The Trump Administration: The Clusterfuck Continues (Part 2)

[dougrb]

@ricepad

Some say it’s the best smallpox.

Poverty stricken previous generations of small pox could barely find housing.

[Pardel-Lux]

“I call it bigpox. Best pox ever.”

[Gyrate]

Superpox

[Monty]

The feds’ top laywer has something to say about the Bill of Privileges.

Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday addressed the Trump administration’s decision to ban three mainstream news outlets from accessing the White House, saying that President Donald Trump had not “denied access” to the organizations and asserting that it is a “privilege … not a right” to be at the White House.

“The president hasn’t denied access. That’s not the right way to describe it. This is – what the president has said is that he is sick and tired of certain media outlets just refusing to report accurate news,” Blanche said in an exclusive interview with “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz. “There’s still obviously litigation going on, but the important thing, Martha, is to know that … being in the White House is a privilege. It’s not a right.”

USPS jacks up prices with almost no notice.

Anyone planning to ship holiday gifts through the U.S. Postal Service may want to pay attention to the calendar—and the weight of those packages.

USPS is planning a temporary price increase beginning Oct. 4, putting the change less than one week away. The increases affect several popular package services, and the biggest proposed retail hike is significant: Some Priority Mail Express packages would cost $20.80 more, according to the U.S. Postal Service.

The felon-in-the-oval asked Xi if China wants to buy American weapons.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has justified the pending U.S. arms sale to Taiwan to Chinese President Xi Jinping by downplaying it as just one of many sales Washington makes around the world — even asking Xi if he’d be in the market for U.S. arms, Trump’s ambassador to China said on Sunday.

David Perdue said Trump raised the prospect of the arms sales from the U.S. to its ascendant geopolitical rival, an unlikely offer that if consummated would upend generations of U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan and potentially expose U.S. technology to a potential foe. Perdue, speaking to Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” days after Trump hosted Xi for a state visit in Washington, didn’t specify when the offer was made.

Bream had cited concerns from Republican and Democratic lawmakers over delayed aid packages and weapons orders to Taiwan, the self-ruled democracy, to defend itself from China’s threat to invade the island. Bream asked if the U.S. is denying arms to Taiwan to appease the Chinese president, who visited Trump last week.

How impeachment proceedings over this alone have not already begun is beyond me.

If you build it, the felon’s fans will come ruin the national park.

Major League Baseball has approached the Trump administration about hosting a game at a national park, officials from the White House and MLB confirmed Saturday.

The administration has scouted locations in Grand Teton National Park to build a baseball park to host an MLB game, according to two other people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Grand Teton is the country’s eighth-most-visited national park and is famous for its breathtaking views of the Teton Range of the Rocky Mountains. National parks are among the country’s most protected federal lands, and constructing a sports facility at Grand Teton could set a new precedent for the use of vast national park land in the Western United States.

Of course the only question I have is the obvious one. What’s in it for the felon?

[Gyrate]

@Monty

“There’s still obviously litigation going on, but the important thing, Martha, is to know that … being in the White House is a privilege. It’s not a right.”

Blanche is unintentionally correct here. Just not in the way he thinks.

[Horatius]

@smithsb

I wonder what the ASL (sign language) interpreter was signing?

There was a comedy bit many years ago, when they first started having such interpreters shown on TV. As the politician was talking, they started off translating legitimately, but by the end, they just kept doing the “jerking off” motion.

[Horatius]

@ricepad

“Some say it’s the best smallpox. In fact, our smallpox is so great, it’s not small anymore. People say it’s the biggest pox ever. With giant muscles.”

“And someone told me, this pox was so strong, it could be on both houses at once! I called it “A pox on both your houses”, a phrase I just came up with, no one had ever heard that before.”

[Just_Asking_Questions]

@Monty

Of course the only question I have is the obvious one

Who wants to go to a baseball game in Wyoming, and what customer base do they think they’ll have? Yeah, mine, too.

@Horatius

but by the end, they just kept doing the “jerking off” motion.

Airplane!

[Smapti]

@Smapti

Trump’s dementia has run into his need to be the “best” at everything.

