On Monday, the three wealthiest men in the world—Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg—are scheduled to be at the Capitol as honored guests for Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, seated where four years ago Christian nationalists, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, militia members, and other extremists, incited by his brazen lies about the 2020 election, violently attacked Congress to overturn American democracy and keep Trump in power. This transition—from brownshirts to billionaires—encapsulates what has gone wrong. It is a clear signal that the United States is broken.
With the news that Trump launched that new shitcoin and has made at least $25 billion overnight, I feel very hopeless today. This is what it’s come to.
Trump’s describing his ultimately abandoned pursuit of the Reform Party’s presidential nomination in 2000:
Trump had inked a deal with Tony Robbins, the frighteningly upbeat motivational speaker, by which Robbins would pay Trump $1 million to give ten speeches at his seminars around the country. Crucially, Trump had timed his political stops to coincide with Robbins’ seminars, so that he was “making a lot of money” on those campaign stops. “It’s very possible that I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it,” Trump said. …
President-elect Trump launched his own cryptocurrency overnight and swiftly appeared to make more than $25 billion on paper for himself and his companies.
The stunning launch of $TRUMP caught the entire industry off-guard, and speaks to both his personal influence and the ascendancy of cryptocurrency in his administration.
It also speaks to the nature of the crypto industry that someone could have $25 billion worth of something that literally did not exist 24 hours previously.
Friday night, while Trump was reportedly hosting a “Crypto Ball” for the industry in Washington, the president-elect launched his own meme-linked cryptocurrency.
His website bills it as “the only official Trump meme.”
According to CoinGecko price data, $TRUMP rose more than 600% overnight and was trading just over $32 as of 11 a.m. ET Saturday.
That gives the coin a fully diluted market capitalization just north of $32 billion.
The meme website says 80% of the supply is held by Trump Organization affiliate CIC Digital, and a CIC co-owned entity called Fight Fight Fight LLC. (“Fight fight fight” is what Trump said after being shot at a rally in July.)
They are subject to a three-year unlocking schedule, which means they cannot dump all of their holdings at once.
The intrigue: Trump has warmly embraced cryptocurrency as a concept and an industry, to the point that he is reportedly considering designating it a “national priority” as soon as this week, per Bloomberg.
No politician has ever given their supporters a way to monetize that support — until now.
It’s always “bad news for Democrats.” Even their victories. With Donald Trump planning to install a throne behind the Resolute Desk next week, post-election punditry that explains Trump 2.0 as stemming from what Democrats did wrong begins to sound like blaming rape victims’ for wearing provocative clothes.
If D.C. gossip is more than Trumpish bluster, the new regime will begin on Monday with some kind of Loan Cannon-ish “shockandawe” effort featuring a blast of executive orders. So far, it seems Democrats are not only unprepared, but actually surrendering in advance.
Screaming “this is not normal” and trusting norms upon which (unbeknown to most of us) much of Washington actually relied did not work the first time around. It won’t now either.
Trumpsters like Stephen Miller expect to Loan-Cannon Trump’s opposition “with a blitz of activity” he believes they lack the bandwidth to resist. Trump has spent his life over-promising and under-delivering. And getting away with it. Make him own it, suggests JV Last (emphasis mine):
First: Do not help Republicans. Not in any way. On any issue. Republicans can’t pass a budget, or raise the debt ceiling? Tough luck. Do not provide them any bailout votes on any issue. Period, the end.
Second: Make Donald Trump own every bad outcome that happens, anywhere in the world while paying special attention to areas where Republicans are particularly vulnerable. Like housing and Ukraine.
Trump the Ever-Innocent will point his stubby fingers at Democrats and insufficiently supine Republicans for his failures, but he’ll do even if his “opposition” doesn’t follow Last’s first principle of resistance.
Jason Linkins ofThe New Republic believes Democrats should go Last one better:
Rather than exert so much energy trying to thrust Trump out of the presidency, liberals would be well served to spend their time thrusting the presidency upon Donald Trump. Instead of searching for illusory quick fixes for the existence of the Trump administration, start demanding the Trump administration fix everything quickly.
