The last few days have offered a rich display of bad behavior by the man that more than 77 million Americans chose to be president. Of course, rarely does a day pass when Donald Trump doesn’t remind reasonable people why he should never have been allowed anywhere near the levers of power again. But three things he did on Friday struck me because they collectively offer a useful model—by negative example—of the kind of leader that a great or good or even a somewhat decent nation should demand.

You may have heard that Trump is removing 5,000 active-duty soldiers from Germany, an act of petulance because he didn’t like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s criticisms. Earlier this week, Merz said Iran had “humiliated” the U.S. When asked how Trump planned to end the war, Merz said, “The Americans obviously have no strategy.”

This draw-down will still leave more than 30,000 soldiers in Germany, the largest presence anywhere outside the United States. But Trump’s childishly peevish behavior ignores the fact that the U.S. presence in Germany has significant strategic value for the U.S. Germany serves as a critical logistics hub for troops, equipment and freight and as the largest medical hub outside the U.S. for soldiers injured in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

It only hurts the U.S. to escalate this feud, a fact that would be obvious to a competent and rational leader who recognizes the importance of healthy relations with an ally, particularly one which is a NATO member. Any decision to withdraw troops should result from productive policy, not the whims of a thin-skinned narcissist who expects total loyalty.

Yesterday the U.S. hit the 60-day deadline for the removal of forces in Iran, according to The War Powers Resolution of 1973, because Congress has not authorized the conflict. The response by America’s reckless leader? He announced in a letter that hostilities with Iran have been “terminated.” He also ridiculously claimed to reporters that the 60-day requirement is “totally unconstitutional” and—echoing what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a Senate hearing Thursday—“we had a ceasefire, so that gives you additional time.”

A real leader would respect the law, respect Congress and its authority, and not make up bogus arguments for his foolish actions. He also wouldn’t go into a war without clear justification or without a real strategy for how to conduct it and end it. The two-word response of Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, to Trump’s arguments: “That’s bullshit.”

And here’s how New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, put it in a statement:

President Trump declaring the war with Iran ‘terminated’ doesn’t reflect the reality that tens of thousands of U.S. service members in the region are still in harm’s way, that the Administration continually threatens to escalate hostilities or that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and prices are skyrocketing at home. President Trump entered this war without a strategy and without legal authorization and today’s announcement doesn’t change either fact.

A great or good or somewhat decent nation should also expect its leaders to not be lazy and to actually care about the needs of the citizens they were elected to serve. That includes developing productive policies and actually understanding them. But the guy currently in the White House? He can’t be bothered with all that, including on something as fundamental—that can be the difference between life and death—as health care.

In what the typically soft-pedaling Washington Post described as a “profane speech” yesterday at The Villages, a retirement community in Florida, where the audience surely cares about programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, Trump said this:

We have a man here who knows more about Medicaid, Medicare, medical crap than any human being. Where’s Dr. Oz? [Oz is responsible for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.] Where the hell are you? Stand up. It’s the most boring trip I’ve ever made. He’s telling me about Medicare, Medicaid. All I want to do is take care of you, I don’t care. I said, ‘You work out the details.’

This is the lazy, careless, indifferent and nasty human that was elected to the highest office in our land (and who needs be removed). Yes, it makes me angry and it frankly disgusts me. And it also vividly displays what bad and terribly wrong leadership looks like.

But it reminds me how important it is to have leaders who work hard, care about the people who they serve, treat people with respect, and perform their duties with intelligence and compassion. That’s just a baseline, the least of what we should expect.

What do you think? What qualities should a good leader have? Please do share your list. I’d also welcome your examples of leaders that you admire. Perhaps they are currently in office or perhaps they are men or women throughout history who have exemplified real leadership and made our country better.

As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity for our America, America community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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You might not think you are Jimmy Kimmel, but you are. You might not assume the second prosecution of James Comey affects you, but it does. You might not believe the Supreme Court’s ruling to gut the Voting Rights Act in a case in Louisiana is about you, but it is.

Once again this week, we are confronted by the hostility of the Trump regime toward free speech and Americans’ voices.

And let’s be clear: The regime includes Melania Trump—a full-fledged, thin-skinned, dark-hearted authoritarian herself—along with Trump sycophants Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr and the anti-democratic extremists on the Supreme Court.

Let’s start with Melania and Kimmel, not really a fair fight in terms of wit and constitutional protections, but one the Slovenian-American enemy of free speech assumes she can win because the man she married is all powerful.

“His monologue about my family isn’t comedy,” she posted this week on X. “His words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.” She called Kimmel “a coward” and insisted he “shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.”

Best of all, she complained about his "hateful and violent rhetoric.” That’s Jimmy’s, not Donald’s. (Oh, Mrs. Trump, if only you tended to your own house first.)

Soon, her protector backed her up with his usual animus and threats: “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”

Soon, he could count on Brendan Carr, a loyal little soldier, to abuse his power and threaten ABC. “Disney’s ABC is hereby directed to file license renewals for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days,” a sudden filing by the Federal Communications Commission stated Tuesday.

The reason for all the fire and fury? In a mock roast, as if he were the comedian at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Kimmel noted that Melania had the “expectant glow of a widow.” The joke, delivered days before the actual event, was meant to convey the obvious age difference (24 years) and the fact that Trump is nearly 80 and declining mentally and physically.

Not exactly a killer joke, but funny, and obviously not advocating for violence, although it looked a little different after a gunman tried to get into the Washington Hilton’s ballroom where the Trumps were sitting.

But fire Kimmel and take away ABC’s license? Give me a break.

The Trumps care more about their fragile psyches than the foundational rights that make real freedom possible.

If it was up to Melania and Donald, there would be no laughter. Theirs is a joyless marriage, but the perfect package to demand an end to laughter.

I mean, if they have a humorless union, how dare any of us laugh at their expense. Don’t we know who they are?

Were they to succeed in deep-sixing Kimmel, let’s not doubt they and their dirty little operatives would be busy combing social media looking for jokes that they would decide are funny or not. How dare we laugh! Jokesters are what prisons are for!

To Disney’s credit, they pushed back: “ABC and its stations have a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules,” a company spokesperson stated, noting their “continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment” and flexing their will “to show that through the appropriate legal channels.”

It remains to be seen whether Disney’s peers will treat such threats with the same confidence and respect for the First Amendment and the legal system. Because you know that the attack on Kimmel and ABC was not just meant for them.

“I am still innocent”

Speaking of jokes and deep-sixing, in what world does a photograph shared on social media of seashells arranged on a North Carolina beach lead to prosecution for a death threat? In Trump’s America, apparently.

It takes a particularly thin-skinned real-estate developer who spent too much of his life hanging around with mafia guys—an authoritarian who hungers to silence dissent—to take such a thing as serious threat.

Yes, former FBI director and Trump critic James Comey came upon and photographed seashells arranged as the numbers “86 47.” In fact, Comey deleted the photograph on Instagram when he realized some thought “86” was not a political message but referred to killing.

But the vindictive Trump, noted expert in such matters, was looking for retribution and was not about to miss the chance to go after Comey again.

“86” is a mob term for ‘kill him,’” he posted on his “Truth” Social platform. “They say 86 him!”

Meanwhile, Merriam-Webster, a slightly more reliable source, notes that to 86 something is “to refuse to serve (a customer),” “to eject or ban (a customer)” or, broadly, “to eject, dismiss, or remove (someone).”

But don’t tell Trump. He may decide to target the dictionary makers next, who are obviously “low IQ,” unlike him.

Todd Blanche, the sycophant auditioning to be Trump’s AG, didn’t get the joke. Oh, no. He gathered the grave significance of the number and pushed prosecution.

Justifying the latest indictment of Comey, Blanche said that “anybody who tries to put forward some narrative that this is just about seashells or something to the contrary is missing the point. You cannot threaten the president of the United States.”

Uh huh.

Blanche—determined to be Trump’s new Roy Cohn—also denied that this was political persecution directed by Trump. “Of course not, absolutely, positively not,” he said on CBS Mornings.

If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.

And it’s reasonable to assume that Trump was counting on exploiting a mugshot of Comey after he surrendered at a federal courthouse in the Eastern District of Virginia. Tragically for Trump, there was no mugshot and Judge William Fitzpatrick permitted Comey to leave without placing conditions on his release.

