Today in Politics, Bulletin 124. 5/5/25

… A big sigh of relief for Sen. Jon Ossoff and Democrats generally as GA Gov. Brian Kemp announces that he will not run for Senate in 2026. He was the only prospective Republican candidate who has consistently polled with a significant lead over Ossoff. Ossoff’s dream matchup is against Marge Greene, who he has been taunting to get in the race. Greene says she is “seriously looking at it.”

… Greg Bluestein, AJC: “Gov. Brian Kemp tells the AJC he will not run for U.S. Senate in 2026, dashing the hopes of Republicans in Georgia and Washington who saw him as their strongest shot to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in 2026.”

… Kemp posted on X: “Over the last few weeks, I have had many conversations with friends, supporters, and leaders across the country who encouraged me to run for the US Senate in 2026. I greatly appreciate their support and prayers for our family. After those discussions, I have decided that being on the ballot next year is not the right decision for me and my family.”

… Trump, Sen. Majority Leader John Thune, Republican Senate Campaign Chair Tim Scott and other Republican senators lobbied Kemp hard to get into the race. This likely signals that Kemp is focused on a presidential run in 2028. Kemp’s decision is a big setback for the GOP in the midterms, as he was their #1 candidate prospect.

… Thune was asked by Semafor about Kemp bowing out: “We’re disappointed about that. He would have been a great candidate.”

… He was then asked if Marge Greene could win a statewide race? “I don’t know the answer to that, obviously it’s up to the people of Georgia."

… Greene sent out a fundraising email: “Before anything further happens — before I move to the next step — I need to hear from you. I need to know if I should run for Senate in Georgia, and if I should I need to know if I will have your support or not. This would be the biggest fight of my life, the most important, the most brutal, and the most high-stakes. The radical left, the fake news media, the RINOs, the globalist billionaires — they would all come after me with everything they’ve got. But I’m not afraid of them.”

… This photo was Kemp a month before the election when he FINALLY and reluctantly decided to endorse Trump. My caption to the photo then was that Kemp was doing the absolute minimum he had to because if he didn’t endorse Trump he would have no shot with the Republican base when he ran for president in 2028. But he couldn’t even look at him and looked miserable while doing it.

… Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), who is rumored to be interested in running along with several others who have been waiting for Kemp: “Like many, I spoke with the Governor to urge him to run. I’m disappointed that my efforts to persuade him were not successful. Republicans can absolutely win this Senate seat in GA, and I encourage all interested parties to fully commit and invest in the #1 pickup opportunity in the country. I will speak to Pres Trump and his team and do whatever is necessary.”

… Meanwhile, Marge Greene was on Steve Bannon’s show as they echoed Hitler’s speech in 1934 predicting a 1,000-year Reich. Greene: “A very important part of this segment is the MAHA movement - RFK Jr gets incredible …” Bannon: “If you merge MAHA and MAGA, that’s how we won. It’s like 1932, you govern forever.”

… A trucking company is buying $20 million in Trump Crypto hoping it will influence the WH to help them against foreign competitors. It doesn’t even have the $20 million in cash to do it, so they are selling bonds to raise enough money to get Trump’s attention.

… HuffPost: “An international trucking logistics firm is buying as much as $20 million worth of President Trump’s crypto coins to influence the admin’s trade policy — the precise sort of corruption that experts warned Trump was encouraging when he unveiled his venture. Freight Technologies CEO Javier Selgas said that buying Trump coin would be ‘an effective way to advocate for fair, balanced and free trade between Mexico and the US.’”

… Freight Technologies filed a notice with the SEC that it was issuing bonds to raise the money to buy Trump Crypto: “The company will use the net proceeds from the offering to purchase TRUMP coins.”

… Tony Carrk, executive director of Accountable.us: “It’s just another day for Donald Trump that an international freight company is paying a $20 million tribute towards the Trump family fortune after openly wishing it will lead to admin tariff relief.”

… Speaker Mike Johnson was asked to comment on Trump’s statement that his tariffs will mean people have to buy 2-3 dolls for Christmas instead of 30: “We had to disrupt the system, and we're going to have the desired results.”

… FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr was asked if he will block the Verizon merger with Frontier Communications because Verizon has a DEI policy: “Yeah. Of course. I've told everybody that if they want to get a deal done before the FCC, they need to get rid of any invidious forms of discrimination.”

… Trump said he’s putting tariffs on movies filmed in other countries: “The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death. Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the US States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the USA, are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda! Therefore, I am authorizing the Dept of Commerce, and the US Trade Rep, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.”

… Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick quickly responded: “We’re on it!”