Expecting our crumpled “guardrails” to restrain him proved ineffective in his first term. Help send his presidency into the ditch with all speed. Don’t give him more “witch hunts.” Give him more presidency:
To get there, liberals need to get into the business of identifying the problems that real Americans face (which honestly, is something they could stand to relearn how to do) and more forcefully blame Trump for those problems’ continued existence. They need to raise a hue and cry over everything under the sun that’s broken, dysfunctional, or trending in the wrong direction; pile line items on Trump’s to-do list, wake him up early and keep him up late. Every day, get in front of cable news cameras and reporters’ notepads with a new problem for Trump to solve and fresh complaints about the work not done.
Spocko will appreciate that the approach is not unlike the Star Trek TOS episode “Charlie X.” A socially awkward adolescent takes control of the Enterprise using extraordinary powers the crew has no way to resist. In response, Capt. Kirk overloads “the boy’s abilities by ordering all of the ship’s systems to be activated.”
Charlie X
For certain, Democrats can be grateful if he actually makes good on any of his “I alone can fix it” promises. (Or rather, they can take credit for having goaded Trump to get off his ass and do his job.) But as I’ve suggested before, in advice that Last echoes above, Trump should truly be left to solve these problems on his own. He’s claimed a mandate and congressional majorities, so let him (and his fellow Republicans) figure it out, with Democratic votes on offer only if massive policy concessions supporting Democratic Party interests are included.
Just the way congressional Republicans threaten to withhold disaster aid from California if it doesn’t come with punitive concessions. Two can play that game. I don’t expect Democrats to get it together enough to attempt this, but pretty much everything else they’ve tried has failed.
I am just heartsick over the plight of the animals lost in the LA fires. People have lost their pets and many others have nowhere to live so are having to house them at shelters. And then there is the wildlife that live in the neighborhoods and foothills that were ravaged by the firestorm.
Due to overwhelming support, Pasadena Humane has no more capacity for material donations or fosters, and has put a pause on volunteer applications, but is in need of monetary donations.
You can sign up to foster or adopt for from one of 13 city and county shelters. This will open up space for new animals.
Note: According to recent IG comments, the foster process takes weeks to approve, so if you’re not already registered to foster with LA Animal Services, consider looking into the smaller organizations listed in the next section.
There is a new Los Angeles FIRE Evacuation Animal Services Hotline. If you have lost your pets due to the wildfires and are needing assistance to find them, you can call 213-270-8155 and leave the requested information about your pet and your contact number.
SPCA has put a pause on foster applicants due to the overwhelming response. Keep an eye on their socials for future opportunities to volunteer, adopt, or foster.
LA County Animal Care has waived adoption fees for the general public. and for local rescues and adoption partners to pull animals from their shelters.
The pain and suffering is unfathomable but people all over LA are stepping up to help the animals (and their humans) in vast numbers, which is really good to see. It restores your faith in humanity.
Three rescue dogs were stuck in their home, alone, as the Palisades Fire closed in. Their owners could not get to them. But CBS News’ Jonathan Vigliotti was reporting on the wildfires from a nearby school. And he and his crew attempted a miracle. https://t.co/LvO182Uyd7pic.twitter.com/6slcq5vpeA
In another loud on-air rant, Stephen Miller bashes the entire intelligence community and spreads more lies about the FBI and CIA plotting to “take out” Trump.
They’ll say anything to justify installing loyalists who will go after Trump’s political rivals. pic.twitter.com/5Ybp7nKhso
— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) January 13, 2025
Mr. Miller was influential in Mr. Trump’s first term but stands to be exponentially more so this time. He holds the positions of deputy chief of staff, with oversight of domestic policy, and homeland security adviser, which gives him range to coordinate among cabinet agencies. He will be a key legislative strategist and is expected to play an important role in crafting Mr. Trump’s speeches, as he has done since he joined the first Trump campaign in 2016.