To Comey’s credit, there was no sign of fear after being targeted again. “Well, they’re back,” he said in a video posted on Substack Tuesday, adding, “I am still innocent. I am still not afraid. And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So let’s go.”

Wonder how serious these charges are? Even Fox News is platforming experts making light of it.

Note this from law professor Jonathan Turley, who’s usually more than ready to drum up support for Trump’s legal trampling: “If Comey is charged for the shell picture, it would face a monumental challenge under the First Amendment. In my view, the image itself is clearly protected speech.”

Yes, this may be dismissed as another example of political over-reach by a White House occupant bent on retribution. But don’t forget that Trump’s firing of AG Pam Bondi was influenced by her inability to be more aggressive in prosecuting his enemies.

There will be more, especially as Blanche continues striving to please his boss. And you can be sure that as Trump is now insisting he needs his ballroom for self-protection, his Roy Cohn will be on the look out for more threats, real or imagined.

Are we all supposed to limit “86” from our vocabulary? Let’s take Comey’s lead: Do not be afraid.

Of course, in a sane world, violent threats would motivate real responses—you know, like fresh ideas about limiting the epidemic of gun violence that continues to poison our country and make us all less free.

“Abandoning its vital role”

And then there are the six black-robed justices on the Supreme Court, who exploited their power to take away the voice of American citizens of color. In their 6 to 3 ruling Wednesday in Louisiana v. Callais, they essentially determined that it is unconstitutional for lawmakers to consider race when drawing voting district maps.

This followed the creation in Louisiana of two out of six congressional districts that sought to recognize the rights of minority voters—to ensure their voices are heard. In a state that is 30 percent Black, these two districts are currently majority Black populations.

Unsurprisingly, state legislators in Louisiana and Florida were quick to announce new voting maps that could give Republicans new congressional districts and weaken minority influence. Louisiana’s governor declared a state of emergency yesterday saying that he was suspending the primary elections. Other states are likely to try and redraw their maps before the midterms to strengthen the GOP’s hand.

In her dissent, Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the court had now accomplished a “demolition of the Voting Rights Act.”

Former President Barack Obama did not hold back, posting how this ruling frees state legislatures “to systematically dilute and weaken the voting power of racial minorities…under the guise of ‘partisanship’ rather than explicit ‘racial bias.’” He also said this court “seems intent on abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy and protecting the rights of minority groups against majority overreach.”

But he also described the necessary antidote to this overreach: It will take “citizens across the country who cherish our democratic ideals continue to mobilize and vote in record numbers…in every election and every level.”

His post was viewed 63 million times as of this writing.

Let me leave you with two short quotes from Milan Kundera’s The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, which I have been re-reading since Melania’s attack on Kimmel’s joke. One goes like this: “To laugh is to live profoundly.” And the other: “The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.”

I find these helpful as reminders that the Trumps and their sycophants will not succeed in making us stop laughing nor will they succeed in making us forget what we love and what we know to be true. We voters can prove that everywhere in America this year, including in the districts that will try now to take away the people’s voice.

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I was in Washington, D.C., Saturday night to attend Substack’s New Media Party. I was glad not to be going near the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents Association and its deeply mistaken plan to host Donald Trump. Celebrating free speech and journalism by inviting the man who’s working constantly to undermine a free press illuminated how clearly the WHCA needs to rethink its identity.

But for three hours Saturday night that wouldn’t be my problem. This was a chance to connect with friends and colleagues, undisturbed by the inevitably twisted remarks of Trump or by the CBS/Paramount people hobnobbing with fierce opponents of journalism and a free press like Pete Hegseth and Stephen Miller. I was determined to leave my phone in my pocket and ignore the sick shenanigans playing out at the Washington Hilton.

Well, that didn’t happen. It was about an hour after I arrived at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery right near the White House when someone said there was a shooting. Soon an announcement was made: No one could exit the building for the time being while the possible danger was sorted out.

My experience was insignificant compared to all the journalists and other Hilton attendees told to “get down!” after gunfire was heard. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer happened to be in the checkpoint area as the shooter’s bullets flew through the air. More than a few witnesses in the ballroom talked about the fear and trauma caused by the deadly threat and the resulting chaos.

Meanwhile, back in the White House briefing room less than two hours later, Trump was answering questions, quickly pivoting to the need to have his big ballroom built for safety. As if this private event would have happened there. As if the gunfire in the hotel was now sufficient reason to bulldoze past a federal judge’s ruling that stopped the building.

Two New York Times reporters summarized Trump’s response to the violence as “remarkably zen.” After the room was evacuated, Trump insisted, “I am not a basket case.”

It may be exactly this unusual calm from this normally deranged man—in addition to his quick tactical exploitation of the gunfire to argue for his ballroom—that has added to growing questions about whether the shooting was somehow staged. This is also the inevitable consequence of growing doubt across the political spectrum about the legitimacy of the Butler shooting, exacerbated by a so-called president who cannot ever be trusted to tell the truth.

But let’s step back and look at what this latest shooting portends. A party can’t just be a party anymore, not when a climate of violence prevails. People are on edge everywhere I go—and it’s all so damned unnecessary.

This all might please Trump and his twisted authoritarian pals, but it’s no way to live for those of us who yearn for freedom and a night without worry. The consequences of this heavy environment is easily triggered short fuses and a noticeable rise in arguments.

The shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner should be another reminder of why change is so necessary. Let me leave you with three questions:

• It’s not enough to question the need for expanded security measures. Instead, we must ask: What the hell are we going to do about the epidemic of gun violence in America?

• We should confront the rise of authoritarianism, but what about accelerating the removal of a White House occupant who recklessly and systematically spews violent rhetoric for his own sick pleasure and benefit?

• We can talk about the mad fact that tens of millions of people believe political violence may be necessary and support unfettered 2nd Amendment freedoms, but do the large majority of Americans really have to live in a suspended state of fear as they wonder: Is gun violence coming my way next?

Trump may exploit Saturday’s violence to push for his pet projects and distract from his massive failures. (Yes, the U.S. is still at war with Iran. Yes, the Epstein files still must be released.) But we can’t let his self-serving and dangerous agenda distract us from unanswered questions that can meaningfully change the trajectory of our beloved yet broken country.

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The shooting last night at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is a tragedy. The pursuit of political violence—and the spreading of chaos and fear—is a grave danger for a democratic society that counts on openness, connection and rational discourse.

I’ve made clear that inviting an enemy of free speech and journalism to this dinner—one who constantly exploits his power to attack press freedoms and journalists—was a bad mistake. But the last thing any of us should want is for an armed gunman to take matters into his own hands, to decide he alone should determine who lives and who dies.

But let’s make no mistake: As much as the gunman is utterly wrong and responsible for his actions, this doesn’t happen in a vacuum. For a decade now, Donald Trump has exacerbated a climate of violence, demonizing perceived enemies and often using violent political rhetoric to build animosity, deepen divisions and reap the rewards of growing hatred.

“If you go after me, I’m coming after you,” he threatened a judge and potential witnesses in 2023. “If I don’t get elected … it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country,” he said in 2024. There are so many examples of similar violent threats and dehumanizing attacks on people and groups as “animals” and “vermin” and “enemies.”

Stochastic terrorism is made possible by such hostile and demonizing political rhetoric. Troubled people are highly susceptible to this language. It’s what can push them to commit violence.

This is why it’s so critical to have responsible leaders who don’t fan the flames for their own benefit, nor act like a violent reality is something for us to normalize and accept. (“It’s a dangerous life,” Trump said last night about being president, after the ballroom was evacuated.)

Initial reports suggest that the 31-year-old shooter—armed with long guns and knives— may have intended to kill Trump and other members of his leadership team. Whatever his motivation, we should be grateful that he failed. Violence begets violence.

But let’s also be sure that any effort by Trump to exploit this event to further attack his perceived enemies and silence dissent is intolerable. The issue is not about which side a gunman is on, but rather what we as a society can do to tamp down this hateful climate. In a country with over 400 million guns, this could not be more urgent.

