First up, Katie Phang.
Next up? Fat boy Chump. Cameron Adams (DAILY BEAST) reports:
President Donald Trump has been photographed inspecting a poster boasting of demolishing the Kennedy Center, hours after he threatened the iconic building could be “ripped down.”
During his second term, Trump, 80, has become fixated on the memorial to slain former President John F. Kennedy, which opened in 1971. After installing a board full of his allies, Trump’s name was added to the front of the building last December, before being removed after a court ruling in June.
In August, the Trump administration floated the prospect of knocking the Kennedy Center down and replacing it with an outdoor amphitheater, unless it could be shut down for two years to carry out renovations, claiming it was “structurally unsound” and “embarrassing to the Nation’s Capital.”
The administration also wants Trump’s name reinstalled on the exterior, with tarps still in place to shield the public—and the president’s ego—from seeing it has been removed.
On Wednesday, AFP/Getty Images photographer Brendan Smialowski captured Trump inspecting a poster visible through the windows of Air Force One as he returned from campaigning in North Carolina.
While the full poster could not be seen, the words “Kennedy Center” and what appeared to be “DEMOLISHED” in capital letters were visible above a photograph that was difficult to make out but may have been a possible blueprint for a plan for the site.
The font also matched the one Trump uses in many of his Truth Social posts.
Chump is such an envious fatty. He knows he'll never be loved or respected the way JFK is to this day. He knows he himself is one of the worst presidents that we've ever had and that history will hate him. So he's trying to put his name on anything he can while he's still in the Oval Office. He's a jealous fat ass.
Some comments on the article:
WestPhillyBornAndRaised
2 hours ago
One day Donald J. Trump Sr. will be gone from this planet. I cannot wait for that day to hurry up and come! His existence has been at best exhausting and morally repulsive as someone who has just stole oxygen from the rest of existence.
Chuck Kaiser
3 hours ago
I learned decades ago, never trust a pathological liar to ever say anything factual. So I don't believe a word from the demented grifter or his cult of sycophants. If anything happens to the Kennedy Center, he, his minions, and any (de)construction crew responsible for the damage need to be criminally charged, this is just getting ridiculous. #PetulantManBaby
Scott .
2 hours ago
What a great strategy for Trump going into the mid terms. Get into a fight with the entire nation over the memorial to a popular, slain President. He has now completely pulled off his mask like a Scooby Doo villain, and the whole country can see this entire scam was about him getting his name on that memorial. He might as well be painting "Trump" on someone's gravestone. Now he's threatening the building itself if he is not allowed to put his name on it. I think this is a great idea for republicans and I encourage him to continue! LOL
And he may have already started his efforts to physically destroy The Kennedy Center. David Edwards (RAW STORY) reports:
A federal judge ordered President Donald Trump and the Kennedy Center's board to respond by Thursday morning to an emergency motion filed as forklifts were seen striking the building while quickly moved to encircle it with fencing.
Judge Christopher Cooper signed the order Wednesday, less than two hours after Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) filed the motion, the court docket shows. Trump and the other defendants must answer by 10 a.m. Thursday, and the court will schedule a prompt hearing if necessary after reviewing that response.
Beatty, who sits on the Center's board, asked for the hearing over what she called the unlawful closure of the building, and asked that a senior decision-maker be ordered to attend, her motion says.
Cooper's May order blocks the board from closing the Center until it approves a shutdown that follows his opinion and he lifts that freeze, the motion says. The board voted Tuesday to close. Cooper has not lifted it.
Here’s what we know about the center’s future and its programming:
The Kennedy Center closed Tuesday, after a chaotic day in which a federal judge again barred Trump from putting his name back on the building and after its board of trustees voted to immediately close the venue for renovations.
Outside, digital signs that typically advertise upcoming performances instead flashed a red “Emergency alert” announcing the building was closed to the public. Guards stood at the doors. On Wednesday, fencing was erected around the building.
Trump and his allies have publicly argued that the main Kennedy Center building must close for safety reasons and undergo a two-year, $250 million renovation. Material prepared for the Kennedy Center board Tuesday states that the center will “ramp up programming in a revitalized main building in 2028,” though an exact timeline remains unclear.
Trump also has said he will not allow renovations to the Kennedy Center to start unless he can put his name on the building and hinted that he is willing to take his fight to the Supreme Court.
