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Dazed and Confused and Bigly Kingly For A Day
As our decrepit despot traipsed across Asia, he was fêted by leaders anxious to dodge his peevish trade wars by assiduously plying him, as one would for any dangerous, demented child, with adoration and treats: burgers, golf clubs, trinkets, ketchup and, in South Korea, even a crown for the wounded boy who would be king. Still, he couldn't keep up. In Japan, he wandered off mid-glitzy-ceremony like a nursing-home gramps looking for pudding, to be steered back in place. Nothing to see here.
The decline, of course, is ongoing. Monday, Trump told reporters he'd gone to Walter Reed Medical Center and gotten an MRI as part of a "routine yearly checkup,” except he'd just had one six months ago and an MRI is decisively not part of a routine test, but not to worry: He said it was "perfect," except that doesn't exist. For those inexplicably wondering about his cognitive state, he said he also aced a "very hard" sort of "aptitude test," except it's a very basic dementia screening that requires the patient to solve elementary-school level problems like remembering five words, identifying a giraffe or lion, and drawing a clock; he added that the test "took a while" and "was difficult,” two key factors doctors consider when assessing cognitive skills
Then, days before the expiration of federal food benefits that could leave tens of millions of Americans facing hunger along with soaring health insurance costs, and as the House GOP remains MIA during what could be the longest shutdown in history, he left for a six-day, gold-plated tour of Asia, because fuck you all. In Malaysia, he cringe "danced" with "zero class"; in Japan, he got a red carpet, golf clubs, and lost. On Wednesday, heading to fraught trade talks with both South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and then Chinese President Xi Jinping, he landed in South Korea to a hero's welcome: a brass band playing YMCA - gay hookups! - a red carpet adorned with multi-hued flags - "That was a very good red carpet" - and President Lee in a custom-made gold tie.
Leaning into the theme of peace to honor Trump's famed, fictional role as a "global peacemaker" - and clearly eager to get Trump's vengeful, randomly spiked 25% tariffs back down to a manageable 15% - Lee was just getting started on his campaign for Sycophant of the Week Award. An official lunch, bedecked with peace lilies, featured “mini beef patties with ketchup” and Thousand Island Dressing in a nod to Trump’s “success story in his hometown of New York." The menu also included a "Korean Platter of Sincerity" - U.S. beef and local rice - grilled fish with a glaze of ketchup and gochujang chili paste, and a "Peacemaker’s Dessert” of a brownie adorned with gold. After the ketchup and gold brownie came the shiny, kingly baubles
Days after almost eight million furious Americans protested Trump's abuses under the mantra No Kings, in a lavish ceremony at Gyeongju National Museum, Lee presented Trump with...a crown. Specifically, a replica of one of several 1,000-year-old crowns excavated from the ancient, golden Silla Kingdom that ruled much of the Korean Peninsula until the 10th century, and fell due to corruption and oppression. Hmm. The crown represents a time of peace and unity, an official said, as the first dynasty to unify the Peninsula's three kingdoms; it "symbolizes the divine connection between the authority of the heavens and the sovereignty on Earth," as well as the authority of a strong leader. Trump, wooed and dazzled, stared raptly, a kid at a humongous candy store.
Lee also awarded him the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, their highest civil honor, a medal hung from a golden collar. Trump happily burbled over his swag; then they talked trade. Ultimately, they "pretty much finalized" a deal for South Korea to pump $350 billion into the U.S.economy in exchange for returning tariffs to 15%, including on cars; Trump also said they'd cooperate on shipbuilding, with the Koreans allegedly building a nuclear sub at a former Philly shipyard experts say will be equipped to do it, like, never. But he got a crown! Other details on the deal's "structure" are unresolved - like the Gaza "truce?" - nor are tensions on security costs. Polls show most South Koreans don't trust Trump, but feel they need the U.S. economically to fend off China, a bigger threat, so good luck on that.
Like everywhere else, the talks were met by protests that echoed ours; signs read, “No Kings," "Trump Not Welcome," "This Is Robbery Not Negotiation." Said one protester, “It seems the U.S. (is) treating South Korea as its cash cow." Before leaving, Trump also met with China's Xi Jinping in Busan. Trump later called the meeting "amazing" and "12 out of 10," with agreements on "many important points," including soybeans, rare earths and much lower tariffs than the 100% Trump at some point wildly threatened in one of his hissy fits. He also said, “Ukraine came up very strongly," because he never learned to speak English. There have been no statements about the meeting from the Chinese, so God knows what actually, really happened there.
