Today in Politics, Bulletin 361. 5/1/26
… Trump gave a campaign speech today to a group of senior citizens at The Villages in FL, which many longtime Floridians refer to as ‘God’s Waiting Room’. Trump’s advance team blasted ‘Live and Let Die’ from the speakers before he took the stage. The speech was supposed to be about how much he has done for seniors:
He started off ranting about the venue: “You pay these guys a lot of money and then you get up in the mic isn't on properly. I don't believe in paying people to do a bad job. I'm screaming my ass off because the mic is no good. Turn the mic up!”
“I don't happen to be a senior. I'm a much younger man than you. Look at you old guys. Wouldn't you like to be my age? I’m young, vital, vibrant. I'm much, much younger than the people in this room.”
Trump on Dr. Oz: “We have a man here who knows more about Medicaid, Medicare, medical crap than any human being. It's the most boring trip I've ever made. He's telling me about Medicare, Medicaid.”
… He was dying to get the hell out there to his golf tournament in Miami. He couldn’t care less about any of this.
He said anyone running for president should take a cognitive exam: “I mean, you get a guy who gets in there, he's got a good line of crap. He gets in and all of a sudden you're stuck with a man who's a moron.”
… That would be bad if that ever happened. God forbid.
“I took 3 of them. I'm the only president to take a cognitive test. I don’t think Obama could pass it. Didn't he get into Harvard with a C average? The first question is a lion, a giraffe, a bear, and a shark. A lot of you wouldn’t have been able to answer those questions.”
“These are tough questions. They say take a number, any number. I say ok, 99. Multiply it by 9. Divide it by 3. Add 4293. Divide by 2. Subtract 93. Divide by 9. What is your answer? I got it right. It was actually more complex than that.”
On the Iran War: “The radical left, they say we’re not winning. It’s unbelievable. Actually, I believe it’s treasonous. If you want to know the truth, it’s treasonous.”
… Weren’t we just getting lectured a few days ago after the WHCA dinner about inflammatory language leading to political violence?
… Trump’s Qatari ‘Palace in the Sky’ jet will be delivered this summer after $400 million in upgrades and “security features” were put into it from taxpayers.
… WSJ: “When the Qatari royal family acquired a luxury jet for its private fleet more than a decade ago, the Boeing 747 was outfitted with the lavish furnishings and ornate adornments that would befit one of the world’s wealthiest families. Now, as the jumbo jet is expected to become Trump’s own this summer, officials say the plane’s lavish interior will look remarkably similar.”
… WaPo: “Trump’s war in Iran is as unpopular among Americans as the Iraq War during the year of peak violence in 2006 and the Vietnam War in the early 1970s, according to a WaPo-ABC News-Ipsos poll, amid growing economic pain and fears of terrorism as a result of the military campaign.”
… “61% of Americans say that using military force against Iran was a mistake, with 19% believing that the US actions in Iran have been successful. The polling numbers indicate a broadly unpopular war effort and growing economic fallout at a time when the WH has been trying to convince Americans that they are better off under Trump than under Democrats.”
… “The historical comparison to the wars in Iraq and Vietnam is especially notable. It took years for the Iraq War, which was launched in March 2003, to reach the level of disapproval that Trump’s war has in just two months. 59% percent of Americans in mid-2006 said the war in Iraq was a mistake, while similar numbers felt the same about the war in Vietnam in the early 1970s.”
… A new poll by Pew Research has Trump’s job approval rating at 34% - his lowest rating in that poll since the week after J6, 2021.
… Trump today on Iran: “They want to make a deal, but I am not satisfied about it. I’m not sure they will ever get there. Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever, or do we want to try and make a deal? Those are the options.”
… Middle East expert Danny Citrinowitz: “The goal is to create a clear ‘image of victory’, something the Iranian regime is simply not willing to grant, especially not to a US admin. Without that perception of victory, Trump cannot realistically bring the war to a close under current conditions.”
… “As a result, the admin appears to be searching for ‘silver bullet’ solutions, from tightening pressure to returning to escalation, in an effort to manufacture that sense of victory. But even with further escalation, it’s far from certain that Iran would concede such a narrative to the president. Stalemate...”
