They hate us

On Friday the Trump administration froze all foreign aid appropriated by Congress. “We get tired of giving massive amounts of money to countries that hate us, don't we?" Trump said on Monday, but the truth is that American soft power has been crucial in maintaining U.S. global influence since World War II. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) called it “dumb and murderous,” adding: “Tons of kids are just going to die needlessly” as U.S.-funded food supplies for famine-stricken Sudan stop. “The terrorists will benefit” as U.S. money for prisons holding ISIS members dries up. “The point of all this is to destroy U.S. power in the world,” Murphy wrote. “That primarily helps China, who is INCREASING its aid programs as we disappear. China—the place where all of Trump’s billionaires make their products and want deals to open markets. Think there’s a connection?”

  Heather Cox richardson

"Countries that hate us." Yeah, well, they all hate us now, don't they? Maybe not Israel.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Judge blocks freeze

Also...

UPDATE 01/29/2025:

I heard Tim Walz say Trump won't adhere to a court ruling, and I think he's right.

Isn't that one of the first arenas of attack of every authoritarian government?  They rely and survive on the ignorance of their people.

UPDATE 01/29/2025 12:49 pm:

Trump 2.0 - all chaos, all the time.

UPDATE 01/30/2025:

As I understand it, the order to freeze funds remains in place, while the OMB’s guidance on how to implement the freeze has been rescinded, and now every agency head can just guess at how Trump might want his order to be interpreted.

  Elie Mystal

Usurper in Chief

He's counting on "his" judges at SCOTUS.

An impeachable action.  You think GOP Congress will do anything about it?

What are you prepared to do about it, Chuck?

Unconstitutional, Dan?

UPDATE 01/28/2025:

Continue reading

UPDATE 01/28/2025:

And what are you prepared to do about it, Ron?

I wonder who they think is on Medicaid.  It's going to be mostly MAGA voters.

She's White House Press Secretary, and that statement is going to be used against the administration in lawsuits fighting it.  These are not smart people.*

Case in point:

Something tells me she really is that simple.

But if they force a change, they're still doing their job.

 UPDATE 07:46 pm:

*UPDATE 01/30/2025:

As I understand it, the order to freeze funds remains in place, while the OMB’s guidance on how to implement the freeze has been rescinded, and now every agency head can just guess at how Trump might want his order to be interpreted.

[...]

The Trump administration will undoubtedly argue that it is not in violation of this doctrine: Its lawyers will say that the administration really did change its implementation of the policy and so all lawsuits against the policy should be moot until the administration announces a new implementation strategy. But Karoline, bless her heart, effectively announced that her team’s lawyers will be lying. She acknowledged, by the witness of her Lord and Savior Elon Musk, that the administration is running a gambit to try to get around the current injunction against its unchanged policy.

  Elie Mystal