In a social media post Tuesday, Trump wrote that although the Kennedy Center closure would take place immediately, its renovation “cannot begin until such time as the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board’s approved name,” referring to his efforts to put his name on the building.
“If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place,” Trump added.
He is such a bitter old man. Fat and bitter. Jealous of everyone. What he is doing is outrageous.
Some comments on the article:
Suzanne Spergel
16 hours ago
None of the past Presidents named monuments, airports, streets, buildings, etc. after themselves. He is the only one naming things after himself. All the others that came before Trump, were honored and respected and only then were things named after them.
Patrick Gould
16 hours ago
I'm sure the Trump apologists will be by any time now to explain how this is all completely reasonable. They just need to find one of their usual "well Biden/Obama did X" dodges. Yup, just need to find an example where one of them closed down a public facility because they weren't allowed to slap their name on it... Any second now...
Abraham Lin
15 hours ago
Trump is doing his 'bankruptcy' thing again, closed like his Taj Mahal with no future in sight! First government institution met its demise under Trump! His name killed it!
Here's C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"
Thursday, September 17, 2026. Pete Hegseth is on the prowl for a few good men, hard numbers and facts on Chump's war with Iran, Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson sends the House into recess yesterday to avoid the House voting on impeachment, Chump's planning a huge gift of weapons to Israel, and much more.
So the war's costing a fortune and "significantly depleted US munitions" and Chump's doing what? Blaise Malley (RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT) notes:
February 28th, Chump started the Iran War. It has long since gone beyond -- well beyond -- the two weeks he thought it would last. It's 11 days away from, in fact, from eight months. Nik Popli (TIME) reports:
The war with Iran has cost the U.S. government around $38 billion and contributed to growing inflation, according to a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan agency that provides economic and budget estimates to Congress.
The estimate, which covers the war’s direct costs through Aug. 1, is in line with the Pentagon’s most recent public accounting from July, when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress that the war had cost $37.5 billion. A later report from the Defense Department's inspector general determined that conflict cost an estimated $33.4 billion between February 28 and June 30.
But the new CBO analysis finds that the price of the war is continuing to rise, estimating that the government will spend another $2 billion to $3 billion each month the conflict continues. It also notes that the war has significantly depleted U.S. munitions, including air-defense interceptors, potentially reducing the military’s capacity to respond to another major conflict.
So the war's costing a fortune and "significantly depleted US munitions" and Chump's doing what? Blaise Malley (RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT) notes:
As government watchdogs warn about dwindling U.S. stockpiles of major weapons systems, the Trump administration is moving ahead with billions of dollars in new arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Israel, adding further demand to U.S. weapons production lines.
Earlier this month, the State Department approved a $5 billion military sale to Saudi Arabia, including five thousand 2,000-pound bombs.
Then on Tuesday, the Washington Post’s John Hudson reported that the administration was also readying a $2.8 billion package of weapons for Israel, which will also reportedly include some 40,000 2,000-pound bombs, which can spread shrapnel in an area up to 400 yards. Experts have found Israel used such weapons repeatedly during their brutal campaign in Gaza, including for some of the worst attacks on Palestinian civilians.
Chump might see it as a done deal; however THE ARKANSAS PUBLIC ADVOCATE notes objections from all over:
The proposal has drawn criticism from political figures with different party affiliations, though their objections do not establish broader opposition from either party.
Former Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized the reported plan in a social media post highlighted by Raw Story. She argued that voters had not authorized the transfer and objected to U.S. weapons and tax dollars being used in Israeli military operations.
“We did not vote for this,” Greene wrote before asking, “My God, what comes next?”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said she would work in Congress to block the transaction and future weapons sales while Israel continued conduct that she said violated international humanitarian law. Jayapal characterized Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide, a description the Israeli government rejects.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., separately told The Washington Post that he intended to build support against the package. He focused his criticism on the use of American funding and Israel’s continued military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson also condemned the arrangement, calling it a taxpayer-funded gift. His objection reflects growing criticism of U.S. support for Israel among some prominent media personalities, but it should not be treated as evidence of a unified position among Republican voters, lawmakers or the party as a whole.
The reactions differ in emphasis. Greene and Carlson centered much of their criticism on U.S. spending and opposition to overseas military involvement. Jayapal and Van Hollen focused more directly on civilian casualties, international law and the use of American weapons by the Israeli military.
And REUTERS notes, "U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Wednesday he would not support the sale of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel over concerns the munitions would not be used in accordance with international law." Others -- on both sides of the aisle -- will likely join Meeks on this issue.
