Grift, Gore, and Gaslighting

The latest in a series of schemes from the Don at Pennsylvania Avenue has been unveiled. Today, we witnessed the release of the Trump Phone, a mobile phone and monthly service costing $47.45. Republicans are no longer discussing how Hunter Biden leveraged his father’s name to promote his businesses; those days abruptly ended when the current Don took the big chair at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

At the same time, Israel’s latest war ambitions have led it to attack Iran using weapons made in the United States. The spigot for that pipeline of weapons has remained fully open since the Biden Administration, sealing the fate of the remaining two million Gaza citizens. The world, it seems, is catching fire, led by leaders intoxicated by power, money, and glory, while the rest of us try to figure out if we’ll have enough money to make it through the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders are being arrested for asking questions that make Team Trump uncomfortable, and a season of political assassinations seems to have begun in earnest, with the murder of Minnesota Democrat Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. The reaction from Republicans was mostly conciliatory, although there were some exceptions. Senator Mike Lee of Utah chose to seize some limelight for himself by proactively pinning the blame on leftists and Marxists, perhaps to deflect responsibility for ratcheting up the violent imagery in recent Republican talking points.

The final numbers are not yet in, but rough estimates put the number of people attending the nationwide “No Kings” protest over the weekend at anywhere from 5 to 12 million, depending on which news service you read. By contrast, the President’s own little tank parade in Washington, DC, was estimated to be as low as 10,000—far less than the 200,000 that were anticipated. It was so embarrassing that Fox Entertainment reportedly used a “clap track” to fill in enthusiastic crowd noises for those watching the excitement from home.

Behind the scenes, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee released its own version of the “Big Beautiful Bill” today, raising the debt ceiling from the $4 trillion that the House proposed to an even higher $5 trillion. It will cut Medicaid and other services critical to hardworking Americans and still somehow increase the debt. It’s a tough sell; even fellow Senate Republicans have voiced opposition. The party of small government and fiscal responsibility has fully embraced big government and bottomless debt.

Oh, and who can forget the controversy over whether Biden was of sound mind when sitting in the big chair? Senator Eric Schmitt is preparing to launch an investigation into the matter. The question should be whether the entire Republican Party has lost its mind.

Bottom line: A branded phone, a deadly assassination, another path to war, record-breaking anti-Trump protests, the continuing debt spiral, and Biden Derangement Syndrome—packed into one week in Trump’s America. The grift, the gore, and the gas‑lighting continue.