As a befuddled, newly crowned king returns to his fractured country, he may be mulling where to put his new bling in a space packed with Tim Apple's plaque, his Olympic medals, the World Cup he stole and other ill-begotten gains. Others are wondering what happened to the Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause that bars officeholders from accepting personal gifts "from any king, prince or foreign state" worth more than about $480. Asked about the issue, a White House spokesperson asserted that Trump is "working night and day on behalf of the American people." He could be. Or maybe, amidst the fog and lies and phantasms he inhabits, he's trying to remember what just happened during his recent "Weekend at Donnie's territory."
Whatever he may have accomplished by way of reversing the catastrophic effects of his own economic idiocy, for many the enduring image of his trip will be viewed through the twisted prism of his Tuesday misadventures in Japan, when, Monty Python-style, he lost the thread during a welcoming ceremony in Tokyo. Now-viral videos show Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gently guiding Trump as they somberly walk through a palatial room filled with dignitaries; a stunned Trump abruptly halts, stares at an Honor Guard, shuffles past US/Japanese flags where he should stop, aimlessly lumbers on, randomly salutes, lurches ahead and gapes at the band as, behind him, an aghast Takaichi bows as expected before rushing to drag him back to earth.
The spectacle of a U.S.president with mush for brains stumbling around a palace like a toddler lost at the mall before marching up to shake hands with his own entourage was too much for many. "Bro has no idea what is going on," said one. Also, "Is this real life? This guy has control of our nukes." It was noted, if it's any consolation, he probably has no idea how to launch them; it was also noted Stephen Miller would happily do it for him. It was suggested "this is that 'high energy' we always hear about," that "his handlers should put a shock-collar on him (so) when he wanders off they can just zap him back to coherence," that "it's great, totally cool knowing this guy gets to do whatever he wants these days." One thing to look forward to: "Can't wait for this guy to ask what happened to the East Wing." What a time to be alive, for now.
'The Stuff of Nightmares': Hurricane Melissa Makes Catastrophic Landfall in Jamaica
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as a monstrous Category 5 storm as the island country braced for devastating impacts, humanitarian operations urgently mobilized, and experts voiced horror at the latest climate-fueled weather disaster.
"This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation," the National Hurricane Center said in an update after the storm made landfall.
Early video footage posted to social media shows the storm—the most powerful to ever strike the island and the third-strongest to ever form in the Atlantic—wreaking havoc and destruction.
🇯🇲 | Video que muestra los daños y las inundaciones en el área de Black River, Jamaica, por el huracán Melissa. pic.twitter.com/k6RZDE9jdB
— Entredostv (@Entredostv1) October 28, 2025
Anne-Claire Fontan, the World Meteorological Organization's tropical cyclone specialist, told reporters that "a catastrophic situation is expected in Jamaica" and described the hurricane as "the storm of the century" for the island. Melissa's landfall is expected to bring extreme flooding, landslides, and other life-threatening impacts.
Tens of thousands of Jamaicans lost power as the slow-moving storm approached the island, bringing torrential rain and maximum sustained winds of 185 mph, with gusts over 220 mph. Storms like Melissa are the reason scientists are pushing to formally add a Category 6 for hurricanes.
"Unimaginable violence is hiding in the very small and compact eyewall of Melissa," said Greg Postel, hurricane specialist at The Weather Channel. "Nearly continuous lightning will accompany the tornadic wind speeds."
The International Federation of the Red Cross said up to 1.5 million people in Jamaica—roughly half the island's population—are expected to be directly affected by Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm on Earth this year.
"We are okay at the moment but bracing ourselves for the worst," Jamaican climate activist Tracey Edwards said Tuesday. "I've grown weary of these threats, and I do not want to face the next hurricane."
The International Organization for Migration warned that "the risk of flooding, landslides, and widespread damage is extremely high," meaning that "many people are likely to be displaced from their homes and in urgent need of shelter and relief."
