If you think he has thrown a fit today -- and he has -- imagine what it will be like when he gets impeached for the third time.
This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for today:
Monday, April 28, 2025. Donald Chump's polls crater, the first 100 days have been a nightmare, if it weren't for lies then he'd have no 'good' news about the economy, all that Pete Hegseth, and much more.
At THE NEW REPUBLIC, Claire Potter and Neil J. Young serve up "JD Vance Likes 'Normal Gays.' Should We Count That as a Win?" Should we count it as a win? I don't know but it is good to know what his type is. So when JD turns into Miss Sassy with that blonde wig, he's looking for a straight acting gay man? Good to know his Grindr profile.
Poor JD. The first 100 days ends tomorrow and every day he has piled on that eyeline but accomplished nothing else. In the s**t show that is the Donald Chump presidency, he's gotten lost like everything else.
Michael Tomasky (TNR) observes:
Remember how April 2 was “Liberation Day”? That was the day Donald Trump announced his tariff regime; it was, I think, the third grand announcement out of about six total. I know you remember it—the shock to the markets created headlines that are hard to forget.
What you may not remember is that it was also Trump’s second Liberation Day. The first, I was reminded recently as I reread his inaugural address while reflecting on the administration’s 100-day mark that arrives this week, was Inauguration Day itself: “That is why each day under our administration of American patriots, we will be working to meet every crisis with dignity and power and strength. We will move with purpose and speed to bring back hope, prosperity, safety, and peace for citizens of every race, religion, color, and creed. For American citizens, January 20th, 2025, is Liberation Day.”
How’s that working out?
There is much to say about these 100 days. The odor of fascism is unmistakable—and entirely intentional. The bullying of universities and law firms; the probably illegal firings of those 18 inspectors general (you’d forgotten that one, I bet!); the ghastly executive order instructing the Justice Department to investigate two U.S. citizens for expressing their political views; the purposeful lawlessness of so many actions, designed to force showdown after showdown at what Trump assumes will be a pliant Supreme Court; the daily inversion of reality peddled by Karoline Leavitt, Cabinet officials, and not least Trump himself.
And more: the brazenly indefensible treatment of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal resident and green card holder, arrested without a warrant and held in a Louisiana detention facility where he missed the recent birth of his son, apparently just for engaging in political activism that Trump didn’t like. The clearly illegal deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The list goes on and on, and now, as of last week, includes a two-year-old U.S. citizen who was deported and another child-citizen with metastatic cancer who was deported without access to medication.
[. . .]
First and more obviously, we have the prospect of the impact of Trump’s tariffs policy on real people. Will they cause inflation and a recession, as most experts now believe? As fate would have it, Trump will go to bed the night of his 100th day in office—Tuesday—and wake up the very next morning to the release of the first quarter GDP number. Economists expect anemic results. The Atlanta Fed even predicts negative growth, around -2.5 percent. During Trump’s first week in office, its forecast nudged a gaudy 4 percent, but the president’s actions have liberated that figure ever downward.
Second and more insidiously: Even the gross incompetencies take us into treacherous territory because they contribute to making this all about one man, the man who must be in front of the cameras every day. He doesn’t have policies so much as he has urges, which he must announce to the world on a constant basis in a desperate plea that we keep him front of mind at all times. Some of those urges are cruel; some of them are a joke. What unites them is that they make the story entirely about him.
That is not how it’s supposed to work in democracies. Which we still are, for now, as we reach this 100-day mark. Only 1,361 to go.
RAW STORY's Travis Gettys notes that Chump granted an interview to THE ATLANTIC and quotes Chump insisting, " I run the country -- and the world."
I believe that's a typo.
I think what Donald Chump actually said was, "I ruin the country -- and the world."
That would certainly be in keeping with reactions others are having.
Dan Balz, Scott Clement, and Emily Guskin (WASHINGTON POST) note, "As he nears the end of his first 100 days in office, President Donald Trump is facing growing opposition to his ambitious and controversial agenda, with his approval rating in decline, majority opposition to major initiatives, and perceptions that his administration is seeking to avoid complying with federal court orders, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll."
