Today in Politics, Bulletin 238. 10/28/25
… A new report shows that the Trump family has made $864 million off their crypto scam so far this year. Reuters: “Eric Trump was in Dubai on family business. Meeting with a Chinese businessman and his associates on the sidelines of a cryptocurrency conference in May this year, he ran through his usual talking points about the inefficiency of traditional banks and his father’s run-ins with financiers. Then came the pitch. Buy at least $20 million of ‘governance tokens’ in the Trump family’s crypto business, World Liberty Financial, and become part of a venture that Trump predicted would soon embody the future of finance in America.”
… “To some in that small gathering, the technology Eric Trump’s team described for World Liberty seemed ‘rudimentary’. At the time, World Liberty was a fledgling business. It hadn’t yet created the cryptocurrency-based finance platform it promised after its Sept 2024 launch. It still hasn’t. Even so, the pitch apparently worked. On June 26, an obscure entity called Aqua1 Foundation, which said it was based in UAE, announced it was buying $100 million of cryptocurrency tokens from World Liberty.”
… “The Chinese businessman who met with Eric Trump in Dubai was Guren “Bobby” Zhou, who has executive roles in multiple businesses and who is under investigation in Britain for money laundering. The Dubai meeting was just one stop on a globetrotting investment roadshow Eric and Donald Trump Jr. embarked on around the time of their father’s election to a second term. In Europe, the Middle East and Asia, they have been promoting World Liberty and other ventures that funnel investors’ cash to Trump family businesses.”
… “In the first half of this year, the Trump Org’s income soared 17-fold to $864 million from $51 million a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations based on the president’s official disclosures, property records, financial records released in court cases, crypto trade information and other sources. Of the first-half total, $802 million – more than 90% – came from Trump crypto ventures, including sales of World Liberty tokens.”
… “That $864 million payday represents actual income – cash flowing, free and clear, into Trump family coffers. The Trumps’ first-half crypto income dwarfed what the family earned from its traditional businesses – $33 million from the president’s golf clubs and resorts and $23 million for licensing his name to overseas real estate developers. More than half the Trumps’ income - $463 million - came from sales of World Liberty tokens alone.”
… Govt ethics professor Kathleen Clark: “These people are not pouring money into coffers of the Trump family business because of the brothers’ acumen. They are doing it because they want freedom from legal constraints and impunity that only the president can deliver.”
… Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) on today’s latest Trump crypto scam development: “One week after Trump pardoned Binance’s owner (for a stunning array of crimes related to terrorist and sex predator financing), Binance starts promoting Trump crypto. The White House is a full time, 24/7 corruption machine.”
… But Hunter Biden sold some paintings. And was on the board of Burisma.
… House Oversight Chair James Comer, who has been investigating Hunter Biden for many years, on CNN: Q - “Reuters found the Trump org’s income from the first half of this year shot from $51 million to $864 million, about $800 million of that is from crypto. The story details how most of the buyers are foreign investors and all how all this money is going to belong to Trump when he leaves office. Is this something that you’re going to look into at all? Comer: The difference between the way the Trump family operate and the Biden family is they’re admitting they’re doing this. The president campaigned as a business guy. So as long as you disclose your income and disclose the sources, I think that’s acceptable.”
… Comer Pyle has suddenly morphed into a combo of Mr. Magoo and Sgt. Schultz.
… Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) was asked on CNN about Trump’s 3rd term talk: “If you read the Constitution, it says it’s not. But if he says he has some different circumstances that might be able to go around the constitution, but that’s up to him.”
… How can a US Senator have the word “But” start the next sentence after that first one?
… David Graham wrote a lengthy essay in The Atlantic about the many ways that Trump will try to rig the 2026 and 2028 elections. As you know, my policy is not to clutter this up with a hundred links with people jumping back and forth, but on very rare occasions I make an exception. This is the link because I encourage everyone to read it. This is the part where he cites examples of things Trump has already done:
… “He has coerced law firms into questionable agreements that aligned them with the admin. He has launched criminal investigations into officials who have tried to hold him to account. He has questioned whether the constitutional right of free speech extends to criticism of him. He has pressured social-media companies into ending their moderation of disinformation, of which he is a prodigious source. He has used lawsuits and the FCC to bully entertainment conglomerates and news outlets. His admin engineered a deal for the sale of TikTok, a major information source for younger Americans, to a group of investors that includes political allies.”
