Kennedy Center Archives - The Automatic Earth

Fox just cut the anchor who put the STOLEN 2020 ELECTION on their own air.

This is the November 15, 2020 Sunday Morning Futures interview they have been trying to live down ever since. Bartiromo put Sidney Powell on and let her name Dominion, Smartmatic, Texas rejecting the… pic.twitter.com/qUDXu90vRU
— QThestorm (@17QStorm) September 4, 2026

Too much truth seems to be a problem at Fox News❗️

Maria Bartiromo wasn’t allowed to cover the national address in which President Trump revealed that the China illicitly obtained 220 million U.S. voter files.

It’s why so many people are leaving Fox and going over to Newsmax. pic.twitter.com/qdedzX3Yu7
— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) September 5, 2026

https://twitter.com/RippleXrpie/status/2095931973302665282?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2095942449780933116?s=20 https://twitter.com/Tironianae/status/2096019749347946634?s=20

Back in 2015:

“After IRGC Fires Upon U.S. Navy Vessels ..”

• U.S. Central Command Destroys Three Iranian Tankers (CTH)

The U.S. Central Command has released video showing their elimination of three Iranian oil tankers following an attack on two U.S. navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. TAMPA, Fla. — U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces struck three Iranian crude oil carriers, Sept. 5, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles toward two U.S. Navy warships patrolling regional waters. A U.S. aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer successfully evaded multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks. No American personnel were harmed.

Following Iran’s failed attacks, CENTCOM permanently disabled the IRGC crude oil carriers M/T Downy off the coast of Kharg Island and M/T Stark 1 near Jask. American forces also completely destroyed the unladen crude oil carrier M/T Kylo (also known as the “Noxen”) in the Gulf of Oman, striking the vessel in multiple critical locations to render it inoperable after the crew was directed to abandon ship. The three Iranian crude oil tankers are part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies. Iran has no means by which to defend them.

“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost —taking out three of yours,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander. “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”

While we’re visiting Putin.

• Ukraine Pushes Congress For Russia Sanctions Before Election Recess (RFE/RL)

Ukraine’s top sanctions official says he remains optimistic about prospects for a sweeping Russia sanctions bill in the US Congress despite growing uncertainty over when the House of Representatives will take it up, as lawmakers face a sharply shortened legislative calendar ahead of the November elections. Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s sanctions commissioner, spent this week in Washington meeting lawmakers and congressional staff as Kyiv presses Congress to advance the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026.

The legislation passed the Senate on August 7 by an overwhelming 86-11 vote, reflecting rare bipartisan agreement. The bill would give the president additional authority to impose punitive tariffs on countries that continue buying Russian fossil fuels. It also includes provisions targeting Iran, which Vlasiuk said is engaged in close military-industrial cooperation with Moscow.But the measure faces a more complicated path in the House, where some Democrats have expressed reservations about provisions that would give President Donald Trump additional authority to impose tariffs.
Republican leaders announced on September 3 that the final two weeks of the pre-election House session are canceled, severely curtailing what had been a full legislative calendar for September.House members are expected to leave Washington no later than September 17 and not return until mid-November. The House will reconvene for one additional week of business after next week’s Labor Day break. The compressed calendar has increased pressure on supporters of the sanctions legislation. Senior Republican aides told RFE/RL that the bill remains a GOP priority, provided Democrats “get their ducks in a row.”
Democratic aides, in response to RFE/RL inquiries, expressed cautious optimism about the measure, underscoring uncertainty over whether Speaker Mike Johnson will bring it to the floor. Vlasiuk said he held roughly 20 meetings with lawmakers and congressional staff during his Washington visit, including discussions with members of both parties. He said the Ukrainian delegation encountered broad support for increasing pressure on Russia and that no lawmaker told him outright that they would oppose the legislation.
“Everyone agreed that it was necessary to increase pressure on Russia,” Vlasiuk said at a briefing at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington. “No one said that he definitely would not support this bill.” He described Ukraine as “quite optimistic” about the level of support for the legislation, including among Democrats. One potentially important route would be for the House to consider the bill under suspension of the rules, a fast-track procedure generally used for legislation expected to command broad support. Vlasiuk said that was among the realistic scenarios for moving the bill forward.
“I think that there is really good chance that this bill will be brought onto the floor,” he said. Vlasiuk has previously identified the week after next as Kyiv’s preferred window for a House vote. With the House calendar now compressed, that period could provide one of the last opportunities for a vote before lawmakers leave Washington. Asked by RFE/RL whether the momentum surrounding the bill was still there, Vlasiuk pointed to what he characterized as continued bipartisan backing for Ukraine.
“There is a lot of support for Ukraine on the Hill,” he said, adding that Kyiv has been “very vocal” in stressing the urgency of passing the bill. “At the same time, well, I mean, let’s wait and see,” Vlasiuk said.

“Witkoff and Kushner Met with Putin for Three Hours,..”

We know by now how idiotic the Russian victim numbers are that come from Ukraine and the west.

• General David Petraeus Now Claims 1.4 million Russians Killed or Wounded (CTH)

The longer we review the stuff coming out of the legacy U.S. Intelligence Community, the more I realize how much of a fool I was for ever trusting their nonsense. Today, former CIA Director General David Petraeus claims that Russia has suffered over 1.4 million killed or wounded in action (KIA/WIA). {SOURCE}

Former CIA Director David Petraeus on Ukraine:

The casualties the Russians are sustaining are just, I don’t think, sustainable. Over 1,000 killed and wounded per day.

The Russians have now sustained well over 1.4 million killed and wounded, which is more than the U.S.… pic.twitter.com/ngjVyCXlN5
— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 5, 2026

For those just recently entering the era of ‘great awakening’, let this type of nonsense propaganda serve as a starting point to realize what CTH has described from the outset of the Ukraine-Russia ‘conflict’ as, essentially, World War Reddit. There are approximately 140 million Russian people living in Russia. Of that population there are approximately 60 million males. Of the 60 million males there are approximately 20 million men aged 18-35. Additionally, 75% of the Russian population lives in urban centers, ie. cities.
If 1.4 million men (out of 20 million) were killed or wounded in the Ukraine conflict, the hospitals and convalescent facilities in around the cities of Kazan, Moscow and St Petersburg would be full; at least significantly beyond ordinary medical capacity. They are not. Not even close.mI have no idea where these western ‘intelligence’ analysts and experts come up with these statistics, but they are so far beyond nonsense the light from where silly stuff originates could not reach them for years. They could have just used the word “eleventy’. There is nowhere near that number of KIA/WIA in Russia; not even close.

[SOURCE – Kremlin]

U.S. Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have departed Moscow after roughly three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin focused on ending the war in Ukraine. The two are expected in Kyiv on Sunday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as part of the Trump administration’s latest push to revive stalled peace negotiations. Putin has ordered a 72 hour pause in strikes on Kyiv during their visit. Witkoff and Kushner are now aboard U.S. Air Force C-32A SAM934. They will likely travel to Poland before continuing by ground transportation to Kyiv. {Source}
Putin aide Yuri Ushakov says the Kremlin talks with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were “substantive, extremely frank and conducted in an atmosphere of trust.” He outlined that Moscow offered what he called a “clear and comprehensive” assessment of the situation in the Ukraine conflict, while Witkoff and Kushner presented several ideas on possible routes towards a settlement. The two sides also discussed economic cooperation and the prospect of major joint US-Russian projects. Ushakov added that Putin and Trump remain in direct personal contact. {source}
(VIA DAILY MAIL) – Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff spent over three hours in top-secret talks with Vladimir Putin amid the White House’s renewed bid to end the war in Ukraine. The US envoys landed in Moscow on Saturday morning and were escorted by the Russian President’s investment envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, to the Kremlin. Putin met with Witkoff and Kushner for closed-door talks where he described the conflict as a ‘complicated situation,’ but praised his American counterpart for wanting to end the war.
[…] ‘Understanding that he is entering a difficult situation, he nevertheless does not stop his efforts to help bring about a settlement and to make his contribution to resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,’ Putin said of Trump. Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy both agreed to pause strikes on each other’s capitals while the talks took place. (more)

KREMLIN – Vladimir Putin received in the Kremlin Special Envoy of the President of the United States of America Steve Witkoff and entrepreneur, founder of Affinity Partners Jared Kushner. On the Russian side, the meeting was attended by Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov and Special Presidential Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, I heartily welcome you to Moscow. The situation we are to sort out today is, of course, a difficult one. But before we begin, I would like to ask you to convey my best wishes and words of gratitude to the President of the United States, Mr Trump.
While he realizes that he is facing a difficult situation, he nevertheless does not stop his efforts to resolve it and to contribute to the settlement of the Russian- Ukrainian conflict. Today, we will discuss all its components and all its aspects, and for our part, we are also ready to inform you about our view of the situation.
As you informed us, I know that you are planning to go to Kiev after visiting Moscow. In any case, of course, no matter what happens next, contacts of this kind are certainly always beneficial. And here, of course, the quality of mediation and trust in those who are engaged in it are very important. I’d like to tell you that we find it comfortable to work with you, and, of course, we have a very high level of trust during this work.
We are glad to see you. Welcome.
Steve Witkoff: So, first of all, President Putin, thank you so much for having us. We were sitting outside just now, me, Jared and Kirill, and then Yury joined us, and we were all talking about when we retire, we’ll have all these incredible stories and incredible memories, and yours will be right at the top of it all.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much.
Steve Witkoff: President Trump sends you his best wishes. The Gilman family is incredibly indebted to you and thanks you very, very much for Bob Gilman being allowed to come home.
Vladimir Putin: They should be thanking President Trump; it was he who made the appeal.
Steve Witkoff: They have thanked President Trump, but they’ve thanked you also, sir. I want to thank you for endorsing the no shoot policy in Kiev and in Moscow for these three days that allowed us to be able to come here in a safe manner.
Vladimir Putin: We received this request through official channels both through the intelligence services and through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to stop the strikes on Kiev. I issued the respective order, and since midnight on September 5, these strikes on Kiev have not been carried out. I would like to note that the Ukrainian side has also significantly reduced by an order of magnitude the strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation, including Moscow.
The Ukrainian authorities have published their call for a broader three day truce, but we have never agreed on this with them. Yet we will do everything in our power to ensure the safety of the negotiation process and the mediators, represented by you and, perhaps, by those accompanying you.
Steve Witkoff: Thank you.

2.3 Million Illegals Gone.

“A late Biden-era internal memo, exposed in July, laid out a plan to expand TPS in the final days of that presidency in a way that would have locked in de facto protection for more than 3 million foreign nationals and boxed the incoming administration into years of litigation.”

• America’s Immigrant Population Plummets For First Time In A Century (MN)

The numbers the open-borders crowd swore were impossible are now in black and white.

A new Center for Immigration Studies analysis of the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey finds the illegal immigrant population has fallen by about 2.3 million since President Trump returned to office in January 2025. Another 600,000 legal immigrants have left. The total foreign-born population is down 2.9 million.

That is the first sustained drop in America’s immigrant population in nearly a hundred years.
https://twitter.com/ThePatriotOasis/status/2095837643971952826?s=20
CIS research director Steven A. Camarota and demographer Karen Zeigler tracked the government’s monthly household survey from January 2025 through July 2026. The foreign-born total – naturalized citizens, lawful permanent residents, long-term temporary visitors and illegal immigrants – fell from roughly 53.3 million to 50.5 million. Camarota’s preliminary estimate puts the illegal population at 13.5 million in July, down from 15.8 million when Trump took the oath. “We’ve never seen anything quite like this before,” Camarota told The Washington Times. “This is big and sustained, as best as we can tell.”
He added: “It is a fundamental change, and it’s profound.” The same dataset shows what happened during the Biden years. From January 2021 to January 2025 the foreign-born population jumped 8.3 million – the largest four-year increase in American history. Catch-and-release, mass parole, asylum abuse and a wide-open southern border did exactly what critics said they would do. The survey now shows that surge going into reverse.
CIS is not counting plane seats. It is measuring net change: new arrivals minus deportations, voluntary departures, legalizations and deaths. That is why the 2.3 million illegal decline can sit beside larger Homeland Security departure figures. At the one-year mark of Trump’s second term, DHS said nearly 3 million illegal immigrants had left the country, including about 675,000 formal removals and 2.2 million self-deportations. CIS is looking at who is still here after new arrivals are subtracted.
Latin American non-citizens who arrived in 1980 or later account for the entire drop in the foreign-born count. That group overlaps heavily with the illegal population. Naturalized-citizen numbers actually rose by about 680,000 over the same stretch. The collapse is among non-citizens who should not have been waved in. Interior ICE removals more than tripled compared with the tail end of the Biden term. Voluntary departures tied to enforcement jumped as well. Camarota put it simply in the CIS release: “The best data we have shows an enormous decrease in the total foreign-born population, with most of the falloff among illegal immigrants.”
He added, “Regaining control of the border and robust interior enforcement has partly undone the huge increase in the illegal immigration that took place during the border surge.” Only 44 percent of those who left were workers. That goes some way to explain why the national jobs numbers have not imploded the way corporate lobbyists predicted. U.S.-born employment has continued to rise even as immigrant workers in the household survey fell by a little less than 1.3 million. Some regional pockets – construction in South Texas is the example Camarota cited – have felt it. The country as a whole has not.
“It’s nothing to panic about,” he told the Times. “First of all, we’re mostly losing low-income workers. But like anything else, it can create challenges. And it creates winners and losers.”Workers competing for jobs and housing are the winners. “On balance, I think it’s a good deal for the country because I think most people are more worried about wages, housing prices, congestion and impact on schools and hospitals.”
Census analysts had already flagged a “historic” drop in net international migration when they reported that overall population growth slowed to 0.5 percent from mid-2024 to mid-2025 – a window that captured only the first months of the new enforcement regime. Camarota now says the country’s total population is likely heading toward an unprecedented decline. That is what happens when an 8.3 million artificial surge is no longer being pumped through the border.
The media spent four years insisting the border was “secure” and that anyone who noticed otherwise was a bigot. Then Joe Scarborough, trying to score points on Trump’s deportation totals, walked straight into the truth on his own show. “They should know when to take the victory. They could have been campaigning on closed southern border this whole time!” Scarborough said. Then: “You’re never going to get the [deportation] numbers that Joe Biden had, right? You’re not going to get those numbers because Joe Biden and his administration were letting in so many illegal immigrants. It was very easy to sweep up 5,000 right on the border and send them back.”
Nobody cornered him. He said it unprompted.

That is the whole scam in one clip. Biden-era “removals” were a revolving door at the Rio Grande. Trump closed the door. Crossings collapsed. The population inside the country started falling for the first time in a generation. The same networks that called that outcome “impossible” or “racist” are now reduced to quibbling over methodology while the survey they usually treat as gospel shows a 2.9 million decline.
The drop did not happen by accident. It happened because the new administration treated Temporary Protected Status as what it had become: a backdoor amnesty, not a temporary shelter.
A late Biden-era internal memo, exposed in July, laid out a plan to expand TPS in the final days of that presidency in a way that would have locked in de facto protection for more than 3 million foreign nationals and boxed the incoming administration into years of litigation. The scheme was designed to run out the clock through activist courts after voters had already chosen mass deportations.

Will Europe defend itself vs the EU?

• Masked Men Block Dover Port at Mass Migration Protest (Salgado)

Fury at the endless stream of illegal aliens into European countries with governments ignoring everything their people ask for has reached boiling point in multiple European countries.

