@maxpotter
Writer-editor @protectdemocracy.org Contributing Editor @vanityfair.com NYT & WSJ Best Wine Book: “Shadows in the Vineyard” http://amzn.to/2H5ikFW Ghost in some memoirs. Facts are facts. My opinions are my own. https://linktr.ee/maximillianpotter
NEW: A recently developed Defense Department program was meant to reduce civilian harm during military operations.
But months before the Iran war, the mission was dissolved as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made “lethality” a top priority.
By @hannahallam.bsky.social
Trump melts down when his "rigged election" lies are debunked to his face.
He snaps, “You’re a rotten reporter!” after she factually points out that his own Attorney General, Bill Barr, stated that the Department of Justice uncovered no evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
8) Now, we learn that the U.S. is responsible. A man who declared himself exonerated and then alone declared war... to distract from his coverup and possible direct connections to the trafficking and rape of girls—he made America an accomplice to the killing of...girls. That's where we are.
7) On March 7th, Trump denies the U.S. is responsible for the attack on the school, saying, “In my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran. They’re very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran.” Again, this is his opinion.
6) On Day One of the war, the U.S. fires a missile into the Shajareh Tayyebeh all-girls school, killing about 175, most of them girls between the ages of 7-12. Shajareh Tayyebeh means The "Good" or "Blessed" Tree, as in where children can be protected and like branches grow and reach into the sky.
5) All of a sudden, Trump unilaterally decides to launch a war on Iran. Because: "It was my opinion that they were going to attack first. They were going to attack if we didn't do it. They were going to attack first. I felt strongly about that." ... All of a sudden war because that was his opinion.
4) As more and more attention goes to this ongoing coverup and to the revelation of the horrific nature of the allegation against the president, Trump's polling *craters.* This, as the nation approaches the midterms, and Trump and his Republicans are desperate to hold control of Congress.
3) Trump's DOJ releases a fraction of the Files, among the fragments, an allegation that the current president, decades ago, sexually/physically assaulted a young girl. The DOJ tries to withhold some of those interviews and related information, while Trump says the Files "totally exonerate" him.
2) This ring was run by a good friend of Donald Trump's. As in, "I’ve known Jeff [Epstein] for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side." Trump's name is *all over* the Files.
How we got here and where we are:
1) Trump's DOJ is legally mandated to release the Epstein files, which contain information and allegations about an international sex trafficking ring wherein powerful and wealthy men sexually assaulted and raped more than 1000 women and *girls.*
As Gulf Arab oil producers from Saudi Arabia to Iraq cut production and scramble for new routes that bypass the strait, Iran is conducting business as usual, according to data from tanker-tracking firm Kpler, throwing a financial lifeline to Tehran as it comes under blistering attack from the U.S.
It’s plain as day that Putin owns Trump.
It’s plain as day that Putin owns Trump.
In November 2025, ProPublica reported that part of the massive, taxpayer-funded budget for the ad went to a company called Strategy Group, which has worked extensively with Noem in the past. The CEO of Strategy Group is Ben Yoho, the husband of Noem’s former spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
“The money Noem spent on the ad totaled more than the combined production and marketing budgets of most of this year's Best Picture nominees.”
people.com/kristi-noem-...
Researchers and NGO leaders — including a U.S. lawful permanent resident — have already been targeted for deportation or exclusion under a new immigration policy from the Trump admin. So, we filed suit with @knightcolumbia.org ⬇️
Yep. And again this is all straight up malignant narcissist behavior. They do, say WHATever they feel is necessary to protect and advance themselves in the moment with totally no thought about the next moment, and no regard whatsoever for who or what gets hurt or killed along the way.
And let’s note that most congressional republicans *know* this. They know their guy and they themselves are responsible for this. More truths and more accountability they want to avoid. Another reason why Trump and his lackeys will do all they can to undermine free & fair elections.
Heck of a collective data point.
Poll: Majority of voters say risks of AI outweigh the benefits
In new NBC News polling, the only topics that were less popular than AI were the Democratic Party and Iran.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...
"Our government is treating the suffering of the Iranian people as a backdrop for our own entertainment, as if it’s just another piece of content to be swiped through while we’re waiting in line at the grocery store"
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago
bit.ly/4bxp5ND
It’s the type of crap reporting and framing that happens over and over, because it’s rooted in the Beltway-pundit class reporting to impress the Beltway-pundit class. Rather than present the framing for Americans they audition for a cable seat want to prove they’re clever and know “strategy.”
“If allowed to proceed, this effort to punish one of the leading U.S. AI companies will undoubtedly have consequences for the United States’ industrial and scientific competitiveness in the field of artificial intelligence and beyond,” the researchers said in their brief.
The Wall Street Journal & . Follow ... X WSJ 14h • 0 Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., the president's sons, are backing a new drone company that is vying to meet fresh demand from the Pentagon and fill a hole left by the administration's ban on new Chinese drones in the U.S. https://on.wsj.com/4uyhkoO Powerus, a drone roll-up company based in West Palm Beach, Fla., is merging with a publicly traded golf-course holding company backed by the Trumps, Powerus executives said. The reverse merger will result in Powerus, which was formed last year, trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the coming months. The deal brings deeper involvement by the Trump family into a multibillion-dollar sector that has new opportunities for growth following changes imposed by the Trump administration. Those include the Pentagon's emphasis on large-scale, rapid adoption of small drones, and a national ban on new models of the Chinese drones that have for more than a decade dominated the consumer and commercial markets. EXCLUSIVE Nord Lor Finan LTS NasdaqListe Nasa.
What is there even to say anymore?
“Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., the president's sons, are backing a new drone company that is vying to meet fresh demand from the Pentagon and fill a hole left by the administration's ban on new Chinese drones in the U.S.”
I feel like every time I tell myself there is nothing he can do, no matter how petty, how awful, how transparently unlawful that will shock me—he not only does something that shocks me, members of the United States congress who swore an oath to honor the Constitution, often do it with him, for him.
Headline: DHS Ordered to Stop Gassing Portland Residents Subheader: Ruling asserts the government cannot knowingly poison families in their own home
🚨 VICTORY 🚨 A federal judge ordered DHS to stop flooding Portland homes with toxic chemical munitions.
For months, federal agents have knowingly gassed the families, veterans, and seniors living at Gray’s Landing.
The court said: No more.
⬇️🧵 protdem.org/4b0Vr3m
From guy who said about Covid: “It’s going to disappear. One day – it’s like a miracle – it will disappear.”
www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...
Among so many examples of just how bananas Trump is this one was indeed particularly noteworthy. And that’s scary.
Mind-blowing that this moron who almost literally lies with his every breath—got elected president, twice.
Especially astonishing: He’s called out on lying about blowing up school girls and his explanation is basically I don’t know what I’m talking about; I just say whatever I want.
Amen.
