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THE BIG PICTURE
Trump's $1.8 billion slush fund has detonated inside his own party: Senate Republicans fled Washington early rather than vote on it, a GOP senator called it "stupid on stilts," and MAGA congressmen are now lining up to steal a cut for themselves — while a federal judge unafraid of Trump has been assigned the case.
Meanwhile, Colbert ended his show with a bang, the Iran war's economic damage is landing in American kitchens just in time for Memorial Day weekend, and the DNC finally released a 2024 autopsy that completely whitewashes the real reasons Democrats lost.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
1. The $1.8B slush fund is eating the Republican Party alive
Senate Republicans physically fled the Capitol rather than vote on the fund. One GOP Senator even called it "the definition of tyranny" and "stupid on stilts." A closed-door meeting with Acting AG Todd Blanche ended in uproar.
Meanwhile, MAGA reps are openly angling for personal payouts, Mike Lindell and Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio are already applying, and the White House responded to Jon Stewart's "smash and grab" framing by attacking his "peanut-sized brain" — which is not how innocent people normally respond.
The case has been assigned to Judge Richard Leon, who already ruled against Trump on another one of his scams. This is no longer just a corruption story. It's a test of whether Republican legislators will assert any institutional check on presidential looting — and so far, the answer is a resounding “NO.”
2. The Democratic Party still can't be honest about why it lost
Under intense pressure, the DNC has finally released the party's 2024 post-mortem. The 192-page document does not mention Gaza once. The word "affordability" appears exactly twice. “To call the report a disgrace would be an understatement,” one progressive organization said.
The New Republic's review is more pointed: the report "ignores everything that mattered.” No serious reckoning with Gaza, economic populism, or the party's abandonment of working-class voters. The DNC chair who released it said it doesn't represent the DNC's views — making it arguably the first autopsy in history formally disowned by the people who commissioned it. He’s now facing calls to resign.
This is supposed to be the roadmap for 2026. If the party can't honestly reckon with why it lost, it's heading into a winnable midterm year flying blind.
3. The Iran war is coming home for Memorial Day
Summer staples are up 13% and travel prices are surging — directly tied to Trump's Iran war and its economic fallout. Mortgage rates have climbed to 6.51%. A Georgia MAGA voter told CNN on camera he's cut back on eating to survive.
This is no longer an abstract economic story — it's a cookout.
On the military front, Trump told a crowd this week that he gets "a kick" out of losing "only" 13 Americans. A new report reveals his chief Iran negotiator Steve Witkoff had to have basic concepts explained to him during crucial talks.
The war started badly. The diplomacy looks worse.
4. Mamdani is doing FDR's Fireside Chats for the internet age
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani launched "Talk With the People" this week — a recurring live stream on Twitch where he answers constituent questions in real time, simulcast across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. It's the first recurring cross-platform stream hosted by a sitting elected official. The format is a deliberate nod to FDR's fireside chats and former NYC Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia's 1940s radio show of the same name — updated for an audience that doesn't own a radio and doesn't trust a press conference.
The contrast with the rest of the Democratic Party right now is hard to miss.
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5. Stephen Colbert's final night was a farewell — and an indictment
Last night, Colbert walked onto the Ed Sullivan Theater stage to deafening cheers for the final time after eleven years. David Letterman returned to throw furniture off the roof. Bruce Springsteen performed. Colbert and David Byrne performed "Burning Down the House" in matching blue suits. Jon Stewart told him: "The hole's here. You can't ignore it. The only choice you have now is how you choose to walk through it."
The context outside was less poetic. CBS canceled the number one show in late night days after Colbert called Paramount's $16 million Trump settlement a "big fat bribe." Trump celebrated on Truth Social, writing he "absolutely loved" that Colbert was "fired." Fans outside the theater weren't buying the "financial decision" line.
Colbert has said he would "consider" running for office if there's "some way to serve the American people in some way that could possibly be greater than a late-night television show." Whatever's next, last night felt like an ending the country didn't choose.
6. Video shows ICE smashing windows and using facial recognition on Oregon farm workers
Body-cam footage obtained by The Guardian shows ICE agents shattering a van window and dragging out a 45-year-old farm worker after she asked for a lawyer. Agents used a Palantir-built app to target the neighborhood, then deployed facial recognition on the workers. No warrants. No confirmed IDs. A federal judge later ruled the arrests appeared unlawful. These weren't people with criminal records — they were carpooling to a farm job.
The footage matters because it's proof, not allegation. This is what the enforcement the administration brags about actually looks like.
KEPT OUT OF YOUR FEED
What the algorithm buried:
Zohran Mamdani had the perfect three-word response to Jeff Bezos claiming raising his taxes wouldn’t make a difference.
Fetterman's leaked texts show exactly what his staffers have been whispering about
Bernie Sanders just endorsed a candidate who wants to shut down AI data centers — and he's running in one of the most important swing districts in the country.
AOC just pulled an Erin Brockovich moment in Congress — aimed directly at a Trump EPA official.
This came after More Perfect Union’s brilliant piece: We Took AOC To A Deep Red Data Center Town. Can She Win Residents Over?
Fox News just released a poll that has to sting — Trump's approval rating hit 39%, the lowest of his second term, and it came from his own network.
Bruce Springsteen just said out loud what everyone was thinking about Colbert's cancellation — and he named names.
Trump bought between $1M and $5M of sushi restaurant stock — one of his many corrupt investments raising eyebrows.
The feds put out a law enforcement alert on a comedian who pranked ICE tipsters — because nothing says "we have too much power" like a national BOLO for a Nashville standup.
Three members of the Congressional Equality Caucus just voted to out trans kids to their parents — and they're supposed to defend LGBTQ+ rights.
Tucker Carlson just used Trump's own slogan to bury him alive — and the quote is even more brutal than you'd expect.
A former DOJ prosecutor allegedly smuggled Jack Smith's sealed Trump report out of the office by emailing it to herself as a "Bundt Cake Recipe" — and we have questions.
Epstein's former assistant just named three new alleged abusers in closed-door testimony — and House Oversight Chair James Comer says it was "what we've been waiting for."
NOTICE POLLING
Yesterday, we asked, Is Trump's IRS fund corruption?
OVER 97% OF YOU SAID YES:
“If we had a legitimate DOJ investigation into this administration the obvious answer is a RICO case against them.”
- dickstangland“If his lips are moving he's lying, if he has a bigly plan it's corruption. Why aren't the people in congress responding? What is in it for them?”
- callajr.jc
“It's blatantly corrupt. Everything Trump and this administration does is corrupt at taxpayers expense. We don't need a ballroom or bunker, we need healthcare, food and job security as well as an affordable cost of living. He and his friends are robbing our government blind.”
- obitlinda1712
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WATCH THIS
Judge Richard Leon has the slush fund case. He already ruled against Trump once. Watch what he does next.
That's it for today. Paid members get the full Sunday edition this weekend — otherwise, we’ll see you Monday!