MATT BERG
& CROOKED MEDIA

FRIDAY
APRIL 18, 2025

We have too many eggs … If anything, the prices are getting too low.” 

 
— Donald Trump, [days after egg prices]([link removed]) hit a record high across the country… right before Easter.

SMALL DICTATOR ENERGY

Donald Trump’s zeal for disappearing people into foreign prisons is even making conservatives nervous. Democrats are scrambling to raise the alarm, and fight back.

- Do American presidents have the power to imprison U.S. citizens in a foreign gulag, run by a Latin American despot? That might seem like an easy, “Hell no!” Yet, this appears to be President Donald Trump’s ambition, now that he’s openly mulling sending “homegrown” criminals (i.e., U.S. citizens) to foreign incarceration. 

- To recap how we got here: As part of Trump’s pledge to conduct the largest mass deportation in history, ICE agents flew hundreds of migrants ([most with no criminal record]([link removed])) to a mega-prison in El Salvador. Trump’s team admitted that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, one of the migrants, [was sent there by mistake]([link removed]). But they scoff at the idea of bringing him back. Instead, they’re exploiting the opportunity as a chance to seize power from the court system, openly defying judicial rulings.

- “We’re experiencing an attempted authoritarian takeover of American society,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said on [Pod Save America]([link removed]) today. “This is a period like the Salem witchcraft trials … But I do think that the country is waking up.”

- Liberal lawmakers aren’t the only ones sounding the alarm. Trump’s lawlessness is [unnerving some conservatives, too]([link removed]). The administration is “asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order,” wrote Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee, in an opinion last night[​]([link removed]).
 

- How is Trumpworld responding? By photoshopping [gang tattoos on]([link removed]) a Democratic lawmaker’s face; perpetuating the lie that [Abrego Garcia]([link removed]) is a gang member; and, of course, threatening to [deport “homegrown”]([link removed]) American citizens from the United States.

 
Trump’s ghoulish dungeon fetish is making people draw [comparisons to the Soviet Union]([link removed]).

- Sounds like a human rights abuse, right? Well, the Trump administration is [removing critiques]([link removed]) of harsh prison conditions and government corruption in reports on international human rights. They’re rewriting the rules in real time, blatantly upending norms designed to protect Americans and keep the presidency in check.

- Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who has been at the forefront of this fight, returned today from a visit to El Salvador to speak with Abrego Garcia. During that conversation, Abrego Garcia told the senator that he wasn’t allowed a phone call before being deported. Once in El Salvador, he was placed in a cell with about two dozen others and has had no access to news or ability to communicate with anyone outside the prison. (What’s more, the El Salvador Nayib Bukele [staged a photograph]([link removed]) making it look like the two men were sipping margaritas during the meeting — by placing the drinks there mid-conversation.) “This should not be an issue for Republicans or Democrats. This is an issue for every American,” Van Hollen said.

- Not all Democrats [believe the issue resonates]([link removed]) with their constituents enough to make them forceful advocates — even calling Trump’s deportation policies the “soup du jour” and a “trap” for the party. Today, liberal blogger Matt Yglesias suggested that Democrats [should focus more]([link removed]) on inflation and trade issues rather than immigration, citing a poll. “Everyone should think about which topics they want to raise the salience of and why,” he wrote.

“I’d like to raise the salience of the government disappearing people to a foreign prison because I don’t think most people would like to be disappeared to a foreign prison,” Crooked’s Jon Favreau responded. Amen to that.

LOST CONNECTIONS

Donald Trump’s closest aides are all over the map on ending the Ukraine war. They can’t seem to straighten out whether peace is imminent, or out of reach. 
 
“We are now reaching a point where we need to decide and determine whether this is even possible or not,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters today. That decision could come within days, Rubio added: “If we’re so far apart that this is not going to happen, then I think the president is probably at a point where he's going to say, well, we are done.”
 
But Vice President JD Vance apparently didn’t get the memo, telling Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni he’s “optimistic” about the peace talks.
 
Why are Rubio and Vance saying different things? Shouldn’t they, y’know, be talking with each other? 
 
