Author: digby

He’s killing more people in the states that didn’t vote for him:

The Trump administration plans to rescind $600 million in public health funds from four states led by Democrats because it finds the grants “inconsistent with agency priorities,” according to documents reviewed by The New York Times.

The programs slated to be cut are in California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota. They include grants to state and local public health departments as well as to some nongovernmental organizations. A list of the cuts was shared with relevant congressional committees on Monday.

The funds are administered through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They include grants given to states for a variety of purposes, including hiring staffs, modernizing data systems and managing disease outbreaks. Some programs are aimed at the needs of specific communities.

Some of the cuts will be finalized this week and others over the coming weeks, totaling roughly $600 million. The figure was first reported by The New York Post.

Nearly two-thirds of the funding is unspent money allocated to state and local public health departments in California.

“These grants are being terminated because they do not reflect agency priorities,” a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said. About two dozen of the grants were aimed at curbing H.I.V. and other sexually transmitted infections.

You can lay this one at the feet of RFK Jr, the former Democrat who sold his soul to the devil so he could make people sicker with crackpot snake oil nonsense while telling people to eat healthier food, as if that’s some sort of revolutionary concept. Thanks Bobby. You must be so proud.

Update — more:

The vaccine maker Moderna said on Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration had notified the company that the agency would not review its mRNA flu vaccine, the latest sign of federal health policy that has become hostile to vaccine development.

Dr. Vinay Prasad, the agency’s top vaccine regulator, rejected the company’s application for approval over a concern that Moderna’s clinical trial had compared its experimental vaccine against a product the agency did not consider the best on the market. People in the comparison group received Fluarix Quadrivalent, a flu vaccine sold by GSK.

Moderna had spent years and hundreds of millions of dollars testing its flu vaccine, enrolling 41,000 people and aimed at a market of adults ages 50 and older. The company concluded that its shot was superior to GSK’s product.

Stephen Hoge, the company’s president, said in an interview on Tuesday that the new flu vaccine was designed to be better tailored for a single nation than the ones that tended to be used by an entire hemisphere.

“This refusal to start a review is all confusing, to say the least,” Mr. Hoge said, adding: “It is surprising, and we’re trying to understand what has changed.”

They just don’t want people to be protected. They want us to die.

Steve Benen at MS Now with Trump’s latest:

In October, Donald Trump halted funding on the Gateway tunnel construction project, one of the nation’s most important infrastructure investments: a $16 billion endeavor that would connect New York and New Jersey via a pair of train tubes that would benefit the entire region.

The good news is, the president recently signaled a willingness to release the resources that would allow work to continue and prevent significant layoffs. The bad news is, he had a transaction in mind: Trump told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that the money would be restored if Democrats agreed to rename Dulles International Airport and New York’s Penn Station after Trump.

The president’s pitch was, for all intents and purposes, an attempt at extortion: If Democrats wanted to save a critical infrastructure project and prevent the job losses, they had to indulge Trump’s obsession with self-glorification.

The White House made little effort to deny the accuracy of the reporting, and on Friday night, during a brief Q&A on Air Force One, a reporter asked the Republican, “Can you set the record straight? There were reports circulating that you told Chuck Schumer that in order to restore funding for the Gateway train tunnel in New York, New Jersey, you would want Penn Station and Dulles Airport to be named after you. Is that true?”

The ideal answer would have been, “No, of course not, that would be insane.” Alas, that’s not what Trump said.

Reporter: There are reports that you told Schumer that in order to restore Gateway funding, you would want Dulles Airport and Penn station named after you?

Trump: Schumer suggested it pic.twitter.com/niMglXzb2h

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 7, 2026

“He suggested that to me,” Trump replied. “Chuck Schumer suggested that to me about changing the name. … It was suggested to me by numerous people, unions, Democrats, Republicans, a lot of people suggested.”

Schumer said it is an “absolute lie,” which is backed up by the fact that Schumer didn’t agree to whatever it was Trump suggested and, needless to say, the evidence we have all around us of the narcissistic freak pasting his name on everything in sight all over the country. He’s demanding that they give him the Nobel Peace Prize for doing absolutely nothing and has completely torn up the nation’s alliances in that pursuit! The man is obsessed and everyone knows it. So of course he suggested it.

