Trump

Politico - An influential think tank close to Donald Trump is developing plans to infuse Christian nationalist ideas in his administration should the former president return to power, according to documents obtained by POLITICO. Spearheading the effort is Russell Vought, who served as Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget during his first term and has remained close to him. Vought, who is frequently cited as a potential chief of staff in a second Trump White House, is president of The Center for Renewing America think tank, a leading group in a conservative consortium preparing for a second Trump term. Christian nationalists in America believe that the country was founded as a Christian nation and that Christian values should be prioritized throughout government and public life. As the country has become less religious and more diverse, Vought has embraced the idea that Christians are under assault and has spoken of policies he might pursue in response.

Mother Jones - A report published by the New York Times on Sunday—based on sales data from two real estate tracking firms and an analysis by an economist at Columbia University—reveals that Trump-branded real estate has taken a hit in his hometown of New York City following his 2016 election. Condominiums in buildings with Trump’s name on them plummeted in value during the one-year period before and after the election, going from selling at a one percent premium compared to similar units to selling for four percent less, according to the Times. Over the ten-year period from 2013 to 2023, the contrast was even starker: the seven Manhattan buildings till emblazoned with the Trump name dropped in value by 23 percent, according to the real estate website CityRealty. That includes the famous Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, where he infamously descended the escalator to launch his 2016 campaign: the average price per square foot of its condos fell by nearly 50 percent since 2013, according to CityRealty

NY AG says she'll seize Trump's assets if he can't pay $355M fine

Daily Beast - As Donald Trump’s legal troubles consume more and more of his time, they’re also consuming more of his donors’ money—and there’s a huge hole in the bucket.  On Tuesday, Trump’s “Save America” leadership political action committee reported raising just $8,508 from donors in the entire month of January, while spending about $3.9 million, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission.  Nearly $3 million of that overall spending total was used for one purpose: to pay lawyers. At the same time, the Trump campaign itself reported a net loss of more than $2.6 million for the month of January. It raised about $8.8 million while spending around $11.5 million, according to a separate filing made public on Tuesday.  The filings reveal that Trump is continuing to burn through his donors’ funds as he struggles to feed two massive cash drains—astronomical legal bills stemming from numerous civil cases and four criminal indictments, plus the costs of a national presidential campaign.

Guardian -Donald Trump has used an interview with Fox News to compare his own legal troubles to the persecution of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who died in prison last week. In the interview on Tuesday, the former US president said Navalny was “a very brave man” who probably should not have returned to Russia, but did not assign any blame for the Russian opposition leader’s unexpected death....Despite prompts from host Laura Ingraham, Trump did not mention Putin when asked about Navalny. “He was a very brave guy because he went back. He could have stayed away, and frankly, probably would have been a lot better off staying away and talking from outside of the country.” Trump added: “It’s happening in our country, too. We are turning into a communist country in many ways. I have eight or nine trials all because of the fact that ... I’m in politics.”