Politicus Pod

The Daily is fighting the oligarchs with outside the Beltway journalism. Please help us by becoming a subscriber.The Trump/Putin meeting turned out no differently than any of the other Trump/Putin meetings. It was shrouded in secrecy and ended with Trump showing his subservience to the Russian dictator.During her latest appearance on Chew’s Views, Sarah Jones brought up some key points.Sarah said: We've seen this coming for so long because Russia helped him get elected in 2016. And Republicans keep pretending that's a big hoax, and it isn't a hoax. It happened. It's a horrible, this has been an ongoing assault on Western democracy that Putin has engaged in very successfully thanks to the Republican Party and why were they so open to help from him because they know that they can't win elections without lying and tricking people. And so here we are. That has brought us to this moment. Yes, that was a horrifying moment. And I think afterwards, a lot of the press corps were saying that they saw members of the administration looking ashen and almost frightened by what had happened behind closed doors. And I actually, before they even reported that, when I first saw Donald Trump after that, he looked so shaken to me and I thought, what did Putin say to you? The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.And the problem with, there are so many problems with Donald Trump, but one thing I think, I'm not sure people, because there are so many crises and so many scandals going on at the same time with him, that people probably don't realize. We used to get readouts. You would always get a readout of whenever a president talks to you on the phone or has a meeting with any foreign representative.We would get a readout of what they discussed, and there are other people in the room to document what is discussed so that you can't, there can't be, you know quid pro quo blackmail happening backroom deals. That doesn't happen anymore. We don't get that information because of him.He came into office and a lot of the stuff that they usually put out to the White House press pool, it doesn't come out anymore. And so, when I saw his face, I thought Putin said something to you. We're never gonna know what it was. Was it about the Epstein files? Did they, did he say I have because he has something on Donald Trump that is very clear.The meeting was called by Putin, who rehabilitated his image on the world stage by having a literal red carpet rolled out for him by the Trump administration. In the days after the meeting, Trump has been carrying out the Putin agenda.What does Putin have on Trump? We can only guess.It is not good, and it is endangering US democracy.What do you think Putin has on Trump? Share your opinions in the comments below. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe

Please support The Daily and the fight for democracy by becoming a subscriber.This is getting embarrassing. In the video above, I break down the Speaker of the Texas House’s reply to Democrats who left the state to deny Republicans a quorum to pass a new gerrymandered congressional district map of the state. The Democratic Party is supporting the Texas Democrats, but they need to be doing more. Republicans have nothing. The big move from Texas state Republicans is to take away the Democratic House members’ ability to have their checks direct deposited. Supposedly, this is going to make the Democrats show up in Austin to get their checks and then boom!! The Democrats will be detained and forced onto the House floor until Republicans have a quorum and can pass the Trump-mandated gerrymandered map.That’s the “big plan.”Thanks for reading The Daily! This post is public so feel free to share it.The Texas House Democrats are not running away; they're not criminals. They voluntarily left. They took a principle to stand and left. The Republicans don't have much in the toolbox to bring them back. Greg Abbott is saying he's gonna call special session after special session until the Democrats come back and he can pass his map.But Greg Abbott also has a deadline. Greg Abbott's deadline is the end of the year. If this map is not gerrymandered by the end of the year, then it doesn't go into effect at all for the midterm. My proposal, being from a union household is very simply this. If Democrats had their act together, which I know is sometimes really stretching it, what they should do is they should go to their donors set up basically, what is a democracy fund, A strike fund we would call it, in terms of union workers.Go to every person who voted for the Harris/Walz ticket and ask for a dollar. And don't go through a super PAC. Don’t take a cut out for “administrative costs.” Raise $60 or $70 million to cover these expenses for these Texas Democrats to pay their fines so that it doesn't matter how much Greg Abbott and the Texas Republicans fine them.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.It's covered so that it doesn't matter, so that they can bring their families wherever they've gone and keep those Democrats out of Texas for the rest of the year. Wouldn't that send a message? Wouldn't that send a message? Wouldn't that make everybody go, Wow, the Democrats are serious about this. And it wasn't just the 50 Texas Democrats, it was every Democrat in the party that stepped up and said, we got you. We got your back. We're not gonna let this happen. We're gonna fight. We're not just gonna talk about democracy as a threat. And then once Donald Trump wins the election, say democracy didn't play well with voters, so we're not gonna talk about that anymore.It's ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous that these people were so big into talking about democracy for years, and then when they found out it wasn't a winning campaign issue, they stopped. What does that tell you? Is this a group of people that are serious about protecting democracy, or are they listening to some high-paid consultants who are just telling them this polls well with voters?And then when they lost the election, a lot of them stopped talking about democracy. A lot of them stopped. Why did they stop? This is our situation. What are we gonna do? You have a choice. You can sit on your hands. You can watch cable news, and you can just follow the coverage and maybe tell some people, tell some friends, and whatnot about what's happening, or you can step up. You can demand that the Democratic Party take care of these Texas Democrats.You can demand they take the fight to the next level.Republicans have nothing, and they are humiliating themselves right now. It’s time for Democrats to step up and strike a blow for democracy.What do you think? Have Texas Republicans been exposed? Join the conversation and share your thoughts in the comments below. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe

