September 8, 2025

 

 

~~~ Michael Gold of the New York Times: “A key congressional committee on Monday obtained a note and sexually suggestive drawing apparently signed by Donald J. Trump and included in a book for the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003 — a drawing that Mr. Trump has insisted is fake. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee ... posted a photo of it on their official social media account.... Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee, said in a statement[,] It’s time for the president to tell us the truth about what he knew and release all the Epstein files.' White House officials denied that the image was created by the president.... But several pieces of personal correspondence reviewed by The New York Times that Mr. Trump signed with just his first name decades ago, closer to the time period of the birthday book, look remarkably similar to the signature on the drawing, with more distinct individual letters and a long tail of ink at the end of the final 'd' in “Donald.”

Trump Says Domestic Violence Isn't Serious -- at the Museum of the Bible. Really. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: Donald “Trump suggested on Monday that offenses that 'take place in the home' should not count against his record of crime reduction in Washington.... During remarks at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, Mr. Trump made a series of false statements about the level of crime in the nation’s capital.... The president claimed without evidence that there was now zero crime in Washington. While crime is, in fact, declining in the capital — and Washington’s mayor has credited the federal law enforcement surge with contributing to the decline — there are still robberies, assaults and thefts occurring on a daily basis. On Sunday alone, there was a homicide, six motor vehicle thefts, two assaults with a deadly weapon, four robberies and more than 30 thefts, according to police statistics....

“While Mr. Trump has made such false claims before, on Monday he sounded particularly aggrieved that domestic violence crimes were counting against him. 'Things that take place in the home they call crime,' he said. 'They’ll do anything they can to find something. If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say this was a crime scene.' Those comments provoked quick criticism. 'Just a casual dismissal of domestic violence as a crime,' Sarah Longwell, a longtime Republican political strategist, wrote on social media.” ~~~

