

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.


Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.

Melania and Donald Trump at the Inaugural Luncheon in January 2017
Wow. Just as the times were feeling pretty dark, it turns out love still (sort of) makes the world go round. With his usual grace, the former "president" sent his beloved wife a Valentine thanking her for not leaving him "even after every single INDICTMENT, ARREST, and WITCH HUNT," so can we please send $47 or $3,300? AKA, "Cheap-ass grifter piece of shit begging for money." Also, Nikki Haley sent valentines for him to the dictators he loves. We feel better already.
Perhaps because some MAGA supporters aren't the sharpest tools in the shed, the Bad Orange Guy's romantic if felony-themed missive explains at the top in big yellow all-caps, "THIS IS A VALENTINE'S DAY LETTER." Released by his Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, it begins subtly, sexily with, "Dear Melania, I love you!" Then, it gets even more mushy. “Even after every single (YELLOW HIGHLIGHTED) INDICTMENT, ARREST, and WITCH HUNT, you never left my side," he or one of his flunkies gushes. "I wouldn’t be the man I am today without your guidance, kindness, and warmth." He ends with, "You will always mean the world to me, Melania!", despite the times he had mushroom sex with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, raped E. Jean Carroll, and sexually assaulted at least 20 other women - those who came forward - even though he "never met these people." Having signed it, “From your husband with love, Donald J. Trump," he gets to the grifty point.
If his eloquence and devotion "inspired you to want to SEND YOUR LOVE to Melania," he or someone writes, click on one of those crass, red, screaming invites to "leave some kind words for the First Lady this Valentine’s Day!" The links go - duh - to a donation page asking if you'd like to support his latest stab at fascism with $20.24, $47, $3,300 or “other"; choose $47 "if you think Donald J. Trump is (sic) the greatest president of all time!", even though he's a sick 12-year-old. Thanks to his largesse, any amount gets you pop-up hearts. After signing it "Donald J. Trump. 45th President of the United States" because who could forget, he adds a mobster touch to any cheapskates: "WAIT, BEFORE YOU GO! No matter how many vicious lies and attacks they throw our way, President Trump will NEVER SURRENDER our great country to the Left’s tyranny!" He's "counting on YOUR support to finish what we started" - dismantling the rights and machinery of democratic governance to "SAVE AMERICA" - so fork it up.
In tribute to and perfect synchronicity with his goals, rival Nikki Haley also stepped up to celebrate the day by releasing "Love Letters from Trump," a faux campaign nod to the murderous likes of Putin, North Korea's Kim Jong-Un and China's Xi Jinping. "Over the years," she notes, Trump has professed his love for the world’s most brutal dictators and praised their strength and leadership skills." Aptly for targeting a malignant narcissist, first is a love letter to himself: “Roses are red. Violets are blue. I love dictators & they love me too." The others all quote from his own blundering words. On Kim Jong-Un's "beautiful letters" in 2018: "We fell in love." On Xi Jinping: He's "strong like granite” and rules "with an iron hand." On congratulating Putin on his "win": "Getting along with Russia is a good thing." Ending with a bang, And he praises the Taliban in 2021 as "good fighters - you have to give them credit for that." He helpfully adds, of a group founded in 1994, "They’ve been fighting for a thousand years."
Seemingly undismayed, the Trump campaign brushed off the maneuver from Haley - who served as Trump’s US ambassador to the UN and often cites her foreign policy expertise - in their customarily professional, insightful, grown-up fashion. "Nikki ‘Birdbrain’ Haley," they said, "has a minor league brain in a major league world." (Takes one to know one). Meanwhile, the "most unfit guy to run for president in all of American history" is busy tilting at improbable legal windmills in his fight against myriad criminal charges. Monday, in an emergency plea to SCOTUS to block a lower-court ruling allowing his election subversion case to proceed, he repeated his already oft-rejected argument he's immune from prosecution because otherwise "the Presidency as we know it will cease to exist" - a "very bizarre" claim one legal expert likened to "déjà vu all over again," maybe this time from Yogi Bear, not Berra. Wednesday, Jack Smith forcefully refuted the notion of a magical new "novel form of absolute immunity."
Whether or not that case moves forward, it seems unlikely Melania, who's "never left my side," will show up in court any time soon. Since 2020, she's been noticeably missing on the campaign trail and at multiple trials; it's unclear when in fact he last saw her or if, unlike that time with Marla/E. Jean, he'd recognize her if he did. A New York Times report adds an intriguing backstory to her sabbatical: New financial filings show the Trump PAC Make America Great Again, Again (LOL) was paying her to shill for him - in one case, $155,000 for what was dubbed a “speaking engagement" at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser. The fee was paid to one Designer’s Management Agency; curiously, Melania is listed as a client. Endless skullduggery, thy name is. Still, it looks like the happy couple will soon be reunited: Trump told Fox News his wife "wants to make America great again, (again) too," and will soon "play a big role” in his campaign. "I think she’s going to be very active in the sense of being active," he said, and what's not to believe?