President Donald Trump's approval rating has dipped below 40 percent, according to a new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The survey also found that about four in 10 Americans say Trump has been a "terrible" president during his second term, with about one in 10 describing his performance as "poor," and two in 10 saying he has been "average." Only three in 10 Americans rated Trump's performance as "great" or "good."
See, it's not just one poll. Adam Gabbatt (GUARDIAN) explains:
Americans, including some Republicans, are losing faith in Donald Trump across a range of key issues, according to polling released this week. One survey found a majority describing the president’s second stint in the White House so far as “scary”.
Along with poor ratings on the economy and Trump’s immigration policy, a survey released on Saturday found that only 24% of Americans believe Trump has focussed on the right priorities as president.
That poll comes as Trump’s popularity is historically low for a leader this early in a term. More than half of voters disapprove of Trump’s performance as president, and majorities oppose his tariff policies and slashing of the federal workforce.
Not just one poll, all the polls. Julianne McShane (MOTHER JONES) notes:
New polls show that President Donald Trump’s approval rating has hit record lows as he nears the 100-day mark of his second term on Tuesday.
An ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll found that Trump has the lowest 100-day approval rating of any president in the past 80 years, with only 39 percent of respondents saying they approve of Trump’s term thus far. The 80-year comparison appears to refer to when Gallup first started measuring public approval of presidents, back during President Harry Truman’s term; according to data compiled by ABC, Trump had the lowest approval ratings of all presidents at 100 days in both of his terms, and he’s the only president to have the disapproval of the majority of Americans only three months into his term.
Seventy-two percent of respondents to the ABC poll also said they believe Trump’s economic policies—such as his tariff-induced global trade war—will likely cause a recession in the short term, and 53 percent believe the economy has gotten worse since Trump took office. More than 60 percent said that his administration does not respect the rule of law and that he is going too far in trying to expand his power. Majorities also disapproved of nearly every other action. The poll asked about Trump’s moves—reducing funding for medical research, shutting down the Department of Education, freezing foreign humanitarian aid, seeking to deport international students, and sending a group of Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador without due process—and they were all disliked.
Some BLUESKY reactions.
The Convicted Felon feels certain things aren't being factored in. Like his talks with China. Or, rather, 'talks' with China. Pablo R. Suanzes (EL MUNDO) reports:
The president claims Xi called him, and Beijing demands that he "stop creating confusion" with "baseless rumors".
Donald Trump likes to boast and exaggerate. Every day he claims to have broken all kinds of historical records, surpassed unprecedented marks, achieved feats more than successes. This not only involves inflating macroeconomic figures or saying things that are obviously false, such as having already reached 200 trade agreements in recent days, but also putting leaders of other countries in a more than uncomfortable position, torn between correcting inaccuracies or blatant lies, unleashing the wrath of the White House, or avoiding problems by ignoring or dodging questions.
If people would just accept lies, Chump would be doing so much better, right?
Secretary of the Treasure Scott Bessent went on ABC's THIS WEEK and, sadly, Martha Raddatz wanted facts, not lies.
RADDATZ: OK. And now I am joined by President Trump's Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent.
Thanks for joining us this morning, Mr. Secretary. We appreciate it.
Let's start with the polls. For the very first time the president's polling numbers on the economy are under water with 53 percent saying it has gotten worse under President Trump, with 72 percent of those in our poll saying it is very or somewhat likely that his economic policies will cause a recession.
Your reaction?
SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Well, Martha, I haven't seen the polls. And for the past 35 years, my business was analyzing data. So, I think we’ve probably got to dig down into those.
But what I do know is that Americans are behaving very different than what the surveys say. So, the surveys may say that, but consumers are still spending. So, I prefer to look at what Americans are doing rather than how they're answering pollsters.
RADDATZ: And it doesn't worry you the poll numbers that you have seen?
