Trump and GOP at each other’s throats as midterm anxieties spiral

'Coverup': Bill Kristol maps out path to take down Trump’s AG pick

Conservative columnist Bill Kristol wants the Senate confirmation of Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump’s stated nominee for U.S. attorney general, to become a referendum on the administration’s handling of the Epstein files — tying Blanche directly to the “coverup” he says Trump rewarded him for managing.Writing at The Bulwark, Kristol calls Blanche “the prime orchestrator and key executor of the Trump administration’s Jeffrey Epstein coverup.” He argues that the senators’ vote on Blanche “should become” a vote on Epstein, and sees the confirmation process as “a chance to force a real public debate, with real Senate votes, on the Epstein coverup.” Kristol points to Bondi’s testimony that Blanche “was leading the Epstein matter and the release of everything from the beginning” and supervised the “entire process” of how the files were handled. He also calls Blanche “the most visible public defender of the coverup, and of the decision not to investigate or prosecute anyone else for crimes.”Blanche has worked to bury the Epstein files, Kristol argues. While still deputy attorney general, he told Fox News, “And so I think that to the extent that the Epstein files was a part of the past year of this Justice Department, it should not be a part of anything going forward.” Kristol says the “Epstein coverup should be part, a key part, of one thing going forward: It should be a key part of the upcoming debate on Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general. The Blanche confirmation fight can bring the Epstein coverup back into the spotlight this summer.”In February, when Blanche was asked by Fox News’ Laura Ingraham whether there was “any chance that any of these individuals who partied with Epstein and engaged in relations with minors” would be prosecuted, Blanche responded, “I’ll never say no, and we will always investigate any evidence of misconduct, but as you know, it is not a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.”“And some of these men may have done horrible things, and if we have evidence that allows us to prosecute them, you better believe we will,” Blanche continued. “But it’s also the kind of thing that the American people need to understand that it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.” Kristol latches on to that remark and repeats it, before writing that the DOJ “could now be following up on the testimony of scores of survivors to finally, properly investigate those crimes and their perpetrators. But Blanche’s Justice Department hasn’t even pretended to be seeking further evidence.”He accuses Blanche’s DOJ of having “no interest at all in investigating or prosecuting the men who have done truly horrible things. After all, ‘it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.'”

It’s Time for Donald Trump to Unleash His Secret Weapon Against Iran: The Power of Antisemitism!

Ex-'hardcore MAGA activist' details game plan for saving others from Trump

Much of the criticism of President Donald Trump on the right is coming from Never Trump conservatives and libertarians, many of whom were scathing opponents of the MAGA movement from the get-go. Attorney George Conway, The Washington Post's George Will, MS NOW's Joe Scarbrough and The Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson were so anti-Trump that they left the Republican Party altogether. But Rich Logis' opposition to Trump is coming from a much different place. In Salon, the founder of Leaving MAGA details his journey from hardcore Trump supporter to Trump opponent — and his ongoing efforts to help others who have become disillusioned with the president and the MAGA movement."From 2015 until 2022," Logis explains in Salon, "I was a hardcore MAGA activist and pundit. I spoke at pro-Trump events. I wrote numerous op-eds, and even hosted a podcast dedicated to promoting all things Trump. I loved that he wanted to burn down the established political order. I felt that neither major political party cared for the working person. When Trump ran the first time and was elected against what seemed like impossible odds, it was exhilarating and new. It was also a communal experience. MAGA became my second family."The Leaving MAGA founder argues that Trump opponents shouldn't dismiss his supporters as a lost cause, but he emphasizes that quitting MAGA is a real struggle for those who have been true believers and are now questioning the movement."When I tell people I founded an organization that helps people leave Donald Trump‘s MAGA movement," Logis notes, "the response is often a derisive snort. 'Why waste your time on them?' people sometimes say. 'They're a lost cause. It's a cult.' I firmly believe that kind of dismissive contempt is misguided. In fact, I know it, on a profound personal level…. Recognizing that MAGA provides a strong sense of community is key to understanding its appeal."Logis continues, "Another integral element of MAGA's power is the pro-Trump media echo chamber. For several years, I got my information almost exclusively from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Breitbart. Everything outside the echo chamber, to my community, was Democratic Party propaganda…. It's hard to overstate the formidable power of believing the MAGA media's daily lies and distortions. I was addicted to rage and fear. Even though Trump had been elected president, I lived in a perpetual state of despair, desperation and paranoia."Logis cites anti-vaxxer propaganda during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas as two of the things that led to the creation of Leaving MAGA in 2022. And he is seeing others going through the same struggles he went through. "On the eve of America's 250th birthday, our democracy is in crisis," Logis warns. "I firmly believe the key to resolving it lies partly in forming unlikely but necessary alliances. Those who leave MAGA are worthy of our grace, and can become stewards of our democracy. We cannot afford to shun them."

