Tag Archives: MAGA

MSNBC: How Trump’s ‘bribe now, pain later’ budget scheme hit a surprise roadblock [Opinion]

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The conservative revolt over Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ threatens a major component of his bid to keep Congress in the GOP’s hands next year.

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas had major problems with the bill his fellow Republicans presented to the House Budget Committee on Friday. On paper, the legislative package for President Donald Trump’s agenda slashes more than a trillion dollars in federal spending over the next decade. But Roy and other hard-line conservatives on the panel were frustrated at the bill’s timeline for those cuts. Their “no” votes tanked the bill and sent House leadership scrambling for last-minute weekend negotiations to salvage what Trump calls his “big, beautiful bill.”

Roy is right about the imbalance and trickery on display, as the current bill back-loads the savings while raising the federal deficit in the short term. The problem for him is that Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and the rest of the House leadership team aren’t the source of his concerns. Instead, the catalyst for his ire lies Roy is right about the imbalance and trickery on display, as the current bill back-loads the savings while raising the federal deficit in the short term. The problem for him is that Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and the rest of the House leadership team aren’t the source of his concerns. Instead, the catalyst for his ire lies down Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House.

Meanwhile, “down Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House”:

That hesitance from the White House can be chalked up in part to next year’s midterm elections. Politico’s Rachel Bade recently reported that Trump is already “hyper-engaged in the fight to keep the GOP’s majorities in Congress” …

It’s those pesky mid-terms that are spooking them!

Opinion | How Trump’s ‘bribe now, pain later’ budget scheme hit a surprise roadblock
The conservative revolt over Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ threatens a major component of his bid to keep Congress in the GOP’s hands next year.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-congress-budget-tax-cuts-chip-roy-rcna207299

New York Times: As White House Steers Justice Dept., Bondi [Bimbo #3] Embraces Role of TV Messenger

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Attorney General Pam Bondi [Bimbo #3] has adopted a conspicuously performative approach, willing to execute White House directives with little fuss.

Pam Bondi [Bimbo #3], the attorney general of the United States, circled the Roosevelt Room in late February, handing out bulky white binders labeled “Epstein Files: Phase 1” to a conclave of Trump-allied influencers summoned to the White House for their first visit.

That Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3], the nation’s top law enforcement official, would prioritize a case of importance primarily to conspiracy theorists was telling. Anxious to appease the restive MAGA base, she hyped the disclosure as “breaking news” on Fox the night before, part of an effort to fulfill President Trump’s campaign promise to reveal new details on the financier Jeffrey Epstein’s misdeeds and death.

It was a dud. There were “no bombshells,” she said, according to one of those invited.

Later, activists on the right lashed out at Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3]. She responded by blaming others, and then dispatched F.B.I. agents and prosecutors from the Justice Department’s national security division to scour the archives, officials familiar with the situation said. They found little. No one knows when Phase 2 is coming. But it is not likely to amount to much, those people said.

…

Since taking office as U.S. attorney general in early February, she has adopted a conspicuously performative approach to survive inside a Trump cabinet that rewards self-promotion, ritualized public flattery and, above all, a willingness to execute White House directives with little fuss.

Over the last few days, Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3] signed off on Mr. Trump’s acceptance of a luxury Boeing 747-8 plane upgraded to serve as Air Force One donated by the Qatari royal family, which raised a host of ethical and legal questions. As a lobbyist, Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3] herself received six-figure consulting fees from Qatar.

…

But her approach represents a noticeable departure from that of her predecessors at the Justice Department who saw themselves, to varying degrees, as guardians of institutional independence, attentive but not beholden to the presidency.

https://archive.is/fr5Xq#selection-4629.132-4629.368

Daily Beast: MAGA Stars Turn on Trump for Selling Out to Qatar

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MAGA influencers are demanding President Donald Trump turn down a $400 million luxury jet the Qatar royal family is in talks to gift his administration, saying the emirate is “not our friend.”

They’re not concerned about the legality or ethics of a foreign country giving Trump a gift that’s been described as a “palace in the sky,” even though the Constitution expressly prohibits such gifts absent congressional approval.

They’re mostly upset that Qatar—specifically—would be the one donating the luxury Boeing 747-8, which the administration would use as Air Force One for most of Trump’s remaining time in office before transferring it to the Trump presidential library foundation.

“Taking sacks of goodies from people who support Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Jazeera, all the rest—that is not America first,” conservative pundit Ben Shapiro said during the most recent episode of his show. “It just isn’t America first in any conceivable way.”

MAGA Stars Turn on Trump for Selling Out to Qatar
Furious Trump superfans say accepting a $400 million gift from the emirate isn’t “America First.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-stars-turn-on-donald-trump-for-selling-out-to-qatar

New York Times: With Trump Visit, Qatar’s Image Makeover Scores Another Success

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The emirate, once called “a funder of terrorism” by President Trump, has spent lavishly on overhauling its global reputation.