Melissa's landfall came on the same day that United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said the international community has failed to prevent planetary warming from surpassing the key 1.5°C threshold "in the next few years."
Meteorologist Eric Holthaus wrote on social media that "this is the news I've dreaded all my life."
"Humanity has failed to avoid dangerous climate change," he wrote. "We have now entered the overshoot era. Our new goal is to prevent as many irreversible tipping points from taking hold as we can."
Hurricane Melissa will make landfall in Jamaica in a few hours as one of the two strongest hurricanes ever to make landfall anywhere in the Atlantic Basin -- on par with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane in south Florida.Just horrific. The stuff of nightmares.
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— Eric Holthaus (@ericholthaus.com) Oct 28, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Climate experts said Hurricane Melissa bears unmistakable fingerprints of the planetary crisis, which is driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels.
The warming climate is "clearly making this horrific disaster for Jamaica, Cuba, and the Bahamas even worse," Jennifer Francis, a senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, told the New York Times.
Akshay Deoras, a meteorologist at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, told the Associated Press that the Atlantic "is extremely warm right now."
"And it's not just the surface," said Deoras. "The deeper layers of the ocean are also unusually warm, providing a vast reservoir of energy for the storm."
Amira Odeh, Caribbean campaigner at 350.org, warned in a statement Tuesday that "what is happening in Jamaica is what climate injustice looks like."
"Every home without electricity, every flooded hospital, every family cut off by the storm is a consequence of political inaction," said Odeh. "We cannot continue losing Caribbean lives because of the fossil fuel industry's greed."
"As world leaders head to COP30, they must understand that every delay, every new fossil fuel project, means more lives lost," Odeh added. "Jamaica is the latest warning, and Belém must be where we finally see a steer to change courses. The Caribbean is sounding the alarm once again. This time, the world must listen."
This story was updated after Hurricane Melissa made landfall.
Billionaires Spend Big to Tank Mamdani, Who Vows to 'Tax the Rich' in NYC
A week away from Election Day in New York City, a national economic justice group on Tuesday released a report detailing how billionaires "outraged at the prospect of the rich and corporations paying higher taxes" have spent millions of dollars to defeat Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani.
"Just 62 billionaires and descendants of billionaire families ('billionaire spenders') as of October 14th have contributed over one-third—37%, or $18.7 million—of all the donations collected by so-called outside expenditure groups involved in the race," according to the Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund (ATFAF) report, Billionaires Buying Gracie Mansion.
The publication notes that "almost all of that money has backed former New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo," who is running as an Indepedent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, a democratic socialist in the state Assembly who has campaigned on promises to make the metropolis more affordable for everyday people and "tax the rich!"
Specifically, 58 of the 62 billionaire spenders gave "a total of $18.4 million to Cuomo-aligned super political action committees (super PACs), ATFAF found. "Mamdani has received the support of just two billionaire spenders, who together have contributed $270,000 to outside PACs pushing his candidacy."
The report highlights that billionaire former NYC mayor and media mogul Michael Bloomberg, who has a net worth of roughly $109 billion, "is leading the anti-Mamdani charge, having personally donated $8.3 million to the main super PAC backing Cuomo."
Bloomberg and the dozens of other billionaires trying to sway the race "have spent nearly twice the amount 60,000 individual contributors have made directly to the three general election candidates (including Republican Curtis Sliwa)," the document details. "This is because unlike direct donations to candidates, there is no limit on contributions to outside spending groups."
New York is not only the nation's most populous city, it's also a billionaire hotspot. The report points out that "as of October 1st, New York City is the primary residence to 111 billionaires, according to Forbes, with lots more owning second homes or business property in the Big Apple. Collectively, these 111 billionaires are worth $717 billion, over six times the city's annual budget."
While Cuomo is backed by billionaires, Mamdani is endorsed by national progressive leaders, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), whose district spans parts of the Bronx and Queens. The pair joined New York state leaders, including Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, for a massive Sunday night rally in support of Mamdani.
In addition to taxing corporations and the 1%, Mamdani's platform includes a rent freeze, constructing more affordable housing, city-owned grocery stores, fare-free buses, no-cost childcare, building out renewable energy on public lands, raising the minimum wage to $30 by 2030, and more.
