Thirty-nine percent of respondents in this ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll said they approve of how Trump is handling his job as president, down 6 percentage points from February, while 55% said they disapprove.
Trump’s 41% approval rating is the lowest for any newly elected president at 100 days dating back at least to Dwight Eisenhower – including Trump’s own first term.
Approval of Trump’s handling of the presidency is down 4 points since March, and 7 points lower than it was in late February. Just 22% say they strongly approve of Trump’s handling of the job, a new low, and about twice as many say they strongly disapprove (45%).
What are the GOP congressional and Supreme Court majorities going to do now? Will they just go full fascist to maintain power or will they challenge him to save themselves?
Donald Trump traveled a long way to be preached to when he attended the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome and got seated on Saturday in the front row (Reuters):
In front of hundreds of world leaders attending the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re called for care for migrants, an end to wars, and action on global climate change – Francis’ favourite political themes.
Re repeated one of the pope’s strongest criticisms of U.S. President Donald Trump, with Trump himself present in the crowd, by calling to “build bridges, not walls”.
“Pope Francis incessantly raised his voice, imploring peace and calling for reason and honest negotiation to find possible solutions,” Cardinal Re said as he delivered the homily. “‘Build bridges, not walls,’ was an exhortation he repeated many times.”
Aboard Air Force One on his way to Italy on Friday, Trump told reporters that he was attending the funeral “out of respect” for Francis, adding, “I won the Catholic vote.” And since arriving in Italy, Trump has been documenting his trip on Truth Social, sharing videos of him walking toward his seat at the funeral and standing in front of the late pope’s simple cypress coffin.
“Out of respect” is a sick joke. “I won the Catholic vote” is how Mr. Transactional really thinks. I’m surprised that the would-be-dictator didn’t sneer, “And how many divisions does the Pope have?”
The funeral included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “and some 50 other world leaders.” Something positive may have come out if it after Trump had a sidebar meeting with Zelensky (New York Times):
President Trump’s standing among Ukrainians is practically on life support. But many cheered one statement he made on Saturday after meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky, questioning why President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia would continue to pummel Ukraine as the United States is trying to broker peace talks.
“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social after meeting with Mr. Zelensky on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral, adding that Mr. Putin may need to be “dealt with differently” — with more sanctions.
That could signal a changeup from the peace plan Trump 2.0 has promoted that included Ukraine ceding territory (and more) to Vladimir Putin.
And then, the hope grew slightly on Saturday when Mr. Zelensky managed to wrangle about 15 minutes with Mr. Trump in Rome. Photos released by the Ukrainian government showed the two men sitting in chairs and leaning toward each other, talking like equals — a vastly different scene than a disastrous meeting in the Oval Office in late February that ended with Mr. Zelensky’s abrupt departure from the White House and the temporary freezing of all U.S. aid.
The photos from Rome “were extraordinary,” said Volodymyr Dubovyk, the director of the Center for International Studies at Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University. He added that it was good for Mr. Zelensky to have some time alone with Mr. Trump.
But don’t get your hopes up. One quick tug on the leash from Putin will bring Trump back into line. If it doesn’t break what little spine Trump’s got.
But we might look back on this week as the moment the idea of a general strike went mainstream. Unexpectedly, center-right New York Times columnist David Brooks shifted the Overton window well leftward with a call for a “comprehensive national civic uprising” to stop the Trump regime’s “multifront assault to make the earth a playground for ruthless men.” That someone in his position would write or talk about such a thing isn’t just a surprise — it’s permission for everyone else.
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and labor leader Sara Nelson told The Ink about “the challenges Americans face right now from an administration that’s bent on (as Reich put it) bullying us into submission, dismantling the institutions that keep us all safe and healthy, and the laws that keep us free and able to plan for the future. And they were both just as clear about what needs to happen to beat back those challenges.”
Seeing people out in the streets regularly is heartening. There is a sense of solidarity building against the bullying. There is a faction in Americans that sees bullying as how they get their way: domination. The dominator-in-chief clearly does. But we also see that he caves under pressure. Keeping up the pressure on the bullies is our job.