A group of masked men in black hoodies marched to Dover to block the offloading of crowds of new migrants, with the protesters simply walking through sparse police barriers without incident, based on video from the Hungarian outlet Visegrád 24. The protesters, who chanted “Stop the boats! Stop the boats!,” seem to be eager to show their friendliness toward locals standing on sidewalks and at least one local was handing water out to them. “Cheers, well done,” shouted the man who took the video enthusiastically, as protesters waved or gave him thumbs up.

BREAKING:

Nearly a thousand masked men dressed all in black have arrived at the Port of Dover and are blocking the streets there.

They have come to block the authorities from disembarking additional batches of illegal boat migrants. pic.twitter.com/8Rgrg5RX0F
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 5, 2026

GB News reported that the protestors intimidated some people, and people who missed some of their work shifts were understandably upset, but there are no reports of the protesters engaging in violent behavior. The protestors did eventually leave, according to a whiny statement from the UK government. Even one Dover councillor who was bashing the protesters admitted to Metro there was no violence, and the protesters voluntarily left not long after they arrived. Many people have condemned the masks, but given the lack of violence, the likelihood is that they were trying not to get arrested given that the UK will hand out harsher prison sentences for free speech than for rape.
Spanish protesters are turning out in multiple cities, particularly in Ceuta, which is completely overrun with Muslim men. The Spanish government is providing taxpayer-funded freebies and NGO aid to the invaders while condemning the locals. In Madrid, police fired charges at protesters. Police used similar means against protesters in Ceuta. Police did not employ them against the Muslim invaders in Ceuta. Video of Muslim men torturing a baby dolphin in Ceuta for fun has provoked international outrage. But the invaders have also committed many crimes against humans there.
After the people of Iceland rejected a referendum to join the European Union, a group of Irish patriots called for a similar referendum to remove Ireland from the EU, given its horrible mass migration requirements for membership. The people of Europe are waking up. The problem is that their parliamentary systems and their dictatorial governments make it even harder for them to enact major change.

Getting complicated.

• We Have New Details on the Maria Bartiromo Situation (Matt Margolis)

On Thursday, Fox News announced that Maria Bartiromo was “no longer with Fox News Media.” This created the impression that she had been fired. Bartiromo’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, pushed back hard on the firing narrative, disputing the reports outright. New reporting from Dylan Byers at Puck gives us some details about what actually happened. From where I sit, it looks less like a firing and more like a slow-motion punishment for trying to do her job.
So what set this all off? It starts with President Trump’s primetime address in July on the 2020 election, in which he laid out allegations of Chinese interference and calling on Congress to tighten voting rules before the midterms. Seeing as how it was a big primetime speech, Bartiromo naturally planned to cover it on her show.
As it turned out, Bartiromo had been planning to cover Trump’s speech on her show, according to sources familiar with her plans. She had also planned to book Peter Navarro, a senior counselor to Trump who has aggressively pushed the voter fraud narrative, to talk about the president’s remarks and the administration’s broader concerns over election integrity. However, the night before the speech, Ralph Giordano, Fox Business Network’s senior vice president of programming, texted Bartiromo’s production team, instructing them not to cover the speech.
When Bartiromo renewed her Fox News Media contract in February of last year, she reportedly negotiated language specifically barring Giordano from having any say over her show. He kept meddling anyway. Navarro told Byers in a Friday interview that Bartiromo sent him a screenshot of Giordano’s instructions to prove management was blocking her coverage, which he described as “censoring” it. Navarro said he passed the information “up the chain” to senior administration officials. An unnamed high-ranking White House official then called Fox News leadership to complain, effectively outing Bartiromo as the source of the leaked guidance.
It came on the heels of a report from the outlet Status claiming Bartiromo had shared internal editorial guidance with the administration, a report both Fox News and a representative for Bartiromo declined to comment on. Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace were reportedly furious, though they let her show continue through the summer before pulling her off the air last Thursday. Fox’s reluctance to air the speech in the first place traces back to Bartiromo being named as a defendant in the Dominion and Smartmatic defamation lawsuits, both stemming from 2020 election coverage. Puck also noted that Giordano and Bartiromo already had a tense relationship at the network.
The troubling thing about this story is that the Democrats have long regarded any Republican who questions the 2020 election as a threat to democracy itself, even though there were documented irregularities in several battleground states that year.
However, it was the Democrats who first made it acceptable to question the results of the elections, beginning with George W. Bush’s wins in 2000 and 2004, and then again with Trump’s victory in 2016. The same media outlets that for years promoted the theory of Russia’s collusion in 2016 now regard any examination of 2020 as nonsense proven wrong. The approved story was that 2020 was the safest, most secure election in history, and anyone who said otherwise was undermining “our democracy.”
Bartiromo appears to have learned what happens to people who try to cover a story that contradicts that line.

“Maria Bartiromo was not fired for pushing claims about the 2020 election – she was fired for revealing that Fox had told its own staff not to talk about it.”:

• “We Have The Receipts”: Bartiromo Denies Fox Firing (ZH)

New details are rolling in about the Bartiromo situation – as the anchor is denying reports that she was fired from the station. According to The Hollywood Reporter: Bartiromo, who is now repped by Bryan Freedman, who recently repped Justin Baldoni, as well as journalists Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo after their dramatic exits from CNN as well as Tucker Carlson’s exit from Fox, denies that she was fired and further claims that she is “still employed by Fox.” Freedman suggests they may pursue the matter in court.

“For many years, Maria Bartiromo hosted three number-one-rated television shows on Fox channels. She has been, without question, one of the hardest-working journalists throughout her award-winning career,” Freedman said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
“The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false. Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise. Those reporting her firing or the incredulous facts supporting that fiction have exhibited a complete and utter reckless disregard for the truth,” he continued.
* * *
Maria Bartiromo was not fired for pushing claims about the 2020 election – she was fired for revealing that Fox had told its own staff not to talk about it. Fox News Media announced on Thursday it had parted ways with the anchor effective immediately after more than twelve years, thanking her for her work and giving no reason.
The guidance at the center of it went out in July, after President Donald Trump used a prime-time address to tie China to the 2020 result. Fox Business management privately instructed senior staff not to lend credibility to the claims, and killed a China-and-2020 story Bartiromo wanted to pursue. The sensitivity stemmed from legal concerns – Fox paid Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million in 2023 over 2020 election coverage, and Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion claim is still outstanding, with Bartiromo named in both.
Fox did not catch the leak itself. Puck’s Dylan Byers reported that Bartiromo took a screenshot of that guidance and sent it to senior White House officials, which Fox executives learned of after receiving a call from the White House. In a terse statement, Fox News said Bartiromo is no longer with the company, effective immediately and thanked her for her work, while wishing her well in her next chapter.
Status’s Oliver Darcy, who built his brand at CNN by pushing censorship campaigns against conservative media, was first to report that Bartiromo leaked internal guidance after Fox Business management privately directed senior staff not to lend credibility to claims President Donald Trump made in a July address regarding China’s interference in the 2020 election.
However, a new report alleges that Bartiromo was in FOX’s crosshairs for several reasons beyond the alleged leak. Mediaite reports: According to a source familiar with the matter, sharing the memo about Trump’s July comments was “not the only reason” that led to her abrupt defenestration.
The source confirmed that it was “a confluence of factors,” including Fox’s whopping $787.5 million settlement it had to pay to Dominion Voting Systems in 2023 over 2020 election fraud claims Fox had aired, plus another similar lawsuit from Smartmatic “still hanging out there.” Bartiromo was among the main on-air personalities cited in these lawsuits and has continued to periodically peddle in election denialism. A Fox News media spokesperson told Mediaite that the move was simply a “business decision” and declined further comment.
Comments Kevin O’Leary made on a May 11 episode of Mornings With Maria also factored in, the source said, in which the Shark Tank star accused nonprofit organizations that opposed his data center project in Utah of being secret agents of the Chinese Communist Party.
Trump blasted Fox’s decision to sever ties with Bartiromo, calling the host a “true warrior.” “I can’t believe Maria Bartiromo is no longer going to have her great show(s) on FoxNews/Business. Three different shows, always number one,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “Maria is a total professional, and a true warrior. Her fans, of which there are many, will not be happy. God bless you, Maria!”

“Back in 2023, [Fetterman] was a Democrat liberal darling. He was at plus 68 points. Look at how low he has fallen, down to negative 40 points. He’s down there with the Titanic..”

• Reputation Assassins Are Targeting Sen. Fetterman and Elon Musk (Pinsker)

Let’s acknowledge the obvious before spelunking down our rabbit hole: Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) and Elon Musk might really, truly be guilty of every very nasty, vile, jaw-dropping smear. I mean, I doubt it. Seems extraordinarily unlikely. Our media ecosystem, after all, doesn’t just tilt towards sensationalism; it zooms towards it like a speeding bullet. Sensationalism outsells the truth. (Mostly because it’s more entertaining.) That’s great news for the reputation assassins, because a smear doesn’t need to be truthful to stick. It’s just gotta be memorable — and if you don’t believe me, go ask Richard Gere. (I won’t explain. If you know… you know.)

But it’s also great news for victims, because the media’s credibility is in the toilet: Nobody takes anything at face value anymore. As a result, if the mainstream media can’t quickly overwhelm its target, it usually leads to a frustrating, World War I-inspired cycle of trench warfare, with neither side ceding an inch — or ever gaining an inch. And eventually, everyone runs out of ammo and heads home. Over the past few days, shocking stories have emerged about two men that the radical left despises the most. We’ll begin with John Fetterman: “Wall Street Journal (Sept. 3, 2026): Behind Closed Doors, John Fetterman Shows Little Interest in the Work of a Senator..”
This is the news story that kicked the latest round of Fetterman-bashing into high gear. It paints the picture of a lazy, mentally compromised man who prioritized Fox News interviews over paralyzed military veterans. (A curious allegation, considering that Fox News and the Wall Street Journal are both owned by NewsCorp.) Liberals pounced because the WSJ validated every left-wing gripe: Fetterman has changed! He’s lost his damn mind! He’s a stooge of Fox News and the Israeli lobby!

John Fetterman is a disgrace. Our state deserves better than a lazy trust fund baby who is too lazy to do the job. https://t.co/B2maiWqGAE
— Congressman Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) September 4, 2026

There is a lot I could say about this report of John Fetterman’s pathetic behavior as a Senator. But between the laziness, disrespect, and willingness to carry water for a foreign government, it shows us something we already know: this man has no sense of duty.

He is not up for… https://t.co/mT95qlSRJt
— Chris Deluzio (@ChrisForPA) September 4, 2026

Fetterman is vulnerable to these attacks because his mental struggles are real: He’s had a stroke and was hospitalized for depression. His medical history makes the allegations sticky. Furthermore, there’s a political motive: He’s the Democrat that Democrats hate the most.

John Fetterman's had a 108 pt drop in his net approval with PA Dems since 2023.

His net rating is -40 pt net approval with them.

His net popularity with his own party is worse than all senators who lost a primary this century.

There's no historical analog to his unpopularity. pic.twitter.com/r9S0gZjql6
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) March 20, 2026

Back in 2023, [Fetterman] was a Democrat liberal darling. He was at plus 68 points. Look at how low he has fallen, down to negative 40 points. He’s down there with the Titanic among Democrats in this Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And to put a comparison to it, you always hear about how Chuck Schumer is disliked by the Democratic base nationwide. Chuck Schumer has a net popularity rating of about -2 points. He is net 38 points more popular than John Fetterman with Pennsylvania Democrats.
Some of the allegations, however, lose their wallop when placed under a microscope. For example, Mediaite listed this smear among its “5 Wildest Details from the Wall Street Journal’s Bombshell John Fetterman Report”: Fetterman also backed out of attending the funeral for three police officers killed near his hometown of York last year, according to the report. After an aide explained that the formal ceremony would last at least three hours, Fetterman responded: “3 hours??” Told it was effectively three separate funerals, he replied: “This may be a nonstarter.”
It sounds absolutely deplorable — until you learn that Pennsylvania’s other Senator wasn’t going either, and it would’ve required Fetterman to drive 9+ hours to attend all three funerals. (Which is probably relevant, because previous media hit-pieces have accused Fetterman of being a poor driver.) Another smear in Mediaite’s top five: The Journal reported that Fetterman frequently refused or canceled meetings with constituents and lawmakers. When an aide told him Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia wanted to discuss Medicaid cuts last year, Fetterman allegedly responded: “Why do I have to keep having to meet with chop.”
After being told the hospital was concerned about vaccines and Medicaid, he replied: “Well I’m not,” before adding: “I’m convinced they just want free trips to DC.” It’s a brutal allegation, because it implies that Fetterman is indifferent to the suffering of cancer-stricken kids. (That monster!) But the CBS article makes it clear that Fetterman had already met with the people from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia multiple times! If you’re a Fetterman-hater, the most compelling evidence probably came from Adam Jentleson, the senator’s ex-chief-of-staff, who fed anti-Fetterman stories to New York Magazine in 2025:

There are many crazy things about this story, but one is that this is an entirely new group of staff who have rotated in and apparently find themselves horrified at Fetterman’s behavior. https://t.co/kLHzOCJAMH
— Adam Jentleson (@AJentleson) September 4, 2026

“.. the “Big Tent” party has little room for moderates.”

• Radicals Scrubbing Social Media of Past Statements (Turley)

A certain pattern is emerging on the far left. Political figures spend years currying the favor of other extremists with outrageous commentary, proudly proclaiming their commitment to eliminating the Senate, opening the border, and other measures. Then, they delete all of the comments and declare themselves mainstream. The idea is to run in the center but govern from the far left, the so-called Spanberger strategy. The latest example is William Lawrence, who is running for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District. However, Lawrence’s prior self reveals just how radical this movement could prove.
br/> Like many professors, pundits, and politicians on the left, Lawrence has called for sweeping changes in our constitutional system. Lawrence reportedly has demanded a “fundamental overhaul” of the Constitution while calling for the elimination of the Senate, police, prisons, and borders. He has even denounced the nuclear family as an “isolating, individualistic, violent way of organizing society.”
Notably, he is the latest radical to show that the “Big Tent” party has little room for moderates. While establishment figures like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries seek to use this mob, radicals have made clear that they will be next. Darializa Avila Chevalier is the latest Democratic Socialist to mock the establishment’s pitch of a Big Tent party: “A big tent doesn’t pay your rent, lower your grocery bill, or take on the corporations bleeding our country dry. Democratic socialism does.”
In Lawrence’s case, he even put the intent to music, writing a song a few years ago that calls for the death of moderate former Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, declaring, “Our generation says f**k you for everything…Hurry up and die so that we can get started.” He has also denounced capitalism and the very concept of the nation-state= Lawrence was previously arrested for resisting police officers while protesting a pipeline.
As discussed earlier, candidates like James Talarico in Texas have scrubbed their social media accounts or dismissed their earlier radical claims, including attacks on capitalism. Supporters view these candidates as already proving their bona fides and understanding that they are just sanitizing their records for voters who want the illusion of a moderate. Accordingly, many applaud figures such as Socialist Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, dismissing her own extremist statements just a few years ago as “Woke 1.,” like some distant childhood stage.
Lawrence’s past positions show little nuance and closely track the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America. Destroying the constitutional system, rejecting the nation-state, eliminating prisons, and other radical positions propelled these candidates through the primaries. The effort to now scrub the records shows the utter contempt that many have for average voters.
Lawrence shows the delusion of establishment figures such as Gavin Newsom that they can use a mob to gain power without being eventually devoured by it. In my book Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution, I discuss the French Revolution and its decline into what the Framers called a mobocracy. What became known as “The Terror” was started not by the working class, but by educated lawyers, journalists, and even aristocrats as part of the Jacobin movement.
These are hardcore revolutionaries with an agenda that would destroy the world’s oldest and most successful democratic system in history. Party leaders facilitate them because they can only think about the next election, not the next generation. Lawrence is a cautionary tale that Benjamin Franklin remains correct, this is our Republic but only if we can keep it.

