The Conversation -- Ides of May 2025
⭐QUID. PRO. QUO. ... I want to thank you and the Prime Minister and everybody else for the help you've given us, and in turn we'll do things for you that I think you'd be very, very happy about.... -- Donald Trump, to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim and other Qatari leaders, Wednesday
Here are the New York Times' live updates of developments in Donald Trump's grift and graft tour of three Middle Eastern countries.
⭐Retired Appeals Court Judge J. Michael Luttig, in the Atlantic, writes a remarkably strong condemnation of Donald Trump's attack on the Constitution and the rule of law. Luttig, a conservative Bush I appointee, covers many of Trump's outrageous usurpations of power and concludes, 'After these first three tyrannical, lawless months of this presidency, surely Americans can understand now that Donald Trump is going to continue to decimate America for the next three-plus years. He will continue his assault on America, its democracy, and rule of law until the American people finally rise up and say, 'No more.'” I hope you'll find the time to read this essay, if not today, then later. Thank you to laura h. for this gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)
Ismaeel Naar & Enjoli Liston of the New York Times: Donald “Trump met the leader of Syria on Wednesday, one day after announcing a plan to lift sanctions on that country — a move that could ease the economic stranglehold on a nation battered by civil war and sectarian strife. It was the first time in 25 years that the two countries’ leaders had met, and another milestone in Syria’s bid to reintegrate itself into the international community after decades of isolation. The two men spoke for about half an hour just before a summit of Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia, a White House official said.... Mr. Trump met [Ahmed] al-Shara at the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, who took part in the meeting. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, which backed the insurgency that brought Mr. al-Shara to power, joined by phone.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Joshua Kaplan, et al., of ProPublica: "Since Trump’s inauguration, the State Department has intervened on behalf of [Elon Musk's satellite Internet company] Starlink in Gambia and at least four other developing nations, previously unreported records and interviews show. As the Trump administration has gutted foreign aid, U.S. diplomats have pressed governments to fast-track licenses for Starlink and arranged conversations between company employees and foreign leaders. In cables, U.S. officials have said that for their foreign counterparts, helping Starlink is a chance to prove their commitment to good relations with the U.S. In one country last month, the U.S. embassy bragged that Starlink’s license was approved despite concerns it wasn’t abiding by rules that its competitors had to follow.... [In the past, w]When seeking deals for U.S. companies, they said they took care to avoid the appearance of conflicts or leaving the impression that punitive measures were on the table. Ten current and former State Department officials said the recent drive was an alarming departure from standard diplomatic practice — because of both the tactics used and the person who would benefit most from them."
More DOGE Stupid. William K. Reilly, EPA Administrator for George H.W. Bush, in a Washington Post op-ed: “The Trump Environmental Protection Agency has made clear its hostility to initiatives animated by concern about climate change. But the Energy Star program, targeted for elimination last week, is not and never has been about climate. I was there at the creation. The EPA created Energy Star in 1992 as a public-private partnership to provide builders, owners and renters with reliable information about the energy demand associated with their buildings, homes and appliances.... The program costs $32 million in annual federal outlays to administer but has saved consumers $200 billion in utility bills since 1992 — $14 billion in 2024 alone. The averted air pollution, which was the EPA’s initial objective, has been considerable, equivalent to the emissions of hundreds of thousands of cars removed from the road.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Even More DOGE Stupid. Arthur Delaney of the Huffington Post: “The Social Security Administration on Wednesday asked its employees to work hard to clear a backlog of retirement claims after the agency pushed out thousands of workers earlier this year. In an internal memo to operations employees..., a Social Security official said the agency has received more retirement claims than in any previous year, thanks in part to the ongoing retirement of baby boomers. The backlog has grown to 575,000 pending retirement claims, with more than 140,000 of those pending for more than 60 days.... 'I am calling for all offices to do their very best to increase their ... clearances by at least 10 percent daily through the end of May,' [Deputy Commissioner Stephen] Evangelista wrote. The call for Social Security’s more than 50,000 employees to work harder comes just weeks after the agency trumpeted its efforts to shed staff as part of ... Donald Trump’s [MB: and Elon Musk's] mission to make the government more efficient.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Hmmm. Will these Social Security employees get overtime pay for working ten percent longer? If so, how much taxpayer money are the staff cuts likely to save?
