President Trump announced Monday that Rudy Giuliani, who served as his personal lawyer during high-profile legal battles over the 2020 election results, would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, The Hill reports.
Trump Calls on Drug Makers to Prove Vaccines Work
President Trump on Monday urged pharmaceutical companies to publicly prove that their Covid-19 products work, saying in a Truth Social post that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is “being ripped apart over this question,” Stat reports.
Said Trump: “I want the answer, and I want it NOW.”
CDC Directors Say RFK Jr. Endangering Everyone
Nine former CDC directors write in the New York Times that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is endangering all citizens.
“This is unacceptable, and it should alarm every American, regardless of political leanings.”
Scholars Say Israel Committing Genocide
“The world’s biggest academic association of genocide scholars has passed a resolution saying the legal criteria have been met to establish Israel is committing genocide in Gaza,“ Reuters reports.
Trump Hints at Shaking Down ABC News for More
Last night, Donald Trump called for Donna Brazile and Chris Christie to be fired as ABC News commentators — and suggested squeezing the network for more money than the $16 million settlement it already struck with him.
Kyrsten Sinema Sees Opportunity Under Trump
Wall Street Journal: “Her salaries haven’t been disclosed but people aware of her projects estimate she is set to make well over a million dollars this year… It isn’t abnormal for former lawmakers to pad their pockets after leaving Congress. But Sinema’s sheer number of projects is unusual — and so are her relationships with the party she never joined….”
“Since leaving office, the 49-year-old has pitched herself as a Republican whisperer, meeting with White House officials and helping clients navigate the Capitol.”
“After leaving office, Sinema donated $3 million from her campaign to fund a new AI center at Arizona State University but has been continuing to tap the remaining cash for flights, luxury hotels and music festival tickets. Government watchdogs have questioned her spending and said it could violate campaign finance law.”
Capitol Rioters Now Want Compensation
New York Times: “In the past several weeks, the rioters and their lawyers have pushed the Trump administration to pay them restitution for what they believe were unfair prosecutions.”
“On Thursday, one of the lawyers, Mark McCloskey, said during a public meeting on social media that he had recently met with top officials at the Justice Department and pitched them on a plan to create a special panel that would dole out financial damages to the rioters — much like the arrangement of a special master to award money to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.”
Focus Will Soon Turn to Elections
Playbook: “If the government stays open in October, then attention will increasingly turn toward elections on Nov. 4. — the pivotal electoral night of the year. In addition to the two big gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, we now have California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Democratic gerrymander on the ballot in the Golden State. Throw in New York’s unmissable mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani and all, and it should be a heck of a night.”
Crypto Coins Backed by Trump Open for Trading
Bloomberg: “This Labor Day, while US markets are closed, crypto traders will have their first opportunity to buy and sell the tokens tied to a project endorsed by President Donald Trump and his family. WLFI, a governance token issued by World Liberty Financial and originally designed for voting on ideas to improve the protocol, will begin trading on Sept. 1.”
“The market debut will serve as a crucial test of how high the Trump name can drive the value of the 100 billion tokens linked to a one-year-old project.”
Questions Swirl About Trump’s Health
Garrett Graff: “After he was glimpsed from a distance by the White House press pool leaving to golf on Saturday, social media Carrie Mathisons picked apart his golf photos wondering whether the White House was circulating old photos of the president on the links. Uncharacteristically, during the golf outing, he never even wandered up to the press pool to rant or rave about recent world headlines.”
“Illinois governor JB Pritzker trolled Trump by demanding a proof-of-life photo. On Sunday, group chats around the capital lit up with a 31-tweet-long thread by a crypto investor named Adam Cochran alleging that Trump was in ill health. This morning, the press corps was kept about 100 yards from the president.”
“The speculation wasn’t helped by a series of strange answers J.D. Vance gave in a USA Today interview last week, where he said he was ready to be president if needed: ‘I’ve gotten a lot of good on-the-job training over the last 200 days.’ Maybe that’s just Vance being awkward and strange — it’s hard to think of any subject where Vance giving an interview has helped — but Trump himself (or someone on his social media accounts) also engaged with the speculation by posting a ‘NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE’ post on Truth Social, which might rank second only this weekend to Rudy Giuliani’s bizarre car accident for raising more questions than it answered.”