It could simply be a lack of coordination, Liana Fix, an expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, told What A Day. “Obviously, Rubio is under greater pressure to deliver than Vance is, so he seems to deem it necessary to get out the sticks for Ukraine and Europe,” she added.
 
Rubio’s hard talk seems like an attempt to pressure Ukraine and Europeans to accept a “difficult-to-swallow” peace deal, Fix said. “Russia would actually love the U.S. to walk away.”

Trump officials are floating a plan[​]([link removed]) to end the fighting by easing sanctions on Moscow, freezing the battle lines, according to Bloomberg. Russia would keep control of Ukrainian territory that it has seized, and Ukraine wouldn’t be allowed to join the NATO military alliance. 

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WHAT ELSE?

[There are now more than 800 measles cases across 24 states,]([link removed]) a 12 percent increase in cases since last week. Reminder: The measles vaccine is 97 percent effective after two doses. Come on, [dead worm]([link removed]) inside HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s brain, do something!
 
[U.S. airstrikes on a Yemeni oil port killed 74 people and injured 171 others,]([link removed]) Houthi rebels in the area said today. It’s the deadliest known U.S. attack since Trump took office, as he launches a new military campaign against the Iran-backed militants. 
 
[The Trump administration released 10,000 documents]([link removed]) related to former Democratic Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1968. There doesn’t seem to be any major news from this — the case was primarily investigated and prosecuted locally, and many documents were already publicly available. One handwritten note from the gunman, however, reads: “RFK must be disposed of like his brother was.”
 
[Trump’s team is pressuring Harvard University to hand over]([link removed]) records detailing its funding from foreign sources over the past decade, the Wall Street Journal reports. It’s the “first step to ensure Harvard is not being manipulated by, or doing the bidding of, foreign entities,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said. If they really care about foreign influence, I think they should check out [Jared Kushner]([link removed]), [Pam Bondi]([link removed]), [Eric Trump]([link removed]) — and [Donnie himself]([link removed])! Bondi literally [ended the FBI’s effort]([link removed]) to combat foreign influence in U.S. politics. 

WE'RE ALL FRIENDS HERE
 
The tech elite shaped the internet—and now they’re watching it spiral. This week on Offline, Jon and Max dig into it all, from Zuckerberg taking the stand to Silicon Valley’s Trump-era flirtation coming back to haunt them. Plus, Dr. Leor Zmigrod joins to discuss her new book The Ideological Brain, exploring the neuroscience behind why some people are more susceptible to conspiracy theories and extremist ideologies. (Yes, your uncle might be in there somewhere.)
 
Listen to [Offline]([link removed]) now, wherever you get your podcasts or on [YouTube]([link removed])! And for a limited time, enjoy a 30 day free trial to get Offline ad-free. Just sign up at [crooked.com/friends]([link removed]). 
 
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[Nearly three dozen immigrants have had their Social Security]([link removed]) numbers reinstated after visiting field offices to prove that they are not, in fact, dead. Last week, the Trump administration incorrectly labeled thousands of immigrants as legally deceased, in an attempt to pressure them to leave the country. 

[A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration can’t move ahead]([link removed]) with plans to fire almost everyone at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That’s good for anyone who hates Elon Musk, and doesn’t like being ripped off by major corporations. Score!

[A tubby 4-year-old rabbit named Alex The Great who was saved]([link removed]) from a slaughterhouse is now a social media-famous therapy pet. “He is highly recognizable as he travels in an adapted miniature Mercedes truck that he can control with his foot. His other ride is his stroller with colorful LED lights on the front that spell out his name,” the Washington Post writes. You can even catch him [wearing a tiny hat at baseball games]([link removed]). Adorable.

Meet Scooby, a 5-year-old Goldendoodle.

“Scooby was a pandemic puppy and therefore has no concept of ‘alone time.’ At 80 pounds, this big guy has been known to make appearances on zoom organizing calls. Scooby has five human siblings (aka, my children) and (like me) is most happy when he is among crowds of people — he is an extrovert to the core! 

-Kristen Crowell, Fair Share America executive director

 

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