BILLIONAIRE PROBLEMS

Donald Trump is scrambling to convince Americans that his economy is thriving, despite evidence to the contrary. He should ask Joe Biden how that approach went down.

• President Donald Trump is failing to heed one of the most painful lessons of the 2024 election cycle: It’s tough to argue with Americans’ wallets. Former President Joe Biden learned that one the hard way, when he campaigned on the message that Bidenomics was working, because inflation rates had fallen during his presidency. (Which they had; but voters, incensed by higher prices, revolted anyway.)

• “He should consult with his old nemesis about the wisdom of asking voters, who confront the reality of rising costs every time they go to the store or pay their bills, to believe him over their lying eyes,” David Axelrod, chief strategist to former President Barack Obama, wrote in The Atlantic.

• Trump’s slapdash tariffs have prompted inflation to creep upwards. His “One Big Beautiful Bill” slashed billions in Medicaid funding and could cause healthcare premiums to skyrocket. Trump and Republicans can’t seem to agree on a plan to address spiraling healthcare costs. A weakening job market is prompting talk of another Fed rate cut. But the stock market is up! Trump often cries. That may be true, but guess what… more than one-third of Americans don’t even own stocks.

• Trump made big promises to lower prices. Now, he’s stuck with the problem — and he’s panicking. He unveiled a $12 billion aid package to help American farmers today, after royally screwing them over by starting a trade war with China. He’s hitting the road tomorrow to tout his economy (you know a situation is serious if Trump feels the need to visit places where he doesn’t own a golf course).

• Even GOP stalwart Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, says Trump can’t wish the problem away. “Any Republican who refuses to admit we have an affordability problem is not listening to the American people,” Gingrich told the Washington Post. “It’s real because the American people think it’s real.”

Gingrich is hardly the only one saying this approach may cost Republicans at the ballot box.

• Democrats are feeling bullish about next year’s midterms, a massive vibe shift partially driven by a simple statistic: Americans believe that Trump has hurt the economy, according to poll after poll after poll. Even many Trump voters say that the cost of living is the worst they’ve ever seen.

• “People have soured on the Republican agenda. They are feeling the damage being done by the policies,” Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told What A Day. “They’re running scared, and they should be, because the American people are feeling pain.”

• Trump, however, insists on dismissing “affordability” as a Democratic “con job.”

• Politicians “can’t just talk about an economic agenda,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin told What A Day, explaining why Democrats keep hammering the affordability message. “You need to focus on the fact that Americans from almost all walks of life in all parts of the country can barely afford their lives right now. It’s an acute crisis that we haven’t seen in some time.”

As long as Trump keeps telling Americans how they should feel about the economy instead of fixing it, Democrats have good reason to feel optimistic.

BEST FRENEMIES?

Donald Trump suggested that Democratic lawmakers should be hanged for urging military members to resist unlawful orders. But it turns out both Attorney General Pam Bondi and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have made that very same point bout ignoring illegal order in the past.

In a friend-of-the-court brief in the Supreme Court last year, Bondi made her position clear, according to the New York Times. Ironically, the brief was filed in defense of Trump, after Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that he could order Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival following the presidential immunity ruling.

“Military officers are required not to carry out unlawful orders,” Bondi wrote. “The military would not carry out a patently unlawful order from the president to kill nonmilitary targets. Indeed, service members are required not to do so.”

Hegseth made nearly identical remarks during multiple appearances on Fox News in 2016, CNN reports. “You’re not just gonna follow that order if it’s unlawful,” Hegseth said in one appearance. In another, he stated that “the military’s not gonna follow illegal orders.”

Now, both Bondi and Hegseth are using their agencies to investigate these Democrats… for saying the same thing Bondi and Hegseth previously said. Hypocrisy, much?

WHAT ELSE?

Will a company founded by Trump’s son-in law soon have a stake in CNN? Alongside, perhaps, Saudi Arabia? That’s now a possibility, after Paramount announced a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery — involving Jared Kushner’s private equity firm and three middle eastern countries. Paramount argues that it’ll have an easier time securing regulatory approval than Netflix (without explicitly naming Kushner). Trump is also buddies with Paramount executive David Ellison, and he may feel inclined to hand Kushner a win after the 44-year-old’s recent peace dealings in Israel and Russia. Nepo baby!!!