It’s part of the American spirit that’s not quite dead yet that most Americans don’t just dislike bullies, we HATE bullies. Nazis, Clubber Lang, Biff Tannen, Nurse Ratched, Doug Neidermeyer.
Fame (fame) what you like is in the limo Fame (fame) what you get is no tomorrow Fame (fame) what you need you have to borrow
– from “Fame” by David Bowie (backing vocal by John Lennon)
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard-although I wish I could.
Allow me to explain.
I was all of 24, living in San Francisco. I didn’t own a VCR (they were exorbitantly priced), so I was still watching the tube in (*shudder*) real time. Perusing the TV Guide one December evening, I was excited to spot Sunset Boulevard on the schedule for 8pm (I believe it was airing on independent Bay Area station KTVU).
For the uninitiated, Gloria Swanson’s turn as a fading, high-maintenance movie queen mesmerizes, William Holden embodies the quintessential noir sap, and veteran scene-stealer Erich von Stroheim redefines the meaning of “droll” in a tragicomic journey down the Boulevard of Broken Dreams (I’ve seen it many times since).
At any rate, I was comfortably ensconced on the couch, really digging the film (despite myriad commercial breaks). Approximately 20 minutes into the broadcast, the station unceremoniously cut away from the film for a news bulletin: former Beatle John Lennon had been shot and killed in New York City.
It was eerie kismet, as the film opens with the shooting death of the protagonist/narrator (played by Holden), and is ultimately a rumination on the dark side of fame.
Being an avid Fabs fan, it kind of harshed my mellow. Still does, actually-whenever the subject comes up.
It’s hard to believe that was 45 years ago (5 years longer than Lennon’s lifespan). Over the ensuing decades, there has certainly been no shortage of documentaries and biopics covering Lennon’s life and work. At this point, I think I’ve seen most of them.
Consequently, one would assume that there are very few secrets, revelations and angles left to explore. Yet, 2025 has seen the release of no less than two new Lennon documentaries (and the year is still young).
First, there’s One to One: John and Yoko:
I haven’t seen it yet (it will be available to rent on streaming platforms beginning on May 9th).
This is the other doc (more on that in a moment)…
Directed by Alan G. Parker, Borrowed Time promises to “…set the record straight on the truth behind many famous Lennon moments, brought to life by rare archive footage, including never-before-seen interviews.”
So does it deliver? Well, in a fashion. As Lennon himself once implored, “All I want is the truth…just gimme some truth.” In context of the director’s approach, you may have to settle for “benefit of the doubt”.
I make that qualification because the lion’s share of screen time is devoted to talking heads. As promised, there are indeed “never-before-seen interviews” with former musical collaborators (Vinny Appice and Earl Slick), as well as music industry insiders, presenters, writers, and journalists (the BBC’s “Whispering” Bob Harris, Anthony DeCurtis, Barry Miles, Pamela Des Barres, Apple Records CEO Tony Bramwell, et.al.).
However, their stories are purely anecdotal; the backstage tales are engaging enough at first, but by the 2-hour mark they began to feel redundant and were not necessarily revelatory. Archival interviews help mix things up a bit, but overall it’s a static affair.
Then there’s the elephant in the room: zero Lennon music. I realize it can be challenging and/or simply too cost-prohibitive to secure permission to utilize copyrighted material in a film; but when you try to paint a portrait of an artist without any paint on your palette, more often than not you are likely to end up with an empty canvas.
Note: the version I previewed is the 134-minute theatrical cut that will be opening in the U.K. only on May 2. However, there is a 3.5 hour director’s cut out on the same date, which will be streaming for a month on the Icon Film Channel and also available to subscribers of the Amazon Prime Video Channels.
“I like what DOGE stands for. I don’t like how they’ve done it,” said one Trump appointee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe candid frustrations with Musk’s operation. The official compared DOGE to overly aggressive chemotherapy, invoking a line attributed to Musk about one of his deputies, praising the team for combating the federal bureaucracy but saying the unintended consequences have been deeply harmful. “They got rid of the cancer — and a lot of the healthy cells, too.”
Except they misdiagnosed the patient. It didn’t have cancer at all. It had a little cold and they blasted it with chemo for nothing, almost killing off its immune system for nothing.