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Donald Trump is attending the White House Correspondents Association dinner tonight. He was invited by the journalist group and its president—Weijia Jiang, a CBS News White House correspondent—said last month, “We’re happy the president has accepted our invitation and look forward to hosting him.” This will be the first time Trump has attended in either term, and there will be no comedian performing.

The event has always been unseemly—the hobnobbing with high-profile sources rather than maintaining journalistic detachment. But this year? After the onslaught of hostile, aggressive attacks by Trump and his regime against the free press?

Do the attendees really believe that their stated purpose to celebrate journalism and the First Amendment will not be made into a mockery by allowing its enemy to join them for an evening of presumed camaraderie? Do they honestly believe that some among them wearing lapel pins or pocket handkerchiefs with the words of the First Amendment is sufficient protest to the most anti-press presidency in the history of the country? And what of the once-honorable CBS News and its owner Paramount inviting Pete Hegseth and Stephen Miller to the dinner?

Hundreds of journalists who will not be attending the event summarized their opposition in a detailed petition, citing “the most systematic and comprehensive assault on freedom of the press by a sitting American president.” Their list includes:

[R]etaliatory access bans, coercive regulatory investigations, frivolous lawsuits against the press, defunding of public broadcasting, dismantling of international broadcasting, physical restrictions on journalists, personal verbal attacks on reporters, assaults on the media in official White House press releases and social media posts, the arrest of journalists, and the pardoning of those who committed violence against the press.

Each of us can note particularly disgraceful behavior and actions, including calling a female reporter “piggy,” banning Associated Press reporters because they refused to go along with Trump’s name change of the Gulf of Mexico, pushing major media out of the Pentagon, accusing news organizations to be “the enemy of the people,” suing various outlets in response to coverage that displeased Trump, the endless effort to degrade the public’s trust by constantly discussing “the fake news media.”

In the two months before the 2024 election, Reporters Without Borders chronicled more than 100 attacks on the media by Trump. The free speech advocacy group that supports journalists globally also noted these numbers from just the first 100 days of the second term:

• 427 million: Weekly worldwide audience of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) news outlets silenced by Trump.

• 3,500+: Journalists and media workers at risk of losing their jobs because of the USAGM shutdown, including people from Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe.

• 8,000+: US government web pages taken down.

• 180: Public radio stations at risk of closing because of public media funding eliminated.

The group also noted the rising number of lawsuits against media companies and politically motivated investigations and threats by the Federal Communications Commission and its pro-Trump chair, Brendan Carr. (Carr has also been invited to the dinner by CBS.) Taken together, it’s impossible to miss the systematic assault on freedom of the press.

Yes, some media outlets will not be attending. Journalists from The New York Times and The Atlantic, for example, haven’t attended the awkward event labeled “nerd prom” for many years. But—in my view—so many others in the legacy media will be putting their remaining credibility into jeopardy by failing to abandon an event that invites Trump to join them in a “celebration” of journalism and the First Amendment.

What do you think? Will the legacy media ever learn? Should Trump have been invited? Is there a way that his presence at the dinner can be used to properly express the gravity of his assault on press freedom and free speech? Or will it be another opportunity for him to degrade the public’s trust in the media? Lastly, how does this affect your view of legacy media—and does it strengthen your support for independent media?

As always I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity for this community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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Tucker Carlson apologized this week for supporting Donald Trump and misleading people into voting for him. That’s Tucker Carlson the right-wing opportunist, the former Fox host and now popular podcaster who has energetically supported Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán and called Volodymyr Zelensky a “Ukrainian pimp.” Carlson is the nasty propagandist who has promoted white nationalism and dangerously used his Fox platform to call efforts to increase COVID vaccinations “the greatest scandal in my lifetime, by far” and said of college students required to get vaccinated: “They shouldn’t get the shot. It’s not good for them.”

Over and over, the cynical, self-serving Carlson has proven that he will say anything for ratings and clicks, no matter the damage to life and the truth. Recall that he knew—and privately said in texts and other messages—that he and his Fox colleagues were spreading the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

That’s why he was mentioned in Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News for an “orchestrated defamatory campaign” that “recklessly disregarded the truth.” That same suit described Fox taking “a small flame” of disinformation and turning it into “a forest fire,” rightly concluding, “The truth matters. Lies have consequences.” In fact, Dominion’s eventual $787.5 million settlement with Fox included the firing of Carlson.

So you should not be surprised that I look at his apology—and yes, those of other MAGA and Trump supporters who have and will abandon Trump—with more than a little skepticism. Carlson will say what’s expedient. He will shift as needed to sustain a following. He has not suddenly experienced a great moral awakening.

But let’s look for a moment at what he said in a two hour-plus podcast conversation with his brother and former Trump speechwriter, Buckley Carlson, which surely sounds like he’s done with Trump:

You and I and everyone else who supported him—you wrote speeches for him, I campaigned for him—I mean, we’re implicated in this for sure. It’s not enough to say, ‘Well, I changed my mind’—or like, ‘Oh, this is bad, I’m out.’

It’s, like, in very small ways, but in real ways, you and me and millions of people like us are the reason this is happening right now. So I do think it’s like a moment to wrestle with our own consciences. You know, we’ll be tormented by it for a long time. I will be, and I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people, and it was not intentional.

I think it’s important to realize what he said and what he didn’t say. Carlson was upset that Trump “attacked Jesus” on Easter. But he was more upset that Trump waged war against Iran, not only because of its “explicit betrayal” of his promises to not do so for the last decade, but particularly because Carlson believes he was only acting at the behest of the Israelis. Carlson also mocked anyone who would criticize Trump as racist, even as his brother called Kamala Harris “cackling cameltoe” and defended the convicted and jailed J6 insurrectionists as “political prisoners” who Trump didn’t do enough to help.

Yes, Carlson has broken with Trump now from what The Guardian’s Washington bureau chief David Smith calls “a marriage of political convenience.” After all, in 1999, Carlson called Trump “the single most repulsive person on the planet.” In 2016, during the campaign, he said Trump was “not evil,” but “mentally ill.” In 2021, he privately said, “I hate him passionately.” Then, in a speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention, he described Trump as “a wonderful person…the funniest person I’ve ever met in my life.”

All of these things are not possible simultaneously, except by an opportunist who’s looking for political advantage and is calculating his own future. Carlson may be fantasizing about a run for the presidency in 2028, but that’s not the storyline that matters.

Carlson is one of a growing number of MAGA types who have and are abandoning Trump for a variety of reasons. That gives me growing confidence about the outcome of the November midterms—the productive fulfillment of Democratic rage and the disengagement of disheartened and Trumpists. But it also raises questions about how to respond to their change of heart.

Carlson rightly noted that he and millions more are “implicated in this.” And “this” is not just pursuing a reckless, unauthorized, unsupported war of choice, but a hostile and corrupt agenda that violates the Constitution, abandons the rule of law, demonizes and abuses immigrants and people of color, grossly enriches Trump and his cronies at the expense of everyone else, and works methodically to dismantle democratic institutions and end America’s project of self-governance.

It’s not enough for them to say they’re sorry. It’s not enough to say they no longer support Trump and they are experiencing buyer’s remorse. It would be a mistake for Democrats to simply welcome them back into the fold as if all is forgiven.

Because the same underlying impulses remain: the racism, the attraction to demagoguery and dictatorship, the readiness to abandon the Constitution, the hatred toward diversity and inclusion and, ultimately, the lingering belief in their righteousness. The next chapter following the midterms—and I pray for an overwhelming Republican defeat for the good of our country—cannot be defined by simple redemption with a quick and welcoming embrace. It must be defined by investigations, prosecutions and—when justice and the law proves—convictions and imprisonments.

As this tragic period plays out, I am increasingly convinced that the timeline for America to regain trust from once steadfast allies will likely take decades, not years. The rupture—the broken trust—caused by Trump is too deep. Similarly, the rupture caused by millions of American Trump voters—and particularly propagandists like Carlson—cannot be repaired in one election cycle or two. It cannot be enough for those who were lured by Trump and Trumpism to say they are sorry, no matter how hard it is to admit they were duped and break with a narrative that provided them belonging.

The future depends on re-engagement with foundational values, including equality, justice, commitment to the rule of law and treating everyone with respect, dignity and basic humanity. It’s hard to overstate the challenge of rebuilding unity in a nation so gravely rended by the rich and powerful.