… “Trump has directed DOJ to investigate ActBlue, the fundraising platform that raised more than $3.6 billion for Democratic candidates in the 2024 cycle. After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, he issued an executive order that could target a range of left-wing political organizations. Trump has not yet arrested any high-profile candidates for office, but, as of this writing, his admin has launched an investigation into Sen. Adam Schiff, and charged Rep. LaMonica McIver with assault after an incident at a migrant-detention facility in Newark.”
… DOJ also charged former FBI Director James Comey with felonies for allegedly lying to Congress and indicted NY AG Letitia James for alleged mortgage fraud. The cumulative effect in the US is likely to be the same as it has been overseas: Prospective donors, candidates, and campaign workers or volunteers will wonder whether the benefits of participation outweigh the risks of harassment and persecution. By the time voting starts, the opposition party will already be at a steep disadvantage.”
… Axios recently asked a senior Trump admin official if there’d been any discussion in the WH about seizing voting machines, sending troops to polling stations, or trying to take over state election systems during the midterm elections: “Absolutely not. But there are people around here who would probably like that.”
… Bill Melugin, who covers the border and immigration for Fox: “A mass removal of ICE leadership around the country is underway, with up to 12 ICE field office chiefs being removed and reassigned in an effort to increase deportation numbers. The move is spearheaded by Corey Lewandowski, and a handful of the ICE Chiefs will likely be replaced by Border Patrol and CBP officials, some of whom will be hand-picked by aggressive and controversial Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino.”
… “I’m told some of the ICE leadership removed from their positions include the ICE Field Office Directors in: LA, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Denver, El Paso, San Diego, Seattle/Portland, New Orleans. Border Patrol officials taking over ICE leadership positions would be extremely significant, as Border Patrol and ICE do different things, and I’ve done numerous ride-alongs/embeds with both.”
… “Border Patrol, under Trump 2.0, while sometimes doing their own targeted operations, has been extremely aggressive and has been at the forefront of some of the most controversial immigration enforcement operations we’ve seen so far, carrying out roving patrols in LA, Chicago, etc, often at Home Depot, car washes, flea markets etc, leading to a handful of federal judges around the country issuing injunctions against them.”
… “A majority of the viral videos you see online are Border Patrol agents, including the use of a Trojan horse style Penske moving truck at a LA Home Depot, an operation organized by Bovino. ICE often gets blamed for what Border Patrol does, as the media and activists often cannot tell the difference between federal agents, and everyone is called “ICE”. There are growing concerns about the political and PR fallout associated with some of the roving patrols Border Patrol is conducting as lawsuits continue to stack up and mid-terms approach next year.”
… “There is significant friction within different wings of DHS and the admin, with Border Czar Tom Homan and ICE Director Todd Lyons preferring to prioritize targeting criminal aliens and the ‘worst of the worst’, while DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Lewandowski, and Bovino prefer to use aggressive tactics to arrest anyone in the US illegally, including but not limited to criminals, to ramp up deportation numbers and achieve Trump’s promises of mass deportations.”
… One senior DHS: “ICE started with the worst of the worst, knowing every target they are hitting, but since Border Patrol started in LA in June, we’ve (DHS) lost our focus, going too hard, too fast, with limited prioritization. It’s getting numbers, but at what cost?”
… “Border Patrol agents I’ve talked to defend their tactics, with one telling me: ‘What did everyone think mass deportations meant? Only the worst? Tom Homan has said it himself, anyone in the US illegally is on the table.’”