As I’ve said before I’m worried that the Democrats will lose their nerve and let this bullshit stand and I think that’s a very bad idea. If we survive his regime — and there’s no guarantee that we will — but if we do, this extreme demonstration of twisted egomania has to be exorcised from all public places or his cult will continue to hang on on some form or another. That’s what he’s counting on and we just can’t allow that.

Funny how MAGA melted down over the Bad Bunny halftime show when this official Trump ad from 2020 was in Spanish and featured both the Mexican and Puerto Rican flags pic.twitter.com/UIr9F82A61

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) February 10, 2026

Considering Bad Bunny’s message, this from the 2024 campaign is also ironic:

“It’s very important that we all understand that no matter where we’re coming from, we’re already American. Whether you’re African American, Latino American, Asian American, European American, wherever you come from, we are all American,” Jaime Florez, Hispanic communications director for the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign, told NBC News.

I’m sorry. They were suckers for believing him. Even if they really wanted those cheap eggs, they should have paid closer attention to this:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff)

Live and learn. I hope.

The very right wing Rasmussen poll has some interesting results this week:

Most voters don’t think America is living in the “Golden Age” that President Donald Trump promised in his inaugural address, and nearly half say he’s doing a worse job than his predecessor.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 27% of Likely Voters believe this is “the Golden Age of America,” while 58% say it’s not and 15% are not sure. In January 2025, 52% of voters agreed with Trump’s declaration that “the Golden Age of America” was beginning. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The rest is behind a paywall but this is the kicker:

Ouch. That has to hurt.

If you wondered why Trump seems to be decompensating these last few weeks, becoming more and more unhinged and mentally chaotic, this has to be part of the reason. His people may be keeping him sheltered from the worst of it but he gets information from all over the place and there’s little doubt that he’s seeing his poll numbers, no matter what crazy lies he tells his cult (and himself.)

Who knows what caused this incoherent tantrum but they’re coming more frequently these days:

Cray, cray:

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest business lobbying group, denounced the president’s threat in a statement, writing that “whether this proves real or simply threatened to keep uncertainty high — blocking or barricading bridges is a self-defeating move.”

It was not immediately clear how Mr. Trump would block the opening of the bridge. Its construction was paid for by Canada, and a public-private arrangement , under which Canada and Michigan would jointly operate the crossing, gives Michigan part ownership.

One possible avenue would be for Mr. Trump to declare an emergency. Under the law, Customs and Border Protection can temporarily close a port of entry “when necessary to respond to a specific threat to human life or national interests.” Mr. Trump has often invoked emergency statutes for events and circumstances that are largely considered routine to make use of the expanded authority that doing so grants him.

The nearby Ambassador Bridge, one of the busiest border crossings on the continent, has been privately owned for decades by a Detroit trucking industry billionaire and his family, the Morouns. The family had previously called on Mr. Trump to halt the construction of the Gordie Howe bridge — which would, once opened, compete for the more than $300 million in daily cross-border trade over the Ambassador Bridge.

Mr. Trump also suggested in his social media post on Monday that the United States might seek to acquire “at least one half” of the new bridge and to get a cut of the revenue from bridge tolls.

In his first term, Mr. Trump had promoted the project in a joint statement with Canadian officials as a symbol of the countries’ deep economic partnership and as “a vital economic link between our two countries.”

That was before he completely lost his mind.

Bad Bunny one day, Canadian bridges the next. He is mentally incontinent.

Prime Minister Mark Carney says he spoke to Donald Trump following the U.S. president’s threat to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit. Carney says he reminded Trump that Canada paid for the bridge. pic.twitter.com/eetXhJYwnM

— Olivia Stefanovich (@CBCOlivia) February 10, 2026

How does anyone negotiate with a negotiating partner who is only consistent in one thing: consistent bad faith? https://t.co/7d9mZcCcBY

— David Frum (@davidfrum) February 10, 2026

What insane xenophobic drivel:

Watters: Latin America is invading this country… and that's what you see. You see all these foreigners speaking a foreign language, with foreign flags marching into the camera like a caravan. This was an open borders moment. pic.twitter.com/pEO92PllvG

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 9, 2026

We know he won’t be caught dead in hellholes like California but maybe he should spend some time in Texas and Florida, two red states, to see just how Latino this country is and always has been. He will be surprised.