It will take the resetting of America’s laws and norms that truly respect voting rights, recognize the necessity of education and an informed citizenry, genuinely seek an inclusive democracy and end the grotesque concentration of wealth and rule by the self-serving few. We can be sure that Tucker Carlson—who hosted on Fox what was called “the most racist show in the history of cable news”—will continue to be an obstacle to that future.

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It would be one thing if Donald Trump’s solutions to inflation and the affordability crisis facing ordinary Americans just weren’t working. It would be one thing if the recklessly foolish adventurism in Iran—and the resources that it demands—was a temporary interruption of policies and resources focused on the actual needs of Americans, such as health care, housing, education and financial security. It would also be one thing if Americans saw Trump prospering and welcomed the notion that a rising tide lifts all boats.

But what’s going on is another thing entirely. Trump is indifferent to the affordability crisis. He mocks the very idea that it’s a real problem and lies that prices are going down when they’re not. He not only wages an unauthorized, unsupported war of choice—to the tune of over $50 billion so far—he’s counting on Congress to dramatically increase the Pentagon’s budget by slashing basic programs that provide a safety net for most Americans’ survival. (“We’re fighting wars,” Trump said during a private Easter luncheon. “It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things.”)

And he’s not just making the rich richer at everyone else’s expense. His daily focus is to aggressively, constantly exploit his office to steal from the public coffers to stuff his own pockets. It’s frankly disgusting, especially as he’s failing to address the affordability crisis. It’s deeply infuriating, especially as he puts American soldiers in harm’s way and is expanding death, destruction, pain and suffering in the Middle East and around the world.

All of this came crashing into stark relief in recent days. In my own case, first that’s because I paid my taxes on April 15. I’ve always treated contributing to the national government as a civic duty, indeed a patriotic commitment to the common good.

But this year? Trump and his sycophantic miscreants are using our money to abuse people at home and abroad and plunder the Treasury for their own benefit. I can’t find a single example of how this morally rotten bunch is making life better for everyday Americans, except for the cultists that are excited by cruelty, violence and the degradation of migrants and people of color.

Two recent cases demonstrate the depth of the regime’s corruption. One is to try and steal $10 billion from you, me and every taxpayer; Trump sued the IRS and the Treasury, which he essentially controls, because his and his sons’ tax records were leaked to news outlets. (Note that the unethical Trump has refused to ever release his tax records voluntarily.) This led to The New York Times revealing in 2020 that Trump paid only $750 in taxes in 2016 and in 2017—and had not paid any income taxes in 10 of the previous 15 years because of significant losses reported.

But now, Trump wants retribution—and he wants to take our money to get it.

In response, key Democrats are co-sponsoring the “Ban Presidential Plunder of Taxpayer Funds Act” that would ban a president and vice president abusing their power for personal gain. “Trump’s systematic exploitation of Executive Branch power to loot billions of dollars from American taxpayers is the ongoing scandal of this ruthlessly corrupt Administration,” Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement released last week. The new bill intends to “prevent the president from pursuing the emerging MAGA grift of suing the government as a ‘plaintiff’ on bogus grounds and then settling the suit as ‘defendant’ for big bucks.”

Added Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren: “While American families are getting flattened by skyrocketing costs, Donald Trump is trying to snatch up billions of taxpayer dollars to line his own pockets and settle personal scores.”

As Trump runs roughshod across ethical boundaries, it’s hard to see how this bill will stop him anytime soon, especially as the cowardly Republicans have proven they will only bow to and applaud his violations. That said, the bill seeks to ban the sitting president and VP from collecting settlement payments from the U.S. and “impose guardrails” on federal lawsuits seeking damages by only allowing them to collect compensatory damages if a federal court appoints an independent counsel and makes all proceedings public.

Alas, we are seeing the consequences of electing a profoundly unethical man whose primary interest is enriching himself and his family—and more than happy to exploit every loophole to take and take with no end and no bottom in sight. Enter son-in-law Jared Kushner, inserted into the Middle East mix. As I documented in “The Grifter’s War” several weeks ago, he’s exploiting his “unofficial” assignment with Iran to try and grab another $5 billion for himself and his investment firm.

They’re far from alone. It appears that a variety of corrupt insiders connected to the Trump Pentagon and beyond are exploiting the Iran war to enrich themselves. This is not hard to see: There has been a stunning amount of unregulated gambling on the war in online markets like Polymarket and Kalshi.

As The Guardian reported, that includes 16 bets making $100,000 on the precise timing of the Feb. 27 airstrikes on Iran, a single bet making $550,000 by predicting the end of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and, two weeks ago on April 7, accurately betting $950 million on when oil prices would go down, just before Trump announced a temporary ceasefire. These and other wagers, Guardian reporter Lauren Aratani wrote, “accurately predicted the precise timing of major developments in the US-Israel war with Iran, creating huge windfalls and raising concerns among lawmakers and experts over potential insider trading.”

Do you really think Trump isn’t in on it, especially as he repeatedly shifts his plans, just in time to influence the various markets? “Not only the timing, but the amount of these bets makes it look very likely that someone had insider knowledge…and placed very, very substantial bets on it,” said Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for the consumer advocacy group, Public Citizen.

Holman’s group filed a complaint with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates futures markets. But, unsurprisingly, the CFTC currently only has one commissioner (rather than the usual five), and he was appointed last year by Trump. Still, Reuters reports that the commission is investigating a series of highly questionable oil futures trades.

While it’s appalling to blithely tolerate insiders exploiting their government positions to corruptly enrich themselves, let’s not lose sight: This regime rots from the top. And, if Donald can do it…

Let me leave you with a handful of resources that explore the nauseating scale of theft.

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren tracked 100 acts of corruption in the first 100 days undertaken to enrich Trump and weaken agencies’ ability to push back.

• The Brennan Center chronicles the unprecedented profiteering, including Trump’s pocketing of an estimated $3 billion from his various business enterprises, while his family has raked in billions more, much of it from foreign governments and others seeking to curry favor.

• Campaign Legal Center has published a tracker documenting Trump’s corrupt rewards for major donors and supporters, which include pardons, diplomatic positions and dropped investigations and enforcement actions.

• Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are tracking the grift that they say exceeds an estimated $2.4 billion in realized profits for Trump from payments by foreign sources, corrupt oligarchs and others, plus nearly $6 billion for the total Trump family digital grift.

As long as Trump—immunized by the Supreme Court and shamelessly exploiting weak federal ethics laws—can count on a GOP majority in Congress, we have no reason to expect that the egregious corruption will stop. But it’s important both to document what is knowable and to demand that if and when Democrats take back Congress in the midterms, the corruption must be aggressively investigated and prosecuted.

Failure to hold accountable the grotesque abusers of our public resources for their personal gain would make a mockery of every taxpayer. That includes those who foolishly imagined he would lower costs and the rest of us fighting to end this hostile takeover. We should expect nothing less than responsible, ethical government, not piggish thieves feeding at the trough.

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The bold commitment to change in Hungary is bracing. In the first few days of Péter Magyar’s landslide victory over autocrat Viktor Orbán this week, he made clear that he is finished with business as usual. The prime minister-elect’s Tisza party won a supermajority, giving it the ability to amend the constitution and reverse some of the worst aspects of the country’s illiberalism under Orbán.

Magyar appeared on M1, the state television channel, which as an opposition leader he had not been permitted to visit for years. In a live interview, he spoke directly about his plans. “We will suspend this channel’s news service,” Magyar said. “This isn’t about me; I’m not seeking revenge. Our people deserve journalism that reflects the truth.”

He promised to end “the factory of lies” and create “independent, impartial” news operations “together with the other parliamentary parties and professional organizations.” He continued, “We know there is no perfect media, but what has gone on here since 2010 [when Orban took power] would have Goebbels or the North Korean dictator lick their lips.” (An estimated 80 percent of the country’s media has been controlled by Orbán and his goverment.)

In his live appearance, Magyar mentioned lies told about him there. When the host cut in, he said, “No host in this studio ever dared to interrupt Hungary’s most corrupt and lying prime minister.” When questioned about the legality of shutting down the channel, Magyar said, “For someone on this channel to accuse me of breaking the law looks like a thief accusing the police.”

