Today in Politics, Bulletin 218. 9/29/25

… Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries had their meeting with Trump today in the Oval Office in their effort to make a deal to avert a govt shutdown in exchange maintaining health care premium subsidies under the ACA. The WH and Republicans in Congress have chosen to demagogue the issue, posting in a coordinated way throughout the day that Democrats are only doing this to give free health care to migrants and trans people.

… Trump decided to hold the meeting behind closed doors with no press, which is rare for him. Schumer afterwards: “We laid out to the president some of the consequences of what’s happening in health care, and by his face and by the way he looked, I think he heard about them for the first time.”

… Jeffries: “It was a frank and direct discussion with the president and Republican leaders. But significant and meaningful differences remain. Democrats are fighting to protect the health care of the American people. And we are not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the health care of everyday Americans. Period. Full stop.”

… JD Vance after the meeting: “You don’t use your policy disagreements as leverage to not have essential services of govt actually function. I think we’re heading towards a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing.”

… Trump shut down the govt in his first term over funding for his border wall. But I suppose that was around the time Vance was calling Trump ‘America’s Hitler’.

… Vance: “If you look at the original thing they did with this negotiation, it was a $1.5 trillion spending package, basically saying to the American people, we want to give hundreds of billions of dollars to illegal aliens for their health care, We think the American people are going to suffer because these guys won’t do the right thing.”

… Jon Favreau: “If no one asks him to defend this absurd lie I’m going to lose my fucking mind.”

… Homeland Security Committee Democrats: “When Republicans hurt Americans — like cutting their healthcare — they start lying about immigrants to distract from the real issue. Every. Single. Time.”

… Jon Lovett: “These guys cannot and will not defend what they actually did, which is cut hundreds of billions of dollars in health care for AMERICANS. The ACA subsidies expiring will hit millions of AMERICANS. But no it’s ‘Peruvian sex changes’ and DEI in Burma and blah blah blah.”

… Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) on Fox before the meeting: “Let’s bring them into the Oval Office, let’s give them a little taste of what we gave Zelensky back in the spring.”

… Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA) on Newsmax: “I love that the Trump admin is saying, ‘Okay, you’re gonna do this, we’re not gonna have a prolonged shutdown and then just bring people back so all the non-essentials get a two week vacation. They’re gonna be furloughed and then perhaps terminated if we feel those agencies can functionally effectively without them.’ And so that’s something that they better take into consideration.”

… CNN: “No jobs report on Friday if the govt is shut down, according to the shutdown plan released by the Labor Department this morning: “Economic data that are scheduled to be released during the lapse will not be released, and all active data collection will stop.”

… Curious.

… Trump announced new tariffs on furniture and movies today: “In order to make North Carolina, which has completely lost its furniture business to China, and other Countries, GREAT again, I will be imposing substantial Tariffs on any Country that does not make its furniture in the United States. Details to follow!!!”

… “Our movie making business has been stolen from the USA, by other Countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby.’ California, with its weak and incompetent Governor, has been particularly hard hit! Therefore, in order to solve this long time, never ending problem, I will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the US.”

… Chair of America First Women, founder of Women for Trump, and J6 organizer Amy Kremer: “The cost of living is out of control. If you don’t grocery shop, you need to go to the grocery store and see for yourself. The prices are outrageous and continue to climb. I don’t know how people are living. Families are struggling and can’t afford to eat. Our elderly are hurting and too prideful to say anything. Something has gotta give.”

… I wonder who caused all that? And whether he has any solutions. He certainly isn’t going in any grocery stores.

… Guardian: “Stephen Miller has played a leading role in directing US strikes against suspected Venezuelan drug boats, according to 3 people familiar with the situation. At times, his role has superseded that of Marco Rubio. The strikes on the Venezuelan boats allegedly carrying narcotics, which the admin has claimed were necessary because interdiction did not work, have been orchestrated through the homeland security council (HSC), which Miller leads as the homeland security adviser.”

… “Miller empowered the HSC earlier this year to become its own entity in Trump’s second term, a notable departure from previous admins where it was considered part of the NSC and ultimately reported to the NSA. As a result, the HSC has taken the lead on engaging the Venezuelan boats, a situation evidenced by his top deputy, Tony Salisbury, and others being the gatekeepers to details about what boat to strike until they are about to occur.”

… NYT: “The boats that US forces have bombed in the Caribbean have killed at least 17 people, according to the Trump admin. Some legal experts have called it a crime to summarily kill civilians not directly taking part in hostilities, even if they are believed to be smuggling drugs. In the state of Sucre, on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, the first boat to have been destroyed, on Sept. 2, is widely believed to have been carrying people from the towns of San Juan de Unare and Güiria, on a spit of land known as the Paria Peninsula.”

… “For years the region has been dominated by cocaine trafficking, according to Ronna Rísquez, a Venezuelan journalist who has conducted field work in the area. But migrants, trafficking victims and govt-subsidized Venezuelan gasoline — which can be sold at a higher price in Trinidad and Tobago, just 6x miles away — also leave from this area, she said.”

