August 10, 2026

Iran Forced Trump to Huddle in Catering Truck on the Ankara Tarmac. Dan Lamothe, et al., of the Washington Post: “An Iranian assassination threat against ... Donald Trump prompted an extraordinary operation last month in which he flew secretly from Turkey on an alternate military aircraft while the White House said he was aboard Air Force One, The Washington Post has learned. The clandestine mission, which has not been reported previously, was carried out unbeknownst to journalists and some White House staff members who believed they were on the same plane as the president.... In Ankara, Trump boarded the old Air Force One jumbo jet in view of television cameras. He was secretly shuttled minutes later to a smaller plane — an Air Force C-32A — via an airport catering truck typically used to load meals and other supplies preflight.... That made Air Force One a 'decoy' with media and some White House staff aboard....” The link is a gift link .MB: Yeah, and that meant everybody on that decoy plane was a sitting duck. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times headline is great, especially when you remember that Trump insisted on a rush job to groom the Trojan Horse update the Qatari Jet so he could show off with glittery splashes coming to and leaving the NATO summit. The headline begins, “Trump Hid in a Catering Container....” Maggie Haberman, et al.: “Top administration officials engaged in an elaborate deception to spirit ... [Donald] Trump out of Turkey during the NATO summit there last month, transporting him in a catering container to a military jet because of a threat against him and Air Force One from Iran, two senior U.S. officials said on Monday. Mr. Trump and other officials had said publicly that he would be leaving Turkey on July 8 aboard one of the older versions of Air Force One rather than a luxury 747-8 donated by Qatar that he had flown in on. Mr. Trump told reporters at the time that he was making the switch for 'old time’s sake.'”

Trump Leans into His Islamophobia Thang. Akayla Gardner & Nnamdi Egwuonwu of MSNOW: “During an event in the Oval Office, [Donald] Trump was asked by a reporter what recommendations he would give GOP candidates running in November’s midterm elections. 'A friend of mine called up. He said, “You know, really, you should use the word jihadist because that’s what’s happening,’” he recalled. 'We have jihadists being elected all over the place. We have this whether it’s communism, jihadism.'” MB: I guess the “communism” label he tried just didn't have the punch it had back when Joe McCarthy's former lawyer Roy Cohn was Trump's lawyer. Nice to know Republicans are focus-grouping such refined campaign messages.

Lena Sun, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration is preparing an executive order that would upend decades of federal guidance on which vaccines are administered to children and call for states to reconsider school vaccine requirements. Under the draft executive order obtained by The Washington Post, dubbed 'Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations,' the White House would divide vaccines into three categories and direct federal agencies to take steps to advance them. It calls for rethinking the long-standing practice of grouping vaccines to reduce the number of medical appointments parents of small children need to schedule.... Under the plan, vaccines against 11 diseases — including measles, mumps, rubella, polio and whooping cough — would be recommended for all children. Vaccines against several other diseases, including hepatitis A and B and meningococcal disease, would be recommended for certain high-risk groups or through shared decision-making between parents and doctors. Influenza and coronavirus vaccines would also fall into the shared decision-making category.... Trump is expected to sign the executive order as soon as Monday.... Trump has pushed officials to take additional steps to overhaul the childhood vaccine schedule, citing his concerns about a debunked link between childhood vaccines and autism, The Post reported last week.” ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Annika Constantino & Jacob Pramuk of CNBC: "... Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order backing fewer routine vaccines for kids, calling to whittle down the number of recommended childhood shots to 11 while falsely tying immunizations to autism. The order builds on the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the childhood shot schedule under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic."

David Fahrenthold of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Sunday said on social media that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s problems were caused in part by 'some contractor error done by rushing the job for a July 4th opening.' It was a change in rhetoric for the president, who had spent weeks falsely blaming the pool’s problems on vandals.... In his social media post, Mr. Trump also conceded that there was “no video or proof” to back up the assertions that vandalism damaged the pool. Still, he continued to blame one of the people who had been charged with vandalism, David Hearn, a former U.S. Olympian. Mr. Hearn had been charged with a felony by Ms. Pirro’s office, before his case was dropped.” The link is a gift link. MB: Keep it up, Donald. I hope Hearn successfully sues you for a bundle.

Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: “... despite the fervent media attention that [Donald Trump's] policy pronouncements and personal attacks on [his social media] site attract, traffic to the ... platform has fallen sharply this summer. Last month, the overall number of monthly visitors to Truth Social was down about 36 percent from a year ago, according to estimates by the online tracking firm Similarweb. Monthly visitors to the site fell by a slightly greater amount in June, compared with last year. By contrast, much bigger social media platforms such as X and Threads have posted higher numbers of visits this summer.” The link is a gift link. MB: I hope this translates to “MAGA enthusiasts give up on Trump.”

We've Seen This Movie Before. Patrick Wintour of the Guardian: “Tehran has set out a protracted negotiating timetable designed to keep Donald Trump embroiled in the Iran conflict until the midterm elections, in the hope of inflicting the same ruinous blow on his presidency as Jimmy Carter suffered over the 1979-81 US embassy hostage crisis.... While Iranian officials since the 1979 Islamic revolution have never trusted the US, that animus is now also directed personally towards Trump. He not only tore up the painfully negotiated nuclear deal in 2018, but he sanctioned the assassination of the military leader Qassem Suleimani and twice involved Iran in negotiations on its nuclear programme only to launch wars against it. He shows no remorse for the killing of the country’s supreme leader, or for the attempt on the life of Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian.”

Here's a rarity: a milestone to celebrate. AND it's a very big deal: ~~~

~~~ Dan McCarthy of Canary Media: "While the Trump administration is busy pointing out that the sun doesn’t shine at night, solar is breaking records around the world, including in sunny California. Solar panels produced 51% of California’s electricity in May, the first time the clean energy source surpassed the halfway mark for an entire month. The data counts both large-scale installations and the state’s bounty of rooftop arrays. This isn’t just a milestone moment for California; it’s a milestone for the entire world. Think tank Ember says the state is the globe’s first major economy to cross the 50% threshold. (Hungary, at 47% in June 2025, is knocking at the door, though it has a far smaller GDP.) Solar’s rise has helped California cut polluting energy sources out of its power mix. Natural gas is the only fossil fuel that California power plants burn at appreciable levels, and solar is steadily squeezing it out of the system." Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This should be on the front page of every MSM outlet, not just in a niche publication. But good for Canary Media for reporting it.

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To the Loser Goes a Crap Deal. Steven Erlanger of the New York Times: “Iran’s demands for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, as laid out in a statement on Saturday, are largely what ... [Donald] Trump had already agreed to do in the memorandum of understanding that was signed on June 17 and quickly fell apart. But Iran sees control over the strait as its best chance of getting Mr. Trump to deliver on those promises — and is not willing to give it up just yet. For Iran, analysts suggest, denying Mr. Trump the ability to claim victory over the strait is the most efficient lever to persuade him to recommit to those agreements and to implement them. Keeping the strait largely closed keeps energy prices high and is also a way to ensure that Persian Gulf states, which depend on the strait for exports, will also encourage Washington to return to the memorandum. The level of mistrust between Iran and the United States is so high that Tehran wants to ensure it gets the economic relief it has been promised, to enable reconstruction, before it gives up even partial control over the strait, said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation, a think tank focused on economic diplomacy.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)~~~

~~~ Fat Boy and Little Man Have Another Falling-out. Aaron Boxerman & Adam Rasgon of the New York Times: “The Israeli government has rejected a 15-point plan backed by the Trump administration aimed at disarming the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. It appeared to be an unusually public break with ... [Donald] Trump, whose relationship with Mr. Netanyahu has had a dizzying and often unpredictable arc. The two leaders launched the war against Iran together in late February. But they have since clashed over how to end it, as well as over the future of Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon. Mr. Trump announced the agreement between his Board of Peace and Hamas late last month, lauding it as a major breakthrough. Mr. Netanyahu’s office had initially expressed reservations, saying that the framework did 'not reflect Israel’s positions,' but stopped short of rejecting it outright.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) The Huffington Post's story is here.

