Vance’s comments got me thinking about the time, just five years ago, when Trump publicly rooted against American Olympic athletes - because he considered them “woke”: tinyurl.com/4mj7jjv2

On Capitol Hill, a growing number of lawmakers — including a handful of Senate Republicans — want Kristi Noem to resign or be fired. A new poll shows the American mainstream agrees. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Seven months ago, Trump said that the New START treaty is “not an agreement you want expiring,” adding that it would be “a big problem for the world.” Yesterday, it expired. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

When assessing personnel, Trump keeps emphasizing one thing: whether or not they meet his expectations for “central casting”: tinyurl.com/4vxf3bsa It’s quite creepy.

Schumer and Jeffries present their list to Republican leaders, "laying out clear legislative actions to rein in ICE and stop the violence." They also called for "fully ramping down the surge in Minnesota and removing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem from her position."

One of the things about the Gabbard/DNI/whistleblower story that I keep thinking about: May 2025: whistleblower accuses Gabbard of wrongdoing in a report filed with the inspector general's office June 2025: Gabbard starts politicizing the inspector general’s office www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Republicans apparently want to focus on Obama-era deportations. This isn't smart. Obama showed that it was possible to focus on deportations without terrorizing communities and sparking a national backlash. Team Trump should stop referencing Obama’s policy and start emulating it.

It’s easy to forget the degree to which Speaker Mike Johnson is a died-in-the-wool, knee-jerk election denier who touts genuinely bonkers ideas, indifferent to their ridiculousness. We’re not just talking about a few election-administration concerns; we’re talking about brazen nonsense.

Trump, late last week: Kristi Noem’s many critics are “going after” her “because she is a woman.” Trump, four days later: CNN’s Kaitlin Collins — one of several women in media he’s targeted — needs to smile more. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

I realize that Trump is apparently desperate to praise Putin, but in the middle of “Sunday to Sunday,” a Russian strike on a civilian passenger train in northeastern Ukraine killed five people: tinyurl.com/bp6xuu5p The Russian dictator didn’t “keep his word.”

Last week, the House Freedom Caucus said it couldn’t support the bill to end the partial shutdown. Today, they caved — again. The Freedom Caucus went from pit bulls to obedient lapdogs with incredible speed. They talk a good game, right up until Trump tells them what to do — and then they roll over

Last week: Trump praises Putin for pausing attacks in Ukraine, even as Putin launches additional attacks in Ukraine. This week: Trump *again* praises Putin for pausing attacks in Ukraine, even as Putin launches *even more* attacks in Ukraine. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Four weeks ago: Trump floated the idea of canceling future elections Three weeks ago: “When you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election” Yesterday: “The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting” But it’s not just rhetoric: all of this has come against a backdrop of concrete action.

I enthusiastically agree with Jamelle on this, though I’d one thing: Senate Republicans had a responsibility to protect us from Gabbard, but 52 of them — including the so-called “moderates” — voted to confirm her anyway. (Mitch McConnell was the only GOP senator to oppose her nomination.)

To hear Trump tell it, “nobody would care” if, as a result of his baseless lawsuit against the IRS, he agreed to award himself billions of taxpayer dollars, so long as he gave the money to charity. Given his own record, it’s not nearly that simple. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Step 1: Trump begs voters in the Fort Worth area to back a GOP candidate in a special election in a red district. Step 2: The Dem wins by double digits. Step 3: Trump pretends Step 1 didn’t happen. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Trump challenged his critics to name one economic metric that got worse over the last year — and so I did: Job growth in the United States has got *much* worse after he returned to power.

The arrest of journalists is a dramatic escalation, but the pattern is straight out of Orban's script: - suing outlets for reports Trump doesn’t like - vowing punishments for outlets over polls he doesn’t like - threatening to sic prosecutors and pull broadcast licenses www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

As the White House announces a “fraud czar,” remember: the prosecutor won’t look into things such as - Trump’s fraudulent “university” - Trump’s fraudulent charitable foundation - the Trump Organization, which engaged in systemic fraud They mean fraud from *other* people. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

With Tulsi Gabbard spending months trying to bolster Trump’s 2020 conspiracy theory, while also trying and failing to discredit Trump’s Russia scandal, I’m genuinely curious: Who’s done the job of the DNI? www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

First, Trump demanded that the Justice Department put $230 million in his pocket. Now he also wants $10 billion from the IRS. Among the questions: Will he try to approve a taxpayer-financed payoff to himself? www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

There are really only a handful of possible explanations for Tulsi Gabbard showing up in person when the FBI executed a search warrant at the Fulton County elections office. They’re all pretty bad, though. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Trump’s whining about his 2020 defeat is easy to ignore. His actions are not: - FBI's ridiculous search in Fulton County - hiring Kurt Olsen to focus exclusively on conspiracy theory - directing DOJ to find imaginary evidence of fraud - demanding baseless prosecutions www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Four days after the Pretti shooting, the administration has entered its schisms-and-finger-pointing stage with remarkable speed. Noem’s quote to Axios is a doozy: “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done at the direction of the president and Stephen [Miller].” www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