… Homan was asked about it: “I can tell you that the Trump admin is dedicated to achieving a record deportation, the vast majority being criminal aliens, making this country safer every day. But as far as personnel changes, that’s under the purview of the Secretary of DHS. I’m at the WH working with people like Stephen Miller, one of the most brilliant people I’ve met, to come up with strategic policies and plans - how to get success, how to maintain success, and how to get the numbers ever higher.”
… Mike Johnson was asked about it today: Q - “What’s your reaction to yesterday’s purge of senior ICE officials? When is it time for Congress to do some oversight? Johnson: “I don’t know any of the details of that yet. I just heard about that, literally I was walking in.”
… He never knows about any of the controversies associated with the Trump admin. Even when it has been reported extensively on Fox for 12 hours.
… Rep. Marge Greene (R-GA) said Johnson is lying when he claims that Republicans have a healthcare plan: “I have no respect for the House not being in session passing our bills. And I demanded to know from Johnson what the Republican plan for healthcare is to build the off-ramp off Obamacare and the ACA tax credits to make health insurance affordable for Americans. Johnson said he’s got ideas and pages of policy ideas and committees of jurisdiction are working on it, but he refused to give one policy proposal to our GOP conference on our own conference call. Apparently I have to go into a SCIF to find out the Republican healthcare plan!!!”
… Economist/YouGov poll: Trump approval on the issues: Jobs and the economy (55/40 disapprove). Inflation/prices (60/36 disapprove). Immigration (50/47 disapprove). Climate change/environment (50/35 disapprove). Education (51/39 disapprove). Abortion (49/36 disapprove).
… Do you approve of Trump demolition of the East Wing of the White House? Disapprove 60% Approve 30%. Harris voters (92/4 no) Trump voters (63/24 yes).
… Do you think Trump should pardon Ghislaine Maxwell? No 92%, Yes 2%. Harris voters (96/2 no). Trump voters (88/4 no).
… Do you approve of Trump commuting George Santos’ sentence? Disapprove 62% Approve 18%. Democratic (88/3 disapprove) Republican (35/31 approve) Independent (62/10 disapprove).
… Right-wing UFC star Bryce Mitchell, who said a month after the election that he “would take bullet and die” for Trump, has fallen out of love: “I do not like the guy at all. The first thing for me was he didn’t release the Epstein files. They’re even acting like they didn’t exist. And, of course, they’re sending Israel and Ukraine all of our tax dollars just like the numb-nuts before him did. Putting America last, and now he’s blaming the beef farmers for the price of beef. Hey, I’m not biased, man. He talked a good game, he tricked me. I was fooled. I admit it.”
… “Now, let me tell you how bad I think this is though. This is really this bad, guys. I want y’all, if you’re a Christian, I want you to get into Revelation 13:3, and I want you to read that verse - yeah, about the Antichrist, about the one who was fatally wounded in the head; then he was miraculously healed and the whole world marveled at him and said, ‘No man can make war with him.’ Yeah, I do think that Trump is that beast of Revelation 13:3. Yeah, go read it. Go read it!”
… Trump gave another disgusting partisan political speech to US troops stationed in Japan, which no US president from Washington to Biden has ever done before. Besides partisan, it was rambling and nonsensical gibberish and lies:
“All over the world, they’re respecting us again. They respect us like never before. The treatment they gave me all over as I go around to different countries is great, but it’s really a respect for me.”
“Biden used to say he was a pilot. He was a pilot, he was a truck driver, whatever, whoever walked in. He wasn’t a pilot. He wasn’t much of a president either to be honest with you. That I can tell you. That we all know.”
“You know, we won the second election by a lot, so we had to just prove it by winning the third by too big to rig I called it.”
“I don’t like good looking people. I never liked good looking people. I’ll be honest with you. I’ve never admitted that before.”
“Let me ask you. We’re gonna go steam first and then electric. Catapults, which is better, electric or stream? I’m gonna put in an order. Seriously. They’re spending billions of dollars to build stupid electric. And the problem when it breaks you have to send up to MIT, get the most brilliant people in the world.”
“They spent $900,093,000 on the catapults trying to get them to work. And they had steam, which worked so beautifully and it has for 50 years, right? So we’re gonna go back. Seriously fellas, I want to make that change. I’m gonna do an executive order.”