Here’s why Iran’s attacks on Israel didn’t cross Trump’s red lines

President Donald Trump is still pursuing a long-term agreement to end the Iran war, even after Iran and Israel exchanged long-range missile strikes over the weekend for the first time in roughly two months, threatening to derail the process and drag the region back into war. Trump has repeatedly said Iran is ready to make […]

In Negotiations With Iran, Trump Risks Repeating the Mistakes of Afghanistan

Sometimes walking away from the table is the best way to signal strength.

'It's coming': Top Trump official issues sinister warning to blue state governor

Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar, revealed Monday that he had issued a threatening warning to New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul about an impending operation planned for her state.As reported by The Detroit News, Homan revealed on Fox News that the Trump administration had “drawn up a plan to surge” federal immigration enforcement agents to New York City in a continuation of Trump’s immigration crackdown. Homan claimed to have informed Hochul of the impending operation, albeit in a vague and threatening manner.“You’re going to see more [Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents] than you’ve ever seen in New York City, and it’s coming,” Homan said on Fox, the Detroit News reported. “I just reviewed an operational plan. I’m not going to tell you exactly when it’s going to happen, but it’s coming.”Homan’s remarks come shortly after Hochul signed a bill to “protect New Yorkers” against federal immigration enforcement agents. The bill-turned-law would prohibit local law enforcement from entering into specific agreements with federal immigration enforcement agencies, prohibit law enforcement officials from wearing face coverings, and establish an easier legal pathway for New Yorkers to sue immigration enforcement agents for unconstitutional activity.“With these measures, we are stepping up to protect our communities and the civil rights that generations have fought and died to establish,” Hochul said at the bill’s signing late last month. “New York's comprehensive plan will prevent local officials from carrying out federal immigration policy, protect schools and other sensitive locations, and give New Yorkers a meaningful remedy if government agents violate their rights.”