To hear the sitting Republican president tell it, Americans “can't have guns” at public gatherings. Whether Trump understood what he was saying or not, doesn't this create an unexpected opportunity for reform advocates? www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

After Ilhan Omar was accosted, it would’ve been incredibly easy for Trump to say, “No elected official should ever face violence, assaults, or threats.” But since he is who he appears to be, Trump refused to denounce the incident — and instead peddled conspiratorial nonsense.

As Trump boasts that the Justice Department is investigating Ilhan Omar, it’d be good to know whether this is actually happening, or whether it’s just another delusional lie. (I have a hunch it’s the latter.) www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Interesting statement from the House Democratic leadership on Kristi Noem and impeachment

It’s good to see Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) asking the same obvious question: Why is the man who shot and killed Alex Pretti still on the job? www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

It was a real treat to be able to talk with @gregsargent.bsky.social on his terrific podcast, and I hope folks will check out this latest installment.

The timeline for Republican efforts to rewrite history is rapidly compressing. As the Alex Pretti slaying shows, the party is deploying Orwellian tactics, not weeks and months after the fact, but minutes and hours later. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Schumer and Senate Dems sound pretty serious about rejecting the existing DHS funding bill. The latest from his office:

Just released by Schumer's office.

After Jan 6, JPMorgan Chase saw a scandal-plagued politician with a history of bankruptcies and business failures taking dangerous steps to overturn an election. It effectively said, “Let's not do business with this guy anymore.” Five years later, Trump decided this entitles him to $5 billion.

We’re all accustomed to White House deceptions, but pushing an AI-manipulated image — and then bragging about it — is qualitatively worse than the usual nonsense. When there’s no real difference between the White House and your annoying friend on facebook who pushes AI trash, there’s a problem.

Trump thinks it’s preposterous to accuse him of “weaponization.” He simply wants to direct prosecutors to target his enemies — preferably quickly — without regard for evidence or legal merits, to quench his thirst for revenge. Who said anything about “weaponization”? www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

As a rule, when Trump is confronted with polling numbers that hurt his feelings, he makes up a generous new approval rating and asks the public to play along. Occasionally, however, he gets his lawyers involved. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

The Board of Peace didn’t *have* to be a ridiculous idea, but the White House made sure that it was: - Trump power-grab - embracing despots - mission creep - lying about members - absurd logo www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

There’s a straight line from "Sharpiegate" to Karoline Leavitt denying that Trump accidentally referenced Iceland when he meant Greenland. We’re apparently supposed to see Trump as infallible, so even minor and inconsequential slip-ups must be denied in Orwellian fashion. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

The day after the Jan. 6 attack, Trump said in carefully crafted remarks, “To those who broke the law: You will pay.” Five years later, the line has been flipped on its head: “You will pay” has given way to “We will pay you.” www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Last week, Billy Long, Trump’s spectacularly unqualified nominee to serve as US ambassador to Iceland, “joked” about Iceland becoming the 52nd state. tinyurl.com/48js5d4p It’s a detail that seems newly relevant this morning.

Trump: “America is respected again on the world stage.” Reality: Longtime allies see a Trump-led U.S. as an erratic menace, a once-great hegemonic power descending into madness and risking global stability. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

History is filled with presidents suffering through awful fifth years, but those who study the “fifth-year curse” should prepare for an ugly new chapter to their work. Because Trump’s Year Five was the worst of the worst. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Remember Jim Jordan’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government? As it happens, it still exists, and if it’s still interested in its ostensible mission, I have a few suggestions about the work it could be doing right about now. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Anti-Muslim rhetoric is too common among too many congressional Republicans, but Tommy Tuberville is taking this to levels that deserve to be seen as a scandal. @vanhollen.senate.gov said the Alabaman’s bigotry represents “a stain on our Congress,” which was exactly right www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

The last time Trump confronted public chatter about the 25th Amendment, it was in the immediate aftermath of Jan. 6. It’s good to see at least some evidence of this returning to the fore. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

It might make Republicans feel better to think Minnesotans are secretly “paid protesters.’ But reality is stubborn. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

The White House has confronted questions for months about whether presidential pardons are effectively for sale. Those questions are quite a bit louder now.

In case there were any doubts, that utterly bonkers message Trump sent to the Norwegian prime minister? It’s entirely real. He effectively argued, in writing, that his crusade for Greenland is partly the result of the Nobel committee hurting his feelings. #madking www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Facing a Justice Department investigation: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Not facing a Justice Department investigation: the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...