Still on Chump's war of choice, Michael Peck (DEFENSE NEWS) reports:
Iranian strikes have damaged hundreds of U.S. military and diplomatic buildings, according to a new report by the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General.
U.S. Central Command told IG investigators that "Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan during the conflict."
While the report provided no details on damaged military facilities, it did include specifics on damage to U.S. diplomatic facilities.
The State Department told investigators that "U.S. diplomatic facilities in four countries suffered physical damage from Iranian strikes, with an estimated total cost of about $184 million."
U.S. diplomatic sites in Iraq suffered more than 600 attacks, while the embassies in Kuwait City and Riyadh were also hit.
Chump is rumored to be ditching Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth after the midterms. This would take place so that Chump could blame the war on Iran on the bad advice he got from Hegseth. Such a move would negate any effort to impeach Hegseth. Sarah Davis (THE HILL) reports:
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said Tuesday he kept his resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth a secret from Republican leaders because he did not want to "show his hand."
The Kentucky Republican, who has been a frequent critic of the Trump administration’s military operations in Iran, introduced his resolution on the House floor Tuesday afternoon.
“I didn’t want to show it to anybody,” he said during an appearance on CNN’s “The Source” later that evening. “I was afraid that they would do something to subvert me getting on the floor for an hour and 20 minutes and reading these articles."
Massie told host Kaitlan Collins that he had "not heard" back from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) about his resolution, noting the GOP leader has “48 hours” to call a vote.
“This is a hot war,” he said. “This could become a nuclear war, and in the interim, even if it doesn’t, there are civilian casualties that are racking up greater than they would have otherwise because another one of my articles of impeachment shows that Peter Hegseth has degraded the ability of the DOD to minimize civilian casualties.”
But there will be no vote today. THE HILL explained yesterday, "House Republican leaders are cutting short the final legislative week before the midterm elections, announcing Wednesday that lawmakers will leave Washington after votes."
US House Rep Melanie Stansbury taped the video below yesterday.
Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson is fond of pulling stunts like that when he wants to avoid doing what he's actually required to do.
US House Rep Melanie Stansbury taped the video below yesterday.
Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson is fond of pulling stunts like that when he wants to avoid doing what he's actually required to do.
In other news, Hegseth loves his men good looking and well suited. That's all you have to do for him to form a man crush on you. The press has begun to notice his adolescent crushes on other men. Kathryn Wilkens (MEDIAITE) reports:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is seeking fit, well-groomed troops to attend his upcoming “State of the Force” address — and potentially join him for a workout — according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Pentagon has asked military commanders to put forward service members for the Sept. 30 event who meet specific fitness and appearance standards, the Journal reported, citing emails it reviewed.
One such email, sent to Army commanders Tuesday, said potential attendees must pass the Army fitness test and satisfy its waist-to-height ratio, while maintaining “impeccable grooming and uniform standards (no exception).” Officials told the outlet that other military commands received similar instructions.
Wow, it reads like an ad in the personals: Flabby man child seeks satisfaction with males possessing waist-to-height ratio and impeccable grooming -- must be dom tops, no vers needed or wanted.
Matthew Chapman (RAW STORY) adds, "The event follows Hegseth's controversial gathering of the nation's top generals and admirals last year at Marine Corps Base Quantico, where he stunned senior officers by declaring the military would no longer tolerate what he called 'beardos' or 'fat generals'."
Speaking of grooming, Hegseth's psoriasis -- the reason he needs a make up salon at the Pentagon and the reason he wears so much foundation -- is spreading. It's showing up on his neck now which he has previously ignored but will probably now have to also cover with make up.
The war on Iran is one of the three biggest Chump actions that have destroyed the economy. The other two? The war on immigrants and his tariffs. On the last one, Sasha Rogelberg (FORTUNE) reports:
“The whole reason the president imposed these tariffs was to try to reshore, affect our massive imbalance in trade that we’ve experienced over many years because of China, Vietnam, the EU and others,” [United States Trade Representative Jamieson] Greer said. “If the companies are going to get this windfall, they should pass it along to their workers as a bonus or a raise, because that’s the purpose of the program.”
It appears the tariffs had the opposite effect in reshoring, with manufacturing jobs in the U.S. actually shrinking by more than 100,000 during the first year of Trump’s second term. Laura Ullrich, director of economic research at the Indeed Hiring Lab, previously told Fortune tariffs and the uncertainty surrounding maintaining supply chains, could be a reason for this dip.
