Have a look at this Guardian collection of photos from cities in the U.S. and Europe. It's taken far too long in the United States for people to fully wake up to the disaster we all face, but they are awakening.
The tariffs' crushing of stock values is a forecast of an almost guaranteed upcoming recession – which may be a best-case scenario at this point. Combined with the wanton destruction of vital services and eviscerating of civil liberties – and so much more damage – Americans' anger at the Trump regime should grow.
The chaos is the policy. It's going to hammer tens of millions of people, hard. Sitting back and hoping to ride it out is an option only for Trump's fascist supporters.
All corruption, all the time in Trump world
The financial market meltdown was underway when President Trump boarded Air Force One on his way to Florida on Thursday for a doubleheader of sorts: a Saudi-backed golf tournament at his family’s Miami resort and a weekend of fund-raisers attracting hundreds of donors to his Palm Beach club. It was a fresh reminder that in his second term, Mr. Trump has continued to find ways to drive business to his family-owned real-estate ventures, a practice he has sustained even when his work in Washington has caused worldwide financial turmoil.
The word "corruption" never appears in this New York Times article. Heaven forbid the Paper of Record use the most accurate description. At least the well-reported article makes it completely clear via the details.
And while Trump is the king of corruption, his administration is doing everything it can to spread the ill-gotten wealth – as long as the family gets its "share" of the loot. But from all appearances, the really big bucks are going to Trump's key billionaire enablers, as the next item in today's links explain.
There has never been a president remotely as corrupt at Trump. It's not even close. I wish the Times would care enough to be relentless on this, and not treat this weekend's egregious stuff as just a one-off – this demands constant and contextual coverage, which no one is doing.
Speaking of corruption...
Tech billionaires' latest government windfall: military deals
The emergence of Musk, Bezos and a handful of other pro-Trump billionaires as key players in US intelligence marks a radical change in US spy operations, which have traditionally been controlled by career government officials working closely with a few longstanding defense and intelligence contractors, giant corporations such as Lockheed Martin, RTX and Northrop Grumman that are adept at lobbying both Democrats and Republicans in Washington. But with Musk, Bezos and other pro-Trump Silicon Valley figures gaining an edge through their personal ties to Trump, civil servants in the intelligence community may be reluctant to deny them ever-larger contracts, especially since Trump has already fired several inspectors general who investigated Musk’s businesses in other areas of the government.
This Guardian piece connects the dots to show us that Big Tech billionaires are moving to take over as many parts of military contracting as they can get away with – and they're going to reap astounding rewards for their efforts.
Don't feel an ounce of sympathy for the military-contracting cartel that has dominated military spending for decades, corruptly and with zero accountability. But don't think for a second that Musk, Bezos, Thiel and the rest of the odious tech mega-billionaire crowd will be even slightly more honest.
Do realize they will be vastly more dangerous as they work with fascist rulers to combine Big Tech's business model – spying on human beings – with the weapons business. The article should terrify you when you think through the implications.
Kudos: James Risen
Good neighbors resist fascists
The town of 1,300 people has just one school for all children K-12 where they graduate approximately 40 students each year. It’s an affluent and idyllic-looking town on the shores of Lake Ontario in a county that voted 61% for Trump in 2024. And when protesters marched down the streets in solidarity with their stolen neighbors, they made sure to pass by the home of one community member in particular: Tom Homan, Trump’s Border Czar. Homan grew up nearby and still has his primary residence in Sackets Harbor, presumably splitting time in DC to spearhead Trump’s campaign of terrorizing immigrants.
Among the most evil Trump apparatchiks is Tom Homan, so-called "border czar" – a man who seems to revel in ruining lives and dishing out cruelty. So as this newsletter post explains, it's especially heartening to see his small-town neighbors calling him directly on disappearing one of the town's families – putting a third-grader in handcuffs, for God's sake – into the maw of his agency's prison system.
Fascism can be easier to enforce in a small town if everyone but a few holdouts is either in on it or too afraid to say no. But it can be harder if there if there are enough brave neighbors. When everyone knows everyone else, who they are can be hard to dodge.
Homan's secret police want to do their work in the shadows if possible. They will continue to abduct people off the streets. We shouldn't allow them to do it in absolute secrecy.
This newsletter is a compendium of the reporting and commentary that best explains the America's political, economic, and social conditions – and, most important, how we can find a way back from the dark days ahead. You will rarely find anything here from the New York Times or Washington Post or any of the other Big Journalism companies that failed us so completely during the 2024 elections and are now sucking up – even more than usual – to Donald Trump, his cult, and corporate oligarchs. My focus will be on smaller, more honorable outlets (and individuals). I hope you'll support them with your attention and your money. For more details, please read my About page.
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Diana Ramirez-Simon
James Risen in Washington
