Authoritarian rule without a plan looks like this. The administration demanded the new head of Venezuela expel Iranians, stop selling oil to our enemies, and crack down on drug flows or face a “second strike.” In Minneapolis, 2,100 federal agents are descending on a Somali community of 84,000, most of them American citizens, because of … Read more
Marco Rubio told you why we attacked Venezuela. Asked on Meet the Press about elections in the country we just invaded, the Secretary of State said discussing them is “premature.” Higher priorities than democracy, he explained, including reinvigorating the oil industry, must be addressed first. There’s nothing ambiguous when the nation’s top diplomat says on … Read more
The American Empire announced itself today. Donald Trump held a press conference at the resort where he has been for fourteen consecutive days and declared that “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.” He renamed the 200-year-old Monroe Doctrine as the Donroe Doctrine and went back inside before 2 p.m. Forty … Read more
BREAKING [2:22 AM EST]: The Associated Press reports that seven explosions were heard in Caracas overnight with low-flying aircraft. Pentagon silent. US has killed 115+ in Venezuelan boat strikes since September and attacked a land target last week. They choose their enemies, attack, and then build the case later. A Kentucky woman went to a … Read more
People keep believing him and getting burned. Karen Atchison gave 41 years to the IRS. Tracy Hinnant gave 37. They took the government’s early retirement offer and haven’t seen a paycheck since September. They’re borrowing from their kids. 29,000 other retirees are starting month 4 with zero income. Meanwhile, Trump’s dabbing makeup on his bruises … Read more
Trump announced plans to build a Triumphal Arch in Washington, his fourth effort to remake the city into a shrine to himself. His name now adorns the Kennedy Center and US Institute of Peace, and construction continues on his 90,000 square foot ballroom to be paid for with $400 million in private donations after he … Read more
Trump’s retribution doesn’t stop at death. Kilmar Abrego Garcia beat the Trump administration at the Supreme Court. Days later, unsealed documents show DOJ leadership made his prosecution a “top priority.” Tatiana Schlossberg, JFK’s granddaughter, died of leukemia at 35. Hours later, Trump shared posts mocking her family. George Pruitt was 23 when he drowned saving … Read more
The lies are getting more brazen because they’ve stopped caring if you believe them. Trump stood next to Netanyahu and said “none” of the hostages were released under Biden. 138 of 178 came home under Biden-brokered deals. Trump also announced $50 billion for rural hospitals under a bill that cuts $50 billion from rural hospitals. … Read more
They built the weapons being used against them. Brian Cole Jr. confessed to placing pipe bombs at the DNC and RNC the night before the January 6 riots in 2021. He told the FBI someone needed to “speak up” for people who believed the 2020 election was stolen. Pam Bondi and Kash Patel held a … Read more
Money has always bought access in Washington. It’s never been this naked. A cannabis CEO spent 18 months cutting seven-figure checks to Trump’s political groups, attended fundraisers billed at $1 million per guest, and landed a two-hour Oval Office meeting where a Florida sheriff watched the president chat about Palm Beach real estate and golf … Read more
Trump’s grip only looks strong. He told Politico that Zelenskyy, the wartime president who held off Russia for three years, “doesn’t have anything until I approve it.” The Kennedy Center threatened the musician who canceled his Christmas Eve concert with a million dollar lawsuit. Even Senate Republicans are making bipartisan noises, with Murkowski joining Democrats … Read more
Christmas brought bombs and threats. The president spent the holiday ordering American forces to bomb Nigeria, the sixth country Trump has ordered attacks on this year. The Coast Guard is chasing an oil tanker across the Atlantic with elite boarding teams, ready to forcibly seize it. And Trump told Democrats to “enjoy what may be … Read more
Breaking: Trump posts 121 social media messages in 83 minutes early Christmas morning. Catholic bishops asked the administration to pause immigration enforcement for Christmas. They got a two-sentence brushoff. That’s better than the numerous death threats Bishop Mariann Budde received in January when she asked for mercy at the inaugural service, but it doesn’t feel like … Read more
Troops are massing near Venezuela while a new envoy promises to “make Greenland part of the U.S.” All of it was preceded by Trump announcing a battleship class named after himself. They are hoping you pay no attention to the Monday memo banning abortion for veterans and their families pregnant from rape. Or the wage … Read more
They’re squeezing harder because they’re losing grip. And it shows. They emptied an ICE detention center from 150 detainees down to two before Congressional representatives arrived. Epstein files appeared on DOJ’s website and vanished again. Wind projects killed with “classified” as the only explanation. But Judge Boasberg gave them two weeks to return 137 Venezuelans … Read more
American colonialism is back. Today the administration appointed Louisiana’s governor as unpaid envoy to Greenland, a NATO ally’s territory Trump has threatened to take by force. Ten days ago we seized a Venezuelan oil tanker. Today the US military is chasing down a third in a sea pursuit straight out of the 18th century. The … Read more
Congress passed a law demanding the Epstein files. The deadline was Friday. The Justice Department released some, then files started vanishing by Saturday, including an image showing Trump’s photo on Epstein’s desk. House Democrats want to know what else is being covered up. The Coast Guard seized another Venezuelan oil tanker. They boarded the ship … Read more