The president, who has described the emir as a “great gentleman” and a “friend of mine,” is granting Qatar the honor of hosting one of the first foreign visits of his second term. As for the plane, the president says he would be “stupid” not to accept such a nice gift despite loud objections, not only from Democrats but from some of his most fervent MAGA supporters.

It is a dramatic turnaround for a small Persian Gulf country that Mr. Trump derided eight years ago as “a funder of terrorism at a very high level.” At that time, he cooperated with Qatar’s bitter rivals in the region — who imposed a punishing blockade on Doha — in calling for an end to what he described as the country’s “extremist ideology.”

Impeach! Impeach! Impeach!

https://archive.is/5Xbf6#selection-727.0-738.0

Roll Call: Pardons for friends, retribution for foes

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Critics say Trump has Used the Powers of the President in Ways That Raise Alarms

President Donald Trump spent much of the last four years decrying Justice Department prosecutions against him and his supporters, and one of his first executive orders in January said it sought to end the “weaponization of prosecutorial power to upend the democratic process.”

But since then, Trump has used the power of his office for actions that critics and experts say inject politics into federal investigations and prosecutions, such as memorandums last month initiating government investigations into actions of two former officials who have been critical of him.

Trump wiped away the criminal cases of his supporters for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and has given pardons for supporters and erstwhile allies. The Justice Department since January has dropped a high-profile criminal case against New York Mayor Eric Adams, and made personnel moves that target employees involved in the investigations of Trump and the criminal probes of rioters.

Pardons for friends, retribution for foes – Roll Call
President Donald Trump has used the power of his office in ways critics and experts say inject politics into the criminal justice system.

https://rollcall.com/2025/05/07/pardons-for-friends-retribution-for-foes

OK! Magazine: ‘Moron’ Donald Trump Blasted for Announcing WWII Victory Day on Wrong Date and for Trying to Rename Veterans Day

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The president was mocked on Thursday, May 1, after taking to Truth Social with a bizarre rant about World War II, as he called for Americans to celebrate the end of the war on May 8 — which marked the official surrender of all German military operations in 1945 — despite the United States’ battles continuing until September 2 of that year, when Japan officially surrendered.

“Many of our allies and friends are celebrating May 8th as Victory Day, but we did more than any other country, by far, in producing a victorious result on World War II. I am hereby renaming May 8th as Victory Day for World War II and November 11th as Victory Day for World War I,” Trump wrote via his social media platform, ignoring the fact that November 11 is Veterans Day — which honors those who served in the United States Armed Forces.

‘Moron’ Donald Trump Blasted for Announcing WWII Victory Day on Wrong Date and for Trying to Rename Veterans Day
Donald Trump is quite literally trying to rewrite history. The president was mocked on Thursday, May 1, after taking to Truth Social with a bizarre rant about World War II, as he called for Americans to celebrate the end of the war on May 8 — which marked the official surrender of all German military operations in 1945 — despite the United States’…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/moron-donald-trump-blasted-for-announcing-wwii-victory-day-on-wrong-date-and-for-trying-to-rename-veterans-day/ar-AA1E4i4Z

Alternet: ‘Taunt the judiciary’: Legal scholars slam ‘invalid’ MAGA lawsuit against John Roberts

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On April 22, according to Talking Points Memo (TPM) reporter Josh Kovensky, the America First Legal Foundation filed a “little-known lawsuit” against U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and the head of the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts — accusing the federal courts of undermining his presidential powers.

“The case ostensibly proceeds as a FOIA lawsuit, with the Trump-aligned group seeking access to judiciary records,” Kovensky explains. “But, in doing so, it asks the courts to cede massive power to the White House: the bodies that make court policy and manage the judiciary’s day-to-day operations should be considered independent agencies of the executive branch, the suit argues, giving the president, under the conservative legal movement’s theories, the power to appoint and dismiss people in key roles.”

‘Taunt the judiciary’: Legal scholars slam ‘invalid’ MAGA lawsuit against John Roberts
Many critics of President Donald Trump are accusing him of failing to respect the United States’ system of checks and balances, arguing that the federal government’s executive branch, under the U.S. Constitution, isn’t as powerful as he says it is. Regardless, Trump and his MAGA allies, including White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, maintain…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/taunt-the-judiciary-legal-scholars-slam-invalid-maga-lawsuit-against-john-roberts/ar-AA1E3Z7a

Raw Story: Ted Cruz thrown under bus as GOP senator desperately courts Trump ahead of brutal primary

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Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is fighting for his political life, according to new reporting from Axios.

