Tag: Trump

Bondi & Kash Can’t Save Trump This Time

Trump’s calls to execute lawmakers show escalating authoritarian impulse and a bid to bury the Epstein fallout. The normalization is the danger.

Bondi & Kash Can’t Save Trump This Time | Secret Podcast Preview
AI Note

This summary was generated with the assistance of AI after reviewing the Bulwark episode transcript. It reflects the core facts and themes discussed by the hosts, but readers are encouraged to consult the original source for full context.

JVL and Sarah say Trump’s “hang them” posts are both escalation and distraction: he melts down whenever anyone reminds the military that their oath is to the Constitution, not to him, and this triggers his long-standing obsession with total obedience from “the guys with guns.” At the same time, he’s seizing on this outrage cycle to smother the Epstein-email story that was starting to corner him. The real danger, they argue, is how normalized this level of presidential extremism has become.

The MAGA Machine Can’t Save Trump From Epstein

Frum explains why Epstein shattered MAGA’s myths—and why Trump’s shame has his own movement turning on him.

The MAGA Machine Can’t Save Trump From Epstein (w/ David Frum) | The Bulwark Podcast
AI Note

AI was used to help summarize David Frum’s analysis, but it’s absolutely worth watching the full episode for the complete conversation and nuance.

David Frum breaks down why the Epstein scandal uniquely destabilizes Trump: it’s the one case where Trump acts genuinely guilty, triggering the conspiratorial right that built Epstein into a master myth. Frum explains how Epstein’s Jewish identity fueled para-MAGA’s antisemitic narrative machinery, why Trump can’t escape the story, and how the moral collapse around figures like Megan Kelly and Marjorie Taylor Green reveals a movement increasingly defined by paranoia, cruelty, and self-destruction.

Also in this episode:

  • Trump’s tariff policies and their role in raising consumer prices
  • The administration’s sudden pivot to reverse tariffs to curb inflation
  • Infighting across MAGA media personalities
  • Anti-Zionism, antisemitism, and how both left and right weaponize the distinction
  • Biden-era handling of Epstein/Maxwell documents
  • Michael Flynn’s $50M claim against the U.S. government
  • Political retaliation inside federal agencies during the Trump years
  • Expanding use of force in immigration enforcement
  • U.S. drug interdiction failures in the Caribbean
  • Venezuela policy and speculation around U.S. intervention
  • Canada’s economic vulnerabilities under Trump-era decisions

It’s Complicated

The WaPo recently reported on Trump’s latest attempt to squirm out of his impossible campaign promise to build a wall on the Mexico-U.S. border paid for by Mexico. It is equal parts clown action and cynical maneuvering.

An import tax is pure clown action because any tax that we impose Mexico can as well in retaliation. They are a sovereign nation able to levy any taxes they wish. And they’ve said that they will do exactly that and even go beyond. According to the WaPo:

Mexico’s economy secretary, Ildefonso Guajardo, said this week that Mexico is prepared to “mirror” any action by the United States to raise tariffs or impose taxes on imports. Guajardo has also said it might be necessary for Mexico to walk away from NAFTA — a once-unthinkable idea — if there was no benefit in the negotiations for his country.

And it’s not like we are immune to such retaliatory action:

Every day, goods valued at $1.4 billion cross the U.S.-Mexico border, and millions of jobs are linked to trade on both sides. Mexico is the world’s second-largest customer for American-made products, and 80 percent of Mexican exports — automobiles, flat-screen TVs, avocados — are sold to the United States.

So that $600 flat screen will now cost the American customer $720. That’s $600 plus $120 to pay the 20% import tax Trump imposed. After all is Best Buy or the TV manufacturer going to eat that cost? No. We are. And not just at the cash register. Try American jobs as well. Which brings me to the cynical maneuvering part of this story.

Trump knows damn well Mexico will not pay an import tax. Americans will. Sure such a tax hurts Mexican exports but Mexico can do much of the same damage to us. That’s why no one wins in a trade war, except perhaps the tax man, surely a high GOP priority. With Americans paying the import tax, Trump is attempting to bamboozle his supporters into thinking Mexico is paying for the wall in a “complicated form.” And like any con, the mark is always the only one who pays. Unfortunately, because marks can vote, we are along for the ride.