The progressive candidate has also promised to stand up to Republican President Donald Trump, a former longtime New Yorker who has threatened to arrest Mamadani and to cut all federal funds to New York City if he is victorious next week. Recent polling suggests Mamdani is well-positioned to win the contest.
"Billionaires feel threatened by a modest proposal to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers to help make life more affordable for ordinary city residents. That’s why they’re spending millions to drown out the effort with their money," Americans for Tax Fairness executive director David Kass said in a Tuesday statement.
"Politicians and policymakers around the country should take note of how popular a progressive tax agenda can be with Americans across the political spectrum," Kass added. "Zohran Mamdani is showing the way for politicians who still haven't figured out that fairer taxes on the rich and corporations are both good policy and good politics."
Sanders Demands Trump 'Obey the Law' and Fund SNAP as GOP Rejects Standalone Bill
Senate Democrats on Wednesday accused the Republican Party of "weaponizing hunger" after Senate Majority Leader John Thune blocked an effort to pass a standalone bill to keep federal food assistance funded through November, and as the Trump administration showed no signs of listening to demands that officials release billions of dollars in emergency funding to keep 42 million people from going hungry.
With the government shutdown in its 30th day, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is set to lapse on Saturday unless lawmakers pass legislation to keep it funded.
Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) on Wednesday introduced legislation Wednesday to direct the US Department of Agriculture to release about $5 billion in emergency funding for SNAP, which Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has claimed the USDA can only legally do in cases of disasters like hurricane and flooding—after the administration previously said the emergency funds could be used.
On the Senate floor, Thune (R-SD) suggested the only way to ensure SNAP benefits go out on November 1 is for Democrats to join the GOP in voting for the continuing resolution that they rejected at the end of September because it would allow the expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies and raise healthcare premium prices for millions of people.
"This isn't a political game," said Thune on the Senate floor, attacking Democrats for voting against the government funding bill 13 times. "These are real peoples' lives that we are talking about and you all have just figured out 29 days in that, 'Oh there might be some consequences, that people are running out of money."
Thune has also rejected a standalone SNAP funding bill proposed by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)—who voted earlier this year for the largest SNAP cuts in history—saying the government should be reopened instead of lawmakers funding specific programs.
The GOP leader accused Democrats of picking "winners and losers" by pushing to fund SNAP as the shutdown continues, though Republicans have supported continuing to pay the military without reopening the government.
"The Trump administration has the authority and the funds to keep SNAP running during this shutdown," Luján said in response to Thune's comments. "Any failure to do so right now falls squarely on the Trump administration and Republicans."
BREAKING: @SenatorLujan went to the Senate floor to pass his Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act so 42 million Americans can continue to get food aid during a shutdown
Republican Leader Thune and Senate Republicans blocked it.
Because of Trump and Republicans people will go hungry. pic.twitter.com/Rk47mDRzf0
— Senate Democrats (@SenateDems) October 29, 2025
More than two dozen Democratic-led states have sued the USDA for withholding the contingency funds.
On Wednesday afternoon, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) were among several members of the Democratic caucus who held a press conference demanding that the White House release the emergency funding.
As they refuse to ensure SNAP recipients get their benefits after October 31, said Sanders, Republicans are also refusing to negotiate with Democrats on healthcare in order to get the 60 votes they need to pass the continuing resolution.
While rejecting talks over the ACA subsidies and Medicaid cuts they included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act over the summer, said Sanders, President Donald Trump and the Republicans are "prepared to let millions and millions of children and their parents and grandparents go hungry, because he sees that maybe there is a political gain in that."
"We are here today to send a very loud and clear message to President Trump," he added. "Obey the law...Do not let children in America and their parents and grandparents go hungry. Do not go down in history as the first president to manufacture a hunger crisis in the richest country on Earth. Release these funds."
Trump is illegally blocking over $5 billion to feed hungry kids.
Mr. President: Release the funds. Don’t give tax breaks to billionaires while children in America are on the verge of going hungry. https://t.co/YSo4JzsEsy
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) October 29, 2025
On Thursday, organizers with the No Kings Alliance—the rapid response arm of the No Kings movement that held two nationwide protests against Trump's agenda—said it would begin organizing mutual aid efforts across the country to help feed hungry families and urged people who are able to donate funds to their local food banks; support community shelters by contributing food, clothing, and other essentials; or host a local food or supply drive.