… AP: “The WH asserted to Congress in a letter that hostilities with Iran have ‘terminated’ despite the continued presence of US armed forces in the region. The message from Trump effectively skirts a May 1 legal deadline for gaining approval from members of Congress to continue the war with Iran. The letter brings into stark relief the bold but legally questionable assertion of presidential power at the heart of Trump’s war, which he began without congressional approval two months ago.”
… Trump also revealed that he sent the Kurds weapons that they were supposed to pass along to dissidents in Iran but they kept them: “A small amount of weapons were sent and we’ll see who has them. But I’m not happy with what happened with the Kurds. The Kurds did not deliver the weapons.”
… GA Gov Brian Kemp said his state will not be doing redistricting before the midterms: “Voting is already underway for the 2026 elections, but it’s clear that Callais requires Georgia to adopt new electoral maps before the 2028 election cycle.”
… Gas market analyst Patrick DeHaan: “At the worst possible time as farmers look to plant their crops, diesel prices have soared in ag states- it’ll show up at your grocery store. Big weekly jumps:
MI +75c/gal
IN +60c/gal
CO +53c/gal
OH +52c/gal
IL +42c/gal
WI +38c/gal
SD +31c/gal
IA +30c/gal
MT +30c/gal
MO +29c/gal
… Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) on Fox: “Remember, Trump promised he’d make us safer and more prosperous. He’s made us safer. He’s made us more prosperous. Now yes, we’ve seen some gas prices fluctuation. Gas prices will go back down. Remember - high gas prices are the work of the Democrats.”
… WSJ: “The US national debt now exceeds 100% of gross domestic product, crossing a once-unthinkable threshold, on the way toward breaking the record set in the wake of World War II. As of March 31, the country’s publicly held debt was $31.2 trillion, while GDP over the preceding year was $31.2 trillion. That figure will likely climb for the foreseeable future because the govt is running historically large annual deficits of nearly 6% of GDP.”
… Financial Times reported that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have acquired a position in a US-backed mining venture that recently secured major financial support from agencies under Trump’s admin. The deal is linked to a tungsten mining project that has secured up to $1.6 billion in financial support from US agencies. Tungsten is one of those key materials, known for being a very strong and heat-resistant metal used in armor-piercing bullets, missiles, drilling tools, and other defense equipment.”
… Eric didn’t like my tweet about it:
… MS NOW: “The move to charge former FBI Director James Comey with threatening the president with a picture of seashells shifted into overdrive earlier this month after Trump fired Pam Bondi and named Todd Blanche as the acting replacement. Before Bondi’s firing, DOJ aides were urging that they delay charging Comey on the presidential threat case and wait until the Senate confirmed interim US Attorney Ellis Boyle.”
… “But after Bondi was out, and new acting AG Blanche sought to win Trump’s appointment to the job permanently, the ‘seashells’ case gained new steam. Blanche’s aides instructed Boyle to seek a grand jury indictment of Comey and he and a relatively junior prosecutor obtained one in the Eastern District on April 28.”
… Trump posted: “In Honor of the King and Queen of the UK, who have just left the White House, I will be removing the Tariffs and Restrictions on Whiskey having to do with Scotland’s ability to work with Kentucky on Whiskey and Bourbon, two very important Industries within Scotland and Kentucky. The King and Queen got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking!”
… This is what tariffs were always all about for Trump. Not about revenue, trade, domestic manufacturing, GDP - it’s about giving himself the unilateral power to decide economic winners and losers on a case by case basis, with kings and CEOs coming to him asking forbearance.
Today was the first slowish news day in quite a while. That, and the fact that I had to go in today for a dental implant which was no fun, makes this a shorter Bulletin that normal. But I did my best under the circumstances to try and get everything important in the news today.
If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here. I’m off tomorrow and will be out with the next one on Sunday night recapping the weekend.
… CNN: “The House Ethics Committee is investigating allegations of sexual harassment against Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC). The committee was recently contacted by a witness who described having witnessed improper behavior. CNN