~~~ Connect the Dots. There's a direct line between Trump's treatment of E. Jean Carroll -- the original assault AND the more recent incidents of defamation -- and his expressed belief that domestic violence shouldn't be a crime. ~~~

~~~ Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: “A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a $83.3 million jury award against ... [Donald] Trump for defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll in 2019, after she accused him of a decades-old rape in a Manhattan department store — an attack for which he was separately found liable of sexual abuse. The court also rejected Mr. Trump’s argument that the Supreme Court’s decision last year affording presidential immunity for official acts barred a finding of liability in Ms. Carroll’s lawsuit. The unsigned ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan was unanimous. The president had assailed Ms. Carroll after she accused him of the assault, continuing his verbal attacks on her on social media, at news conferences and even during the trial, during which Ms. Carroll’s lawyers had urged the jury to impose a large award in order to stop him.”

The Supremes Are on a Trump Roll Today: 

(1) Adios, Amigos. “You Just Look Illegal.” Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: “A divided Supreme Court on Monday lifted a ruling by a lower-court judge who placed limits on immigration raids in the Los Angeles area after finding federal agents were indiscriminately targeting people based on race and other factors. The justices sided with the Trump administration, which argued that a temporary restraining order issued by a federal judge in California was hampering its ability to crack down on illegal migration and that the stops by authorities were not unlawful. The majority did not offer a rationale for the decision, which is common in cases decided on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh wrote in a concurring opinion that illegal immigration is a major issue in the Los Angeles area. He opined that race can be considered along with other factors in forming reasonable suspicion to stop someone for an immigration check, such as where people are gathering and what jobs they are working.

“The court’s three liberal justices sharply dissented. 'We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job,' Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the dissent. 'Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent.'” MB: Pappy John & His Band of Whistlin' Minstrels are carryin' us on back to the glory days of the Taney court and Dred Scott. 

(2) Josh Gerstein of Politico: “Chief Justice John Roberts is allowing ... Donald Trump to put a Joe Biden-appointed member of the Federal Trade Commission out of her post while the Supreme Court considers a longer-term resolution of the legal battle over her firing. Roberts issued a one-page administrative stay Monday that temporarily set aside a federal appeals court’s ruling last week reinstating FTC member Rebecca Slaughter to her position.”

Marie: Mike Johnson is backpedaling as fast as he can. Last week he told reporters that Trump "was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down," the "stuff" being Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse and trafficking of young girls. Sunday his office released a statement that read, in part: 'The Speaker is reiterating what the victims’ attorney said, which is that Donald Trump — who kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago — was the only one more than a decade ago willing to help prosecutors expose Epstein for being a disgusting child predator.'...” WashPo story linked below. Now, we have this update: ~~~

     ~~~ Meredith Hill of Politico: “Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday revised his claim last week that ... Donald Trump was an 'FBI informant' in the Jeffrey Epstein case, telling reporters that he possibly didn’t use the 'right terminology.' 'What I was referring to in that long conversation was what the victims’ attorney said more than a decade ago,' Johnson said, adding that Trump 'kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago' and was generally helpful in law enforcement investigations of the convicted sex offender.” Okay then.

Allison McCann of the New York Times: “...  a growing number of county jails and other local facilities ... now house a sizable chunk of ICE detainees, many of whom have never been charged with a crime. The agency’s use of these facilities has more than doubled since ... [Donald] Trump took office, and jails held about 10 percent of all detainees, or 7,100 people, on average, each day in July.... Many sheriffs are eager to assist in Mr. Trump’s mass deportation plans — and to shore up their budgets — by offering up their beds.... Legal groups and immigrant advocates say local jails are ill-equipped to house immigrants, whose needs for legal, language and medical services are often different from those of other inmates. Inspections at some local facilities have turned up violations of ICE standards....”

Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to allow it to freeze billions of dollars in foreign aid, potentially setting up the biggest test yet of the president’s bid to assert sweeping authority over federal spending. The emergency filing in the rapidly moving case comes after a federal appeals court upheld a preliminary injunction requiring Trump officials to spend the money for food, medicine and development assistance before it begins to expire at the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30.Since beginning his second term in January..., Donald Trump has claimed broad powers to refuse to spend congressionally allocated money for transportation projects, health research, education, 'sanctuary cities' and more, saying the spending was wasteful or not aligned with the administration’s values.”

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David Waldstein of the New York Times: “There was little demonstrable cheering or booing when Mr. Trump entered the main seating area [of Arthur Ashe Stadium] at 2:30 p.m. for the national anthem. But when he was shown on the video screens, fans unleashed a loud round of mostly boos, with some cheers mixed in. The president was on the screens only briefly, as he stood and saluted.” (Also linked yesterday.) The Huffington Post's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Will Weissert of the AP: “... Donald Trump was loudly booed at the men’s final of the U.S. Open on Sunday, where extra security caused by his visit led to lines long enough that many people missed the start of play, even after organizers delayed it.” ~~~

Here's Heather Cox Richardson on Warmonger Don: “...  this open attack of the president on an American city is a new level of unhinged. Mehdi Hasan of Zeteo wrote: 'The president of the United States just declared war, actual military war, not a metaphorical one, on a major American city, and one governed by his political opponents.' He added, accurately: 'In any other period, this would be impeachment-worthy.'... Trump’s threats against American citizens are outrageous, but they also feel desperate.” See related links on yesterday's page. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Erica Green of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Sunday attempted to downplay his social media post that appeared to threaten to declare war on Chicago, saying that he merely wanted to “clean up” the city. Speaking to reporters before he departed the White House for the U.S. Open, Mr. Trump addressed his post from Saturday in which he invoked his newly rebranded name for the Pentagon with an image that included helicopters, billowing flames and the Chicago skyline. 'Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,' read the post, titled 'Chipocalypse Now,' a reference to the 1979 war movie 'Apocalypse Now.'... The post was an alarming escalation in Mr. Trump’s quest to continue deploying the military on U.S. soil in the name of cracking down on crime and illegal immigration.... On Sunday, when asked whether he was 'threatening to go to war with Chicago,' Mr. Trump called it 'fake news,' and chastised the reporter when she asked why he would use the Department of Defense.” MB: Yup. Definitely the reporter's mistake.

Paul Krugman: "Donald Trump did learn something during his 1^st term. He learned never to hire anyone who shows the least shred of integrity.... Now he knows to only hire people who are corrupt, bigoted, dishonest, or all three. And Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, clearly satisfies Trump II’s requirements. His recent attacks on the Federal Reserve, part of Trump’s campaign to destroy the Fed’s independence, are vile, underhanded and sleazy." Krugman elaborates at length, after taking a jab at E.J. Antoni, Trump's vile pick to replace the well-qualified director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. ~~~

