Today in Politics, Bulletin 457. 9/11/26

Sep 11

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… Trump fell asleep again in the middle of the day, this time at the 9/11 service held at the Pentagon. He did not attend the service in NYC since they do not allow politicians to speak and he didn’t want to attend if he couldn’t give a political speech. So he gave one at the Pentagon before flying to Ireland to watch a golf tournament on one of his courses.

Finn Gomez / Getty mages

… Terry Strada, one of the speakers at the NYC event, surprised everyone when she unloaded on Trump’s and Jared Kushner’s biggest foreign business partner - the Saudis:

“My husband, Tom Strada. You are missed more with each year that passes. But, how can it be 25 years and still we have no justice for the role that Saudi Arabia played in your murder. Yes, we finally made it into a court and have proved that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia fomented a rancid culture of anti-American terrorism around the globe and then sent its agents to support the radical Islamists hijackers so they could attack you and all of our loved ones.
But, for 25 years admin after admin, including leaders in front of us here today, chose to protect the Saudis instead of standing with the 9/11 families. They withheld evidence, they broke promises, both public and private, it’s been on betrayal after another. Trump can still change that. Tell the Saudis to stop lying.”

… Trump took questions from reporters outside Day 2 of the RNC convention in Dallas:

Q: “How will you pay for the $5000 checks? Trump: Out of growth. We have tremendous growth. Q: Are you worried about it impacting the deficit? Trump: No.”

… GDP growth is putrid.

Q: “Oil prices have shot back up-- Trump: Prices will drop very rapidly as soon as we win the military conflict or war. You can call it whatever you want. There’s no cost-cutter like me. I think it’ll end shortly after the election. Q: How can you be sure? Trump: I’m pretty sure.”

… He’s been saying that for 7 months. They keep going up.

Q: “On the checks, we have $40 trillion in debt. If your economic policies are working, why do you need an incentive for people to turn out to vote? Trump: I’m doing it as a reward for people having to put up for 4 years of a horrible situation caused by Biden.”
Q: “You also offered tariff refund checks-- TRUMP: Not you. (to ABC reporter Rachel Scott) Not you. Q: And that didn’t happen. Q - Those checks didn’t happen— Trump: Not you! You’re the worst!”

… Newsweek: “Trump snapped at ABC‘s Rachel Scott as she attempted to ask questions about his proposed stimulus payments and tariff refund checks. Video of the exchange, filmed on the tarmac before Trump‘s departure from Dallas, quickly spread across social media, putting a spotlight once again on Trump’s often-combative relationship with female members of the press.”

… “While the president has a long history of clashing with journalists of all backgrounds, several of his most high-profile confrontations during his second term have involved female reporters. The latest exchange with Scott comes after CNN’s Kristen Holmes was targeted by the WH’s Rapid Response 47 account following a question about Trump aide Natalie Harp.”

… Amy Tatum, a lecturer in communications and media at Bournemouth Media School: “This is not the first time that Trump has spoken in an aggressive way to a woman in her role as a journalist, and it is certainly not the first time we have seen him dismiss women.”

… Tatum: “He physically dismisses her with his hand gestures but then proceeds to take a step towards her and leans closer in order to get her to stop talking. This fits the pattern of his behavior, but it also represents a new, even more aggressive level of behavior.”

Andrew Harnick / Getty

… Politico: “Gov. Ron DeSantis denounced Trump’s proposal to deliver $5,000 checks to Americans if Republicans hold their ground in the midterm elections, fearing the infusion of cash will only stir more inflation.”

… Desantis: “I don’t think you want to borrow another $1.5 trillion, and then just try to flood that into the economy, because that will lead to more inflation. That will lead to more debt and more inflation.”

… From Trump’s speech on the final night of the convention:

He continued to call his TX senate nominee Ken Paxton ugly: “And then I said. ‘I don’t really like the way Ken talks.’ And then I said something that they really hated. I don’t really like the way he looks. I don’t know if he’s going to ever speak to me again—but you know, I don’t care as long as he wins.”
“I don’t have to speak to him. He’s gonna vote the way we would vote. So I don’t have to speak to him.”
“You know what happens if you don’t vote? You go to hell”
He concluded by addressing the crowd with this: “Raise your right hand: I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the US that loves us so much he can’t even breathe, that I will go out with my family, my friends, I’ll do it any way - I don’t care if I’m registered or not, I’m going to try to cheat like hell just like they do.”

… Gavin Newsom: “Trump just replaced the Pledge of Allegiance with a pledge of allegiance to himself. This November, the choice is yours on the ballot: America or Trump.”

… RFK Jr. also spoke at the event, where he said this about Trump: “I discovered a self-effacing man of superior intelligence, of empathy and compassion, with an encyclopedic grasp of the issues and in molecular detail. And most of all, a near reckless courage to challenge vested interests and official orthodoxies who cared about transparency in govt and free speech.”

… Good Lord. Junior’s speech was just filled with lies. So much so that CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale made this post on X:

“RFK Jr. falsely claimed Democrats canceled their 2024 convention and didn’t let delegates vote on the nominee. There was a convention. Delegates voted for Harris.
RFK Jr. falsely claimed Democrats closed every single church in the US for a year during the pandemic. Some Dem-run states did not forbid religious gatherings, while some GOP-run states did at least briefly.
RFK Jr. falsely claimed Trump ended 9 wars. It’s not even true that Trump ended the 8 he cites himself.
RFK Jr. baselessly claimed Democrats lost 360,000 migrant kids. Not what happened.
RFK Jr. claimed the Trump admin has reversed a 30-year decline in longevity. Not clear what stat he’s citing, but US life expectancy rose for years, dropped briefly during the pandemic, then started to rebound in 2022 under Biden before hitting a new record high in 2024 under Biden.

… And that’s just a smattering of the checkable claims, many of which I don’t have time to check.”

… Trump was interviewed backstage by Fox:

Q - “Have you talked to Thune or Johnson about this $5,000 dividend? Trump: There are a lot of people who think I don’t even need congressional approval because we’ve made so much money.”
On James Talarico: “He’s a freaky guy. He has no respect for Jesus, no respect for religion. But all the sudden he’s a religious fanatic.”
Q - “In one sentence, why do Republicans need to show up in the midterms? Trump: Communism.”
Q: “The worst case is that AI will turn against humanity. Do we have guardrails? Trump: It’s going to be fine. We’ll always have something to stop them. We’ll have a little gear - boom. ‘I really don’t like that robot.’“

… Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI): “I am not sure he actually understands the extent of the risk or how quickly it is upon us or how uniquely responsible the American President is in a time like this.”

… Jimmy Kimmel interviewed Talarico:

Kimmel: “Jesus has been co-opted by this MAGA enterprise that makes no sense. You bring it right back to the real teachings of Jesus and I think that is so powerful. Talarico: Jesus Christ is the most famous victim of identity theft. The kind of religion that says you can treat others any way you want if you have a personal relationship with Jesus is an abomination.”

Reminder there is no Bulletin tomorrow because I’m off Saturdays, but will be back with the next one on Sunday night to recap the entire weekend. Nothing too exciting for us tomorrow - heading down to the big city (Portland) to the docks to buy some lobster and seafood and then a few specialty shops for things we can’t get out here in small town Maine.

We are also going to see the new movie about Anthony Bourdain. I saw that the whole thing was filmed in Provincetown and I grew up on Cape Cod, and I loved Anthony, so should be cool.

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… Meanwhile, more bad economic news for Republicans heading into the midterms.

… CNBC: “Prices for a wide swath of goods and services continued to climb in August, according to a report Friday that raises the specter of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike next week. The consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4% for the month, putting the 12-month increase at 3.4%.”

… “The report is the final major inflation indicator the Fed will see before it holds its policy meeting next week, concluding Wed with a vote on its key interest rate.”

… “Traders responded to the numbers by ramping up bets that the Fed will increase its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point. Energy propelled the headline number higher, as gas prices jumped 3.9%. The energy index broadly rose

2.1% amid pressure from escalating tensions in the Middle East and was up 16.3% from a year ago.”

… Economist Heather Long: “Americans are getting financially squeezed. Inflation has wiped out wage gains since April. Wage growth in the past year: 3.1% Inflation in the past year: 3.4%. You can see the war in Iran impact. The problem for the Fed - and American households - is the inflation problem is starting to be more widespread than just an energy shock:

Gas: 27% rise in past year
Airfare: 23%
Energy: 16%
Hospital services: 5.2%
Car repair: 5.2%
Electricity: 3.8%
Clothing: 3.6%
Restaurants: 3.4%
Services (excluding energy): 3%
Shelter (mainly rent): 3%”

… MarketWatch: “The Treasury market’s painful rout intensified Thursday, as a fresh auction of 30-year US govt debt and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s first beefed-up buyback operation failed to calm the market. The tumult comes as oil prices jolt higher and new inflation data increased the odds of a Federal Reserve interest-rate hike next week. That combination had the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield 4.921%.”

… Tom di Galoma, a managing director at Mischler Financial Group: “Everybody is selling everything.”

… “Treasury bought back only about $5.2 billion in long-dated govt bonds Thursday, di Galoma noted. He said that compounded the disappointment of a day earlier, when the Treasury underwhelmed traders with its plans to only buy back up to $6 billion. Market expectations were set on a bigger amount.”

… “Furthermore, a $22 billion auction of 30-year Treasury bonds on Thursday went poorly. Though the auction found a strong base of buyers at a high yield of 5.308%, yields kept pushing higher thereafter.”

… NBC: “The nationwide average price of diesel hit $6 per gallon Friday for the first time, an ominous record for the fuel that powers much of the US economy. The price was $6.05 as of Friday morning. The national average price of regular gas was $4.29, up 15 cents since last week. Since the war with Iran began in late February, the nationwide average diesel price has soared by 60%.”

… KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk: “The cost of diesel gets into just about everything. From running a farm to the cost of food, but also everything across the economy that’s shipped. When diesel prices rise, everything gets that extra fee tacked onto it.”

… Swonk predicted that the high cost of diesel will be an “inflationary problem” for months to come. Since late July, diesel prices have been rising higher and faster overall than the cost of regular unleaded gas.

… Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL): “I’ve lived through plenty of oil price shocks. But I can’t remember any that were entirely self-inflicted by the incompetence of one man. One stupid decision in February stapled to a chronic inability to admit he screwed up brought us here.”

… Sen. Brian Schatz: “It is inexcusable that the House is out until November and our 3 weeks in the Senate will be used on issues that do not crack the top 20 top issues for Americans. Nothing on gasoline. Nothing on the war. Nothing on AI. Nothing for farmers. Nothing for hospitals. A debacle.”

… AP: “Yemen ’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels captured a strategic island at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, opening a new front in the Iran war and further threatening Saudi oil exports through one of the world’s key shipping lanes. The Houthis’ biggest territorial gain in years, along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, could boost Iran’s strategy of driving up world oil and gas prices to pressure the US.”

… “Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on the 17-mile wide Bab el-Mandeb channel to get its oil to market as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been striking ships. Markets are nervous, and experts have described the Houthis as highly unpredictable. Crude prices this week soared once again above $100 a barrel, giving Tehran more leverage in any talks.”

… CNBC: “The Houthis’ capture of Mokha is regarded as a severe setback to Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni forces it backs. It could also increase Iranian pressure around two critically important oil choke points on either side of the Arabian Peninsula: the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Hormuz.”

… “Mokha, a strategic city on Yemen’s Red Sea coast that gave its name to Mocha coffee, is situated about 46 miles north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a waterway that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and to global markets. The strategic importance of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait has grown significantly since the start of the US and Israel’s war against Iran, with the waterway emerging as an alternative route for crude moving toward Asia.”

… “It is now feared that the Houthis’ advance toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could have major ramifications for global trade, particularly if the militant group ratchets up threats or attacks on Red Sea shipping.”

… Axios: “Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Trump twice Thursday, urging him to launch strikes against the Houthis as the Iran-backed group closed in on a vital Red Sea chokepoint. Trump declined, and US officials stressed the admin has no plans to intervene directly against the Houthis for now.”

… “Oil prices surged as the Houthis seized a strategic coastal city in Yemen, pushing them closer to the Bab al-Mandab Strait - a vital artery for global trade and Saudi oil exports. With Iran already disrupting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, Houthi control of Bab al-Mandab could give Tehran a powerful new point of leverage over the US and its Gulf allies.”

… “Saudi Arabia’s request for direct US military action marks a sharp reversal from July, when Riyadh told Washington it could handle the Houthis on its own. As the fighting intensified, however, the Saudis began seeking increasing levels of US support.”

… “US military and civilian officials have told their Saudi counterparts in recent weeks that Trump’s directive is to keep American forces focused on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz - and avoid opening another front.”

… Mediaite: A Trump loyalist appointed to oversee a sweeping DOJ investigation targeting officials involved in past probes of Trump abruptly resigned Thursday, then unloaded. When asked by the NY Post why he resigned, Joe diGenova said: “If you want indictments where there’s no evidence, you have an ethical problem.”

… “The striking remarks came hours after ABC News reported diGenova resigned from his role overseeing DOJ’s ‘grand conspiracy’ investigation, which has examined current and former officials involved in investigations of Trump stretching back to his 2016 presidential campaign.”

… “Despite dozens of subpoenas issued over the past year, the investigation has so far produced no criminal prosecutions. Sources told the outlet that diGenova had presented himself to Trump as someone capable of accelerating the probe when he was brought on in April.”

… diGenova to ABC: “I resigned by letter today at 3 o’clock. It was an honor and a privilege to serve the president and the department. I’m not going to say anything further. I wish them well.”

… When a MAGA cultist and right-wing conspiracy theorist like Joe diGenova resigns because the stuff he’s being asked to do by Trump and Todd Blanche is too unethical for him, that’s when you know it was REALLY shady stuff.

… WaPo: RFK Jr. has used military aircraft for domestic travel, including for an Iowa trip where he appeared alongside Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections. An Air Force-operated Gulfstream jet flew on Aug. 17 from the Washington area to Des Moines, arriving several hours ahead of Kennedy’s first event in the state. DOD charges about $9,000 per hour for use of that Gulfstream jet.

… Under a govt-wide program set up to reduce the costs of federal workers’ air travel, it costs roughly $250 to book a commercial flight between Washington and Des Moines.

… Kennedy appeared during his Iowa trip with several Republican candidates, including Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), who is running for reelection, and Iowa Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn.

… Washington Sun: “The Trump admin awarded a $45.3 million contract to construct a flight simulator to train pilots and aircrew to fly his new Air Force One, a luxury Boeing 747-8 that was gifted to the US by Qatar.”

… “The sole-source contract between the Presidential and Executive Airpower Directorate and Florida-based CAE USA Inc. directs the company to install a ‘commercial FAA Level D certified 747-8i Full Flight Simulator’ - the model of aircraft Trump accepted as a gift from the Qatari royal family.”

… “Trump has long maintained that the gifted plane, estimated to be worth $400 million, came at no cost to taxpayers and that he would be ‘stupid’ not to accept it. The flight simulator contract, however, demonstrates that there are taxpayer-funded costs associated with the new jumbo jet.”

… “The contract also raises questions about the timeline for the Qatari-gifted plane. Trump has floated the idea of taking it with him after his presidency to showcase in his Florida presidential library. But the flight simulator specialized for the plane may take years to be ready, per the details of the contract.”

… Semafor: Pennsylvania Democrats, including potential 2028 Senate candidates, are ramping up their criticism of Sen. John Fetterman after he appeared by video at the Republican midterm convention this week:

Rep. Chris Deluzio: “He’s not going to be a Senator after 2028 - mark my words.”
Former Rep. Conor Lamb: “The video reminded me of a North Korean newscast, with Fetterman praising the great leader for his efforts in the industrial heartland while everyone else in the country understands they’re getting screwed.”
Rep. Brendan Boyle on whether he will run against Fetterman: “Both House Budget Committee Chairman or the US Senate are great positions. I will choose based on which position gives me more of an ability to impact public policy.”

… He’s running.

Rep. Summer Lee: “Pennsylvanians who didn’t already see him as the cosplayer he is now are ready to see him out the door in 2028.”

… CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski: “I can’t believe this is real. FOIA records appear to show Kash Patel directing his team to find accounts criticizing him on social media and respond. An aide warned that replying to the account ‘RetardFinder’ would ‘look bad on you.’” Patel also complained his tweets weren’t getting enough views.

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