June 5, 2026

Paul Krugman: "... a funny thing happened to Trump’s attempt to hand Ukraine over to his comrade in thuggery [Vladimir Putin]: the war has turned in Ukraine’s favor.... [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, it turns out, does have quite a few cards, while Trump has far fewer cards than he imagined. Before Trump, we were also a nation almost universally regarded as essential.... But by breaking decades’ worth of international agreements — not to mention threatening allies and betraying Ukraine — Trump quickly forfeited the world’s trust. By failing so spectacularly against Iran, a far weaker military power, Trump has dispelled much of the world’s fear. And now the fact that the world is managing economically despite Trump’s tariffs, while Ukraine is surviving despite Trump’s attempt to cut it off at the knees, has revealed that we are much less essential than everyone assumed." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll admit I sense in myself more than a touch of conspiratorial lunacy when I wonder if Trump is making all these international policy "mistakes" on purpose. But it often does seem that few can be as stupid as Trump presents himself, so maybe he is a very high-placed Russian agent who is intentionally sabotaging the United States. I don't write this with any sort of certainty, but it's something I consider every time I read about another thing Trump has done to diminish the power & prestige of this nation.   

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wieders'hen, Good Night. Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: “The Kennedy Center on Thursday ordered employees to remove ... Donald Trump’s name from the performing arts venue, telling staff members in a memo from its general counsel that they have until June 12 to strip all references from signs, brochures, the website and other materials — and to update email signatures and letterhead immediately. The directive came six days after U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center’s board had exceeded its authority when it voted in December to add Trump’s name to the center. The memo was the first indication that the Kennedy Center plans to comply with Cooper’s order.” MB: Sounds like a fun watch party is in order. Dibs on the “M”! (Also linked yesterday.) Here's an AP story.

The Arc de Trump Is a Dangerous, Half-Baked Monstrosity. But Trump Has Put His Pudgy Thumb on the Scale. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: Donald “Trump's plan to build a 250-foot arch in Washington is up for review on Thursday by a federal planning commission, which will consider whether the structure could disrupt flight patterns or violate laws restricting the height of buildings in the nation’s capital. The National Capital Planning Commission, which is led by allies of Mr. Trump, has received nearly 1,700 public comments about the proposed triumphal arch, almost all of which opposed it. Staff at the commission have also raised several issues about Mr. Trump’s plan. Aside from their concerns about the flight pattern and height issues, members of the panel have said the president’s proposal lacks adequate information about building materials, proposed lighting and storm water management compliance, according to a document prepared by the group before Thursday’s meeting. The commission is the federal government’s planning agency for the Washington, D.C., region, but Republicans and employees of Mr. Trump control a majority of the votes on the panel.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Story Has Been Updated. OR, Gosh, I Rival the Oracle of Delphi for Calling This One. A federal planning commission on Thursday advanced ... [Donald] Trump’s plan to build a 250-foot arch in Washington, even after receiving overwhelming public opposition to the project.... Will Scharf, who also serves as Mr. Trump’s White House staff secretary... [said], 'I think that it is fitting and proper that we commemorate the 250th anniversary of our great republic with a suitable piece of monumental architecture.'” MB: The commission’s chairman, Will Scharf, is the little guy who hands executive orders to Trump and explains to Trump what-all is in each order as he hands it off. The president* accepts the folder with a look of utter bewilderment. He occasionally says vaguely, "That's a big one." It's always a farcical moment, capturing the essence of an administration lost i n the space between Trump's ears. ~~~