Republicans clearly don’t think they need Latino voters so they are calling them criminals and invaders and insulting the culture that’s been part of America since the beginning. I can’t see why any Latino, American or otherwise, would ever support these people again.

CNN took a look at their relationship:

Jeffrey Epstein’s life as a free man was about to end, but first he needed to cancel breakfast plans with a friend: Steve Bannon, the right-wing influencer and former adviser to President Donald Trump.

In the days leading up to Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, the two men exchanged a steady stream of text messages, veering from breezy banter and dark humor to more serious strategizing around Bannon’s efforts to foment a global populist movement.

Writing from Paris, Epstein pressed Bannon to rally US support behind a Slovakian leader seeking a top NATO post. Bannon, meanwhile, wanted Epstein’s help connecting a close ally in Israel with the country’s former prime minister. They also traded barbs about the indictment of a British anti-Muslim activist and made plans to meet the morning of July 7 once Epstein returned from Europe.

The conversation came to a halt on July 6. After messaging with Bannon that day about their upcoming rendezvous, Epstein suddenly wrote, “All canceled.” He sent the message at 7:37 p.m. ET, according to US Department of Justice records. By then, federal authorities had intercepted Epstein at a New Jersey airport and arrested the New York financier on charges he sex trafficked minors.

Bannon and Epstein were plotting Bannon’s creepy global “populist” movement which is incredibly rich considering his relationship to all the world’s oligarchs.

For years, Bannon has served as a leading voice for the American alt-right, and he has sought to spread to other countries the movement that helped propel Trump to the presidency. Until now, his maneuverings abroad, well documented by US and foreign media, have drawn little speculation that Epstein played any role.

Conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein — whose body was found in his jail cell while he was awaiting trial in August 2019, with his death ruled a suicide — have long animated Bannon’s followers, generally directed at the same elites he regularly targets and not Bannon himself. Last summer, Bannon joined other MAGA loyalists in criticizing the Trump administration’s handling of documents related to Epstein’s crimes. He has been far less vocal, however, about his own relationship with Epstein.

Bannon did not return phone calls and text messages from CNN.

Epstein offered Bannon the same things he extended to many powerful confidantes: strategic advice, connections to the highest levels of government and business, and access to his vast wealth. He appeared increasingly invested in Bannon’s success even as he recognized his own history — Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to two state prostitution charges, one involving a child — could complicate their cause. “Lets make sure you are keeping your own path on front burner. Strategy etc.,” he wrote Bannon in August 2018, before adding: “at the same time. Take no heat re me. Not worth it for the moment.”

Bannon, for his part, appeared eager to capitalize on the relationship despite Epstein’s criminal past. He regularly shared headlines from his efforts abroad and tapped into Epstein’s extensive network. At one point, he asked Epstein: “Do u know anyone in Europe that wants to control the European Parliament and with it the EU.”

In private exchanges, the two sometimes plotted next steps and workshopped Bannon’s messaging. The night before Bannon was set to appear at a September 2018 forum hosted by The Economist, Epstein suggested framing for how Bannon should discuss Trump’s contentious trade wars. “Brilliant brilliant brilliant,” Bannon responded, “help me develop that argument.”

The way everyone genuflected to that guy is truly amazing.

Bannon is someone who had a close relationship with Epstein right up until the moment he was arrested in 2019. Why hasn’t he gotten more scrutiny?

Trump is pardoning every criminal who pays for access to him (reportedly for millions of dollars) so why not Ghislaine Maxwell? It’s not like he cares if anyone sees this sort of thing as a textbook quid-pro-cuo. After all, he’ll accept ridiculous gifts from foreign players in exchange for favors without batting an eye:

Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to prison for 20 years for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to abuse minors, sent a clear message to Donald Trump on Monday that if the president were to grant her clemency, she would clear his name of any wrongdoing as it pertains to Epstein.