"Join us this weekend as we provide mutual aid and care to our neighbors hurt by the Republican government shutdown," said organizers. "We’re showing up in solidarity, not just in protest, but in care."
Sanders on Wednesday emphasized that several members of Thune's caucus have signed on to support Hawley's bill, while every Democrat is prepared to vote to keep SNAP funded.
"I say to Senator Thune, when you have 11 Republicans and every member of the Democratic caucus in support, that bill should get to the floor immediately," said the senator. "No child in this country should be forced to go hungry,’”
'It Will Kill People': HHS Proposal Targeting Transgender Healthcare Could Cause Even More Hospitals to Close
A pair of extreme new Trump administration rules aimed at functionally banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth could force even more hospitals to close down.
NPR reported Thursday that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) drafted a proposed rule that would prohibit federal Medicaid reimbursement for medical care provided to transgender patients younger than 18 and prohibit the same from the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for patients under 19.
Another proposed rule goes even further, blocking all Medicaid and Medicare funding to hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to youth.
As Erin Reed, an independent journalist who reports on LGBTQ+ rights, explained, this "would effectively eliminate access to such care nationwide, except at the few private clinics able to forgo Medicaid entirely, a rarity in transgender youth medicine."
The policies are of a piece with the Trump administration and the broader Republican Party's efforts to eliminate transgender healthcare for youth across the country.
Bans on gender-affirming care for those under 18 have already been passed in 27 states, despite evidence that early access to treatments like puberty blockers and hormones can save lives.
As Reed pointed out, a Cornell University review of more than 51 studies shows that access to such care dramatically reduces the risk of suicide and the rates of anxiety and depression among transgender adolescents.
The new HHS rules are being prepared for public release in November and would not be finalized for several more months.
But if passed, the ramifications could extend far beyond transgender people, impacting the entire healthcare system, for which federal funding from Medicare and Medicaid is a load-bearing piece. According to a report last year from the American Hospital Association, 96% of hospitals in the US have more than half their inpatient days paid for by Medicare and Medicaid.
It is already becoming apparent what happens when even some of that funding is taken away. As a result of the massive GOP budget law passed in July, an estimated $1 trillion is expected to be cut from Medicaid over the next decade. According to an analysis released Thursday by Protect Our Care, which maintains a Hospital Crisis Watch database, more than 500 healthcare providers across the country are already at risk of shutting down due to the budget cuts.
Tyler Hack, the executive director of the Christopher Street Project, a transgender rights organization, said that the newly proposed HHS rule would be "forcing hospitals to choose between providing lifesaving care for trans people or maintaining the ability to serve patients through Medicare and Medicaid."
"Today’s news marks a dangerous overreach by the executive branch, pitting trans people, low-income families, disabled people, and seniors against each other and making hospitals choose which vulnerable populations to serve," Hack said. "If these rules become law, it will kill people."
After Horrific Massacres in Sudan, Lawmakers Call for US to Stop Funding 'Arms Dealers' in UAE
After Sudan's Rapid Support Forces overran the city of el-Fasher this week, committing a series of horrific war crimes, lawmakers are calling for the US to pull its financial support for the United Arab Emirates, which is accused of providing extensive financial, military, and political support to the paramilitary group.
The Sudan Doctors Network (SDN), a medical organization monitoring the country's brutal civil war, said Wednesday that RSF militants, who are fighting against Sudan's government, killed more than 1,500 people over just three days after capturing the city, where more than 1 million people have languished under siege for more than 17 months. Sudan's armed forces say the death toll is as high as 2,000.
Among those killed, according to the World Health Organization, are more than 460 people systematically slaughtered at el-Fasher's Saudi Maternity Hospital. In what the SDN called "a heinous crime that violates all humanitarian laws and divine principles," they said RSF members "cold-bloodedly killed everyone they found inside the Saudi Hospital, including patients, their companions, and anyone else present in the wards."
One gruesome video, filmed by an RSF militant and obtained by Al Jazeera, shows a fighter walking across a floor strewn with dead bodies. When a living patient rises up from the pile, the soldier immediately guns them down.