Trump Is a Hot Mess—and He’s Cooking His Party

Did you land here looking for an account of the Republican Party’s latest angry crashouts and epic meltdowns? Well, you’ve come to the right place. From Truth Social to Capitol Hill, Donald Trump and his merry band of hangers-on are in incredible disarray. Led by a corrupt idiot, they are mired in a dumb war they can’t win, overseeing an economy that’s eating the livelihoods of ordinary Americans, and even facing some internal blowback as Trump’s demands for an increasingly varied array of vanity projects and a slush fund to reward his criminal goons are getting spiked by his GOP allies.Trump isn’t capable of sorting out any of the nation’s myriad problems—dilemmas mostly spawned by his relentless pressing of the “cause another problem” button. So he’s up late, whining to anyone who will listen that this is all everyone else’s fault. This week, he spent the wee hours angry at the Michael Smerconish podcast for hosting Trump’s former consigliere, Michael Cohen, who claimed he was “coerced into testifying against Trump.” The president made one of his trademark staggered-caps replies: “Michael Cohen has come out and unequivocally stated that the Radical Left Prosecutors, Tish James and Alvin Bragg, pressured and coerced him to testify against your favorite President, ME, when they made him the key player in their Political Witch Hunts.” Trump has also been monomaniacally preoccupied with the crashing and burning of the concert he’d planned for America’s semiquincentennial, a word that I’m looking forward to forgetting how to spell. Some weeks ago, it was announced that an array of aggressively tertiary-to-pop-culture performers had been lined up to play for the president’s pleasure. That bill has since dwindled to Vanilla Ice, who says that he would be willing to perform for Vladimir Putin and the Iranian mullahs, and Flo Rida, whose absolute commitment to getting that bag—any bag—would have a Saudi royal exclaiming, “Have some shame, habibi!”We know that this was a humiliating moment for Trump because he once again went on Truth Social to tell everyone about it. “We should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain,” he wrote.That’s all pretty rich coming from someone whose every online utterance is a tantrum laced with either petty complaints or high-test AI slop. Past targets of his ire include “Dumocrats and RINOs” (with Thomas Massie, Thom Tillis, and Bill Cassidy coming in for specific scorn), the Supreme Court (this time spurning Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett), critics of his Iran war blundering, the judge who ordered his name be stricken from the Kennedy Center facade, and, of course, the Iranian people, against whom he routinely threatens war crimes. Pope Leo, in particular, seems to be living rent-free in Trump’s head at all times. The fact that Trump has chosen a midterm election year to become ungovernable is piling increasing pressure on those few Republicans who want to appear to be capable of governing. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who like Mitch McConnell before him seems to be hyperaware that allowing his GOP colleagues to go as feral as they’d like to would hurt their reelection chances—has reached a “breaking point” with Trump over several matters, including the nomination of Bill Pulte to be the director of national intelligence and the proposed “Anti-Weaponization Fund”—which seems to have been shoved back into some sort of procedural limbo after Democrats successfully raised a hue and cry over it.Republicans like Thune have a hard row to hoe right now. I’ve spent no small amount of time trying to figure out if there is any problem the GOP can solve in timely enough fashion to save their bacon for the midterms, and the conclusion I keep reaching is that this is simply a physiological impossibility for a party that seems to only have whining and trolling in its locker. This week, we saw some excellent examples of what Republicans are capable of doing: In Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee, in an effort to stick it to the LGBTQ community, declared it “Nuclear Family Month” (with no evident concern for the affordability crisis affecting those families). Meanwhile, in Minnesota, the state Republican Party made news for holding a moment of silence for the corrupt cop who killed George Floyd.Sorry to throw the thesaurus at this, but this is all stupid, puerile, insipid pissbaby nonsense. But it’s also the ne plus ultra of Republican ideas—right now and for the foreseeable future. Trump may still hold sway over his party, but the main evidence of his influence increasingly just seems like rot.

Trump risks sending oil 'well above $200 per barrel' as he nears critical juncture: expert

President Donald Trump has reached a critical juncture, writes geopolitical analyst and expert Trista Parsi, one that could result in either some de-escalation in the Middle East or an unprecedented disruption to global trade that could send oil prices to “well above $200 per barrel.”Parsi’s analysis, detailed in a report published on his Substack Sunday night, comes after Iran and Israel exchanged strikes earlier that same day. On Monday, Trump publicly pleaded with Israel and Iran to stop fighting as his administration continues working toward a negotiated settlement with Tehran, though both nations have frequently defied the president’s wishes.As such, Parsi argued, “the most likely scenario” in the days or weeks ahead is that Israel and Iran will continue to exchange fire. The “key question” then becomes, Parsi wrote, “whether Trump will eventually enter the conflict – or be pulled into it.”“The Iranians appear prepared for either outcome,” Parsi wrote. “If Trump re-enters the war, Tehran may employ options it withheld during the previous conflict, including disrupting Red Sea shipping and targeting GCC oil infrastructure in an effort to drive oil prices well above $200 per barrel. If Trump stays out, such horizontal escalation may be deemed unnecessary.”As of Monday, the price per barrel of oil sits at just over $97, a dramatic increase from the $72 seen one day before Trump launched Operation Epic Fury. Trump’s favorability has suffered as a result, with the average cost per gallon of gas reaching $4.24 last week, up significantly from the $2.98 recorded prior to the war.