Week 79 - The Return
Trump's callous indifference, and lies about the Iran War are revealed
Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.
Two story lines really stood out this week, in part because of their big implications for the state of things under Trump. First, bowing to pressure from Trump, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigned. With that resignation, the Trump regime’s Department of Health and Human Services had no Senate confirmed FDA commissioner, CDC director, surgeon general, or NIH director. Notably, this comes amid an outbreak of hantavirus, with 11 confirmed cases and three deaths, once again demonstrating the dysfunction of our federal government under Trump and his loyalists. The second is Trump saying out loud — something many had suspected through his actions — that he was indifferent to the suffering of anyone but himself. On Tuesday, the day the consumer price index showed soaring prices for energy and food, Trump was asked about “Americans’ financial situations,” and whether it was motivating him to make a deal with Iran. Trump said:
“Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran — they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing — we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all.”
My emphasis added, to what truly was a remarkable, if uniquely honest, statement.
What is shocking too, is that even with that statement which cited the sole goal of disarming Iran’s nuclear capabilities, reporting this week indicates that Trump was ready to strike a deal to end the war with Iran, without achieving a single objective stated at the outset, including said elimination of nuclear. Reporting also indicated that Iran had been able to almost fully restore its military capabilities to pre-war levels, despite Trump and Defense Department Sec. Pete Hegseth’s repeated lies that those capabilities had been various versions of obliterated. When challenged by the truth, Trump and his regime resorted to their North Star, attacking the media, and accusing them of being traitors.
Juxtapose Trump’s callous indifference toward the American people to his focus, bordering on obsession, with spreading likenesses of himself and his name, and pursuing his perceived enemies. Our Justice Department under acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is unrecognizable. They might as well take down the Justice Department words from the building, under the giant poster of Trump, and call it the Trump Organization Law Firm! Between that, and the out in the open kleptocracy, with almost no pushback to either, this week it was clear how many broken norms have for now been accepted and normalized, as if Americans who oppose Trump are just biding their time.
As Trump heads to China, traveling not with U.S.-China experts, but with his son and corporate chief executives, much is at stake. While the trip will provide Trump with a change of subject for now, there is no clear end for his Iran War, which by many accounts the U.S. seems to be losing, and Trump’s mental health, and demonstrated once again by his late night and overnight social media posting, is very much in question. He is the mad king, making all decisions, while Republicans enable him.
Reuters reported that an Alliance of Democracies Foundation survey found global perceptions of the U.S. fell for a second year, citing Trump’s tariffs, threats to Greenland to withdraw from NATO, cuts in aid to Ukraine, and the Iran War and the ensuing spike in gas prices.
The survey between March 19 and April 21 in 98 countries found that net perception of the U.S. had swung from +22% in 2024 to -16% in 2026, placing the U.S. behind Russia at -11% and China at +7%.
A CNN/SSRS poll found 77% of Americans said Trump’s policies have increased the cost of living, with the Iran War and tariffs cited as the most negative effects. Just 26% approved of Trump’s handling of inflation, while his approval on handling the economy fell to 30%, a career low.
White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett oddly bragged on Fox Business that “credit card spending is through the roof,” indicating that consumers needed to take on more debt, adding, “They’re spending more on gasoline, but they’re spending more on everything else too.”
WSJ reported former New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu, who represents several airlines, told Treasury Department Sec. Scott Bessent that the spike in jet fuel prices would mean airfares rising more if the war continued. Airlines were also cutting flights where they could not raise prices.
On Thursday, Whirlpool was one of several companies to warn that the Iran War was negatively impacting consumer behavior. Whirlpool noted the war had caused a “recession-level industry decline,” and that “consumer confidence collapsed in late February and March.”
On Friday, consumer sentiment fell to a fresh record low, amid concerns over surging gas prices and the impact of inflation on personal finances. The University of Michigan survey came in at 48.2, down 3.2% from April’s record low, and down 7.7% from a year ago.
On Tuesday, the consumer price index showed consumer prices rose 3.8% annually in April, the highest increase since May 2023. Energy and food prices accounted for most of the increase. Grocery prices jumped the most in nearly four years.
For the first time in U.S. history, the size of the U.S. debt, which topped about $31.26 trillion in March, exceeded the gross domestic product. While Musk had vowed to cut trillions in federal spending with DOGE, instead Trump’s tax cuts were expected to add $4 trillion to the deficit.
NYT reported that a U.S. intelligence assessment found Iran had restored 30 of the 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz, threatening U.S. warships, as well as restoring 70% of its mobile launchers, 70% of its missile stockpile, and 90% of its underground missile storage.
Despite the assessment, both Trump and Hegseth continued to publicly claim that Iran’s military was “decimated” and “no longer” a threat. When asked about reporting, a Pentagon spokesman accused the NYT and others of acting as “public relations agents for the Iranian regime.”
On Monday, WSJ reported that Trump privately complained to acting AG Todd Blanche about media leaks on the Iran war, sharing a stack of articles with Blanche that he and others in the regime claimed threatened national security, with a sticky note that said “treason.”