“Oftentimes when there is heightened uncertainty, it’s just difficult for businesses and people to make decisions in real time,” she said. “And so that slows down employment. It slows down all those processes.”
In addition to hiring constraints, tariffs may have also suppressed wage growth, according to Pantheon Macroeconomics analysts Samuel Tombs and Oliver Allen, who argued companies slashed raises in order to maintain or take back margins when the IEEPA tariffs were in place. It’s one reason why companies may feel compelled to give workers back some cash from the duties, the Tax Foundation’s Durante suggested.
Instead of lowering prices or offering refunds to consumers amid ongoing tariff uncertainty, “what are some better ways we can retain our employees and incentivize them to want to stay with us or to want to want to work for us?” he said.
Tariffs, after all, have likely had an impact on workers’ retirement plans, at least indirectly. Though markets have recovered from Trump’s previous threats to impose sweeping import taxes, economists have found evidence tariffs will have longer-term reductions in stock prices, from about 7.33% to 10.13% across indices within the next couple of years. Lower stock prices means fewer returns for employees with retirement money in the markets.
“It is the case, absolutely, that tariffs do impact capital, and thus the equity markets,” Durante said.
Turning to ICE, Joanna Slater (WASHINGTON POST) reports:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement likely violated the Constitution when agents delivered a warning notice to a man in Rochester, New York, over a caustic email he had sent the agency’s leader months earlier, a federal judge ruled late Tuesday.
David Streever sued the Department of Homeland Security in July after two federal agents came to his home seeking to have him sign an unusual warning letter saying his email could be a crime. They then tracked him to a hotel in New York City where he was staying with his 7-year-old daughter after returning from an overseas trip.
Streever accused the agency of infringing on his right to freedom of speech. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled Tuesday that Streever’s claim is likely to succeed and issued a preliminary injunction blocking DHS from making further threats to Streever.
In a 43-page opinion issued Tuesday, Judge Rudolph Contreras of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that plaintiff David Streever was likely to succeed on his claim that ICE officials improperly threatened him over constitutionally protected political speech. The judge concluded that a warning notice delivered to Streever’s home could reasonably be interpreted as demanding that he stop criticizing ICE leadership and warning him of potential prosecution if he continued.
“Mr. Streever has a right to express his political views through non-threatening speech, however degrading the speech might be,” Contreras wrote. The judge said the notice likely infringed on that right by threatening consequences if he did not stop criticizing government officials.
In other ICE news, Mary Whitfill Roeloffs (FORBES) reports:
The Guardian on Tuesday published a report, citing government data, that showed ICE stopped recording data on miscarriages in October after 18 women lost their pregnancies during the first nine months of the Trump administration.
The Department of Homeland Security first told the outlet that while it wasn’t publishing data on lost pregnancies, it was tracking miscarriages in internal monthly reports, but later admitted even that data doesn’t go past October 2025.
The acknowledgement marks the first time DHS has ever admitted it lost count of miscarriages, even when U.S. senators asked the agency for the data, and comes less than a year after the American Civil Liberties Union called on the agency to address its systemic neglect of pregnant women.
In a statement to Forbes Tuesday, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the report was “FALSE” and said the agency does track and report miscarriage data on a monthly basis, but did not respond to a request to share the information with a reporter.
[. . .]
It’s impossible to attribute a miscarriage solely to the conditions in immigration detention, but multiple reports from whistleblowers and civil rights organizations say it’s clear detained women aren’t getting the medical care they need. The ACLU said it has found widespread neglect of pregnant women, including being served “inedible” food and having no access to prenatal vitamins. One woman told the nonprofit she told agents about heavy bleeding when she was two months pregnant, and medical staff “took her to a small room and left her bleeding alone without providing her any food, water or pain medication.” She was later taken to a hospital and required a blood transfusion because she had suffered a miscarriage. Pregnant women have also disclosed that they miscarried while detained or were hospitalized for pregnancy complications but received no follow-up care while in the custody of ICE, even when they experienced ongoing pain and symptoms.
