Monthly Archives: May 2025

Alternet: Behind Trump’s Order 14270: A sweeping directive that dismantles a century of protections | Opinion

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On April 9, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14270, blandly titled “Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting to Unleash American Energy.” Behind that bureaucratic name is a sweeping directive: Dismantle a century of environmental protections.

Every regulation related to the environment, natural resources, or energy, whether it safeguards air, water, species, or public lands, must be rewritten to serve polluters or vanish by default.

Some will claim this is just about efficiency. But no standard review process sets a mass expiration date for protections, regardless of science, impact, or legal mandate. This is not streamlining. It is a countdown to erasure.

https://www.alternet.org/trump-order-14270

National Security Journal: ‘Walls Closing in on Trump’: Trying to ‘Avoid Suffering Through Dozens of New Investigations’

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Politico reported over the weekend that the president is “already obsessed” about the midterm elections.

While he was less concerned about the midterms in the first half of his first term, Trump is now “already hyper-engaged in the fight to keep the GOP’s majorities in Congress.”

The story, citing “five Republicans… including several close Trump confidants,” said that Trump has hopes of hanging onto his majorities, especially to keep committee gavels and the attached subpoena power out of the hands of Democrats starting in 2027.

‘Walls Closing in on Trump’: Trying to ‘Avoid Suffering Through Dozens of New Investigations’
According to a new report, Trump is concerned about the possibility of further investigations in the next Congress.
‘Walls Closing in on Trump’: Trying to ‘Avoid Suffering Through Dozens of New Investigations’

Alternet: Donald Trump just can’t resist the bribes | Opinion

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But one thing almost all Americans are firmly against — even many loyal Trumpers — [i]s bribery. And Trump is taking bigger and bigger bribes.

Yesterday it was reported that he’s accepting a luxury Boeing 747-8 plane worth at least $400 million from the Qatari royal family, for use during his presidency and for his personal use afterward.

Trump just can’t resist. He’s been salivating over the plane for months. It’s bigger and newer than Air Force One — and so opulently configured that it’s known as “a flying palace.” (No report on whether it contains a golden toilet.)

Apparently he’s been talking about the plane for months. In February, he toured it while it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport.

He’s tried to redecorate the White House into a palace but that’s not nearly as satisfying as flying around the world in one, especially once he’s left the White House (assuming he will).

https://www.alternet.org/donald-trump-just-can-t-resist-the-bribes

NBC News: Kash Patel’s new way of leading the FBI: Fewer morning intel briefings, more pro sports events

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Supporters of the new director say he is bringing needed change. Some current and former FBI and DOJ officials worry he is not taking the job seriously enough.

Patel’s approach to his new job has raised concerns that he is not taking the position seriously enough, a dozen current and former DOJ and FBI officials told NBC News.

Officials who worked on the morning director’s briefings were told that the schedule was changed because Patel sometimes failed to arrive on time, said two current and two former FBI and Justice Department officials familiar with the matter.

At the same time, Patel has drawn attention for regularly appearing with celebrities at professional sporting events around the country, according to flight logs and social media posts.

Since taking office on Feb. 20, Patel appears to have made three flights on FBI planes to Nashville, Tennessee, where his girlfriend, a country singer, lives; two flights to Las Vegas, where he has a home; and one flight to New York, where he attended a professional hockey game. FBI policy in recent years has mandated that directors fly on government aircraft for security reasons.

Kash Patel’s new way of leading the FBI: Fewer morning intel briefings, more pro sports events
Supporters of the new director say he is bringing needed change. Some current and former FBI and DOJ officials worry he is not taking the job seriously enough.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna202865

Daily Mail: Another politician’s visas revoked by Trump administration

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The petty little children in the White House have revoked the visas of the governor of Mexico’s Baja California state and her husband.

The dramatic move to revoke her and her husband’s visas comes just weeks after Pilar Avila took a trip to San Diego to promote tourism in Mexico, according to KUSI. It remains unclear what may have provoked the US State Department to suddenly revoke their visas. But the Trump administration has been cracking down on who can obtain visas in recent weeks.

Another politician stunned to discover Trump has REVOKED her visas
Marina del Pilar Avila (main) announced on Sunday that the Trump revoked her and her husband’s (together bottom) tourist visas.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14701489/Baja-California-governor-Marina-del-Pilar-Avila-husband-visas-revoked.html

Rolling Stone: Elon Musk’s Regulatory Woes Are Conveniently Vanishing Under Trump

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The Trump administration has been a boon for Elon Musk’s companies’ regulatory issues. The billionaire who has run the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) responsible for gutting certain federal agencies is now enjoying less scrutiny over his businesses since Donald Trump took office, NBC News reported.