He’ll fix it.

• Trump Was Right About the Kennedy Center… In a HUGE Way! (Matt Margolis)

President Donald Trump has spent months trying to return the Kennedy Center to its former glory, and leftists have been trying to stop him at every turn. This week, the building did their work for them. A chunk of the Grand Foyer ceiling came crashing down onto the red carpet. I’m guessing that’s still not enough proof for Democrats that the place needs work.

The collapse hit overnight into Thursday, after a powerful storm tore through Washington, D.C. Meteorologists say it was the strongest system to hit the city since the derecho that flattened trees and power lines back in 2012. This time, it took out part of the ceiling in one of the Kennedy Center’s most recognizable rooms, leaving debris scattered across the carpet where donors and dignitaries usually walk. Kennedy Center spokeswoman Roma Daravai wasted no time connecting the dots.
https://twitter.com/romadaravi/status/2096248945760444420?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2096248945760444420%7Ctwgr%5E0adabd6ba811553b321ba27f94a17544c745c045%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Fmatt-margolis%2F2026%2F09%2F05%2Ftrump-was-right-about-the-kennedy-center-n4956928
There is no legitimate reason to further halt the renovations‼️The longer the delay, the worse the infrastructure gets‼️ https://t.co/VjAQpF6LOk
— Roma Daravi (@romadaravi) September 5, 2026

Last month, Justice Department lawyers told a federal court that the building’s “dangerously dilapidated, outdated, and decrepit” condition, combined with millions of dollars in financial losses, has put the Kennedy Center in a “financial and structural death spiral.” Fixing it, they said, will take two years of closure. Without that work, they warned, “the Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down, with a determination to follow on what to build on the site, such as a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River that has been proposed, by some, for many years.”
The board already voted last month to move forward with a $250 million renovation plan. That plan, and the two-year closure it requires, remains tied up in litigation.The board has been pushing for this renovation for months, and the fight over Trump’s name goes back even further. In July, an appeals court ruled against the administration’s attempt to block Trump’s name from being stripped off the building. Rather than keep fighting that battle, the board pivoted. It voted to have “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump” inscribed on the building instead.
The left has given all sorts of excuses for why Trump can’t fix the building or have his name attached to it. Maria Shriver, President John F. Kennedy’s niece, called the building a memorial to her uncle.
“The Kennedy Center was named after my uncle, President John F. Kennedy,” she said. “It was named in his honor. He was a man who was interested in the arts, interested in culture, interested in education, language, history. He brought the arts into the White House, and he and my Aunt Jackie amplified the arts, celebrated the arts, stood up for the arts and artists.” She continued, “It is beyond compression [sic] that this sitting president has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy. It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable. It is not. Next thing perhaps he will want to rename JFK Airport, rename the Lincoln Memorial, the Trump Lincoln Memorial. The Trump Jefferson Memorial. The Trump Smithsonian. The list goes on.”
The problem with that, of course, is that the Kennedy Center was never a memorial to begin with. Congress created it in 1958 as the National Cultural Center. It only added JFK’s name to it after his assassination. Calling it a “memorial” gives people the wrong idea about what the place was actually built for, and Shriver knows it.
Further, if Democrats really believed this building were some sacred shrine to JFK, they might have noticed it was falling apart, or cared to do something about it now.
Trump was right. Again.

Maria Bartiromo put Sidney Powell on national TV and let America hear it raw:

• Evidence of election fraud “coming in through a fire hose”

• Votes moved remotely — “They can do it from Germany”

• Software that worked like “drag and drop whatever you want”

• Dominion,… pic.twitter.com/l9QkK7YrBW
— GRANDPA’s FREE ADVICE (@GOP_is_Gutless) September 4, 2026

ELON MUSK: The goal of SpaceX is to make Star Trek real.

“We want to make Star Trek real, We want to make Starfleet Academy real, so that it’s not always science fiction, but one day, the science fiction turns to science fact.

And we have spaceships going through space, big… pic.twitter.com/9KhRf7uvqe
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) September 5, 2026

Can’t say it any better. pic.twitter.com/Ou1P4PykGF
— Greg Landry (@glandry5577) September 4, 2026

Elon Musk says it's NOT HARD AT ALL to turn off all the fraud and money laundering but democrats don't want to turn ANY of it off because the millions of illegal immigrants are a money magnet.

Charge every politician involved, with Treason. pic.twitter.com/xmdNlnOGoS
— Bridgett Fertig (@LightOnLiberty) September 4, 2026

It's 2030 and 80% of jobs have been replaced by AI and robotics. pic.twitter.com/8jlKaApxyv
— Jesse Cohen (@JesseCohenInv) September 5, 2026

Para a malta que gosta de perceber o que realmente se passa, aconselho verem este vídeo que mostra a real razão da invasão da Ucrânia pic.twitter.com/f7jPyEk4LF
— Joao Sousa Pinto (@joao_aspinto) September 4, 2026

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

Debt Rattle May 31 2026

May 312026

May 31, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:01 am Finance Tagged with: AI, Alice Weidel, cotton, crypto, Cuba, datacenter, Euroclear, Helmer, Iranian missile, Kennedy Center, oil reserves, oil shortages, Putin, SAVE Act 16 Responses »

Jackson Pollock Number 31 1949

• Intercepted Iranian Missile Injures 5 Americans At Kuwaiti Air Base (ZH)

• Global Oil Reserves Fall At The Fastest Rate In History (Snyder)

• Forced To Correct Lies About AfD Leader Alice Weidel, Pay Her Legal Fees (RMX)

• Euroclear Appeals Immediate Enforcement of $256 bln Central Bank Ruling (TASS)

• Ukraine Killed 21 Russian Students And Lied About It (RT)

• Putin Has Countermanded Lavrov and The General Staff (Helmer)

• Congresswoman Wants Democrats Aiding Cuba To Be Investigated For Treason (JTN)

• Trump’s USDA is Making America’s Fabric Great Again (JTN)

• Why The SAVE Act Matters (Stu Cvrk)

• Cuba Falling: A Most Unusual Meeting (Sarah Anderson)

• Court Halts Kennedy Center Construction and Name Change (Turley)

• Crypto And AI Could Be Dirty Words On 2026 Midterm Campaign Trail (CT)

• A New Special Interest Coalition for ’26 and ’28, Datacenters (CTH)

https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/2060484422650966145?s=20 https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2060054925938458941?s=20 https://twitter.com/DrJStrategy/status/2060507372359942401?s=20 https://twitter.com/GreereMedeea/status/2060415940953551353?s=20

Iran today.

• Intercepted Iranian Missile Injures 5 Americans At Kuwaiti Air Base (ZH)

A Saturday message and warning from Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters via Al Jazeera: “The management of the Strait of Hormuz is exercised with full authority by the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” It added that “all ships, commercial vessels and tankers are only required to travel through the designated routes and obtain permission from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.” So despite President Trump’s latest warning which declared strict conditions on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran appears to be completely brushing his words aside, and is moving closer to formalizing its authority over vital energy shipping waterway.

State-run Nour News is reporting that a bill outlining Tehran’s role in managing passage through the strategic waterway has been finalized and is expected to be brought to a vote soon. According to Bloomberg, Iranian lawmaker Alireza Salimi did not provide a specific timeline for the vote but said the legislation is on track to become law. Salimi said that “only Iran and Oman can decide on Strait of Hormuz management” – adding that “the Omani side has given preliminary approval” to Tehran’s plan. He further emphasized the strategic importance of Hormuz, declaring that “the Strait of Hormuz is more important and more valuable to the Islamic Republic of Iran than dozens of nuclear bombs.”
Previous comments by Salimi indicate the bill would cover shipping security, the collection of navigation and environmental pollution fees, as well as the creation of a regional development and progress fund – all of which critics have dismissed as but Tehran’s ruse to collect what is in effect a “toll”. The legislation is expected to undergo review by Iran’s Guardian Council, which is responsible for vetting and approving all laws before they take effect.
More Reported US Drones Destroyed
Reports of more MQ-9 Reaper damage or destruction have emerged; however, the Pentagon has not verified this, and is not expected to. This along with the past week of ‘live-fire’ tit-for-tat incidents suggests an escalating situation, even as the warring sides try to get back to the peace negotiations table. It looks like it could be related to the Saturday missile attack on a US base in Kuwait, but details are murky. Per DropSite:
• Unfreezing of Assets & Sanctions
• Nuclear File

2 more drones were reportedly downed in Iran on Friday. https://t.co/VocxypbfSC
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) May 30, 2026

“So far, there is no timeframe. However, we know that the negotiations are still continuing. The agreement, according to Iranian officials here, is not finalised yet. Proposals and messages are being exchanged through Pakistani mediators and some other regional players as well,” the report says. Per AJ: The Iranians, while saying that it is not finalised, have largely agreed on many items. However, there are still some sticking points. Finally, the Iranians are quite clear at this stage. They are saying that they are not discussing the nuclear file or nuclear programme unless confidence-building measures are put in place. Only if the first phase is successful will they be open to discussing their nuclear programme. These confidence-building measures have been precisely identified as the unfreezing of billions in assets held aborad.
New Iranian Attack on US Base in Kuwait
An Iranian Fateh-110 short-range ballistic missile targeted Kuwait’s Ali Al Salem Air Base, a key operational hub for the U.S. Air Force’s expeditionary forces in the Gulf region. An initial report from Bloomberg News indicates that Kuwaiti air defenses intercepted the tactical ballistic missile in the last 24 hours, but falling debris struck part of the base, injuring five Americans and damaging one MQ-9 Reaper drone while severely damaging another. About five people, including both contractors and active duty personnel, suffered minor injuries, the person said. One Reaper was destroyed and at least one other was seriously damaged. -BBG

⚠️ Bloomberg reporting the consequences of Thursday night's Iranian ballistic missile strike on Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait: Several Americans suffered minor injuries. Two MQ-9 Reaper strike drones – $30 million each – seriously damaged.

The weapon: a Fateh-110 ballistic… https://t.co/WgmB42pBU5 pic.twitter.com/3xYK4oHSHx
— The Tectonic (@thetect0nic) May 30, 2026

News of the strike on ASAB, where the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing under U.S. Air Forces Central acts as a forward logistics, airlift, and combat-power gateway for the broader CENTCOM theater, comes as the US and Iran on Friday reached a tentative memorandum of understanding to extend a ceasefire by 60 days and restart nuclear negotiations. However, the proposal still requires final approval from President Trump, according to U.S. officials cited by Fox News.

US produces its own.

• Global Oil Reserves Fall At The Fastest Rate In History (Snyder)

No matter what happens now, the world is facing a very painful energy crisis. Let’s be as wildly optimistic as we possibly can and assume that Iran agrees to allow free passage through the Strait of Hormuz with absolutely no tolls or restrictions starting tomorrow. Before normal traffic through the Strait could resume, Iran would first have to remove all of the mines that they have laid in the Strait, and that could take months. Once all of the mines have been removed, it will take the tankers that are currently trapped in the Persian Gulf weeks to arrive at their destinations. Moving forward, Persian Gulf countries will be exporting much less oil and natural gas for the foreseeable future because of all the oil and natural gas infrastructure that was damaged or destroyed during the war. It will take years before all of that infrastructure is fully repaired and rebuilt. Meanwhile, global supplies of oil and natural gas will be very tight for an extended period of time..

What I have just laid out for you is the best case scenario. Ultimately, what we end up facing could be so much worse. Over the past couple of months, global oil reserves have been falling at the fastest rate ever recorded… Record inventory draw: Global oil stocks have fallen by 246 million barrels in March-April, with draws in May hitting a record 8.7 million barrels per day. Hormuz closure impact: The Strait of Hormuz shutdown has cut off 25% of the world’s seaborne oil, compounding already low reserves and boosting prices. US price outlook: Analysts expect U.S. gasoline prices could reach $5 this summer unless flows resume, with relief unlikely before autumn. Needless to say, this is not sustainable.
Here in the United States, the strategic petroleum reserve has been dropping at a record-breaking pace… The SPR’s most recent drawdown, covering the week ended May 22, shows a drop of 9.1 million barrels, leaving the reserves at 365 million barrels. The previous weekly drawdown, covering the week of May 15, was its steepest on record — the U.S. withdrew 9.92 million barrels from the SPR then. Before that record-breaking decline, the largest weekly drop in the SPR’s history occurred in the week ended Oct. 7, 2022, when the reserves dropped by 7.41 million barrels, and was connected to the war in Ukraine. Commercial oil inventories are being rapidly depleted as well.
At some point the tanks are going to hit minimum operating levels and we are going to have an enormous crisis on our hands. The chief economist at Capital Economics is projecting that commercial oil inventories “could reach critically low levels by the end of June”… “At the current pace of drawdown, commercial oil stocks could reach critically low levels by the end of June,” Neil Shearing, chief economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a research note on May 18. If supply conditions don’t improve soon, “prices could rise sharply,” Shearing warned. Jeff Currie is warning that Asia is already very close to minimum operating levels, and he is projecting that the U.S. could potentially be dealing with shortages in July…
Oil markets are nearing minimum operating levels in Asia, with Europe likely next and the U.S. potentially facing shortages by July, said veteran market strategist Jeff Currie on Monday, underscoring the global energy shock due to the Iran war.Headline global inventory figures can be misleading as much of the oil stored worldwide cannot be used immediately, said Currie, Carlyle’s chief strategy officer of energy pathways and co-chairman of Abaxx Markets. A large portion of that oil is needed to keep pipelines and storage systems running safely, leaving only a smaller share available for the market. Asia is already close to these so-called “minimum operating levels,” Currie told CNBC on the sidelines of the UBS Wealth Conference in Singapore.
This is really happening.

“When “blatant falsehoods are being spread, one cannot let them stand unchallenged,” says Weidel’s spokesman”

• Forced To Correct Lies About AfD Leader Alice Weidel, Pay Her Legal Fees (RMX)

Alice Weidel, co-leader of the anti-migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, has successfully sued the Left Party leader and won a retraction after she spread falsehoods about Weidel on live television. In mid-May, Ines Schwerdtner, the federal chairwoman of the Left Party, claimed during an interview on Welt TV that Wediel neither resides in Germany nor pays taxes. “Alice Weidel doesn’t even live in Germany, she doesn’t pay taxes here,” she told viewers. This statement is false. While Weidel spends much of her time with her family in Switzerland, she has her primary residence in Germany and pays taxes in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Weidel has been very guarded about the issue over the years, as she faces a high threat level and avoids appearing in public due to the security threat she lives under. Weidel’s lawyers explained in a warning letter, cited by Junge Freiheit, that this claim was false, as their client both lived in Germany and paid taxes. The law firm Höcker filed a lawsuit on the AfD’s behalf seeking an injunction. Weidel’s lawyers also demanded that Schwerdtner ensure the relevant passage was deleted from Welt TV’s programming. Furthermore, the lawsuit calls on the Left Party leader to acknowledge the “claim for damages.”
Following this, Schwerdtner’s lawyer sent a letter to the Höcker law firm stating that their client had “indeed made a mistake.” The Left Party leader additionally undertook to “refrain” from making the false statement that Weidel does not pay taxes in Germany. The letter also pointed out that the interview in question on Welt TV had since been deleted by the broadcaster. Furthermore, Schwerdtner stated that she would transfer the legal fees “within one week.”
Weidel’s press spokesman, Daniel Tapp, told JF that in politics one “shouldn’t be too sensitive in principle.” However, when “blatant falsehoods are being spread, one cannot let them stand unchallenged.” The AfD has been surging in the polls, with one survey last week showing it hitting a record 42 percent in Saxony, double the support of the second-place Christian Democrats (CDU). A poll in May showed the AfD at 29 percent at the national level, while the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) fell to 22 percent.

