In 2017, watching a two-hour Bastille Day procession, Donald Trump told the French president that we’d have one too, only better. That time, the grown-ups said no. The reasons given were costs – estimates ran to $92m – hellish logistics, and the Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser’s worried that tanks and other armored vehicles would tear up Washington’s streets.
Some retired generals objected publicly to the totalitarian-adjacent optics, especially given the US president’s praise for such bad actors as Saddam Hussein and Vladimir Putin. Several Republican lawmakers also expressed their distaste. “Confidence is silent, and insecurity is loud,” the Louisiana senator John Kennedy told MSNBC. “America is the most powerful country in all of human history ... and we don’t need to show it off. We’re not North Korea. We’re not Russia, we’re not China,” he continued, “and I don’t wanna be.”
This time, as Washington prepares for a huge military shindig on 14 June, Trump’s 79th – and, oh yes, the US army’s 250th – birthday, the generals are silent. The Republicans have sworn allegiance to the king. And the media are focused on the price tag, the potholes and the impending pomp; on tensions between the blue city of Washington and the red capital; and on the decimation of veterans’ healthcare, housing, and pensions while the administration throws $25m to $45m at a circus of war.
All are important parts of the story. Yet commentary is muted and the debate mischaracterized as normal political discourse. The horrific point is missed: the spectacle of a massive show of military might, before a president who behaves like a dictator and views the armed forces as his personal foot soldiers, evinces memories of the worst totalitarian regimes. History may mark 14 June 2025 as the ceremonial birth of a new American fascism.
That's the opening of Judith Levine's "We’re minimizing the horror of Trump’s military birthday parade" (GUARDIAN). The menace that is Donald Chump, degrading democracy and the United States a little more each day. So we take our wins where we can and grab our laughs along the way. Like look at this Wide Load.
Do they need a special permit when they transfer him around in a vehicle. And is no one noting the Mitch McConnell resemblance around the chin gets more and more with each passing day. If he wasn't in the Oval Office right now, I think he'd get that gobble-gobble neck fit. Or at least get a breast reduction.
In the meantime, he takes his rage over his long-gone looks out on the American people.
Like the people living in North Caroline. Rob Schofield (NC NEWSLINE) reports:
Both last fall and this past January, Trump blasted the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene and made bold promises that he would rebuild storm-ravaged areas better than ever.
Unfortunately,
that was then and this is now. This fact was made clear last week when
the administration abruptly turned off the federal funding spigot by
rejecting Gov. Josh Stein’ request to continue providing matching funds
for the state’s Helene recovery appropriations.
The decision leaves the state on the hook for $200 million or more in additional expenses for debris cleanup and other emergency work.
The bottom line: Once again, the president has said one thing and done another, and sadly, North Carolinians will pay the price.
He's not helping the people of North Carolina. He's also not helping the people of Florida as Frank Cerabino (PALM BEACH POST) explains:
Fingers crossed, Florida. We are going to need some luck this hurricane season because we’re about to get screwed like never before.
I don’t know where the storms will go, but I’m pretty sure the federal umbrella of help we’ve always relied on will be in tatters.
That’s because the gutting and defunding of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is one of the many bits of collateral damage to the Trump administration’s dogged efforts to heap tax-savings windfalls on the very rich.
In case you haven’t been paying attention, Cameron Hamilton, the acting FEMA administrator, was fired recently for saying, “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”
That shouldn’t be a controversial statement. But it was, considering that President Donald Trump has said, “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA goes away.”
Hamilton, a vocal advocate of FEMA, was replaced by David Richardson, a Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for countering weapons of mass destruction ‒ a guy with no experience managing natural disasters.
Richardson is, however, a reliable Trump loyalist. He announced at an all-hands meeting on his first day as the FEMA administrator that he would “run right over” anyone who stood in the way of Trump’s plans for the agency.
So far, those plans have resulted in a 30% reduction in staff and billions of dollars in cuts to programs aimed at supporting states hit hard by natural disasters.
He is the laziest and most worthless president the country has ever had. And the people realize that. Which is why Martha McHardy (NEWSWEEK) reports, "President Donald Trump's approval rating has fallen to a new low, according to the nation's most accurate pollster. The latest AtlasIntel survey, conducted between May 21-27 among 3,469 adults, shows that Trump's approval rating has fallen to 45 percent, while 54 percent disapprove. That is the lowest rating of his second term so far."
