Day 87: The Vicious Idiot President

Unsurprisingly, concepts like “caution” and “logic” matter not one iota to this President.

The way King Joffrey of the House Baratheon ruled the fictional world of Westeros was as follows: “Everyone Is Mine To Torment. You’d Do Well To Remember That.” …Sadism and stupidity, entwined. Sound familiar?

If you find it insane to compare the United States president with a fictional evil king, I’ll just point out that NPR’s Up First podcast this morning discussed how the administration is literally looking into whether the U.S. can detain CITIZENS in overseas prisons.

This is America in 2025.

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Legal Updates

District Judge James Boasberg found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for violating his deportation order, stating that the government’s actions showed willful disregard for his orders.

Separately, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has ordered depositions from Homeland Security and ICE to determine whether they are also in contempt, after being ordered to provide daily updates on the status of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, which the government is not doing.

Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-MD, travelled to El Salvador in an attempt to visit Abrego Garcia and request his release. He was stopped at a military checkpoint near the prison (known as CECOT) and denied access to the facility. The vice president of El Salvador has also denied requests for the Senator to speak with Abrego Garcia.

A federal immigration judge denied bond for Rumeysa Ozturk in Louisiana on Wednesday because, says the judge, she is “both a flight risk and a danger to the community.” This finding was based on the one paragraph memo written to the Department of Homeland Security, which cites the op-ed she co-wrote as the only evidence of their claim. She remains uncharged with any crime, and has had four asthma attacks while in custody. The Washington Post reported on Sunday that an internal memo from the U.S. state department, written BEFORE Ozturk was detained, noted there was no evidence linking her to Hamas or antisemitism. They went ahead anyway.

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Tariff Updates

Fed chair Jerome Powell confirmed on Wednesday the Fed would NOT be moving interest rates until the effects of Trump’s tariffs on the economy become more clear. Officials are referring to the tariff policy as a “shock” with no clear historical parallel to draw wisdom from. The issue at hand is this: Trump wants the interest rates lowered, but he just raised the price of everything with his tariffs… that’s inflation. If the Fed lowers interest rates on top of that, the inflation could spiral out of control. Just as a Federal Reserve should do, they’ve elected to watch and wait.

Unsurprisingly, concepts like “caution” and “logic” matter not one iota to this President:

This post perfectly encapsulates how Donald Trump resembles Joffrey Baratheon; it’s not just the sadistic enjoyment of cruelty they share, it’s also the abject stupidity of their ideas; if Trump actually gets his way and manages to fire the Fed Chair, our financial markets will implode. Consider what Elizabeth Warren said, although she’s a famous critic of Powell: “I have tangled with Powell on a regular basis about both regulations and interest rates. But understand this: If Chairman Powell can be fired by the president of the United States, it will crash the markets in the United States.” The call is even coming from inside the house: Politico is reporting that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has repeatedly warned the White House that firing Powell would destabilize markets. Whether it happens for real or not… time will tell.

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New, Noteworthy & Nauseating

Senator Patty Murray, D-WA, reported yesterday that the Trump administration has only distributed about 62% of the money appropriated for Head Start this year. To date, the program has been given $1.6 billion by the federal government - $950 million less than they received at this time last year. The freeze in federal funds has forced at least one preschool to close so far; the Inspire Development Centers in Sunnyside Washington laid off 70 staff and closed its doors to 400 children.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that $500 million total has been generated by tariffs since April 5, 2025… far below the $2 billion a day stated by President Trump.

Because of budget cuts at the CDC, the U.S. consumer product safety agency will no longer be collecting data on injuries like car accidents, adverse drug effects, aircraft incidents (convenient), work-related injuries, or alcohol deaths. Injury is the leading cause of death for Americans under 45.

Shein and Temu are raising their prices. They specifically said it was because of the tariffs.

The entire Defense Digital Service team at the Pentagon has resigned. As a result, the service is being shut down.

The Trump administration is planning to eliminate the IRS Direct File program, a free electronic tax filing system launched by the Biden administration. The limited launch in 12 states last year saw 140,000 free returns filed through the program, and there were plans to expand it nationally.

And as I was preparing this post for publication, reports started coming in of a mass shooting at Florida State University. Reporters on the ground spoke with Chris Coutts, a professor of urban planning from the school. His comment was telling: “This is the second one since I’ve been here.”

Confirmed… This is America in 2025.