Brazil’s Supreme Court on Friday ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro to wear an ankle monitor, stay home during most hours and stay away from foreign embassies because it said he was a flight risk after lobbying President Trump to intervene in his legal troubles.
The orders are a sharp escalation of Brazil’s sudden feud with Mr. Trump over the legal case against Mr. Bolsonaro, who could end up in prison this year on charges that he attempted a coup after losing the 2022 election.
Mr. Trump has threatened 50 percent tariffs starting Aug. 1 on Brazilian goods, in part to pressure Brazilian authorities to end what he has called a “witch hunt” targeting Mr. Bolsonaro.
Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has pushed back aggressively, saying that Brazil will not capitulate to an American president he accuses of wanting to be an “emperor.”
“On Friday, the US revoked visas for Brazilian judicial officials involved in the case,” reports the BBC.
Brazilian president: "I'd like to say something to the American people; If Trump was Brazilian and did what he did at the Capitol, he'd be on trial in Brazil for violating the Constitution. He would be arrested if he had done that." pic.twitter.com/2S0otZjKzA
Cover from June 18, 2018, during Trump’s first term.
“For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other,” Thomas Paine wrote in “Common Sense.”
So much of what the republic’s founders imagined for it remains unrealized. This country has for 250 years been a work in progress. That progress has been impaired along the way by the very sorts of persons who divide the world into kings and subjects. Whether by their own inheritance when born into this world or by their achievements in it, they come to believe their standing in the world (or their inflated egos) gives them the right to rule the rest of us. Their manchinations and their airs ought to warn free people to avoid them lest we come to ruin. Sadly, what sustains the attraction to monarchy is some people’s predisposition to being subjects while declaring themselves free people.
It doesn’t help that one of the world’s great religions, born in a time of kings, teaches its followers to watch expectantly for the return of their heavenly king, and to believe that having a monarch is the best and most efficient way to structure society. Even better, their king promises to make his subjects the world’s rulers in the fullness of time. Perhaps then it is no wonder that the founders and framers constructed this republic to keep church and state separate. Oil and water.
How We the People have backslidden. We have permitted a man who would be king to be our president. Twice.
Everything he touches dies, Rick Wilson warns. David French this morning reviews the tragic 2020 death in Louisville of Breonna Taylor at the hands of police and the further travesty of justice recommended by Donald Trump’s Department of Justice:
Last week, Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, asked a federal judge to sentence a former Louisville police officer named Brett Hankison to one day in prison. Last year, a Kentucky jury convicted Hankison of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights when he fired multiple rounds from his handgun into her apartment on the night the police killed her.
Trump has turned the Civil Rights Division on its head. Whatever the Biden administration hath wrought, Trump must tear assunder. Hankison has suffered enough then.
French writes:
It’s hard to read those words — dripping with sympathy for an officer who wrongly used deadly force, endangering innocent people in two different apartments — at the same time that the Trump administration has been sending immigrants who’ve been convicted of no crimes at all into indefinite confinement in brutal and inhumane conditions overseas.
Here’s the key point: Trump’s corruption of justice isn’t just individual; it’s categorical. We have grown accustomed to him rewarding his loyalists and punishing his critics. That he fired the prosecutors who worked on his federal criminal cases while pardoning the Jan. 6 rioters represents a textbook case of individual favoritism.
“For my friends everything, for my enemies the law,” said Peru’s General Óscar Benavides, his latter term characterized as authoritarian fascism. Trump resembles that remark.
French continues, echoing that analysis:
Civil rights laws are designed in part to protect innocent citizens — including, of course, innocent citizens from minority communities — from unjust government officials. Here, the legal world is turned upside down. The Justice Department is using its civil rights division to protect an unjust government official who violated the civil rights of an innocent individual.
It’s hard to describe how thoroughly Trump is disrupting and corrupting our system of justice. At every turn, the pattern is the same. His friends catch a break, and his foes get the boot. The same week that Dhillon intervened on behalf of Hankison, the Trump administration fired Maurene Comey, an assistant U.S. attorney who helped prosecute Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Sean Combs.