He's helping on one. No one except himself. Matt Sedensky (AP) notes, "President Donald Trump’s doubling of tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum could hit Americans in an unexpected place: grocery aisles. The announcement Friday of a staggering 50% levy on those imports stoked fear that big-ticket purchases from cars to washing machines to houses could see major price increases. But those metals are so ubiquitous in packaging, they’re likely to pack a punch across consumer products from soup to nuts." Augusta Saraiva (BLOOMBERG NEWS) adds, "U.S. consumers hit the brakes in April while goods imports plummeted by a record as companies adjusted to higher tariffs." Ali McCadden (CNBC) news continues:
Consumers who hoped tariffs would not hit their wallets keep getting bad news.
As they reported earnings in recent weeks, multiple major retailers said they have already raised some prices or plan to hike them in the coming weeks to offset the duties. They include major grocers and consumer goods sellers Costco, Best Buy, Walmart and Target.
President Donald Trump's ever-changing trade policy has roiled retailers as they try to plan their supply chains. On earnings calls, they faced the difficult task of trying to appease investors who want them to protect their bottom lines and shoppers who could balk at price hikes.
In some cases, companies have been explicit, citing the estimated toll tariffs will take on their bottom lines and breaking down which countries their supply chains rely on. Other retailers have been less forthcoming, avoiding the word "tariff" and instead blaming strategy shifts or price hikes on "macroeconomic uncertainty" — or simply refusing to point the finger at all.
Many retailers have reduced or withdrawn their full-year guidance because of tariffs. Companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Macy's and Best Buy have slashed their profit outlooks. Meanwhile, American Eagle, Canada Goose, Ross and Mattel pulled their full-year guidance.
Why should anyone like Chump? He's wrecking the economy. He's leaving the country at risk. He's not doing his job. The American people are at risk in every way that a population can be at risk. The economy we've already noted. How about groceries?
Jessica Kwong (METRO) notes, "An ongoing recall of tomatoes in the US has been upgraded to the highest risk level with a ‘reasonable probability’ of death. Tomatoes from Williams Farms Repack LLC on Wednesday were designated as a Class I recall by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is responsible for protecting public health." And the CDC notes the cucumber recall:
Recalled food
Whole fresh cucumbers grown by Bedner Growers Inc.
- Distributed by Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc. between April 29, 2025 and May 19, 2025.
- Distributed to stores, restaurants, and other facilities.
- Several people ate cucumbers on cruise ships leaving ports in Florida.
- Cucumbers may have been sold individually or in smaller packages and the types could be labeled as "supers," "selects," or "plains."
- These cucumbers are not organic varieties.
For all recall information of cucumbers and foods made with them, visit FDA's website here.
- Additional recalls include foods such as cucumber salads, and made-to-order subs.
An additional recall is being conducted by Target for products that used recalled cucumbers grown by Bedner Growers, Inc.
Tomatoes and cucumbers. Which would suggest we need to spend more money on food safety. However, that's not what's happening. Instead, Chump's cutting regulations and gutting the programs that protect the American people. For instance, AP reports, "The Trump administration is cutting health spending on an unprecedented scale, experts say, including pulling $11 billion of direct federal support because the pandemic is over and eliminating 20,000 jobs at national health agencies that in part assist and support local public health work. It’s proposing billions more be slashed." Stephanie Armour (KFF HEALTH NEWS) notes, "In addition, the administration withdrew a proposed regulation to reduce the presence of salmonella in raw poultry, a plan that could have saved more than $13 million annually by preventing roughly 3,000 illnesses. It is also disbanding a Department of Justice unit that pursues civil and criminal actions against companies that sell contaminated food and is reassigning its attorneys, according to a former FDA official, a publicly posted memo from the head of the department’s criminal division, and a white paper by the law firm Gibson Dunn." Yuki Noguchi (NPR) reports:
Paula Soldner inspected meat and poultry plants around southern Wisconsin for 38 years: "I'm talking brats, hot dogs, summer sausage, pizza."
Her Department of Agriculture job required daily check-ups on factories to ensure slicers were cleaned on schedule, for example. Her signoff allowed plants to put red-white-and-blue "USDA inspected" stickers on grocery-store packages.
Last month, Soldner took the Trump administration up on its offer of early retirement, joining an exodus from the Food Safety and Inspection Service that began under President Biden's reorganization of the agency last year. Soldner, who also chairs the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals, says remaining inspectors must now visit eight facilities — double the usual number — each day.
That's not possible, she says, so it's unclear how much food is legitimately earning that stamp of approval.
"Did that plant receive that daily inspection from inspection personnel? In my mind, that's a huge question mark," Soldner says.
She says further staff retirements, hostility toward federal workers, and plummeting morale are creating conditions that make consumers more vulnerable to outbreaks of foodborne illness, like the deadly listeria contamination that hit Boar's Head deli meats last year, killing 10 people and hospitalizing dozens.