The bloodshed in el-Fasher is so widespread and severe that Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab has been able to identify patches of bloodstained sand from space using satellite imagery.
The SDN has described the massacres as part of a “deliberate and systematic campaign of killing and extermination,” which began over a year and a half ago, when more than 14,000 civilians were killed in the region through “bombing, starvation, and extrajudicial executions.”
Death estimates for Sudan's civil war, which began in 2023, vary widely. But one former US envoy has estimated that over 150,000 people have been killed, while 12 million people have been displaced, and 30.4 million people, over half of Sudan’s total population, are in need of humanitarian support.
International human rights groups from Human Rights Watch to Amnesty International have agreed that the RSF’s actions throughout the conflict have amounted to an ethnic cleansing campaign against Sudan’s non-Arab ethnic groups, most notably the Masalit, who have historically called Darfur home and who were victims of a previous extermination campaign during the 2000s at the hands of RSF’s predecessor, the Janjaweed.
In January 2025—in the waning days of the Biden administration—then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken joined the world consensus after months of reported hesitation. He stated that the RSF "committed genocide in Sudan," citing the fact that they "targeted fleeing civilians, [murdered] innocent people escaping conflict, and prevented remaining civilians from accessing lifesaving supplies."
The State Department also sanctioned seven companies in the UAE, which has been the RSF's primary overseas supporter and funder, but notably declined to sanction its government, which a New York Times investigation had revealed the previous year was "funneling money, weapons and, now, powerful drones to the RSF."
As Jon Rainwater, the executive director of Peace Action, noted in Common Dreams this past May: "What makes this all the more alarming is that the UAE is one of America's closest military partners—and a major recipient of US arms. Despite repeated assurances to Washington that it would not arm Sudan's belligerents, the UAE has continued these transfers, as confirmed by the Biden administration in one of its last acts as well as by members of Congress."
He also noted that US President Donald Trump and his family have personally cultivated "deep financial ties" to the UAE, which "has invested $2 billion in a Trump family crypto venture." Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) pointed out that the investment has singlehandedly catapulted Trump's currency to "one of the five largest stablecoins in the world, massively inflating the president's wealth."
Over the past month—while negotiating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas—Trump has had friendly meetings with the UAE’s leaders where he has openly boasted about their financial entanglements. As he grasped the hand of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's deputy prime minister, Trump joked about how the oil-rich nation has "unlimited cash."
Even as warnings have piled up about an impending slaughter if the RSF took el-Fasher, journalist Oscar Rickett wrote in Middle East Eye that the dangers "were ignored as the UAE's 'unlimited cash' spoke louder."
While the Trump administration has continued the Biden-era sanctions on UAE-based companies and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has maintained the position that RSF is committing a genocide, the administration has only strengthened its economic and military relationship with the Gulf state's government.
Over objections from some Democrats, Trump's State Department in May authorized the sale of $1.4 billion in military aircraft to the UAE, which it rushed through without subjecting it to congressional review.
A group of Democrats—including Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the Africa Subcommittee—said in a joint resolution that the "end-run around Congress is irresponsible and will further embolden the UAE to... continue its support for the RSF and the killing of innocent civilians."
After news broke of the RSF's latest series of atrocities in el-Fasher, Murphy renewed his criticism of US arms sales under both the Trump and Biden administrations.
"Why is the US allowing the UAE—which we fund militarily—[to] help the brutal RSF engage in mass atrocity?" he asked on social media. "This isn't just about Trump—the Biden administration was letting this happen too."
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) urged Congress to pass a bill he introduced in March, which would halt US weapons shipments to the UAE until it stops materially supporting the militia group.
Among the strongest critics are congresspeople who have also called for the US to cease its military and financial support for Israel amid its genocide in Gaza.
"Sudan is facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis and a genocide," said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). "The UAE and other arms dealers to the RSF and RSF-aligned militias must be held accountable."
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) added: "We must do everything in our power to stop this genocide, including cutting off all weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates, who are arming and funding this ethnic cleansing."
Report Offers Easy Path for States to Make Tax Code Fairer by Targeting the Rich
"For too long, our tax systems have favored wealth over work," said the report's co-author. "State wealth proceeds taxes would take a major step toward correcting that imbalance.”