… “In an interview, one woman who identified herself as the wife of one of the dead men said that her husband was a fisherman with four children who left one day for work and never came back.”

… Immigration lawyer Aaron Reichlin-Melnick: “Reuters uncovered that the Trump admin is prosecuting the LOWEST number of drug trafficking cases in decades. Why? Because the Trump admin has diverted so many law enforcement resources AWAY from drugs to going after migrants instead! Drugs are still pouring into the country! In fact, as a recent WSJ investigation uncovered, there’s so much cocaine being produced and brought into the US (easier than ever with CBP diverted to raids) that prices are dropping across the country!”

… He then addressed arguments that drug trafficking prosecutions are down because Trump closed the border and bombed Venezuelan boats: “The overwhelming majority of hard drugs enter the US at lawful port of entry concealed in normal trade and traffic, and most often smuggled by US citizens. Still more comes in via drug tunnels and boats. Drug flow into the US is not down!”

… Trump unveiled his plan to end the war in Gaza today in the WH with Israeli PM Netanyahu: “My plan calls for the creation of a new international oversight body. The Board of Peace. It will be headed by a gentleman known as President Donald J. Trump, so everybody wants to be on it now. They named me and everyone wanted to be on it.”

… Netanyahu: “This can be done the easy way or the hard way but it will be done.”

… Trump: “I want to thank Qatar, its leadership—the Emir. He is a fantastic person. I am going to be his public relations man, because I know him differently than a lot of people know him.”

… Yeah, he gifted Trump his ‘Palace in the Sky’ jet along with many other lucrative business deals.

… Journalist Yashar Ali: “Reminder - the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is usually announced the second Friday of October.”

… Which could explain the timing of this “deal.”

… Section 10 of his 20-point plan is the one that caught my attention: “A Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza will be created by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East. Many thoughtful investment proposals and exciting development ideas have been crafted by well-meaning international groups, and will be considered to synthesize the security and governance frameworks to attract and facilitate these investments that will create jobs, opportunity, and hope for future Gaza.”

… Besides the Nobel Peace Prize that he so badly wants, we can clearly see the personal financial interest in this as Trump Org continues to embed itself into the Middle East with deals all over the place. Watch Jared Kushner on this “economic development plan.”

… ABC: “DUBAI, UAE - Dar Global said it plans to launch a Trump Plaza in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah. The announcement by the company, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, said the $1 billion landmark development is to rise along King Abdulaziz Road in the heart of the city. Dar Global said the project will have a Central Park-inspired green spine as an anchor, ‘bringing Manhattan-style vibrancy’ to Jeddah. It is the second collaboration in the coastal Saudi city with Trump Org and Trump Plaza Jeddah will represent the second Trump-branded development in Saudi Arabia, following the launch of Trump Tower Jeddah in Dec last year.”

This is out a little late today because I had to spend several hours dealing with the VA bureaucracy. All I can say is that if you move from one state to another in that system it can be extremely problematic getting everything to transfer over without problems. You would think there is just one VA healthcare system in the US - but in reality there are 50.

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA): “There were 5 MASS SHOOTINGS IN 24 HOURS! Trump’s FBI cannot protect us. He has them focused on targeting his political opponents rather than protecting us.”

… The Telegraph: “The gunman who rammed his truck into a Mormon church and opened fire on worshippers was an Iraq war veteran who had previously shown support for Donald Trump. Thomas Jacob Sanford, from suburban Michigan, killed atleast 4 people in the attack on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township on Sunday.”

… “The ex-Marine was killed by police after he shot at least 10 people with an assault rifle in what the FBI described as an ‘act of targeted violence’. Authorities have yet to provide a motive. His recent political views remain unclear, but he was seen wearing a camouflage Trump 2020 campaign shirt, emblazoned with the words Make Liberals Cry Again, in a picture posted on social media in 2019. An image of Sanford’s home, taken on Google Street View in June, showed a ‘Trump-Pence’ sign attached to his garden fence.

… Legendary golfer Tom Watson: “I’d like to congratulate Team Europe on their victory. Your team play the first few days was sensational. More importantly, I’d like to apologize for the rude and mean-spirited behavior from our American crowd at Bethpage. As a former player, Captain and as an American, I am ashamed of what happened.”

… Good for Watson. These are words that should have come from Trump since he was there the first day. But he said nothing because this is the kind of behavior he encourages.

… Europe’s Ryder Cup team posted a video of themselves celebrating their win over the US. They looked into the camera, which appeared to be Rory McIlroy’s and chanted repeatedly: “Are you watching, are you watching Donald Trump?”

This is out a little late today because I had to spend several hours dealing with the VA bureaucracy. All I can say is that if you move from one state to another in that system it can be extremely problematic getting everything to transfer over without problems. You would think there is just one VA healthcare system in the US - but in reality there are 50.

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… MAGA has moved on from Cracker Barrel and has a new faux outrage for the grifters after the NFL announced that Bad Bunny will perform the Super Bowl halftime show. Podcaster Benny Johnson: “Massive Trump hater. Anti-ICE activist. No songs in