MATT BERG
& CROOKED MEDIA

THURSDAY
JUNE 5, 2025

Maybe he’s Doogie Howser … [But] it sounds like putting the intern in charge.”

 
— A counterterrorism researcher, [on a 22-year-old being hired]([link removed]) to run DHS’s terrorism prevention. 

BROMANCIPATION

Messy breakups are the worst… unless it’s two people you despise! Just look at what’s happening with Donald Trump and Elon Musk right now. They’re, like, soooo done.

- It feels like we’ve entered a parallel universe. Just a few days ago, gazillionaire Elon Musk was standing in the Oval Office, accepting a gold key[​]([link removed]) to the White House from the fawning orange president and complimenting his haughty interior design skills. Today, Elon and President Donald Trump seem to be officially calling off their bromance — in front of the entire world. “Elon and I had a great relationship,” Trump told reporters. “I don’t know if we will anymore.”

- What sparked these high school hysterics? Elon hates the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill” for several self-serving reasons, [as we broke down yesterday]([link removed]). The president, in turn, got angry that his buddy described the bill, which would cut taxes for the ultra-wealthy, as a “disgusting abomination.” But relationships don’t usually combust over one disagreement. This is a battle of two massive, fragile egos squaring up like “Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.”

- “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave… and he just went CRAZY!” Musk’s response: “Such an obvious lie. So sad.”

 
After Trump bashed him, Elon bodyslammed the president in a series of tweets — and crossed a major red line. 

- “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate. Such ingratitude,” Musk wrote. “Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years,” he said in another post. Later, he suggested that Trump [should be impeached]([link removed]). Tesla stock tumbled 14 percent during the spat.

- But Musk’s most eye-poppingly brutal line of attack was… “Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public,” he tweeted. That’s a touchy topic in MAGAworld, after Attorney General Pam Bondi didn’t follow through[​]([link removed]) on a promise to release new information about financier Jeffrey Epstein’s death — and the sprawling network of elites who were buddies with the child sex offender. Epstein once [told a journalist]([link removed]) that he “was Donald Trump’s closest friend.”

- Lawmakers are in a tricky spot. In this MAGAMania championship fight, do they side with the richest man in the world, or the most powerful man in the world? Musk shelled out more than $250 million to Trump’s presidential campaign and pledged to support[​]([link removed]) Republicans in the midterms — but he also said he'd “[fire]([link removed])” those who he doesn’t like.

- But not all Republicans are worried: “Honestly I think it’s more entertaining than anything,” one Senate GOP aide told me.

So far, this food fight has attracted the craziest of crazies: [Kanye West]([link removed]), [Alex Jones]([link removed]) and [Laura Loomer]([link removed]), to name a few. And now… Steve Bannon [wants Elon deported]([link removed])!

THAT'S BANANAS

Donald Trump’s henchmen have some interesting hobbies. FBI Director Kash Patel writes [right-wing children’s books]([link removed]). HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy enjoys [messing with roadkill]([link removed]). Interior Secretary Doug Burgum [loves listening]([link removed]) to Keith Urban.
 
And Acting FEMA Director David Richardson… is a painter? 
 
Richardson has come under fire recently for telling staffers that he didn’t know hurricane season was a thing — a day after hurricane season began. (The White House claims Richardson was joking.) He also didn’t know that FEMA responds to volcanoes, [What A Day reported]([link removed]). His experience in the Marines, and later in a government post countering weapons of mass destruction, doesn’t seem to be translating into this new role. 
 
But that background has inspired [much of his artwork]([link removed]), which ranges from colorfully abstract — [even resembling a Radiohead album cover]([link removed])  — to oddly modern, with [black and white portraits]([link removed]) of Snoop Dogg, Marilyn Monroe and Amy Winehouse. He’s also [super influenced]([link removed]) by Homer’s “Iliad,” according to a New York Times profile.
 
Richardson’s mother taught him to paint from an early age, and his brother is a sculptor and painter in Germany. He has also [auctioned off his work]([link removed]) to support veterans with PTSD.
 
“His work exists at the fault lines of love, war, chaos, religion, celebrity, fantasy, fear, and oblivion,” Richardson’s website states. [In a 2019 Q&A]([link removed]), he compared art to war: “Anyone who paints will tell you that the act of painting can feel like battle: aggressive, emotional, nerve-wracking, exhausting.”

Many artists start their career by painting stills of fruit. Maybe this explains why he uses [bizarre orange and banana metaphors]([link removed]) to try to explain what FEMA does?

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WHAT ELSE?

[Israeli troops recovered the bodies]([link removed]) of an American-Israeli couple who were killed by a Palestinian militant group (not affiliated with Hamas) in October 2023 and taken into Gaza. Of the 258 hostages Hamas took, Israel believes 20 are still alive and remain captive. 
 
[The Trump administration will hold more talks]([link removed]) with China about trade issues following a “very good” 90-minute call between Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Trump announced today. China’s readout of the call made it clear that Trump requested the call with Xi — suggesting that Trump’s the one who really wants to smooth over their tariff war. 
 
[Trump launched an investigation into whether]([link removed]) former President Joe Biden’s aides tried to cover up his alleged mental decline. Trump baselessly claimed that Biden’s aides used an autopen to sign official documents. There’s no evidence that’s the case, and the Justice Department has always found autopens valid[​]([link removed]) when POTUS is calling the shots. “Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency,” said Biden, in a statement to  Politico. “Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.”
 
[Trump is considering building his presidential library]([link removed]) on the campus of Florida Atlantic University, which has offered him a 100-year lease for free. This is supposedly where visitors would get to see his $400 million super luxury jumbo jet from Qatar — if he doesn’t fly away with it into the sunset. 
 
[Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) endorsed]([link removed]) democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race. The 33-year-old candidate is polling in second place behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “The difference between myself and Andrew Cuomo is that my campaign is not funded by the very billionaires who put Donald Trump in D.C.,” Mamdani said during last night’s debate. Cuomo responded: “He’s been in government 27 minutes.”

THERE'S MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM
 
For a global look at the week’s biggest stories — from trade wars to drones — check out [this week’s Pod Save the World.]([link removed]) Ben Rhodes is joined by MSNBC’s Ali Velshi to talk about how Trump's policies are accelerating US brain drain. They also cover the latest in Gaza, including Israel and America’s disastrous aid distribution operation and the future of the two-state solution. Plus, updates on Ukraine’s drone war and more. Listen to Pod Save the World now on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. 
 
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[The Trump administration agreed to a court order,]([link removed]) for once, returning a Guatemalan man who was deported to Mexico back to the United States. Great! Now let’s bring back everyone else who shouldn’t have been deported…

[Jeopardy host Ken Jennings knows the answer to everything,]([link removed]) including, apparently, saving democracy: “Trivia, of all things, is a ray of hope in our moment of national crisis,” he wrote in a New York Times Op-Ed. “My secret optimism is that our viewers’ love for quiz games is a sign of what can eventually save us: a practical belief in fact and error that is more fundamentally American than the toxic blend of proud ignorance and smarter-than-thou skepticism that’s brought us to this point.” 

[Need a sign to finally get a cat?]([link removed]) Well, it’s kitten season, a time of the year when many cats give birth — and overwhelmed shelters need help. “A lot of people don’t foster because they think it’s going to be this huge cost, but fostering actually only costs you time and love,” said Hannah Shaw, also known as Kitten Lady[​]([link removed]). They might also distract you from writing your daily newsletter *cough, Nellie, my girlfriend’s kitten, cough* but it’s totally worth it.

This one’s for all you “Mean Girls” fans out there…

 
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