Taxing the passive proceeds of extreme wealth—including capital gains and stock dividends—is an easy way for states to generate billions of dollars in revenue, reduce inequality, and boost fairness in tax systems, according to a report published Thursday.
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) report shows how state-level wealth proceeds taxes of just 4% on profits generated by means including capital gains, dividends, and passive business income could raise more than $45 billion a year in revenue nationwide, while an enhanced version of such a levy would generate $57 billion annually.
According to the report, approximately three-quarters of such revenue would come from households with annual incomes exceeding $1 million—and only 4.4% of US taxpayers would owe anything at all.
Wealth inequality gets worse when working households pay more in taxes than wealthy owners.States have a simple way to address this problem and raise much-needed revenue.It's well past time for a Wealth Proceeds Tax.
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— ITEP (@itep.org) October 30, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Other key findings of the report include:
- A state wealth proceeds tax would help correct an imbalance in which most of the income generated by passive wealth currently faces effective federal tax rates roughly 40% lower than wages and salaries;
- A wealth proceeds tax is easy to implement—states can piggyback on federal filings, minimizing administrative costs for both taxpayers and state revenue agencies; and
- For a successful example of a wealth proceeds tax, look to Minnesota.
In 2023, Minnesota became the first state to enact a law piggybacking a wealth proceeds tax on the federal net investment income tax (NIIT), a levy on certain earnings from high-income individuals, estates, and trusts. Minnesota's 1% tax only applies to such wealth exceeding $1 million and is expected to raise more than $60 million in revenue in 2026.
Other states, while not having a wealth proceeds tax, apply higher levies on certain types of proceeds. Massachusetts, for example, imposes a short-term capital gains that is 3.5% higher than the ordinary state income tax rate, while Maryland enacted a 2% levy on short- and long-term capital gains for households earning more than $350,000 annually.
“States have an untapped opportunity to tax extremely wealthy families," ITEP senior analyst and report co-author Sarah Austin said in a statement. “The federal government already defines what counts as wealth-derived income, so states can easily adapt that framework to make their tax codes fairer and more robust.”
The report's other author, ITEP research director Carl Davis, said: "For too long, our tax systems have favored wealth over work. State wealth proceeds taxes would take a major step toward correcting that imbalance.”
With Food Aid Suspended for Millions of Families, Trump Brags of 'Statuary Marble' Bathroom Makeover
"He’s a psychopath, humanly incapable of caring about anyone or anything but himself," one critic said of Trump.
As millions of families across the US are about to lose their access to food aid over the weekend, President Donald Trump on Friday decided to show off photos of a White House bathroom that he boasted had been refurbished in "highly polished, statuary marble."
Trump posted photos of the bathroom on his Truth Social platform, and he explained that he decided to remodel it because he was dissatisfied with the "art deco green tile style" that had been implemented during a previous renovation, which he described as "totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era."
"I did it in black and white polished Statuary marble," Trump continued. "This was very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln and, in fact, could be the marble that was originally there!"
Trump's critics were quick to pan the remodeled bathroom, especially since it came at a time when Americans are suffering from numerous policies the president and the Republican Party are enacting, including tariffs that are raising the cost of food and clothing; expiring subsidies for Americans who buy health insurance through Affordable Care Act exchanges; and cuts to Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) programs in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
"Sure, you might not be able to eat or go to the doctor, but check out how nice Trump's new marble shitter is," remarked independent journalist Aaron Rupar on Bluesky.
Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman who has become a critic of Trump, ripped the president for displaying such tone deafness in the middle of a federal government shutdown.
"Government still shutdown, Americans not getting paid, food assistance for low-income families and children about to be cut off, and this is what he cares about," he wrote on X. "He’s a psychopath, humanly incapable of caring about anyone or anything but himself."
Don Moynihan, a political scientist at the University of Michigan, expressed extreme skepticism that the White House bathroom during Abraham Lincoln's tenure was decked out in marble and gold.
"Fact check based on no research but with a high degree of confidence: This is not the marble that was originally in the Lincoln Bedroom," he wrote. "It is more likely to the be retrieved from a Trump casino before it was demolished."
