Trump's $1.8bn Slush Fund

On tonight’s show, I’ll be discussing Trump’s new $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” slush fund which creates a giant payout machine for Trump allies, January 6 insurrectionists, and even people who beat police officers.

And the best part is that the fund would be controlled by people appointed by Todd Blanche, who works for Trump, and Trump can fire them. There'll be little transparency. Formal apologies for everyone!. And massive cash payouts. And, on top of that, the IRS would reportedly have to drop current investigations, and promise not to pursue future ones, involving Trump, his family, or his businesses for any crimes committed up to yesterday.

I’ll also talk about the Treasury Department’s top lawyer suddenly stepping down in the wake of this mess, and the priceless Senate exchange where Democrats pointed out that the big IRS leak Trump keeps whining about happened while Trump himself was president. In other words: Trump’s IRS. Trump’s government. Trump’s breach. But naturally, Trump is the victim. Always. And we pay the price.

Then we’ve got Trump’s Iran disaster, where he’s now floating yet another timeline for possible strikes -- “2 or 3 days,” maybe Friday or Saturday, maybe early next week -- which is exactly the kind of crisp strategic clarity you want when the president is threatening more war. Meanwhile, Trump claimed a month ago that Iran had agreed to all his demands, but Iran’s actual public proposals appear to concede almost nothing. Tehran still wants the right to enrich uranium, sanctions relief, frozen funds released, the end of the US naval blockade, an end to the war on multiple fronts, and compensation for damages. Other than that, total surrender.

And while Americans are dealing with higher gas prices, Trump says the increases are “peanuts.” Peanuts! That’s his message to people paying more at the pump because of his war.

I’ll also hit some of the other madness: Trump backing Ken Paxton over John Cornyn in Texas, possibly opening the door for Democrat James Talarico; Trump lying about the cost of previous Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovations; the bizarre Greenland stunt whereby Louisiana GOP Governor Jeff Landry offered Greenlandic children cookies; Giorgia Meloni making a surprisingly strong statement on Ukraine; and the long-promised Trump phone finally showing up with Truth Social preloaded, an American flag with 11 stripes, and a box claiming it was “Proudly Assembled in the USA.” Because nothing says competent authoritarian branding like forgetting how many stripes are on the flag.