     ~~~ Scharf Has a Great Excuse! Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: Commission Chairman “Will Scharf ... said that he had 'thought deeply' about whether the Height of Buildings Act, which was enacted in 1910 and intended to preserve the capital city’s historical views and character, should apply to the project.... 'I believe, speaking personally, that the best reading of the law is that the Height of Buildings Act is not applicable to federal construction.'... 'The Height Act clearly does apply to federal buildings,' said Emily Eig, a Washington-based architectural historian.” MB: Yes, but see, Scharf was merely “speaking personally” after “thinking deeply.” So, um, you can think deeply & speak personally -- and say something really stupid -- AND act officially -- where you do something really stupid that is consistent with  your really stupid personal remarks. It's a great system. 

~~~ Maybe the Next E.O. Will Rename the City “Trump, D.C.” Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Thursday announced his latest construction project in his campaign to remake Washington: a new walkway in the back of the Lincoln Memorial. 'We’re going to call it the promenade,' Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. 'They want to call it the Trump Promenade, but I don’t know if I want to do that. But it’s going to be beautiful. It’s a beautiful project, and it’s going to take the Lincoln Memorial right down to the Potomac.'” That's nice, you can visit the reflecting pool, gaze up at the Lincoln Memorial, then scoot around to the promenade, walk down to the Potomac and jump in -- like any citizen drowning himself in sorrow. Here's the Washington Post story. 

Rosebud. Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: “Post-election, professional athletes were doing 'the Trump dance.' Elite podcasters were playing nice. He rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange while standing beside a picture of his face on the cover of Time magazine’s Person of the Year issue. Carrie Underwood performed at his inauguration. The Capitol Rotunda that day was a bowl of mogul soup. 'Everybody wants to be my friend,' Mr. Trump marveled at his first news conference as president-elect.... [Today], Mr. Trump’s pop culture capital appears to be on the wane.... More than a decade into his political project, the onetime reality television star turned president remains fixated and often tortured by celebrity.... Mr. Trump, who turns 80 this month, has pursued fame his entire adult life. His dreams came true: He is the most famous person in the world. But much of what he did to achieve that mantle has meant that other famous people don’t want to associate with him.”

How Refreshing! Some Old-Fashioned Pay-to-Play Corruption. Arelis Hernandez, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration has sharply accelerated spending on border wall construction, issuing billion-dollar contracts that are the largest in the project’s history and potentially putting the president on track to fulfill his vision of a nearly complete land and water barrier with Mexico by the end of his second term. The Department of Homeland Security has awarded more than $16.3 billion in contracts in the past six months — compared with $2.1 billion from 2016 to 2024. Most of it has gone to two firms that have ties to the White House and the Republican Party, according to a Washington Post analysis.... What information is available shows that in some cases costs have already ballooned significantly.

“Kristi L. Noem, then the homeland security secretary, paved the way for a fivefold increase in border-barrier-related contracts after waiving dozens of environmental and contracting rules to fast-track border security projects with funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill.... More than 92 percent of all border wall spending over the past decade happened in 2025 and 2026.... Trump himself urged the military to hire the ... [biggest winner, Fisher Sand and Gravel].... The firm’s president and CEO is Tommy Fisher, a well-known GOP donor.... Campaign donation records show that Timothy Barnard, the chairman of Montana-based Barnard Construction [-- the second biggest winner --] is also a major Trump donor.” ~~~

~~~ Wait, Wait! There's Lots More. Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: “More than half of the publicly identified donors to ... Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project have won new or expanded federal contracts worth more than $50 billion during the past six months, according to a report released Thursday by a government watchdog group. Fourteen of the 27 known corporate donors to the $400 million project ... have seen their government business grow in that window, according to the report from Public Citizen, a nonprofit. Most of those same companies are also facing federal enforcement actions over alleged wrongdoing or have had such actions suspended by the Trump administration since the start of Trump’s second term, the nonprofit found.” The link is a gift link.

Josh Baak of the AP: “... Donald Trump said Thursday that federal housing finance regulator Bill Pulte, his pick for acting director of national intelligence, would not be his 'permanent' choice for the critical security post.... [Trump's] disclosure that he was ruling out installing Pulte in the position full-time came after bipartisan pushback on Capitol Hill in recent days over Pulte’s lack of national security experience. The position requires Senate confirmation, something that lawmakers indicated was unlikely if Pulte were the nominee. 'He’s not going to be permanent because, you know, I don’t think he’d want to be permanent,' Trump said while taking questions in the Oval Office... He ... said [Pulte] may look at past elections that Trump claims, without credible evidence, were 'rigged' against him.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: And there in a nutshell, is the whole point. Trump wants Pulte in there in an "acting" capacity -- where the law allows him to stay past the election -- so he can screw up the midterm elections. ~~~

     ~~~ Barbara McQuade, in an MS NOW opinion piece has more to say about Pulte's appointment, which appears to reflect "engineered incompetence." MB: She's being too kind.