… Trump was later asked about it by a reporter: “If they're not willing to make a movie inside the US and we should have a tariff on movies that come in. So that's sort of a threat to our country in the sense and it's been a very popular thing - moviemakers love it. Other nations have been stealing the movies— the movie-making capabilities from the US. I’ve done some very strong research over the past week and we’re making very few movies now.”

… Turns out his “very strong research” was talking to his friend, crazy actor Jon Voight.

… Hollywood Reporter: “Jon Voight, whom Trump named one of his ‘special ambassadors’ to Hollywood, is the instigator of the president’s sudden interest in film production, according to several sources. The actor and his manager Steven Paul have been taking meetings with leaders of the Hollywood guilds and studios about a proposal to Trump for how to boost U.S. production with a domestic film incentive.”

… Deadline: “We understand that Trump’s other two Hollywood Ambassador picks, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson, are not involved in Voight’s conversations. In January, Trump said he was appointing Voight, Stallone and Gibson with ‘the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!’”

… However, Voight reportedly recommended tax breaks and incentives for Hollywood studios and filmmakers. But Trump apparently decided tariffs was more his style: “So far, the president appears to have interpreted that advice in the punitive language he prefers — tariffs as stick, rather than incentive as carrot.”

… Spokesman for Gavin Newsom: “Looks like it’s distraction day again in Washington, D.C.”

… Speaking of Nutlick, he didn’t sound very optimistic about the trade meeting tomorrow between Trump and Canada PM Mark Carney: "They have basically been feeding off of us for decades upon decades upon decades. They have a socialist regime and it's basically feeding off of America. Why do we do our films in Canada? C'mon! I just don't see how it works out perfectly."

… They said they were going to do 90 trade deals in 90 days. They said that 24 days ago. Still 0 deals.

… CNN’s Kasie Hunt: “Is Marco Rubio still working on the Abrego Garcia case? TAMMY BRUCE: I'm not going to speak to his work in detail. HUNT: You're the spokesperson for the State Department!”

… House Republicans were laser-focused on the things that really matter today, holding a hearing on officially renaming Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America with a federal statute. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC): "We shouldn't let certain allergic reactions to decisions made by the Trump administration stand in the way of good public policy.”

… Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY): "Throughout our country's history, presidents have changed the names of America's lands and waters. The change we are discussing today signals to the world that America is standing tall and that we are proud of our country."

… Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) responded for the Democrats: “The Gulf of Mexico was named over 500 years ago. If we want to update that name to reflect our current American culture, maybe we should rename it the ‘Sea of Emoluments’ - a place where one could board the Ship of Fools and navigate from a State of Ignorance to the Confederacy of Dunces. Because that appears to be where this legislation is taking us.”

… After submitting a record $1 Trillion defense budget proposal to Congress, Pete Hegseth is eliminating a big chunk of the leadership of the US military: “SecDef Hegseth has ordered senior Pentagon leadership to cut the number of 4-star generals and admirals by at least 20% across the military, according to a memo signed by Hegseth dated Monday and obtained by CNN.”

… Hegseth announced the new plan in heavy makeup from his TV studio/office at the Pentagon: “Less Generals, more GIs.”

… EU Commission Pres. Ursula von der Leyen and French Pres. Macron announced a massive effort to lure top scientists and researchers from the US to Europe as the Trump admin declares war on science. Von der Leyen: “We will put forward a 500 million package for 2025-2027 to make Europe a magnet for researchers, as well as ambitious proposals for R&I in the next EU budget. We will also offer the best and brightest the right incentives to come to Europe.”

… She said that Trump made a “gigantic miscalculation” that the EU wants to take advantage of: “The role of science in today’s world is questioned. The investment in fundamental, free and open research is questioned. But science has no passport, no gender, no ethnicity or political party.”

… “Choose Europe will also help fast-track innovation from concept to market. We will launch the first ever Innovation Act and a Startup and Scaleup Strategy. We will also look to make it easier and more attractive to come here, stay and find a place for research.”

… Macron said his country will kick in another 100 million: “There can be no lasting democracy without free and open science. We must not downplay what is at stake today. No one could have imagined a few years ago that one of the world's largest democracies would abolish research programs on the grounds that there was the word diversity in their programs. No one could have imagined that one of the world's greatest democracies could, in one fell swoop, strike out the possibility of obtaining a visa for a researcher.”

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If you missed the Weekend Bulletin, you can find it here.

… Politico reported that Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who was visiting the White House today, reneged on the pledge he made in Feb to Trump that he will accept 2,000 children from Gaza with cancer and other serious illnesses. RFK Jr: “They took 44, and then