Today in Politics, Bulletin 233. 10/21/25

… Trump said he is willing to settle his lawsuit against DOJ for $230 million claiming malicious prosecution. The DOJ supervisors who have to decide whether to approve the settlement offer from Trump’s current lawyers also happen to be Trump’s former lawyers: “I don’t know the numbers, I don’t talk to them about it. I know they owe me a lot of money.”

… “They rigged the election. That decision would have to go across my desk. It’s strange to make a decision where I am paying myself. One of those cases where you have to decide how much you are paying yourself in damages. I was damaged greatly.”

… I wonder how that negotiation will turn out.

… After flying the survivors of the attempted murder by Trump to their home countries, one of the alleged narco terrorists has now been set free. Reuters: “Ecuador’s prosecutor’s office said on Monday it would not detain the Ecuadorean survivor of a US military strike on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the Caribbean.”

… The Trump Doctrine: If a supposed “narco terrorist” survives our attempt to kill him, we send him home and let him go free. Makes sense. This kind of makes it look like they didn’t have sufficient proof to present in court that they were drug traffickers.

… WaPo: “Demolition crews on Monday began tearing down part of the WH to build Trump’s long-desired ballroom despite his pledge that construction of the $250 million addition wouldn’t ‘interfere’ with the existing building. Construction teams were demolishing a portion of the East Wing, with a backhoe ripping through the structure.”

… Trump has long touted his plans for a 90,000-square-foot structure that would nearly double the footprint of the main building and its East and West wings: “It won’t interfere with the current building. It won’t be. It’ll be near it but not touching it - and pays total respect to the existing building.”

… “Democrats panned the project, with CA Gov. Gavin Newsom and other lawmakers arguing that Trump’s priorities and preferences were not aligned with average Americans. The National Park Service, which manages the WH grounds, did not respond to inquiries about how much of the East Wing would be destroyed.”

… Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL): “Trump’s billionaire ballroom. This is a disgrace. Welcome to the Second Gilded Age.”

… Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) to HuffPost: “The timing is bad. We’re in the middle of a shutdown. Got a couple of other things going on that we should probably focus on ahead of a building project.”

… While meeting with Republican senators today in his new Rose Garden Club at the WH, Trump called their attention to the loud construction noises going on in the background: “That’s music to my ears. When I hear that sound, it reminds me of money. In this case it reminds me of lack of money because I’m paying for it.”

… He is not paying for it. It is being paid for by shakedowns of CEOs and billionaires who want something from the government.

… Fox host Bret Baier during their broadcast segment on the meeting: “The Rose Garden Club is something the president really wanted to do. He plays the music when he has dinner out there. He is the D.J.”

… He’s played the same 12 songs from 1978 on a loop for 20 years. DJ’s Donnie of the Rose Garden Club.

… WSJ: “The Treasury Dept instructed employees not to share photos of the demolition of parts of the WH’s East Wing after images of construction equipment dismantling the facade of the building went viral online. Treasury’s HQ is located next door to the East Wing, giving employees there a front-row seat to the construction of Trump’s $250 million ballroom. The new project is set to replace parts of the East Wing.”

… Treasury email: “As construction proceeds on the WH grounds, employees should refrain from taking and sharing photographs of the grounds, to include the East Wing, without prior approval from the Office of Public Affairs.”

… Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN): “Seeing the White House torn apart is really emblematic of the times we’re in.”

… “In preparation for the start of construction, crews have moved historic trees away from the grounds and removed historical objects from the East Wing.”

… The Atlantic: “Trump’s plan to double the size of the ICE workforce has met a foe more powerful than any activist group. It is decimating new recruits at the agency’s training academy in Georgia. It is the ICE personal-fitness test. More than a third have failed so far, impeding the agency’s plan to hire, train, and deploy 10,000 deportation officers by Jan. To pass, recruits must do 15 push-ups and 32 sit-ups, and run 1.5 miles in 14 minutes.”

… “‘It’s pathetic,’ one career ICE official said, adding that before now, a typical class of 40 recruits had only a couple of candidates fail, because the screening process was more rigorous. The academy’s standards have already been eased to boost recruitment, and the new parameters ‘should be the minimum for any officer.’ He told me that agency veterans are concerned about the quality of the new recruits being fast-tracked onto the street to meet Trump’s hiring goals.”