Robert Faturechi & Brandon Roberts of ProPublica: “Attorney General Pam Bondi sold between $1 million and $5 million worth of shares of Trump Media the same day that ... Donald Trump unveiled bruising new tariffs that caused the stock market to plummet, according to records obtained Wednesday by ProPublica. Trump Media, which runs the social media platform Truth Social, fell 13% in the following days, before rebounding. Trump’s 'Liberation Day' press conference from the White House Rose Garden unveiling the tariffs came after the market closed on April 2. Bondi’s disclosure forms showing her Trump Media sales say the transactions were made on April 2 but do not disclose whether they occurred before or after the market closed.... As part of her ethics agreement, Bondi had pledged to sell her stake of Trump Media within 90 days of her confirmation, a deadline that would have allowed her until early May to sell the shares.”
Marie: A few days ago, I opined that Kristi Noem should be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer Congressmembers' questions. Well, Wednesday she took it to a whole new level when Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) asked her about that Photoshopped picture of Kilmar Albrego-Garcia's hand (a photo that Dumbo Trump touted on social media and teevee as proof that Albrego-Garcia was a member of MS-13): ~~~
Zach Montague of the New York Times: “A judge in Virginia on Wednesday ordered the immediate release of Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University who was arrested in March, after two months of detention in an immigration facility in Texas. The order, issued from the bench by Judge Patricia Giles of the Eastern District of Virginia, came as courts around the country have been forced to navigate a sea of legal challenges caused by the Trump administration’s campaign to remove scores of foreign academics from the United States. Judge Giles ordered that Mr. Suri be released without bond and imposed minimal conditions beyond requiring him to continue attending court proceedings. Mr. Suri was among several individuals legally studying in the United States, including Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi, Rumeysa Ozturk and Momodou Taal, whom the Trump administration targeted for their pro-Palestinian activism, raising profound legal questions about freedom of expression.... In a statement in April, Mr. Suri said he had 'never even been to a protest' and the petition for his release filed by his lawyers suggested that he was more likely targeted because of his marriage to a U.S. citizen of Palestinian descent who has been scrutinized by conservative outlets over her family’s ties to Hamas.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Ellen Barry of the New York Times: “The Trump administration announced criminal smuggling charges on Wednesday against Kseniia Petrova, a Harvard scientist who was detained three months ago after failing to declare scientific samples she was carrying in her luggage. In a hearing in federal district court earlier in the day, a government lawyer told a federal judge that the Trump administration intends to deport Ms. Petrova back to Russia, a country she fled in 2022, despite her fear that she will be arrested there over her history of political protest. The moves represent an escalation in the government’s case against Ms. Petrova, which in recent weeks has drawn attention from scientists and academics around the world. And it brought the government into conflict with the federal judge in Vermont, which scheduled a bail hearing for Ms. Petrova later this month, apparently setting the stage for her release.... Ms. Petrova’s attorney, Gregory Romanovsky..., said the Vermont hearing had established that Ms. Petrova was detained unlawfully.... He said ... the criminal charge ... '... is clearly intended to make Kseniia look like a criminal to justify their efforts to deport her.'” The Hill's story is here.
Maggie Haberman & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: “Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, is moving the assembly of the president’s daily intelligence brief from the C.I.A. headquarters to her own complex, according to officials briefed on the move. The brief, a summary of intelligence and analysis about global hot spots and national security threats, is overseen and presented to the president by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. But C.I.A. officers write much of the analysis in the document and produce it, pulling together articles and graphics on the agency’s classified computer systems.... [Donald] Trump has openly mused to aides over time about whether the office she leads — which was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks ... — should continue to exist.... Ms. Gabbard has discussed Mr. Trump’s concerns with him directly and has considered how to overhaul the office....” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ More Trumpy Stupid. Marie: Yesterday I linked to a Hill story which reported, “Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard fired two top officials at the National Intelligence Council.... Gabbard removed the acting head of the council, Mike Collins, as well as his deputy, Maria Langan-Riekhof.... The firings come just days after the council released, through a Freedom of Information Act request, an assessment contradicting Trump administration claims that the Tren de Aragua gang is coordinating with the Venezuelan government.” Former CIA Director John Brennan appeared on MSNBC yesterday and condemned Gabbard for firing Collins & Langan-Riekhof, both of whom worked for him. He said both were 30-year veterans of the CIA and were top-notch career (non-political) analysts. Brennan agreed with Nicole Wallace that over and above the loss of these analysts' skills, the lesson here was that analysts will be fired if their analyses don't reinforce Trumpy policies. That is, career analysts are required to produce useless “analyses” that distort or alter the facts and thus are dangerous to U.S. national security. ~~~
~~~ Update: Absent evidence to justify the firings, the workforce can only conclude that their jobs are contingent on producing analysis that is aligned with the president’s agenda, rather than truthful and apolitical. -- Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), ranking Democrat on the House Intel Committee ~~~
~~~ Steve Benen of MSNBC: “The official line from Gabbard is that she’s combatting the 'politicization' of the intelligence community, a conspiratorial line embraced by partisans who disapprove of the extent to which intelligence agencies have presented evidence the president doesn’t like. Indeed, as the [Washington] Post noted, Gabbard has actually 'removed or sidelined officials perceived to not support Trump’s political agenda.'... Or put another way, if anyone is 'politicizing' U.S. intelligence, it’s Gabbard and her Team Trump colleagues. What’s more, the DNI’s latest purge sends a dangerous signal to intelligence officials throughout the government: Produce reports that make the president happy, regardless of the facts, or you might be next.”
Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary and vaccine skeptic who has used his position to amplify discredited health theories and promote unconventional medical treatments, ducked questions, during a congressional hearing on Wednesday, about whether children should be vaccinated for measles, chickenpox or polio. He said people should not rely on him for medical advice. The issue came up when Representative Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, asked Mr. Kennedy if he would vaccinate his own child for measles. 'For measles? Probably for measles I —' Mr. Kennedy began to answer before stopping himself. 'You know, what I would say is, my opinions about vaccines are irrelevant. 'I don’t want to seem like I’m being evasive, but I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.'... But Mr. Kennedy, who oversees several agencies whose mandate is to give advice and make policy on public health, has repeatedly used his position to weigh in on health topics, including vaccination.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: No, a health secretary -- at least one who is not a doctor or is speaking outside his area of expertise -- should not be conveying his own advice. But he should be disseminating the advice of HHS experts, and RFKJ is not doing that. He's sharing his own crackpot theories and firing legitimate scientists. And in so doing, he's sickening & even killing gullible Americans and their children.
Jan Hoffman of the New York Times: “Overdose deaths in the United States fell by nearly 30,000 last year, the government reported on Wednesday, the strongest sign yet that the country is making progress against one of its deadliest, most intractable public health crises.... Deaths declined in all major categories of drug use, stimulants as well as opioids, dropping in every state but two. Nationwide, drug fatalities plunged nearly 27 percent.... In announcing the new numbers, the C.D.C. praised ... [Donald] Trump, saying in a statement that since he 'declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency in 2017' the government had added more resources to battle the drug problem. But the new data was [were!] released as Mr. Trump’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was testifying on Capitol Hill about the administration’s proposed cuts to many federal health programs, including those addressing the drug crisis.... And despite the progress, drug fatalities remain high.”
Mary Papenfuss of the Independent: "The co-founder of the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream company was arrested Wednesday in a protest at a Senate hearing where he accused Congress of providing bombs that are killing children in Gaza. Ben Cohen was one of seven people arrested at the hearing held by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, according to the Capitol Police. The protest erupted as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr was beginning to testify on the 2026 budget for his department.”
Steven Myers of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has sharply expanded its campaign against experts who track misinformation and other harmful content online, abruptly canceling scores of scientific research grants at universities across the country.... Officials at the Pentagon, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation contend that the research has resulted in the censorship of conservative Americans online, though there is no evidence any of the studies resulted in that. The campaign stems from an executive order that ... [Donald] Trump issued on Jan. 20 vowing to protect the First Amendment right to free speech, but the scale of it has prompted criticism that it is targeting anyone researching misinformation. The intent, the critics have said, is in fact to stifle findings about the noxious content that is increasingly polluting social media and political discourse.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Republicans whining about how misinformation-abatement efforts target "conservatives" is pretty solid evidence that even they know -- at some level -- that right-wing opinions are premised on mis- and disinformation.
