Trump Corruption

The New York Times reports: It was clear from the start that Mr. Miller, who is not a lawyer, would exercise control inside the department, current and former Trump aides said. “I can’t recall an attorney general who seemed willing to be subordinate to White House staffers,” said Edward Whelan, a conservative former Justice Department official. Bondi has been consulted …

Politico reports: A number of Republican lawmakers are souring on President Donald Trump’s plans to accept a luxury Boeing 747 aircraft as a gift from Qatar — a rare series of rebukes of the president by his allies in Congress. Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Tuesday became the most prominent Republican to express discomfort with the deal, telling reporters …

The Daily Beast reports: Trump landed in Riyadh on Tuesday as part of a four-day diplomatic trip to the Middle East, where he claims he will secure billions in investments and trade agreements with Gulf nations. (He may also pick up a free plane.) But the long red-eye flight from the U.S. appeared to have taken its toll; Trump was …

“Accepting gifts from foreign nations is never a good practice. It threatens intelligence and national security. Especially when that nation supports a terrorist organization and allows those terrorist regimes to live on its soil. Regardless of how beautiful the plane may be, it opens a door and implies the President and US can be bought. If this were Biden, we …

Bloomberg News reports: Because the process of bringing goods to the US starts months in advance of their appearance on store shelves, a whole host of disruptions has already been baked into the rest of 2025, even if the average person can’t see them yet. In particular, it could be slim pickings for many seasonal goods commonly imported from China—prom …

The Hill reports: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced on Tuesday that he is placing a hold on all political nominees for the Justice Department in response to President Trump’s pending acceptance from Qatar of a luxury jet to serve as the next Air Force One. It’s the first time Schumer has placed such a blanket hold as Senate …

From the New York Post editorial board: The plan calls for the jet to be donated later to Trump’s presidential library, arguably making him its personal owner. That not only looks bad; it creates all kinds of conflicts of interest and runs smack into the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which prohibits foreign gifts. Though it lets the United States maintain an …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump signed a strategic economic agreement with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as the oil power rolled out the red carpet for him at the start of a tour of Gulf states aimed at drumming up trillions of dollars in investments. Trump punched the air as he emerged from Air Force One to be greeted by …

The New York Times reports: Saudi Arabia gave President Trump a lavish welcome on Tuesday, rolling out an honor guard, a team of Arabian horses and a delegation of royals and business leaders to kick off the president’s four-day tour through the Gulf, the first major overseas trip of his second term. Mr. Trump stepped off Air Force One at …

The Associated Press reports: The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) said Monday that it is “disturbed” over the exclusion of reporters from three major wire services from traveling with US President Donald Trump on Air Force One to the Middle East. In a statement, the WHCA said reporters from The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and Reuters were not allowed to …

From a 2017 report by The Guardian: Donald Trump has accused Qatar of sponsoring terrorism at the highest levels, in an extraordinary escalation of the diplomatic row with one America’s most important military partners in the Middle East. “So we had a decision to make: do we take the easy road, or do we finally take a hard but necessary …

The Washington Post reports: President Donald Trump on Monday praised Qatar for offering his administration a free luxury jet, but current and former U.S. military, defense and Secret Service officials said he will likely have to waive existing security specifications to be able to use the plane. Flight records show that the Qatari jet was moved five weeks ago to …

Glorious Leader keeps expanding our vocabulary: Donald Trump has had a fascination with words recently. First, it was groceries. On Monday, the president claimed he invented a “new word” while talking about his proposal to lower drug prices by 80%. “Basically, what we’re doing is equalizing. There’s a new word that I came up with, which is probably the best …

“Taking sacks of goodies from people who support Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Jazeera, all the rest — that’s not America First! Like, please define America First in a way that says you should take sacks of cash from the Qatari royals who are behind al-Jazeera. “It just isn’t America First in any conceivable way. So back to the original question: …

Above The Law reports: There’s a new “Axis of Evil” in the Trump administration cosmology and it’s not al Qaeda or North Korea. Instead, the preeminent threat to national security, according to the hapless folks at Donald Trump’s personal law firm, is anyone who ever donated money to LGBTQ civil rights organization GLAD. At least that’s the government’s new working theory …

The Washington Post reports: A group of nearly 50 White South Africans landed at Dulles International Airport on Monday as refugees, coming to the United States under a humanitarian designation meant for people fleeing war or persecution that the Trump administration has suspended for all other groups worldwide. Trump has said the Afrikaners are facing racial discrimination due to a …

Axios reports: President Trump will name deputy attorney general Todd Blanche to be the acting Librarian of Congress, a Justice Department official confirmed to Axios. Blanche, who represented Trump in his hush money trial, already holds the number two position at the Justice Department. His interim appointment represents another example of administration officials juggling multiple posts. Trump recently ousted former …

The New York Times reports: President Trump signed an executive order that asks pharmaceutical companies to voluntarily lower drug prices. But it was not clear what legal authority Mr. Trump would invoke, and he threatened to “use the power of the federal government” if companies do not comply. Trump also asserted that a reduction in drug prices will be part …

Agence France-Presse reports: US President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed ethics concerns over his plans to receive a new Air Force One plane as a gift from Qatar. “It’s a great gesture,” he said when asked if Qatar would expect anything in exchange. “I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could …

Steve Benen writes for MSNBC: In Donald Trump’s first term, the president cultivated an unexpectedly amusing list of incidents related to airplanes. I actually maintained a list, documenting a curious array of stories in which the Republican suggested that F-35s are literally invisible, whined about the complexity of piloting, referenced F-52s that didn’t exist outside of video games, complained to …