… William Melvin: “China recently became the first country to launch a 5th generation fighter jet with a modern electric catapult while Trump insists on sticking with last century’s technology. The American century of humiliation continues.”
“I am delighted to announce that as your sort of boss, I don’t feel like your boss, but I guess I am, we’re going to make sure that you receive the full amount that you were owed for the deployment. And we’re not going to deduct anything because you came in to listen to your commander.”
“I’d like to be an Admiral. I always wanted to be an admiral, to be honest.”
… MSNBC: “In June, Trump spoke at Fort Bragg and treated US troops like they were just another MAGA audience, even goading troops to boo Joe Biden, the free press and American elected officials whom the president doesn’t like. 3 months later, he did it again, summoning the nation’s generals and admirals to listen to him ramble about tariffs, the Nobel Peace Prize, his hatred for Democrats, his contempt for independent news organizations and his belief that his 2020 election defeat was “rigged.”
… “A week after that, speaking at an event honoring the US Navy’s 250th anniversary, Trump appeared determined to turn military personnel against the parts of the country he doesn’t like. ‘We have to take care of this little gnat that’s on our shoulder called the Democrats,’ he said. In Japan, he did it once again.”
… NYT: “Trump has been doing this more often at home lately, but it is still striking to see him basically holding what looks and sounds very much like one of his signature political rallies in front of members of the United States military.”
… The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols: “Trump and his valet at the Defense Department, Secretary of Physical Training Pete Hegseth, are now making a dedicated run at turning the men and women of the armed forces into Trump’s personal and partisan army.”
… Trump then repeatedly wandered off lost away from the Japanese PM at a reception despite her best efforts to guide him around the room.
… Meanwhile, Republicans made it clear that they are taking orders from Trump on negotiations to resolve the shutdown, and those orders to not negotiate. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) to Meidas: “Instead of the president weighing in, we’ve got him doing weird little dances as he lands in Asia - he’s missing in action. The Senate is refusing to negotiate across party lines, and the House isn’t even meeting. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
… Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) was asked by Semafor whether the statement from the govt employees union asking them to vote for the CR changed his mind: “I get it that you guys have to write new stories every day, but it’s the same story every single day. The story is they refuse to negotiate. The story is Trump isn’t here. The story is House Republicans haven’t shown up for work in a month and a half.”
… With the majority of SNAP beneficiaries in Republican districts and states, a few Republicans have broken with party leaders to attempt to bring a bill to the floor to fund SNAP. Josh Hawley has lined up several Republicans senators to join with Dems on it, but John Thune said he talked to Trump last night and he will block Hawley’s effort: “We’ll have conversations with our members about steps we will be taking forward, but my view is if you want to pay SNAP recipients, open the govt. It’s not complicated.”
… Punchbowl: “Thune appears to kill the ‘rifle shot’ approach (narrow funding bills for military, ATC, SNAP, etc.) but says he supports Ron Johnson’s new proposal on paying fed workers: ‘There’s not a high level of interest in doing carve-outs or so-called rifle shots. I think most people recognize the way to get out of this mess is to vote to open up the govt.’”
… Several states run by Democrats have started posting these messages on the benefits websites: “Federal officials with the Trump admin have told all states that if the Republican-led federal govt shutdown continues, it won’t pay for SNAP (food stamp) benefits in Nov. As a result, SNAP customers will not receive food benefits - unless there is further action from the Trump admin to reopen the govt.”
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If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.
… Politico: “Dozens of Democratic AGs and governors sued the Trump admin today over its decision to not tap emergency funds amid the govt shutdown to keep food aid flowing to 42 million Americans next month. Trump officials concluded that they cannot legally tap a $5 billion contingency fund for SNAP amid the shutdown.
… “But a growing number of Senate Republicans - including some within Thune’s own leadership circle - are publicly saying Congress needs to fund SNAP whether or not Democrats relent on overall govt funding, lest millions without food aid before