French concludes, “Donald Trump is determined to transform America’s system of justice into his personal political weapon, and now Breonna Taylor’s family bears the fresh pain of a new and terrible miscarriage of justice.”
If you don’t share their pain quite yet, give Trump time.
Last night I watched part one of Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin’s new HBO/MAX documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes (part two drops July 25th). So far, it’s an absorbing “warts and all” portrait of the singer-songwriter. Some of the more revelatory moments stem from learning the inspiration behind specific songs. One example is his 1974 single “The Entertainer”. It wasn’t a huge hit (peaking at #34), but has an interesting backstory, as Joel recounts:
The song “The Entertainer” was basically autobiographical about putting out “Piano Man”. The magic number in those days to putting out a single was the 3-minute mark. The original [album version] of “Piano Man” was a much longer recording, and [the record label execs] said “We’ve got to edit it.” I said, “What do you mean, you’ve got it edit it?” I was very touchy about that…don’t be chopping my song up. I was starting to become disenchanted with the music business, and “The Entertainer” was my way of complaining about it, I suppose.
Joel’s former manager (and ex-wife) Elizabeth Weber elaborates:
When he wrote “The Entertainer”, it became such a negative to a number of people in the music business. They look [at it like] “I’m out here, slogging away every day to get your records on the radio…and you say these things about me?!” – and they stopped working for him completely. They were so mad that they were doing the best they could and this was the gratitude that they got.
To which Joel appends:
Essentially, “The Piano Man” was about a guy kvetching about playing in a piano bar, and the followup [single] was the guy kvetching about having a hit record in the music business. So it’s sorta like, I’m doing well-let me screw this up somehow.
There’s a profound lesson about the music business in there somewhere. I’m not 100% sure what it is, but it did give me an idea (which is always dangerous). I got to thinking about other great songs that kvetch about stoking the star-making machinery behind the popular song (to coin a phrase). The more I thought about it, the more songs I came up with. After much careful deliberation (and one eye on an approaching deadline), I’ve whittled it down to my 20 top picks:
“An Elpee’s Worth of Toons” – Todd Rundgren – In which the artist muses on his career choice.
There’s something at the heart of it that’s simply awful A man who makes a living off a plastic waffle
“Barracuda” – Heart – Ann and Nancy are looking at YOU, Mr. Music Exec.
You lying so low in the weeds I bet you gonna ambush me You’d have me down, down, down, down on my knees Now wouldn’t you, barracuda? Oh
“Destiny Calling” – James – Help I’m a commodity.
Cover us in chocolate Sell us to the neighbours Frame us in a video Clone us in a test tube Sell us to the multitude Guess that’s the price of fame
“Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You” – Sugarloaf – One of the more quotable selections here.
(I said, “You got my number?” He said, “Yeah, I got it when you walked in the door”)
“EMI” – The Sex Pistols – The Pistols’ F.U. to the label that originally signed them but then dropped them like a hot potato several months later. Can’t imagine why.
Ever, ever, ever And you thought that we were faking That we were all just money making You do not believe we’re for real
Or you would lose your cheap appeal?
“Empty V” – Doug Powell – Re: Music Television…where did the music go? A valid question.
Video killed the radio star And then committed suicide
“The Entertainer” – Billy Joel – You know the story.
I am the entertainer I bring to you my songs I’d like to spend a day or two But I can’t stay that long No, I’ve got to meet expenses I got to stay in line Gotta get those fees to the agencies And I’d love to stay but there’s bills to pay So I just don’t have the time
“Free Man in Paris” – Joni Mitchell – Trying to escape the pressure cooker.
I was a free man in Paris, I felt unfettered and alive Nobody was calling me up for favors No one’s future to decide You know I’d go back there tomorrow But for the work I’ve taken on Stoking the star maker machinery behind the popular song
“Have a Cigar” – Pink Floyd – Roger Waters vents spleen about cigar-chomping glad-handers.
Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar, you’re gonna go far You’re gonna fly, you’re never gonna die You’re gonna make it if you try, they’re gonna love you Well, I’ve always had a deep respect and I mean that most sincere The band is just fantastic, that is really what I think Oh, by the way, which one’s pink?
“I Love My Label” – Nick Lowe – Somewhat good-natured, but wary of the corporate masters.
Oh, I’m so proud of them up here We’re one big, happy family I guess you could say I’m the poor Relation of the parent company
“Million-Dollar Riff” – Skyhooks – In search of the hit formula. And the filthy lucre.
Well there’s a thousand guitars all over the land And a thousand drummers and a thousand bands And a thousand agents with their ears to the ground (Gimme Gimme) They’re all lookin’ for the riff with the million dollar sound
“Overnight Sensation” – The Raspberries – He’s not in it for the money. No, really.
Well if the program director don’t pull it It’s time to get back the bullet So bring the group down to the station You’re gonna be an overnight sensation
“Radio, Radio” – Elvis Costello – I prefer his early, angrier songs.
You either shut up or get cut up, they don’t wanna hear about it It’s only inches on the reel-to-reel And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools Tryin’ to anesthetize the way that you feel
“So You Want to Be a Rock ‘N’ Roll Star” – The Byrds – Anyone can do it!
Then it’s time to go downtown Where the agent man won’t let you down Sell your soul to the company Who are waiting there to sell plasticware
“Tinseltown Rebellion” – Frank Zappa – FZ was never one to mince words.
The Tinsel Town aficionados Come to see and not to hear But then again this system works As perfect as a dream It works for all of those record company pricks Who come to skim the cream From the cesspools of excitement Where Jim Morrison once stood It’s the Tinsel Town Rebellion From downtown Hollywood
“Top of the Pops” – The Kinks – You’re #1 …with a few caveats.
And now I’ve got friends that I never knew I had before. It’s strange how people want you when you record’s high ‘Cos when it drops down they just pass you by Now my agent just called me and said it me: “Son your record’s just got to Number One.” And do you know what this means? This means you can earn some real money!
“The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man” – The Rolling Stones – Do the hustle.
Well they laugh at my toupee, they’re sure to put me down Well I’m sitting here thinking just how sharp I am Yeah I’m sitting here thinking just how sharp I am I’m a necessary talent behind every rock and roll band
“Video Killed the Radio Star” – The Buggles – We hold this truth to be self-evident.
In my mind and in my car We can’t rewind we’ve gone too far Pictures came and broke your heart Put the blame on VCR
“Workin’ for MCA” – Lynyrd Skynyrd – Seems this fella knew what to expect.
Oh, suckers took my money since I was seventeen If it ain’t no pencil pusher, then it got to be a honky tonk queen But I’ll sign my contract, baby, and I want you people to know That every penny that I make, I’m gonna see where my money goes
“The Worst Band in the World” – 10cc – Hey, as long as the check clears…who cares?
Well we’ve never done a days work in our life And our records sell in zillions It irrigates my heart with greed To know that you adore me Up yours, up mine But up everybody’s that takes time But we’re working on it Working on it (Ooh)
Following up on Tom’s post below, this piece from Mike Masnick at Techdirt calls out the hypocrisy of MAGA and the allegedly free-speech warriors like the “Twitter files” authors who had a full-blown meltdown over the Biden administration asking the social media companies not to share disinformation about COVID (which was killing people) while apparently having little problem with Trump personally threatening the owner of News Corp if they publish something about him that he doesn’t like.
Donald Trump admitted yesterday that he called Rupert Murdoch and demanded the Wall Street Journal kill its story about Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. When Murdoch couldn’t deliver, Trump promised to sue the media company and gleefully looked forward to putting Murdoch on the witness stand. Update: Just as this story was going live, it was reported that he had, in fact, sued. We’ll write about the details of the lawsuit as they become clear.