Over a series of interviews and posts articulating the necessity of “regime change,” Magyar also said he planned to rebuild Hungary’s relationship with the European Union, nationalize assets corruptly handed over to business interests, confront the country’s deep poverty and demand the resignation of officials leading the country’s two highest courts, its chief prosecutor and president—all described as “puppets” of the Orbán regime. After meeting Hungary’s president, Tamás Sulyok, Magyar said he asked him to leave office "voluntarily” or else he would be removed by amending the constitution “to preserve the remnants of the Hungarian rule of law and democracy.”

The day after the M1 appearance, the new prime minister also promised to pursue those who had “plundered, looted, betrayed, indebted and ruined” the country. This is no easy task, of course. “Since taking power in 2010,” noted The Guardian this week, “Orbán and his party have stacked the Hungarian state, media and judiciary with loyalists, and it remains unclear how they will react to changes made by a Tisza-led government.”

Clearly, Magyar’s audacious first days result from his overwhelming two-thirds victory on Sunday. The closer the election, the harder it is to legitimately declare a real mandate to pursue bold change. But the combination of the big win, Hungary’s economic struggles and the people’s exhaustion with the corruption and illiberalism all strengthen Magyar’s quest.

As we look toward the midterms, there are lessons to be learned. But: Will America learn from Hungary? Will the growing fury toward Donald Trump’s deranged recklessness and sociopathic indifference to the needs of everyday Americans ensure a massive turnout and a massive Democratic win? Will Trump’s exhausting propaganda and lies—amplified by Fox News and its right-wing peers—finally convince voters that democracy, decency and the truth must finally define our future? Can his regime’s corruption and criminality be prosecuted and stemmed with a new majority in Congress? What changes do you think are necessary to turn the page on this appalling chapter in American history?

As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity for the America, America community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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Things have been going badly for JD Vance the last few weeks. He failed in high-level negotiations with Iran. He failed at helping Hungary’s white nationalist authoritarian Viktor Orbán stay in power. And this newly converted Catholic foolishly assailed Pope Leo XIV, arrogantly questioning the pontiff’s grasp on theology.

I mean, this guy must know he’s losing, amirite? Oh, no. That would miss the big picture here. Because the opportunistic author of Hillbilly Elegy—who did not hesitate exploiting the people of Appalachia to advance himself—will not be deterred: He’s all about expanding power, no matter who loses or what harm he causes.

The price of gas may lead the average American to think twice about hitting the road, but that doesn’t touch high-and-mighty JD, one heartbeat away from the presidency. His motorcade to and from the failed negotiations in Pakistan reportedly tallied 40 to 100 vehicles. His motorcade tooling through the street of Budapest was similar in scale.

And these were not anomalies: In February, he reportedly arrived in Milan, Italy with 100 armored vehicles, mostly Chevrolet Suburbans, for a fun time at the Winter Olympics. This extravaganza reportedly involved 14 planes to transport his vehicles, supplies, security team and staff. So, too, a family vacation to the English Cotswolds last summer apparently required a motorcade of more than two dozen vehicles.

As much as most Americans may see the Iran war as a deadly dangerous and costly fiasco driven by a reckless madman, don’t doubt that Vance knows who stands to gain from it. Several days ago, The Guardian documented the windfall this war is providing to the top 100 oil and gas companies, which are making more than $30 million per hour and could pocket an estimated $234 billion in extra profits this year.

Have a look at how much the top 10 companies will earn between March and December if a barrel of oil averages $100.

• Saudi Aramco: $25.5 billion

• Kuwait Petroleum Corp: $12.1 billion

• ExxonMobil: $11.0 billion

• Gazprom: $10.8 billion

• Chevron: $9.2 billion

• PetroChina: $9.2 billion

• Petrobras: $8.0 billion

• Shell: $6.8 billion

• Rosneft: $6.6 billion

• Abu Dhabi National Oil: $6.4 billion

Anything stand out? Maybe the Trump regime’s friends in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Russia? As The Guardian notes, “Three Russian companies—Gazprom, Rosneft and Lukoil—stand to make an estimated $23.9 billion in Iran-related war profits by the end of the year.”

And pro-Putin Vance? There he was at a Turning Point USA event this week crowing about one of his “proudest” achievements, which is cutting off funding to Ukraine to fight Russia’s deadly war—and that includes “not buying weapons and sending them to Ukraine anymore.”

And just in case you think he was merely mouthing Trump’s attitude and policy line, get a load of his grotesque comments while pimping for Orbán last week in Budapest. After attacking Zelensky for “threatening” Orbán, he arrogantly dismissed Ukraine’s fight for its territorial sovereignty and survival as "haggling over...a few square kilometers."

What an a-hole.

So much for democracy. So much for knowing where he came from. Vance is now a full-fledged member of the what the sociologist C. Wright Mills called the “power elite.” In his 1956 book of the same title, Mills drew attention to a a small group of people who could control the military, corporate and political institutions of American society, seeking to render ordinary citizens relatively powerless.

Vance likes the rise of oligarchic rule just fine.

Is it any wonder that he felt free to attack the pope, given his own perceived divine status in the global ecosystem? Is he not entitled to insist that Pope Leo should “be careful” if he is going to “opine on matters of theology” as they concern the war with Iran?

And while anyone can see that old JD has the charisma of a dead fish and an unusual knack for making awkward, cringeworthy jokes that fall flat, don’t doubt that he feels cushioned from his own obvious flaws.

A year ago Trump handed him the unusual job of finance chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), giving him the ability to raise tens of millions for the party and buff-up his own position with donors heading toward 2028. The New York Times reported yesterday that, in addition to his failed trips to Pakistan and Budapest, he has attended more than two dozen RNC “breakfasts, lunches and dinners” to raise an estimated $60 million.

I went back to Vance’s GOP convention speech from July 17, 2024 to remember what this shape-shifter had to say then. A Yale Law School grad, he had previously likened Trump to “America’s Hitler.” But that night in Milwaukee he offered no genuine insight. Or, to put it another way, he demonstrated his capacity for bullshit.

He is tough, and he is, but he cares about people. He can stand defiant against an assassin one moment and call for national healing the next. He is a beloved father and grandfather, and, of course, a once-in-a-generation business leader.

Here was his equally mistaken, indeed tragically laughable, description of the Republican Party:

Shouldn’t we be governed by a party that is unafraid to debate ideas and come to the best solution? That’s the Republican Party of the next four years: united in our love for this country, and committed to free speech and the open exchange of ideas.

If only.

And then there was this, just in case you doubted whether his new boss was a man of the people or a man of the power elite only serving the interests of the richest among us:

We need a leader who fights for the people who built this country. We need a leader who’s not in the pocket of big business, but answers to the working man, union and nonunion alike. A leader who won’t sell out to multinational corporations, but will stand up for American companies and American industry.

Just to be clear, this is how he talked about Donald Trump, the “leader” who’s exploiting his office to enrich himself and his family, provide tax cuts for billionaires, launch wars that benefit Big Oil—particularly the Saudis and the Russians—and demand tributes from the biggest of big business. That was knowable then, not just since he retook office.

Thanks to tech investor Peter Thiel’s millions bankrolling him, JD Vance landed in 2022 a seat in the Senate representing Ohio and two years later ended up as vice-president. We would expect any other politician experiencing such a meteoric rise would be a generational talent. Not the fraudulent Vance, there for the taking.

The truth is even darker, an alarming illustration of the corruption of money in politics and the assumption of Trump and his nepo babies, Don Jr. and Eric, that access to Silicon Valley wealth and power would serve their interests well. So much the better that a man like Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, who has been described as a “techno-libertarian” who veers toward fascism, aligns so well with Trump’s agenda. Here’s Thiel from 2009, laying the groundwork: “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible."

With supporters like this, it’s easy to see how Vance has been more than willing to put his humble beginnings aside in the pursuit of power. The more he consumes, the more he becomes convinced of his own invincibility and significance.

Yes, reality may one day come crashing down—and may that day be in the midterms when we all prove that the Trump regime’s power will come to an end. But before then, JD Vance’s mounting failures from Pakistan to Budapest to the Vatican will not be sufficient to wipe the confidently smug look from his bearded face.

