
BRAZIL NUTS
Donald Trump is taking his war on free speech global to make Elon Musk happy and boost his right-wing buddies. How sweet.
- President Donald Trumpâs assault on the media has grown to unprecedented proportions in his second term. While he loves the spotlight more than anything, he reacts violently to bad press. Itâs a trait he shares with his co-president, Elon Musk, who has become the most vocal anti-media voice in the new administration â in a bout of stunning hypocrisy given everything Musk has said about the importance of free speech. The most jarring example: Musk is now publicly claiming that 60 Minutes journalists âdeserve a long prison sentenceâ â for doing nothing more than journalism.
- The threats are more serious than Trumpâs first term, more widespread â and in plenty of instances, simply more unhinged. Today, Trumpâs media company sued a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, accusing him of illegally censoring right-wing voices on social media. In a remarkable coincidence of timing, the suit has been filed at a moment when that very same judge is deciding whether to order the arrest of authoritarian leader and Trump fanboy Jair Bolsonaro, who was indicted for allegedly attempting to stage a coup. Another total coincidence: Itâs also the same judge who temporarily suspended Muskâs X platform in the country last year due to far-right accounts and misinformation.
- Together, Trump and Musk form a dynamic duo of falsehoods, half-baked conspiracy theories, self-serving lies, and attempts at media intimidation. The Trump administration has elevated right-wing outlets that regularly spread conspiracy theories, while threatening the Associated Press, ABC News, NPR, PBS, and CBS News and numerous other outlets. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered embassies abroad to cancel subscriptions to outlets including the Economist, the New York Times, Politico, Bloomberg News, the AP and Reuters. Meanwhile, Trump and Musk are like busted fire hydrants of misinformation. A recent analysis by Newsguard found that 28 false claims by Musk on X received 825.2 million views and 4.8 million likes. None of this is good for press freedom, to say the least â or even simply sorting out the truth from fiction.Â
Back in the United States, Trumpâs newest tactic involves simply ignoring journalists, despite his administrationâs pledges to be transparent.
- A few days ago, a friend at the New York Times texted me a screenshot of an âunhingedâ message from Katie Miller, a top Trump spokesperson. Miller said she wouldnât respond to his request for comment on a story⌠because he included pronouns next to his name.
- So, I added pronouns next to my name and sent her a comment request for yesterdayâs newsletter â and I received the same exact response: âAs a matter of policy, I donât respond to people who use pronouns in their signature as it shows they donât have an understanding of basic scientific facts,â wrote Miller, whoâs married to Jeff Bezos doppelgänger Stephen Miller, one of Trumpâs closest and shiniest-headed advisers. Being transphobic is, weirdly, more important to them than commenting on Trumpâs foreign policy.
- The Trump administration has yet to begin regular briefings at agencies, and Trumpâs own press people remain in the dark about when they might start, according to a spokesperson who works for the Trump administration (but not in the White House). The lack of briefings âdoes worry me,â the person told What A Day.
Meanwhile, Trumpâs team is trying to hide what itâs doing. Hereâs a superb explainer about why the list of education contracts that DOGE recently canceled, exclusively obtained by What A Day, wasnât meant to be public
DEI, EPA, WTF?
Donald Trumpâs attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs and environmental protections are putting disadvantaged communities at long-term risk of contaminated air and water, Climate Correspondent Anya Zoledziowski reports.Â
Nearly 200 staffers working for the EPAâs Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights were put on paid administrative leave earlier this month amid the Trump administrationâs agency-wide shakeups. Another 1,100 EPA staffers were told that they could be let go on a dime.
âIâve never seen anything like this,â said Marie Owens-Powell, president of the union representing more than 8,500 EPA employees, who has worked at the agency for over three decades.
This is a big deal because the EPA does a lot that you may not know about. For instance, the EPA makes sure those cleaning solutions under your kitchen sink are safe to use. It also sets rules and regulations, and monitors compliance, for big industries â think: oil and gas or petrochemicals â to curb climate and environmental pollution (thatâs often toxic!).
The environmental justice office, specifically, helps those who are most vulnerable to climate change impacts and environmental harm, such as Black, brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities. It’s part of a broader theme in this administration: Reducing support for historically marginalized communities.
That means the U.S. is at risk of dirtier air and water, with disadvantaged people likely to bear the brunt of those harms â like higher rates of cancer or asthma. (In a dark twist of irony, that includes low-income white communities that overwhelmingly voted for Trump.)
âWhat we’re losing here is a strong ally in being able to protect our communities across the nation against this major villain,â said Jasmine Gil, the environmental and climate justice lead at HipHop Caucus, a nonprofit aimed at engaging young people in activism.
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NEWS NEWS NEWS
Donald Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenkyy a âdictator without electionsâ today, ramping up his attacks against the leader while cozying up to actual Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Ukraine hasnât held elections in three years because itâs under martial law⌠because it was invaded by Russia.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered top officials to develop plans to cut 8 percent of the DOD budget annually for five years. The Pentagon budget has increased steadily over the past decade, reaching about $850 billion currently. The U.S. spends way more on defense than any other country, so this isnât an inherently bad idea imo⌠but you know these guys. Theyâll find a way to make it bad, or weird, or both.
DHS Secretary and known dog-killer Kristi Noem warned employees that they could face lie detector tests to find out if theyâve been leaking to the media. Polygraphs were an obsession of Trumpâs during his first term, but TBD on whether theyâll actually be used. Nothing says âfreedom of speech!â like subjecting all employees to polygraph tests.
Trumpâs executive order to lower the costs of IVF doesnât actually change policy or make the treatment free, as he promised on the campaign trail. Shocker!
The Department of Agriculture said it accidentally fired several employees who work on the governmentâs response to the bird flu. The agency is trying to quickly reverse those firings. DOGEâs plan to cut waste and fraud is going sooooo well.
Trump admitted that âinflation is back,â but added, of course, âI had nothing to do with that.â Reminder: Trump pledged to bring down prices on Day 1, and thereâs no sign that inflation is going down soon. Americansâ approval rating of Trump dipped slightly since he took office, driven by economic concerns, according to a new poll.
Donald Trump raised around $500 million during his presidential transition by hosting glitzy dinners with health care and pharmaceutical industry executives, who paid millions of dollars to attend, according to the Wall Street Journal. âEverybody who is anybody went down,â to Florida to meet with Trump, a New York City executive told the outlet. âIt was a proactive effort to not be a target.â Another promising sign for democracy, love it.
With President Elon Musk in office, Trump has found a lot of time to golf â spending over $10 million in taxpayer money hobbling around the green, according to HuffPost. There has been a golf trip every weekend since he took office, and heâs played nine times on his own properties already, the outlet reports. This must be why he tolerates having Elon around.
Famed sports commentator Stephen A. Smith put Democrats on blast for being out of touch with average voters. âIt is an utter embarrassment to the Democratic Party that I am a candidate in peopleâs eyes,â Smith told Pod Save America, referencing rumors that he might run for president (heâs not gonna). It would be fun to see him debate Trump, thoughâŚ.
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