Case in point: “We have the best murder.”

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)

[ZipperJJ]

Donald Trump gives update on $5,000 dividend promise

“Because of tariffs, we are taking in hundreds of billions of dollars of profits. It’s one of the reasons I can offer, if Republicans win the House and the Senate, $5,000 to every adult. And we can do it in the Democrats can’t, because the Democrats don’t have any income, and they’re gonna drive us in a depression. They won’t have any money.”

[Dr.Drake]

How’s this, DJT: first you get me my $5 K, and then I’ll promise to vote for a Republican, being every bit as honest and serious as you are when you promise you’ll do something in the near future.

[Sherrerd]

@Monty

Of course the only question I have is the obvious one. What’s in it for the felon?

This is Donald’s actual area of expertise: he knows guys (in the construction industry). Guys who are practiced in padding the invoices and payroll and raking off Donald’s share.

It doesn’t matter if the Guys have any knowledge of the actual construction situation for which they’re hired (such as putting up Luxury Bleachers in a national park). What matters is Donald getting his piece.

[Railer13]

From Monty’s link:

Major League Baseball has approached the Trump administration about hosting a game at a national park

Really? Why would MLB do this? The Field Of Dreams ballpark took two years to build…and holds a whopping 8,000 fans if temporary bleachers are brought in.

IMO, this makes no sense from MLB’s point of view.

[Gatopescado]

It’s another Sports-Wank Fantasy for Orange Foolius.

[Wheelz]

@Railer13

Really? Why would MLB do this?

It’s true that MLB has been actively exploring alternative venues over the past several years - including the Field of Dreams games, Rickwood Field, and Bristol speedway. Even if the venue is smaller than an MLB stadium, they make boatloads in TV revenue.

But, I’m still quite skeptical that MLB came to them with the hare-brained National Park idea.

[Monty]

@ZipperJJ

“Because of tariffs, we are taking in hundreds of billions of dollars of profits. It’s one of the reasons I can offer, if Republicans win the House and the Senate, $5,000 to every adult. And we can do it in the Democrats can’t, because the Democrats don’t have any income, and they’re gonna drive us in a depression. They won’t have any money.”

And yet the rubes still don’t grok that profit the government is making is coming from them. It’s the worst shell game of all time.

Advertisement of the felon, by the felon, and for the felon…at taxpayer expense.

The federal government has spent at least $1.7 million to air three different TV ads featuring President Donald Trump in recent days, according to an estimate from AdImpact, which tracks and analyzes political ad spending across television, digital and connected TV channels.

Critics say the ads could violate federal propaganda law. The White House has defended them as “public service announcements” and drawn comparisons to past examples of administrations that created PSA’s to highlight new drug coverage under Medicare and signups for the Affordable Care Act exchanges.

The latest ad features Trump in monochrome, slowly walking down a hallway, describing “the final battle” against "the deep state,” “the globalists,” and “the sick political class that hates our country.”

The president is seen glaring directly at the camera as his voiceover vows to “rout the fake news media” and “liberate America from these villains once and for all."

The same video was shared by Trump three years ago when he was out of office and a declared candidate for president. The audio is taken from a Trump campaign stop in Michigan in June 2023.

Yeah, that’ll pass the examen olfactif trotting out a literal campaign advertisement and asserting it is not a campaign advertisement.

Evidently MAGA = Make A G-man Abscond.

Andrew Bailey, FBI co-deputy director who was once widely viewed as a potential successor to FBI Director Kash Patel, is resigning, he announced Monday.

His resignation takes effect Oct. 2, multiple sources said. In an email to agents Monday morning and a post on X about his resignation, Bailey cited family reasons. In an X post, Patel thanked Bailey for “his fantastic contribution instituting critical reforms.”

Bailey was previously the Missouri attorney general who was brought in to help ease reported tensions between former Attorney General Pam Bondi and former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. He was elevated to co-deputy, a position that had always been filled by a career staffer. It marked the first time that the job was split between two people.

