Today in Politics, Bulletin 139. 5/26/25

… Trump posted a Memorial Day message with this moving tribute to the men and women who paid the ultimate price serving their country in the military:

"HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY THROUGH WARPED RADICAL LEFT MINDS, WHO ALLOWED 21,000,000 MILLION PEOPLE TO ILLEGALLY ENTER OUR COUNTRY, MANY OF THEM BEING CRIMINALS AND THE MENTALLY INSANE, THROUGH AN OPEN BORDER THAT ONLY AN INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT WOULD APPROVE, AND THROUGH JUDGES WHO ARE ON A MISSION TO KEEP MURDERERS, DRUG DEALERS, RAPISTS, GANG MEMBERS, AND RELEASED PRISONERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, IN OUR COUNTRY SO THEY CAN ROB, MURDER, AND RAPE AGAIN — ALL PROTECTED BY THESE USA HATING JUDGES WHO SUFFER FROM AN IDEOLOGY THAT IS SICK, AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY."

… He then made a post telling people to “ENJOY!!!” his speech at Arlington National Cemetery: “I will be making a Memorial Day Speech at Arlington at 11:00 AM. ENJOY!!!”

… Trump voter and former talk show host John Cardillo: “Sorry, but this is grossly inappropriate. There is nothing happy about Memorial Day. And the rest of it on this day is just unbecoming for a Commander-in-Chief. Sad part is pretty much everyone feels the same, but too many are terrified to speak up.”

… In his speech at Arlington before Trump, SecDef Pete Hegseth, who repeatedly expressed hostility in the past to women serving, refused to acknowledge them: “The American soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him. We honor his sacrifice, his courage, his duty, and his love. The young men with hopes and dreams and loves is called by his country, leaves behind his hometown, his parents, his siblings, his sweetheart, all that he knows to go fight a war that he may or may not understand.”

… Trump went about as far as he has ever gone towards criticizing Putin a little bit when he was asked about recent bombings after Ukraine signed the cease fire agreement: "I'm not happy with what Putin is doing. He's killing a lot of people and I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time. We're in the middle of talking and he's shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don't like it at all. I'm surprised."

… If he really is surprised, he’s the only one who is surprised.

… Fox Chief Political Analyst Brit Hume: “Glad to hear President Trump say this, but Putin hasn’t changed. He’s always been a brutal tyrant.”

… About an hour later, Trump posted this: “I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever. I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!”

… But that was not the end of his post, because he also felt compelled to blame the victim again: “Likewise, Zelensky is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop. This is a War that would never have started if I were President. This is Zelensky’s, Putin’s, and Biden’s War, not ‘Trump’s,’ I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires, that have been started through Gross Incompetence and Hatred.”

… Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) to Fox: “The first half of this message is perfect, the rest is dumb. Trump is attacking President Zelensky while Putin bombs Ukrainian cities and it is misguided. Moral ambiguity while one nation invades another is hurting Trump’s credibility. Putin is making a mockery of Trump, and Trump keeps attacking Zelensky.”

… In other words, Trump promised repeatedly during the campaign that he had a secret plan to end the war in 24 hours and he was just bullshitting everyone because he doesn’t have the first clue what to do, he gave away all negotiating leverage months ago when he agree up front to most of what Russia was asking for before negotiations even began, and his special envoy Steve Witkoff is a dope.

… Witkoff, the man Trump entrusted to negotiate an end to the war, has never been a diplomat, never served in the military, never worked in govt at any capacity, and is not a historian or expert on affairs in the region. He got the job because he is a wealthy real estate investor pal of Trump’s from NYC and Witkoff’s son is a major player in the crypto industry, which is now Trump’s largest source of revenue.

… Witkoff has also not taken a single person from the State Dept with him during any of his 4 meetings with Putin and even used a Kremlin translator because he didn’t bring his own. Why has this been a disaster? Because Trump and Witkoff are incompetent clowns.