Chump no doubt misses his roll dog Jeffrey Epstein. The two men tore up the night for decades. If Epstein hadn't been arrested for sex trafficking and died in jail, they'd probably still be roll dogs. Daniel Villarreal (LGBTQ NATION) reports:
On Wednesday, the DOJ announced the discovery of over 1 million documents about Epstein and promised to work to redact and release the files. The DOJ violated federal law by refusing to release all of its files on Jeffrey Epstein by the required December 19 deadline. The department now says its release will take months — Congress members are considering legal consequences for the DOJ’s noncompliance.
In an unprecedented message, the DOJ has said that its newly released files contain “untrue and sensationalist claims” against Trump.
Among the other newly released files is a letter that Epstein wrote to fellow serial child molester Larry Nassar just before his death that said that Trump “shares our love of young, nubile girls.”
“Our president shares our love of young, nubile girls,” Epstein wrote in the 2019 letter. “When a young beauty walked by he loved to ‘grab snatch,’ whereas we ended up snatching grub in the mess halls of the system.”
In other Epstein news, who prevented the files from coming out? It was Chump and one of his former confidantes has stepped forward to say so. Jon Michael Raasch (THE DAILY MAIL) reports:
President Donald Trump directly ordered the cover-up of the government's Jeffrey Epstein files, ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed in a stunning interview.
Speaking with Vanity Fair, Carlson, 57, said that he warned the president about the political ramifications of withholding the files in the summer of 2025 when Trump was facing overwhelming scrutiny for his administration's handling of the late offender's files.
'My position from the beginning with Trump, I said it to Trump, was, 'I don't understand why you would ever keep any of this stuff secret.' And I got like a bunch of different answers,' Carlson told the outlet.
'I don't feel any need to cover for Epstein,' the pundit and podcaster said, recounting his conversation with the president. 'So I said, 'You shouldn't either.' In the end, it came from Trump directly.'
Though a deluge of reports has detailed the West Wing's reaction to the Epstein fallout, including meetings on the topic in the Situation Room, Carlson is the first to claim the order to throttle the release of the files came from Trump.
'The order to cover it up came from Trump,' the former Fox News host said. 'I asked him why. And he gave me this long, very emotional explanation that this was all a plot against him, like Russiagate.'
So he lied to Tucker the same way he lied to the American people by insisting he didn't know, that he barred Epstein from Mar-a-Lago, that he broke off contact with Epstein in the mid '00s, etc, etc, etc. Alexander Willis (RAW STORY) notes:
A House-led effort to release more information about convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is gaining traction — and spurring serious concerns within the White House, according to two GOP lawmakers.
In July, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) filed a successor to their successful Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), the bill that forced the Trump administration to release millions of files.
Their new bill is designed to force the Justice Department to release additional files that it's been accused of withholding unlawfully, despite the passage of the EFTA last year.
Like the original EFTA, this new discharge petition was filed to force a vote on the new bill, which requires 218 signatures to move forward. On Saturday, 106 House members had signed the petition. By Monday night, that number had climbed to 160, with its 218th signature now within reach, Khanna said — and against a fast-approaching deadline.
As noted earlier in the snapshot, Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson announced yesterday that the House would shut down yesterday allowing members to return to their districts and campaign while also allowing Johnson to shut down any votes on Hegseth's impeachment or on the new Epstein act. Caitlin Yilek (CBS) reports on a vote that took place Tuesday:
The House Oversight Committee voted 41-0 to recommend holding billionaire investor Leon Black in contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas as part of its investigation into the late Jeffrey Epstein.
Black, a former business associate of the convicted sex offender, did not comply with subpoenas to appear before the committee on Sept. 3 and produce nondisclosure agreements. Black is challenging the subpoenas in court, and his attorneys called the move to hold him in contempt "a complete abomination."
The contempt resolution now advances to the full House for a vote on whether to recommend the matter to the Justice Department for possible prosecution. Any charging decisions are up to the Justice Department.
It's unclear when the House plans to vote on the matter. It's the House's last week in session until after Election Day.
GOP Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the committee's chairman, issued the subpoenas after Black, the co-founder of Apollo Global Management, abruptly left a closed-door, voluntary transcribed interview with the panel in June after refusing to answer questions about nondisclosure agreements.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released the following statement:
Today, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released the following statement after the House of Representatives voted to hold Leon Black, billionaire and benefactor to Jeffrey Epstein, in contempt of Congress after defying two Congressional subpoenas.
“This vote is an important step towards justice and accountability. Leon Black has continued to defy two congressional subpoenas and we need to know why he gave Jeffrey Epstein $180 million dollars. We will continue to center the survivors in our fight to hold those responsible for these horrific crimes. We are just getting started,” said Ranking Member Robert Garcia.