Catie Edmondson & Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times: “House Republicans on Wednesday pushed forward with major legislation to deliver ... [Donald] Trump’s domestic agenda, moving over the opposition of Democrats to advance cuts to taxes, Medicaid and food assistance after slogging through all-night and all-day drafting sessions. The votes, in three key committees, were a crucial step for what Mr. Trump has labeled the 'big beautiful bill' that Republicans hope to push through the House by the end of next week. The approvals sent the main pieces of the legislation to the full House, where G.O.P. leaders were racing to pass it before a Memorial Day recess.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Okay, we know that cutting services to advance tax cuts is cruel and irresponsible, but surely Republicans have written a big, beautiful bill that is fiscally responsible and reduces the debt. Right? Well, no. ~~~
~~~ Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: “The Republican tax proposal emerging in the House of Representatives would add more than $2.5 trillion ... — and as much as $3.3 trillion, counting the interest owed on new debt -- ... to the federal deficit over the next decade, according to nonpartisan estimates and budget experts.... The GOP tax bill is structured so that many of its most expensive provisions expire in four years. If those tax cuts are extended — as Republicans intend — the cost of the legislation could rise to $5.2 trillion....” ~~~
~~~ Benjamin Oreskes of the New York Times: “The SALT deduction ... -- the amount of state and local taxes that can be written off on federal tax returns -- ... has become an outsize stumbling block for Republicans trying to pass a $3.8 trillion tax proposal that would extend ... [Donald] Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and roll back subsidies for clean energy, among other things.... A group of Republican House members, mostly from New York, New Jersey and California, have vowed to vote no on the package unless the cap, which helped pay for the 2017 cuts and expires this year, is raised or abolished.” ~~~
~~~ Surprise! Ben Leonard & Meredith Hill of Politico: “The House Energy and Commerce Committee was 16 hours into a nearly 27-hour markup when it became clear that top Republicans on the panel weren’t clear on what key Medicaid provisions in the legislation they were actively debating would actually do. Couple that with confusion from moderates over the committee’s complex and controversial proposal — including language to dramatically overhaul the popular health safety-net program with new work requirements and cost-sharing mandates — and it spells possible troubles ahead for the domestic policy megabill central to enacting ... Donald Trump’s domestic agenda. It could also further complicate last-minute negotiations on final text before the House is set to vote on the full package next week, especially with hard-liners pushing for even deeper cuts. 'There were some items in there that, it was the first time we were hearing of them,' GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who represents a competitive district in Pennsylvania he just flipped red, said in an interview.”
“On Tuesday, Republicans in Congress began work on legislation that would roll back tax credits for low-carbon energy, using rules that ensure the bill could reach ... [Donald] Trump with simple majorities in the House and Senate. Rather than object, the Republican-controlled State Senate in Texas has passed — and the State House is currently considering — several regulatory bills to curtail solar and wind projects in favor of new natural gas plants. Long the party of limited regulation and free markets, Republicans are now seeking to impose new rules on how electricity should be produced.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Victoria Bisset & Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: “The Episcopal Church is ending its refugee resettlement agreement with the federal government rather than comply with a directive to help resettle White South Africans arriving in the United States as refugees, citing its 'steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation.'... The church’s presiding bishop, Sean Rowe, said in a letter that the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, which the church’s resettlement ministry participated in for decades, 'has essentially shut down' since January, with no refugees arriving and hundreds of staff laid off. Then, several weeks ago, the Trump administration told the church that it would be expected to resettle the White Afrikaners under the terms of its federal grant. Rowe said the church wouldn’t do so given the 'highly unusual manner' in which the federal government selected the White South Africans, who received 'preferential treatment over many others who have been waiting in refugee camps or dangerous conditions for years.'” ~~~
Simon Levien of the New York Times: “One of the first white South African refugees to arrive in the United States appears to have made antisemitic comments on social media — grounds the Trump administration has tried to use to deport foreign-born pro-Palestinian activists and deny immigration requests. The refugee, Charl Kleinhaus, 46, said in a statement late on Wednesday that he was not an antisemitic person. He called one social media post a mistake and said that others he shared had been written by others.... Last month, before Mr. Kleinhaus’s arrival in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security said it would begin screening foreigners’ social media for antisemitic content as potential 'grounds for denying immigration benefit requests.' The federal government has targeted several foreigners — including pro-Palestinian international students — for speech that it deems antisemitic.” The Forward's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: That's odd. Christopher Landau, the State Department deputy secretary who greeted the Afrikaners, "said the new arrivals were 'carefully vetted' in South Africa prior to their arrival." P.S. Here's another way the whitey-white refugees got special treatment: according to ABC News, it appears that they are the only refugees who have not had to pay for their travel to the U.S.: "Typically, when a refugee who is resettled in the U.S. cannot afford the cost of travel, the State Department provides the refugee with an interest-free, repayable loan to fund the travel.... Refugees also sign a promissory note guaranteeing they will repay the loan...." Although the State Department won't be straight about the Afrikaners' travel arrangement, it appears State is picking up the tab for these Afrikaners.
Helpful News. Maeghan Tobin & Agnes Chang of the New York Times: “Earlier this month..., [Donald] Trump closed a longstanding loophole that had allowed a flood of inexpensive Chinese goods to be mailed to the United States without any tariffs. Starting on May 2, those packages faced a tariff of 120 percent or a $100 flat fee. After the United States and China agreed this week to a temporary truce in trade tensions, that tariff is now 54 percent. The changes, which took effect on Wednesday, were described in a White House executive order and guidance from Customs and Border Protection.... Last year, nearly four million packages a day entered the United States with no customs inspection and no duties paid, angering American businesses that said the loophole made it difficult for them to compete.... Under the rules for de minimis shipments, carriers of international mail packages can pay either the 54 percent tariff or the fee of $100 per package.... One caveat: Carriers must use the option they choose — either the tariff or the fee — on all packages they ship, and can elect to change only once a month.... It is likely that much of the extra cost resulting from the new tariffs will fall on shoppers. The tariffs on these shipments are also disrupting the economics of global trade.” Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday.)
