains a deeply concerning figure.”

… Trump’s former criminal defense attorney now Dep. AG Todd Blanche was on Fox to talk about his ongoing investigation into the 2020 election: “There’s a ton of evidence that the 2020 election was rigged. We have multiple investigations. This is very difficult because they are very good at hiding misconduct.”

… Q - “So you believe there will be a definitive answer as to whether the 2020 election was stolen? Blanche: We’re looking at it and we hope to get one.”

… James Comey on NBC: Q - “Your decision to reopen the Clinton email investigation 11 days before voters went to the polls in 2016 - knowing what you know now, would you make the same decision? Comey: I think so. Q - Do you think your decision played a role in the election of Trump? Comey: I hope not. My goal that year was to stay out of politics. I'd have to do the same thing again.”

... WH Trade Advisor Jamieson Greer on ABC: Q - How do you respond to critics who say not much was achieved in this China summit? And what we're the most tangible specifics to come out it? Greer: There are a handful of items. We'll have a fact sheet within the next few days to give more details.”

… Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who cast the deciding vote to confirm Hegseth: “The careless decision to reduce our force posture in Europe, along with moves by Pete Hegseth and his political henchmen to force out some of our finest general officers is amateur hour at best and deadly at worst. Hegseth continues to surprise and disrespect our greatest allies and some of our best military professionals with impulsive decisions not grounded in reality or good judgment.”

… “If the rumors are true that Hegseth is trying to sideline Gen. Chris Donahue, one of our nation’s finest warfighters, by downgrading US Army Europe-Africa to a 3-star command, he is taking another step down a dangerous path. A step that is not in the best interests of our nation or our servicemembers. Gen. Donahue has dedicated his entire career to upholding the high standards and warrior ethos that Hegseth claims he is restoring to our ranks.

… “Gen. Donahue has led Soldiers at all levels in Airborne (including Ft. Bragg’s 82nd) and Mechanized units, the 75th Ranger Regiment, and our most prestigious special operation units. He deployed over 20 times in support of Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, New Dawn, Inherent Resolve, Atlantic Resolve, Freedom’s Sentinel, European Assure, Deter and Reinforce, and in support of the Sudan crisis.”

… “Hegseth would do well to surround himself with more patriots like Gen. Donahue and to get his henchmen, who are not qualified to carry Donahue's bag, out of the Pentagon. Keep your word, Mr. Secretary: choose meritocracy over your mediocre yes-men.”

… Losing a primary or announcing retirement seems to provide a short-term dose of minimal courage for some congressional Republicans. I suppose that is the occasion where they finally feel able to tell the truth once in a while for a few months.

… Spectrum News host Taylor Popielarz: “I hosted CSPAN this morning and had a 3-time Trump voter who called in to share this:

• “It’s hard for me to say this, but I think, if i can open up about it in public that it might help others, I wanted to believe Trump was the real deal for a long time, even though I had doubts because I knew enough about his business history to think otherwise. But now I regret my support for him and I should’ve known better.”

• “He’s the worst president we’ve ever had and he’s the most corrupt president we’ve ever had. I know it’s hard, it took me a while to be able to say that. Very difficult when you commit yourself to believing in somebody.”

We survived our 7-hour hike yesterday in the northern Maine woods along the rim of the Gulf of Hagas ‘The Grand Canyon of Maine’. It was pretty difficult and we are sore today because the trail was a constant up and down over rocks and roots with a hundred small streams to go through. Several times we thought we lost the trail because we couldn’t believe what was in front of us was part of it. But it had some rewarding scenery.