In September 2026, the House Oversight Committee voted unanimously to hold Leon Black in contempt of Congress after defying two Congressional subpoenas. In September 2026, Ranking Member Robert Garcia called on Leon Black to be held in contempt after defying two Congressional subpoenas. In June 2026, after Black walked out of his transcribed interview with the Committee when asked about non-disclosure agreements, Ranking Member Garcia demanded he comply with the Committee’s investigation after being subpoenaed.
###
That was Tuesday. Yesterday? Alison Durkee (FORBES) reports:
House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., introduced legislation Wednesday that would allow victims of sexual abuse to speak out even if they signed a non-disclosure agreement, a bill borne out of the committee’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation that could be used to expose the financier’s high-profile associates—and fight billionaire Leon Black in court.
The Survivor’s Voice Protection Act, if passed, would void any NDAs that prohibit a victim or other people from disclosing incidents of sexual abuse, and would apply retroactively to NDAs signed before the legislation was passed.
It would also establish a legal definition of “grooming” for the first time, defining the practice as “a course of conduct … directed at a minor that is intended to establish an emotional connection with a minor” in order “to facilitate future acts of sexual conduct.”
Fiduciaries—meaning “a guardian, trustee, executor, administrator, receiver, conservator, or any person acting in any fiduciary capacity for any person”—would also have a legal duty to report any instances of grooming of a minor that they witness, and the victim of the grooming or the government could bring a lawsuit against the fiduciary if they do not.
Comer said Wednesday the bill was a result of the committee’s Epstein investigation, as an unknown number of Epstein associates reportedly signed NDAs with victims of the financier’s alleged abuse.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:
Murray: “We have a bill today that could actually save families thousands of dollars. All we need is for Republicans to join us, stand up to Trump, and pass this bill that will end Trump’s deranged trade wars.”
ICYMI: Murray Introduces Bill to End Trump’s Trade War with Canada & Lower Costs, Slams Trump’s Latest Tariffs as “Economic Arson”
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s full speech***
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor urging Republicans to pass her End Trump’s Tariff Tax Act, legislation that would end Trump’s global tariffs and 50% tariffs on Canada, and stop him from waging his unilateral trade war.
Following Murray’s speech, Senate Republicans blocked a request by Democrats to pass the bill through unanimous consent, despite Trump’s tariffs costing the average family nearly $2,000.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:
“In the face of the skyrocketing prices Trump has caused with his own policies, he has been trying to sell voters a new empty promise about $5,000 checks that everyone knows are never coming.
“But we have a bill today that could actually save families thousands of dollars. All we need is for Republicans to join us, stand up to Trump, and pass this bill that will end Trump’s deranged trade wars. It is quite literally a bill to cut taxes—so Republicans should be all for it.
“And it will save families big time. After all, we know Trump’s tariffs cost the average family nearly $2,000 last year. Two thousand dollars! Think about that. That is money families should have in their pockets. It could help with months of groceries, or cover rent. It could help fund home or car repairs in a pinch. It could be a family vacation.
“But instead—that money got burned up by Trump’s trade war.
“Now, I hear from folks back in Washington state about this about every time I’m home. They have not been shy about saying just how damaging Trump’s trade war has been. Business owners cannot build a long-term plan around a trade policy and tariff rates that change every time the President stays up too late posting online. Families cannot budget for their groceries, when prices keep rising higher every week, or when Trump is outright banning things like milk from Canada.
“Trump’s recent escalation with Canada is especially absurd. This is our ally! This is our neighbor! It is Canada for god’s sake.
“Why is Trump forcing higher costs on our families, just to stick it to Canadians? How is that worth it?
“Congress needs to put a stop to this and leave this money where it belongs—with our hard working families. So today, we are going to try and pass a bill that will revoke Trump’s latest Canada tariffs and end his ability to continue these trade wars.
“Today we are forcing the question: Do Republicans really think they need to let Trump jack up prices on their constituents just because he is mad at Canada? Do Republicans really think the average family is happy paying $2,000 in new taxes because Trump’s ego is hurt?
“Is Trump’s ego really that important to Republicans?
“Well, we are about to find out.
“And you better believe families are watching this debate today, just as they have been watching prices go up all year long, and they are keeping close track of who is putting Trump first, and who is putting our families first.”
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The following sites updated:
