"While Trump may want to be a king, it is still up to us, as Americans, whether we treat him like one..." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/o...
Mondays at 9pmET on MSNBC MaddowBlog.com From Russia with Lev: MSNBC.com/Lev Ultra podcast: MSNBC.com/Ultra Prequel: MSNBC.com/Prequel
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"While Trump may want to be a king, it is still up to us, as Americans, whether we treat him like one..." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/o...
It’s time we all recognized that this is complete nonsense. We have to let go of the idea that he might have some grand strategy in mind. Or a master plan.
He sets up major meetings on a whim, with zero preparation, agency coordination or clear goals. He seems to believe his own hype that he is a master negotiator who alone can get deals done.
We think there must be a method to his madness. The truth is worse. While we (press, analysts, publics) try to figure out his game, he is high on his own supply. Yes, the summit was a distraction from Epstein, but it was also Trump acting on his impulses with all the power of the presidency.
I analyzed and did interviews on Trump’s Putin and European meetings. Discussed all the details and manipulations. Then realized there was a deeper truth: Trump has absolutely no clue what he is doing. joecirincione.substack.com/p/the-idioti...
“on Tuesday, for the second time this year, a Democrat appeared to flip a conservative-leaning district in the Iowa Senate…” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/u...
all federal law enforcement of all kinds — from fbi to dea to hsi to irs to ice to diplomatic security to everything else — deprofessionalized and combined into a single amorphous and untrained federal “police” force for use in the streets. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/u...
Statement from Fed Gov Lisa Cook: “President Trump purported to fire me “for cause” when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so. I will not resign. I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American economy as I have been doing since 2022.”
“refiling her case as a misdemeanor after they were unable to persuade three grand juries over a month to indict her…” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/u...
this point—that this era is not forever and accountability can come in many forms—has for some reason proved bizarrely elusive for democrats
"That's an 11-point increase in respondents who strongly disapprove of the president from the beginning of his term to recent weeks... A 9-point drop in respondents who say they strongly approve..." www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...?
"Twice as many Americans say they strongly disapprove of President Donald Trump's second term than those who strongly approve..." www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...?
"If Trump wants people to stop marveling at his degrading weakness when it comes to the Russian president, he’ll have to start avoiding embarrassing displays like these..." www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
"Honey, I don't have much time. I've been arrested by ICE and they are sending me to a detainment center. I love you and the kids, I will be OK, please call our attorney" -- John Shin, DACA resident, speaking to his wife last week. She hasn't heard from him since www.fox13now.com/news/local-n...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/w...
www.standupforscience.net/fema-katrina...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...
"Music blasted from the White House as Trump tested out a new speaker system for the patio [which used to be the Rose Garden]. Trump can play DJ from his iPad, just like he does at Mar-a-Lago..." www.npr.org/2025/08/23/n...
www.npr.org/2025/08/23/n...
Illinois and Chicago elected leaders worked Sunday preparing plans to counter President Donald Trump’s potential deployment of National Guard members in the city.
"Those who bought into his $Trump memecoin after its launch day lost a lot of money—it is down about 90% from its high on the day he was sworn in. One consolation, of sorts: They would have lost even more in $Melania..." www.wsj.com/finance/inve...
"The House Freedom Caucus isn’t just losing, it’s evaporating..." www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
kutv.com/news/local/u...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
Virginia Giuffre's family: "The content of these transcripts is in direct contradiction with felon Ghislaine Maxwell's conviction for child sex trafficking. During DAG Todd Blanche's bizarre interview, she is never challenged about her court-proven lies, providing her a platform to rewrite history."
yep yep yep.
“He was a good soldier in the MAGA war, but he wasn’t much of a leader. He just did whatever the flavor of the day was in the MAGA world...” www.stltoday.com/news/local/c...
"The Alaska summit had been a public relations jackpot for the Kremlin... "Trump’s diplomacy in the last two weeks -- including the summits in Alaska and DC -- has yet to extract any concessions from Moscow, which has not backed down from its maximalist demands..." www.politico.eu/article/eu-t...
www.politico.com/news/2025/08...
President Donald Trump said the troops are meant to crack down on crime in Washington D.C., and Ohio is one of six states that has so far sent troops. Toledo, Dayton, and Cleveland all had a higher crime rate than D.C. in 2024. via @ohiocapitaljournal.com
The Bolton raid should chill you: my emergency video (full video linked) adamkinzinger.substack.com/p/emergency-...
Yes. Collapsing all fed law enforcement into one undifferentiated, untrained, masked force. "Agents said they worried the changes would transform the FBI from an investigative agency focused on national security into something more akin to a federal police force..." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/u...
The search is aimed at determining whether Bolton illegally possessed or shared classified information, two people familiar with the matter tell Devlin Barrett. Bolton hasn't been in government in six years.
Putin meets alone with Trump. A week later, US intelligence is gutted by Tulsi Gabbard. FBI goes after John Bolton. Had Putin ordered it through Amazon, could not have been more efficient.
"If that means acting like a 'dictator,' so be it..." www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08...
tell me more about conservatives and big government www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
"a large portion of those comments suggested that the marshals direct their crime-fighting efforts toward Congress or the White House..." www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
"The actions add up to an unprecedented attempt by a sitting president to interfere in a critical election before it’s even held, moves that have raised alarms among those concerned about the future of U.S. democracy..." apnews.com/article/trum...
www.votecommongood.com/how-to-prote... more here from the bulwark: www.thebulwark.com/p/exclusive-...
"Crime is lower in D.C. than it is in the Republican-led states these National Guard troops are leaving..." www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
"We sign this declaration in our own personal capacities, on our personal time, and without the use of government equipment, as protected by our First Amendment rights..." www.savehhs.org
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/o...
"People rallied with the doctors, calling for medical professionals to be allowed inside..." www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news...
"Before a photographer could snap pictures, he pulled a copy of 'Mein Kampf' from a bookshelf and turned it around to hide its spine..." “They see right now as a very opportune time. They see a friend in the White House at the highest level...” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/r...
Senator Eckhardt is planning to lead a march out of the Capitol and then she invites everyone to meet tomorrow at 8:30 AM on the south steps
Here outside the House chamber with folks chanting “LET HER OUT!”
Showing the endangered leader of an invaded country my hats
First the terrorist tried to enter campus in a car filled with guns. When he wasn’t allowed past the gates, he started firing from a CVS drugstore across the street. From a semi-automatic weapon, 500 shots is a lot. He was at it for a long time. Here are the weapons & shell casings he left behind.
Trump has made no comment. The White House has found the time to post a video of the arrest of that guy who threw a sandwich at a cop, but nothing about a cop killed defending the government's own employees. Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose district includes parts of Atlanta, has also said nothing.
"Witnesses — including the Post reporter — asked the officers to identify themselves numerous times. All but one, who was wearing the ICE badge, refused. “Oh, are you guys the cops?” one agent, who was wearing a mask, responded. “Then shut the f--- up.” www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
"Noem has also been particular about the service on the Coast Guard planes. In one incident, she and her staff grew irritated when a weighted blanket she often uses on trips was not provided to her, an issue that was “escalated” within the service..." www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
"The whole point of the Jade Helm hysterics was conservatives seeming genuinely afraid of the federal government sending active-duty troops into local American communities — a step that conservatives, at the time, characterized as obvious authoritarianism..." www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
RADDATZ: The president went in to that meeting saying he wanted a ceasefire and there would be consequences if they didn't agree on a ceasefire in that meeting, and they didn't agree to a ceasefire. Where are the consequences? RUBIO: That's not the aim RADDATZ: The president said that was the aim
"The papers included precise times and locations of each meeting, as well as the phone numbers of several administration officials..." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/u...
While masked agents were violently attacking a delivery worker this morning, bystanders repeatedly asked to see their badge numbers but they refused. Bystander: You guys are ruining this country, you know that, right? Agent: Liberals already ruined it.
This guy's a vet and a lawyer who threw a sandwich and offered to turn himself in, so they sent a paramilitary platoon with a camera crew. They have FBI and U.S. Marshal badges; apparently those agencies do no real work beyond camera stunts, harassing minorities, and filling concentration camps.
The #Resistance is international... #AlaskaStandsWithUkraine
this was a very fun podcast co-hosting experience! that said, i’m not totally sure i will ever recover from all the mayonnaise talk…
27 years ago, two years after the introduction of effective HIV treatment, the Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco’s lesbian and gay community newspaper, ran ‘No Obits’ as its headline. It was the first edition not to report an AIDS death in almost 15 years.
Thinning out now. DC police the only ones left, and they're packing up too. Locals mobilized quickly out here, with handwritten signs warning drivers to avoid this block, lined up ready to protest what's happening. People shouting down from apartments too. "You should be fucking ashamed!"
People cheer as some federal agents get in their cars and leave. NY plates on their cars.
Tense scene out here. People booing and shaming unidentified federal law enforcement as they stand in the middle of the street, posted to pull people over for random checks.
Situation on 14th St and W St. NW, with federal agents -- no specific agency identified -- pulling cars over for checks. They arrested a Black woman in this car. BIG crowd of people shouting at police. "Fuck you!" "What is wrong with you!" "You don't need to terrorize people like this!"
www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
Mr President: Tariffs will slow the economy and raise inflation. Come at me bro.
"The demonstrations scheduled for this Saturday, August 16th are branded as 'Fight the Trump Takeover'..." www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...
"The US government under Trump tried to disappear a gay Venezuelan man seeking asylum to a torture prison in El Salvador indefinitely... "A coalition of Americans *didn’t let them*" Great @cwnewser.bsky.social story on the movement to free Andry Hernández Romero: www.advocate.com/news/freeing...
"The danger of escalation is real. Soldiers and Marines are trained for combat, not constabulary duty and riot control. Expecting military personnel to shift seamlessly from destroying an enemy on the battlefield to law enforcement is asking for trouble."(gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/o...
Chapters in this charming book include "The Necessity of Eugenics" and "The Everlasting Truth About Race" (which is exactly what you think). Again, this is an official account of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This is who they're hiring. These are their "intellectual" influences.
From the white supremacist book the official DHS account is referencing: "The point is to reveal organized Jewry as a world power entrenched in every country of the White man’s world, operating freely across every nation’s frontiers, and engaged in a ruthless war for the destruction of them all."
DHS is recruiting using a not-so-subtle reference to a 1978 book from white nationalist William Gayley Simpson, Which Way Western Man? Simpson's book was released under an imprint associated with the National Alliance, founded by Turner Diaries author William Luther Pierce.
"That’s the sort of thing you hear before having to make a difficult decision about grandpa’s future..." www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
The road to authoritarianism is littered with people telling you you’re overreacting.
"Trump also seeks political control over agencies that have long operated at arm’s length from the White House, like the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Federal Reserve. That, too, has echoes of China where the bureaucracy is fully subordinate to the ruling party..." www.wsj.com/economy/the-...
"You should do business with such people only if you have to..." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/10/o...
"Mishandling economic statistics or improperly accessing the confidential information used to compile them is a felony..." www.wsj.com/economy/trum...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I3x...
"Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who oversees the CDC, did not make a statement the day of the shooting. Late the following morning, more than 30 minutes after posting photos of fishing with his family, Kennedy posted condolences on his official X account..." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/09/u...
They are going to burn up billions in taxpayer funded equipment because they don’t want Americans to have access to scientific proof
youtube.com/watch?v=Phb8...
"Our camera was rolling when a white, odd-looking Avelo plane without any branding landed at Tweed Airport in East Haven in July. Using a hex code unique to each plane, tracking software showed us it’s one of 3 aircraft operated by Avelo for deportations..." www.nbcconnecticut.com/investigatio...
www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/...
"'Please enjoy a 70-minute early exit tomorrow. That way you’ll be rested for my 70th birthday Monday!' Long wrote to IRS staff..." Trump expertly handling US taxes: "It is unclear who will next lead the IRS, which has had 6 different people in charge this year..." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/u...
Anchorage tells RFK to go home. #USDemocracy #SaveOurHealthcare
I'm not sure 65-69% of Americans would agree the sun is hot and night is dark, but they apparently agree on this: Americans who say Trump is "very" or "somewhat dishonest" = 69% Americans who say Trump is "very" or "somewhat corrupt" = 65% www.umass.edu/news/article...
those are 😳 numbers... www.umass.edu/news/article...
In April, Trump approval among men = 48% Now = 39% April, Trump approval among women = 39% Now = 35% April, Trump approval among independents = 31% Now = 21% "This is really bad news for Trump, and for Republicans who depend on independents in close elections...” www.umass.edu/news/article...
"We don’t have a king, we have a president. And the president doesn’t get to pick what’s on television, in movie theaters, on stage, on our bookshelves, or in the news..." full letter and list of signees here: www.wgaeast.org/get-involved... www.thewrap.com/wga-members-...
more here, including the video of her release: pix11.com/news/local-n...
On our lead story tonight:
www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
Huh. It's almost like Trump Administration sources maybe aren't providing totally rock-solid information to reporters. Crazy, amirite? www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
dan balz upon retiring his column after 47 years at the washington post: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
heads up -- this is very well done. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
www.koreaherald.com/article/1054...
scarsdale10583.com/section-tabl...
"She accompanied her mother, Rev. Kim, who is widely recognized as the first woman to be ordained as an Anglican priest in the Seoul Diocese of the Anglican Church of Korea..." www.koreatimes.co.kr/foreignaffai...