Marie: Yesterday I linked to a NYT story with the lede: Donald “Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that strips job protections from nearly 8,000 federal workers who are in policy-making roles, making it easier for the administration to fire them.” We already know that everything Trump does is wrong. In yesterday's Comments, Patrick explained the core of what's wrong with essentially forcing these civil servants to become political hacks.  

How DHS Is Erasing Deaths. David MacMillan of the Washington Post: “As the number of immigrants dying in government custody rises, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is shrinking the scope of which deaths it will be required to report. In a memo sent to agency employees Thursday and reviewed by The Washington Post, acting director David Venturella said ICE is eliminating its requirement to report deaths that occur within 30 days of people being released from its custody. 'ICE is returning to the standard practice of reporting deaths that occur while an individual is in agency custody,' Venturella wrote in the memo.... The 30-day requirement was adopted in 2021, when President Joe Biden’s administration sought to hold ICE accountable for detainees released from its custody with serious medical conditions, said Deborah Fleischaker, who was acting chief of staff at the time.” ~~~

~~~ AND, Ironically, How Elon Planned to “Erase” People. Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration had plans to classify 2.7 million living people — including some U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents — as dead as part of its immigration enforcement efforts, according to a former senior Social Security executive. The previously unreported plan, which the Social Security Administration said was not carried out, would have used one of the government’s most consequential identity databases to effectively erase people from the financial system, potentially cutting them off from wages, banking, government benefits and other services.

“Jeremiah Schofield, who worked at Social Security for 25 years and helped lead the agency’s IT modernization efforts before leaving in October, said he refused to help implement the plan after agency lawyers warned that falsely marking living people as dead could violate federal law. Schofield said he realized the plan’s possible intent — to intimidate and worsen the finances of immigrants — as well as its potential unlawfulness after taking a sample of people from the 2.7 million and discovering they were all alive.... [Schofield's] whistleblower disclosure ... offers the most detailed account yet of how officials from Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service sought to use Social Security data in service of ... Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.”  

The plea agreement set up with John Bolton makes clear that Fat Hitler knows for a 100% true fact that sneaking off with secret documents is a CRIME. But only others can be held liable for it. He has total immunity, thanks so much, John Roberts, you incredible asshole. -- Akhilleus, in yesterday's Comments ~~~ 

~~~ Bolton Makes a Deal. Devlin Barrett & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: “John R. Bolton, a national security adviser to ... [Donald] Trump in his first term, has reached a tentative deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to mishandling classified information when he compiled notes for a book that was harshly critical of the president, according to two people familiar with the matter.... Under the terms of the plea deal, which still requires approval from a judge, Mr. Bolton plans to plead guilty to a single count of illegal retention of classified information and pay a fine, facing anywhere from no prison time to five years of incarceration when he is sentenced.... If Mr. Bolton had gone to trial and lost, he could have faced decades in prison. The plea would provide [Mr.] Trump perhaps his most significant victory in his campaign to prosecute his perceived enemies, which so far has largely foundered once cases hit the courts.” Thanks to RAS for the lead. Update: I've changed the link to one that appears to be a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) An AP story is here.