BESSENT: When I start seeing data to the contrary, then the – we can look at that. But, you know, again, these poll numbers, and also, you know, when I look at the sum of the things that are being published, there was a story ten days ago that said, this is the worst April for the stock market since the Great Depression. Ten days later, the Nasdaq is now up in the month of April. And I haven't seen a story that says, oh, the stock market has biggest bounce back ever. So, I think – I think –
RADDATZ: Well, it certainly – it certainly has gone back and forth.
Let – let’s jump –
BESSENT: I think a lot of this is media driven.
RADDATZ: Let's talk about the "Time" interview with President Trump. He said he has made 200 deals on tariffs. Two hundred deals? Who has he made deals with? Is there actually any deal at this point?
BESSENT: I believe that he is referring to sub deals within the negotiations we're doing. And, you know, Martha, if there are 180 countries –
RADDATZ: But those aren't actual deals?
BESSENT: Martha, if there are 180 countries, there are 18 important trading partners, let's put China to the side, because that's a special negotiation, there's 17 important trading partners, and we have a process in place, over the next 90 days, to negotiate with them. Some of those are moving along very well, especially the – with the Asian countries.
RADDATZ: And President Trump's strategy really has been to announce these tariffs, and dial some back, pause them, make exceptions. Explain why you see this as a good negotiating strategy.
BESSENT: Well, in game theory, it's called strategic uncertainty. So, you're not going to tell the person on the other side of the negotiation where you're going to end up. And nobody’s better at creating this leverage than President Trump. You know, he's shown these – the high tariffs, and here's the stick. This is where the tariffs can go. And the carrot is, come to us, take off your tariffs, take off your non-tariff trade barriers, stop manipulating your currency, stop subsidizing labor and capital and then we can talk.
But I tell you, Martha, that we've had several of these Asian countries have come in and said, oh, well, we'll stop doing this, this, and this. And I look at these lists and I think, how did we get here? How did we get here? Because this trading system has been so unfair. And as President Trump says, I don't blame the countries, I blame the previous administrations that let them get away with it.
RADDATZ: But, Mr. Secretary, look at what you just heard from Barton O’Brien there. The administration says it's worried about main street not Wall Street. But you heard that smallbusinessman saying his inventory in China might as well be lit on fire because already what has happened and the concern about what's happening next.
How do they plan for things if they don't know what's going to happen?
[. . .]
RADDATZ: Let's talk about China. President Trump, again, said he's spoken to President Xi of China, and negotiations are ongoing. But China has firmly denied this saying that China and the U.S. have not consulted or negotiated on the tariff issue.
So are negotiations actually happening? Who is talking?
BESSENT: Look, this was IMF-World Bank Week. They are in D.C., as you know. I had interaction with my Chinese counterparts, but it was more on the traditional things like financial stability, global economic early warnings. I don't know if President Trump has spoken with President Xi. I know they have a very good relationship and a lot of respect for each other.
But, again, I think the Chinese will see this high tariff level is unsustainable for their business.
RADDATZ: Why would they deny that negotiations are going on?
Mean Martha! Wanting facts when Scott just wanted to sell lies.
By the way, I want to emphasize this already noted above:
Because this trading system has been so unfair. And as President Trump says, I don't blame the countries, I blame the previous administrations that let them get away with it.
The previous administrations? Because, from the start of 2017 to the start of 2021, that would include Chump himself. Is Chump now saying that he failed the country in his first administration?
His current administration is a huge failure.
If I were Tulsi Gabbard or Robert Kennedy Junior or, honestly, any of the inept members of his Cabinet, I would wake up each day thrilled that Chump hadn't yet fired Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth because he takes the heat off the rest of them with his never ending screw ups. Simon Druker (UPI) reminds, "Last month, Hegseth made headlines after accidentally leaking confidential military plans related to a then-pending military strike by accidentally including The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg in a Signal group chat." And then we all learned of another nonsecure group chat -- this one also on Signal but on his personal phone -- not his government issued phone -- where he shared details of impending strikes with his wife, his brother, his attorney and, who knows, possibly his butcher. Tom Bowman and Quil Lawrence (NPR) reported Friday:
Normally the names of senior staff at the Pentagon don't make the news, but the precarious position of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth means that every move is drawing scrutiny. NPR reported this week that the White House is looking for possible replacements with Hegseth under fire for putting sensitive military attack plans into at least two insecure group chats.