… Former GOP Speaker Newt Gingrich: “Putin will not be convinced by talk. He will have to be coerced by economically and militarily eliminating his ability to wage war. As long as he can wage war he will. This is his legacy and he recently pointed out Russia fought Sweden for 21 years. He wants to conquer all of Ukraine and then push forward (Estonia, Latvia,Lithuania, Moldova and Finland next on list). The time to stop him is now and the place is Ukraine.”

… Rep. Don Bacon post on X: “It is a time for honesty. Peace talks are having zero effect on Putin. His goal is to dominate Ukraine and he won’t stop until he realizes he cannot win. The US and Allies must arm Ukraine to the teeth, sanction Russia to the max, and confiscate the $300B in overseas Russian assets.”

… Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA): “I’ve had enough of Putin killing innocent people. President Trump - take action. AT LEAST SANCTIONS.”

… Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that Trump was just being too emotional: “We are taking the decisions that are necessary to ensure the security of our country. We are really grateful to the Americans and to President Trump personally for their assistance in organizing and launching this negotiation process. Of course, at the same time, this is a very crucial moment, which is associated with the emotional overload of everyone absolutely and with emotional reactions.”

… French President Macron: “President Trump now realizes that when Putin said on the phone he was ready for peace, or told his envoys he was ready for peace, he lied. We have seen once again in recent hours Trump express his anger. A form of impatience. I simply hope now that this translates into action.”

… I wouldn’t count on it.

… German Chancellor Merz announced that a major restriction on Ukraine is finally being lifted: "There are no longer any range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine, not from the British, not from the French, not from us, not from the Americans either. This means that Ukraine can now also defend itself by attacking military positions in Russia. It couldn't do that until some time ago, and with very few exceptions, it didn't do that until some time ago. Now it can.”

… Merz: “Equipping Ukraine with weapons that attack military targets in the rear - that is the decisive qualitative difference in Ukraine's warfare. Russia attacks civilian targets absolutely ruthlessly, bombing cities, kindergartens, hospitals, and old people's homes. Ukraine does not do that. And we attach great importance to keeping it that way. But, a country that can only defend itself against an attacker on its own territory is not defending itself adequately. And this defense of Ukraine is now also taking place against military infrastructure on Russian territory."

… Michael Weiss, Editor of The Insider: “Interesting on two levels. This suggests the US is consenting to unrestricted deep strikes with American weapons (let’s see if this admin’s confirms that). Also strongly hints that Germany will send Taurus cruise missiles.”

… Putin’s spokesman Peskov responded to the range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine being lifted: “This contradicts Moscow’s aspirations for a political settlement.”

This was the first slow-ish news day in quite a while - likely because of the holiday. I will take it. That likely means that all hell is about to break loose tomorrow of course. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… Trump also announced he was surrendering on EU tariffs again while declaring victory: “I received a call today from Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, requesting an extension on the June 1st deadline on the 50% Tariff with respect to Trade and the EU. I agreed to the extension — July 9, 2025 — It was my privilege to do so. The Commission President said that talks will begin rapidly.”

… Trump reduced the tariffs on China in exchange for nothing. He paused the tariffs on Canada and Mexico in exchange for nothing. He postponed tariffs on EU in exchange for nothing. He threatened Russia with sanctions multiple times if they didn’t sign ceasefire and did nothing. Art of the Deal.

… Mens fashion journalist Derek Guy: “Just spoke to the head of a large menswear brand this morning. He said he likes the chaotic jumps between tariffs hikes and pauses. The old system certainty was making business predictable and thus boring. He also likes doing cocaine.”

… Economist Justin Wolfers: “He’s like a toddler with a TV remote control. My young Matilda, she used to pick up the TV remote and she’d start to push buttons and something would attract her attention for a couple minutes, then she’d push a few more. Trump raised the tariffs, then he paused that raise, then he paused that pause. Then he paused that pause at the pause.”

… Trump said the quiet part out loud on Harvard - that the goal is to expel foreign students so more Americans can get in: "Part of the problem with Harvard is that