That quote is from an article about how Elon Musk has destroyed his brand and reputation in his sojourn into politics. Nobody likes him anymore.
Initially, Musk had a “panache” that was unique for the Republican Party, said Christopher Nicholas, a GOP strategist in Pennsylvania. But now, he is a “lightning rod.”
Even some Musk backers have acknowledged that his freewheeling style can cause complications.
Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, said on an episode of the “All-In” podcast last month that he and Musk had a plan before taking the stage at a Trump campaign rally in October: Musk would announce a goal to slash the federal budget by $1 trillion.
Then they walked out in front of a boisterous crowd — and Musk began to riff and wound up doubling the total.
“He says $2 trillion [in cuts],” Lutnick said on the podcast. “And then I’m sitting there going, and I’m like, I think I said, ‘Alrighty then.’ Or something like that. … What was I supposed to say?”
Lol. He was just imitating Trump who lies like that all the time. And Lutnick makes similar grandiose claims. This is just purely palace intrigue with Musk’s competitors easing him out. The Wisconsin loss was the coup de grace.
A trip to the Sistine Chapel is near the top of the bucket list for most Americans making their first trip to Rome. Few visitors are able to do so in such grand style as JD Vance, who turned up at the Vatican on Saturday aboard a traffic-clogging motorcade of 40 black 4x4s.
Vance — a self-styled “baby Catholic” who was baptised in a private chapel in Cincinnati in 2019 — had talks with Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state, and other top officials from the Holy See.
He was accompanied to the Vatican by his wife, Usha, and their three young children. The second family was then given a private tour of the Sistine Chapel.
During the afternoon, they went on to visit the botanical garden in the Trastevere district, in the west of the city. Vance was dressed casually and wore a cap, as he strolled with his two sons, Ewan, seven, and Vivek, five. Ewan chose to sport gladiator armour to mark the occasion.
Later Usha enjoyed an evening visit to the Colosseum — which her husband had also been scheduled to attend before a last-minute change of plan — where she was given a personal tour of the arena, famous for its gladiatorial combats and naval battles, by Alfonsina Russo, the director.
Lesser mortals unlucky enough to have booked their own visit had to make do with a refund — but not all of them had got the message. There were chaotic scenes as some would-be visitors tried to open the gates surrounding the building, while others climbed over the fences, ticket in hand, trying to force their way in. Some chanted “shame” or anti-American slogans when they learnt the reason for the closure, Italian media reported.
Among the disappointed was Stephen Fishler, 58, a businessman from New York who arrived with his family in good time for his 6pm slot, but was turned away without explanation. “What does he think he is, special?” complained Fishler, himself a Trump voter. “JD should have waited until the Americans who had tickets had their visit and then gone in.” His wife, Anila, tried to calm him down and blamed the Italians.
Lol. Of course.
He really does think of himself as royalty:
The visits to Rome’s tourist spots came on the second day of a mixture of vacation and working trip that has inevitably been dubbed Vance’s “Roman Holiday” in a nod to Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck’s classic 1953 film. His arrival has meant huge extra security measures — including snipers, no-fly zones and road closures — adding to the disruption in a city packed with large crowds of tourists for the Easter holidays and pilgrims visiting the Vatican for what is a jubilee year.
Audrey Hepburn ran around Rome incognito on her Roman holiday. That was the whole story. JD wore his family like a Hermes bag and traipsed all over the city like he was a conquering hero. Everything he does is creepy.
He’s so mad. He’s also starting to make up words. “Tapping me along?” “Getting Yippy?” Not normal… [Ooops, I stand corrected. “yippy” is apparently a golf term.]
If President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia drafted a shopping list of what he wanted from Washington, it would be hard to beat what he was offered in the first 100 days of President Trump’s new term.
Pressure on Ukraine to surrender territory to Russia? Check.
The promise of sanctions relief? Check.
Absolution from invading Ukraine? Check.
Indeed, as Mr. Trump met with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on the sidelines of the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, the president’s vision for peace appeared notably one-sided, letting Russia keep the regions it had taken by force in violation of international law while forbidding Ukraine from ever joining NATO.
But that is not all that Mr. Putin has gotten out of Mr. Trump’s return to power. Intentionally or not, many of the president’s actions on other fronts also suit Moscow’s interests, including the rifts he has opened with America’s traditional allies and the changes he has made to the U.S. government itself.
Mr. Trump has been tearing down American institutions that have long aggravated Moscow, such as Voice of America and the National Endowment for Democracy. He has been disarming the nation in its netherworld battle against Russia by temporarily halting cyberoffensive operations and curbing programs to combat Russian disinformation, election interference, sanctions violations and war crimes.
He spared Russia from the tariffs that he is imposing on imports from nearly every other nation, arguing that it was already under sanctions. Yet he still applied the tariff on Ukraine, the other party he is negotiating with. And in a reversal from his first term, Politico reported that Mr. Trump’s team is reportedly discussing whether to lift sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Europe, a project he has repeatedly condemned.
I doubt he liked this very much either:
“Trump has played right into Putin’s hands. It’s hard to see how Trump would have acted any differently if he were a Russian asset than how he has acted in the first 100 days of his second term.”— Ivo Dalder
Everything Baker said is true. Trump’s confidence that all he had to do was crook his finger and Ukraine would surrender and Putin would play along hasn’t worked out. He’s flailing.
I suppose what he meant was that the cancer and Alzheimer’s research hasn’t cured the diseases? So he’s cutting it altogether? That’s insane.
I haven’t seen polling on this (maybe I missed it) but I would really like to see it. And I’d really like the Democrats to make a huge, huge deal out of it. I know there’s a lot to choose from but this is one of the most heinous actions he’s taken and even MAGA voters may not think it’s what they voted for.
A former landlady lived alone nextdoor. A sweet old lady, she rarely had visitors. Over the years she developed memory issues.
I’d regularly stop by after work to visit. I’d ask what Meals on Wheels brought her for lunch. She’d pause, smile, and say, “Oh … something.” She began repeating how someone or other had stolen her steak knives.
Time interviewed our autocrat-in-chief on April 22. Donald Trump seems to be having memory issues:
Your trade adviser, Peter Navarro, says 90 deals in 90 days is possible. We’re now 13 days into the point from when you lifted the reciprocal, the discounted reciprocal tariffs. There’s zero deals so far. Why is that?
No, there’s many deals.
When are they going to be announced?
You have to understand, I’m dealing with all the companies, very friendly countries. We’re meeting with China. We’re doing fine with everybody. But ultimately, I’ve made all the deals.
Not one has been announced yet. When are you going to announce them?
I’ve made 200 deals.
You’ve made 200 deals?
100%.
Trump wouldn’t name one. *
Trump implied in another rambling “weave” that it’s like he runs a department store and tells suppliers what he considers “a fair price, and they can pay it, or they don’t have to pay it.”
Also, everyone is stealing his steak knives.
“Everybody took advantage of us. What I’m doing is I will, at a certain point in the not too distant future, I will set a fair price of tariffs for different countries…. So I will set a price, and when I set the price, and I will set it fairly according to the statistics, and according to everything else,” Trump said.
He seemed to forget that he announced them using a chart on April 2 before pausing them for 90 days a week later.
Time prodded:
I’m just curious, why don’t you announce these deals that you’ve solidified?
I would say, over the next three to four weeks, and we’re finished, by the way.
You’re finished?
We’ll be finished.
Trump seems to have forgotten he said minutes earlier, “I’ve made 200 deals.”
On Friday, Trump told reporters that the trade deals he told Time days ago he’d already completed “are going very well.”
A friend who deals with a lot of seniors observed on Facebook:
I see a lot of cognitive decline and this is covering for cognitive decline. Any question, he’ll agree (or at least refuse to rule it out) and also one-up it, to hide that he’s not following very well, e.g.:
“Mr President, do you agree with GOP calls to invade Luxembourg?”
“Certainly that’s, uh, an idea. Why not? There are at least 7, 8 countries we really should invade.”
That’s his patter/pattern.
Someone ask the most powerful man on the planet, the man with access to the nuclear launch codes, what he ate for lunch.
There are 195 countries in the world today. This total comprises 193 countries that are member states of the United Nations and 2 countries that are non-member observer states: the Holy See and the State of Palestine.