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: Donald “Trump announced on Sunday that Will Scharf, his staff secretary and a deeply conservative lawyer, would replace David Warrington as White House counsel.... Mr. Scharf has embraced some of the most extreme elements of the president’s agenda. But he has also thrown up flares at times over matters that, according to his colleagues, he believed could imperil the presidency. Those included when Mr. Trump and his top policy adviser, Stephen Miller, weighed suspending due process rights for undocumented immigrants early last year. Mr. Trump announced the plan on his social media website, saying that Mr. Scharf would begin next month. The move reflects one of the biggest changes in senior staff of the president’s second term, which has been relatively stable compared with the revolving door of his first four years in the White House.... Mr. Scharf has also served as chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission.... Mr. Trump’s takeover of the commission has played a role in his push to build a new ballroom on the site where the East Wing stood.” The link is a gift link. The Guardian's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Scharf has been the guy who hands Trump executive orders to sign. It is a routine where Scharf explains to Trump what the E.O. is about, Trump looks up at Scharf blankly, without any hint of comprehension, nods vaguely and says, "That's a big one." But he shows he knows what to do next as he painstakingly signs his scrawl to the document. It's such a pathetic ritual, I hope Scharf keeps that part of his old job.

The Narcissist Park Service. Scott MacFarlane: “Internal park service records ... reveal a controversial and overwhelming re-routing of money to Trump vanity projects. The topline dollar figures are astounding, according to multiple sources inside the US Department of Interior.... The records show more than $323 million have been made available for upgrades and projects on the White House grounds this year. That’s a dramatic, nearly 5000 percent increase from the $7.5 million spent on White House grounds projects in 2024.... The internal park service records show declines in the money allotted to – or projected for use at - dozens of other major U.S. parks this year. There were multi-million dollar reductions in funds for Yellowstone, Yosemite and Grand Canyon national parks, which are some of the flagship attractions of America’s National Park Service. 'The National Park Service is being used as a piggy bank for Trump’s vanity projects,' said

Tim Whitehouse ... of the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: MacFarlane is a liberal investigative reporter -- he currently works for Meidas Touch -- but the limited number of his reports I've seen seemed accurate to me. Besides, I linked an article a few weeks ago from one of the major media outlets that covered this same ground: Trump is robbing the national parks that have always been meant to be accessible to and for the enjoyment of all Americans to tart up (or destroy) the structures and cityscapes he may enjoy in Washington, D.C. Yes, the capital should be maintained and even improved, and yes, many Americans (and others) visit the capital, but the capital projects -- and specifically, White House projects -- should not be prioritized over parks throughout the country that are convenient to most Americans.

