Today in Politics, Bulletin 385. 5/22/26

… Tulsi Gabbard resigned as DNI, joining the ranks of a long list of Trump appointees who have been fired, forced out, or quit. Gabbard: “Unfortunately, I must submit my resignation, effective June 30, 2026. My husband, Abraham, has recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer.”

… Reuters says Gabbard is not being honest about her reason for leaving: “Gabbard said her husband had been ‌diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and that she was stepping away from her role to help him. A source familiar with the matter said that ​Gabbard had been forced out by the WH.”

… Putting those two things together, my read is that Trump fired her shortly after her husband was diagnosed with bone cancer. Which is definitely something he would do since he has reportedly been furious at her because she is against the Iran war. His diagnosis made it the perfect time for Trump’s vindictive nature to come out.

… Reuters: “Trump’s election-security czar last year sought to ban voting machines used in more than half of US states by asking whether the Commerce Dept could declare their components national-security risks. WH adviser Kurt Olsen, a lawyer Trump has tasked with proving widely debunked election-rigging conspiracy theories, pushed the plan to target Dominion Voting Systems machines.”

… “The idea emerged as Olsen and other officials brainstormed about how the federal govt could take control over elections from US states, an idea publicly aired by Trump. Olsen wanted a national system of hand-counted paper ballots, a frequent Trump demand some election-security experts say would be less accurate and potentially riskier than the current system of machines with auditable paper trails that almost all cities and states use.”

… “The plan to exclude the machines got far enough that in Sept, Commerce Dept officials began exploring what grounds could be invoked to execute it. It eventually collapsed, however, because Olsen and other admin staffers working with him failed to provide evidence to justify such a move.”

… Marge Greene went on Alex Jones’ podcast where they predicted Trump will cancel the 2028 election. Greene referenced what Trump said to Zelensky last year: “So you say, during the war, you can’t have elections. You say during the war, you can’t have elections. So let me just see. Three and a half years from now, so you mean if we happen to be in a war with somebody, no more elections? Oh, that’s good.”

… Greene: “I’m concerned. And he said it jokingly. But at the same time, knowing President Trump, I looked at that, and I thought, I don’t know if he’s saying it, joking. Jones: “I remember that clip. That’s what psychos do.”

… Greene noted that Trump continues to make comments about staying in power after 2028: “That type of behavior is someone planting an idea over and over. He constantly says it so that he can normalize the idea and test the support and test people’s reactions. But saying it over and over and over again normalizes the idea.”

… “I think it’s incredibly dangerous, and no one should ever accept it. Absolutely, absolutely not. There cannot be a third term, no. That’s against our laws. That’s against the Constitution. There is no third term. And if this country is at war, no, our election should not be canceled, absolutely not.”

… Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to CBS on Todd Blanche’s meeting yesterday with Republican senators over the $1.8 billion criminal slush fund: “There were fireworks at an epic level, and I got to say it's one of the roughest meetings I've seen in my entire time in the Senate. Fiery does not begin to cut it. They were screaming at the AG.”

… Punchbowl: “Michael Whatley backs Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ fund. Whatley, the Republican candidate in NC’s Senate race, said he supports Trump’s $1.8 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund that’s been the subject of intense criticism from GOP senators. Whatley: ‘We’ll kind of see how they implement it and what they’re going to do with it - they did ridiculous persecution.’”

… Trump posted: “I gave up a lot of money in allowing the just announced Anti-Weaponization Fund to go forward. I could have settled my case, including the illegal release of my Tax Returns and the equally illegal BREAK IN of Mar-a-Lago, for an absolute fortune. Instead, I am helping others, who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Admin, receive, at long last, JUSTICE!”

… Gas market analyst Patrick De Haan: “16 states are on track to set new all-time Memorial Day gas price records this year, surpassing the highs set in 2022: AK, CO, HI, KY, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NM, OH, OR, SD, WA, WV, WY.”

… “Democrats have opened up their widest lead on the generic ballot for the midterms in the latest Zogby poll - 49-42%. Still a long way to go but +7 in the generic ballot is considered tsunami territory.”

… Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) told CNBC that all the polls are wrong: “These nonsense polls that are out there telling us how the the president has never had a lower approval rating - what last week showed everybody once again is Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Trump still holds the strength. There’s never been anybody like him.”

… Nobody questions he has influence in Republican primaries in Kentucky and Louisiana. But that’s not exactly representative of the entire country.

… Q - “You support the settlement the president made with himself? You feel that’s totally on the up and up? Emmer: Let’s see what it is when it comes over to the House. Host: No no. The settlement unto itself. Emmer: I wasn’t in the room, so I don’t know the details. Trump was absolutely raked by these people for years.”

… Q - “The AG is the only person that could’ve gotten rid of these IRS audits, and it was Trump’s personal lawyer. It just smells bad. Emmer: It was so egregious what they did to Trump and his family - it’s one of the reasons he’s back in the office. America wants this cleaned up and Trump is gonna make sure it is.”

… Trump was fuming about Thom Tillis many disagreements with him over the past few months: “People don’t remember that Thom Tillis, the weak and ineffective Senator from NC, didn’t have the courage to fight it out in the Senate, remain in place, and run again for office, a thing he desperately wanted to do. I called him a ‘Nitpicker,’ always fighting against the Republican Party, and ME, mostly on things that didn’t matter.”

… “When I told him that I would not, under any circumstances, endorse him for another run, too much work and drama (he couldn’t have won, anyway!), he immediately quit the race and publicly announced that he was going to ‘retire.’ Now he can have all the fun he wants for a few months, with some of his RINO friends, screwing the Republican Party.”