The extraordinary overture, stated by Maxwell’s lawyer Monday morning during her virtual deposition before the House Oversight Committee, ensures the Epstein saga will continue to remain a political hotspot.

“Ms. Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump,” attorney David Oscar Markus said in a statement during the deposition, which he later posted on X. “Only she can provide the complete account. Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters. For example, both President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing.” Markus also said that: “Ms. Maxwell alone can explain why, and the public is entitled to that explanation.”

Trump has not ruled out the possibility of offering Maxwell a pardon or commutation.

I would assume that he’d openly tout her “exoneration” as being the end of the story without even acknowledging that she did it solely because he agreed to commute her sentence. And his cult will accept that without question.

It’s a little late for that

Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos was reportedly angry with now-former CEO Will Lewis partying it up in San Francisco during Super Bowl Week, right as he was laying off hundreds of employees at the paper.

The Financial Times on Saturday night reported that was the “last straw” for Lewis, according to one newsroom source.“Bezos lost patience after the Super Bowl thing,” the source told FT.

That report came out right after Lewis stepped down as the chief executive and publisher of The Washington Post on Saturday evening.“Senior management at The Post were livid when they discovered that Lewis was attending festivities around the Super Bowl in San Francisco around the time of the news of the jobs cuts,” the source told FT. “It came off as ‘callous.’”

Yeah, whatever. Maybe Bezos could pull some money out of his couch cushions to pay for this, if he wants to stop looking callous:

After The Washington Post was hit with layoffs cutting a third of its staff, its international reporters are faced with finding away home, some currently in war zones.

Following Wednesday’s restructuring at the Jeff Bezos-owned company, Tokyo/Seoul bureau chief Michelle Ye Hee Lee launched a GoFundMe campaign in attempt to help the “dozens of international employees who were essential to our coverage of global events” in getting home safely.

“These workers are not eligible for protection under the Washington Post Guild and are, in many instances, being laid off with less favorable terms while also facing immense logistical challenges and, in certain cases, serious security risks,” the crowdfunding page reads. “Please help us support this deeply courageous team of people.”

[…]

Lizzie Johnson, a correspondent covering Ukraine, was one such person impacted by this week’s layoffs. “I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I’m devastated,” she wrote on X from Kyiv.

Former employees of the second most wealthy man on the planet have to rely on a GoFundMe to get them home after being abandoned in far far flung foreign locales. Talk about callous.

I don’t think this is going to have the effect they are hoping for:

American Sovereignty, a conservative nonprofit focused on border security and community safety, will launch a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign over the weekend to press for support for ICE. The ad spots aim to remind the public that ICE agents are family men and women who are part of the fabric of their communities on and off the job — and among those who put themselves in the most danger to protect the homeland.

They’re national ads with more running in DC Michigan, Georgia and North Carolina.

The “Patriots” ad will highlight how ICE agents and staff are often neighbors down the block, family or friends, and people who should be able to do their jobs without being sabotaged by organized violent demonstrations and agitators. “They’re friends and neighbors. Sons, fathers. They’re Little League coaches and veterans. They’re people who love this country,” the narrator says as relevant imagery crosses the screen.

Maybe if they stopped acting like masked barbarians and behaved like professional law enforcement they wouldn’t have this image problem.

“These are Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. They are removing violent criminals from our streets and neighborhoods. It’s dangerous and difficult work, but ICE has one mission: to make America a safer place to live,” the ad continues. “And that’s what they’re doing. This is law enforcement. This is ICE.”

On the other hand:

While “Patriots” strikes an uplifting tone, “Criminals” begins from the opposite perspective.”Immigration and Customs Enforcement has removed thousands of criminal illegal aliens from the U.S.,” the narrator says in “Criminals.” As he speaks, mugshots of several captured illegal immigrant criminals flash across the screen — denoted in large letters with their most serious convictions.”Kidnapping, child pornography, rape, child molestation…” the shots read as snippets from news articles describing violent crimes appear over their faces.

“They entered the United States illegally and committed violent crimes against our mothers, children, and friends. Every day, Immigration and Customs Enforcement takes them off our streets — every removal makes us safer and America stronger. This is what ICE does. This is Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”

Right: