…and on the Sixth Day, while markets crashed, families grieved, and thousands protested, he went golfing.
Happy Sunday.
The NYT’s Maggie Haberman says that Donald Trump — since he is evidently all out of f**ks to give — is no longer concerned about “certain optics.”
I’m skeptical that a man whose entire worldview revolves around optics no longer cares about them. But it’s true that Saturday’s optics could not have been worse.
It wasn’t just the markets. Trump skipped the dignified transfer of the remains of four American soldiers. After the men were killed in a training exercise, thousands of Lithuanians lined the streets to honor their sacrifice. On Saturday, the soldiers were returned home for the ceremony at Dover Air Base. Instead of attending (as past presidents have done)1 Trump sent Pete Hegseth, announcing that he “will not travel back for the transfer and remain at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., where he is playing golf and later will hold a political fundraising dinner.”
The split screens were brutal.
Amid tragedy, grief, anxiety, and crisis, Trump played golf. On one of this own courses. With his Saudi buddies. And as the world wrestled with a global economic meltdown, the president of the United States bragged that he had “won” the tournament.
Haberman suggests that he just didn’t care. “He’s made very clear during this presidency, he’s going to do what he wants,” she explained.2
Meanwhile, Americans took to the streets….
Once again, we ought to remind ourselves that we are not the crazy ones.
By now it should be clear that we cannot count on traditional outlets — including the corporate media — to stand athwart this madness and shout “Stop.”
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On today’s “To the Contrary” Podcast, I’m joined by NYT columnist David French to talk about tariffs, group chats, cowardly lawyers, and fake Christians. Watch on YouTube / Listen (and subscribe) on Apple/ Spotify / iHeart / RSS Feed.
Some highlights of our conversation:
The Signal scandal and the stock market crash.
The military purges.
Trump’s dive into junk economics.
Trump’s tariff power play.
For an even deeper dive, here are some of David’s recent columns: {Gift Links]
Green Shoots. Maybe.
Florida, Wisconsin, Corey Booker, mass protests. And, believe it or not, the lawyers. Or at least some of them: “Over 500 law firms sign brief backing Perkins Coie suit against Trump” - ABC News
"The looming threat posed by the Executive Order at issue in this case and the others like it is not lost on anyone practicing law in this country today: any controversial representation challenging actions of the current administration (or even causes it disfavors) now brings with it the risk of devastating retaliation," the firms said in the brief.
"Whatever short-term advantage an administration may gain from exercising power in this way, the rule of law cannot long endure in the climate of fear that such actions create," they added.
The bad news?
Kirkland and Ellis, the largest U.S. law firm by revenue, is not on the list, though the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday it is in talks with the White House to avoid being targeted. Neither is Latham and Watkins, the second largest firm by revenue, or any of the other top 10 firms by revenue rankings.
MAGA Tries to Cope With the Meltdown
Well, here’s a helluva of talking point from Trump lickspittle Benny Johnson3:
“Losing money means nothing,” he insisted. “Digital ones and zeroes. In the end, you won’t miss any of it.”
Exit take:
Exactly.
Your Sunday dog
Auggie watched “The Maltese Falcon” with us last night. He prefers musicals. And movies with dogs.
Haberman suggested that this explains his reaction to the blowback on tariffs.
He is not messaging this in a way that suggests that he understands what average people might be going through right now. And part of what it is is he is convinced he is right, he is going to show people he is correct, he has believed in terrorists for 40 years, he wanted to do this last time and he was stymied by a bunch of advisors who were much more pro-free trade. And now he’s gonna do what he’s going to do.
This Benny Johnson: “These Are the Conservative Commentators Who Allegedly Got Hoodwinked (and Indirectly Paid!) by Russia - Washingtonian”
Benny Johnson: Once DC-based and now apparently living in Florida, Johnson, who BuzzFeed fired for plagiarism ten years ago, has become a wildly popular conservative influencer. Curiously, he calls the indictment “leaked” (you can actually read the whole thing on DOJ’s website) and wrote on X that “We are disturbed by the allegations in today’s indictment, which make clear that myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme. My lawyers will handle anyone who states or suggests otherwise.”
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