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Wow. Just as the times were feeling pretty dark, it turns out love still (sort of) makes the world go round. With his usual grace, the former "president" sent his beloved wife a Valentine thanking her for not leaving him "even after every single INDICTMENT, ARREST, and WITCH HUNT," so can we please send $47 or $3,300? AKA, "Cheap-ass grifter piece of shit begging for money." Also, Nikki Haley sent valentines for him to the dictators he loves. We feel better already.
Perhaps because some MAGA supporters aren't the sharpest tools in the shed, the Bad Orange Guy's romantic if felony-themed missive explains at the top in big yellow all-caps, "THIS IS A VALENTINE'S DAY LETTER." Released by his Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, it begins subtly, sexily with, "Dear Melania, I love you!" Then, it gets even more mushy. “Even after every single (YELLOW HIGHLIGHTED) INDICTMENT, ARREST, and WITCH HUNT, you never left my side," he or one of his flunkies gushes. "I wouldn’t be the man I am today without your guidance, kindness, and warmth." He ends with, "You will always mean the world to me, Melania!", despite the times he had mushroom sex with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, raped E. Jean Carroll, and sexually assaulted at least 20 other women - those who came forward - even though he "never met these people." Having signed it, “From your husband with love, Donald J. Trump," he gets to the grifty point.
If his eloquence and devotion "inspired you to want to SEND YOUR LOVE to Melania," he or someone writes, click on one of those crass, red, screaming invites to "leave some kind words for the First Lady this Valentine’s Day!" The links go - duh - to a donation page asking if you'd like to support his latest stab at fascism with $20.24, $47, $3,300 or “other"; choose $47 "if you think Donald J. Trump is (sic) the greatest president of all time!", even though he's a sick 12-year-old. Thanks to his largesse, any amount gets you pop-up hearts. After signing it "Donald J. Trump. 45th President of the United States" because who could forget, he adds a mobster touch to any cheapskates: "WAIT, BEFORE YOU GO! No matter how many vicious lies and attacks they throw our way, President Trump will NEVER SURRENDER our great country to the Left’s tyranny!" He's "counting on YOUR support to finish what we started" - dismantling the rights and machinery of democratic governance to "SAVE AMERICA" - so fork it up.
In tribute to and perfect synchronicity with his goals, rival Nikki Haley also stepped up to celebrate the day by releasing "Love Letters from Trump," a faux campaign nod to the murderous likes of Putin, North Korea's Kim Jong-Un and China's Xi Jinping. "Over the years," she notes, Trump has professed his love for the world’s most brutal dictators and praised their strength and leadership skills." Aptly for targeting a malignant narcissist, first is a love letter to himself: “Roses are red. Violets are blue. I love dictators & they love me too." The others all quote from his own blundering words. On Kim Jong-Un's "beautiful letters" in 2018: "We fell in love." On Xi Jinping: He's "strong like granite” and rules "with an iron hand." On congratulating Putin on his "win": "Getting along with Russia is a good thing." Ending with a bang, And he praises the Taliban in 2021 as "good fighters - you have to give them credit for that." He helpfully adds, of a group founded in 1994, "They’ve been fighting for a thousand years."
Seemingly undismayed, the Trump campaign brushed off the maneuver from Haley - who served as Trump’s US ambassador to the UN and often cites her foreign policy expertise - in their customarily professional, insightful, grown-up fashion. "Nikki ‘Birdbrain’ Haley," they said, "has a minor league brain in a major league world." (Takes one to know one). Meanwhile, the "most unfit guy to run for president in all of American history" is busy tilting at improbable legal windmills in his fight against myriad criminal charges. Monday, in an emergency plea to SCOTUS to block a lower-court ruling allowing his election subversion case to proceed, he repeated his already oft-rejected argument he's immune from prosecution because otherwise "the Presidency as we know it will cease to exist" - a "very bizarre" claim one legal expert likened to "déjà vu all over again," maybe this time from Yogi Bear, not Berra. Wednesday, Jack Smith forcefully refuted the notion of a magical new "novel form of absolute immunity."
Whether or not that case moves forward, it seems unlikely Melania, who's "never left my side," will show up in court any time soon. Since 2020, she's been noticeably missing on the campaign trail and at multiple trials; it's unclear when in fact he last saw her or if, unlike that time with Marla/E. Jean, he'd recognize her if he did. A New York Times report adds an intriguing backstory to her sabbatical: New financial filings show the Trump PAC Make America Great Again, Again (LOL) was paying her to shill for him - in one case, $155,000 for what was dubbed a “speaking engagement" at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser. The fee was paid to one Designer’s Management Agency; curiously, Melania is listed as a client. Endless skullduggery, thy name is. Still, it looks like the happy couple will soon be reunited: Trump told Fox News his wife "wants to make America great again, (again) too," and will soon "play a big role” in his campaign. "I think she’s going to be very active in the sense of being active," he said, and what's not to believe?