An NBC News review of regulatory matters that involve Musk’s companies revealed that in more than 40 cases, regulators have not taken any public action in their investigations for many months.

Since Trump took office, the Justice Department has dropped a case against SpaceX that accused the company of refusing to hire asylum recipients and refugee immigrants to the U.S. A Labor Department probe into workforce discrimination at Tesla ended after Trump signed an executive order that gutted the office conducting the investigation. And the National Labor Relations Board has opened settlement talks over SpaceX firings of employees who criticized Musk. The U.S. Department of Agriculture was leading an investigation into Neuralink, which Musk owns, for potential animal welfare violations until one of Trump’s first executive orders fired inspectors general from USDA and 16 other agencies. The former inspectors generals are suing.

Corruption at its finest!

Elon Musk’s Regulatory Woes Are Conveniently Vanishing Under Trump
Billionaire Elon Musk’s companies are benefitting from reduced federal government regulation under Donald Trump’s administration.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/elon-musk-regulatory-matters-under-trump-1235336699

Moneywise: ‘We want them back desperately’: US border communities losing millions in sales tax revenue as Canadian shoppers avoid US travel due to Trump’s tariffs and ’51st state’ rhetoric

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There’s a long-standing tradition of Canadians crossing the border to shop at outlets and malls in the U.S.

This is especially true in Erie and Niagara County, which are located near the border and feature top shopping destinations such as the Walden Galleria Mall and the Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls.

But unfortunately, things have changed. Cars traveling across the border into the U.S. are down significantly in 2025, and counties like Erie and Niagara are paying the price through a drop in sales tax revenue.

In February and March of 2025, 35,619 fewer cars crossed the Peace Bridge that connects Canada to Buffalo, NY, compared to the number of cars that crossed the bridge during the same months in 2024. During the same period, 29,537 fewer cars crossed the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls.

So that’s about 65,000 cars of shoppers no longer shopping, per month.

‘We want them back desperately’: US border communities losing millions in sales tax revenue as Canadian shoppers avoid US travel due to Trump’s tariffs and ’51st state’ rhetoric
Did Trump take it a bridge too far?

https://moneywise.com/news/we-want-them-back-desperately-us-border-communities-losing-millions-in-sales-tax-revenue-as-canadian-shoppers-avoid-us-travel-due-to-trumps-tariffs-and-51st-state-rhetoric

Politico: US popularity collapses worldwide in wake of Trump’s return

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The world is more divided than ever, but there’s still something (nearly) everyone agrees on: The U.S. is unloved.

The United States is becoming less popular globally in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, according to new data.

The 2025 Democracy Perception Index summarizes attitudes toward democracy, geopolitics and global power players, and canvassed more than 110,000 respondents across 100 countries.

A majority of people surveyed had an overall negative perception of the U.S., marking a steep decline from last year. America’s reputation took a particularly massive hit in EU countries — perhaps unsurprisingly, as U.S. President Donald Trump has called the bloc “horrible,” “pathetic” and “formed to screw the United States.”

US popularity collapses worldwide in wake of Trump’s return
The world is more divided than ever, but there’s still something (nearly) everyone agrees on: The U.S. is unloved.

https://www.politico.eu/article/usa-popularity-collapse-worldwide-trump-return

Raw Story: ‘Deal is a whiff’: Onlookers blast Trump for ‘wild lies’ about his major announcement

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Donald Trump on Sunday made an announcement on prescription drug price controls, resulting in mockery and backlash online.

Trump on Sunday took to his own social media site, Truth Social, and announced what he called “one of the most consequential orders in our country’s history.” It was a price control plan for prescriptions.

Problem is, King Donald has absolutely no authority to tell pharmaceutical firms how much to charge for their products.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-deal-wild-lies-drugs

Investigative Post: ICE seeks to deport Buffalo man over traffic tickets

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Saul Valverde-Venegas, arrested by federal agents last week on Buffalo’s West Side, once ran a red light and failed to pay some tolls in Florida.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seeking to deport a Buffalo man whose only offense appears to be traffic citations.

…

ICE officers last week arrested West Side resident Saul Valverde-Venegas, a roofing contractor, while he was loading a work truck. For days, ICE refused to explain why.

In a statement Monday evening, an ICE spokesperson described him as “unlawfully” entering the United States more than a decade ago and said he had “since acquired several vehicle and traffic law violations.”

ICE seeks to deport Buffalo man over traffic tickets
Saul Valverde-Venegas, arrested by federal agents last week on Buffalo’s West Side, once ran a red light and failed to pay tolls in Florida.