Most significantly, Mr. Miller will be in charge of Mr. Trump’s signature issue and the one that Mr. Miller has been fixated on since childhood: immigration. And he has been working, in secrecy, to oversee the team drafting the dozens of executive orders that Mr. Trump will sign after he takes office on Jan. 20.
“I call Stephen ‘Trump’s brain,’” said Kevin McCarthy, the former House speaker who credited Mr. Miller — a private citizen at the time — with helping to rally Republican lawmakers to insert a sweeping border crackdown into a spending bill in 2023.
In the four years since Mr. Trump has been out of office, Mr. Miller has spent more time than any close Trump adviser mapping out a second-term playbook. He expanded on the hard-line first-term immigration policies; he deepened his relationships with House members, senators and influential right-wing media figures; he built a nationwide donor network to fund a nonprofit that he used as an additional tool of influence; and he quietly cultivated a relationship with the richest man in the world, Elon Musk.
They say he’s learned “two key lessons”
The first is to flood the zone. He believes that those he regards as Mr. Trump’s enemies — Democrats, the media, groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and portions of the federal bureaucracy — are depleted and only have so much bandwidth for outrage and opposition. Mr. Miller has told people that the goal is to overwhelm them with a blitz of activity.
The second lesson has been to operate with as much secrecy as possible to prevent anyone from finding ways to obstruct the Trump agenda. As a congressional staffer, Mr. Miller was freewheeling in his digital communications. But since working for Mr. Trump, who doesn’t use email and regards people who take notes with suspicion, he puts almost nothing in writing. Instead, he works through emissaries.
Good to know. Here’s what he’s talking about:
HOLY SH*T 🚨 Stephen Miller outlines President Trump’s first 100 days and it’s absolutely perfect
This is the most important 1 minute of your life and your families life. This is what we voted for
I suspect his “enemies” have more resilience and determination than he realizes. And while he may be able to operate in secret for a while, his plans will inevitably become public and he will be asked to sell them. That guy is repellent.
Cling to reality, folks. It’s all we’ve got. And the reality is that Trump is no popular, he’s an idiot and so are most of the people around him. Not that he can’t do damage, of course. But he is no colossus.
Mike Johnson fired the GOP chairman of the House Intelligence Committee ,Mike Turner, this week, even going so far as to remove him from the committee entirely. He has told reporters that Johnson said the order came from Mar-a-Lago although Johnson is denying it.
Turner was a sort of old school Republican with generally hawkish views who supported Ukraine and the use of FISA warrants, both of which are anathemas to the far right. He also called out some of his fellow Republicans last year (anonymously) for being dupes of Russian propaganda which I would guess is probably at the heart of all this.
Nonetheless, he had the respect of both Democrats and Republicans on the committee and they are upset:
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), a hawkish Intelligence Committee member, told reporters “we all have questions and concerns” and that Turner’s removal “kind of came out of nowhere.”
“McCarthy spent a lot of political capital right-sizing and fixing that committee so that it would be what it needed to be. And Johnson, it’s not really clear what his plan is,” Crenshaw added.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), another hawk, told Axios “it divides the conference, and I don’t think that’s good,” adding that “most of us agree” with Turner on issues like Ukraine and intelligence collection. “I’m not happy with the decision. I think the vast majority of us are not happy with the decision,” said another House Republican who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Despite Johnson’s denials, several House Republicans pushed the theory that the right-wing House Freedom Caucus pressed President-elect Trump’s team to demand Turner’s ouster.
The House Republican who spoke anonymously said the right-wing group, still smarting over a successful Turner-led push to reauthorize the federal government’s spying capabilities, engineered the move. “The House Freedom Caucus remembered that, went down to Mar-a-Lago, extracted a pound of flesh from somebody they didn’t like,” they said. The right-wing group met with Trump at his Florida resort last weekend.
Crenshaw called it a “very believable theory.”
“Rumors are HFC demanded it,” offered Bacon, adding that “if the rumors are true, it’s offensive.”
Freedom Caucus members pleaded ignorance.