From the outset, Bailey’s relationship with Patel was troubled. Initially, Bailey was not invited to meetings, according to two sources familiar with their dynamic, with one adding that Patel instructed staff to refer to him as director, to Bongino as deputy director and Bailey as co-deputy director.

The sources added that Patel consistently kept Bailey at arm’s length and cut him out of meetings the deputy FBI director should attend because Bailey was constantly flagging things that were unconstitutional.

The cruelty is the point, as always.

Washington — The Trump administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to revive for now a Bureau of Prisons policy cutting off certain medical interventions and social accommodations for transgender inmates.

The Justice Department’s emergency appeal stems from a federal district court order issued last month that continued to prohibit the Bureau of Prisons from enforcing its new rules against any inmate who is or will be diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

The judge overseeing a challenge to the policy, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, ordered the Trump administration to continue providing medical care to a class of transgender inmates.

A group of inmates diagnosed with gender dysphoria filed a lawsuit last year after President Trump issued an executive order at the start of his second term that prohibited the use of federal funds for medical procedures or treatments for transgender inmates within the federal Bureau of Prisons system. On the heels of that directive, the bureau issued new guidance that prohibited staff from granting requests for clothing accommodations for those inmates and barred the use of federal dollars for medical interventions.

The Bureau of Prisons then issued a new policy in February that it said was independent of Mr. Trump’s executive order. Under those rules, the agency would continue providing mental health services for inmates diagnosed with gender dysphoria, but would not provide surgeries, hormone therapy or social accommodations, like chest binders, wigs or breast padding, to address gender dysphoria.

The felon really does hate facts about Canada.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that Canada has an issue with its unemployment rate as he criticizes America’s northern neighbor amid the ongoing trade war.

Revisiting the claims last week, Trump insisted Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government was “destroying” Canada with its immigration policies that he said were “causing problems.” It’s “already showing up in their numbers,” he said on Sept. 23. “Big unemployment.” Trump had made similar claims in August, amid the collapse of U.S.-Canada trade negotiations. “Canada’s unemployment rate is now at 10%, and rapidly rising. Their businesses are fleeing for the U.S., and it’s all because of their failed policies, and inept leadership,” he falsely argued.

Trump’s focus on Canada’s unemployment figures comes amid a prolonged trade standoff between his Administration and Carney’s government. Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods took effect earlier this month, with Carney matching the economic pressure imposed by the U.S. Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada, stoked tensions by signing an Executive Order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America.” The U.S. import bans on certain Canadian products, largely centered on alcohol and dairy, are due to take effect Tuesday. Carney, meanwhile, is focusing on strengthening international alliances, including pursuing efforts for Canada to become the E.U.'s first “associate member,” in a bid to reduce the country’s economic reliance on the U.S.

As Trump targets Canada’s unemployment rate, here’s what the data says about how the Canadian economy is currently faring.

Canada’s economy lost 42,000 jobs in August, a decrease of 0.2%, according to the country’s Labor Force Survey released on Sept. 4. The figure came in well below reported consensus expectations for a 15k gain.

The losses were concentrated in areas such as business, building, other support services, natural resources, and utilities. The number of public sector employees fell by 20,000 (0.4%), down for the third consecutive month.

Joseph Steinberg, a professor of economics at the University of Toronto, says several factors could be contributing to the job losses, including Canada’s slowing population growth.

Data from Statistics Canada shows the population of Canada reached an estimated 41,798,407 people on July 1, 2026, an increase of 189,425 people from July 1, 2025. This marked the “lowest annual July-to-July (or June to June before 1946) growth in the total size of the population since 1944/1945.”

Despite the job losses, Canada’s unemployment rate in August remained steady at 6.4%, following three consecutive monthly declines from May through July. The unemployment rate is lower in comparison to August 2025, when it stood at 7.1%.

Meanwhile, the employment rate in Canada—the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who are employed—decreased slightly, from 60.9% to 60.8%.

Canada “does not currently have an unemployment problem,” says Steinberg, reflecting on the data.

“Broadly speaking, the labor market in Canada is doing just fine. The unemployment rate is relatively stable,” he adds. “Trump is [also] ranting about immigration as a big problem, but right now Canada’s immigration rate is actually quite low.”

