Donald Trump

In the Supreme Court this morning [With Comment by John]

Featured image The Supreme Court hears oral argument in the Colorado ballot case at 9:00 a.m. this morning — the case of Trump v. Anderson. Did the Colorado Supreme Court err in ordering President Trump excluded from the 2024 presidential primary ballot under section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment? Is this national question to be determined separately by each of the 50 states? Is section 3 applicable to the office of the »

What next?

Featured image A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected President Trump’s claim of absolute immunity from election-related criminal charges deriving from official acts taken as president. The panel’s ruling comes in a 57-page per curiam (i.e., unsigned and unanimous) opinion yesterday. The court’s opinion is posted online here. After a slog through precedent, the court holds: “Former President Trump lacked any lawful discretionary authority to defy federal criminal »

Trikki Nikki?

Featured image Lots of chatter and criticism this morning for Nikki Haley going on Saturday Night Live for the cold open last night, as it is taken as an indicator that she’s part of the hated liberal establishment, since SNL does not have good wishes for Republicans. The riposte is that Trump hosted SNL back in 2015 after he had entered the race (even doing a great Oval Office sketch about Mexico »

Constitutional Crisis at the Border and the GOP Race

Featured image This morning I was on Chicago’s AM 560 The Answer during drive time, with hosts Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson. Dan and Amy have a great show, one of the best, and it is always fun to be on with them. Today we talked about the constitutional crisis brewing at the southern border, what remains of the 2024 Republican primary process, and the connection between the two. It’s a good »

CIA Versus Trump

Featured image To the many fine people of the Central Intelligence Agency who still produce, unseen by outsiders and quietly, apolitical intelligence in support of American national decision-makers. That is the dedication to Neutering the CIA: Why U.S. Intelligence Versus Trump Has Long-Term Consequences by John A. Gentry, something of a company man. He started as a CIA analyst in 1986, took “another job” with the CIA soon after, and left the »

After last night

Featured image President Trump prevailed against Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire primary last night. The race was called for Trump within seconds of the polls closing. As I write, Haley is down by 11 points with 91 percent of the vote counted. Haley took the opportunity to concede relatively soon after the race was called, when the audience viewing the results on television might have been at a maximum. PBS video »

Donald Trump, Racist?

Featured image It is no secret that the New York Times is an arm of the Democratic Party, but this piece–a news story in the paper’s U.S. Politics section, not an op-ed–illustrates how far over the edge the Times has gone. The theme of the article is that Donald Trump is a racist: Donald J. Trump first established his connection with the largely white Republican base more than a decade ago by »

It’s Trump

Featured image Ron DeSantis has dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Donald Trump. It is, I think, a bitter day for the Republican Party and for America. This election season started with high hopes. DeSantis was, I thought, an excellent candidate with an unparalleled record of success. He would have made a fine president and may still, one day. But for now, we are stuck with Trump. I have voted »

Will Trump crush Biden?

Featured image According to Bill Ackman on Twitter, it is now abundantly clear that Donald Trump will crush Joe Biden. Ackman supports my cousin Dean for the Democratic presidential nomination. I agree with Ackman that the country would be better off with Dean as the Democratic nominee. I also understand why Ackman would say that President Trump will crush President Biden. Biden is historically unpopular. He has relentlessly pursued stupid and destructive »

My Take On Iowa and the Presidential Race

Featured image I was on television this morning in London with host Maddie Hale, talking about yesterday’s Iowa caucuses and the presidential race going forward. In lieu of writing out my thoughts, here is the video: »

Most Americans Would Just As Soon See Trump Barred

Featured image This ABC/Ipsos poll is troubling. It is a survey of 2,228 Americans who answered the phone, not likely voters. But what it finds is that 56% think that the Supreme Court should either bar Donald Trump from running for the presidency, or else let each state decide. Consistent with that finding, 49% support the decisions by Colorado and Maine to bar Trump from the ballot, while only 46% oppose those »

Can the Democrats Keep Trump Off the Ballot?

Featured image Two states, Colorado and Maine, have ruled that Donald Trump is ineligible to run for the presidency in those jurisdictions. These rulings are popular with Democrats: Rasmussen finds that: Sixty-six percent (66%) of Democrats approve of efforts to keep Trump off the ballot, including 50% who Strongly Approve. It is noteworthy that even among independents, 41% approve of Trump being removed from the ballot–not an auspicious sign for those who »

The Race That No One Can Win

Featured image A year ago I was confidently predicting that neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump would be on the 2024 presidential election ballot. The Democrats would be crazy to nominate Biden, and the Republicans would be crazy to nominate Trump. And yet, with the caucus and primary season about to start, here we are. With no sign that the Democrats have a way to get Biden off the ballot, and with »

Supreme Court to Hear Trump Case

Featured image Today the U.S. Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari to hear Donald Trump’s appeal of the Colorado case in which he was absurdly kicked off the ballot in that state. This is the Court’s order granting the writ: The Court has ordered an expedited briefing schedule that may allow it to rule in time to preserve the integrity of the primary process. We will see how this develops, but »

Trump Says: Illegals Will Vote In 2024!

Featured image Donald Trump has made news by saying, in these Truth posts, that Joe Biden’s illegal open border policy is intended to generate fraudulent votes in the 2024 election: Those posts are classic Trump. Who else in our political history–at least since the first half of the 19th century–has talked that way? No one. But what about Trump’s specific claim that Biden has allowed millions of illegal aliens into the country »

Three damn things

Featured image In his post on Bill Barr, Lloyd Billingsley draws on One Damn Thing After Another: Memoirs of an Attorney General to mount a critique of Barr’s service as AG in two administrations, the second time at the behest of President Trump. Along with former CIA Director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, I thought Barr was one of Trump’s most impressive appointees. If Trump were to be reelected in 2024, »

Maine Goes Crazy

Featured image Maine became the second state to bar President Trump from running for the presidency when, earlier today, its Secretary of State, a left-wing activist, declared that Trump was an “insurrectionist” under the 14th Amendment. On the merits, this is an absurd claim. What happened on January 6 was a protest that got out of hand. The principal violence, and the only fatality, was inflicted by a capitol police officer. Not »