How to bankrupt Belgium?

• Euroclear Appeals Immediate Enforcement of $256 bln Central Bank Ruling (TASS)

Euroclear has filed a complaint with the Moscow Arbitration Court against the immediate enforcement of a ruling to recover 18.2 trillion rubles ($256 bln) under a lawsuit by the Central Bank, a source familiar with the proceedings told TASS. According to the source, the complaint against the immediate enforcement of the ruling to recover funds under the Bank of Russia lawsuit was filed this week.

In December 2025, the Bank of Russia filed a lawsuit against Euroclear in the Moscow Arbitration Court for 18.2 trillion rubles ($256 bln), amid the European Union’s plans to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine. This amount includes frozen funds, the value of blocked securities, and lost profits. At the request of the Central Bank, the court closed the proceedings on the regulator’s lawsuit against the Belgian depository to the public. The Bank of Russia stated that the procedure for enforcing the court ruling using the defendant’s assets, including those located in foreign jurisdictions – both friendly and unfriendly – will be determined after the court’s decision enters into force.
On May 20, 2026, the Bank of Russia filed a motion with the Moscow Arbitration Court to immediately enforce the judgment in the 18.2 trillion ruble ($256 bln) lawsuit against Euroclear. The Bank of Russia is also considering the possibility of protecting its interests in international courts and arbitration tribunals, with subsequent enforcement of the decisions of such courts in UN member states. The EU and G7 countries have frozen approximately €300 billion of Russian assets. Approximately €180 billion is held in the Belgian depository Euroclear. The European Commission is seeking approval from EU member states to use Russian assets for Ukraine. However, the EU has failed to agree on a “reparations loan” to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets.

“In preparation for the funeral, relatives brought numerous wedding dresses to the local morgue: the young women killed in the strike were to be buried in them.”

• Ukraine Killed 21 Russian Students And Lied About It (RT)

A Ukrainian drone raid last week devastated a college dormitory in Starobelsk, in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic, killing 21 students – most of them young women – and injuring dozens others. The attack was a deliberate “double-tap” that included two more waves of drones targeting civilians and first responders who raced to the scene, according to Russian officials. Russia branded the raid a “terrorist attack” and a blatant war crime. Horrific footage from the scene backed up the accusations.

However, speaking at an emergency UN Security Council session, Ukrainian envoy to the UN Andrey Melnik dismissed Moscow’s account, denigrating a “so-called incident” in Starobelsk as “a fake story” and accusing Russia of spreading “yet another propaganda narrative.” Kiev’s General Staff separately claimed its forces had targeted a command post of the elite Rubicon drone unit – an allegation for which reporters who visited the scene found no supporting evidence. Here is what Ukraine and the West do not want you to know about the Starobelsk tragedy.
What really happened in Starobelsk? RT senior correspondent Murad Gazdiev was among the first journalists to reach the site, reporting from the scene throughout the two-day search-and-rescue operation. The most horrific thing when he arrived was “children still screaming under the rubble.” According to Gazdiev, blood-stained blankets were visible in the hallway where first responders pulled out the dead, and the ground was littered with students’ belongings and books.
Who was killed by Ukraine in Starobelsk? Among those trapped was 19-year-old Dasha Serdyuk. In her final moments of life, she filmed herself and sent a short video to her friend Nastya in St. Petersburg, pleading for help. Dasha had reportedly dreamed of becoming a kindergarten teacher and had only one year of studies left. An eyewitness described watching a girl sprint from the building mid-attack, telling local media that she managed to leave the dorm but was killed by the blast wave outside.
Another victim, identified by the Mash outlet only as Anya, also tried to flee during the strike but was killed by the second drone barrage. An unnamed relative interviewed by the channel said that her body was so severely burned that family members could identify her only by her necklace and earrings. Anya is said to have been due to be married in the summer and is survived by her mother, grandmother, and 10-year-old sister. Olga Vasilenko, a mother of Anastasia, an 18-year-old student at the college also killed in the strike, recalled, as cited by several Russian media: “She called me in the evening, saying: ‘Mom, we’re being bombed’. And then she stopped answering my calls”.
Russia’s human rights commissioner, Yana Lantratova, published photos of all 21 victims – some just 18 years old – offering condolences. “It’s impossible to imagine the pain of a parent who has lost the dearest thing in life – their child,” she said.

There have been no videos from the scene suggesting even the slightest sign of military-related activity. “There wasn’t even a hint of military personnel here. It was a targeted attack on children,” Roman Antonov, a local firefighter, told RT in the aftermath of the strike. A video shared by Mash made before the strike shows students doing what students do – dancing, laughing, and having fun, with some seen washing floors in the dormitory. In the days that have followed, residents, relatives of the dead, survivors, and college staff brought flowers and stuffed animals to the ruins. Churches in Starobelsk have held numerous services for the dead and prayers for the wounded.
A harrowing video has surfaced on social media, reportedly of parents identifying the bodies of their children, with audible, desperate screams. In preparation for the funeral, relatives brought numerous wedding dresses to the local morgue: the young women killed in the strike were to be buried in them.
The death of 21 young people prompted a desire for revenge within the Russian military, with one drone operator filmed inscribing ‘Starobelsk’ on an attack UAV before launching it towards Ukrainian armed forces positions. Russia has maintained it targets only military-related sites.

Helmer and PCR are in their 80s. Is that why?

• Putin Has Countermanded Lavrov and The General Staff (Helmer)

President Vladimir Putin has ordered his two spokesmen, Dmitry Peskov and Yury Ushakov, to deny Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s statement that the General Staff has been authorized to escalate war operations to regime decapitation in the Ukraine. On Monday evening, May 25, Lavrov telephoned US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and told him he was speaking for Putin: “On behalf of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin,” the readout said, “S.V. Lavrov officially brought to the American side information that in response to the ongoing terrorist attacks of the Kiev regime against the civilian population and civilian objects on the Russian territory, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation begin systemic and consistent strikes on the facilities located in Kiev, used for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and on the relevant decision-making centres.”

Lavrov was repeating the new phrase, “systemic and consistent”, which his ministry had published in reverse order four hours earlier. Russian “patience is exhausted,” the ministry had declared. “In this situation, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are beginning to launch consistent and systemic strikes at enterprises of the Ukrainian defence industry in Kiev, including specific facilities for designing, manufacturing and programming drones and preparing them for operation…We are urging residents of the Ukrainian capital not to approach facilities of the military and administrative infrastructure of the Zelensky regime.”
The Russian statements followed the strike over Saturday night-Sunday morning (May 23-24) by an Oreshnik missile on the Bela Tserkva airbase, south of Kiev, which doubles as an underground drone factory and a military command-control bunker. Click for a summary of local and Russian reporting of the targets. The Oreshnik failed, according to Moscow sources. No high-ranking casualties have been reported by either the Russian or Ukrainian media; there has been no evidence of emergency ambulance movements and medical evacuation flights taking high-ranking casualties to hospitals in Poland, Germany, or the US. There was a reported surge of medevac flights from Rzeszow, but that occurred on May 22, before the Oreshnik strike on Bela Tsekrkva.
Surface damage at Bela Tserkva recorded on social media shows no greater damage than earlier drone strikes at Bela Tserkva last August. Former president and deputy head of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev called the Oreshnik, Iskander, Zircon and Kinzhal missile operation, including the Kiev city targets hit, a success in a strategy of persuading Ukrainian hearts and minds; this has not been publicly declared as a war aim by the Security Council before. “The ruins and gray ash on the site of their capital symbols,” Medvedev claimed, “demoralize the enemy no weaker than the loss of the battle banner.”
Lieutenant General (retired) Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma Defense Committee, repeated that the weekend strikes were a new operational initiative. But he qualified the targeting: the aim, he said, is not the Ukrainian parliament Verkhovna Rada but instead “decision-making centres [which are] underground fortified [military] command and control centres…you need to understand that they are not located in the centre of Kiev. These are hidden, well-fortified points. And our task is to identify them and expose them with the help of existing weapons.”
Kartapolov added that the decision on whether this new decapitation operation now extends to Vladimir Zelensky is made by “only one person – our Supreme Commander-in-Chief”. About Putin’s decision — signed, suspended, postponed, canceled — Kartapolov said he preferred “not to engage in speculation”. This was published on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 26. Putin had decided already to announce he didn’t mean decapitation at all.

A Cuban with a Greek name.

• Congresswoman Wants Democrats Aiding Cuba To Be Investigated For Treason (JTN)

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis also said she believes it was possible the U.S. military would conduct an operation to capture Raul Castro and extradite him into the United States

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a prominent Cuban-American who represents New York in the U.S. House, tells Just the News she wants the FBI to investigate Democrats and liberal groups helping Cuba evade U.S. sanctions for the lone crime America’s founding fathers explicitly identified in the Constitution. “Look, I personally, think they need to be investigated for treason,” Malliotakis said during a wide-ranging interview with the John Solomon Reports podcast. “I think that they really need to be investigated by Treasury, also by Justice.”
The New York Republican was reacting to an admission by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., that she recently took an official government trip to Havana and also talked to foreign countries about finding a way to get oil to Cuba around US sanctions and a naval blockade. Malliotakis said she wants to see the House ban the use of tax dollars to make such trips to foreign enemies’ soil. “What we need to do is ensure that none of these congressional delegation trips that are funded by the taxpayers go to actually visit our adversaries and undermine our government,” she said.
“They go and actually meet with the communist regime at your expense as taxpayers to try to undercut what the president is trying to do,” she added. “And by the way, it’s not just hurting, you know, our government. You’re actually hurting the Cuban people. You’re actually supporting a regime that starves its people to death, that has made their lives miserable for 67 years, and has killed their family members and have split up their family members.” Malliotakis, whose mother fled from Cuba during the Castro regime, has long been a fierce critic of the Communist-run government on the island.
She applauded the Trump Justice Department’s decision last week to indict 94-year-old Raul Castro, the former Cuban president, in connection with the fatal shooting down of two American planes in 1996. Malliotakis said she believed it was possible that the U.S. military would eventually conduct an operation to capture Castro and extradite him into the United States to face prosecution like it did with Venezuelan strongarm man Nicolas Maduro in January.
“I think a lot of people looking at the situation are thinking that the U.S. armed forces will go in and get Raul Castro, just like they did Nicolas Maduro,” she said. “You do see ships building up not too far from Cuba’s shores, and you know it is number one a national security issue.
“It is time, No. 1, to push for regime change, and I think that this indictment of Raul Castro gives the Cuban government two options: you either leave the island and allow the people to form political parties, to have free and fair elections to allow them to express themselves without fear of going to jail or being beaten or even killed by their government, and or you will see something like what took place in Venezuela for Nicolas Maduro,” she added.

“Cotton is a cultural icon, built into American DNA”

• Trump’s USDA is Making America’s Fabric Great Again (JTN)

In years past, the U.S. was referred to as “King Cotton” for its prodigious output of the fiber wanted by the rest of the world. The “Plant Not Plastic” initiative may see a rebirth of that sentiment. On Thursday, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins announced The Great American Cotton Plan, an effort to help revitalize the nation’s cotton-producing industry to move Americans back toward wearing natural fibers as opposed to plastic materials and other pontially toxic fibers. Launched as a cornerstone of the plan to restore domestic textile manufacturing, the “Plant Not Plastic” initiative urges American consumers to choose products made with natural, U.S.-grown cotton over petroleum-based synthetics like polyester.

Working in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the campaign highlights cotton’s superior breathability, biodegradability, and reduced microplastic shedding—addressing growing concerns about synthetic fibers releasing thousands of plastic particles annually into the environment and potentially into our bodies. By elevating demand for American cotton through education, procurement incentives, and alignment with t he bipartisan Buying American Cotton Act, the initiative simultaneously boosts rural economies, restores domestic textile manufacturing, and advances the Trump administration’s MAHA goals of practical, preventive wellness through everyday choices.
American cotton is key to avoiding human rights abuses
Cotton from many foreign countries, particularly in the global supply chain, has been linked to significant human rights abuses. Concerns include widespread child labor, such as children aged 6–14 working long hours in India’s cottonseed farms.
The underage workers often face pesticide exposure, as well as forced labor involving Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang region and past cases in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. In 2011 Bloomberg News sent investigative reporters out to the fields in the west African country to see for themselves how the daily abuse of children results in the “fair trade” fabric used for Americans’ favorite panties and bras. Workers frequently endure debt bondage, minimal or no pay, hazardous conditions, and government or employer coercion. The U.S. Department of Labor flags cotton from several nations for these risks. Ethical sourcing and better traceability are essential to reduce such exploitation.
Natural fibers used to be the norm
Today, approximately 70% of materials are derived from synthetic fibers, with polyester being the most prevalent. But that hasn’t always been the case. For millennia, humans relied exclusively on natural fibers—cotton, wool, silk, linen, and hemp—for clothing and textiles. These materials dominated until the early 20th century. The shift began with rayon (viscose), the first semisynthetic fiber, commercialized around 1905–1910. True synthetics arrived with nylon, introduced by DuPont in 1939, revolutionizing stockings and apparel during WWII. Polyester followed in the 1940s–50s, prized for durability and low cost. Acrylic and spandex soon expanded the range. B
y the late 20th century, synthetic blends dominated global production due to affordability, performance, and scalability. Today, a mix of natural and synthetic fibers prevails, balancing tradition with modern demands for stretch, wrinkle resistance, and sustainability. In 1989, trade association Cotton Incorporated launched its iconic “The Fabric of Our Lives” advertising campaign on Thanksgiving Day. The memorable jingle—“The touch, the feel of cotton, the fabric of our lives”—was first performed by Richie Havens. Aimed at countering synthetic fibers, the campaign celebrated cotton’s natural comfort, softness, and place in everyday American life. It became one of the most successful and long-running textile ads, boosting cotton’s market share and cultural resonance for decades.

Thorough.