This is the exact type of behavior that Trump’s supporters spent years claiming represented “arguably the most massive attack against free speech in United States history” when they falsely accused the Biden administration of doing far less.
I understand that we live in an era of blatant hypocrisy where “it’s okay if a Republican does it” is the norm, but I wanted to call out how directly similar this scenario is.
For the past few years, we covered the Missouri v. Biden (later, Murthy v. Missouri) case through all its twists and turns. The underlying claim in the case from the states, and a few social media users who had their accounts restricted in some form or another, was that there was a huge First Amendment violation by the Biden administration because it had spoken to social media companies asking them about their policies regarding fighting disinformation on things around Covid.
The case was built on out-of-context communications and outright lies, but Trump-appointed Judge Terry Doughty ruled that the Biden administration asking social media companies to explain their editorial policies was “arguably the most massive attack against free speech in United States history.”
The Supreme Court dismissed the case for lack of standing, but the legal standard the Trump-supporting MAGA lawyers presented is crucial here. Louisiana Solicitor General Benjamin Aguinaga argued that any government “ask” to media companies about their editorial choices violates the First Amendment:
He excerpts the arguments before the Supreme Court and there is no doubt what the Trump lawyers were arguing.
So by the legal standard Trump’s own lawyers established, any government request to suppress media coverage violates the First Amendment. Now let’s see how Trump himself measures up.
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published a story claiming that Trump and Epstein had a very close relationship, focusing on a supposed birthday card Trump allegedly created for Epstein. Trump’s response was his usual cry of “fake news!” about anything he dislikes but—more importantly—involves him admitting he had directly pressured Murdoch to kill the story:
This isn’t just government pressure—it’s a sitting president threatening to weaponize the courts against media for editorial decisions over what he claims is “erroneous information.” By Trump’s own supporters’ legal standard, this is a textbook First Amendment violation. Perhaps the most massive attack against free speech in the history of the United States. (Update: as noted above, it’s now being reported that the lawsuit has been filed, which we’ll cover in a follow-up story).
He threatened to sue them — and he did.
Compare this to what the Biden administration actually did: some officials sent less than polite emails to social media companies asking about their misinformation policies. No threats. No lawsuits. No demands for specific content removal. Yet Trump’s supporters called that “the most massive attack against free speech in United States history.”
Trump is doing exactly what the MAGA world spent years accusing Biden of doing, except with explicit threats and promised retaliation. And it’s crickets from the free speech warriors who spent four years screaming about government pressure on media.
Most of us knew that the nonsense about free speech was just that. Their “free speech” crusade against cancel culture and DEI etc only goes one way. Right now they are assiduously working to reinstate straight, white, male dominance across the whole culture using the coercive power of government. You’d have to have been willfully blind not to see what they were up to.
Charges of hypocrisy don’t work on the hard right because they are shameless. We’ll have to see how the free speech warriors like Bari Weiss and Matt Taibbi, who claim that they are strictly non-partisan, respond to this. If they ignore it, as I expect, then we will have even more proof of their true roles as water carriers for MAGA and the right wing at large.
President Donald Trump denied ever creating any drawingswhen asked about a sketch of a naked woman bearing his name that allegedly was part of a bawdy birthday gift to Jeffrey Epstein more than two decades ago.
“I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women,” Trump said in an interview Tuesday with the Wall Street Journal about the sketch, the newspaper reported.
[…]
“These are not my words, not the way I talk,” he wrote on Truth Social Thursday night after the Journal published its story alleging that he was connected to the Epstein birthday gift.
“Also, I don’t draw pictures.”
Au contraire…
Apparently, there is great anticipation that some of these drawings will now bring a pretty penny at auction. Maybe Trump should consult with Hunter Biden’s art agent.
By the way, just passing this along. You know that weird comment he allegedly made in his birthday card that said “Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?” Well, first of all, the MAGAs all say tht’s not a Trump word but the media has dug up numerous examples of him using it on these Trump so that’s bogus.
