Donald Trump

The Washington Post  - Despite President Donald Trump’s repeated assertion this week that the United States has contributed $60 million for food to Gaza, U.S. pledges have been half of that amount, only a fraction of which has been actually disbursed.

New  Republic - When Donald Trump addressed the nation in the early hours of November 6, 2024, he didn’t just celebrate his improbable return to the White House. He hailed an unprecedented political realignment. “This campaign has been so historic in so many ways,” he said. “We’ve built the biggest, the broadest, the most unified coalition. They’ve never seen anything like it in all of American history. They’ve never seen any. Young and old, men and women, rural and urban. And we had them all helping us tonight.” Trump had long claimed, bombastically and without evidence, to be a historically transformative leader who appealed to all corners of society. But now, it didn’t seem ridiculous that he might be remaking the lily-white Republican Party into a right-wing Rainbow Coalition.

As is almost always the case with newly elected presidents, Trump was exaggerating his victory and his mandate. By historic standards, it was a modest win (at best). He won the popular vote, and swept swing states, but did so narrowly. Still, he was right to crow—and Democrats were right to panic. Trump really had made significant inroads with many long-standing Democratic constituencies: young people, Black voters, and Arab Americans, in particular. While Kamala Harris trotted out past presidents and celebrities like Oprah and Beyoncé, Trump made strategic alliances with bro-y podcasters (Joe Rogan), disgraced rappers (Kanye), and kooks (RFK Jr. stans). Democrats were not only out of power; their entire electoral playbook was in tatters. If Trump could hold onto his new voters while maintaining his sizable, doggedly loyal MAGA base, the party was screwed.

Today, just six months into Trump’s second term, things look very different. Voters still hate Democrats: A Monday Wall Street Journal poll found that 63 percent of voters had an unfavorable view of the party, the lowest figure on record. But, increasingly, voters hate Trump too. A lot. And it’s not just his new voters: Trump’s MAGA base is showing signs of wavering for the first time since the January 6 insurrection, thanks to his handling of the controversy over Department of Justice files related to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted pedophile and accused sex trafficker who was Trump’s close friend for nearly two decades. Everywhere you look, Trump’s support is collapsing.

NPR -  President Trump is planning to build a $200 million ballroom at the White House. Work is expected to begin next month on the project that would allow for larger state dinners.