The 1600: The Political Showdown We Deserve
Good morning,
Four days from now, the Army will celebrate its 250th birthday. The original plan had been for a daytime festival on the National Mall, complete with displays, flyovers, meet-and-greets with Medal of Honor recipients, etc. Then President Trump, whose 79th birthday happens to also fall on Saturday, decided he wanted a bigger event complete with a grand evening parade. He's been wanting to preside over a military parade since his first term, when he went to France and was awed by the Bastille Day celebrations. (Maybe it's just me but I don't think the USA needs to emulate the French when it comes to the military).
They told him then it was a bad idea and the DC streets would just get chewed up from the tank treads. More trouble than it's worth. But now he's back and there's no one left to say no, so Trump is getting his parade. Thousands of soldiers will march down Constitution Avenue alongside M1 Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and howitzers while the president looks on. Very Pyongyang-on-the-Potomac. Hopefully we keep the big, phallic ICBMs in their silos or else it's really gonna look like something out of Putin or Lil Kim's fantasies.
Put aside the dumb optics of Abrams tanks rolling through DC, this is happening at a precarious moment. All of this simmering rage that we're starting to see boil over, first on the streets of LA, will have a convenient new target. I hope I'm wrong and this event goes off fine, but you couldn't pay me to be in Washington this weekend.
The good news this morning seems to be that the clashes/riots in LA appear to have been more scattered overnight. Hundreds of Marines from Camp Pendleton are on their way to the city, which seems both inflammatory and unnecessary, but as we said yesterday, this is a fight the White House wants. Newsom is playing to his base, turning this into a referendum on Trump's draconian immigration raids while images of burning self-driving Waymos and Mexican flags become the lasting images on TV and social media. Trump is, cleverly, playing up Newsom as his foil because there would be no better situation for JD Vance in '28 than running against someone who presents as the embodiment of blue-state dysfunction. Everybody wins but us, the voters, as usual.
A couple other random thoughts on LA:
It's hard to take Trump's tough guy law-and-order stance seriously after he just pardoned every violent J6 protester, including those who attacked cops with flagpoles and bear spray.
Have we noticed how ICE is doing their most over-the-top, military-esque raids in deep blue cities? Do you think that's a coincidence? I sure haven't seen any big workplace raids in, say, South Dakota (where Kristi Noem is from), or Iowa, where Trump-voting farmers have been employing illegal immigrants just as long as anyone.
There's something amusing about watching the "Don't Tread on Me" right, people who are supposed to be skeptical of the federal government, all of a sudden come to the support of masked, anonymous federal agents jumping out of trucks to snatch people at their jobs and homes. And then refusing to acknowledge when they make mistakes and accidentally arrest or deport the wrong guy. Remember when they told us they were focused only on those here illegally with criminal records or who present a threat to the community?
Democrats who equivocate on this are digging their own grave. You simply cannot appear to be on the side of people throwing cement at cops. It doesn't matter that most of the protests were calm, or that things were relatively peaceful until the feds came in, or that LA is a sanctuary city and should therefore be immune from federal immigration enforcement. What matters with riots is the optics of disorder, and it never works in the protesters' favor when it comes to public opinion. I saw some talking head on CNN yesterday say that "99.9%" of L.A. was peaceful.
That may be true, but it's like saying JFK's trip to Dallas was 99.9% successful until he made that left onto Dealey Plaza.
The Rundown
As violence erupts out of immigration enforcement protests in Los Angeles, images of protestors waving Mexican flags became a focal point of the coverage and for the Trump administration's reaction.
Senior administration officials said this proved there had been an "invasion" by illegal immigrants, particularly over the past four years under former President Joe Biden, and that it was necessary to send in the National Guard and deport those in the country without legal status. Read the story.
Also happening:
New Jersey primaries: President Donald Trump's second-term agenda faces an early test with voters Tuesday in New Jersey, a blue state holding the first statewide elections since Trump won back the White House last year. "Trump looms large over this entire race on both sides of the aisle," said Ashley Koning, the director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. Read more.