The country that rebuilt Europe after WWII is now pitching condo developments on mass graves. Jared Kushner’s “Project Sunrise” promises beachside resorts on Gaza’s coastline. Where do 2 million displaced Palestinians go? His PowerPoint doesn’t say. On Friday, we bombed Syria. The Pentagon called it a “declaration of vengeance.” This year, we’ve also bombed Iran … Read more
During Hanukkah with a week to Christmas, the Coast Guard quietly let a policy take effect calling swastikas and nooses “potentially divisive” instead of hate symbols. They only reversed it when senators blocked the nomination of the incoming commandant. Peace on earth, good will toward men. Unless you’re on a boat in the Pacific (17 … Read more
Days like this with 33 stories are why GovBrief exists. Only one other night has topped that total. Jack Smith told Congress there was proof beyond reasonable doubt that Trump broke the law overturning the 2020 election. That’s not even the lead story. We escalated further in Venezuela, killed four more people in the Caribbean, … Read more
This is what American oligarchy looks like in 2025. Billionaire Miriam Adelson whispered to Trump last night at the White House Hanukkah reception. He announced to the crowd that she offered $250 million if he ran for a third term. The crowd chanted “four more years.” The same day, Axios reported that Elon Musk is … Read more
The Reiner headlines dominated today after the president twice blamed the murders of the director and his wife on his activism opposing Trump. But scroll past the front page coverage and you’ll find what isn’t getting clicks. Three boat attacks killed 8 more people in the eastern Pacific today, bringing the death toll past 90 … Read more
While the world was transfixed by mass shootings in Rhode Island and Australia, the authoritarian machine continued whirling. An Air Force tanker flew with its transponder off near Venezuela and almost hit a JetBlue flight. The VA announced it’s cutting 35,000 more healthcare positions, bringing the six-month total to 65,000. North Carolina commissioners dissolved a … Read more
This week the Pentagon moved F-35 stealth fighters, electronic warfare planes, and notably, rescue helicopters to Puerto Rico. Air Force doctrine is explicit: personnel recovery forces should be in place before combat operations begin. The administration calls Venezuela a “narco-state.” So are several other countries in the hemisphere we’re not surrounding with warships. Venezuela has … Read more
Trump spent years claiming Biden weaponized the Justice Department. Then he promised to do it himself. Then he won. At UCLA, DOJ political appointees ordered career lawyers to “find” evidence of antisemitism within one month to justify a lawsuit they’d already decided to file. Multiple attorneys left before they could be asked to sign. On … Read more
Trump “pardoned” Tina Peters today. She’s still in a Colorado prison because presidents can’t pardon state crimes. He tried to indict Letitia James three times. A judge threw out the first case. Two grand juries refused the next two. The alleged fraud? $50 a month savings on her mortgage. In Indiana, the Heritage Foundation posted … Read more
Pay $1 million and Commerce Secretary Lutnick welcomes you to America as one of the “perfect people.” Show up poor and you get fighter jets circling your coast, your tanker seized, 7,000 troops at a militarized border. The gold card makes it official: there are two Americas now, and wealth is the visa. While Trump … Read more
“Send her back,” chanted a crowd in Pennsylvania Tuesday night. Hours later, ICE agents pepper sprayed a crowd in Rep. Omar’s Minneapolis district and detained a 20-year-old American citizen. The president falsely told speechgoers that prices are “coming down very substantially.” Meanwhile, Navy F/A-18s spent 30 minutes circling the Gulf of Venezuela in the closest … Read more
Alina Habba resigned as interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey on Friday. By Monday she was running political operations at the Justice Department. The woman who defended Trump in his civil fraud trial now works inside the agency that decides who gets prosecuted. Jared Kushner is backing a hostile bid for Paramount and Warner Bros … Read more
In 2014, Bruna Ferreira asked Karoline Leavitt to be godmother to her newborn son. Ferreira was 22. Karoline was 16. Ferreira chose her son’s teenage aunt over her own sister. Now Leavitt is the White House Press Secretary while the government calls Ferreira a criminal. Investigations show she has no criminal record. She’s in an … Read more
Welcome to the Trump Show, where the rest of us are bit players. After the Indiana House agreed to a gerrymandered congressional map, he published a list of nine state senators who “need encouragement” even though there have already been bomb threats and swatting. His Justice Department told prison rape auditors to stop enforcing protections … Read more
The Trump administration published one of the most significant policy documents since COVID. The National Security Strategy defines America’s threats and how to counter them. This one names the threat as demographic change. These are the actual words in a document sent to Congress. The NSS is the architecture for both foreign and domestic policy. … Read more
They killed survivors clinging to wreckage after watching them for 41 minutes. Hours later, they killed four more. And some Republicans finally broke ranks. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) said the attacks “did not pose an imminent threat.” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) put Hegseth’s alibi on record. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) called it “outrageous” and demanded … Read more
“When you get an order, you move out fast and don’t ask questions.” That’s what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a retiring four-star admiral concerned about the legality of killing people in boat attacks, even though the command’s top lawyer shared his concerns. Now a different admiral who gave the order has been summoned to … Read more
I need to tell you something difficult. Four cabinet secretaries targeted Minnesota’s Somali community in 48 hours this week: Treasury, Transportation, Small Business, Agriculture. Then ICE announced 100 agents heading to Minneapolis. This followed the President saying, on camera, “I don’t care. I don’t want them in our country. Their country is no good for … Read more
The explicit white nationalist call is here, and it’s coming from inside the White House. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, minutes after meeting with the President Monday night: “killers, leeches, entitlement junkies… foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars… WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” The Defense Secretary, while Congress demands … Read more
The amateurs are running the wars. Two NY real estate guys are negotiating the end of a European land war with Ukraine in West Palm before one jets off to Moscow to meet Putin. A Fox News host ordered the death of two boat attack survivors clinging to wreckage in the water according to two … Read more
Members of Congress get better polling data than we do, so watch what they’re doing. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced she’s leaving Congress. Troy Nehls, the Texas Republican who said “if Trump says jump, we jump,” announced he’s leaving too. Both the House and Senate are now demanding answers from Hegseth about the boat killings. And … Read more
They’re making their own enemies. Trump called Tim Walz the r-word. An Indiana Republican state senator whose daughter has Down syndrome announced he’ll vote against Trump’s redistricting plan because of it. The Border Patrol commander who deported a college student despite a federal judge’s stay celebrated on social media that she “may have taken a … Read more
This is what the President of the United States posted on Thanksgiving Day. He called Minnesota’s governor “seriously retarded.” He mocked Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) “swaddling hijab” and repeated the debunked smear that she married her brother. He described Somalia as “decadent, backward, and crime ridden… essentially not even a country.” When 20-year-old National Guard … Read more
Today is issue #300 of GovBrief Today, the publication I started ten days into Trump’s second term when I was horrified at the speed with which our norms, rules, and laws were battered. We will cross 5,000 curated news stories within the week, and I’m not stopping until we get our country back. If you … Read more
They make up rules, punish the resisters, and defy the courts. Then a damning tape leaks. Trump’s real estate buddy Steve Witkoff is on tape coaching Putin’s foreign policy adviser on how to pitch the president. “Maybe he says to President Trump…” He’s literally scripting Russia’s approach. Trump called it “standard negotiation.” Meanwhile, Senator Mark … Read more
A federal judge dismissed Trump’s prosecutions of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James today. Career prosecutors refused to bring charges and resigned or were fired. Trump installed his personal lawyer with no prosecutorial experience. She botched the case. She lost, and the judge ruled that her appointment was illegal. … Read more
A keen political strategist I know was concerned after the election that a new presidency would undermine America’s soft power around the globe. Decades of being the superpower willing to invest in health, food, and military protection globally would be dismantled in a second Trump administration. They were right. Within weeks, America’s ability to persuade … Read more
Trump’s flailing is driving him to extremes. Today he told reporters that his 28 point peace plan for Ukraine wasn’t final, but still demanded that Zelenskyy approve it by Thursday. He again wrote just before midnight Saturday that the six Democratic lawmakers who confirmed that troops can refuse illegal orders should be in jail and … Read more
“MTG turns on Trump and resigns. Mamdani and Trump are new best friends. I am so confused.” Political scientist Larry Sabato, the academic who calls elections before the networks, wrote that on X tonight. Marjorie Taylor Greene is disappearing into a chaotic haze of insults she’s been trading with Trump over the Epstein files. Trump … Read more
The authoritarian machine exists, but institutions are gumming up its works. Chicago and DC grand juries are refusing indictments. Federal judges are blocking illegal deployments and dismissing prosecutions with sharp rebukes. Civil rights groups keep winning in court. Meanwhile, a flailing Trump threatened to execute six Democratic lawmakers for telling troops they can refuse illegal … Read more
Legislators and attorneys who should know better showed the world an ugly, lawless side of politics today. Trump’s inexperienced handpicked prosecutor didn’t show the indictment of former FBI director James Comey to the full grand jury. On the Hill, a Democrat was indicted for stealing $5 million in FEMA funds for her campaign while a … Read more
Trump’s own supporters finally forced his hand today. After months of White House pressure to bury the Epstein files, the GOP broke ranks and voted with the Democrats. The House voted 427-1 to compel their release. Hours later, the Senate passed it unanimously. When ABC’s Mary Bruce asked why Trump doesn’t just order the release … Read more
Don’t get distracted from our crumbling healthcare infrastructure. CDC scientists linked measles outbreaks across multiple states today. If transmission continues through January, the U.S. loses measles elimination status after 25 years. NIH cuts halted treatment for 74,000 people mid-clinical trial. And tens of millions face health insurance increases of 25% or more as ACA subsidies … Read more