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Long after Donald Trump is gone, lovers of democracy, decency, honesty, sanity, equality, justice, education and the truth will have plenty of work to repair all that has been broken. So I hesitate in taking too much delight in the growing number of ways that this massive malignancy—one of the worst humans to ever walk the planet—is losing.

But losing he is—and it should give all of us encouragement that his and his reckless regime’s days are numbered. Let me share with you five ways that he’s losing and what they portend for the future.

Viktor Orbán was defeated yesterday.

The people of Hungary spoke in no uncertain terms that they were done with his corrupt, illiberal, anti-democratic, pro-Putin 16-year rule. Péter Magyar’s Tisza Party is on course to gain two-thirds of the Hungarian parliament’s seats, providing a super-majority for the new government and enough to convince Orbán to concede quickly and graciously.

This is great news for the people of Hungary, stuck with one of Europe’s worst economies and an ongoing state of fear. But it’s also great news for pro-democracy progressives, longing for signs that the far-right, white nationalist movement may be on the wane.

And more, this is a serious loss for Trump (and his Orbán-loving henchman, JD Vance) who pushed hard to keep the Hungarian strongman in power—including full-throated endorsements, visits to Budapest, invitations to Mar-a-Lago and even a last-day promise/bribe by Trump to “use the full Economic Might of the United States to strengthen Hungary’s economy.”

They not only learned that Hungarians rejected their corrupt illiberalism, but also that they did not have the power to swing a foreign election for a despised authoritarian. This landslide win should give all of us encouragement to keep up the opposition here, speak out for democracy and democratic values, and take nourishment from our allies in Europe and beyond.

He keeps making a fool of himself over Iran.

Well before the talks with Iran led by JD Vance in Pakistan fell apart, Trump was already bragging that the outcome of “very deep negotiations with Iran” didn’t matter. “We win regardless,” he stupidly said. “We've defeated them militarily.”

The genius dealmaker may have imagined he could bully the Iranians into submitting to his demands, including re-opening the Strait of Hormuz and giving up their nuclear material. But he himself proved how empty his comments were by following up Vance’s failed negotiations Saturday with a new plan to launch a naval blockade of the strait. That may put pressure on Iran, but it also worsens conditions for the global economy, exacerbating the oil crisis that will further raise costs for Americans.

Every time the untethered, bloviating Trump declares “we’re winning,” he reinforces the reality that he is an ill-informed loser unable to tell the truth and manage the reckless war of choice that he triggered. Doubling down by blockading the strait underscores that he’s only capable of acting out of anger and grievance.

While this plan promises more bad days ahead—and growing doubt about how exactly this all ends—Trump’s self-made quagmire makes the foul odor of failure increasingly hard to miss. He’s the arrogant fool who tore up President Barack Obama’s deal with Iran in 2018, a deal meant to keep the peace, negotiated by competent professionals. Now we see the danger caused by incompetent leaders who only look at agreements in terms of how it makes them look.

Once-staunch American allies despise him and won’t work with him.

It’s no surprise to any sane person that when you treat people (and countries) like garbage, they are disinclined to help you later. Put aside the verbal abuse, the foolish tariffs and the hostile threats toward NATO, Trump then launched a reckless war of choice without consulting allies and then thought he had the power to force them to assist as the failures mount. He attacked historic allies as cowards for refusing to help defend the strait and now likely is lying in a Truth Social post that “other countries will be involved in the blockade.”

Yes, Trump has succeeded in dangerously undermining the credibility of American promises for years to come, well after his departure. But his hostile approach should make painfully clear that it doesn’t matter how mighty a military may be, publicly abusing allies and going it alone inevitably puts you in danger. Future White House occupants will surely prioritize alliance-building and earning respect of former friends with genuine partnership, not belligerence and bully-boy tactics. The real “art of the deal” means acting with respect, honor and honesty.

Most Americans increasingly despise him and his policies.

Even before launching the deeply unpopular war with Iran, including among his MAGA followers who believed him when he said he wouldn’t get involved in unnecessary foreign wars, he had historically low approval ratings (38 percent, per an Economist/YouGov poll last month). That includes being seriously underwater, according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll, on such major issues as the economy (65 percent disapproval), inflation (69 percent disapproval) and immigration (56 percent disapproval). Add to that the fact that just 6 percent of Americans are satisfied with the extent of the Epstein files released by the Trump Justice Department.

All this data underscores a simple truth. Good policy increases public support. That’s what elected officials in democratic societies should recognize is the key to their success. Democrats can prove that with the midterms, especially with affordability issues as gas and food prices continue to spike because Trump’s Iran war is dragging on.

He can only win in the midterms by cheating, motivating violence and suppressing the vote.

A winner trusts that his and his party’s policies will earn him the support of voters. A winner welcomes the will of the people. A winner does not work methodically to deny voters access to the polls in order to suppress the vote.

If we had a real winner in the White House, Americans would not have to worry that he was hostile to the democratic process. They would know that he wants to win for the good of the American people, not because he fears the prospects of impeachment and prosecution if the opposition party retakes the majority in Congress. His assault on democracy underscore why we need stronger voting rights laws.

Every time you read about Trump and his operatives seizing ballots, demanding that married women and others prove their citizenship to register to vote or threatening to send ICE agents to polling places, remember that this is what a loser does. This is what a man who fears the will of the people does.

In short, this man who never belonged near the levers of power—constantly declaring he is winning—is proving who he really is. Donald Trump is a loser.

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I hope you’ve seen the inspiring images from Heroes’ Square in Budapest, Hungary. Over a hundred thousand Hungarians—seeking the end of Viktor Orbán’s anti-democratic, authoritarian rule after 16 years in power—were standing together for an anti-government concert to express their opposition before Sunday’s elections. Every American should celebrate this expression of democracy by Hungarians who no longer want to live in what has been described as “a petri dish for illiberalism.”

But not JD Vance, who was standing side-by-side with Orbán this week in Budapest. “We have to get Viktor Orbán re-elected as prime minister of Hungary, don’t we?” Vance said. He was there to “help as much as I possibly can help” with Orbán’s re-election. This was after hypocritically complaining about European Union interference in the election.

And, of course, there was Donald Trump, tapped in on speakerphone by Vance. Trump praised Orbán as “a fantastic man” who “kept your country good.” He “did not allow people to storm your country and invade your country like the people have and ruined other countries.” This came after a Trump post promoting the Hungarian strongman who is losing in the polls: “GET OUT AND VOTE FOR VIKTOR ORBÁN. He is a true friend, fighter, and WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Hungary.”

That’s not all. Trump followed that praise with this attempt to swing the election just a day before Hungarians go to the polls: “My Administration stands ready to use the full Economic Might of the United States to strengthen Hungary’s Economy, as we have done for our Great Allies in the past, if Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian People ever need it.”

So much for the principle of staying out of another country’s elections. So much for standing up for democracy. After all, white nationalist Orbán is a Trump and MAGA world favorite who has visited Mar-a-Lago multiple times and proudly touts his aggressive efforts to restrict immigration and LGBTQ+ rights and to crack down on the judiciary and a free press. Orbán’s Fidesz Party controls some 80 percent of the nation’s media.

But Hungarians have tired of Orban’s illiberalism and corruption and of the country’s economic stagnation. Demonstrators also rejected Orbán’s pro-Putin stance, showcased in a newly revealed call to Moscow last October. “I am at your service,” Orbán pledged to Putin and described himself as “a mouse” that helps “a lion.” The response by anti-Orbán protestors in the last few days: “Ruszkik haza!” they chanted. ("Russians, go home.)

Polls indicate that Orbán and his Fidesz party are behind 50 to 39 percent to the center-right Tisza Party and its opposition leader, Péter Magyar, offering strong signs that Orbán’s rule might be finally coming to an end. This despite the efforts of Orban’s illiberal American backers—or possibly even because of their efforts.

Tomorrow we’ll see whether Hungarians pursue a different future by standing against the growth of the far-right movement and Orbán’s antagonism toward the European Union. “We don't want to live in fear anymore,” Magyar has told supporters. “This country belongs to all of us, not just those in power.”

