Week 83 - The Return
Trump slows down. Some explanations for why.
Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.
This was an unusually and notably slow week of broken norms compared to recent months. The news cycle has slowed considerably. Two factors stand out that may contribute.
There remain lingering doubts about the state of Trump’s health after his most recent visit to Walter Reed, although our media is saying and reporting very little about it, as opposed to their daily and hourly obsession with former President Joseph Biden. The WSJ Editorial Board writes, as Trump nears his 80th birthday, “we hope no one is hiding any contradictory details” on his recent visit, adding, “One lesson from the Biden health fiasco is that voters will punish a party that tries to cover up infirmities.”
The second is Trump’s focus on his two personal priorities, his legacy and personal vendettas, as we pass the five month mark before midterms, where Democrats are likely to at least gain control of the House of Representatives and put a check on power. Trump cannot stop talking about his arch, his UFC arena, and of course his ballroom. He is obsessed with his legacy, while being openly callous towards the concerns of Americans on issues like affordability. He is also obsessed with rewriting history, targeting his enemies, and seeking to reward his supporters who back the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Towards that end, Trump and his allies were already sowing doubt this week about election results, as the vote count in California’s primary proceeded at its usual slow pace.
It is unclear whether Trump has so ensconced himself with loyalists that he does not comprehend his growing unpopularity, or if he simply has again constructed an alternative truth. This week, Trump was loudly booed in his home city at Madison Square Garden, but he claimed to have heard cheers. As his polling continue to fall, the Journal noted that Trump’s cultural influence is also waning. This week we are also continuing to see the real world impacts of the incompetent loyalists he installed to run our federal agencies, and the out in the open corruption and pay-to-play that have characterized this second regime, and benefited Trump, his family, and his allies.
In a video posted to his TikTok account, Trump compared the UFC arena being constructed at the White House complex to celebrate his 80th birthday to the Eiffel Tower, which he noted was supposed to come down, but did not, saying, “Maybe we’ll never take it down.”
On Thursday, the National Capital Planning Commission, all Trump appointees, voted to advance plans to build his 250-foot arch, despite nearly 17,000 public comments, almost all in opposition. Staffers had also raised concerns about flight patterns and violating height limits.
A report by watchdog group Public Citizens found that 14 of the 27 known donors for Trump’s $400 million ballroom had won new or expanded government contracts worth more than $50 billion, including Lockheed Martin, Booz Allen Hamilton, Caterpillar, and T-Mobile.
Additionally, 16 of the 27 companies had faced federal enforcement actions, and saw the actions suspended by the Trump regime, including major antitrust reviews involving Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Nvidia, and labor rights cases involving Google, Lockheed, and Meta.
On Thursday, Trump posted on Truth Social that the 250th celebration would now instead be a “rally to end all rallies,” adding, “We don’t want singers with no talent, but big fees to put you to sleep, we’ve told them all to stay home,” and “All we want is you, me, a few speakers.”
On Friday, arguing before the federal appeals court, Trump’s DOJ argued that the courts are powerless to stop construction of Trump’s ballroom. Asked by a judge if the government could decide to “bulldoze the Statue of Liberty,” the DOJ lawyer said, “I think that’s right, yes.”
On Saturday, a political activist and Vietnam veteran sued the Trump regime to halt the transformation of the White House grounds for Trump’s UFC fights, which includes a 600-ton steel arch, saying it was unlawfully planned and designed, and not authorized by Congress.
The lawsuit also cited that both Trump, who is an investor in UFC’s parent company, and UFC’s chief executive stood to financially benefit from the “night of cage fights.” Also, Paramount, owned by Trump’s allies the Ellisons, stood to financially benefit from streaming the event.
CNN reported that Donald Jr. and Eric Trump were promoting a venture selling “Freedom 250” themed silver and gold medallions featuring Trump’s face, dubbed “Trump Coins,” for $250 to $12,000 each, as part of the UFC fights. The website bragged they were “designed by” Trump.
On Monday, construction was also underway at the Lincoln Memorial, where UFC fighters were expected to do their weigh-ins on Friday, ahead of the fight.
On Tuesday, WAPO reported that the National Park Service set out an aggressive timeline to build Trump’s triumphal arch so it could be completed before he left office, including 20 hour work days, and using concrete and granite, not stone like nearby historical monuments.
