John Hudson of the Washington Post reported this evening that the Trump administration is openly defying Congress, taking $52 million in military assistance lawmakers appropriated for European and Middle Eastern countries hurt by Russia’s war on Ukraine and diverting it to right-wing governments in Panama, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia.
asserted
lawmakers → report → Panama
When the State Department notified Congress last month that it intended to make the switch, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Representative Gregory Meeks (D-NY) put a hold on the funds.
asserted
Shaheen → notify → funds
Late yesterday, the administration told Congress it is defying the hold and moving ahead.
asserted
it → tell → hold
Shaheen and Meeks objected, warning the White House that Congress had provided the money for a specific purpose and that “[t]he Executive Branch does not have unlimited discretion to redirect these funds toward unrelated Administration policy priorities or countries.”
asserted
Branch → object → priorities
The State Department told Hudson that Trump is prioritizing the Western Hemisphere and that the money would be better spent in Latin America than where Congress wanted it.
asserted
Congress → tell → it
The U.S. Constitution is clear that only Congress can appropriate money and that the president must execute the laws as Congress passes them, but the Trump administration has been aggressive about its intention to take control of the power of the purse from Congress.
asserted
administration → appropriate → Congress
Yesterday Tarini Parti, Marianne LeVine, and Michelle Hackman of the Wall Street Journal reported that the administration appears to have taken $20 million from the funds Congress appropriated for the Department of Homeland Security to pay for the ads boosting Trump before the midterms.
asserted
Congress → report → midterms
That destruction of the fundamental separation of powers at the heart of our government has gotten very little pushback from Republican lawmakers.
asserted
destruction → get → lawmakers
And senators left Washington, D.C., today for a recess until after the midterms; the House is already in recess.
asserted
House → leave → recess
The White House has made very little secret of its determination to abandon the international order the U.S. helped to put into place after World War II.
asserted
U.S. → make → II
In its place, Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appear to embrace the idea that major powers should exercise influence over the countries around them, as Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, believes.
asserted
president → appear → them
Yesterday Paul McLeary, Stefanie Bolzen, and Jack Detsch of Politico reported that the Trump administration had not invited the United Kingdom, France, the Baltic countries, or other U.S. allies to a meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members next month in Poland.
asserted
administration → report → Poland
The meeting is being directed by Defense Department policy chief Elbridge Colby and is designed to discuss NATO’s future.
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meeting → direct → future
The exclusion of traditional U.S. allies has raised concerns that the U.S. is continuing to try to splinter NATO according to those Trump considers loyal and those whose actions he dislikes.
uncertain
he → raise → actions
Earlier this week, Putin warned NATO that he might use nuclear weapons against NATO countries.
uncertain
he → warn → countries
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said Putin’s threats are a sign of his “desperation” over the Ukraine invasion and that Europe expects Russia to launch “severe” hybrid attacks: sabotage, cyberattacks, and destabilizing disinformation.
asserted
Russia → say → attacks
Should such attacks come, Merz said, “we would respond quickly and very clearly.”
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we → come → ?
The fact that the United States Constitution and foreign affairs appear to be at the mercy of one man and the loyalists he has around him undermines the principles at the heart of our democracy.
asserted
he → appear → democracy
The fact that that one man’s mental acuity has collapsed is an immediate calamity.
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acuity → collapse → ?
Time magazine today released a “lightly edited” transcript of an interview their senior political correspondent Eric Cortellessa and editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs conducted with Trump at the White House on September 28.
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correspondent → release → September
The interview reveals a man unable to answer questions coherently, obsessed with his architectural projects, consumed by his own fantasy of himself, and angry at the media that he feels mistreats him.
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he → reveal → him
He does not appear to be a well man.
asserted
He → appear → ?
He complained bitterly that the three Supreme Court justices he appointed “voted against me too often,” and suggested he expects “loyalty” from them.
uncertain
he → complain → them
Asked about the national debt, which just passed $40 trillion, he blamed Biden for it, although Trump by himself has added $11 trillion to the debt in his time in office.
asserted
Trump → ask → office
He insisted he will change the name of artificial intelligence to “super intelligence.”
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he → insist → intelligence
Once again, he claimed that the economic growth created by AI will pay off the debt.
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growth → claim → debt
Trump refused to rule out using the Insurrection Act before the midterms, demolishing the Kennedy Center, or “annihilating” Iran.
asserted
Trump → refuse → Iran
He talked about designating the Oval Office a national landmark so no one can alter the changes he’s made to it, covering it in gold frippery.
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he → talk → frippery
Despite having hit new lows in his job approval ratings, he claimed: “I would beat anybody running today by 20 points.
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I → hit → points
Your numbers that you have are fake.
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you → have → that
They’re almost as corrupt as the writers.”
asserted
They → ’re → writers
“I have the highest of IQs.
asserted
I → have → IQs
I have the highest.
asserted
I → have → highest
I’m fine, and I understand that stuff.
asserted
I → ’m → stuff
You know, my uncle was at MIT for 41 years, and you know, I’m a—I believe in genetics, frankly, and I understand.
asserted
I → know → genetics
I understand it much more than I think any president would, because I do have an ability on this.
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I → understand → this
I have an ability on those things that were the new frontiers.”
asserted
that → have → things
“Here we are doing this.
asserted
we → do → this
You haven’t asked me one f*cking positive question.
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You → ask → question
Aaron Rupar of Public Notice recommended “people read this to get a sense of the president’s grave cognitive impairment.”
asserted
people → recommend → impairment
…and 34 more, not listed.
The Aporia