But it’s a really strange thing to say. “Enigmas never age?” What? Some of the weags on X noted that it’s an anagram of the word “gamine” which means a a waif-like young looking girl in French. Obviously, Trump doesn’t speak French (he barely speaks English) but the rumor is that his was a code word between the two pals.
Who knows? But it makes more sense than simply taking “enigmas never age, have you noticed that” at face value…It makes no sense at all.
The director of Israel’s Mossad spy agency visited Washington this week seeking U.S. help in convincing countries to take hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza, two sources with knowledge of issue tell Axios.
The spy chief, David Barnea, told White House envoy Steve Witkoff that Israel has been speaking in particular with Ethiopia, Indonesia and Libya.
What? That’s insane. They have literally gone insane.
The Israeli government’s goal of removing much of Gaza’s population is hugely controversial. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government claims such a “relocation” would be “voluntary,” U.S. and Israeli legal experts have labeled it a war crime.
In their meeting earlier this week, Barnea told Witkoff that Ethiopia, Indonesia and Libya had expressed openness to receiving large numbers of Palestinians from Gaza, the two source say.
Barnea suggested that the U.S. offer incentives to those countries and help Israel convince them.Witkoff was non-committal, and it’s not clear if the U.S. will actively weigh in on this issue, one source said.The White House, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, and the foreign ministries of Ethiopia, Indonesia and Libya did not respond to requests for comment prior to publication.
Trump and Bibi want to build an international resort and these Palestinians are in the way. As Trump said just this week, he can’t believe the Israelis ever gave up that beautiful beachfront property. That’s how sick this is. Trump just sees it as a real estate opportunity.
Apparently, they didn’t pursue it after the announcement because none of the Arab countries were excited about all the ethnic cleansing going on. Not a good look for them either, I guess. But now that places like Indonesia have said they’re willing to take them, the deal is back on. But really I don’t understand why they need to make any deals with other countries. Why not ship them all off to Antarctica? There’s nobody there!
Meanwhile, until this is settled, they’re preparing the concentration camp:
Israel has been developing a plan for moving all two million residents of the enclave to a small “humanitarian zone” near the border with Egypt.
That plan has sparked concerns in Egypt and many Western countries that Israel is preparing for the mass displacement of Palestinians out of Gaza, something Netanyahu’s ultranationalist coalition partners and many inside his own party have been pushing for years.
Ya think? But not to worry:
A senior Israeli official claimed that, as part of the understandings with the three countries, the transfer of Palestinians would be “voluntary and not forced,” and that Israel would commit to allowing any Palestinian who leaves to return to Gaza at any time.
Sure they will.
If the U.S. participates in this atrocity, we will deserve every bit of the pariah status we will get from the rest of the world. And I don’t have words to express just how bizarre and surreal it is to be reading that Israel, of all countries, is actually considering doing this.
Here’s another “kitchen table issue” that the Democrats could talk about that pulls the whole ugly Trump mess together: democracy, immigration, the economy, health care and your own family:
President Trump’s immigration crackdown is beginning to strain the long-term care work force, raising concerns about how the effects could ripple across the nation’s senior population.
Providers that operate nursing homes and home care agencies say they have lost staff members as the Trump administration has moved to end deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of migrants with temporary legal status. Republican critics of those programs say that they have allowed migrants to stay longer than intended, and that ending them “restores integrity” in the country’s immigration system.
But the long-term care industry already faces persistent challenges in recruiting workers. Providers say the reduction in staff could threaten the quality of services they are able to offer to the nation’s senior population. Some said they would have to raise wages to attract more workers to fill positions, and they were set to pass on cost increases to people receiving care.
The issue underscores the critical role that foreign-born workers play in the long-term care industry. Immigrants make up about 28 percent of the work force directly providing that care, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data from KFF, a health policy research group. In comparison, foreign-born workers account for about 19 percent of the entire U.S. civilian labor force.