Theodoric Meyer & Jarrell Dillard of the Washington Post: “The Senate rejected an initial effort Thursday to bar the Trump administration from creating a controversial fund to compensate people who claim they were wrongfully prosecuted or investigated. Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Jon Husted (Ohio) and Dan Sullivan (Alaska) joined Democrats in voting for the amendment, which failed 50-49. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) did not vote. The vote was the first of several expected attempts to amend legislation that Republicans are seeking to pass Thursday to fund federal immigration enforcement agencies — as a way to guarantee that the Trump administration cannot set up such a payout fund.” MB: All three Republicans who voted with Democrats are running for re-election this year. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Annie Karni & Robert Jimison of the New York Times: “Republicans on Friday rammed through their $70 billion bill to fund ... [Donald] Trump’s immigration crackdown through the remainder of his term, after beating back bipartisan efforts to add language killing his plan to create a payout fund. The vote early Friday morning sent the measure to the House, which was expected to move quickly to pass it. It was a victory for the president and his party, who have been eager to spotlight their hard-line immigration stance — and Democrats’ opposition to it — in the middle of an election year when their control of Congress is at stake.... The bill was passed after an hourslong series of back-to-back votes in which Democrats sought to force Republicans to take politically tricky votes on unpopular moves the president has made, including the fund; his White House ballroom project; and his decision to name the housing secretary Bill Pulte as the nation’s top intelligence official.” ~~~

     ~~~ Mary Jalonick & Joey Cappelletti of the AP: “The final vote came just before 5 a.m., after Republicans narrowly defeated multiple attempts by Democrats and Republicans to add language to the bill that would permanently ban Trump’s settlement fund for political allies who believe they have been politically persecuted.” The NBC News report is here. MB: There's nothing in the bill about Trump's slush fund, but by defeating all the proposed amendments that would disallow or at least radically alter it, they effectively greenlighted it. They Always Chicken Out. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, Across the Hall. Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: “As grocery prices continue to rise nationally, the House on Thursday passed an appropriations bill that would cut funding for a program that helps pregnant women and children purchase healthy foods. By a vote of 213-210, the House passed an appropriations measure to fund the Agriculture Department among other agencies. The bill, which the Senate has yet to consider, aims to cut about 1.5 percent from overall federal agriculture spending in fiscal 2027, according to Republicans. Four House Democrats voted with Republicans to pass the measure, while five Republicans voted against it.... The National WIC Association, an advocacy group for public health nutrition providers, estimated that the bill would reduce monthly fruit and vegetable benefits from $52 to $13 for breastfeeding mothers and from $26 to $10 for young children.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Four Democrats, Hakeem? They flipped the results. What happened? 