So, not 10%, but just a touch over 6%.

The felon’s new genius idea: another pool!

As President Donald Trump fights in court to ban particular news organizations from the White House, he suggested converting the White House press briefing room back to the indoor pool built during Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s tenure in “The People’s House.”

Over the weekend, shortly after barring CNN from Air Force One for a trip to a college football game in Tennessee, Trump posted an image on Truth Social that labeled the briefing room “Fake News Before” and a gilded depiction of a newly renovated “FDR Pool After.”

Is there ever any news of competency out of the Pentagon today?

A breach of the Pentagon’s sprawling personnel database exposed sensitive information belonging to a massive swath of military personnel, including Social Security numbers and details about the jobs they held, according to a U.S. defense official.

The breach affected 2.76 million living people and another 294,000 who are deceased, the official said. The scope and sensitivity of the exposed information could raise national security concerns, particularly because the files included details about the jobs performed by military and civilian personnel.

“A Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) information system experienced unauthorized access of personally identifiable information by a small number of unauthorized users between October 2025 and July 2026. Upon discovery, DMDC immediately remediated the vulnerability,” the official said.

The Defense Manpower Data Center serves as one of the Pentagon’s main repositories for personnel records, holding information on active-duty and reserve troops, civilian employees, contractors, retirees, veterans and military family members.

Dysministration still ripping off people’s work and names.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins said he did not give the Department of Homeland Security permission to use his name or highlights in a recent social media video.

Dawkins responded on Monday, one day after the DHS posted a highlight video of his with the caption “Our time has come” in reference to a purported migrant caravan headed to the southern border. The DHS said in a statement that it is actively tracking a group of migrants that left Honduras in recent days, and that it is “playing lockdown defense” at the border.

Dawkins, while not addressing the video specifically, made it known he had nothing to do with the post.

“Alright let’s be clear, let’s be clear. I didn’t give permission for my name, image and likeness to be used by anybody, alright? By anybody,” Dawkins said in a video. “Take a deep breath. Take a deep breath. Y’all be blessed.”

The NFL asked the government to take down the video on Monday, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed to The Associated Press. DHS general counsel James Percival responded to the request on social media with a “Bugs Bunny” meme that made it clear they wouldn’t do so.

LGBTQ+? Don’t expect any Title IX protections from the government.

The Education Department announced Monday it has formally rescinded the Biden-era Title IX interpretation that gave sex-based discrimination protections to students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Schools now must go back to the Title IX code as held under the previous Trump administration in 2020, which the department says will protect women’s sports.

“Thanks to today’s action, the published Title IX regulations faithfully reflect court orders and Congressional intent — reducing confusion for parents, students, and educational institutions. We will continue to relentlessly champion equal opportunity for all Americans and hold accountable any school or college that violates the rights, privacy, or athletic opportunities of our women and girls,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.

[CalMeacham]

“We’re sorry if we gave anybody the wrong impression”

Trump Is Finally Admitting His War Against Iran Is Not Over And He Has Not Won It

After having claimed dozens of times during the spring and summer that his war against Iran was effectively over and that he had won it, President Donald Trump is now admitting that neither assertion was true.

For the second time in as many days, Trump on Monday said his war that began seven months ago today is still ongoing. “We’re going to win that war very soon,” he told reporters during an Oval Office photo opportunity.

Trump Is Finally Admitting His War Against Iran Is Not Over And He Has Not...

[Dr.Drake]

I wish people would stop parsing his words for meaning as if he spoke with intent. Yes, that’s the correct interpretation of what those words mean; no, it’s not a window into Trump’s mind. He does not do consistency or accuracy.

[bobot]

That’s true. It’s the same reason that Trump claimed that “we” have been watching those recently arrested guys at the English air base. He’s just speaking reflexively, defensively, thoughtlessly and meaninglessly.

[Great_Antibob]

Well, he does speak with intent. But no matter the topic at hand, the intent is usually “what serves my interests the most and makes me look smart/strong?”