Katie Smith Sloan, the president of LeadingAge, an association representing nonprofit aging services providers, said the Trump administration’s immigration policies were already starting to disrupt facilities across the country as providers moved to terminate some caregivers in recent weeks. She said some employees had stopped showing up at work out of fear for themselves and their families
You see? This grotesque immigration policy IS a kitchen table issue and Democrats should talk about it. People need to understand that deporting all these people or scaring them into hibernation is hurting Americans and their families! We need these people as much as they need us.
Who’s going to do this work??? The imaginary 35 year old guy living in his mother’s basement sucking on that sweet government health care? I don’t think so. Besides, he’s going to be busy picking strawberries.
This is just infuriatingly short-sighted. America has long had a tacit (and frankly exploitative) relationship with undocumented people who came to the U.S. to perform the labor that Americans are unable to unwilling to do. That’s just the reality. Apparently, nobody wants to admit that so we are in this delusional death spiral where we are hurting ourselves so that we can perform some unAmerican blood and soil ritual for the onanistic satisfaction of creeps like Trump and Stephen Miller.
Good luck America. There’s a boatload of old people coming down the pike and they’re coming home. Better buy a big supply of Depends before those tariffs kick in.
Trump: If we have a smart president, you will never let the dollar slide. If you have a dummy, that could happen
(Since Trump took office, the U.S. dollar has dropped over 10% against major currencies. It’s the worst first half year since 1973) pic.twitter.com/fj5OmSg2G5
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) July 18, 2025
There’s perhaps no better symbolic representation of America’s financial might than the U.S. dollar. And right now, the world’s top currency is taking a big, mighty punch.
The dollar has slumped more than 10% this year, posting its worst decline in the first six months of a year since 1973, back when President Nixon shocked the world by detaching the dollar’s value from gold.
The decline reverses a long stretch of annual gains for the dollar — and it’s especially confounding given that the U.S. economy is still doing well. “America was already great,” says Kaspar Hense, a senior portfolio manager at RBC BlueBay Asset Management.”We are coming from a very strong dollar level where U.S. exceptionalism was what everybody was speaking about in financial markets,” he adds.
Many investors now fear the decline could reflect a new reality for the U.S., just after the country celebrated its 249th birthday. A series of chaotic policies and statements by Trump — from tariffs to attacking the Federal Reserve — has shaken some of the confidence investors around the world had long held in the U.S.
Whether one agrees or disagrees with President Trump, one thing is clear: His second term is shaping up to be quite different — and it’s unnerving many investors, both in the U.S. and abroad. The chaotic rollout of tariffs has led to widespread uncertainty across businesses in the U.S. and around the world.
But President Trump has also disregarded other norms. He’s picked a fight with the Federal Reserve and Chair Jerome Powell over interest rates, for example, upending a tradition upheld by most American presidents not to interfere with the independence of the central bank.
And at a time when there are already serious concerns about the country’s finances President Trump on Independence Day signed a massive bill passed by Congress last week that will rack up trillions of dollars in additional debt.
It’s going really well. Nothing to worry about.
I think this gets to the thing that has people so spooked. It would be one thing if Trump had inherited a huge problem like Obama and Biden did. It often takes years to right the ship after some external shock. But Biden did a terrific job after the pandemic and reassured the world that the U.S. hadn’t completely lost its mind when it weirdly elected that freak in 2016. But then we did it again and this time, instead of riding the wave that his predecessor had put in place and taking credit for it, the freak decided to take a series of idiotic, misguided actions that have probably persuaded the world that we really are fundamentally fucked up. And nobody wants to trust a reserve currency with a madman in charge.
Trump, who angrily denies writing the letter, is seeking damages of no less than $10 billion in the lawsuit alleging defamation.
Named as defendants in the suit in federal court in the Southern District of Florida are Murdoch, his company News Corp and its CEO Robert Thomson, the Journal’s publisher, Dow Jones & Co., and the two reporters who wrote the article published Thursday evening.
A Dow Jones spokesperson sent the following statement to CNBC: “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
I wasn’t sure he’d actually pull the trigger on this lawsuit. Because TACO. And because he has to know that the Journal can back up its story.
