Trump Still Doesn’t Understand the Ukraine War
Plus: A Sanity Check After Trump’s First Week Back in Office
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GARRY KASPAROV: ‘Bad Things Happened’: Trump Still Doesn’t Understand the Ukraine War
ONE WEEK INTO DONALD TRUMP’S NEW ADMINISTRATION and observers around the world find themselves trying to understand what to expect from a president who prides himself on being unexpected.
In foreign policy, where the stakes are high, Trump’s inconsistency is particularly marked. Predictably hawkish on Iran, suddenly friendly with Xi, belligerent when it comes to allies Mexico and Canada and Denmark—Trump doesn’t have anything near a predictable worldview. The only hope is that he and his appointees will attempt to ensure that American interests are served, not only the interests of Trump and co-president Elon Musk.
GISELLE DONNELLY: We All Lose in Trump’s War Against Trans Americans
WE’RE SHOCKED. THE PRICE OF EGGS is going up, not down. The Russo-Ukraine War has not ended, nor is it likely to end anytime soon. Deporting every undocumented immigrant isn’t happening anytime soon.
On the other hand, in his first week back in office, Donald Trump has made good on a number of the campaign promises that resonate the most with the cultural grievances of his broad MAGA base. He has permitted immigration officers to start making arrests at schools and churches. He has “liberated” the January 6th “hostages,” who have been going home to buy guns (a newly legal option for some of the violent offenders whose felonies were wiped away by pardons) and get ready for a future call-up. And, having expended hundreds of millions in campaign advertisements, Trump has rolled out a program, beginning with executive orders, to legally erase the existence of transgender Americans.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Bill Kristol: Trump Loves Fraud [YouTube]
How to Fix It (with John Avlon): DOGE Is Doing it Wrong (with Philip K. Howard) [YouTube]
Bulwark Goes to Hollywood: Why Is Gaming Underperforming Expectations?
The Focus Group: Getting Out of Our Corners (with Amanda Carpenter) [YouTube]
Bulwark+ Live:
Massive Firings at DOJ! Trump Cleans House to Implement His "Agenda"
This Guy! JD Vance Completely Reverses J6 Stance After Trump's Blanket Pardon!
Security Pulled?! 'Sociopath' Trump Doesn’t Care if People Die!
Of Course: Spineless GOP Confirms Hegseth by Narrowest Vote for SecDef… Ever.
This Is a Threat! Trump Is Running the Country Like the Felon He Is.
Mona Charen Show: Does the Law Allow Trump's Power Grab? [YouTube]
Shield of the Republic: The Intersection of Theatre and Politics, Trump's Complete Recklessness [YouTube]
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JILL LAWRENCE: Sanity Check After Trump’s First Week Back in Office
IF YOU EXPECTED THE SECOND SEASON of Donald Trump: Dictator-President to start off with doom and gloom, you were right. There was plenty to agonize about. But to my surprise, there were also other types of moments—encouraging, inspirational, even funny.
Smiles? Hope? In the middle of this mess that’s going to hurt so many people, derail so many lives, and, if we fail, erase the country we know and very much want to keep? Yup.
SAM STEIN: Trump’s DEI Snitch Email Is Being Targeted by Spammers
THE EMAIL ACCOUNT SET UP BY THE Trump White House to encourage government employees to snitch on their DEI-promoting colleagues appears to be the target of a mass spamming campaign designed to overwhelm those administering it.
The day after the inauguration, Trump’s Office of Personnel and Management (OPM) issued a memo to government agencies tasking them with rooting out Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The memo told recipients that if they were “aware of a change in any contract description or personnel position description since November 5, 2024 to obscure the connection between the contract and DEIA or similar ideologies,” they were to “report all facts and circumstances to DEIAtruth@opm.gov within 10 days.”
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Monday! Well, they didn’t stop it: the Skyline Ice Cream has been released, and I can report: it’s good. Subtle, not overpowering, and just what you’d expect. And the oyster crackers in the ice cream? They work.
Get your ticket… To Principles First and come hang out with Bulwark people like me.
🎵On the Jukebox…🎵 Bebe Stockwell - Minor Inconveniences
Are you ready… For universal tariffs? Don’t call it Trumpflation! (FT)
Trump Pardoned A Jan. 6 Rioter… Now He's 'At Large' For A Crime. (HuffPo)
Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter shot dead… while resisting arrest during traffic stop. (Raw Story)
Interim D.C. U.S. attorney Ed Martin… launches probe of Jan. 6 prosecutions (WaPo) You may remember the name Ed Martin from his time at Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum.
Top USAID career staff… placed on immediate leave (Politico)
A funding halt for PEPFAR… Is going to get people killed.
Apparently… We’re going to deport American citizen criminals now.
Elon Musk’s Dangerous Twisting… of German History. (Sarah Rumpf, Mediaite)
Tillis Assured Hegseth’s Former Sister-in-Law… Her Testimony Could Convince GOP Senators to Vote No. (WSJ) She put her name on the testimony and Tillis voted yes anyway.
John Lennon Came to My School When I Was 8… Or Did I Imagine It? (Laurie Gwen Shapiro, NYT 🎁)
Politics is cruelty… Worth revisiting this 2021 article from Bryan Caplan, who warns: “Politics doesn’t just unleash human sadism. It anoints this ugly emotion. And warns us that if we refuse to find joy in anger, anger in joy will soon find us.”
In local news… Trump’s pausing of projects funded by the Infrastructure Law may hurt Ohio and Kentucky, as the Brent Spence Bridge is among the projects. (LINK NKY) As I type this, a police chase ended on the bridge and the suspect is hiding out in the girders.
Trump’s “Victory” over Colombia… Wasn’t really a victory at all, when you look at the facts. (Bloomberg)
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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.