Today in Politics, Bulletin 140. 5/27/25

… Trump said the quiet part out loud and admitted today that he has been doing everything he can to help Vladimir Putin. He posted this on Truth Social: “What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!”

… Russian state media’s social media account RT immediately mocked Trump for his post: “President Trump warns Moscow, claiming Russia avoided ‘REALLY BAD’ consequences only thanks to him ‘Putin doesn’t realize… he’s playing with fire!’ — Trump’s message leaves little room for misinterpretation. Until he posts the opposite tomorrow morning.”

… Independent journalist Jay in Kyiv: “As Russian missile barrages again pour onto Ukraine at this hour, it's now only a question as to what Putin enjoys more - massacring the civilian population of Ukraine or humiliating Trump.”

… This was my response on social media.

… Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) then posted this on X: “I believe president trump was sincere when he thought his friendship w Putin wld end the war. Now that being the case ITS TIME FOR SANCTIONS STRONG ENUF SO PUTIN KNOWS ‘game over’.” (I used to convert these into proper grammar, now I just leave them as is).

… Financial Times: “The US opposed a joint G7 effort to lower the $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil exports during last week's meeting of finance ministers. The price cap, introduced by the G7 and EU in December 2022, bans Western companies from shipping, insuring, or otherwise servicing Russian oil sold above $60 per barrel. The mechanism was designed to limit the Kremlin's ability to finance its war against Ukraine. The move received backing from the EU and G7 members France, Germany, Italy, and the UK. However, the proposal was dropped after US Treasury Sec Scott Bessent declined to support it.”

… Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) announced today on Fox that he is leaving the Senate to be the next Governor of AL: “It’s home. Today, I announce that I will be the future Governor of the great state of Alabama.”

… Tuberville lives in Florida. He now has to move to Alabama to run. Or at least pretend to move there.

… HHS Secretary RFK Jr. spent the last several days in Argentina, where he celebrated that country’s withdrawal from World Health Org with their right-wing president Javier Milei:

… Politico: “The Trump admin is weighing requiring all foreign students applying to study in the US to undergo social media vetting. The admin is ordering US embassies and consular sections to pause scheduling new interviews for such student visa applicants. If the admin carries out the plan, it could severely slow down student visa processing. It also could hurt many universities who rely heavily on foreign students to boost their financial coffers.”

… The Trump admin ordered all federal agencies today to cut ties with Harvard and revoke all existing contracts and grants with the university. There are about 30 govt contracts with Harvard totally around $100 million.

… Veterans activist Fred Wellman on Harvard grants getting pulled: “This is going to horrifically impact thousands of veterans who are part of studies and clinical trials for healthcare issues ranging from cancer to nutrition to mental health. Just one study alone was to help doctors determine the risk of suicide among ER patients. This petty Trump fight will once again screw over our veteran community. He doesn’t care.”

… Sen. Chuck Grassley: “Alan Dershowitz says he is ‘persona non grata’ at Harvard. His response should not be to accept it BUT TO REGULARLY WALK THE HALLS AND CAMPUS TO REMIND THOSE FOOLISH PPL THAT ITS STAFF OF ALAN’S CALIBER THAT HAS made Harvard’s reputation.”

… Dersh has been banned from the Martha’s Vineyard book fair for years. No way he shows his face around Harvard.

… NPR filed a lawsuit this morning in fed court against the Trump admin over his executive order barring the use of congressionally appropriated funds for NPR and PBS. From the lawsuit: "It is not always obvious when the govt has acted with a retaliatory purpose in violation of the First Amendment. 'But this wolf comes as a wolf. The Order targets NPR and PBS expressly because, in the President's view, their news and other content is not 'fair, accurate, or unbiased.'"

… The lawsuit alleges that Trump’s action violates the Constitution since Congress appropriated the money, which is in their sole authority - not the president’s.

… A new poll from Impact Research has MI Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s job approval rating soaring to 63% in a swing state won by Trump in 2024. Fellow presidential contender KY Gov. Andy Beshear has similar approval ratings in a state Trump won big three times. Politicians on the national stage tend to get most of the attention, but Democratic governors who can win big in swing states and red states get my attention.

… WaPo: “Credit scores are plunging for millions now that the Trump admin has resumed collection on defaulted student-loan payments. Countless borrowers are suddenly being rejected for car and housing loans.

… NYT on the credit scores: "This is the start of something big and we need to be paying attention."

… Trump economic advisor Kevin Hassett to CNBC on Trump’s threat to impose a 25% tariff on iPhones unless they are made in the US: “Everybody is trying to make it seem like it’s a catastrophe if there’s a tiny little tariff on them right now, to try to negotiate down the tariffs. In the end, we’ll see what happens, we’ll see what the update is, but we don’t want to harm Apple.”

… CNBC: What is Tim Cook supposed to do? HASSETT: “They need to move their stuff onshore as much as possible to make it so that the US economy is secure and not prone to Chinese extortion.”

… James Surowiecki, former Financial Editor for the New Yorker: “Trump threatened Apple with a company-specific tariff because it's going to make iPhones in India, not China. Are we supposed to be worried about Indian ‘extortion’ too?”

… Reuters reports that despite overall EV sales up 27.8% in Europe in April, Tesla sales fell an astonishing 49%. It was the 4th straight month that Tesla sales have fallen in Europe. Tesla's European market share is now down to 0.7%.

… Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has been getting abused on social media by Trump supporters after he took his strong stand against the budget bill. He responded to his MAGA trolls with this post today: “If we’re going to have campaign disclosure laws at all, the paid grifters on X and other platforms should be required to disclose who’s paying them to influence elections.”

… Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello responded to the Trump v. Springsteen feud: “Trump is just mad at him because Bruce draws a bigger audience.”

… As more details emerge on Trump’s pardon late yesterday of VA Sheriff Scott Jenkins, it just keeps getting more disgusting. BBC: “Jenkins was found guilty of 1 count of conspiracy, 4 counts of honest services fraud and 7 counts of bribery concerning programs receiving fed funds. Prosecutors said he accepted bribes from 8 people, including 2 undercover FBI agents. The men who bribed Jenkins paid for auxiliary deputy sheriff positions so they could avoid traffic tickets and carry concealed firearms without a permit.”

… Former US Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer to CBS: "The typical way of approaching a grant of clemency would be to look for somebody who has accepted responsibility for the crime they were convicted of, and who has demonstrated growth and rehabilitation after serving some or all of the sentence that was imposed. It's not the type of case that in normal times would receive any consideration for a pardon because the sheriff has not served any of his sentence."

… Ed Martin, who is now serving as the US Pardon Attorney after his nomination for DC US Attorney was rejected by the Senate, posted this comment about his decision to recommend a pardon for Sheriff Jenkins: “No MAGA left behind.”

Reminder there is no Bulletin tomorrow because I do my podcast Uncovered Wednesdays at 4:00 ET, where we do a deep dive into the Top 10 stories of the week. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… NYT on another pardon: “Weeks before Trump pardoned Paul Walczak, his mother, Elizabeth Fago, attended a $1M/head ‘candlelight dinner’ with Trump for MAGA Inc. Walczak's pardon application emphasized Fago's financial support for Trump and her