Alex Gangitano & Erin Doherty of Politico: “... Donald Trump has a new bogeyman — and as the president might say, he’s right out of central casting. Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan’s divisive Democratic Senate primary last week enables Trump and Republicans to juice the base – he supports policies embraced by self-described socialists such as Medicare for All, opposes U.S. military aid for Israel and thinks ICE should be abolished. El-Sayed says he is not a socialist.... The president also used El-Sayed’s full name, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, this week in a statement warning that Democrats will eliminate the filibuster if they control the Senate, echoing the way he uses Barack Obama’s middle name, Hussein, as a way to question his legitimacy his American birth.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump may have met his match in El-Sayed. The handsome, buff young doctor who is quick on his feet hasn't seemed to have much trouble brushing off or returning a fat, sloppy, nasty old man's insults. I'm sure there are plenty of MAGA lowlifes who are excited by Trump's finding a new target to express his racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and conspiratorial fantasies, but a majority of Americans are probably sick of it and looking forward to a new crop of young leaders who want to invest in the country they'll be living in for decades to come. ~~~

~~~⭐A Lesson from David Rothkopf: "Follow the Money." "Todd Blanche is so grossly unfit to be the United States Attorney General that one had to wonder how anyone with a shred of integrity or respect for their oath of office could vote to confirm him. He is a mob lawyer. He is a man who has already committed himself to transforming the U.S. Department of Justice into a tool of retribution, obstruction, defending criminals, and attacking the innocent. He has cast his lot with professional fraudsters, pedophiles, traitors, insurrectionists, sex abusers, racists, and enemies of the United States. Not only were there countless reasons to vote against his confirmation, but there were no reasons to vote for him.... Even those who hesitated momentarily [before voting for him], like Senators Cassidy and Tillis, revealed that their reluctance was an act, like offering up a prayer in church before going to commit a crime.... [Why?] Follow the money.... If they wish to make a living after they leave the Senate…or if they wish to cash in as members of our legislative, executive and judicial bodies often do … they are going to turn to law firms and consultancies and Wall Street houses and corporations to hire them.... In other words, the way our system works is that if you want to survive outside of government, you have to toe the line inside government. It is, in my mind, one of the most pernicious aspects of corruption in DC.” MB: A fine, meandering essay on how government works. ~~~