Is the Trump and Vance romance with authoritarian Viktor Orbán about to end? What do you think of these two loudly supporting Orbán? What do you think of them interfering in Hungary’s election? How disturbing is it to see American leaders, ostensibly serving a democracy, siding with this hostile authoritarian? Will it backfire? And finally, what can we learn from Hungary?

As always, I look forward to your observations and the opportunity for the America, America community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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Allow me to take you back five weeks to a magical time. It was just four days into the military campaign against Iran, a campaign that the arrogant geniuses in Pete Hegseth’s “Department of War” named “Operation Epic Fury,” presumably to match their ridiculously overheated view of themselves.

Hegseth stood at a podium in front of an American flag and announced, “America is winning decisively, devastatingly and without mercy.” Then he continued with his characteristic bravado, that of an unfettered alcoholic who’s just laid waste to a couple of fifths and a gregarious Fox news host freed to fulfill his orgasmic fantasy of killing with abandon. He spoke with maximum excitement:

Starting last night and to be completed in a few days, in under a week, the two most powerful Air Forces in the world will have complete control of Iranian skies, uncontested airspace. I hope all the folks watching understand what uncontested airspace and complete control means. It means we will fly all day, all night, day and night finding, fixing and finishing the missiles and defense industrial base of the Iranian military, finding and fixing their leaders and their military leaders, flying over Tehran, flying over Iran, flying over their capital, flying over the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], Iranian leaders looking up and seeing only U.S. and Israeli air power every minute of every day until we decide it’s over.

And Iran will be able to do nothing about it. B-2s, B-52s, B-1s, Predator drones, fighters controlling the skies, picking targets, death and destruction from the sky all day long. We’re playing for keeps. Our warfighters have maximum authorities granted personally by the president and yours truly.

Oh, what a magical time that was for Pete. You can imagine him adding a “death and destruction” tattoo to his collection. You can imagine how pumped up he was to say those magical words: “complete control.”

But that was then. Before American F-15 flyers were shot down over supposedly “uncontested airspace.” Before Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in a war that Hegseth said the U.S. was “winning decisively.” Before an increasingly desperate and deranged Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iranians “back to the Stone Ages where they belong.” Before he threatened that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

Didn’t Trump already declare victory dozens of times, backed up by Hegseth’s Epic Fury? Just Wednesday, after pulling back from the genocidal threat to annihilate a civilization for a “two-week” ceasefire, Trump told Agence France-Presse, “Total and complete victory. 100 percent. No question about it.”

He sounded a lot like Killer Pete, who was, as usual, triumphant in the extreme. “Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield, a capital-V military victory,” he said during Wednesday’s Pentagon press conference.

Never mind that Iran may now have a more radicalized regime, the strait is now under total Iranian control, relations with NATO allies have been deeply damaged and more than a dozen U.S. military bases in the region have been severely damaged, rendering them essentially “useless.” Never mind at least 13 American soldiers dead and more than 380 injured, the tens of billions spent, the thousands of civilians killed in Iran and Lebanon, the mounting oil crisis and the ongoing damage to the U.S. and global economy—all for an unauthorized, unsupported war of choice with no clear justification against a nation that posed no imminent threat to the U.S.

Real warriors—not frauds who play them on TV—know that war is hell. They don’t relish death and destruction. They are humbled by their duty. And they’re not afraid of journalists reporting the truth.

(They also would not face blowback like this from a federal judge: “The curtailment of First Amendment rights is dangerous at any time, and even more so in a time of war. Suppression of political speech is the mark of an autocracy, not a democracy.”)

And real presidents—not a malignant con artist who turned a reality TV gig into a non-stop crime operation—wouldn’t rely on pretend warriors who relish death and destruction. They wouldn’t want a military commander lying about victory when the smell of defeat is heavy and the lives and limbs of American soldiers and civilians are at stake.

But Pete and Donald are quite a combo. One pumps up the boss—after all, his job security is on the line were he to do otherwise—while the pumped-up boss relishes his pretend status as a total winner.

How confusing it must be for Trump to discover that even his MAGA worshippers have had it with him. How tiring it must be to have to remind everyone—at great length on Truth Social yesterday—that Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones have “Low IQs” and are “LOSERS” who are “just trying to latch on to MAGA.”

That’s not all: “They’re stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too! Look at their past, look at their record. They don’t have what it takes, and they never did!” Trump says of his former friends. All of a sudden, they’re “NUT JOBS, TROUBLEMAKERS, and will say anything necessary for some ‘free’ and cheap publicity.”

It must be so insulting to Trump’s fragile ego that he’s lost their support. They have failed to understand what his War Secretary has insisted and which he knows in his addled brain to be true—that the Iran war has been a “total and complete victory. 100 percent. No question about it.”

He never loses. Not in the 2020 election. Not in Iran. Not ever. That’s the MAGA way:

MAGA is about WINNING and STRENGTH in not allowing Iran to have Nuclear Weapons. MAGA is about MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and these people have no idea how to do that, BUT I DO, because THE UNITED STATES IS NOW THE ‘HOTTEST’ COUNTRY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!

Donald J. Trump needs to be removed. He is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. He is a continuing and deadly danger to America and the world. So does Pete Hegseth, who in a sane world would never have been confirmed for his job. The Constitution provides mechanisms to make this happen.

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I’m sharing here a short video (just 95 seconds) to underscore the continuing necessity of Trump’s removal from office. (This follows my view on invoking the 25th in Monday’s essay.) Please do share it, including with members of Congress who should be speaking loudly about using their position to hasten his exit.

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*Photo by Roberto Schmidt via Getty Images.

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It’s useless to spotlight every crazy post spat out by Donald Trump. But his post yesterday—on Easter Sunday—struck me as reaching a new level of danger and derangement, requiring us to pause and unpack both what he threatened and the response it demands.

Here’s what I said right after he posted on his Truth Social platform:

Writing many hours later, my thinking has only grown more resolute. Let’s put aside for a moment the fact that this profane post was published on the morning of Easter Sunday. He is explicitly threatening to commit war crimes by targeting civilian infrastructure, attacks that will surely cause immeasurable suffering and growing casualties among the country’s civilian population of over 92 million.

As the Geneva Convention defined in 1949, “Civilian objects shall not be the object of attack or of reprisals.” The International Criminal Court reiterated this in 1988: “Attacks must not be directed against civilian objects.”

It’s not the first time he’s threatened this. In his rambling address last Wednesday night, he threatened to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages where they belong.” But now he was more specific and more desperate.

What president would spew a series of profanities and with such mad glee? “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!” In his deranged mind, he may think this angry demand could succeed in intimidating the Iranian regime, rather than exposing his own desperation.

And then he follows it up by saying “Praise be to Allah.” As if this would demonstrate that he “understands” the regime’s theocratic preferences? Or that mocking their religion on the most sacred holiday of the Christians would somehow shame the Iranians into submitting to his demands?

Taken together, the contents of this post provide the clearest possible evidence that this man must be removed from office—that he is unfit to carry out his duties, which require someone capable of rational thought. His increasingly extreme actions, impossible to miss, cannot be glossed over. Something is terribly wrong with him. It is deadly dangerous.

We have a constitutional mechanism for Trump’s removal. The 25th Amendment—pursued in the wake of the assassination of John F. Kennedy—was ratified on February 10, 1967. Nebraska was the first state to ratify the proposed amendment and Minnesota and Nevada were the 37th and 38th states to ratify, providing the necessary three-fourths threshold needed for it to become the the law of the land.

Successfully invoking the 25th requires the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet declaring that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” Yes, Trump could (and surely would) reject this invocation, which is why the amendment sets out the role of Congress: Two-thirds of the members of the House and Senate would need to vote for his removal and the installation of the vice president as the acting president.

I have no illusions that this can be quickly achieved, not with a feckless Republican-led Congress and cabinet that has decided it’s in their interests to kowtow to Donald J. Trump. But the evidence is exceedingly clear—beyond a question of partisan differences—that our nation (and the globe) faces increasingly grave danger by allowing this man to continue to control the levers of America’s awesome power.

That means the responsibility resides not just with the Republicans but with every elected member of Congress—to speak up and demand the invocation of the 25th to remove Trump from power. One by one, step by step, a growing collective force can lead to this necessary change. Failing to do so makes them complicit with whatever horrors may come next.