… Scott Bessent’s bailout of Argentina with our tax dollars is going about as well as Milei’s economic policies. Financial Times: “The Argentine peso has fallen below the level it reached before the US Treasury began purchases earlier this month, in a sign that the Trump admin’s financial support is failing to halt the currency’s slide ahead of a crucial election for Milei. The peso dropped almost 1% in early trading on Monday to 1,476 against the dollar, touching a fresh record intraday low. The level is close to the bottom of an exchange rate band adopted in April.”

… “The slide has resumed despite 3 purchases of pesos by the US Treasury since Oct 9 - which Argentine economists estimate total roughly $400mn, although neither government has confirmed the figure — as well as the announcement of a $20bn currency swap line between the two countries.”

… “Milei’s pro-business govt has struggled to end severe market turmoil that began last month after it suffered defeat in key local elections. Analysts say US support, led by Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, has failed to quell demand for dollars from Argentine investors who are hedging against the possibility of a bad result for Milei at critical midterm legislative elections on Oct 26.”

… Meriweather Farms posted this on X: “Dear President Trump, We love you and support you— but your suggestion to buy beef from Argentina to stabilize beef prices would be an absolute betrayal to the American cattle rancher. The practice of solving problems ‘over there’ before solving problems here on our soil is what contributed to the downfall of our country: Americans always come last.”

… “On top of all this—there is only chaos coming from the Dept of Ag. There is no true guidance, mixed messaging, and a copious amount of photo ops. There is no one to trust over there that truly understands the issues and isn’t bought out by or aligned with Big Industries. There are so many voices on the outside that support you and want to see you succeed. Maybe it’s time to start listening to them. Your team knows how to get in touch with us.”

… I wouldn’t wait by the phone.

… Mark McHargue, President of the Nebraska Farm Bureau: “Some days you feel like you just can’t catch a break. Unfortunately we have an admin that things we need to lower the price of beef. President Trump just made a statement we should lower the price of beef (with imports). I have let them know we are opposed to anything that would artificially lower the price of beef. Hopefully we can get this tamped down.

… LIke Meriweather, McHargue is also a Trump supporter.

… Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins, who has been getting an earful from farmers on daily basis, was asked on CNBC if Trump is serious about importing beef from Argentina: “Yes, the president has said he’s in discussions with Argentina. It will not be very much because Argentina is also facing a foot and mouth disease issue.”

… It just keeps getting better.

… CBS: “A pardoned Capitol rioter was arrested last weekend for allegedly threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Court documents said Christopher Moynihan was arrested Sunday after saying in text messages that he planned to ‘eliminate’ Jeffries when the top House Democrat spoke at an event in NYC.”

… Mike Johnson was asked about it: “That’s the first I’ve heard of that. I don’t know anything about it. But I will tell you this, the violence on the left is far more prevalent than the violence on the right. The rhetoric you saw on display Sat, we highlighted yesterday, plays into this. There are people that get triggered—deranged people in society when they hear elected officials participating in a rally that was paid for by Soros and sponsored by communists.”

… House Homeland Security Dems responded: “Trump let violent J6 criminals walk free on day one - and Mike Johnson still can’t condemn it. What a coward. Every American should be outraged at threats of political violence.”

… House Republican leadership held their daily shutdown press conference today. After special guest Chip Roy was brought in yesterday to rant about Jesus being angry about No Kings, they brought in feckless James Comer today to claim that Trump is completely exonerated in the Epstein files: “The evidence we gathered does not implicate President Trump in any way. Public reporting, survivor testimony, and official documents show that Bill Clinton had far closer ties to Epstein.”

… If it’s all the same, rather than take the word of serial liar Comer I think we all would just rather have the files released to the public. And there are many people who will know if something important is missing - like Epstein and Maxwell prosecutor Maurene Comey, who was recently fired by Bondi and is now a private citizen.

… And whose father is currently being prosecuted by Bondi under Trump’s orders. I wouldn’t count on her silence on Epstein shenanigans.

… Johnson on the Epstein files: “We want maximum transparency. That is exactly what the American people are getting right now.”

… For a supposedly devout Christian, MAGA Mike sure does lie a lot. He seems to be in a daily competition with Trump on who can tell the most lies.

… Johnson still wasn’t done lying about No Kings: “Look at what these people stand for. It’s completely the opposite of what America was founded upon. They don’t like living here, they don’t like capitalism, rule of law, human dignity, fiscal responsibility.”

… Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) on MSNBC: “I heard Mike Johnson refer to it as a hate America rally, but that one already happened on January 6th, 2021.”

… Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) on No Kings: “It was a bunch of aging hippies, riding nude on bicycles, dressing up in early Halloween, and looking absurd.”

… Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is back posting fake videos again on social media for the 900th time. He posted a video from No Kings in Boston and bought the viral right-wing claim that it was an old video. Cruz: “Why are Dems dishonestly sending around a video from 2017, claiming it was this past weekend?”

… After he was fact-checked repeatedly because it WAS a video from No Kings in Boston, Cruz finally deleted it over 24 hours later.

… Zeteo: “By mid-2024, Trump and Project 2025 architect Russell Vought were talking on the phone fairly regularly. But it often wasn’t about policy. Trump – when he had downtime from campaigning and plotting his fascist presidency – appeared preoccupied with getting the recently divorced Vought laid, according to two knowledgeable sources.”

… “Trump spoke to Vought, a self-described Christian nationalist who’s now one of the president’s most hardline enforcers, about the ‘gorgeous’ and ‘beautiful ladies’ who roam Trump’s club, Mar-a-Lago, so often that it ‘weirded out’ some of his advisers. Trump offered to be Vought’s wingman. And Trump spoke crudely of all the ‘pussy’ that Vought would surely get as the president’s favorite ‘bachelor.’”

… Washington Times: “Pete Hegseth has lost the trust and respect of some top military commanders, with his public ‘grandstanding’ widely seen as unprofessional and the personnel moves made by the former cable TV host leading to an unprecedented and dangerous exodus of talent from the Pentagon, said current senior military officers and current and former DOD officials.”

… “Numerous high-ranking officers painted Hegseth’s Sept. 30 speech to hundreds of generals and admirals gathered at Marine Corps Base Quantico as a turning point in how his leadership style, attitude and overall competency are viewed in the upper echelons of the US armed forces. One current Army General: “It was a massive wasteof time. If he ever had us, he lost us.”

… “The Quantico speech - described by other sources as ‘embarrassing’ and theatrical to a degree that ‘is below our institution’ - seemed to crystallize beliefs about Hegseth that had taken root among some senior officers, including the view that the secretary operates with a junior officer’s mentality that has led him to micromanage policies about issues such as military facial hair standards and press access to the Pentagon, sometimes at the expense of the much broader portfolio of a typical defense secretary.”

… Former CIA officer Marc Polymeropolous: “No surprise in the loss of trust, because all the theater is just demeaning and unnecessary. What is notable is that this very critical article is not from the left. This is from the Washington Times.”

… Daily Mail with the latest Republican scandal: “Married Congressman had alleged affair with aide... before she set herself on fire: Bombshell revelation as police block release of 911 call and other evidence. Aviles and Rep. Tony Gonzales became romantically involved after she joined his staff on Nov 21, 2021.”

… “Gonzales’s spokesman refused to deny the affair when repeatedly offered the opportunity by the Daily Mail. One source told the Daily Mail that their relationship continued ‘for some time’ and that Aviles’ husband, Adrian Aviles, was aware of the relationship at the time of her death.”

… I feel like we might need to investigate this “suicide” a little further.

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… Elon Musk was fuming all day at Transportation Sec and NASA chief Sean Duffy after he said on Fox that he wants to give Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin a bigger piece of their pie. He also posted this on X: “We are in a race against China so we need the best companies to operate at a speed that gets us to the Moon FIRST. SpaceX has the contract to build the HLS which will get US astronauts there on Artemis III. But, competition and innovation are the keys to our dominance in space so NASA is opening up HLS production to Blue Origin and other great American companies.”

… Arstechnica: “On Fox, Duffy said SpaceX has fallen behind in its efforts to develop the Starship vehicle as a lunar lander. Duffy also indirectly acknowledged that NASA’s projected target of a 2027 crewed lunar landing is no longer achievable. Accordingly, he said he intended to expand the competition to develop a lander capable of carrying humans down to the Moon from lunar orbit and back.”

… Duffy on SpaceX: “They’re behind schedule, and so the President wants to make sure we beat the Chinese. He wants to get there in his term. So I’m in the process of opening that contract up. I think we’ll see companies like Blue Origin get involved,