MSNBC: Following vote from Senate Republicans, another ex-con joins Team Trump

It’s not common for people to transition from prison to a diplomatic position in Paris, but in Trump world, strange things happen.

Two weeks after Election Day 2024, Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama assured the public that Donald Trump wouldn’t choose “a criminal” for a governmental position. About a week later, the then-president-elect tapped Peter Navarro, who completed a prison sentence earlier this year after being convicted for contempt of Congress, for an advisory post at the White House.

Trump also announced his intention to nominate Charles Kushner — despite his own criminal past — to serve as the U.S. ambassador to France. As NBC News reported, the Senate has now confirmed Kushner to the post.

Seriously, folks, who’s the biggest crook here?

  1. Peter Navarro, convicted of 2 counts of contempt of Congress.
  2. Charles Kushner, pleaded guilty 18 counts of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering
  3. King Donald, convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records.

King Donald is the hands down winner!

Navarro & Kushner are petty crooks compared to the King!!!

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/vote-senate-republicans-another-ex-con-joins-team-trump-rcna207957

MSNBC: Trump admin accepts jet from Qatar, ignoring legal restrictions and bipartisan pushback

Team Trump’s decision to accept the Qatari “gift” doesn’t end the controversy; it starts the controversy.

The Times’ report added that the Defense Department “has not given an estimate of when the work on the Qatari plane might be done, even though Mr. Trump and the White House have made clear the president wants it soon, perhaps even by the end of the year.”

What the president “wants” is likely to prove irrelevant: NBC News recently reported that converting the luxury jet will “take years to complete.”

Indeed, it’s worth emphasizing that the administration’s decision to accept the Qatari “gift” doesn’t end the controversy; it starts the controversy.

Now that this plan is moving forward, the president and his White House team should prepare for a series of questions for which there are no easy answers. Where will Trump find the money to pay for this “free” plane? Why does he keep pretending that this “gift” isn’t for him personally, even after he’s publicly suggested otherwise? How does Trump intend to overcome the seemingly obvious fact that the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause still exists, and it appears to prohibit exactly this kind of arrangement?

Why was Attorney General Pam Bondi involved in approving this process after having served as a paid registered lobbyist for Qatar? How does Trump plan to explain away his earlier condemnations of presidents accepting foreign gifts? Why is the president apparently indifferent to the fact that even many of his Republican allies have expressed opposition to this idea? Will Congress have any role in approving the transfer, as is required for such gestures of international generosity?

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-admin-accepts-jet-qatar-ignoring-legal-restrictions-bipartisan-p-rcna208306

MSNBC: Trump’s rhetoric about food assistance gets weird as Republicans target food stamps

Those who trust the president’s word that Republican-imposed cuts will “give everybody much more food” are in for a dramatic surprise.

“You campaigned on lowering the price of groceries. How can you justify cutting food assistance in this [budget] bill?” the journalist asked. Trump’s response was, among other things, odd.

“Let me just tell you, the cut is going to give everybody much more food because prices are coming way down. Groceries are down,” the president replied.

It’s difficult to say with confidence exactly what he was even trying to say. If Republicans successfully cut food assistance to low-income Americans, everyone will have more food? Because grocery prices have gone down?

If I had to guess, I think Trump intended to argue that the GOP’s cuts to food assistance wouldn’t matter, because low-income families will find it easier to afford groceries because of some kind of deflationary trend the president believes is underway.

But this is bizarre on multiple levels.

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-rhetoric-food-assistance-gets-weird-republicans-target-food-sta-rcna208213

MSNBC: Budget office: Republicans’ megabill would give to the rich and take from the poor

If GOP officials are looking for good news in the Congressional Budget Office’s new report on the party’s reconciliation package, they won’t find any.

Common sense might suggest that congressional Republicans would want to know basic details about their giant reconciliation package, such as how much it would cost and the practical implications of its provisions. GOP lawmakers are, after all, federal policymakers. It stands to reason that they’d care enough about governing to want to legislate with open eyes.

But that’s not the case. Just as Republicans scrambled in 2017 to pass massive tax breaks without waiting for a score from the Congressional Budget Office, GOP lawmakers decided to do the same thing in 2025, deliberately choosing willful ignorance about their own legislation.

That did not, however, stop congressional Democrats from asking the CBO to scrutinize the House Republicans’ proposal, and as The Associated Press reported, the nonpartisan budget office’s findings were quite brutal.

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/budget-office-republicans-megabill-give-rich-richer-take-poor-rcna208175

MSNBC: In remarks to U.S. troops, Trump renews talk of a third term, despite the Constitution

When a president suggests to U.S. troops that he’s considering a plan in which he might betray constitutional law, that’s a problem

Presidents from both parties have long recognized the importance of the United States having apolitical military. To mix partisanship and the armed forces is to undermine foundational American principles.

It was against this backdrop that Donald Trump addressed U.S. troops stationed at the Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, where he spoke to uniformed troops as if they were his supporters at a campaign rally. “There’s nobody been stronger than the military in terms of backing us, nobody. So I just want to thank you all,” the president said — propriety and American norms be damned.

But that’s not all he said.

“As you know, we won three elections, OK?” Trump told the troops. “And some people want us to do a fourth. I don’t know, I’ll have to think about that.”

He proceeded to talk up his caps that feature the words “Trump 2028,” which he referred to as “the hottest hat.”

Commenting on autocracies around the world that have consolidated power, [Scott Cummings, a professor of legal ethics at the UCLA School of Law] noted that in none of these countries “do leaders do all the things that Trump is doing, take aim at all of these independent institutions, and then just walk away.” Rather, the professor added, authoritarians take these steps because they intend “to stay in power permanently.”

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/remarks-us-troops-trump-renews-talk-third-term-constitution-rcna207236