Fashion critic Derek Guy, meanwhile, mostly left politics out of his criticisms of the remodeled bathroom, instead simply observing that "White House renovations are currently being spearheaded by someone with famously bad interior design taste."
Earlier this month, Trump sparked outrage when he demolished the entire East Wing of the White House to make way for a massive White House ballroom financed by donations from some of America’s wealthiest corporations—including several with government contracts and interests in deregulation—such as Apple, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Meta, Google, Amazon, and Palantir.
'No Question' More People Will End Up With Fake Insurance If ACA Subsidies Expire: Expert
"This is what happens when we design systems for insurance companies instead of humans."
Time on Thursday published reporting about "how fake health insurance is luring people in," and along with sharing stories of Americans tricked into paying for plans that aren't compliant with the Affordable Care Act, the article features an expert's warning that more could be fooled if Congress lets ACA subsidies expire.
The ongoing federal government shutdown stems from congressional Democrats' efforts to reverse recent GOP cuts to Medicaid and extend the ACA tax credits, which set to expire at the end of the year. Open enrollment for 2026 plans sold on ACA marketplaces starts Saturday, and Americans who buy insurance through these platforms now face the looming end of subsidies and substantial monthly premium hikes.
"Confusion about navigating insurance writ large and the Affordable Care Act marketplace in particular has led many people to end up with plans that they think are health insurance which in fact are not health insurance," Time reported. "They mistakenly click away from healthcare.gov, the website where people are supposed to sign up for ACA-compliant plans, and end up on a site with a misleading name."
ACA plans are required to cover 10 essential benefits, the outlet detailed, but consumers who leave the official website may instead sign up for short-term plans that don't span the full year, fixed indemnity plans that pay a small amount for certain services, or "healthcare sharing ministries, in which people pitch in for other peoples' medical costs, but which sometimes do not cover preexisting conditions."
Claire Heyison, senior policy analyst for health insurance and marketplace policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told Time that "there's no question that more people will end up with these kinds of plans if the premium tax credits are not extended."
According to the outlet:
These non-insurance products "have increasingly been marketed in ways that make them look similar to health insurance," Heyison says. To stir further confusion, some even deploy common insurance terms like PPO (preferred provider organization) or co-pay in their terms and conditions. But people will pay a price for using them, Heyison says, because they can charge higher premiums than ACA-compliant plans, deny coverage based on preexisting conditions, impose annual or lifetime limits on coverage, and exclude benefits like prescription drug coverage or maternity care.
Often, the websites where people end up buying non-ACA compliant insurance have the names and logos of insurers on them. Sometimes, they are lead-generation sites... that ask for a person's name and phone number and then share that information with brokers who get a commission for signing up people for plans, whether they are health insurance or not.
To avoid paying for misleading plans, Heyison advised spending a few days researching before buying anything, steering clear of companies that offer a gift for signing up, and asking for documents detailing coverage to review before payment.
On the heels of Time's reporting and the eve of open enrollment, Data for Progress and Groundwork Collaborative published polling that makes clear Americans across the political spectrum are worried about skyrocketing health insurance premiums.
The pollsters found that 75% of voters are "somewhat" or "very" concerned about the spikes, including 83% of Democrats, 78% of Independents, and 66% of Republicans. While the overall figure was the same as last week, the share who said they were very concerned rose from 45% to 47%.
As the second-longest shutdown ever drags on, 57% of respondents said they don't believe that President Donald Trump and Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress are focused on lowering healthcare costs for people like them and their families. More broadly, 52% also did not agree that Trump and GOP lawmakers "are fighting on behalf of" people like them.
A plurality of voters (42%) said that Trump and congressional Republicans deserve most of the blame for rising premiums, while 27% blamed both parties equally, and just a quarter put most of the responsibility on elected Democrats.
"While President Trump focuses on the moodboard for his gilded ballroom and House Republicans refuse to show up for work in Washington, a ticking time bomb is strapped to working families’ pocketbooks," said Elizabeth Pancotti, Groundwork Collaborative's managing director of policy and advocacy, in a Friday statement.
Pointing to the Trump administration's legally dubious decision not to keep funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program during the shutdown, she added that "healthcare premiums are set to double and food assistance benefits are on the brink of collapse in a matter of hours, and voters know exactly who's to blame."