• Why The SAVE Act Matters (Stu Cvrk)

American self-governance rests on one indispensable foundation: that elections reflect the will of eligible citizens, counted accurately, administered transparently. Republicans and election integrity advocates argue that this foundation has been progressively undermined – not necessarily by a single grand conspiracy, but by a systemic pattern of loosened safeguards, dirty voter rolls, exploitable mail-ballot systems, and aggressive Democrat opposition to the audits and reforms that would resolve public doubt once and for all.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act – which polls at roughly 80 percent public support – would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. To its advocates, it is the minimum logical response to documented vulnerabilities in the registration and voting system. To its opponents, it is voter suppression. The fight over that characterization is itself a revealing indicator of where the parties stand on the fundamental question: do you want to know, or don’t you? And why! Let’s examine the subject in some detail. Note: the below analysis was written from a Republican/election-integrity-advocate perspective. Where allegations are unconfirmed or contested, they are labeled as such.
Part I: Confirmed And Documented Problems
1. Dirty Voter Rolls – A National Scandal The evidence that American voter rolls are riddled with ineligible registrations is not in dispute. The only dispute is over whether they should be fixed. The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, under Assistant AG Harmeet Dhillon, reviewed voter rolls from just 16 voluntarily cooperating Republican-leaning states and found tens of thousands of apparent noncitizens and hundreds of thousands of dead people still registered to vote. The administration subsequently sued 29 states – including blue-state heavyweights California and New York, and swing states Arizona and Georgia – to compel production of voter roll data under the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act.
In California, a review of voter rolls found registrations tied to P.O. boxes and individuals listed as 125 years old. In Colorado, a lawsuit forced the purge of 372,000 ineligible registrations. In Michigan, dead voters have been documented – some of whom show records of in-person voting after their deaths. In Oregon, similar anomalies have been reported. Judicial Watch has documented tens of thousands of names removed from rolls in multiple states, often only after litigation – raising the obvious question of why states resisted cleanup in the first place.
The consistent pattern: Republicans seek cleanup to remove any possibility that unauthorized people are voting in elections through fraud associated with ballot harvesting. Democrats sue to prevent it for the purposes of preventing disenfranchising eligible voters (with the unspoken reason to enable Democrat ballot harvesting).
2. Noncitizen Voting – Prosecuted Cases Noncitizen voting is not a hypothetical. It is documented, prosecuted, and ongoing. In Philadelphia, ICE and the FBI arrested Mahady Sacko, an illegal alien from Mauritania, for voting in seven federal elections dating to 2008 – despite a 2002 removal order. In Coldwater, Kansas, Mayor Joe Ceballos – a legal permanent resident from Mexico – resigned and faced charges after voting in multiple elections. These are not isolated cases; they are confirmed examples of a vulnerability that Republicans argue the SAVE Act would directly address.
3. Mail Ballot Fraud – A Proven Mechanism Democrats and their media allies spent years insisting mail ballot fraud is vanishingly rare. The prosecution record tells a different story – of widespread, real, and exploitable vulnerabilities (over 1400 cases in this database).
In Pennsylvania, a grand jury indicted three Democrats – Mohammed Nurul Hasan, Mohammed Munsur Ali, and Mohammed Rafikul Islam – for attempting to steal the 2021 mayoral election in Millbourne. Using Pennsylvania’s online voter registration portal (PAOVR), they changed the registered addresses of nearly three dozen non-residents to Millbourne addresses, requested mail ballots on their behalf, filled them out, and submitted them. The system’s vulnerability: anyone with basic personal information about a voter could modify that voter’s registration and divert their ballot to any address in the world. The candidate lost anyway – but the mechanism worked. The “safeguards” the AP assured voters existed did not stop it.
In Minnesota, a duo pleaded guilty to flooding an election with fraudulent ballots. In Connecticut, a state employee was arrested for switching Republican voters’ registrations to Democrat without their knowledge. Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight organization was forced to pay the largest campaign finance violation fine in Georgia history.
4. ActBlue – Active Congressional Investigation With Significant Red Flags This is not an allegation. This is an active, documented federal investigation backed by congressional subpoenas. The House Judiciary, Oversight, and Administration Committees released a joint interim report in April 2026 finding that five current and former ActBlue employees – including its general counsel (fired), legal department personnel, and VP of customer service – collectively invoked the Fifth Amendment 146 times during depositions. Not once or twice. 146 times. Not a single substantive question was answered.
The report also found that ActBlue made its fraud-prevention rules more lenient twice during the 2024 election cycle, and that internal training materials directed fraud-prevention staff to “look for reasons to accept contributions” rather than scrutinize them. The entire legal and compliance team – every member – had resigned, been fired, or gone on extended leave by March 2025, in the months immediately following the election.
The New York Times – not a right-wing outlet – reported on the foreign donation concerns. Former Biden White House Counsel Dana Remus, working at ActBlue’s law firm Covington, reportedly warned that ActBlue’s CEO may have misrepresented facts to Congress. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan summarized the irony: Democrats spent a decade accusing Trump of foreign campaign collusion. The evidence of foreign money flowing into Democrat fundraising infrastructure is now the subject of formal congressional investigation.
Fulton County has become the symbolic epicenter of 2020 election integrity concerns, and for documented reasons.
In January 2026, the Georgia State Election Board revealed that investigators could not locate a single “zero tape” from Fulton County’s 148 early voting machines from the 2020 general election. Zero tapes are the legal documents that certify each ballot tabulator began counting at zero – preventing pre-loaded votes or test data from being counted as real votes. Their absence does not prove fraud. But their absence also cannot be explained away. A December 2025 admission by Fulton County’s attorney confirmed that more than 100 tabulator closing tapes – representing roughly 315,000 votes – were never signed by poll workers as required by law.
The week after the State Election Board meeting, the FBI executed a search warrant at the Fulton County election office, specifically seeking the zero tapes. The search warrant itself represents a federal judicial determination that probable cause existed to search. Fulton County has not produced a satisfactory accounting of what happened to these documents.

Unusual indeed.

• Cuba Falling: A Most Unusual Meeting (Sarah Anderson)

There are a lot of stories about Cuba floating around right now. Some are MSM outlets acting like they have a scoop on something that’s been happening or rumored to be happening for months. Some are simply absurd and probably not true. Most aren’t actually verified by the Donald Trump administration and come from anonymous sources. I’m not even going to bother with those today. I saw this happen in the final months before we captured Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. Most of these reporters and media outlets didn’t even care about these countries until they became newsworthy, and once they do become hot topics, they’ll publish just about anything to get clicks. I can’t do that.

But what I can tell you is that what the regime is saying and what’s happening on the ground tell two different stories. Both the “president,” Miguel Díaz-Canel, and the foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, have been doing interviews for a month or two now, warning of the United States’ impending military aggression, claiming the people of Cuba will fight the imperialists, etc. In the last week or two, Díaz-Canel claimed publicly that the U.S. “will cause a bloodbath with incalculable consequences.” Most recently, Rodríguez has been going after Marco Rubio with his favorite talking point: Rubio has a personal vendetta against the regime — as if he’s not just one of the millions of Cubans who have seen their parents and grandparents flee the communist s**thole in which they were forced to live. He just happens to be the one with the power to do something about it.
But while these guys are going on all the TV networks yelling about U.S. aggression, on the ground, the regime is actually playing nice with the U.S. because it knows it holds no leverage. On Friday, the most unusual thing happened. United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan was at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, and he met with Army Corps General, Gen. Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, First Deputy Minister of the Chief of the General Staff, and other senior leaders from the Cuban military at the perimeter of the facility. They even posed for a picture:

#SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan met with Army Corps General, Gen. Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, First Deputy Minister of the Chief of the General Staff, and other senior leaders from the Cuban military today at the perimeter of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for a… pic.twitter.com/V4Fau3HxSo
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) May 29, 2026

According to SOUTHCOM, the visit was “for a brief exchange on operational security matters. Gen. Donovan also led a perimeter security assessment of the naval base and discussed force protection, safety of service members and their families, and operational readiness with base officials.”

#SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan personally inspected all aspects of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay’s security posture, leading a comprehensive perimeter security assessment and discussing force protection, operational readiness, and measures to ensure the safety and… pic.twitter.com/8NahSyZs3W
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) May 29, 2026

Keep in mind that the regime considers our base at Guantanamo Bay an illegal occupation. This extremely rare, high-level face-to-face meeting was described as “positive” by both sides. The Cuban Ministry of Defense said in a statement, “Both delegations considered the meeting to be positive, where issues related to security around the dividing perimeter of the military enclave were addressed and they agreed to maintain communication between both military commands.”
While some in the MSM are downplaying it, this isn’t something you see every day, but then again, a lot of what we’re witnessing lately is unusual. The regime is doing interviews with the U.S. press, including Fox News. The CIA director is holding talks in (and making threats) in Havana. Cubans standing on rooftops raising U.S. flags or writing “Long live Trump” on building walls without fear.
In the past, low-level “fence line” meetings took place each month between U.S. and Cuban military officials at the naval base, but Trump had them suspended when he took office in 2025. This is not a continuation of that. This is not routine. As I keep saying, we don’t know when or how this will end, but Trump promises that it will soon, that he’ll be the president who finally ends 67 years of communist Cuba. Right now, all of the signs are supporting that. No matter how defiant it acts publicly, the regime knows it’s backed into a corner.

“The Administration should appeal the decision and may soon be able to resume work on the Center, regardless of its name.’

• Court Halts Kennedy Center Construction and Name Change (Turley)

In a ruling Friday, District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the cessation of all repair plans for the Kennedy Center and the removal of Trump’s name from the building within two weeks. It is a detailed and comprehensive opinion, but I believe that Judge Cooper is wrong on the cessation of repairs. I previously expressed skepticism over the claim that the board could order such a change unilaterally. I have previously addressed the naming controversy, which raised the very issues that Judge Cooper cited in his rejection of the right to rename the Center without congressional approval.

However, the opinion becomes more challengeable when the court addresses the decision to close the Center for two years to carry out major renovations. The opinion is rife with digs at President Donald Trump for his social media postings and his unilateral plan for a ballroom. Judge Cooper editorializes that “Especially after the demolition of the East Wing of the White House— which occurred out of the blue a few months after President Trump pledged that construction would not ‘interfere with’ and would ‘pay[] total respect to the existing building’—there has been understandable concern that the Kennedy Center may be the next target of the wrecking ball.”
Judge Cooper accepts that the Center is long overdue for major renovations and that the Board had the authority to order them. He further rejects the sweeping claims of litigants that Trump was planning to effectively raze the Center: “The evidence before the Court does not demonstrate that the Center is poised for wholesale destruction and rebuilding, à la the East Wing.” However, Cooper rules that the Board could not have given the decision sufficient time or attention in carrying out the plan. He declared that “None of the board members had sufficient information in advance of the March 16 meeting to make a well-considered decision to close the center.”
The court’s tight analysis is lost in supporting the cessation of repairs. While he acknowledges that such repairs have long been planned and studied, he cites differing statements on the plan to continue operations before a later decision to close the Center. The court finds that the record illustrates a failure to fulfill the fiduciary duty of the board and Chair: “Whatever happened during that purported four-month incubation period, Board input was, most evidently, an afterthought. Trustees learned about the plan to close the Center at the same time as the general public, by social media post. Deprived of time and information, they had no meaningful opportunity to consider perhaps the most momentous decision in the Center’s lifetime since it opened in 1971.”
That analysis is heavily laden with assumptions on the lack of consideration of the Board. The same approach could be used to set aside an array of board decisions that do not evidence sufficient concern or scrutiny for the satisfaction of a judge. Judge Cooper seems to recognize how far the court was taking its own authority in countermanding the decision:
“The Court appreciates that, in both the charitable and corporate spheres, board meetings are often scripted affairs… The Court should not be heard to suggest that trustees must scrutinize every piece of prefatory work that has been done, or labor through the night debating the relative merits of their decisions in order to discharge their fiduciary duties— especially where, as here, a board is large and comprised of members who may not be well schooled in the subject matter before them. “ Yet, the court still concludes that this Board “seems to have fallen grossly short of prudent decision-making.” That seems far too subjective and fluid a standard for federal courts to micromanage executive branch decision-making.
For his part, President Trump was equally sweeping and unrestrained in his response. He declared that he would order the Commerce Department to transfer the Center to Congress “so they can make a determination as to what to do with it.” Given that Judge Cooper’s order on the cessation of repairs may be reversed, it is unnecessary unless the naming of the Center is the overriding consideration. In either case, it would make little sense for the Center to be placed under the supervision of Congress. It would be appropriate for Congress to address the naming question as well as potentially being heard on the need for a closure.
In the end, I thought that the court’s cessation analysis conveyed ample reasons, but Judge Cooper himself (and others) may be unhappy with how the decision was made. It is less clear why that should matter. There are ample reasons to close the Center to facilitate what the court acknowledges will be extensive and major renovations. That construction can only be facilitated and expedited if there is not a simultaneous need to keep a substantial part of the Center operating for the public. The Administration should appeal the decision and may soon be able to resume work on the Center, regardless of its name.

Not sure why Zerohedge runs a May 11 article, but I already formatted it when I saw that, so…

• Crypto And AI Could Be Dirty Words On 2026 Midterm Campaign Trail (CT)

The AI and crypto industries have made headlines over the past year thanks to the impressive war chests amassed by corporate political action committees (PACs). Profligate spending during the last federal elections in the US has led to unprecedented policy changes favoring the crypto industry, with indications that a full legislative framework in the form of the CLARITY Act is on its way to becoming law. But this hasn’t endeared the crypto industry to voters. Recent polls from Politico show distrust of the crypto industry, and the electorate isn’t sold on the benefits of AI.

“Voters across the ideological spectrum are raising concerns,” Michael Beckel, director of money in politics reform at Issue One, told Cointelegraph. “Some candidates on both sides of the aisle are trying to harness that frustration and outrage.” According to the recent poll by Public First for Politico, most Americans don’t trust crypto and don’t believe in the benefits of AI.

While Republican voters are somewhat more likely to trust crypto, 47% of Americans overall trust a traditional bank over a crypto platform, while 17% trust a crypto platform as much as a traditional bank. The numbers for AI aren’t great either. Some 43% of Americans overall believe that the risks outweigh the benefits, while 33% believe the inverse.

Currently, most people haven’t heard about the major crypto and AI lobbies. According to Politico, only nine percent have heard of AI Super PAC Leading the Future. Only three percent have heard of pro-crypto PAC Fairshake. That’s not much compared to public awareness of large lobbies like the National Rifle Association or the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which are practically household names. Still, association with crypto could be a problem. Ohio Republican Representative Jim Renacci told Politico, “I do think if they see somebody is backed by crypto, that’s always going to be a problem, because, let’s face it, the people that I talk to in Ohio, they don’t understand crypto, and most say they’re not comfortable with [it].”
Improving awareness around crypto lobbies may not help them much. Rick Claypool, research director at Public Citizen, told Cointelegraph: “Generally speaking, voters are against corporate money influencing politics.” “Even after Citizens United, the norm had been for big, brand-name corporations not to engage directly. Or when they did engage, they would often contribute through dark money groups that obscure their funding source.” In this regard, the crypto industry’s spending spree in 2024 was somewhat unusual. Major contributors like Coinbase or a16z weren’t shy about the millions of dollars they put into campaigns.
But even then, “the voter-facing message from Fairshake was never about crypto, which voters never really cared about.” Mailers and ad buys reflected the supported candidates’ positions more broadly, or sometimes attacked those of the perceived anti-crypto candidate. Overall, “candidates who are seen as not beholden to corporate interests have an electoral edge,” said Claypool. This was true for populist candidates like US Senator Bernie Sanders and even US President Donald Trump, who claimed during his 2016 campaign that “he was so rich he could not be bought, which is laughable in hindsight.”
If awareness about crypto — and crypto’s concerted efforts to influence policy — increases among the electorate, it may not shake out well. Issue One’s Beckel said, “If voters view an industry as toxic, that can have serious implications for candidates who don’t want to be perceived as too close to a controversial company or industry.”

If you’re not in the industry or live nearby, how could you know?

• A New Special Interest Coalition for ’26 and ’28, Datacenters (CTH)

A few weeks ago, I was having a politics conversation with a tech insider. The issue of datacenters became a focus of the conversation. The first response from him was “this is the issue that might decide 2026 and will certainly decide 2028.” The tech side of the issue is essentially: As 5G wifi was to mobile connectivity, so too are the datacenters the cornerstone of nationwide AI rollout. Eventually, all of the datacenters will interconnect and become part of a massive information system that houses all knowledge, a great digital brain. From that point, engagement with Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems will become like a public utility.

The datacenters themselves can be a hot button issue as their proximity to people creates friction. Battles against datacenters are taking place in rural and non-rural areas alike. With deep pockets and strong national security arguments involving the “AI race,” the technocrats are currently winning the argument. However, as with all special interest issues, the opportunity for political benefit now determines DC advocacy. WATCH:

What are your thoughts on this issue? Is opposition to datacenters strong enough to tilt the outcome of the 2026 midterms? And do you believe 2028 will be determined with this issue at the forefront?