President Donald Trump's second-term agenda faces an early test with voters Tuesday in New Jersey, a blue state holding the first statewide elections since Trump won back the White House last year. "Trump looms large over this entire race on both sides of the aisle," said Ashley Koning, the director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. Read more. Trade talks: President Donald Trump described China as "not easy" to deal with, but touted progress between the two countries as negotiations in London go into their second day. "We are doing well with China. China is not easy," Trump said. Read more.
This is a preview of The 1600—Tap here to get this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
36 minutes ago
- The Hill
Raskin on Trump ‘ugly' remark: Not everyone can live up to his ‘exquisite' level of ‘handsomeness'
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a vocal critic of President Trump, shot back with sarcasm after the president seemingly called him 'ugly' in a post online. 'I suppose I don't like being called ugly by Donald Trump, but not everybody can live up to his exquisite levels of handsomeness and personal physical grace,' Raskin told MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell on 'The Last Word.' 'And so that — I would consider myself probably in the large majority of American men who simply can't live up to the exquisite standards that he's set, and his extraordinary popularity with American women,' he quipped. His remarks came after Trump, in a post on Truth Social, called the Maryland lawmaker a 'third rate Democrat politician' and said Raskin 'has no idea what is in our fantastic Tax Cut Bill, nor would he understand it if he did.' 'This DOPE has been consistently losing to me for YEARS, and I love watching his ugly face as he is forced to consistently concede DEFEAT TO TRUMP — And tonight should be another of those nights,' the president added. 'Raskin is a bad politician, and a TOTAL LOSER!' The lawmaker is no stranger to attacks after serving as impeachment manager during Trump's second impeachment trial following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. He also sat on the select committee investigating the riots. The back-and-forth came as the House GOP was considering the Senate-passed version of the 'big, beautiful bill.' The lower chamber advanced the spending package early Thursday after overcoming a dramatic procedural vote overnight. Democrats have been vehemently opposed to the reconciliation package, with Raskin posting on social platform X Wednesday that 'House Democrats have been 100% united in standing up for all Americans and saying no to the GOP's job-killing, health care-destroying, debt-exploding tax bill.' On Thursday, he went a step further, calling the bill a 'tax scheme.' 'The GOP's tax scheme strips health care coverage from millions of Americans, including at least 245,000 Marylanders,' he wrote on X. 'I'm voting 'hell no.'' The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
San Francisco Chronicle
39 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
How Ukraine can cope with the US pause on crucial battlefield weapons
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The decision by the United States to pause some weapons shipments to Ukraine has come at a tough time for Kyiv: Russia's bigger army is making a concerted push on parts of the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line and is intensifying long-range drone and missile attacks that increasingly hammer civilians in Ukrainian cities. Washington has been Ukraine's biggest military backer since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022. But the Trump administration has been disengaging from the war, and no end to the fighting is in sight, despite recent direct peace talks. Specific weapons needed from U.S. Amid recurring concerns in Kyiv about how much military support its allies can supply and how quickly, Ukraine has raced to build up its domestic defense industry. The country's output has gradually grown, especially in the production of more and increasingly sophisticated drones, but Ukraine needs to speedily scale up production. Crucially, some high-tech U.S. weapons are irreplaceable. They include Patriot air defense missiles, which are needed to fend off Russia's frequent ballistic missile attacks, but which cost $4 million each. That vital system is included in the pause, and many cities in Ukraine, including Kyiv, could become increasingly vulnerable. A senior Ukrainian official said Thursday that Patriot systems are 'critically necessary' for Ukraine, but U.S.-made HIMARS precision-guided missiles, also paused, are in less urgent need as other countries produce similar assets. 'Other countries that have these (Patriot) systems can only transfer them with U.S. approval. The real question now is how far the United States is willing to go in its reluctance to support Ukraine,' he told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of sensitivity of the subject. The official said that Patriot missiles exist in sufficient numbers globally, and he said that accessing them requires political resolve. 'There are enough missiles out there,' he said, without providing evidence. He also stated that Ukraine has already scaled up its domestic production of 155 mm artillery shells, which were once critically short, and is now capable of producing more than is currently contracted. 'Supplies from abroad have also become more available than before,' he said. Backup plan Amid at times fraught relations with U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been enlisting greater European help for his country's arms manufacturing plans. European countries don't have the production levels, military stockpiles or the technology to pick up all the slack left by the U.S. pause, but Zelenskyy is recruiting their help for ambitious joint investment projects. Draft legislation to help Ukrainian defense manufacturers scale up and modernize production, including building new facilities at home and abroad, will be put to a vote in the Ukrainian parliament later this month, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced this week. Zelenskyy said last month that major investments will go to the production of drones and artillery shells. 'The volume of support this year is the largest since the start of the full-scale war,' he said about commitments from foreign countries. Under Trump, there have been no new announcements of U.S. military or weapons aid to Ukraine. Between March and April, the United States allocated no new help at all, according to Germany's Kiel Institute, which tracks such support. For the first time since June 2022, four months after Russia's full-scale invasion, European countries have surpassed the U.S. in total military aid, totaling 72 billion euros ($85 billion) compared with 65 billion euros ($77 billion) from the U.S., the institute said last month. Big battlefield problem Without Patriot missiles, as well as the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile and shorter-range Stinger missiles that are also included in the pause, Ukrainian cities likely will take a bashing as more Russian missiles pierce air defenses. On the front line, Ukrainian troops haven't recently voiced complaints about ammunition shortages, as they have in the past. They have always said that during the war, they have never had as much ammunition to as their disposal as Russian forces. The army faces a different problem: It's desperately short-handed. It's turning to drones to compensate for its manpower shortage, and analysts say the front isn't about to collapse. 'This is war — and in war, steady deliveries are always crucial,' he said. ___ Barry Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. ___
San Francisco Chronicle
39 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Supreme Court will take up a new case about which school sports teams transgender students can join
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear a case over state restrictions on which school sports teams transgender students can join. Just two weeks after upholding a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, the justices said they will review lower court rulings in favor of transgender athletes in Idaho and West Virginia. The nationwide battle over the participation of transgender girls on girls sports teams has played out at both the state and federal levels as Republicans have leveraged the issue as a fight for athletic fairness for women and girls. More than two dozen states have enacted laws barring transgender women and girls from participating in certain sports competitions. Some policies have been blocked in court. At the federal level, the Trump administration has filed lawsuits and launched investigations over state and school policies that have allowed transgender athletes to compete freely. This week, the University of Pennsylvania modified a trio of school records set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and said it would apologize to female athletes 'disadvantaged' by her participation on the women's swimming team, part of a resolution of a federal civil rights case. Republican President Donald Trump also has acted aggressively in other areas involving transgender people, including removing transgender troops from military service. In May, the Supreme Court allowed the ouster of transgender service members to proceed, reversing lower courts that had blocked it. The new case will be argued in the fall. West Virginia is appealing a lower-court ruling that found the ban violates the rights of Becky Pepper-Jackson, who has been taking puberty-blocking medication and has publicly identified as a girl since she was in the third grade. Pepper-Jackson sued the state when she in was middle school because she wanted to compete on the cross country and track teams. This past school year, Pepper-Jackson qualified for the West Virginia girls high school state track meet, finishing third in the discus throw and eighth in the shot put in the Class AAA division. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for Pepper-Jackson in two areas, under the Constitution's equal protection clause and the landmark federal law known as Title IX that forbids sex discrimination in education. Idaho in 2020 became the first state in the nation to ban transgender women and girls from playing on women's sports teams sponsored by public schools, colleges and universities.