The Daily needs your help to continue to survive as independent media. You can help us by becoming a subscriber.When Donald Trump returned to the United States from Scotland, it became obvious. Instead of getting front and center in front of the cameras, it almost looked as if Trump was trying to hide behind a pillar and shout his answers to reporters from a distance. Video:Trump also appeared to be using the pillar to hold himself up while he talked.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Here is the transcript of CNN’s Kaitlin Collins asking Trump about Epstein:COLLINS: Mr. President, you said earlier that Jeffrey Epstein was stealing young women. You said Jeffrey Epstein was stealing young women from your spa. Did that raise alarm bells for you?TRUMP: Be quiet.The dam appears to be breaking. Trump has tried to hold back the political floodwaters for more than a month, but the questions keep coming as the president’s defenses appear to be weakening.Trump has now been reduced to telling reporters to be quiet when they ask about Epstein.The president’s policies are failing. The economy is slowing. Trump’s poll numbers are in the dumpster, and the Epstein questions refuse to go away. Trump has never faced a time like this during his political career. Donald Trump is no longer controlling the political conversation, but is instead at its mercy. The president has tried all of his old tricks to change the subject and none of it has worked.Something feels different this time. Trump is older and weaker, and unable to hijack the conversation through an onslaught of distractions.Republicans put all of their eggs in the Trump basket, and now the basket is on fire on their front porch. Trump will still linger if he lives long enough to finish his term, but the dam is breaking, and Republicans have no backup plan.What do you think about Trump hiding from Epstein questions? Share your thoughts in the comments below. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe

The Daily needs your help. Please support us by becoming a subscriber.Could there really have been any other ending for Trump? A man whose constant companions have been failure and scandal for his entire adult life has now seen both of his defining traits combine together in spectacular fashion within six months of returning back to the White House.Donald Trump never had a superpower. The idea that he was some sort of political superhero who could defy political gravity was a myth that was started by the mainstream media and was embraced by Donald Trump.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Donald Trump’s power is derived from the protection that Republicans in Congress have given him. This dates back to Trump’s first term in office. Remember, two Trump impeachments failed because Republicans in the Senate refused to convict him.Trump’s other power came from the media. Why did the media build up Trump so much and treat him the way that no other president gets treated, a.k.a. the Trump rules, as MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell has called them?The answer is money. During Trump’s first term in office, he made corporate media relevant again while making them lots and lots of money. That money led the media to push for Trump to win the 2024 election, only to see TV ratings fall, website traffic plummet, and Trump-related books flop. Everything that worked in the first term is failing in the second.Trump’s fall makes sense because he is a two-term president, and presidents not named Bill Clinton always lose popularity in their second term. The media thought that they could relive their Trump good old days, but the American people have not played along.The polling is an absolute disaster. Trump is three points away from the worst job approval rating of his first term. He has a negative approval rating on every issue in the Gallup poll, and the Big Beautiful Bill appears to be an anchor around the necks of Republicans.If Trump continues on his current trajectory, Democrats will at minimum take back the House majority, and this will be the end of the line for relevancy and his presidency. Trump could spend his final two years in the White House as his de facto retirement home, as the nation’s attention turns to the 2028 election. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe

The Daily is outside the Beltway news for the people. Please consider supporting our work by becoming a subscriber.In the case of Jeffrey Epstein and the fallout that continues to follow Donald Trump, the crime really is worse than the cover-up.The political class is doing what it always does by talking about the political impact of the Epstein files situation, but what is being overlooked is what Donald Trump and his administration are working so hard to hide. Sarah Jones put the light back on the women and girls during an appearance on Chew’s Views on Monday.Sarah said: I hear that everyone is talking about this whole Epstein thing and what I feel is left out of this conversation. And as a woman, I really want to center this for a moment for everyone that's listening.This is about elites taking advantage of women and girls, and they've been allowed to do that by this corrupt legal system and corrupt politicians. Epstein didn't even deny doing these things, but he compared it to stealing a bagel. And for all the women and the girls in this country who have been really struggling because all of this is very triggering for women.Most women have, they know somebody or it's happened to them. They have been on the side of being dehumanized in this culture. And that is the light motif of Donald Trump's existence. He dehumanizes women and girls. He's done it from sexualizing his young daughter, to becoming an adjudicated sexual assaulter, to burying his former wife and mother of his children on a golf course for tax break.And the only people who have paid any price for the Epstein files, the Epstein horrible sex trafficking and abuse and rape of young women and of girls are women. Ghislaine Maxwell. And I just wanna say for everyone, I see you. I know how hard this is. It's so wrong. This is an injustice of such epic proportions.To have a president who we all knew this was who he was, and all of these people supported him, and it is a horrible thing every day for women and girls to know that and to live in this culture. The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Society never wants to talk about the abuse of women and girls, so it is not surprising that a mainstream US media that is owned and dominated by white men in the most powerful positions would rather talk about the political dynamics to avoid contemplating the horrors that were inflicted on girls who were abused and sex trafficked. What Donald Trump is trying to cover up is so heinous that 89% oppose what he is doing, according to a CBS News/YouGov poll.We should never forget the women and girls, and the elites who protected Jeffrey Epstein and allowed his crimes to go on for years. Donald Trump is one of those elites who has protected and continues to protect Epstein and others through his cover-up, and what he is covering up is the abuse and rape of women and girls.What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe

If you find our work to be essential and of value, please consider supporting The Daily by becoming a subscriber.The other shoes are beginning to drop, and it looks like House Republicans are looking for an off-ramp from the unpopular Medicaid cuts in the reconciliation bill.Recently, Politico reported:For instance, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) — who ultimately voted for the sweeping domestic policy package — pledged to ensure that cuts to state taxes that fund Medicaid would never take effect.Sixteen House moderates similarly urged Speaker Mike Johnson in a letter in June to revert the Senate’s language. They all ended up voting for the bill, but at least some were also thinking that there was an opportunity to revisit the deep cuts in the future.“Any of the changes in the provider tax don’t go into effect until ’28, so he’s right, there’s time,” Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) said about Hawley’s comments, though he added that the system does “have to be reformed” and that “we’re on the right track.”Then, Speaker Mike Johnson announced during an appearance on Fox News Sunday that he wants to do two more reconciliation bills, one in the fall and one in the spring.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. After this announcement, it all started to make sense. House and Senate Republicans are going to try to claim credit for cutting Medicaid among their base, but they will also attempt to roll back those cuts before they take effect in 2028. Republicans are trying to have it both ways, but they are already on record as voting to take healthcare away from 17 million Americans, and the American people aren’t going to forget.The battle to prevent health insurance from being taken away from millions isn’t over. It has at least two more rounds to go.What do you think about Republicans trying to get out of the Medicaid cuts that they voted for? Share your thoughts in the comments below. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe

Please consider supporting The Daily by becoming a subscriber.Congressional majorities that sense their time in power might be fleeting all share a similar habit. They think that they can defeat the looming wrath of the voters by delaying the unpopular parts of major legislation. The cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act in the “Big Beautiful Bill” are extremely unpopular, so Republicans delayed them until after the 2026 and 2028 elections.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.The problem for Republicans will come soon after the 2026 midterm election if Democrats take back control of the House. One of the first items on the House Democratic to-do list should be to roll back the Medicaid and ACA cuts, and it is something that could very easily happen in budget negotiations with Trump. If Trump is faced with a government shutdown or even a default because the debt limit increase is only for two years, he should be willing to negotiate away the Medicaid cuts, since he will be a lame-duck president who will only be focused on his legacy.In the immediate term, never discount the ability, some would even say likelihood that House Republicans will implode and enough of them will refuse to support the legislation to the point where it gets kicked back to the Senate.Never ever forget that the current House majority is one of the smallest and most dysfunctional in congressional history.Expecting the majority to do the expected action in a timely manner could be a fool’s errand.Republicans don’t govern like Democrats. They are inept at getting things done, and even if this bill passes and is signed into law, the fight will continue.The delayed implementation of cuts could give Democrats the opportunity to prevent them from becoming a reality.What do you think about how the BBB plays out? Share your thoughts in the comments below. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe

The Daily is outside the Beltway journalism about the issues that you care about the most, so please consider becoming a subscriber.For a decade, Trump has been claiming to be an anti-war candidate. For example, in 2019, Trump posted on Twitter, “Turkey has been planning to attack the Kurds for a long time. They have been fighting forever.. We have no soldiers or Military anywhere near the attack area. I am trying to end the ENDLESS WARS.”Trump has gotten a lot of mileage out of the idea that he is trying to end wars and not start new ones, but Trump has never been about peace.As Sarah Jones said on Chew’s Views: Why did he let, why did the media let Trump run as a peacemaker? When has he ever made peace? He doesn't make peace in his personal life.He's never made peace in his professional life. He operates like a warmonger on an individual level against women as a sexual assaulter against other people he's in business with and against all of the opposition. And anyone who comes up against him politically, he incites violence against them. He attacked the United States for God's sake.The Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Why was he allowed to run as a peacemaker? It blows my mind. A peacemaker is somebody who sits down to listen to other people's what they need, what they want at the table. That is a peacemaker.Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize for adding the United States to the Israel/Iran war, but the president has never been about peace. Isolationism is not the same thing as peace. There is no such thing as using military force to achieve diplomacy. Republicans should have learned after Richard Nixon tried to bomb his way to diplomacy in Vietnam. In the wars that the United States won, military force was used to defeat an enemy, not as a tool to get to a diplomatic solution.Trump is a peacemaking fraud. He has never been about peace, and the one outcome from this bombing is that the American people now see the true face of Donald Trump.What do you think about Trump as a peacemaking fraud? Share your thoughts in the comments below. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedailypoliticususa.com/subscribe