President Trump was ahead by 109,000 votes in the Wisconsin 2020 election when all of a sudden Biden received an instant 120,000+ vote dump on live T.V., which was so obvious of fraud that the news anchors laughed and didn't even know what to say.

Then, in the Florida 2020… pic.twitter.com/rplpwHaVZM
— The SCIF (@TheSCIF) May 29, 2026

DOCTORS ARE LITERALLY MANUFACTURING ALZHEIMER’S

Dr. Joel Wallach: “Alzheimer’s is a PHYSICIAN-CAUSED disease.”

Your brain is 75% myelin insulation. And myelin is 100% cholesterol.

Statins shred that cholesterol — stealing 75% of what your brain desperately needs to stay… pic.twitter.com/RFBQYu9bc3
— Valerie Anne Smith (@ValerieAnne1970) May 29, 2026

https://twitter.com/lovetocook12345/status/2060372306308862314?s=20 https://twitter.com/CreasonJana/status/2060427311208386655?s=20

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

Debt Rattle May 30 2026

May 302026

May 30, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:55 am Finance Tagged with: $250 bill, climate hoax, final determination, gold bars, high treason, Kennedy Center, Marco Rubio, Ofcom, pusillanimous, radioactive, SpaceX 21 Responses »

Andy Warhol Grace Kelly 1984

• President Trump Updates on “Final Determination” of Iran Negotiations (CTH)

• Iran Clarifies Deal ‘Not Finalized’ Amid Lack Of Trust (ZH)

• Trump in Situation Room for ‘final Determination’ on Iran deal (JTN)

• Trump and Rubio Finally Go After Brazil’s Narco-Terrorists (Sarah Anderson)

• Go Marco! It’s Your Birthday! (Anderson)

• The Left Is Trying to Make Trump Radioactive — and It’s Failing (Tim O’Brien)

• SpaceX Reportedly Lowers IPO Valuation Target (ZH)

• How Much Longer Will Russians Tolerate Putin-the-Pusillanimous? (PCR)

• Has President Trump Committed High Treason? (Paul Craig Roberts)

• Like a Naked Emperor (James Howard Kunstler)

• British Ofcom Probes Trump Interview Calling Climate Change a “Hoax” (Turley)

• Judge Orders Trump’s Name to Be Removed From Kennedy Center (Sarah Anderson)

• US Government Prepares To Print $250 Note Featuring Trump’s Face (BBC)

https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/2060064173774803099?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2060067457235132814?s=20

Soros will NOT be happy about this…

Secretary Bessent states that a major probe into Antifa’s Billionaire funders is underway

“There’s substantial progress…we’re going to have a LOT to report”

IRS Form 990 rules mean nonprofits can no longer hide their ‘cash to riot’ schemes pic.twitter.com/k7HWPMHVgX
— Liz Churchill (@liz_churchill10) May 28, 2026

https://twitter.com/LightOnLiberty/status/2059829613082161341?s=20

Peter Doocy says President Trump doubled down on not caring about the midterms in his upcoming interview with Lara Trump.

Scott Bessent called it the mark of a true statesman because of his core belief on stopping Iran from getting a nuke.

DOOCY: “And so we don’t know what has… pic.twitter.com/MuiAZbka2s
— Overton (@overton_news) May 28, 2026

“The Arab states, not Israel, are 100% behind the Trump administration effort on this issue.”

• President Trump Updates on “Final Determination” of Iran Negotiations (CTH)

President Trump updates through his Truth Social account on the current status of negotiations for an agreement with Iran.

PRESIDENT TRUMP – “Iran must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb. The Hormuz Strait must be immediately open, no tolls, for unrestricted shipping traffic, in both directions. All water mines (bombs), if any, will be terminated (we have removed, through detonation, numerous such mines with our great underwater mine sweepers. Iran will complete the immediate removal and/or detonation of any mines that are left, which will not be many!).
Ships caught in the Strait due to our amazing and unprecedented Naval Blockade, which will now be lifted, may start the process of “heading home!” Say HELLO to your wives, husbands, parents, and families from me, your favorite President! The enriched material, sometimes referred to as “Nuclear Dust,” which is buried deep underground with virtually collapsed mountains, caused by our powerful B2 Bomber attack 11 months ago, sitting on top of it, will be unearthed by the United States (which, it is agreed, is the only Country, along with China, with the mechanical capability of doing so!), in close coordination and conjunction with the Islamic Republic of Iran, plus the International Atomic Energy Agency, and DESTROYED.
No money will be exchanged, until further notice. Other items, of far less importance, have been agreed to. I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” ~ President Donald J Trump
Newt Gingrich also notes one of the most important facets that continues to be missed by most of the American punditry who discuss the situation. The Arab states, not Israel, are 100% behind the Trump administration effort on this issue.
Newt Gingrich: “After spending this week reviewing the Iranian war I am now convinced President Trump is on the edge of an historic victory. The real breakthrough for me came as I reviewed President Trump’s decisions and maneuvers not from the standpoint of American unilateralism but from the standpoint of the leader of a remarkable historic coalition, the largest coalition ever put together in the modern Middle East.
Everyone understands that Israel is an important ally. What is little discussed is the depth of support from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region. It has to be sobering for the Iranian dictatorship to realize that it does not have a single ally willing to challenge the American naval blockade. Slowly, gradually, timidly, our European allies are lining up to help with the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. A great deal of President Trump’s maneuvers against Iran make sense once he is seen as a coalition leader and not just as a unilateral American President.
I spent a lot of the last couple weeks reviewing kinetic options including wining the battle of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz and if necessary using the shocking and shattering level of force President Nixon and Secretary Kissinger used against Hanoi and Haiphong in Christmas 1972 (which both leaders believed convinced the North Vietnamese to agree to a truce and the freeing of American POWs). If this were a unilateral American campaign I could enthusiastically support a more aggressive kinetic campaign. However it is also clear it would shatter the coalition because our Arab allies are convinced Iran could still do enormous damage to their oil fields and infrastructure.
Coalitions are inherently slower than unilateral campaigns. However coalitions ultimately bring vastly more power to the fight. I am as frustrated as everyone else by the pace of talking with the dictatorship but having reviewed the correlation of forces and the options available to the coalition on one side and the Iranian religiously motivated dictatorship on the other I am prepared to assert that President Trump’s coalition leadership (something almost none of his critics want to acknowledge) is within reach of an enormous historic victory. And if the Iranian dictatorship ultimately proves it is hopelessly committed to a suicidal position there will be plenty of time for a kinetic campaign of enormous power and effectiveness. Either way we are on the edge of an astonishing victory for our values and for a safer Middle East.” (source)

The more Iran threatens, the weaker it is.

• Iran Clarifies Deal ‘Not Finalized’ Amid Lack Of Trust (ZH)

Iran’s Tasnim reports Friday that the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is not yet finalized, and that Thursday’s flurry of Western media headlines about an agreement finally being reached were inaccurate. “The text is not finalized yet and the account in Western media is not precise,” a fresh statement indicates. Official confirmation will be announced if it does get to the point of being finalized, Tasnim notes. The report cited an Iranian official to say that “the text of the possible memorandum of understanding has had changes over the past few days.”

The warring sides are attempting to lock in a 60-day extended ceasefire, during which time they will get back to the table – and that’s when finer details like how to address Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium will be dealt with. It is now day 91, and according to the latest Friday: Iranian Parliament Speaker and top negotiator Ghalibaf says: “We have no trust in guarantees or words.” Late Thursday, US Vice President J.D. Vance indicated that President Trump has not approved, at a moment Washington is insisting the nuclear issue be more front and center as part of the MOU.
However, the Iranians have consistently said their nuclear program is not up for negotiation toward ending the war – but that it is something that can be talked about once the conflict closes. According to a summary of the latest on the stalled MOU from an Al Jazeera correspondent: Diplomatic efforts to preserve the ceasefire between the United States and Iran have continued behind the scenes, with officials signaling progress towards a framework that could open the door to formal negotiations after weeks of conflict and disruption across the Gulf and beyond. Despite the optimism, questions remain over the timing and scope of any agreement.
Iranian media reports suggested discussions are continuing and that key details have yet to be finalized, while both sides continue to navigate sensitive issues, including Iran’s nuclear program and security in the Gulf.

One of the newest and most surprising elements of the Iran peace draft deal is a proposed investment fund for Iran — reportedly $300 billion.

Iran originally framed this as reparations for war damage (which it estimates at $300B–$1T). The U.S. side is rebranding it as an… pic.twitter.com/zdrgCiacfH
— Clash Report (@clashreport) May 29, 2026

What has become clear is that US and international media reports have consistently proven premature, too out front, thinly sourced, and ultimately inaccurate in their generally optimistic claims of a deal being ‘finalized’ or else ‘imminent’. In the meantime, Iran’s ongoing threats of an escalated, protracted war happen to be very clear: The Revolutionary Guards said any renewed conflict would spread “far beyond the region,” threatening “crushing blows” and “utter ruin” in places opponents “cannot even imagine.” The warnings come after a war that saw Iran target US bases, Israeli cities and critical infrastructure in Gulf Arab states, while effectively shutting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and triggering a global energy shock.
The Islamic Republic has also been touting new “tools” to use against its enemies, per CNN: Last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that any future retaliation would “feature many more surprises,” while Iran’s military threatened to open “new fronts” using “new tools.” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s top negotiator, said the armed forces had used the ceasefire period to rebuild their capabilities “at the highest level.”
Some pundits fear that such references to “new fronts” could mean either the closure of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea, or even the possibility of missiles reaching Europe. Umud Shokri, an energy strategist at George Mason University, has explained in a statement, “A simultaneous crisis in Bab al-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz would be far more serious, potentially affecting both Red Sea trade and Persian Gulf energy flows, which would raise oil prices, freight rates, and inflationary pressure worldwide.”

Trump’s conditions are well known.

• Trump in Situation Room for ‘final Determination’ on Iran deal (JTN)

President Donald Trump is in the Situation Room to make a final decision on the Iran deal amid a reported 60-day ceasefire extension. Trump reiterated his core demands that Iran abandon its nuclear ambitions and open the Strait of Hormuz in a Truth Social post. “Iran must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb. The Hormuz Strait must be immediately open, no tolls, for unrestricted shipping traffic, in both directions,” he posted. “All water mines (bombs), if any, will be terminated (we have removed, through detonation, numerous such mines with our great underwater mine sweepers.”

“Iran will complete the immediate removal and/or detonation of any mines that are left, which will not be many!). Ships caught in the Strait due to our amazing and unprecedented Naval Blockade, which will now be lifted, may start the process of ‘heading home!'” he added. Trump also insisted that Iran would have to hand over its remaining nuclear material for destruction under the watch of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The war began in late February with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The conflict has been in a nominal ceasefire for weeks, despite the occasional flare up of live-fire exchanges.

Lula.

• Trump and Rubio Finally Go After Brazil’s Narco-Terrorists (Sarah Anderson)

The State Department announced on Thursday that the United States is designating Brazil’s two most powerful criminal organizations — Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV) — as both Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) and Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). All I can say is that it’s about time. There have been rumors that Marco Rubio would do this for a while now, but he’s finally following through.

“CV and PCC are two of the most violent criminal organizations in Brazil,” Rubio said today in a statement (I’d add in the whole world, not just Brazil). “Together, they command thousands of members and have orchestrated brutal attacks against Brazilian police officers, public officials, and civilians. Their influence and illicit networks extend far beyond Brazil’s borders, across our region and into our country.” So, just who are these narco-terrorists? Here’s what I wrote about them earlier this month:
Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV) are the two largest and most influential criminal organizations in Brazil, though they operate internationally. Both were born in prisons as self-protection groups in the 1990s, and today, they are some of the biggest drug and arms trafficking organizations in the world. There are tens of thousands of members, and they terrorize Brazilian civilians and have taken over entire towns. From beheadings to bombings and other mass attacks, they use terrorist-style tactics to control territory and instill fear.
Not only have they taken over entire parts of Brazil, but they’ve bled over the borders into countries like Bolivia, Paraguay, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Chile. They also operate in the United States and parts of Europe and the Middle East, according to the São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Today, they recruit new members in prisons, and these aren’t your average street criminals. They run parallel states inside prisons and in parts of Brazil, often corrupting officials. They massacre their rivals, and they make billions through crimes like trafficking, money laundering, and extortion. They also help fuel the drug crisis in our country, contributing to the cocaine and fentanyl that show up on our streets each year. In Brazil specifically, these groups have even infiltrated legitimate businesses in fields like agriculture, real estate, and construction.
The Donald Trump administration has been using the SDGT and FTO designations quite successfully, almost from day one, to target narco-terrorism and working to dismantle and capture the leaders of Mexican cartels and other regional organized crime groups, like Tren de Aragua and MS-13. The designations prevent anyone in the U.S. from providing resources or support for that group, among other things, which curbs financing, isolates these criminal organizations internationally, and heightens public awareness. As we’ve seen over the past year, once we take the lead on these things, other aligned countries in the Western Hemisphere often follow suit.
It also puts pressure on Brazilian institutions and businesses to stop playing nice with these groups, including the country’s little anti-Trump dictator, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. But don’t hold your breath on that one. What makes the timing of these designations even more interesting is that Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, met with Trump at the White House earlier this week. Trump and the elder Bolsonaro are, of course, good friends, and with presidential elections in Brazil looming in October, the younger Bolsonaro is currently the right-wing candidate leading the polls and the candidate who is most likely able to stop the old socialist Lula from serving a fourth term. Having a like-minded partner in Brazil would be huge for both of our countries.
After their meeting in the Oval Office, Flávio held a press conference stating that he asked Trump personally to designate PCC and CV as terrorist groups. It looks like the president and Rubio listened. The senator and presidential candidate was welcomed warmly upon returning home from the U.S. by the people who are ready to pull their country away from the socialism and organized crime that have plagued it for years, following the lead of other countries in Central and South America in recent months.
By making the designation, Trump and Rubio essentially handed Flávio and Brazil’s opposition some support ahead of the elections. Meanwhile, old Lula refuses to condemn these groups because, well, sovereignty or something. Lula’s party has long refused to take a hardline stance on national security, preferring to shout about imperialism than actually help its own citizens who are living under the threats of these narco-terrorists. There is also the idea that high-profile members of Lula’s “Workers’ Party” are some of the officials who have been corrupted by the PCC and CV, but that’s a story for another day. .

“Marco Rubio is really, really, really popular with Republicans.”

• Go Marco! It’s Your Birthday! (Anderson)

Today, Thursday, May 28, is Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s 55th birthday. I hadn’t planned on marking the occasion, but everyone else in the media and politics seems to be, and our managing editor Chris Queen jokingly suggested I join them. And if you’ve been reading my articles for the last year and a half, you know I never pass up a chance to say good things about the most popular man in the Republican Party. Oh yeah, it’s true. Even CNN admits it.