By Nick Anderson, the Contrarian.

 ~~~ The funny thing is, the cartoon offended racists. Digby pulls out some winger reactions. Thanks to RAS for the link.

Annals of “Journalism,” Ctd. Dan Rather & Team: “For anyone who watches the next season of '60 Minutes' this fall, understand this: It is not the '60 Minutes' we have all come to trust and respect. It will be a diminished, Trump-approved version. There is a tendency to view this as a story about journalism and corporate finance. But more than anything it is about big business in bed with big politics to monopolize news for their benefit, not for the country as a whole.... The president and the corporate billionaires who curry his favor have eviscerated the best news program in the world, one that I called home for many years.”

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Arkansas Sheriff's Race. They Do Things Different in Arkansas. Pooja Salhotra of the New York Times: “A judge on Thursday dismissed a murder charge against Aaron Spencer, an Arkansas man who won the Republican nomination for a county sheriff seat this year and was soon scheduled to stand trial for the shooting of a man accused of sexually assaulting Mr. Spencer’s daughter. In his order, Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. said he was dismissing the second-degree murder charge because law enforcement officials had lost dashboard camera footage that might have shown the fatal encounter. In doing so, they violated Mr. Spencer’s due process rights, he said.... According to court documents, Mr. Spencer admitted that he had shot Michael Fosler, who was charged with sexually assaulting Mr. Spencer’s daughter, who was 13 at the time.... In March, Mr. Spencer won the Republican primary for Lonoke County sheriff over an incumbent whose office had arrested Mr. Spencer.”

California Elections Results. Jill Cowan & Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times update the results as ballots are still being counted.

Maine Senate Race. Katie Glueck & Lisa Lerer of the New York Times: “In interviews with The New York Times on Wednesday, several women ... describ[ed] [Democratic Senate candidate Graham] Platner as a fun and caring partner, and saying they felt safe with him. Some remain friends with him to this day, years after their relationships ended. But in extensive conversations over the past two months, three other women who had been romantically involved with Mr. Platner offered a far more complicated assessment, describing volatile and 'toxic' relationships that were unsettling and at times emotionally wrenching. Mr. Platner could be charming and charismatic, they recalled in interviews, but also demeaning to women and, in at least one case, even physically threatening. He drank heavily and was regularly unfaithful. Lyndsey Fifield, 40, a Virginia conservative who has worked for right-leaning groups and Republican campaigns, recalled him as /cavalierly contemptuous of women’s emotions, of our “weakness.’”” Update: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: While I am troubled by the sexting messages because they are recent, these newest claims don't bother me much, particular because Fifield -- who made the most troubling allegations -- is a GOP operative. In fact, the person who raised the sexting incidents -- Genevieve McDonald -- was supposedly working for the Platner campaign but instead betrayed the confidences of Platner's wife Amy Gertner:  McDonald prompted Gertner to tell all as part of a ruse that she was conducting oppo research "for the campaign." So there's some GOP stuff going on here, and it looks fishy to me. And Glueck & Lerer's piece seems somewhat reminiscent of the Times' relentless, over-the-top pursuit of Hillary's emails. I may be wrong about all this. ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux, in LG&$, disagrees with me and he links to articles by two writers who (a) for one reason or another I can't access, but (b) probably fundamentally disagree with me, too. I also agree with much of what Lemieux wrote; I just think maybe he's a bit too credulous of at least one woman who definitely has an "agenda" which may compromise her claims. Spurned lovers are not the best witnesses, and campaign plants are obviously duplicitous. ~~~ 

      ~~~ Tim Balk of the New York Times: “Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, appeared Thursday night in his first interview since a New York Times report about his treatment of several women he had dated, denying one woman’s account that he had physically harmed her and saying he would not drop out of the race. In a nearly 25-minute appearance on MS Now’s 'All In With Chris Hayes,' Mr. Platner said that he would 'absolutely' take responsibility for elements of his personal history. He described a history of self-medicating, and a pattern of 'not exactly acting with the best behavior' after his service in the military. But he reiterated that any allegations that he had behaved violently toward a girlfriend were 'simply not true.'” An AP report is here.

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Albania. Fjori Sinoruka & Sammy Westfall of the Washington Post: “Thousands of Albanians are protesting a luxury resort planned for a pristine strip of the Mediterranean coastline and backed by ... Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner. The protests, raising concerns about conservation, transparency and the project’s ties to the Trump family, began Sunday, after heavy machinery started working on the project, which has two parts: one beachfront development along the Adriatic coast and another resort on the nearby uninhabited Sazan Island.... The protests continued into a fifth day Thursday, with signs criticizing Trump and Kushner, and others targeting Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who is a member of Trump’s Board of Peace.” ~~~

     ~~~ Idylls of the Princess. Marie: Hilariously, Ivanka spoke of how she and Jared once, whilst they were out yachting upon the Mediterranean, swam to this pristine island and climbed barefoot to the top in one of life's rare idyllic adventures. And now the couple plans to wreck it as “the culmination of all of my experience in real estate.”

Israel/Lebanon, et al. Euan Ward of the New York Times: “For all the diplomatic fanfare surrounding the newest cease-fire agreement in Lebanon, the reality on the ground on Thursday was grimly familiar: Israeli airstrikes, Hezbollah rockets and little sign that the war had stopped. The continued fighting exposed the fragility of the latest deal brokered by the Trump administration a day earlier, before it had even taken effect. That cease-fire is contingent on Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed armed group, first pulling back from the Lebanese region bordering Israel, and on a 'complete cessation' of the group’s attacks. But Israel is not required to make any immediate concessions in parallel, and Hezbollah did not take part in the cease-fire negotiations, leaving Lebanon’s government with little power to force it to comply. Within hours, those limits were on full display. In a statement on Thursday, Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qassem, rejected the U.S.-brokered agreement, saying it amounted to a demand that his group surrender while Israel continued its offensive.” The AP's report is here.