Welcome to Friday’s Washington Secrets. Is there such a thing as a normal week with this administration? It has been seven days of extraordinary ups and downs, and that’s just for people who have eaten recalled iceberg lettuce and jalapeno peppers!
Sunday was a big day for President Donald Trump, with the sort of event he lives for. After thunderous flyovers, he got to wave the green flag to start the Freedom 250 grand prix through the streets of Washington, D.C. Afterward, he hit the telephone for a tele-rally as he continued to campaign for Sen. Dorine Graham Nordone (R-SC) in her South Carolina Senate primary to replace her brother Lindsey Graham.
The next day, he ratcheted up the pressure on Canada, threatening to increase tariffs on all cars, trucks, automotive parts, and steel that is imported across the border. “They feel entitled, and yet, WE DON’T NEED CANADA, THEY NEED US!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced an “economic D-day” for Iran, designed to ease oil prices and force Tehran to stand down. In the end, it amounted to more words and threats than a real invocation of the offensive that began the end of World War II.
The start of the week also brought a Supreme Court win, with a 6-3 ruling allowing Trump’s election integrity executive order to move forward. It means the Department of Homeland Security can compile state-by-state lists of citizens eligible to vote, with Trump telling reporters: “The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It’s horrible what’s gone on.”
Tuesday brought a degree of vindication. Nordone won the Republican nomination in South Carolina, despite a string of stumbling performances that displayed a lack of knowledge about world affairs. In the end, Trump’s strong support and big spending from MAGA Inc, his super PAC, got her over the line.
On Wednesday, Trump signed a proclamation to increase beef import quotas amid a supply pinch. Secrets has written previously about how a reduced national herd has pushed up prices. But his announcement irritated ranchers who said allowing more imports does nothing to help them.
Trump headlined a Republican National Committee fundraiser in Houston on Thursday aimed at boosting state Attorney General Ken Paxton’s bid for the U.S. Senate. He will return to the state next month for his party’s mid-term convention, in a sign that Republicans are anxious about keeping the state red.
Before leaving the White House, he signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” using a Sharpie to scrawl the new name across a map. So that’s official then.
On Friday, before leaving Houston, Trump is due to visit NASA’s Johnson Space Center. And on Saturday, there is more midterm fundraising with a MAGA, Inc. dinner at his golf club in Virginia.
So what did our strategists make of it all?
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John Zogby: D+
The U.S. is now going to be in a trade war with Canada, the “dumbest trade war in history”, according to the Wall Street Journal.
To carry it one step further, the president of the U.S. just signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America”. Not unlike his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico and the Department of Defense.
Trump filled his week with silly, embarrassing, out-of-control posts about conservative enemies on his Truth Social site.
He did win a temporary stay from the Supreme Court to continue building his grand White House ballroom, but that remains the only possible win of the week.
One other credit must be given to sending Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe to meet with his Russian counterpart to talk honestly about how continuing the war with Ukraine could be disastrous to the Russian and global economy. Perhaps it is time for the FSB and SVR leadership to send their leadership to meet with the CIA to talk about the Middle East!
A review of polls shows only three states still have a positive approval rating of his job as president: Wyoming, Idaho, and West Virginia. That means 47 states that are negative, including generally reliably red states like Utah, Mississippi, Alabama, and more.
For his part, when Trump isn’t sending out late-night posts, he said this week that the Strait of Hormuz is open, even though there is no evidence that it is.
There is serious talk this week about a bond bubble bursting and taking the stock markets with it in a downward spiral.
The Democrats continue to lead by 6 percentage points in the congressional generic ballot, and they have momentum in almost every one of the battleground states.
For decades, the U.S. presidency commanded awe and deference worldwide. Today, it encourages defiance.
John Zogby (@ZogbyStrategies) is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His latest book is Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should. His podcast with son, managing partner, and pollster Jeremy Zogby, can be heard here.
Jed Babbin: B-
There’s a new trade war with Canada, the Iran war is going on at low temperatures, and gun stores are taking down Flock cameras, which is very good news.
The trade war with Canada seems to have pushed U.S. and Canadian leaders into action. Canada is threatening us with a cutoff of electricity exports, and Trump has signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America. Trump needs to understand that whatever renamings he makes — the Gulf of America, Lake America, etc. — will simply revert to their old names as soon as he leaves office (if not sooner). He should stick to actions that have a real impact.
The war with Iran is going into its sixth month with no end in sight. Only two days ago, another ship was struck in the Strait of Hormuz by an “unknown object” that originated in Iran. Trump has declared the Strait to be U.S. territory, but he hasn’t made it safe for ships to travel through. Oman and Iran seem to have reached a deal barring U.S. warships from passing through the Strait. Our navy will, of course, ignore that deal.
Oil prices remain low, but people wonder why gasoline isn’t cheaper. We buy gas at a place that charges between $3.64 and $3.90.
Flock cameras, which are increasingly being used in the U.S. to further police monitoring of the population, are being taken down at some gun stores in Georgia. Which is a very good thing because it’s a huge invasion of privacy, as are all the Flock cameras wherever they are. We don’t need to become like the United Kingdom, which is so overly-monitored that you can hardly escape the cameras in most British cities.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is planning a massive increase in deportation flights to Haiti, as Haitians have lost their temporary protected status. This is what Americans voted for, and they’re getting it.
Jed Babbin (@jedbabbin) is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of President George H.W. Bush.
Quote of the day
It feels almost unfair to pick something that James Carville has said. The veteran Democratic strategist spits out headline-grabbing quotes every day. But yesterday, he reiterated his claim that Trump will simply walk away from the presidency by the spring after the Republicans are wiped out in the midterms.
“So JD Vance, in my opinion, will be president next April. He will be the most constrained, ineffective, babbling president in the history of the United States.”
Lunchtime reading
Jake Reiner’s 1st interview about his parents’ killings, his brother’s arrest, and moving forward: “Nobody really understands what it’s like to go through something like that until you’re living it,” Jake Reiner said. “It’s been eight months. It feels like eight years at the same time. And it also feels like eight minutes because every moment that I wake up, I’m reminded of my reality.”
The declassified files that lift the lid on MI5’s Cambridge spies investigation: Documents take you inside the final days as the net closed in on communist spies, revealing anguish over defecting to Moscow, a wife’s deceit, and the Queen’s response to her aide’s treachery.