If you agree, I hope you will spread the message.

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When you’re a passenger in a car, you want a skilled driver. When you’re flying in a plane, you want a skilled and experienced pilot. When facing surgery, you want to know that the surgeon knows exactly what he or she is doing. These things are obvious.

So why wouldn’t we want a skilled and experienced president and a skilled and experienced Defense Secretary? And why wouldn’t we want to be sure they have surrounded themselves with the best and brightest advisers to make the best possible decisions? This too would be obvious, at least in a sane world.

In that world, Americans wouldn’t have elevated an arrogantly ill-informed and reckless man to make the gravest possible decisions for our nation. Nor would the U.S. Senate, once known as the world’s greatest deliberative body, confirm men and women deeply ill-equipped to perform their duties. Such “leaders” would recognize their responsibilities to enhance education, advance science and promote the best among us to lead our nation. They would not have removed the skilled and experienced in fealty to a White House occupant who despises people of color and believes in antiquated ideas that the military should only be led by white men.

Yesterday Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Gen. Randy George, the Army Chief of Staff who was known as an innovative combat leader, an unsettling move in the midst of the war in Iran. Among the reported reasons: George reportedly believed Hegseth was “interfering unnecessarily” in decisions about Army personnel, including removing skilled and experienced military officers based on their connection to “woke” culture. In fact, last week Hegseth refused to promote four Army officers to one-star generals, two of whom are Black and two women, each of whom has reportedly provided “exemplary service.”

Of course, Trump propagandist Karoline Leavitt weighed in by insisting Hegseth is “doing a tremendous job restoring meritocracy throughout the ranks at the Pentagon, as President Trump directed him to do.” That “tremendous job” has included firing or sidelining more than two-dozen generals and admirals. As The New York Times reported last week, “Currently, the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, all five service chiefs and nine of the military’s 10 combatant commanders are white men, a return to the status quo that existed for decades.”

As for the removal now of Gen. George, a West Point graduate who served in combat roles dating back to the first Gulf War in 1991 and is the highest-ranking Army officer, it’s yet one more sign that the confederacy of dunces that surrounds Trump cares more about showcasing its bigotry than acting competently. As one U.S. official said to Axios, “Here is a four-star general who is actively working to get equipment and people into theater—to protect U.S. forces—and you fire him? In the middle of a war?”

So what do you think? How much do you value expertise? How alarmed are you by the continuing actions and policies of the Trump regime that are driving out competent public servants based on race and gender? Perhaps you’d like to share a story of how you have relied on experts in your own life, be it doctors or teachers or pilots or even a skilled car mechanic.

As always, I look forward to reading you observations and the opportunity for the America, America community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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I found my conve…

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I wish that I could cheer the firing yesterday of Pam Bondi as the Attorney General of the United States. She has exemplified the failure of Donald Trump’s Department of Justice to demonstrate a commitment to its most fundamental responsibilities—to uphold the rule of law, to protect the innocent and prosecute the guilty, to serve justice.

Look no farther than the Justice Department’s own website for a summary of the values which we should expect and which Pam Bondi egregiously, disgracefully abandoned in her obedience to the vengeful Trump. In the DOJ’s own words, those values should include:

Independence and Impartiality. We work each day to earn the public’s trust by following the facts and the law wherever they may lead, without prejudice or improper influence.

Honesty and Integrity. Our employees adhere to the highest standards of ethical behavior, mindful that, as public servants, we must work to earn the trust of, and inspire confidence in, the public we serve.

Respect. Our employees value differences in people and in ideas and treat everyone with fairness, dignity, and compassion.

Excellence. We work every day to provide the highest levels of service to the American people and to be a responsible steward of the taxpayers’ dollars.

But those were not the values of the contemptuous Pam Bondi and her Justice Department. Every day she held the office, she mocked those values.

Please do not forget her actions when she appeared before the House Judiciary Committee in February. She was there in part to answer questions about the Epstein cover-up and her refusal to release all the Epstein files as required by law.

But Bondi used her time that day to attack sitting members of Congress with pre-planned insults, praise the man she worked for as “the greatest president in American history,” lie that there is “no evidence that Donald Trump has committed a crime,” and infamously insist (rather than investigate Epstein’s co-conspirators) that “the Dow is over 50,000 right now…That’s what we should be talking about.”

As I put it then, honestly struggling to keep my cool:

It’s hard to imagine someone more overtly hostile to justice and more utterly incapable of basic human compassion than the contemptuous Pamela Jo Bondi.

This person is paid by us. This person is responsible for serving the people. This person’s duty is to enforce the law.

But when asked for the most basic show of humanity, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not even to turn around and acknowledge more than a dozen victims of rapist Jeffrey Epstein and other rich and powerful participants in his sex trafficking operation.

A year earlier, on January 15, 2025, this smug individual appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee in an effort to secure confirmation as Attorney General. She played very dumb:

• Asked by Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono about Trump calling felonious Jan. 6 attackers “patriots” and “hostages,” Bondi said, “I am not familiar with that statement.”

• Asked by California Sen. Alex Padilla about birthright citizenship and whether she will defend it, “regardless of parents’ immigration status,” Bondi said, “Senator, I will study birthright citizenship.”

• Asked by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, about the list of enemies published by Kash Patel, she said, “I don’t believe he has an enemies list.”

As I summarized then: “In a sane, alternate world where nominees for cabinet positions such as Attorney General would feel duty-bound to provide knowledgeable answers to serious questions, someone like Pam Bondi would be laughed off the dais and roundly rejected.”

But Bondi was confirmed, ensuring that her contemptuous abandonment of justice would be her defining legacy. It’s an almost laughable irony that her firing by Trump was not because of her corruption, fealty and unjust prosecution of perceived political enemies, but likely because she didn’t go far enough in matching Trump’s hunger for vengeance and his commitment to deep-sixing the Epstein case and wiping away any signs that he was involved.

Don’t just listen to me. Consider the statements of three leaders compelled to address the ugly ways Bondi violated the office of the attorney general:

Public Citizen Co-President Lisa Gilbert:

No one can be loyal enough. No one can punish Trump’s enemies fast enough. Pam Bondi took the DOJ in a lawless, non-independent, shameful direction, and the institution of justice has suffered as a result. Bondi has trivialized the DOJ, the sanctity of law and the attorney general position.

Democratic Women’s Caucus Chair Teresa Leger Fernández:

Pam Bondi consistently failed women across the country during her time as Attorney General—including through her egregious cover-up of the Epstein files and disrespect for survivors. Bondi continuously shielded perpetrators while she exposed, scrutinized and haunted survivors at every turn. We will never forget her inhumane treatment of survivors—including her failure to recognize, apologize, or even look at them when these brave women stood feet behind her on Capitol Hill.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington President Donald K. Sherman:

Attorney General Bondi unapologetically weaponized the Department of Justice for the president’s personal and political grievances, undermined the rule of law and jeopardized the integrity of the nation’s premier law enforcement agency. The fact that she appears to have lost her job for not attacking Trump’s enemies more aggressively, rather than her inept and dangerous leadership, means the Senate must demand any potential replacement focus on restoring the Department of Justice’s independence and integrity, ending politicized investigations and defending the rule of law.

For now, Trump has installed his former personal lawyer and Deputy AG Todd Blanche as the acting AG. (Lee Zeldin, now dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency for Trump, may be his full-time pick for AG.) He’s the guy who made it possible for Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s criminal partner in child rape and sex trafficking, to move to a minimum-security prison with perks after she refused to say a bad word about Trump. That refusal was exactly what Blanche wanted, since he too works for Trump’s protection rather than justice.

While Bondi’s exit is good news, we have every reason to expect that Blanche will only accelerate the vengeful desires of his boss and keep the coverup going. It’s another reminder that as many villains as we might identify among this regime, the most villainous fact is that there are always others ready to carry out the boss’ corrupt and criminal goals.

Accountability cannot come soon enough for Trump, Bondi and all the others who have prioritized the whims of a reckless despot over their duty to the Constitution and the values of our democratic nation.

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There was an unusual glitch at the 11-minute mark—yes, I happened to be talking about Trump’s attraction to violence—which is why you can pick up the second part of our conversation here.

I hope you will give our conversation a listen.

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