Today in Politics, Bulletin 355. 4/23/26
… Sleepy Don fell asleep again during a press event today about prescription drug prices, dozing off multiple times as his sycophants RFK Jr, Dr. Oz, Lutnick, Vance and others droned on and on about how wonderful he is.
… RFK Jr was bragging about his testimony before Congress “One of the Democrats was ridiculing President Trump for his math, and she was saying it's in mathematically impossible to have any drug drop by 600% cost. And I said, well, if the drug was $100 and it raised the price of $600. That would be a 600% rise. If it drops from 600 to 100, that's a 600% savings. Trump: That’s right.”
… Trump was asked about the war dragging on: “We’ve been doing it for 5 and a half weeks. Reporter: But sir, it’s been 8 weeks, you said it would be over in 4-6 weeks. Trump: I took a break and I gave them a break.”
… Q - “How long are you willing to wait for a response from Iran? Trump: Don’t rush me. We were in Vietnam for 18 years.”
… Trump then griped about Iranian speedboats attacking shipping in the Strait: “Their military is totally defeated - outside of the little wise guy ships. I call them the wise guy ships.”
… He then starting rambling about his WH remodel: “I think it’s very interesting. We had flooring outside—it was coming to pieces. It's been there since the early 1940s. and it's a path to the Oval Office. It was broken, bad shape. We're putting magnificent new granite. It's called charcoal. We've stripped all of the paints off. We had 200 years of paint.”
… Q - “Why was your Navy Secretary fired? Trump: I really liked him, but he had some conflict with not necessarily with Pete but some other people. I didn't really deal with him too much.”
… He then talked about his plans to remodeled the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool: “I have probably built more than 100 swimming pools in different buildings I built, I said, think of it as a swimming pool—2200 ft by 167 ft wide. It's a reflecting pool and very famous, very famous. I said, Doug, I have a guy who's unbelievable at doing swimming pools up the road. We have a club, we have an Olympic-sized swimming pool.”
… He then claimed that he had a bigger crowd for his July 4 speech at Reflecting Pool than MLK Jr had for his I Have a Dream Speech: “That's where MLK gave his great speech, and he had a million people and I had the same exact crowd, maybe a little bit more. I have pictures of MLK’s crowd, the exact same, everything, but it was 70 years difference. The exact same crowd, but I actually had more people.”
… Don Snoreleone then fell asleep.
… NYT: “The FBI began investigating a NYT reporter last month after she wrote about Kash Patel, using bureau personnel to provide his girlfriend with govt security and transportation. Agents interviewed the girlfriend, queried databases for info on the reporter, Elizabeth Williamson, and recommended moving forward to determine whether Williamson broke federal stalking laws.
… “Those actions prompted concerns among some DOJ officials who saw the inquiry as retaliation for an article that Patel and his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, did not like, and who determined there was no legal basis to proceed with the investigation.”
… In response to an inquiry for NYT, the FBI issued a statement that “investigators were concerned about how the aggressive reporting techniques crossed lines of stalking.”
… Joseph Kahn, the executive editor of NYT: “The FBI’s attempt to criminalize routine reporting is a blatant violation of Elizabeth’s First Amendment rights and another attempt by this admin to prevent journalists from scrutinizing its actions. It’s alarming. It’s unconstitutional. And it’s wrong.”
… Patel on Sean Hannity’s Fox show: Q - “I’m reading that you used the FBI because you didn’t like a story about your girlfriend. Is there any truth to that? It just doesn’t sound like you. Patel: Absolutely not. The reality is that this same reporter delivered a baseless story which delivered a direct threat of life to my girlfriend. But here’s the thing: me and mine are like you and President Trump. We’re as tough as we come.”
… Axios: “Buyer’s remorse is hitting House Republicans over their mid-cycle redistricting war - a strategy meant to protect their majority that’s now deeply in danger of backfiring. Republicans privately have expressed skepticism about the aggressive redistricting strategy for months amid increasing pressure from Trump, who’s said he fears a Democrat-led House would hand him his third impeachment:
… NRCC chair Richard Hudson (R-NC): “It’s not for me to say ... because really, it wasn’t my decision.”
… Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA): “I wish none of this had happened.”
… Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE): “I think it is a mistake in hindsight. They thought they could just do Texas and nobody else is gonna respond? We started a war, and you’ve got to play chess, think three or four moves ahead.”
… Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA): “I don’t think it’s favorable for anybody in America, redistricting. It’s a race to the bottom.”
… AOC was asked about Republicans complaining about VA redistricting. Q - “What do you make of Republicans saying that Virginia … AOC: Wah wah wah. Republicans have fought for partisan gerrymanders across the US. And these are the rules that they have set.”
… In addition to redistricting woes, Republicans also have Trump’s dismal approval rating dragging them down like an anchor. This was on Fox last night:
… Politico: “Trump’s recent admin shakeup - the sacking of Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi as well as this week’s departure of Lori Chavez-DeRemer - has created openings for a slew of potential confirmations, and GOP senators are contemplating who might be next and how quickly Trump should make any further changes.”
… “No Republicans are publicly urging any particular oustings. But privately GOP senators believe Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, DNI Tulsi Gabbard and FBI Director Kash Patel could be at risk of leaving - voluntarily or not.
… One Republican senator: “He’s in a bad mood. He’s preparing to really let a lot of them go.”
… AOC to Meidas reporter Pablo Manriquez: Q - “Who do you think Trump should fire next? AOC: Is he out of women? Trump only seems to have the capability to fire female secretaries. If you’re a man in the Trump admin, it seems that they reward misconduct.”
… My prediction is that Gabbard will be fired next. Very soon.
… Meanwhile, Lutnick had a tough time today in his testimony before the House, where he repeatedly refused to answer questions about his ties to Epstein on the grounds that he made a “deal” with James Comer that he only had to talk about it with House Oversight:
Rep. Rosa DeLauro: Do you know how many manufacturing jobs the US lost per day during the first year of Trump’s second term? Lutnick: I don’t know. DeLauro: More than 100 per day. This isn’t a trade policy that delivers for working people.”
Lutnick: “The manufacturing is going to start in two or three years when these factories come online. DeLauro: You can’t even tell us about how many manufacturing jobs we’ve lost, so I don’t know about what we’re seeing in the future.”
Rep. Madeline Dean: Q - “Is the president concerned about your continued relationship with Epstein? Lutnick: I am not going to discuss conversations I had with the president. Dean: Trump just fired 3 cabinet secretaries - 3 women. If he has even a shred of concern about accountability for Epstein’s enablers, he would fire you too.”
Dean: “Why did you lie to the NY Post about your relationship with Epstein? Lutnick: The House Oversight Committee and I agreed-- Dean: I do not accept that answer. We are our own committee. You’re dodging the question. The coverup continues.”
… Bloomberg: “Only one person has been approved so far for Trump’s ‘Gold Card’ Visa program granting foreigners US residency for a $1 million fee, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Thursday.”
… At the press conference announcing these in Feb 2025, Lutnick said they were going to sell 200,000 gold cards. Trump said they were going to balance the budget selling them.
… Hung Cao, Trump’s new nominee for Secretary of the Navy, said in 2023 during his campaign for US senate that he was worried about witches taking over VA: “We can’t let it turn like this. There’s a place in Monterey, CA called Lovers Point. The original name was Lovers of Christ Point, but they took out the Christ. And Monterey is a very dark place now - a lot of witchcraft and the Wiccan community has really taken over. We can’t let that happen to VA.”
… Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins on Fox: Q - “Do you have a plan to mitigate this fertilizer problem? Rollins: Yes. We have been every day now for almost 50 days having daily meetings in the WH. During the Biden years ... Host: But what is the plan? You’ve had lots of meetings, but what is the plan?”
… Alex Jacquez, who served on Biden’s National Economic Council: “‘During the Biden years...’ Yeah Brooke, I talked to fertilizer companies every day post-Ukraine invasion too. Then we put $900 million into fertilizer capacity expansion, which you put on ice and are now trying to revive.”