The longtime Texas senator “is boasting a 99% voting record with President Trump in a new memo provided first to Axios,” said the report. This comes as Cornyn “and his firebrand primary challenger, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, are battling to win Trump’s coveted endorsement in what is quickly shaping up to be the most dramatic and expensive GOP primary of the cycle.”

“Cornyn’s team is using fellow Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) as a foil, tallying the votes to tout that Cruz has voted against Trump more often than Cornyn,” said the report. “Over Trump’s first term and so far in his second, Cornyn voted in line with Trump 99.2% of the time while Cruz voted with him 96.6% of the time, according to the data, which removed duplicative procedural votes.”

It’s a dog-eat-dog world! Let them devour one another!

Ted Cruz thrown under bus as GOP senator desperately courts Trump ahead of brutal primary
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is fighting for his political life, according to new reporting from Axios. The longtime Texas senator “is boasting a 99% voting record with President Trump in a new memo provided first to Axios,” said the report. This comes as Cornyn “and his firebrand primary challenger, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, are battling to wi…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ted-cruz-thrown-under-bus-as-gop-senator-desperately-courts-trump-ahead-of-brutal-primary/ar-AA1E4Nyu

More here:

‘Lies!’ GOP senator lashes out after stinging ad hits airwaves in Trump’s backyard
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is firing back after his 2026 primary opponent slammed his record in a new TV ad that aired not in the Lone Star State, but in President Donald Trump’s backyard. The ad, funded by Preserving Texas, a group supporting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attacks Cornyn over his role in crafting a bipartisan safety bill in 2022,…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/lies-gop-senator-lashes-out-after-stinging-ad-hits-airwaves-in-trump-s-backyard/ar-AA1E13WE

MSNBC: Trump’s treasury secretary accidentally summed up the bitter truth about his tariffs

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Amid his verbal squirming in Tuesday’s news conference, Bessent offered a perhaps unintended revelation. “President Trump is interested in the jobs of the future, not the jobs of the past,” the secretary said. “We don’t need to necessarily have a booming textile industry like where I grew up again, but we do want to have precision manufacturing and bring that back.”

But textiles and other low-cost goods that rely on cheap foreign labor are subject to Trump’s tariffs, which means higher prices for consumers even if Americans won’t ever make those products again. And while precision manufacturing is great, it tends to be much more automated, which requires a smaller number of highly skilled employees. That means Americans won’t be working in that kind of factory by the tens of millions. 

In other words, Bessent accidentally summed up the effects of Trump’s tariffs: we’ll pay higher prices, but get little in return. Even before we feel the worst of it, Americans already understand. They aren’t happy and, if a recession comes, Trump will really feel their wrath.

Trump’s treasury secretary accidentally summed up the bitter truth about his tariffs
Before his second term began, President Donald Trump said that tariffs were “not going to be a cost to you, it’s going to be a cost to another country.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/trump-s-treasury-secretary-accidentally-summed-up-the-bitter-truth-about-his-tariffs/ar-AA1DUn0r

Daily Mail: ICE Barbie Kristi Noem [Bimbo #2] and Homeland Security advisor Corey Lewandowski’s cozy DC living arrangement revealed

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‘Don’t forget DC is a small town and people talk. It is an open secret that they are together.

‘It has always been joked about that Navy Yard is a dorm for Hill Republicans and Trump staffers – now it’s even higher up, with married cabinet secretaries bunking their volunteer chiefs.

‘Keeping the Homeland “secure”, or at least pretending to, is now 24/7 I suppose.’

Mom-of-three Noem [Bimbo #2], 53, invited her kids and grandchildren to DC over the Easter weekend when she made international headlines for having her purse snatched as they ate at a burger bar.

Only days later, DailyMail.com spotted former Trump campaign manager Lewandowski walking back and forth between their two residences, set among artisan coffee shops, bars, and chic waterfront restaurants.

On one occasion the veteran lobbyist emerged from Noem’s [Bimbo #2] apartment complex in his trademark suit, necktie and US flag pin and climbed into an Uber.

The next evening Lewandowski walked out clutching a duffel bag, crossed the street where a Secret Service detail is parked up 24/7 and headed inside his own building.

Noem [Bimbo #2] was the Republican Governor of South Dakota and a rising MAGA star when DailyMail.com first disclosed details of their years-long, clandestine affair in September 2023.

Dad-of-four Lewandowski wouldn’t comment while Noem [Bimbo #2] – married to her insurance exec husband Bryon for the past 33 years – denied the fling.

A DailyMail.com source insisted this week, however: ‘There’s no question the relationship is ongoing.

‘They continue to travel together, they continue to socialize together. Very clearly, they’re still having an extra-marital relationship.’

Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski’s cozy DC living setup REVEALED
The Homeland Security Secretary and her top advisor are known to enjoy the closest of professional relationships.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14664625/Kristi-Noem-Corey-Lewandowski-DC-living-arrangement-affair.html