In-fighting over alleged leaks from the secretary's office have now resulted in five senior advisers resigning or being fired. On Friday the Pentagon announced four new senior advisers had been promoted; they include Col. Ricky Buria, a former junior military assistant; Justin Fulcher, a member of the DOGE team embedded at the Pentagon, and Patrick Weaver, formerly a Department of Defense "special assistant."
He has betrayed the country and he risked national security. Not once. And Chump deserves to be impeached for not removing Hegseth from office. John Stoehr notes:
Last weekend, in an opinion piece for Politico, a former Pentagon spokesman warned that “there are very likely more shoes to drop in short order, with even bigger bombshell stories coming this week.”
And lo, a voice came:
・Wall Street Journal: “Polygraph Threats, Leaks and Infighting: The Chaos Inside Hegseth’s Pentagon”;
・Associated Press: “Hegseth had an unsecured internet line set up in his office to connect to Signal”;
・Times: “Hegseth’s Personal Phone Use Created Vulnerabilities”;
・National Public Radio: “Former Pentagon official on Hegseth turmoil: ‘It looks like they actually broke the law’”;
・CBS: “Hegseth orders makeup studio installed at Pentagon.”
Unfortunately, we are where we were at the beginning of the week. Hegseth isn’t going anywhere. Yes, he is “embattled,” as we say in the news, but every story about him says that Donald Trump has his back.
Tom Vanden Brook and Michael Loria (USA TODAY) remind, "Hegseth has denied releasing sensitive information. But several current and former military officials have told USA TODAY that the information Hegseth disclosed, the timing of attacks, is among the most closely guarded national security information." And former National Secuirty Advisor (2013 to 2017) Susan Rice explained to Brian Tyler Cohen, "Military operation details are by definition classified. Deliberations about whether to conduct a military strike on an adversary are inherently classified. So here they are engaging recklessly in classified discussions over unsecure commercial applications."
Instead of owning his mistake, Hegseth blames others which is par for the course in the Chump administration. Héctor Ríos Morales' report for THE LATIN TIMES captures this attitude in its headline, "DHS Says It's Not To Be Legally Accountable For Court-Barred Deportations Because They Were Carried Out By DoD." When he was president, Harry S. Truman said, "The buck stops here." Chump not only chooses bitcoin over dollars, he also chooses dishonesty over accountability which is why his report card for his first 100 days is a solid F.
Meanwhile, Chump's shock troops attacked Colorado Springs yesterday. Edward Helmore (GUARDIAN) reports:
More than 300 law enforcement officers from at least 10 federal agencies raided an illegal after-hours nightclub in Colorado Springs early on Sunday, arresting more than 100 people authorities said were undocumented immigrants and seizing guns, cocaine, meth and pink cocaine.
More than a dozen active-duty military members were detained as well, authorities said.
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) posted a video on X of the post-raid scene, with dozens of partygoers holding their hands up. Another video showed dozens of people fleeing the building through its entrance after federal agents smashed a window.
The DEA Rocky Mountain division said agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), homeland security, the US army’s criminal investigation division and the Colorado Springs police had joined the raid.
No paperwork on them! In the early Sunday morning hours! At a night club! And they didn't have paperwork!
How many of the 100 do you think are citizens? 30? 50? Even more? What's your guess? Chump is a menace and that's why the American people have turned on him.
Kat's "Kat's Korner: Marilyn Monroe's gifts weren't just visual" went up Sunday. The following sites updated:
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Madison McFerrin: Tiny Desk Concert3 hours ago
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A good Joan Armatrading vocal1 day ago
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Beyonce2 days ago
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Idiot of the Week2 days ago
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Chump and his ship of fools2 days ago
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