"Do I foresee another Boar's Head situation? Absolutely," she says. "I worry about the public."
Experts who study the nation's food supply say the safety of everything we eat — from milk and macaroni to meat and lettuce — is called into question because of massive cuts by the Trump administration to the three federal agencies charged with monitoring it: the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Who is this helping?
The answer is no one. It's putting Americans at risk. And Chump doesn't give a damn. No one has ever been less qualified to be president than Donald Chump.
And he's surrounded himself with idiots that leave us at risk. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth who's never encountered a secret he could keep to himself or at least keep it off unsecure phone apps. Or the idiot Junior who knows nothing about public health but is the Secretary of Heatlh and Human Services. Liam Archacki (DAILY BEAST) notes:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was contradicted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an agency that he oversees, just days after he announced a new national COVID-19 vaccine policy.
On Tuesday, Donald Trump’s health secretary revealed that the CDC would no longer advise healthy children and healthy pregnant women to receive the COVID vaccine, reversing its longstanding guidance.
Kennedy blamed Joe Biden’s administration for making kids get “yet another COVID shot, despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children.”
The Washington Post reported that officials at the CDC were blindsided by the announcement. They learned about the decision when Kennedy tweeted a video of himself announcing it.
However, on Friday, the CDC issued an update that kept COVID immunizations on the schedule for children between the ages of six months and 17 years old, The New York Times reported.
This is why you don't put stupid people in the White House and why you don't let stupid people have a Cabinet composed of equally stupid people.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office (and it's noting yet another Chump failure that leaves the American people at risk):
ICYMI: Senators Murray, Merkley, WA & Oregon Fire Officials Lay Out How Trump is Putting Wildfire Preparedness & Response at Risk
***PHOTOS AND B-ROLL FROM EVENT HERE***
***AUDIO HERE***
Sultan, WA — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a roundtable discussion with emergency management leaders in Washington state to hear about the impacts of the Trump administration’s attacks on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal agencies, and how these changes are already affecting communities around the state as they respond and prepare for disasters. As climate change continues to increase the severity and unpredictability of natural disasters like wildfires, communities across Washington State need to be able to rely on help from the federal government to both respond to disasters and to prepare for them—but the Trump administration’s reckless and chaotic policy changes are putting that work in jeopardy. Joining Senator Murray for the roundtable were: Lucia Schmit, Emergency Management Director at Snohomish County; Julie de Losada, Chief of Emergency Management at Skagit County; Angel Cortez, Emergency Preparedness Manager at Tulalip Tribes; Hannah Cleverly, Washington State Emergency Management Association Secretary and Deputy Director at Grays Harbor County Emergency Management; Sharon Wallace, Deputy Director of the Washington State Emergency Management Division; Chandra Fox, Deputy Director at Spokane County Emergency Management; and Tony Miller, Director of Emergency Management at Yakima County.
“I am incredibly grateful for all the work our emergency responders do to protect our families—whether it’s floods, tsunamis, wildfires, or mudslides—and I was glad to have the opportunity to hear from emergency management leaders today about the importance of planning and preparing for natural disasters before they strike,” said Senator Murray. “Unfortunately, we have a new administration that doesn’t understand that—and doesn’t seem to care if their policies put people in danger. Trump and his DHS Secretary want to eliminate FEMA completely. They are doing all they can to leave us less prepared by proposing to slash FEMA’s budget, pushing out thousands of employees, freezing funds that were already allocated, and cancelling BRIC grants and other critical programs. It is sending our communities reeling and creating painful and unnecessary chaos for disaster response efforts in Washington state and across the country. States rely on federal support, both to respond to disasters and prepare for them, and the Trump administration’s reckless policy changes have already put years of emergency management preparation work, and lives, at risk. I will keep shining a spotlight on how Trump’s senseless decisions to destroy our emergency management system are threatening the safety of our families and communities.”
Under the Trump Administration, FEMA has undergone significant cuts to staff and funding reductions, leading to worries about the agency’s ability to respond and address disasters effectively. The Trump Administration has proposed to cut FEMA’s budget in the coming fiscal year, pushed out approximately 2,000 full-time staff, from terminations and employees participating in the deferred resignation program, roughly one-third of the total staff employed at the end of 2024, frozen over $100 billion in previously awarded FEMA grants and disaster assistance, and canceled the Building Resilience Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, which supports states, local and territorial governments, and Tribal Nations as they work to reduce their hazard risk. BRIC has invested over $5 billion in projects nationwide, reducing harm from floods, wildfires, and more. Senator Murray recently led a letter with Senators Van Hollen, Tillis, and Murkowski urging Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson to reinstate the BRIC grant program—in Washington state, over $200 million in BRIC funding across 67 applications was impacted.