Donald Trump signed mortgages on two houses next to his Mar-a-Lago clubhouse in the 1990s, attesting that both would be his principal residence, according to ProPublica. But he never lived in either, the outlet reports, after his administration accused his enemies of mortgage fraud for claiming more than one primary residence. “He’s going to either need to fire himself or refer himself to the Department of Justice,” one law professor told the outlet. A White House spokesperson argued that there was no wrongdoing: “President Trump has never, or will ever, break the law.”

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appears likely to hand the Trump administration more power over federal agencies, by agreeing that he can fire members of independent agencies. A decision in Trump’s favor could allow him to transform institutions like the FTC, the Federal Reserve, and the Social Security Administration — which have been shielded from political interference for decades.

Trump often vows to fight the flow of illegal drugs into the United States — but he has pardoned or commuted the sentences of nearly 100 people who were locked up for drug-related crimes. More than 10 of those took place during this term, and nearly 90 in his first.

Trump announced that he plans to sign an executive order banning states from regulating artificial intelligence, weeks after his team reportedly paused the order. The move is guaranteed to anger state officials, including MAGA allies who have already spoken out against the order. But AI is supercharging the economy, and Trump doesn’t want states to get in the way.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) laid out in detail how Trump’s threats led to death threats against her family, in an interview on “60 Minutes.” “The subject line for the direct death threats on my son was his words: ‘Marjorie Traitor Greene,’” she explained. After Greene flagged these threats, Trump sent her a private message that “was extremely unkind,” she said. Trump continued calling her a “traitor” in a social media post today.

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE EMAIL…

Alina Habba, Trump’s handpicked top prosecutor in New Jersey, resigned after a court found that she was unlawfully appointed. It’s the end of a drawn out legal battle and another example of the courts holding strong against Trump’s overreach. “This decision will not weaken the Justice Department,” Habba wrote in her resignation letter. Yeah, no shit it won’t!

Jurors in the Sandwich Slinger trial dished new details about just how dumb the whole case was to CBS News. One juror said that people in the courtroom struggled to “keep a straight face,” explaining that some openly laughed. Another juror told the outlet: “It seemed to me like an open-and-closed type of thing.” Open-faced sandwich, case closed.

Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and American astronaut Katy Perry are now Instagram official. Perry posted a carousel of photos and videos on Instagram with her new lover, showing them eating sushi and pancakes, with the caption, “tokyo times on tour and more (◠‿◠) 🎄🍣🐡🥞💐☃️♥️”. The funniest part about this situation is that the former prime minister of Japan seemingly scooped the news last week, describing the pop star as Trudeau’s “partner” in a tweet.

Critics of astrology often slander the practice by saying that there’s no evidence backing up sweeping claims about how the stars impact our personalities. The next time someone tries to cramp your style, you can show them this Washington Post article, which gathered tons of data about people’s occupations. There were some interesting conclusions: Farmers are more likely to be Capricorns, lawyers and creatives lean toward Taurus, financial aficionados are more often Virgos, and civil servants are often Cancers.

Scientists at Texas A&M University discovered a way to “recharge” aging and damaged cells, which could help with treatments of Alzheimer’s disease and muscular dystrophy among others.

The Golden Globe nominations are in: Films including “One Battle After Another,” “Sentimental Value” and “Sinners” received multiple nominations. In the television world, “White Lotus,” “Adolescence” and “Only Murders in the Building” led the charge.

Indonesia welcomed its first giant panda cub on Sunday. Its name, Satrio “Rio” Wiratama, “symbolizes the hope, resilience, and shared commitment of Indonesia and China in protecting endangered species,” the Associated Press writes. I would really like more news about America’s pandas, please!!! I would read literally anything about these fluffy goofballs. Reminder: You can watch the Smithsonian Zoo’s live panda cam anytime.