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Europe. Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: “In a case that could help shape transparency rules in a digital era, a court on Wednesday said the European Union should not have denied a journalist’s request for text messages exchanged as a top official negotiated for coronavirus vaccine access. The case centered on the European Commission’s denial of the request, from a New York Times journalist, for text messages between Ursula von der Leyen, president of the commission, and Pfizer’s chief executive, Dr. Albert Bourla. The two had exchanged the texts in 2021 while striking a deal for Covid-19 vaccines. When the commission refused to provide the messages, The Times in early 2023 brought a case challenging that decision in court. The question at the core of the case was whether Ms. von der Leyen’s text messages were covered by E.U. transparency laws and should have potentially been released.... It remains unclear whether the messages still exist or whether they have been deleted. The General Court in Luxembourg ruled that the commission did not provide enough explanation in refusing the request.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Israel/Palestine. Aaron Boxerman & Abu Bashir of the New York Times: “Israeli strikes killed dozens of Palestinians in northern Gaza overnight, Palestinian health officials said on Wednesday, as Israel threatened to ramp up its military campaign in the enclave despite mounting international pressure. The bodies of more than 50 people killed overnight had arrived at the Indonesian Hospital by noon on Wednesday, according to Marwan Sultan, director of the medical facility in the town of Beit Lahia. He said children were among the dead and that dozens more people had been injured. Gaza’s health ministry also said that about 70 people had been killed on Wednesday, without specifying where. Gaza health officials do not distinguish between combatants and civilians when reporting death tolls. Israel has been threatening a massive escalation across the Gaza Strip in an attempt to force Hamas to surrender and release the remaining hostages it has held for more than 18 months.” (Also linked yesterday.)
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Reader Comments (3)
Dog killer and congenital liar, Kristi Gnome, is an excellent example of what Fat Hitler is doing to this country. She is manifestly unqualified for the job she has, her only qualification being an aggressive and often laughable backing of any lie Fatty spits out.
For Gnome, like the other “law enforcement” joke the Orange Monster has foisted on us, Kash (No Budget) Patel, the job is largely performative.
Dressing up like a super hero in a Marvel movie, cosplaying ICE agent, going full MAGA robot in congressional hearings, refusing to answer simple and direct questions (a Trump specialty), presenting herself as some kind of Old West hard ass because she shot a puppy and a goat, lying through her teeth about bravely facing down Kim Jong Il, whom she has never met, now demanding that she get ANOTHER private jet for her personal use, Noem is the epitome of the classic Trump lackey, ignorant, scheming, not a little delusional, mendacious as can be, narcissistic, greedy, with ambition for personal griftiness, and zero seriousness about her position, it being merely a ticket to more self aggrandizement.
Oh, and about that robot stuff, Gnome is such a brainwashed MAGA loony, she recently went on TV to announce that “You can’t trust the government!”
Note to empty noggin, you ARE the government. Biden is out. You’re supposed to use different talking points now. With Fat Hitler in charge, you have to reset the auto pie hole responses to “We are the bestest and most greatest, governing things ever in history.(click, click, buzzzz)
When a Democrat is in the White House, that’s when you say “(buzzzzz, crackle…) you…. Can’t….trust….the…government….(buzzzzz)”. She’s not even on the level of an AI bot. At least AI creations can mimic human beings.
“Will the Gnome-bot return to base for software upgrade? We have leather pants and super-spy costumes now in house for its use. And a new pistol range with puppy targets.”
Add to all of that the stench of belligerent and somewhat savage sociopathy one gets from all the Fat Hitler appointees.
Just a horrible, nasty person.
‘Member that idea Fatty had about dumping Palestinians out in the desert somewhere so’s he could turn Gaza into his personal luxury playground?
Bibi is taking care of that.
Pretty soon there won’t be any more Palestinians. They’ll all be dead.
One would think that there are few groups more attuned to the horror of genocide than Jews. Guess that only matters to some.
As Marie points out, PoT antipathy to anti-disinformation initiatives is a dead giveaway to their desperate and quotidian reliance on same.
It’s as if someone invented a Truth Pill and offered it to the Traitors.
“Whatever you do, do NOT take one of those pills! Christ! If we started telling the truth, we’d never win another election, not to mention the fact that a whole lot of us would end up behind bars!”