~~~ But, Paul, Bessent Is a Tough Guy. Rachel Bade of Politico in Politico Magazine: “A private dinner [last Wednesday] attended by dozens of administration officials and close advisers to ... Donald Trump was temporarily marred by a dramatic clash between two of Trump’s top economic officials, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at one point threatening to punch top housing finance official Bill Pulte 'in the fucking face.'... The Treasury secretary had heard from several people that the Federal Housing Finance Agency director had been badmouthing him to Trump.... 'Why the fuck are you talking to the president about me? Fuck you,' Bessent told Pulte [during the cocktail hour]. 'I’m gonna punch you in your fucking face.'... The confrontation — which one Trump insider called 'bonkers' and another called 'unhinged['] [and which continued until another person was able to break it up] — underscores the surprising tensions between top Trump officials tasked with working on the nation’s most sensitive economic matters.”

Joshua Partlow & Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: “House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) on Sunday backed off his claim that ... Donald Trump was an FBI informant in the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.... Last week, Johnson told reporters on Capitol Hill that Trump cares deeply about the crimes Epstein committed and said that Trump 'was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down.' On Sunday, his office released a statement modifying that claim[:] 'The Speaker is reiterating what the victims’ attorney said, which is that Donald Trump — who kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago — was the only one more than a decade ago willing to help prosecutors expose Epstein for being a disgusting child predator.'...” MB: Uh, what? Trump “helped prosecutors” but he's not “an FBI informant”? It sounds like Mikey got called to the woodshed for implicating Trump as a snitch -- or something -- but Bible Mike is unwilling to retract his earlier remark. 

David Enrich, et al., of the New York Times: “A Times investigation found that America’s leading bank [--JPMorgan Chase --] spent years supporting — and profiting from — the notorious sex offender [Jeffrey Epstein], ignoring red flags, suspicious activity and concerned executives.... [CEO] Jamie Dimon has said he did not 'recall knowing anything about Jeffrey Epstein' until 2019, even though his subordinates were fighting over whether to keep him as a client.” This is a gift link. 

Pablo Monsivais & Farnoush Amiri of the AP: “Law enforcement officials on Sunday removed a peace vigil that had stood outside the White House for more than four decades after ... Donald Trump ordered it to be taken down as part of the clearing of homeless encampments in the nation’s capital. Philipos Melaku-Bello, a volunteer who has manned the vigil for years, told The Associated Press that the Park Police removed it early Sunday morning. He said officials justified the removal by mislabeling the memorial as a shelter.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Chandelis Duster of NPR: "Postal traffic to the U.S. has fallen significantly after the Trump administration suspended a trade exemption rule in late August, according to a global postal union. The U.N.'s Universal Postal Union (UPU) said the global postal network saw postal traffic enroute to the U.S. 'come to a near halt' after Aug. 29, 2025, when the 'de minimis' trade exemption that allowed small packages worth less than $800 to be exempt from tariffs ended. Data between postal operators shows that traffic dropped 81% on Aug. 29 compared to a week earlier, the union said. The UPU also said it is working on ways to get traffic flowing back to the country."

Trump/GOP Budget Coming to Your State Soon. Yasmeen Abutaleb & Maeve Reston of the Washington Post: “States are scrambling to prepare for an unprecedented shift of costs and responsibilities under ... Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending plan, which will force them to make difficult decisions about cuts to state programs to offset the new financial burdens. Unlike the federal government, states must balance their budgets each year. That means deep cuts and changes to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will require state legislatures and governors to cope with hundreds of millions of dollars in new costs each year. 'There’s not a single state that has the resources to make up for this. You cannot backfill it,' Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore said in an interview. 'The federal government is now literally saying to the states, “You are now on your own.”’”

Marie: This is sad. I didn't recognize her, but apparently Trump's press secretary, Karoline Levitt, who is 28 years old, and was quite pretty, IMO, has decided to adopt the "Mar-a-Lago look" -- think Lara Trump, Kimberly Guifoyle, Kristi Noem. So, according to the Internets, this is what she looks like now. Speculation is that she has had plastic surgery -- rhinoplasty & lip enhancement -- to change her appearance.

 

This is what Levitt has looked like in previous iterations:

 

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Israel. Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: “A shooting attack on Monday morning on the northern outskirts of Jerusalem left at least five people dead and several more seriously wounded, according to Israel’s ambulance service. The police described the shooting as a terrorist attack and said that the perpetrators had been 'neutralized' at the scene. According to local news reports, two gunmen fired on a public bus that had stopped at a busy junction and shot at the passengers.”