But Trump is also feeling the heat from the Epstein saga. Where tariffs are his default foreign policy tool, leveraging his power to kill pending mergers is his default against corporate irritants, and lawsuits are his go-to for working out his personal grievances. His toolbox is pretty spare. He’s flailing.
Former “Fox and Friends” host Gretchen Carlson told CNN Friday evening:
“Yeah, I’m shocked. I mean, up until a few hours ago, I would have told you that I didn’t think he was going to do this,” Carlson said.
She noted that Trump may be emboldened after emerging successful with ABC and CBS and “bribing law firms to give him free services.”
“So I do think that the gloves are off now,” she said. “I think that this presents a conundrum for Murdoch and for Trump.”
Carlson said Murdoch may have another trick up his sleeve when it comes to taking on the president.
“The card that Murdoch has is that he can tell Fox News to start covering these stories. So that’s also his conundrum, because the last time that that happened, all the viewers went to other outlets,” she warned. “So there’s risk for Murdoch in that scenario. But for Trump, there’s also a conundrum, because if Murdoch decides to tell Fox to start covering these stories, that’s a huge risk for Trump.”
She concluded, “So they both have a lot to lose in this scenario.”
But it’s Trump who’s feeling more heat.
The Lincoln Project is cited in Trump’s complaint, much to their satisfaction.
Our tweet is mentioned in Trump's lawsuit against Wall Street Journal LMAOOO
“We got a beating for breakfast. We got a beating for lunch. We got a beating for dinner,” Arturo Suárez told cameras upon returning to Venezuela after enduring four months in El Salvador’s infamous Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison.
In a prisoner swap, El Salvador this week sent back to Venezuela over 200 Venezuelan migrants deported to CECOT by the Trump administration (ABC News):
The deal included the release of 10 Americans held in Venezuela, according to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the result was that “every wrongfully detained American in Venezuela is now free and back in our homeland.” In addition, the deal included the release of some “Venezuelan political prisoners and detainees” being held by the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the U.S. said.
Mother Jones reports that relatives of those freed are both relieved and apprehensive:
Mariangi Sierra, sister of Anyelo Sierra Cano, said in a message she was feeling “emotional, happy, truly something inexplicable.”
For some relatives, the news of the men’s return to Venezuela evoked more mixed feelings. Maria Quevedo, the mother of Eddie Adolfo Hurtado Quevedo, told Mother Jones she was feeling relieved but still scared. “Happy because God gave me the gift of seeing my son free on my birthday,” she said. “Scared because my son is going to Venezuela, where he was threatened by the [paramilitary group] colectivos.”
Dozens of Venezuelans sent to CECOT had pending asylum applications in US immigration courts when they were removed. In some instances, their cases have been dismissed by immigration judges. They could now be vulnerable to potential harm and persecution back in Venezuela.
Various accounts speak to the details of the swap deal worked out between the U.S., El Salvador, and Venezuela. Ten Americans were included in the release. The Venezuelan government had detained the men as bargaining chips (The New York Times):
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the U.S. citizens and permanent residents had been arrested and jailed in Venezuela “without proper due process” and called for the “restoration of democracy in Venezuela.”
The capture and imprisonment of the Americans had been part of the Venezuelan government’s efforts to gain an upper hand in negotiations with the Trump administration, while the detention of the Venezuelans in El Salvador played a high-profile role in President Trump’s promise to deport millions of immigrants.
Rubio’s complaint about lack of due process is pretty rich. The administration had no problem meting out the same treatment to migrants it kidnapped, deported, and imprisoned.
— Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (@StateSPEHA) July 18, 2025
Look at that tweet above. Trump will get thanked for the release of Americans only imprisoned in Venezuela as a result of ICE actions against migrants here in the U.S.
None of this obviates the spreading black stain the Tump 2.0 administration leaves on what’s left of this country’s standing in the world. It won’t wash out in what’s left of my lifetime.