This is only going to cause more trouble for Johnson. NBC reported:
One lawmaker who, like Turner, is a member of the Main Street Caucus, said the unexpected swap at the intelligence panel has eroded trust within the Republican conference and could make it much harder to pass Trump’s agenda. With two House Republicans up for positions in the Trump administration, the party’s majority could soon shrink to 217-215 — giving Johnson just a one-seat cushion on party-line votes.
These Republicans said they were giving Johnson an earful after Turner’s removal became public.
“This hurts us in the reconciliation process,” said the lawmaker, referring to the expedited budget process Republicans plan to use to pass legislation related to Trump’s pledges on taxes, the border and energy costs. “Looks like backroom politics and backstabbing.”
A second GOP lawmaker, one who had a recent conversation with Turner, predicted the ousted chairman would make life difficult for Johnson in the coming year and could be in a position to halt Republicans’ entire agenda if he chooses to do so. Turner did not participate in House votes on Wednesday or Thursday.
“I think Turner will burn the House down,” the second lawmaker said. “He will be a no vote on everything. I mean, he just got totally f—–.”
Apparently, he has not shown up for any votes.
Rep. Mike Turner R-OH, ousted yesterday by Speaker Johnson as Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, missed all House votes again today.
I don’t know that it’s realistic to hope for something like this to happen but you never know.
This development bears close scrutinyRepublicans have a 219-215 edge in the HouseBut they will lose 2 members to the Trump administrationSo it’ll be 217-215If Mike Turner flips parties-or just wants to make the GOP payThat makes it 216-216And Republicans won’t be able to pass ANYTHING
It’s rare for a Republican to jump to the Democrats (it’s usually gone the other way) but politics ain’t what it used to be so who knows? In any case, it doesn’t look like he’s going to be a good team player.
They’ve moved the inauguration ceremony inside die to the cold weather. I’m sure he doesn’t want his pet oligarchs to be uncomfortable.
I guess he doesn’t want to be the William Henry Harrison of our time?
Donald Trump wants you to think he is concerned that 20 degree weather at the Capitol constitutes "dangerous conditions for Law Enforcement" pic.twitter.com/kMEgF8iWvp
Since the inauguration is moving indoors, here is a suggestion for decorations so the “law and order” guy see what supporters did. Just make it as it was on Jan 6, 2021. pic.twitter.com/yRUer3n1XU
— Staff Sergeant Gonell, Aquilino (@SergeantAqGo) January 17, 2025
In '61, John F. Kennedy was Inaugurated on the Capitol steps, in windchills of 7 degrees. It was almost as cold for Obama in '09. In fairness, Trump IS more than 3 decades older than JFK & Obama were. Or did he just fear small crowds? pic.twitter.com/3TFJil3HqF
For all the media folderol about Donald Trump’s triumphant return to the White House, new polling shows that most Americans are actually feeling pretty meh about the prospects for any of his grandiose plans. The AP Norc poll shows that Trump’s 41% approval rating is only a few points higher than it was when he was ignominiously rejected four years ago and most people don’t have any confidence that he’ll be able to accomplish most of what he’s promised.
For a man who erroneously insists that he won a landslide and claims that he’s been given a mandate for massive change, it doesn’t appear that most Americans actually support his agenda (other than eliminating taxes on tips) either:
Members of both parties say they want compromise but considering recent history it’s pretty clear that the Republican party simply is no longer organized to do that. They are in the grip of an extremist faction, led by Trump himself, that is immune to any kind of concession. From all the reports coming out of the new Congress nothing has changed on that count.
Trump and his crony oligarchs have been soaking up all the attention over the past couple of weeks, raising expectations that, in the words of his former adviser now internet influencer and activist Steve Bannon, he will enter the White House and immediately begin a campaign of “shock and awe” which will immediately upend the country and usher in a new era of peace and prosperity.
No doubt Trump will issue a bunch of executive orders reversing all of those Joe Biden put in place and then claim that his actions immediately turned the economy around and fixed the border within the first week. (His allies are already saying it.) And it’s likely that he’ll very quickly issue pardons for the January 6th rioters, the only question being if he’ll let off those who assaulted police officers and planned insurrection. (I’m betting he will — the MAGA faithful will be livid if he doesn’t.) All that is to be expected.