~~~ Marie-Rose Sheinerman of the Atlantic outlines just how corrupt Donald Trump and his family are this term, even compared to the rampant corruption of his first term, when there was at least a cosmetic effort to put some distance between Trump's public and personal interests. Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link. It's really worth reading this short article, which checks all the major and many of the minor corrupt activities Trump engages in. Kinda mind-boggling.~~~

~~~Paul Krugman, Part III of his series "Against Oligarchy." Here he explores "how the American tax code has swung against workers, and why it matters." Again, a chunk of the article is subscriber-paywalled, but you maybe able to "claim [a] free post."

“No.” Kyle Cheney of Politico: “... more than 16,000 times in the past year, judges have ruled against ICE’s detention tactics. About two-thirds of those rulings stemmed from the policy change in [a] two-page memo, which broadened the reach of a 1996 detention statute in ways no prior administration had ever attempted.... Four-hundred-sixty nine judges ... concluded that the policy contained in the July 8, 2025 ICE memo was an illegal distortion of long-settled detention policy.... The flood of cases [caused by the memo] has stretched the judiciary to a breaking point across the country. Thousands of rulings, from hundreds of judges rushing to respond to the individual cases in front of them, have added up to an overwhelming rebuke of Trump’s unprecedented policy.... Asked whether the administration had any concerns about the impact of its mass detention policy on the families of those held by ICE, particularly U.S. citizen spouses and children, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson responded simply: 'No.'”

Aimee Hancock of the Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun: "Hundreds of people gathered outside a federal immigration office Sunday morning to show support for Haitian immigrants from Springfield who were called to report for immigration check-ins. The rally, organized by Ignite Peace in partnership with the Miami Valley Immigration Coalition, brought an estimated 500 to 550 people to the area of Kenwood and Malsbary roads in Blue Ash.... The group gathered before 7 a.m., carrying Haitian and American flags and signs supporting immigrants.... Ignite Peace organizers said an estimated 50 to 60 Haitians living in Springfield have so far received letters ordering them to report for immigration check-ins. The letters came after the federal government ended Temporary Protected Status for Haiti...."

People Don't Get Vaccines Today Because Biden, Media. Cheyanne Daniels of Politico: “Jay Bhattacharya, head of the National Institutes of Health, on Sunday appeared to blame a growing number of national health concerns on the media and the Biden administration. In a sometimes tense interview with CBS’ 'Face the Nation,' Bhattacharya argued that public trust in health officials has dropped due to steps taken by former President Joe Biden’s administration during the Covid-19 pandemic and the way in which the media covered the deadly virus.”

Emily Heil, the Washington Post's foods reporter, tries to make the "affordable" meal Bobby Kennedy Junior & chef Andrew Gruel feature in Bobby's first cooking show. Marie: Among Heil's observations was one I picked up on from reading Monica Hesse's earlier article on the show (also linked here recently): this is not a meal a busy home cook can easily whip up for a family of four. Kennedy & Gruel don't know what they're doing if their goal really is to help ordinary families put nutritious meals on the table. I've never watched the Food Channel, but I do often watch all or parts of YouTube videos that are how-to episodes for one thing or another I'm interested in making or improving upon. Many of these short videos, where the presenter often suggests substitute ingredients for the home cook, really would help a busy novice cook put a fairly nutritious and affordable meal on the table. Showing off panko-crusted salmon cakes & arugula salad with avocado mayo vinaigrette (or whatever it was) is frankly ridiculous, especially if two of the intended diners are, say, preteens. As Heil writes,

“First, I’ll say this — the dish was quite good. The crunchy salmon cake was well-seasoned, and the salad was punchy, bright and full of pleasingly contrasting textures. And yet. I make salmon about once a week, and I’ve never considered forming the fish into cakes. I usually make the fish on a weeknight, when my goal is speed, little fuss and as few dishes as possible — so I typically pan-sear it or roast it briefly in the oven. If you still wanted to serve the salad, you could just as easily set pieces of salmon on top of the greens, without bothering with the cakes.”

Presidential Race 2028. Chelsia Marcius & Bayliss Wagner of the New York Times: “Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York posted a series of video clips on social media Saturday night saying that she would freeze her eggs despite what she called a 'political risk' for sharing her decision. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, 36, a Democrat who represents parts of Queens and the Bronx, made the announcement hours before saying in a TV interview Sunday that she is open to running for president or the Senate. 'There is very strangely a political risk, or a political tax, that comes with sharing this info,' she said of her decision to freeze her eggs. She added that she had shared the information 'to show more depictions of women having full lives in every context and every choice.' The announcement further fueled speculation on social media that she is gearing up for a presidential run. Asked on ABC News’s 'This Week' on Sunday morning if she would consider a White House bid, she said, 'I haven’t ruled out the possibility,' adding that she was 'humbled' by the support she is receiving.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) The ABC News report is here.

Michigan Senate Race. Tim Balk & Bayliss Wagner of the New York Times: “Dr. Abdul El-Sayed spoke by phone with former President Barack Obama on Friday, days after winning the Democratic primary race for Senate in Michigan, according to their representatives. Mr. Obama and Dr. El-Sayed, who narrowly prevailed in a divisive primary after campaigning on a progressive and anti-establishment platform, discussed unifying the party before the November general election in Michigan, Dr. El-Sayed’s campaign said. The call with Mr. Obama, who is selective in his outreach to up-and-coming Democrats, was one of many between prominent Democrats and Dr. El-Sayed after he defeated Representative Haley Stevens, a moderate backed by party leaders in Washington, after a bitter race. Mr. Obama also called Ms. Stevens on Friday and discussed uniting the party, according to a person briefed on the conversation.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Tom Sullivan of Hullabaloo links a social media (Threads?) post by former Assistant FBI Director Frank Figlucci in which Figlucci writes that "85% of ICE and Border Patrol agents had sex offenses in their backgrounds amongst a group of 59 agents studied by the Ohio Immigration Alliance." Thanks to RAS for the link.& Marie: That does not mean that 85% of CPB & ICE agents are criminals; rather, the Ohio Alliance found 59 former felons among agents working all over the country , and among those 59 people, 85% had preyed on women and children (some while these women and children were in their custody; one of the agents sentenced for soliciting sex from a minor was in change of DHS background checks!); some of them were not convicted by had been "charged" or "accused." (There are roughly 43,000 agents, so approximately 0.137 [i.e., a little more than 1/10th of one percent] have a criminal or potential criminal records, mostly involving sex crimes.) As far as I can tell, all these offenders were men. (Also linked yesterday.)

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