Wow. Just as the times were feeling pretty dark, it turns out love still (sort of) makes the world go round. With his usual grace, the former "president" sent his beloved wife a Valentine thanking her for not leaving him "even after every single INDICTMENT, ARREST, and WITCH HUNT," so can we please send $47 or $3,300? AKA, "Cheap-ass grifter piece of shit begging for money." Also, Nikki Haley sent valentines for him to the dictators he loves. We feel better already.
Perhaps because some MAGA supporters aren't the sharpest tools in the shed, the Bad Orange Guy's romantic if felony-themed missive explains at the top in big yellow all-caps, "THIS IS A VALENTINE'S DAY LETTER." Released by his Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, it begins subtly, sexily with, "Dear Melania, I love you!" Then, it gets even more mushy. “Even after every single (YELLOW HIGHLIGHTED) INDICTMENT, ARREST, and WITCH HUNT, you never left my side," he or one of his flunkies gushes. "I wouldn’t be the man I am today without your guidance, kindness, and warmth." He ends with, "You will always mean the world to me, Melania!", despite the times he had mushroom sex with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, raped E. Jean Carroll, and sexually assaulted at least 20 other women - those who came forward - even though he "never met these people." Having signed it, “From your husband with love, Donald J. Trump," he gets to the grifty point.
If his eloquence and devotion "inspired you to want to SEND YOUR LOVE to Melania," he or someone writes, click on one of those crass, red, screaming invites to "leave some kind words for the First Lady this Valentine’s Day!" The links go - duh - to a donation page asking if you'd like to support his latest stab at fascism with $20.24, $47, $3,300 or “other"; choose $47 "if you think Donald J. Trump is (sic) the greatest president of all time!", even though he's a sick 12-year-old. Thanks to his largesse, any amount gets you pop-up hearts. After signing it "Donald J. Trump. 45th President of the United States" because who could forget, he adds a mobster touch to any cheapskates: "WAIT, BEFORE YOU GO! No matter how many vicious lies and attacks they throw our way, President Trump will NEVER SURRENDER our great country to the Left’s tyranny!" He's "counting on YOUR support to finish what we started" - dismantling the rights and machinery of democratic governance to "SAVE AMERICA" - so fork it up.
In tribute to and perfect synchronicity with his goals, rival Nikki Haley also stepped up to celebrate the day by releasing "Love Letters from Trump," a faux campaign nod to the murderous likes of Putin, North Korea's Kim Jong-Un and China's Xi Jinping. "Over the years," she notes, Trump has professed his love for the world’s most brutal dictators and praised their strength and leadership skills." Aptly for targeting a malignant narcissist, first is a love letter to himself: “Roses are red. Violets are blue. I love dictators & they love me too." The others all quote from his own blundering words. On Kim Jong-Un's "beautiful letters" in 2018: "We fell in love." On Xi Jinping: He's "strong like granite” and rules "with an iron hand." On congratulating Putin on his "win": "Getting along with Russia is a good thing." Ending with a bang, And he praises the Taliban in 2021 as "good fighters - you have to give them credit for that." He helpfully adds, of a group founded in 1994, "They’ve been fighting for a thousand years."
Seemingly undismayed, the Trump campaign brushed off the maneuver from Haley - who served as Trump’s US ambassador to the UN and often cites her foreign policy expertise - in their customarily professional, insightful, grown-up fashion. "Nikki ‘Birdbrain’ Haley," they said, "has a minor league brain in a major league world." (Takes one to know one). Meanwhile, the "most unfit guy to run for president in all of American history" is busy tilting at improbable legal windmills in his fight against myriad criminal charges. Monday, in an emergency plea to SCOTUS to block a lower-court ruling allowing his election subversion case to proceed, he repeated his already oft-rejected argument he's immune from prosecution because otherwise "the Presidency as we know it will cease to exist" - a "very bizarre" claim one legal expert likened to "déjà vu all over again," maybe this time from Yogi Bear, not Berra. Wednesday, Jack Smith forcefully refuted the notion of a magical new "novel form of absolute immunity."
Whether or not that case moves forward, it seems unlikely Melania, who's "never left my side," will show up in court any time soon. Since 2020, she's been noticeably missing on the campaign trail and at multiple trials; it's unclear when in fact he last saw her or if, unlike that time with Marla/E. Jean, he'd recognize her if he did. A New York Times report adds an intriguing backstory to her sabbatical: New financial filings show the Trump PAC Make America Great Again, Again (LOL) was paying her to shill for him - in one case, $155,000 for what was dubbed a “speaking engagement" at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser. The fee was paid to one Designer’s Management Agency; curiously, Melania is listed as a client. Endless skullduggery, thy name is. Still, it looks like the happy couple will soon be reunited: Trump told Fox News his wife "wants to make America great again, (again) too," and will soon "play a big role” in his campaign. "I think she’s going to be very active in the sense of being active," he said, and what's not to believe?