However, there is actual governing to be done and from the looks of it, that’s not going to be quite as easy as everyone wants to believe. First of all, as quickly as they are attempting to move on the cabinet, Trump’s goal of getting them confirmed immediately is unlikely although so far, unless something unexpected happens, it appears they’ll all make it through the process eventually.
Other than that, the Congress is a total mess. We already experienced its extreme dysfunction with the circus around Mike Johnson’s election as Speaker and the chaos that erupted when Elon Musk activated the MAGA trolls to put sand in the gears of the budget and almost shut down the government just days before Christmas. It’s only getting messier.
Generally speaking when a party controls both branches of government they would have mapped out their legislative strategy long before they will have sworn in the new Congress. In 2017 when Trump was inaugurated the first time, then-Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had plans for their budget resolution hammered out a week beforehand. The Democrats did the same in 2021 (and they had to contend with a violent insurrection.) But for all of the Trumpers’ bluster, they aren’t even close to figuring out how they plan to proceed and they are facing an imminent debt ceiling, an expiring continuing resolution and before too long, the expiration of the tax cuts Trump signed into law back in 2017.
There are several roadblocks. The first is that they simply can’t agree on whether they should pass their dream agenda in “one big beautiful bill” as Trump wants them to do or break it up into two. This must be done using the reconciliation process in order to circumvent the filibuster in the Senate which the new Majority Leader John Thune has already said they will continue to honor. He is on record preferring they break up the massive agenda which includes a very expensive border bill, energy legislation and more tax cuts, wisely understanding that the prospect of getting everything want with such a small margin in the House is minimal so they need to prioritize. Johnson, naturally, wants to follow Trump’s orders and also knows that passing two reconciliation bills in one year is difficult and hasn’t been done since 2006.
According to Politico, despite being publicly polite to one another, it’s clear the Thune and Johnson are at odds and Trump has reportedly left it in their hands to work it out, saying that he’ll accept whatever they decide even though he’s made his preference clear. He has come up with one brilliant new strategy he thinks will force the Democrats to vote for his draconian policies. He wants the debt ceiling raised in the reconciliation bill and he wants to force Democrats to vote for it:
Trump tells Dan Bongino he wants to hold Los Angeles wildfire disaster aid hostage to get his agenda passed. 👇🏽😕
It’s entirely predictable that Donald Trump would tell Californians in the midst of an epic disaster that they will have to vote for mass deportation and tax cuts for billionaires if they want the federal help that’s routinely given to any other state. I won’t be surprised if they try it but it won’t work because the Democrats will not agree to do it and there’s even a fair chance that the Senate will balk at such a cretinous move. It would just delay the negotiations and they’ll have to go back to the drawing board anyway. (Regardless, there’s going to be a big battle over aid to California one way or another. Many Republicans are demanding that the state capitulate to Trump and the climate deniers’ delusional demands.)
Politico reports that they are so far behind that there’s almost no way they can get anything passed in the House before the end of February and it’s likely to take much longer than that. And that’s assuming these Republicans can come up with even one reconciliation bill that meets all of their standards. They have pledged that anything they spend will have to be paid for and that includes raising the debt ceiling as Trump adamantly demands and the House Freedom Caucus is already throwing its weight around. The kind of cuts that would be called for to do that will cause a firestorm and will probably start to fracture their coalition. And even if they can keep it together, they’ll have to deal with the Senate parliamentarian who will decide whether their bills meet the criteria for reconciliation packages. Thune has pledged to abide by that decision, whatever it is.
And who knows what Elon Musk and his DOGE commissars are going to do? He already killed Trump’s honeymoon before it even started. If he decides to meddle again, he might just blow the whole thing up. It will not be surprising if we’re sitting here next year at this time with Trump’s agenda sitting in a smoldering pile on the House floor. From the looks of the polling, the American people don’t particularly want or expect anything different.