According to the network’s poll analyst, Harry Enten, earlier this week, “Marco Rubio is really, really, really popular with Republicans.” The only Republican currently polling more popular is Donald Trump himself. He added, “His chances to be the Republican nominee in 2028 are up like a rocket taking off from Cape Canaveral.” Enten was referring to favorability odds from Kalshi, which showed Rubio with an 11% chance of becoming the GOP nominee in January — that number has jumped to 30% in May. According to Quinnipiac, Rubio also has the highest approval rating of any cabinet member at 40%, but Vice President JD Vance is not far behind at 39%. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth follows at 34%, and FBI Director Kash Patel is at 30%.
Other polls show Rubio and Vance neck and neck for a 2028 primary. Emerson College, for example, has Vance with 36% support of Republican voters, while Rubio is close behind with about 35%. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley each have 5%. Around 15% are undecided. What’s notable about that, however, is the shift. In February, the same poll showed Vance with a whopping 52% of support and Rubio with just 20%. I suppose being favored to become the most powerful man in the world, a position you’ve been working toward most of your life, is one of the best birthday presents a guy can receive, but we’re still a good ways out from that, so I’m going to shut up about 2028 now. Let’s get through the midterms first.
On a personal note, I’d like to say that if it wasn’t for Rubio, I wouldn’t know nearly as much about Latin American politics as I do, nor would I have the career that I have. So, I’m forever grateful for that and do hope he has the best of days. Anyway, this wasn’t meant to be a serious post. Let’s just wish a “Happy Birthday” to our dear Secretary of State. Now, enjoy these X posts: A couple of weeks ago, I wrote: The Secretary of State Is Cool, and the MSM Is Having a Meltdown Over It. The State Department showcased that “cool” factor in a birthday video today:

Happy Birthday, Mr. Secretary. pic.twitter.com/Nwun9geB5Z
— Department of State (@StateDept) May 28, 2026

Looks like some White House staff threw him a little party:
https://twitter.com/MargoMartin47/status/2060049666129981656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2060049666129981656%7Ctwgr%5E12a5c638971ab9b7a20d2f57d63a16f77bbf6ce2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Fsarah-anderson%2F2026%2F05%2F28%2Fgo-marco-its-your-birthday-and-youre-the-most-popular-man-in-the-gop-n4953339
Lots of members of Congress have wished Rubio a happy birthday, but this post from Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) was my favorite. I told Chris that they look like an overly enthusiastic couple who is ready to sell you a timeshare.
https://twitter.com/RepKatCammack/status/2060090909824368777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2060090909824368777%7Ctwgr%5E12a5c638971ab9b7a20d2f57d63a16f77bbf6ce2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Fsarah-anderson%2F2026%2F05%2F28%2Fgo-marco-its-your-birthday-and-youre-the-most-popular-man-in-the-gop-n4953339
Of course, we couldn’t let the day pass without the meme:
https://twitter.com/TheRicanMemes/status/2060035087681372282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2060035087681372282%7Ctwgr%5E12a5c638971ab9b7a20d2f57d63a16f77bbf6ce2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Fsarah-anderson%2F2026%2F05%2F28%2Fgo-marco-its-your-birthday-and-youre-the-most-popular-man-in-the-gop-n4953339

I don’t understand how Milli Vanilli is part of this.

• The Left Is Trying to Make Trump Radioactive — and It’s Failing (Tim O’Brien)

What do NFL quarterback Jaxson Dart and the Great American State Fair event in Washington, D.C., have in common? Two things right off the top: first, President Donald Trump’s support; and second, that both are current targets of the left’s strategy to make everything Trump touches radioactive. We all know the drill by now. Trump does something. The left acts like he committed a capital offense. The media and all of the various institutions of the left, including the judiciary, all do their part to try to create the perception that Trump is ruining things.

We’ve all seen how activist judges, the news media, and mobilized “anti-ICE” groups have waged a campaign to frame Trump’s enforcement of immigration law as though it were a crime in and of itself. But wait, there’s more. The left had a conniption over the White House ballroom project. It got a judge to halt construction, and now it’s trying to blame Trump for the mess it is intentionally creating. The left even tried to do the same thing on Trump’s repairs to the Lincoln Memorial’s reflecting pool. There is nothing the left would like more than to create a mess throughout Washington that would last at least through 2026 and America’s 250th anniversary celebrations. Instead of coming together as Americans to celebrate our history, the left wants to ruin this once-in-a-lifetime event and blame Trump for what it is doing.
Last week, New York Giants QB Dart was asked to introduce the president of the United States at a New York event, and the left immediately seized on it as yet another opportunity to make something Trump touched radioactive. Its methodology is simple. After Trump does the thing – in this case, speak – the left attacks anyone who shared the stage with the president. It’s an old-fashioned pressure campaign. Squeeze the people who, optically, appear not to hate Trump. If the left can “convict” you of not hating the president, it will smear you as someone who presumably supports everything the man has ever done, everything he’s ever said, and everything the left has made up about him. All of it.
Then they go to anyone associated with someone like Dart to see if they still support Dart. In his case, it could be teammates, coaches, sponsors, or even agents. In terms of character assassination, it’s all-out war for the left. Take no prisoners. The goal is to get anyone who may have been even temporarily associated with Trump to come out and publicly apologize or distance themselves from the president. The sports media immediately took the lead on creating controversy around Dart’s introduction of Trump at that event, pestering people throughout the Giants organization about it — so much so that Dart had to explain his side of the story during a team meeting. Keep in mind, an NFL player introducing the president is neither controversial nor something that should be controversial. If it is, it’s because the controversy was manufactured
Giants linebacker Abdul Carter took the bait and commented on social media, “Thought this s##t was AI, what we doing man.” Carter had no idea that he himself was a victim of leftist manipulation when he posted this. That said, not long after his post, he followed up by saying he talked to Dart, man-to-man, and it’s all good. So, is this sort of thing having the left’s desired effect?
https://twitter.com/PamelaHensley22/status/2058618537359409386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2058618537359409386%7Ctwgr%5E517a7dc4d0b01979419c9930a612d453e00dfe3a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Ftim-o-brien%2F2026%2F05%2F28%2Fthe-left-is-trying-to-make-trump-radioactive-and-its-failing-n4953358
Apparently not. Carter may have taken the bait, but the public is not. Politically, Trump-endorsed candidates have been killing it in the primaries by huge margins, indicating that the country is still way into Trump — more than the media would ever have you believe. nAnd so, we’re now about to go full steam into a summer of America 250 celebrations. What could go wrong, right? You have to know going in that the left has plans to destroy anything and everything related to it. Which brings me to that Great American State Fair planned for Washington in June. A bunch of musical artists had been lined up to perform at the event. People like C+C Music Factory, Flo Rida, Vanilla Ice, Bret Michaels, the Commodores, Martina McBride, and Milli Vanilli.
Right on cue, after already committing to perform at the event, some of the acts are pulling out. We can only guess that it’s the result of someone getting to them — reaching out to pressure them into cancelling. I mean, they already knew Trump is the president, and as president, he’s the host of the anniversary festivities. This was not a surprise. They already knew the event will be in the heart of the most political town in the country. And yet, McBride decides to drop out at this stage of the game, citing “partisanship” as her concern. Really? Is celebrating America with the president now a partisan thing?

pic.twitter.com/Ono3zPi54Z
— Martina McBride (@martinamcbride) May 29, 2026

$3 triilion or $4 trillion, who cares?

• SpaceX Reportedly Lowers IPO Valuation Target (ZH)

SpaceX is targeting a valuation of at least $1.8 trillion in its upcoming initial public offering, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. This is below an earlier goal of more than $2 trillion. In practice, the initial IPO valuation target is a marketing range, not a final number. Therefore, any valuation shifts ahead of the trading day would not be unusual. This suggests advisers are calibrating the deal to what investors are willing to absorb, especially given the massive proposed raise of up to $75 billion.

The target is settling lower after consultations with advisers and investors, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. Details of an IPO, such as size and valuation, are typically adjusted ahead of pricing based on feedback from stakeholders, the people said. SpaceX is seeking to raise as much as $75 billion, people familiar with the matter have said, which would make it the biggest IPO of all time. -BBG
The May 21 SpaceX S-1 filing revealed that Elon Musk’s space company is much more than a reusable-rocket and satellite-internet company. It now encompasses AI services, infrastructure, orbital data centers, and a claimed $28.5 trillion total addressable market. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the IPO is set to price on June 11, with a June 12 debut. The stock is expected to list on Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas under the t icker “SPCX.” Polymarket bets show a 90% chance that SpaceX’s market capitalization will be $1.8 trillion on the IPO date.

PCR doesn’t like Trump OR Putin. But Americans and Russians do, respectively.

• How Much Longer Will Russians Tolerate Putin-the-Pusillanimous? (PCR)

The Russians have paid with lives of soldiers and civilians and with sanctions and internet disruptions and airport closings and with humiliations for a conflict that has gone nowhere in 5 years. What is Putin’s purpose in creating a never-ending and ever-widening conflict that now takes place all over Russia with school children killed, oil facilities destroyed, airports disrupted. Air strikes on Russia now take place through NATO countries, and the war is widening with Europe preparing for war with Russia in three years.

Whatever Putin’s purpose it does not generate a picture of a great power. Indeed, Putin and Peskov and Kirill Dmitriev have made the Kremlin look like a wimp. In his latest denial that a decision has been made to finally use sufficient force to conclude the conflict in victory, Peskov at Putin’s direction declared: “We generally prefer to achieve our goals peacefully, by diplomatic means.” This is the Kremlin’s admission that Russians are dying for “diplomatic means.” Peskov added that Putin is looking forward to a new round of talks with Trump’s Jewish messengers, Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner. “As soon as they are ready, we will be glad to see them and we, indeed, wait for their arrival.”
The purpose of Peskov demonstrating the Kremlin’s subservience to Trump was to shutdown Foreign Minister Lavrov who had told US Secretary of State Rubio that the Kremlin had finally decided to get the conflict over with. Not so Peskov declared. Apparently, winning a war is not Russia’s way. It seems that yet again Putin-the-Pusillanimous will do nothing that upsets Trump and, therefore, that the pointless conflict that achieves only casualties while it widens into a general European war will continue.

PCR is not a fan.

• Has President Trump Committed High Treason? (Paul Craig Roberts)

Let’s examine the case.In the oath of office taken in the swearing in of a president, the about-to-be-president swears allegiance to the U.S. Constitution and promises to defend it against enemies at home and abroad. In other words, enemies of the Constitution are enemies of the United States. (Today the Constitution’s enemies includes university law schools in the United States.) If you asked what is the United States, some would say it is an idea; others would say it is a geographical territory. But these definitions apply to all countries and thus define none. The correct answer is that the United States is the Constitution.

The Constitution defines the form of government, the powers of the various branches, the distribution of powers between state governments and the federal government, the rights of citizens and the protection of those rights, and it defines the process of changing the Constitution, that is, of changing the United States. Without the Constitution the United States would be a different country. It is not an election that makes a person the president. It is the person’s vow to defend the United States by defending the Constitution. If an elected president refused the vow at the swearing in ceremony, he could not be confirmed in office as president. When a president-to-be swears an oath to the Constitution he swears an oath to the United States.
The most important parts of the Constitution are the Amendments, the Bill of Rights that had to be incorporated into the Constitution in order to gain its acceptance by all of the founding states. The Bill of Rights protects the citizens from government limiting their rights and committing violence or retribution against them for actions protected by the Constitution. The principle right is free speech. It is the First Amendment, because without free speech it is impossible for citizens to hold government accountable for violation of the other protections from, and limits on, government power. Trump’s affinity for Zionist Israel has led him into an act that violates his oath of office and possibly caused him to commit high treason against the United States.
Trump has created by executive order what in effect is a Sedition Act for Israel that prohibits United States citizens from using their First Amendment right to criticize Israel for the genocide of Palestine, the rape and torture of Palestinian prisoners, the destruction of Palestinian homes, villages, and olive groves by Israeli settlers who blatantly steal Palestinian land, assassinations of foreign leaders, undue influence over the U.S. legislative and executive branches, state governments, media, finance, and education, and wars of aggression against Middle Eastern countries. U.S. critics of Israel are not even permitted to complain about the Jewish Anti-defamation League’s slander, libel and defamation of them. For an American to complain of being defamed by Zionists is to risk punishment for anti-semitism.
To state it plainly, Trump and his acting attorney general have given priority to protecting Israel, a foreign government, over the First Amendment rights of U.S. citizens. Clearly, this means that Trump and his accommodating acting attorney general are serving a foreign interest by suspending without any right or authority to do so, the First Amendment rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the U.S. Constitution. This puts Trump at odds with his vow to protect the U.S. Constitution and invalidates his swearing-in as president of the United States. Trump has issued an edict that his obliging attorney general has accepted that subordinates the U.S. Constitution to Israel.
On May 19, the acting Attorney General of the United States issued this statement: “President Trump has made clear that this administration will not tolerate antisemitism [defined as any criticism of Israel and Jews], and the Department of Justice is committed to implement that directive. This national tour is an important step in ensuring communities across the country know the federal government stands ready to work with them to confront antisemitic threats, protect public safety, and uphold civil rights.”
Notice that according to Trump’s attorney general “upholding civil rights” means deep-sixing the First Amendment that protects U. S. Citizens’ free speach rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. As Trump and his attorney general have come out against the First Amendment, they have come out against the US Constiution and, thereby, against the United States. In other words, both seem to be guilty of high treason. For Trump and his attorney general to rule for Israel against American citizen’s First Amendment rights and the US Constitution that protects these rights calls into question who Trump and his attorney general represent.
It seems certain the President Trump’s willingness to sacrifice the U.S. Constitution to protecting Israel from words of criticism indicates that he has committed high treason in order to serve foreign interests, which would seem to make Trump an enemy of the U.S. Constitution and thereby an enemy of the United States. f my reasoning is correct, why shouldn’t President Trump be arrested and put on trial for high treason against the United States?Why did not Trump’s acting attorney general, who happens to be Trump’s personal defense attorney, warn Trump that he was stepping onto treasonous ground? Is a person who aids and abets the president in the possible commission of high treason fit to be attorney general of the United States?

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration, associate editor and columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Business Week’s first outside columnist, columnist for the Scripps Howard News Service, contributor to the editorial page of the Los Angeles Times, and columnist for the main French and Italian newspapers, and for Creators Syndicate in Los Angeles. He served in numerous academic appointments in US universities and was appointed to the William E. Simon Chair for Political Economy at Georgetown University’s Center for Strategic and International Studies where his colleagues were Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, James R. Schlesinger (one of his former professors), and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Thomas Moorer. His article, “How the Law Was Lost,” was published in the January 1999 Cardozo Law Review.

The CIA sent $40 million in gold bars (303 bars) to his home. Let that sink in well. WTF?

“This story is not going away. The scale of the grift is spectacular and vivid — 303 gold bars! — like a Hollywood movie. Rush’s explanation of “work-related expenses” sounds preposterous.”

“The case has stunned national security observers and raised serious questions about the federal government’s security clearance and vetting systems. —Newsmax

• Like a Naked Emperor (James Howard Kunstler)

In the annals of Deep State WTF-ery, is there a stranger case than CIA officer David Rush turning up with $40-million in 303 one-kilogram gold bars, plus $2-million in cash, plus a stash of 30 mostly Rolex watches? Well, yeah, the stranger story is how the guy got hired by the CIA in the first place. Rush was arrested on Monday, May 18, by an FBI SWAT team at his home in Loudoun County, VA. Agents searched the house all day long and found the stash. Rush is currently charged with theft of public money and allegedly falsifying his military and academic credentials to obtain federal employment benefits, including roughly $77,000 in improper military leave pay. He’s scheduled to make a federal court appearance in Alexandria today.

