MATT BERG
& CROOKED MEDIA

MONDAY
JUNE 16, 2025

Eventually, all the phones can be built in the United States.”

 
— Eric Trump, [touting the Trump Mobile smartphones…]([link removed]) which are marketed as being made in America. 

BIRTHDAY BASHED

Political violence and grandiose displays of military might show that America is in a dark place. But there are powerful signs of hope.

- President Donald Trump’s highly hyped military parade this weekend was hardly a birthday party fit for a king: Noticeably [sparse stands]([link removed]), a [squeaky tank]([link removed]) rolling down Constitution Avenue, Russians trolling Trump [on social media]([link removed]) for throwing a lackluster celebration of the Army. Even Trump was seemingly bored to death, [sneaking in a quick snooze]([link removed]). Who can blame him!

- Sure, the birthday party may have been a dud. But tanks rolling through the streets of the nation’s capital provided a bleak backdrop to the dire political situation the country is facing: Authorities arrested Vance Boelter, 57, who [allegedly murdered]([link removed]) a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband at their home in Minnesota this weekend. He also allegedly attempted to kill another lawmaker and his wife, both of whom survived, and [had a notebook]([link removed]) that listed 45 state and federal officials. The killings appear to be “politically motivated,” Gov. Tim Walz said. Boelter voted for Donald Trump last year and staunchly opposes abortion, [according to his friend]([link removed]). 

- Adding to the bleak atmosphere, ICE agents have [arrested more than 100,000 people]([link removed]) since Trump took office — [few of whom]([link removed]) have serious criminal convictions. Innocent people, [including sick children]([link removed]), have been deported. The Trump administration is [ignoring court orders]([link removed]) and [threatening its perceived enemies]([link removed]).
 

- Is American democracy in trouble? “I think we are in an acute backsliding episode,” Erica Chenoweth, a Harvard Kennedy School professor who studies political violence, [told Crooked’s Jon Favreau]([link removed]). “There's not usually a bright line that you cross. It's more that a lot of things go on at the same time. There’s sort of an unraveling — we’re in the unraveling.”

 
But Americans are hitting the streets in record numbers compared to Trump’s first term.

- Trump’s team [claimed that 250,000 people]([link removed]) turned out for his parade, a number that (shockingly) was much more generous [than other estimates]([link removed]). On the same day, around 5 million people took part in more than 2,000 “No Kings” protests against Trump’s authoritarian moves, [organizers said]([link removed]). It may have been the largest single day of demonstrations in American history, [according to a prominent data scientist]([link removed]).

- It’s encouraging to look at this turnout in the context of the [3.5 percent rule]([link removed]). Research shows that nonviolent protests that engage at least 3.5 percent of the country’s population have never failed to bring change — and they’re twice as likely to succeed than armed conflict. (Twelve million is roughly that percentage of the U.S. population. Organizers brought out 5 million people in one day.)

- “It's not exactly a magic number,” said Chenoweth, who conducted the 3.5 percent rule research, on the podcast. But it’s helpful with understanding how the rule works: When enough people are actively engaged in civil disobedience, it creates economic and cultural influence that causes people from the opponent’s camp to defect. Protests could become so large that Trump supporters begin to question their support for him. 

- Anti-Trump protestors are off to a very strong start. There have been three times as many people taking part in protests during the first four months of Trump’s term, compared to the same period in 2017, according to Harvard’s Crowd Counting Consortium. Turns out the resistance ain’t dead!

“We are in historical levels of mobilization,” Chenoweth said, “even if the muzzle velocity of the news coming out of Washington obscures the fact.”

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WHAT ELSE?

[Iran and Israel traded missile fire]([link removed]) for a fourth straight day. The conflict has already killed two dozen people in Israel and over 200 in Iran. Tehran called on Donald Trump to force a ceasefire. His response? “They'd like to talk, but they should have done that before,” Trump [told reporters]([link removed]) at the G7 summit in Canada today.
 
[ICE is spending so much money]([link removed]) to accomplish Trump’s radical deportation agenda that the agency might run out of cash next month, Axios reports. ICE is already $1 billion over budget with three months left in the fiscal year. If Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” isn’t passed soon, he could declare a national emergency to redirect funds from other agencies to fund immigration enforcement. “Trump's DHS is spending like drunken sailors,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told the outlet.
 
[Doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs]([link removed]) could refuse treatments based on patients’ political leanings or marriage status under new guidelines implemented by the Trump administration, according to the Guardian. The White House blasted the report [on social media]([link removed]): “This is complete trash — a repulsive, vicious lie. All eligible veterans are now, and will always be, welcomed for care at the VA.”
 
[Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration]([link removed]) claimed to have a commercial pilot’s license — but he doesn’t, according to records reviewed by Politico. After the outlet inquired about its findings, his online biography was altered to remove the word “commercial.” The Department of Transportation suggested that it was “an administrative error that was immediately corrected.” Suuuuuuuure. Paging [Frank Abegnale]([link removed])! Or [Nathan Fielder]([link removed])!
 
[Elon Musk and his allies built a false narrative]([link removed]) about widespread Social Security fraud to justify cuts to the agency… after DOGE members misread government spending data, according to a New York Times investigation. We were trying to warn you! This is what you get when you hire 19-year-olds named “Big Balls.”
 
[Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is showing]([link removed]) signs of a leftward shift in her decisions lately, according to a New York Times analysis. She’s the most likely of the Republican supermajority to oppose the president in Trump-related disputes. She’s also most likely to be in the majority on decisions that have a liberal outcome. “We had too much hope for her,” a right-wing legal activist told the outlet. And we had too little, I guess?!

THERE'S MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM
 
When the opinions are flying fast & furious, the hosts of [Strict Scrutiny]([link removed]) are here to play everyone’s favorite game: “Is This Legal?” With the Supreme Court handing down major decisions in Trump’s second term, Melissa Murray, Leah Litman, and Kate Shaw — your friendly neighborhood constitutional law scholars — are breaking down what’s happening at the highest court and where to focus your attention when the news feels overwhelming. Expert legal analysis in plain English, hot off the precedent.
 
New episodes of Strict Scrutiny drop every Monday — listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch on [YouTube]([link removed]).
 
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[British Prime Minister Keir Starmer chose]([link removed]) a woman to lead MI6, the U.K.’s secret intelligence service, for the first time in history. Blaise Metreweli, a 47-year-old career spy, had already risen to the position of “Q,” a moniker for the director general technology and innovation made famous by the James Bond movies. Professional badass.

[Southwest Airlines added an alert system]([link removed]) into its planes’ cockpits to help pilots avoid dangerous situations, such as using the wrong runway or landing on a taxiway. This sounds like something that should’ve been required in planes a long time ago, but better late than never I guess!

[The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to classify]([link removed]) seven species of pangolin as endangered, stiffening penalties for people who poach or smuggle the scaly anteaters. The classification is long overdue, animal welfare advocates say, but this is a good step in ensuring these adorably strange little guys are around for a long time.

[Joey Chestnut, the Godfather of Glizzy Guzzling,]([link removed]) will return to Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4 after missing it last year because of a sponsorship debacle. He has won this thing 16 times, and it’s always so disgusting watching this man pound more than 70 hotdogs in 10 minutes. But can you think of anything more American than this bizarre pastime? I love it.
 
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