BY MATT BERG & CROOKED MEDIA |
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I filed for divorce on biblical grounds.”
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Donald Trump is backing away from his plan to abolish FEMA in the wake of the deadly Texas floods. It’s a stark example of the White House bending to reality.
- President Donald Trump spent this afternoon surveying damage caused by last week’s floods in Texas, which killed over 100 people. The calamity seems to have changed Trump’s view on disaster response. Just a few short months ago, he breezily dismissed America’s largest disaster relief agency as a bad idea. “I think, frankly, FEMA’s not good,” Trump said after he took office. Suddenly the White House is changing its tune. The Trump administration now has no plans to scrap the agency, a senior White House aide told the Washington Post, though it may get a “rebranding.” (I presume that just means it’ll become TRUMP FEMA™, in all-cap golden font, but I guess we’ll see.)
- Unsurprisingly, Trump aides claim this was the plan all along. “The president immediately delivered the dollars, Texas already has that money in their hands, and Gov. Abbott is the lead decision-maker when it comes to the Texas floods,” a White House official told the Post. “You should expect this structure, that has quietly taken place, to continue.”
- The president never admits he was wrong. But reversals like this are what poker players call a “tell.” Critics have warned that ditching FEMA could cost lives. In this case, Trump and his team appear to have finally glimpsed that dangerous reality — and blinked.
- The changeup follows critical mistakes, including a failure by state leaders to secure $1 million in FEMA funding for a flood warning system in the impacted area. After the flood, search and rescue teams were delayed… because a new rule requires DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to approve any expenditure over $100,000.
- Trump brushed aside concerns about FEMA’s slow response in Texas, and instead praised Noem for being quick… to get in front of a camera. “We were right on time. We were there,” Trump said. “In fact, she was the first one I saw on television.”
Trump’s reversal also displays a disturbing trend: He seems to care more about helping red states after natural disasters than blue states.
- Trump infamously refused to approve disaster aid for California after wildfires in 2018 until he learned how many residents voted for him. He brought the same cynical attitude to the devastating Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year. Trump and GOP lawmakers still haven’t greenlit $40 billion in federal relief for the fires — while the White House and Republicans pledge to give Texas as much help as it needs for years to come.
- The president “only cares about scoring political points,” State Sen. Scott Weiner (D-CA) told What A Day. “Unlike every other President — Democrat and Republican — he’s politicizing natural disasters,” he added. “I’m glad Trump now recognizes how important FEMA is for those recovering from disasters. But his ranking of who deserves disaster aid based on where they live and how their state voted is destructive on so many levels.”
- Even Republicans admit there’s a political motive behind Trump’s actions: “Would he [withhold aid from] Texas? Probably not,” one Republican operative close to the administration told CNN. “There is a difference in terms of how he approaches these things, depending on whether it’s a red state or a blue state.”
There’s a lot of political blame going around, but I highly recommend you read this gut-wrenching, incredibly moving piece written by a Texas journalist who survived the flood that killed his young nephew.
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FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino has told people that he’s considering resigning over the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files, according to CNN. He reportedly didn’t show up at work today following a fight with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the matter. Per the Daily Wire: “Source close to Dan Bongino tells me it’s either him or Pam Bondi” who resigns. Why not both?!
The State Department plans to fire nearly 3,000 employees starting today, according to internal documents obtained by What A Day. Experts and diplomats worry about what the cuts could mean for the country’s ability to manage global crises effectively. “Everything about America’s power and brand and values on the world stage is in retrograde,” a former senior State official told me.
The Trump administration is launching a program to make it easier for migrants to obtain visas for daylabor jobs, such as fruitpicking and meatpacking. That comes amid pressure from the agriculture and hospitality industries, which rely heavily on non-citizen workers to stay afloat, and are reeling under Trump’s draconian anti-immigration approach. Once again, Trump is easing some of the damage wrought by his own policies, and acting like it’s some brilliant new idea.
Harvard University leaders are considering creating a new center for conservative scholarship, the Wall Street Journal reports. That comes amid their tense battle with the Trump administration, which has repeatedly threatened to withhold billions in federal grants to the school. I dunno… rewarding Trump for this attack seems a little dubious. Just flunk him already.
Federal officials accused a prominent Republican in Georgia of defrauding 300 investors of $140 million in a Ponzi scheme. He allegedly took $19 million for himself while his business was going broke — spending $160,000 on jewelry, $335,000 with a rare coin dealer, and $320,000 on a Maine vacation home rental over several years. My question: What kind of coins is this guy buying???
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ready to agree to a ceasefire six weeks into his country’s battle with Hamas — but chose his own political survival after a far-right minister threatened him, the New York Times reports. The headline alone is stark: “How Netanyahu Prolonged the War in Gaza to Stay in Power.”
Theatregoers in London are reenacting the January 6 riot, in what’s described as “part tabletop strategy game, part thought-provoking political experiment.” It might seem tasteless to make that nightmarish day into a game, but organizers say it’s meant to show people how easily it is to be drawn into a “win at all costs” mentality. The production is coming to Washington, D.C. next year. I think it’s too soon for this… especially with a certain someone still in office. |
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THERE'S MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM
Peter Thiel says God is dead — and JD Vance thinks the Pope’s next. But New York Times columnist Ross Douthat says maybe religion isn’t the problem. He joins Offline to explain why the belief in God is a rational choice—and to dissect what the right’s turn against Christianity says about power, politics, and the soul of Silicon Valley. Tune into this week's episode of Offline on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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A Denver dinosaur museum discovered a fossil buried more than 750 feet beneath its own parking lot. It was found by researchers from the local science museum who were drilling to study geothermal heating potential. “Finding a dinosaur bone in a core is like hitting a hole in one from the moon. It’s like winning the Willy Wonka factory,” the museum’s curator of geology said.
A love letter in a bottle that was tossed into the ocean by a Canadian couple 13 years ago washed up on Ireland’s coast, some 2,000 miles away. What did the letter read? “Anita and Brad’s day trip to Bell Island. Today, we enjoyed dinner, this bottle of wine and each other, at the edge of the island. If you find this please call us,” followed by a phone number that no longer works. The best part? Anita and Brad are still together!
Meet Will, a 14-year-old diabetic cat from Maine!
"Will loves to sunbathe and chase his laser pointer. If he’s not resting in a cardboard box, he’s running down the hallway at full speed. He can’t be left near plants or plastic, and his gravelly voice gets especially loud before breakfast."
— Maddie & Howie
My voice does the same when I'm hungry, Will. So relatable!
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