Rush first applied for a job at the CIA in March 2006. He claimed to have a bachelor’s degree in math from Clemson University and a master’s from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). He was rejected. He reapplied later that same year. Bumped again. He reapplied again in 2009, adding a new credential: that he’d been a US Navy test pilot and flight trainer. This time, he was hired.
Rush’s college credentials were found to be false, but it is unclear when that was discovered. Since he included them in his two earlier 2006 failed applications, why were they not flagged in his successful 2009 application? His claim of being a US Navy pilot was also found to be false (he was an information systems tech in his Navy service). The FBI affidavit unsealed recently details the pattern of lies across all applications.
Understand that CIA vetting procedures are supposed to be exceedingly rigorous. The process is stressful and invasive — many candidates drop out or are weeded out. The background check involves interviews with practically everybody who knows the applicant going back decades, his criminal history, work, financial history, education, military service. The applicant gets a polygraph exam. Even after getting hired, monitoring continues.
Rush was hired at the very start of the Obama admin; Leon Panetta was the newly appointed CIA Director. Wouldn’t you like to hear him ‘splain how David Rush managed to get hired? Was somebody smoothing his way in? Rush rose to become a senior executive service (SES) officer with a top-secret (TS/SCI) security clearance. His exact duties, the division he worked for, his day-to-day responsibilities have not been disclosed.
Rush allegedly requested the gold and foreign currency from the CIA for “work-related expenses” between November 2025 and March 2026. The agency later could not account for the assets or locate records explaining their official purpose. A search of a storage locker at CIA connected to Rush turned up only a small amount of the requisitioned cash.
“There is a whole process that we go through to get that money. I don’t just walk into the logistics office and say ‘Excuse me, I need $100,000 tomorrow.’ There is a form I have to fill out. It’s not a bank vault you walk into. It doesn’t work like that.” — Tracy Walder, 46, a former FBI special agent and CIA officer, quoted in The New York Post.
Wouldn’t you assume that some higher-up CIA officer would have to sign off on such a colossal requisition of gold and money? (And where does the CIA get so much gold on-demand?) Perhaps the very Director of the CIA approved it — which would be John Ratcliffe through 2025 up to right now. Doesn’t he have some ‘splainin’ to do? (Was Rush set-up? Was this a sting?)
Assuming Rush spent some period of time as an entry-level CIA employee, when did his rise to SES level happen? John Brennan became CIA Director in early 2013 (the start of Barack Obama’s second term). What were David Rush’s relations with John Brennan? Was Brennan his mentor? Does the gold stash have any connection with the current legal problems of John Brennan and other former high officials involved in the long-running “grand conspiracy” case about the attempted overthrow of a president?
You might imagine that Rush’s phone and computers were seized in the May 18th raid on his house — though it’s unlikely he used such conventional channels for black ops chatter. It’s conceivable, though, that any alt-communications of his were captured by the vast national security surveillance apparatus, and that DNI Tulsi Gabbard might have come across them this past year. How else might Director Ratcliffe have been tipped off?
This story is not going away. The scale of the grift is spectacular and vivid — 303 gold bars! — like a Hollywood movie. Rush’s explanation of “work-related expenses” sounds preposterous. If the requisitions were made serially, over several months, as appears, then the agency had more than one opportunity to review and question them.
Rush faked his entire back-story. How incompetent (or corrupt) are the agency’s past managers that he got away with it for so long? How many other gross fakers, rogues, grifters, and tools are embedded in the agency, and who are they really working for? The institutional embarrassment is monumental. Trust in the so-called Intel Community is at an all-time low. Indictments and trials are coming. This is the Deep State on parade like a naked emperor.

“I do not sentence you for your political views, but the extremity of those views informs the assessment of dangerousness.”

• British Ofcom Probes Trump Interview Calling Climate Change a “Hoax” (Turley)

I have been writing about the decline of free speech in the United Kingdom for years, including in my book The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage. One of the most critical components of the British censorship system is Ofcom, the Office of Communications, which regulates the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications, and postal industries. The most recent controversy is detailed in the Telegraph, with Ofcom investigating GB News over the simple replaying of a Trump interview in which he called climate change a “hoax.” Ofcom is investigating GB News for failing to challenge Trump’s characterization, even though many people share his views on climate change.

It is a breathtaking demonstration of the censorship culture in the United Kingdom. World leaders make controversial statements in every interview. A free press allows the public to hear such viewpoints and reach their own conclusions on the merits of such arguments or policies. The debate over the climate change data continues to rage. The dates for dire predictions for massive environmental disasters, including those of Al Gore, have passed. Professor Guy McPherson received widespread press attention for his 2016 prediction that the entire human race would be wiped out by 2026. It appears that he is wrong.
Al Gore received the 2007 Peace Prize for his film The Inconvenient Truth as media, academic, and government censors attacked anyone questioning his data. His apocalyptic predictions have not borne out, and recent scientific papers have rejected the predictions found in the underlying studies. Gore predicted more frequent and stronger hurricanes, but some insist that global data reveal a slight decline in both frequency and intensity. Others argue that the number may be decreasing but the intensity is increasing. We have not seen the type of global hurricane disaster that Gore described in the movie. Critics point to NASA data to argue that the areas burned by wildfires have fallen by more than 25 percent over the past quarter of a century.
While the global population quadrupled in the last century, deaths from climate-related disasters have plummeted from the 1920s, when an average of nearly half a million people died annually from such events. Even the film’s famous use of polar bears has not panned out. Polar bear populations have more than doubled from around 12,000 in the 1960s to over 26,000 today. While some have contested those figures, it has certainly not resulted in the wipeout predicted by Gore. I believe that climate change is real, and there are other signs of more severe climate events, including flooding, that present real dangers for various countries. The point is not to say that it is all a hoax, but that reasonable people can disagree on this question.
That brings us back to the British censors. In the last two decades, free speech protections in the U.K. have been eviscerated and the government is doubling down on the criminalization of speech. The criminalization of speech has expanded exponentially as individuals and groups call the police to silence those who criticize them or advocate opposing views. bEven silent prayer or “toxic ideologies” can lead to arrest. Expressing concerns over Western cultural values is now treated as an admission of “right-wing ideology,” warranting investigation. A few years ago, a neo-Nazi living with his mother was found to have a room filled with hateful symbols and material.
Judge Peter Lodder dismissed free speech concerns over the defendant’s possessions with a truly Orwellian flourish: “I do not sentence you for your political views, but the extremity of those views informs the assessment of dangerousness.” Calling the defendant “a right-wing extremist,” Mr. Lodder said the contents of his room were evidence of “enthusiasm for this repulsive and toxic ideology.” The British people have become conditioned to censorship as different groups seek to silence those who express opposing viewpoints. The result is one of the most speech-phobic nations on Earth as offices like Ofcom fuel the fear of free speech.

It’s falling apart so he saves it.

• Judge Orders Trump’s Name to Be Removed From Kennedy Center (Sarah Anderson)

In today’s chapter of the never-ending lawfare against Donald Trump and the activist judiciary that loves to entertain it, we have some rulings from a federal judge on the changes made to the Kennedy Center. Just to recap, when Trump took office in 2025, he cleaned up the Kennedy Center board of trustees, appointing a more MAGA-friendly group of people who ultimately voted to rebrand it as the Trump-Kennedy Center. The goal was to honor the president and clean up a D.C. institution that had long been neglected and mismanaged by Democrats and allowed to go extremely woke, whether it was the progressive programming that appealed to only a small segment of the population or the overuse of pronouns in staff emails.

So Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) and a bunch of left-wing activists got all upset over it and sued, asking a judge to keep the original name: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Here’s more on that from Beatty’s attorney: “Can the Board of the Kennedy Center — in direct contradiction of the governing statutes — rename this sacred memorial to John F. Kennedy after President Donald J. Trump? The answer is, unequivocally, ‘no.’ By renaming the Center — in violation of the law — Defendants have breached the terms of the trust and their most basic fiduciary obligations as trustees. Shortly after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Congress designated the Kennedy Center as the ‘sole national memorial to the late’ President in the nation’s capital.
The White House responded: “While the Democrats neglected the Trump-Kennedy Center for years, President Trump immediately stepped up to rescue and revitalize the institution. The newly named Trump-Kennedy Center proudly recognizes President Trump’s incredible contributions including strengthening its finances, leading major building upgrades, removing divisive woke programming and transforming it into a welcoming destination that everyone can enjoy under his leadership. Only deranged Democrats could oppose these efforts.
And today, Barack Obama-appointed judge Christopher R. Cooper responded, claiming the board’s decision to add Trump’s name was unlawful and ordered that it must be removed from the website and the building. He also blocked the Trump administration’s plans to close the center for two years for repairs beginning this summer.
On the name change, Cooper essentially said that Congress named it after JFK in 1964, and only Congress can change the name now. “The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” he wrote in his 94-page decision. The Trump administration has 14 days to make the changes. Funny, I thought the left was all about tearing down old statues… His declarations on the repairs are a little murkier. He called the board’s vote an “ill-informed and seemingly preordained decision.” Here’s more from Cooper:
“The trustees might have assessed the propriety of closure in a number of prudent ways. This was not one. However, the preliminary injunction will not prevent the Center from moving forward with the capital repair work it has planned, which the record demonstrates is sorely needed. Nor will it categorically prohibit the Board from closing the Center should it come to this decision anew after independently balancing its multiple obligations to the Center in a prudent fashion. ”
So essentially, he’s admitting that the place is falling apart and needs repairs, but you can’t close it to make them if that’s what Trump and his board want? How transparent can you be? Look, I couldn’t care less about the Kennedy Center or Trump-Kennedy Center or whatever you want to call it. Going to some show at an overly politicized elite playground in Washington, D.C., is not my idea of a good time. But this is getting tedious. I’m sick of these people wasting our tax dollars because they don’t like the president. And I’m especially sick of activist judges who refuse to do their actual jobs.

PRESIDENT TRUMP via Truth Social:– “Shockingly, a Judge appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, Christopher Cooper, ruled that The Kennedy Center, which was going to close in early July for largescale renovations and construction due to years of neglect, decay, and poor maintenance, and which was to be transformed by the Trump Administration into the Finest Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World, is not allowed to close for these renovations, which would not be possible to properly do without such a closure. Additionally, Judge Cooper ruled that the 36 Member Board of Trustees, which unanimously voted to add the name “TRUMP” onto the former Kennedy Center, making it The Trump Kennedy Center, did not have the right to do such an addition, and the name, “TRUMP,” must be removed.”
“The Kennedy Center has lost, over the years, prior to our getting involved a short while ago, Hundreds of Millions of Dollars — In some cases, including ridiculous construction jobs that were done, over 100 Million Dollars a year. I took great pride in taking over a losing Institution, and looked forward to making it into a Great and Prestigious WINNER for Washington, D.C., and indeed, the United States of America. Unfortunately, Judge Cooper and the Radical Left would rather see it DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone could be proud of, much as I have done, in many cases, throughout my life, and recently, with all of the construction, renovations, and “fix ups” that we have completed with the Department of Interior on Waterfalls, Fountains, Monuments, and other things of Beauty that we have brought back to life in a now SAFE AND SECURE, after Record Setting Crime, Washington, D.C., which is thriving like, perhaps, never before!
Therefore, based on the fact that the Radical Left Democrats care more about opposing your favorite President, ME, than saving a dying Performing Arts Center, almost all of which lose large amounts of money throughout the Country, we are going to be working with Congress to transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it. Judge Cooper was given a presentation by leading Building and Construction Experts as to how structurally dangerous the Building is, with rotting beams, parking areas that are subject to collapse, and various other Life and Safety problems, in addition to the fact that it also needs a MAJOR renovation, from an aesthetic standpoint, but he was not “swayed,” and said he wants the Building to, incredibly, remain open and, therefore, dangerous.
Judge Cooper should be ashamed of himself! I cannot be involved with a situation where danger to the Public is allowed to flourish in plain and open sight. Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into “NEVER NEVER LAND.” There has never been a President of the United States who has been treated so unfairly by the Courts as I but, that’s OK, I will continue to do, what is considered to be, a great job for the wonderful people of our Country. I have instructed the Department of Commerce to make all necessary arrangements with Congress to allow a full and complete transfer of this Institution, giving them the responsibility for its Operation, Maintenance, and Management. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
~ President DONALD J. TRUMP

I doubt this is true.

• US Government Prepares To Print $250 Note Featuring Trump’s Face (BBC)

US President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to print a new $250 bill that could feature a portrait of him, if lawmakers allow the move. Federal law bars printing US money with the image of a living person, but Trump allies in Congress have introduced legislation that would make an exception. A Treasury Department spokesperson told the BBC the agency “is conducting appropriate planning and due diligence” in response to the legislation. The lawmakers behind it said the bill amount would symbolise the country’s 250th anniversary this year. If approved, it will be the latest example by Trump and his allies to put his face, name, and likeness on national institutions and symbols.

Artistic concepts of the $250 bill have not been publicly released but designs have been requested by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), a sub-agency of the Treasury that develops and produces US currency. The Washington Post first reported the Treasury Department’s plans. “Should this legislative mandate be signed into law, the BEP is moving proactively to produce a $250 commemorative note which will appropriately recognize the 250th Anniversary of our great nation,” the Treasury spokesperson said in a statement.

Trump’s signature is already set to appear on US paper notes as part of the nation’s semiquincentennial celebrations. The new legislation was introduced last year by US House Representative Joe Wilson, a Republican from South Carolina. It would need approval from both the US House and Senate. When asked about a possible new bill during a White House briefing on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said “it’s all in the hands” of Congress and that, while his department was preparing in case the legislation passes, the Treasury would follow the law. He also said he did not “think there’s anything untoward” about having an image of the person in office during the country’s 250th anniversary on a bill marking the anniversary.
The move to create the $250 note could also break with a different federal law that specifies the denominations that can be produced. That law doesn’t include $250. US Senator Mark Warner, who sits on the Senate’s Committee on Banking, criticised the plans. “As Americans struggle with the rising cost of gas, groceries, housing, and health care, President Trump’s priorities for taxpayer dollars are completely detached from the challenges families face every day,” Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, said in a statement. “If this White House put even half as much energy into working to lower costs as it does into stoking the president’s ego, American families wouldn’t need that new $250 bill just to fill up their gas tanks.”
The $100 bill, featuring Benjamin Franklin, one of the US founding fathers, is the largest bill printed today. The US has previously issued larger notes including $500, $1000 and $10,000 notes but these were discontinued in 1969. They remain legal tender but not in circulation, as they are largely kept by private currency collectors. New currency notes typically take years to develop and involve a range of agencies including the Federal Reserve Board and the US Secret Service. The designs are also held in secret.
“Note designs are typically made public six to eight months ahead of time for global public education and cash handler education purposes,” according to the BEP. “To do so earlier would aid counterfeiters and cause confusion in the marketplace, lowering confidence in U.S. currency.” It is unclear if the notes could be printed in time for the 250th anniversary on 4 July. Since taking office last year, Trump and his allies have worked to put his face, name, and likeness on public buildings and US symbols. The Kennedy Center was renamed to include Trump’s name, and his portrait will feature on US passports. The presidential jet Air Force One is also being repainted in Trump’s preferred colours.

https://twitter.com/MJTruthUltra/status/2060166920947585341?s=20

Jensen Huang admitted that he missed Anthropic, and today it just closed at a $965 billion valuation (Save this).

As Jensen put it, he didn't deeply internalize how difficult it would be to build a foundation AI lab like Anthropic.

He assumed they could just raise from VCs like… https://t.co/bfoSfCerQC pic.twitter.com/IyaLAKg5Df
— Milk Road AI (@MilkRoadAI) May 28, 2026

https://twitter.com/AmericaPartyX/status/2060119297989726336?s=20 https://twitter.com/Bubblebathgirl/status/2059855993396138399?s=20 Hear her out: Quantum entanglement

Joe Rogan speechless after learning from NASA astrophysicist Michelle Thaller that aliens use “Quantum Entanglement” to travel instantaneously:

THALLER: “I don’t want your listeners to think I’m saying something stupid.”

ROGAN: “It’s not stupid. Quantum entanglement just means… pic.twitter.com/0DYaVGQhsO
— Joe Rogan Recaps (@JoeRoganRecaps) May 28, 2026

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.