“All disasters begin and end at the local level. This has always been true. But one of the things that makes this nation strong is how we all come together to help during the hard times,” said Lucia Schmit, Snohomish County Emergency Management Director. “When the slide buried the Steelhead Haven neighborhood and Highway 530 near Oso in 2014, killing 43, responders from over 120 organizations—including from other counties and states—waded into the mud. We were all able to work together because of the critical role the federal government plays in supporting a common emergency management system. To hazard that partnership courts disaster.”
“I want to thank Senator Murray for her leadership at the federal level to ensure we are prepared for and can respond to emergencies of all types,” Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers said. “Our county is no stranger to emergencies like landslide, floods, or fires. We live in a remarkably beautiful place, and that comes with the responsibility to limit risks and respond to needs in communities near powerful rivers, active volcanoes, and expansive forests. The federal government has been a key partner in that work, but proposed changes threaten to fracture that partnership. In the long run, I would expect reduced support for planning, mitigation, and recovery to cost our nation more, both in dollars and human suffering.”
“Skagit County is facing increasingly complex threats such as coastal and riverine flooding, encroaching wildfires, and the potential for the Cascadian earthquake. We already have the frameworks in place to address these challenges with FEMA, but effective emergency management is only possible if federal agencies fulfill their obligation to being a reliable and enduring partner to local emergency responders. The federal government must not abandon communities during times of crisis, and we call on them to adhere to their responsibility to support local jurisdictions in emergency preparedness, response, and recovery,” said Julie de Losada, Skagit County Emergency Management Chief.
“Tribes being a sovereign nation, each individually unique, comes with its own sets of challenges. The uncertainty of FEMA potentially being dismantled and pulling up critical funding leaves tribes in a position that makes it harder to implement mitigation strategies, plans, response and to recover in the event or prior to a disaster happening. Tribes also face a historical challenge with their local and state governments that you and I are both aware of,” said Angel Cortez, Emergency Preparedness Manager at Tulalip Tribes. “The reality of today is we need FEMA, and FEMA needs us. We need our states and local partners, and they need us too. None of us will be able to go through a major disaster alone. For disasters are not restricted to borders, political ideologies, or economic status.”
“Whether you call it FEMA reform, change, restructuring, or transformation—what matters is that it’s thoughtful, strategic, incremental, and grounded in the real needs of our communities,” said Sharon Wallace, Deputy Director of Washington’s Emergency Management Division.
“Effective and sustainable resilience in the face of wildland fire requires cooperation and collaboration across all levels of government. We need to have engaged federal partners supporting our efforts in Public Education, Fuels Reduction, and Incident Management, as well as Response and Recovery,” said Chandra Fox, Deputy Director at Spokane County Emergency Management. “The Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) program provides essential funding to Fire Agencies and community partners, directly supporting fuels reduction and home hardening efforts at the local level. Without this funding opportunity, these efforts would be severely curtailed, limiting their effectiveness and reach.”
Senator Murray is a leading voice pushing back against the Trump administration’s attacks on FEMA and other federal agencies, including NOAA and the U.S. Forest Service, that support disaster preparedness and response in Washington state and across the country. At a budget hearing, Senator Murray grilled Secretary Kristi Noem on the Department of Homeland Security’s sweeping funding freeze, including FEMA disaster relief and public safety grants, and its plans to weaken FEMA and recent denials of disaster declarations. Last week, Senator Murray led Washington state’s entire congressional delegation in a letter President Donald Trump urging him to reconsider the denial of Washington state’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration as a result of the devastating windstorms, heavy rainfall, flooding, and mudslides caused by a bomb cyclone that struck Washington state in November 2024. Murray previously led the entire delegation in a letter urging President Biden to grant the request for a Major Disaster Declaration in January.
Earlier this month, Senator Murray held a press conference with Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and wildfire officials in Washington state and Oregon to sound the alarm on how the Trump administration’s funding freezes and punishing cuts to the workforce at the U.S. Forest Service and other key agencies are seriously undermining wildfire preparedness and response in Washington state and Oregon and putting communities at risk. Senator Murray is working to secure critical investments in wildfire suppression and mitigation—and in our firefighters. Last year, as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, she secured nearly $22 million in funding for wildfire risk reduction projects across Washington state as part of the USFS Wildfire Crisis Strategy. In the Interior and Environment appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2024, she worked to include essential investments in wildfire preparedness and suppression. And in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, she secured $25 million in funding for wildfire mitigation projects across Washington state.
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