… CNBC: “The Trump admin is in advanced talks for a financing package for Spirit Airlines as the carrier is facing the risk of a liquidation. The deal could include $500 million in financing from the govt, which could provide a path to give the govt an equity stake in the carrier.”
… Sen. Ted Cruz: “This is an absolutely TERRIBLE idea. The government doesn’t know a damn thing about running a failed budget airline.”
… Sen. Tom Cotton: “If Spirit’s creditors or other potential investors don’t think they can run it profitably coming out of its second bankruptcy in under two years, I doubt the US Government can either. Not the best use of taxpayer dollars.”
… WSJ’s Brian Schwartz: “The deliberation from within Trump’s own team about what to do with Spirit Airlines spilled out into a meeting at the WH with Trump. Howard Lutnick, the architect of the govt backed deal with Spirit, told Trump that the deal could save jobs and be a boost to GOP in midterms.”
… “Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made counterpoints to Trump: Yes, the deal could save jobs but... A bailout could be a political nightmare for the admin and questioned what the govt gets out of such a deal with Spirit. These are the key views heading into a decision by Trump to finalize and announce a deal.”
… Eric Trump was on Fox bragging about his new $24 million Pentagon contract for robots: "It's gonna change industry, military application, hospitality. The uses are unlimited and I think it's a very beautiful thing, but we must win that race."
… Eric’s business partner was on the show with him: "There are situations where you would need almost no human loop, where we would have to be able to rapidly deploy these technologies and we cannot always be calling a CEO to ask for permission before we do it."
… Eric was never involved in this kind of business before he father became president. He ran golf courses and hotels.
… Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA): “Eric Trump went on Fox to brag about winning ANOTHER multimillion-dollar contract from the Trump admin. I’ve been sounding the alarm and pushing for answers. Is the Pentagon just a cash machine for Trump’s kids now? This looks like corruption in plain sight.”
… Stephen Hayes, editor of The Dispatch: “Think about how much time Fox spent on Hunter Biden. That was a real story, worth covering. But here they’re not reporting on the potential corruption, they’re celebrating it. Gross.”
… Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH): “The Trump Family gets rich off of Trump’s war. Working people get higher prices.”
There was a new report about how many members of Congress use AI now in their work. I just wanted to say that I will never use AI to put this together. I do not trust the accuracy of a lot of AI news and there is no AI tool that can do this because it is much more art than science.
These Bulletins are put together the old-school way with no shortcuts. I consume a massive amount of news each day by reading articles, social media posts, watching hearings, shows, podcasts, speeches, press conferences. It is 12 hours of non-stop work because I am bringing you news that just happened in real time while trying not to miss anything important.
The biggest problem for any AI tool would be how to identify what is important or interesting or how different concepts and events fit together in a not so obvious way. Which sentences from an article really tell the story? Which quotes from a press conference or interview are most compelling? Also, how to inject irony, sarcasm, humor, context, flow - a computer cannot do these things.
So while many in business, media, govt and politics increasing turn to AI to assist them in their work (or do their work for them), I never will because I am confident if I do this right AI will never be able to do it better.
Reminder that tomorrow is also Ask the Editor where I answer 5 of your questions in a podcast, so please submit any question you might have for that in the comments below. If you missed my weekly podcast Uncovered yesterday, you can find it here.
… Sen. Jon Ossoff was asked on MS NOW if he will run for president in 2028: “I have zero interest in running for president in 2028. I love serving the state of Georgia. I’ve got two young daughters. And to be honest with you, I think that the 2028 fantasy risks distracting us from the urgent task at hand.”
… Ossoff on UAE wanting a bailout from the US for the costs of the war: “Well, let’s call it what it would be, which is a bailout for UAE. The way that Emirati money from Emirati Royals has compromised this WH is astonishing. It may be one of the most significant scandals in American history.”
… Who are the president’s two chief negotiators in the Middle East? Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. Witkoff’s son is the key partner in the Trump family crypto business, which has received vast sums of money from Emirati royalty. The NSA in