… Tillis responded: “Mr. President, completely agree about having a lot of fun over these next 7 months. But nitpicking? Some of your advisors are telling you to support things like:

• Using billions of taxpayer dollars to compensate convicted felons and thugs who attacked police. (Ed Martin)

• Pushing 50-year mortgages. (Bill Pulte)

• Using taxpayer money to transform publicly traded companies into state-owned enterprises. (Howard Lutnick)

• Firing our very best generals and not holding Putin accountable for his systematic kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder of Ukrainian civilians. (Pete Hegseth)

… “If opposing these things makes me a RINO, then I gladly accept that nickname. We need Republicans to do well in Nov, but the stupid stuff is killing our chances!”

… Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) to Meidas on Congress being sent home early after failing to pass the reconciliation bill: “The finger-pointing on the Republican side of the aisle right now is intense. They can’t even pass their ICE funding bill that they are so obsessed with because they’re arguing about the ballroom and the slush fund and all kinds of other stuff, so they’re in full-on disarray.”

… Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) to Meidas: Q - It seems like we're the lame duck era of Mike Johnson's speakership. Crow: That ship has sailed a long time ago. This guy has no control over his conference, no control over the Congress and the House floor.”

… Rep. Johnny Olszewski (D-MD) to Meidas: Q - What happened with the War Powers vote? Olszewski: The Republicans don’t have the votes, so they decided to take their bags and run home instead. Q - So they didn’t have the votes to continue the war, so instead of stopping the war they went home. Olszewski: They closed up shop for the holiday, and in the meantime, the American people are paying tens of billions, we’re losing service members, and we’re getting crushed at the pump.”

… House Budget Chair Jason Smith on CNBC: Host - “Inflation is higher now than it was when Trump took office. Smith: It is. Since the Iran conflict, inflation has ticked up. It’s the result of the skyrocketing gas prices. Host: It was up even before the war though. Smith: It was at 2.4, 2.5. Host: But headline was high. Smith: Can we do better? Absolutely.”

… Lousiana Gov. Jeff Landry was on Fox to talk about his special envoy trip to Greenland: “It was great. I found a lot of commonality between the Inuit and Greenland people and the cajun culture down in LA. They do love and embrace the US. So contrary what you read in the paper, they do want more US involvement in Greenland.”

… I watched a lot of footage of his trip. Nobody liked him. He got zero love, lots of scorn and ridicule. The Fox audience getting their daily diet of BS.

… Landry: "Greenland needs a deal. Greenland could be exporting 2 million barrels of oil a day right now. Think about what kind of pressure that would relieve in the Strait of Hormuz, what kind of leverage that would give America. It's time for the Danes to come to the table and let's get a deal done."

… Greenland journalist Orla Joelsen: “Greenland’s government suspended future oil exploration in 2021 due to climate, environment and fisheries concerns.”

… NY Mag: “As John Fetterman isolates himself from many of his colleagues, one man named David Safier has had an increasingly large influence on him. When he is on Capitol Hill, Safier will ‘hang out and sit in Fetterman’s office all day or walk with him to the floor,’ a former staffer says.”

… "The senator has isolated himself from many of his Senate colleagues and members of his own party. There are few who Fetterman seems to trust beyond his dad and brother, who are conservative; Bobby Maggio, his 2022 campaign manager; and now Safier. Safier has unofficially operated as a top campaign fundraiser and senior adviser. He has even set up and attended sensitive meetings with foreign officials; in some cases, he is the only person staffing those meetings."

… “Fetterman has largely sidetracked other legislative matters, a current staffer said, and is now spending most of his time focusing on Israel. A few people working for Fetterman have even begun to joke that he is the ‘senator from Tel Aviv’. By early this year, many on Fetterman’s staff were incredulous and exhausted. In private, their boss was acting like a Republican, they say.”

… “In January 2026, Fetterman sent to a group chat with staffers a screenshot of an article headline about how the average working family spends nearly $4,000 annually on health care. 'How should it cost? Free?' he complained in the text, which I obtained. 'I don’t understand what affordability it is.'"

… NewsNation: “Today Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said the US is pausing arms sales to Taiwan because of the war with Iran. ‘Right now we're doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury,’ Cao told Sen. Mitch McConnell.”

… “Pete Hegseth has said ‘we have plenty’ when asked about munitions concerns. Last week, Trump said the $14 billion package of US arms to Taiwan that awaits his approval is a ‘very good negotiating chip’ with China.”

… Sen. Lindsey Graham posted: “I believe the liberation of the wonderful people of Cuba from the clutches of communism is close at hand. Cuba Libre.”

Trump is giving off signals that some kind of strike or military action could be happening in Iran or Cuba this weekend. I will note there is a report that Junior supposedly moved his wedding from the Bahamas to Palm Beach this weekend at the last minute. Would make sense for him not to be in the Bahamas if we are doing something in Cuba. I guess we will see.

As for me, on my day off tomorrow we are going to a flower and plant festival where a bunch of local vendors will be selling different plants. We are moving into our new house in 3 weeks and looking for landscaping ideas. Next Bulletin will be out Sunday night recapping the weekend. Maybe it will be one about a new war. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… Axios: “DNC chair Ken Martin is facing a surge of anger and even some calls to resign from congressional Democrats following the release of the DNC’s 2024 election autopsy. The chaotic handling of the report builds on concerns among Dems about Martin’s leadership and the DNC’s anemic fundraising numbers compared to its