Democrats Itching for Shutdown Standoff
Politico: “Democrats — eager to show the base that they’re taking the fight to the president — will almost certainly take the bait, making the prospects of a shutdown extremely high this fall.”
Playbook: “Government shutdown talks and strategy are likely to consume the Democratic Party through much of September, especially if a deal can’t be done.”
Quote of the Day
“He seems to wake up and say, what else needs to be improved? Every day, it’s something new.”
— A source in the White House, quoted by Politico, on President Trump’s desire to refurbish the White House.
Congress’ Plate Is Full After Recess
Punchbowl News: “Lawmakers return to Washington on Tuesday amid a deeply unsettled national political and economic landscape. President Donald Trump is at the center of a dozen controversies roiling the country, as he always seems to be. Congress has been on recess for the last month-plus, with members and senators back home and traveling around the world during August.”
“The federal government shuts down on Oct. 1, barring a bipartisan funding deal – even a short-term one – as the White House unilaterally slashes billions of dollars of previously approved spending.”
“Democrats are infuriated. They were skeptical about negotiating a funding deal with Republicans after Trump and GOP leaders jammed through a $9 billion rescissions package in mid-July. Now, Trump is slashing billions of dollars in funding without Congress via legally questionable ‘pocket rescissions.’”
Playbook: “Congress returns tomorrow from August recess, and there are numerous storms brewing. Top of the list is the imminent threat of a government shutdown, with a funding cliff edge looming at the end of September. The GOP does not have a plan to avoid a shutdown on Oct. 1. Dem leaders in the House and Senate are demanding bipartisan talks ASAP.”
Trump Won’t Follow Through on Threats to Russia
“President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he will punish Russia and President Vladimir Putin if Moscow doesn’t come to the table and agree to peace talks or a ceasefire with Ukraine,” CNBC reports.
“Russia has shown no signs of intending to do either, instead continuing and increasing its attacks on Ukraine as it looks to consolidate gains on the battlefield.”
“And still, Trump is holding off on releasing a big bazooka of extra sanctions and economic punishment that could hurt an already weakened Russia.”
Black Americans Are Losing Jobs
“Unemployment in the U.S. remains historically low at 4.2%. Yet Black workers are living in a different reality: Unemployment for Black Americans has surged to 7.2%, the highest level since October 2021, when the job market was still recovering from the pandemic,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The drop in employment is a warning sign for the labor market and threatens to unravel employment gains made by Black workers during and after the pandemic.”
India Was the Economic Alternative to China
“President Trump’s 50 percent tariffs landed like a declaration of economic war on India, undercutting enormous investments made by American companies to hedge their dependency on China,” the New York Times reports.
“India’s hard work to present itself to the world as the best alternative to Chinese factories — what business executives and big money financiers have embraced as part of the China Plus One strategy — has been left in tatters.”
“Now, less than a week since the tariffs took full effect, officials and business leaders in New Delhi, and their American partners, are still trying to make sense of the suddenly altered landscape.”
House Panel Withdraws Subpoena for Robert Mueller
“The GOP-led House Oversight Committee has officially withdrawn its request for former special counsel Robert Mueller to testify before the panel,“ ABC News reports.
Said a spokesman: “We’ve learned that Mr. Mueller has health issues that preclude him from being able to testify.”
Mueller’s family told the New York Times that he has been battling Parkinson’s disease, prohibiting him from coming before Congress.
Views on Trump Will Factor Into This Fall’s Elections
“The midterms are over a year away, but both parties are gearing up for a spate of elections this November that could show how voters feel about President Donald Trump’s agenda and a Democratic Party in rebuilding mode,” the Washington Post reports.
“There will be two closely watched governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia, plus a ballot measure in California that will determine whether Democrats can counter Republican redistricting gains that Trump has urged in red states. While he is not on the ballot this year, views of Trump and his administration are factoring prominently into the marquee competitions.”
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