This is interesting. DeSantis will be a good SecDef. And if Lara Trump is appointed, Republicans will have two races on their hands in 2026. Democrats have two popular women politicians, Val Demings and Debbie Mucarsel Powell. My guess would be is Demings is going to run for governor; and in an anti-Trump year, she might have a shot.
Fetterman had the best response to JAG Off DeSantis’ potential elevation to SECDEF: He’ll consider supporting it if Ron admits to wearing lifts in his boots.
I wondered why Trump was considering DeSantis for DOD but it makes perfect sense in the transactional world Trump inhabits. He wants Lara to be installed as senator, so he’s buying off DeSantis with the promise of a juicy department to run. How utterly predictable.
Mark, I am sorry you are leaving The Bulwark. Your newsletters are always so informative; Bulwark’s loss is Axios’s gain.
Dear God. That's about all I've got The ugliness, the cruelty and general incompetence is the point with Trump. I don't think the Republicans have the bandwidth to sustain even a marginal resistance until they walk away saying, "how bad can it really be?"
While DeSatan may be more competent than Hegseth, that's a really low bar. He has the same prejudices against anyone not white, christian, male, and rich, that Hegseth had, but in more refined quantities
Depends on your definition of "white." Hispanics would classify him as white just like Spaniards are considered white. There was a time when Italians were not considered to be white either.
I don't want to hear another word about any Dems and family members. Trump is hiring everyone in his family. He did it his first term and doing it again. He thinks he's a King and sadly, that's how it's looking.
Agree. It's so annoying that they say nothing about Trump and multitude of crime (they just accept because it's Trump), but Biden does something that corrected what was over-reach by our government (Insert Republican Congress) when this was an issue dealt with in a manner that was typical for everyone in Hunter's position initially.
Get a grip, Press and complainers. There will be far more horrible and truly meaningful wrongs to worry about coming up. Worry more about what country and judicial you'll even have left to complain about.
No matter who is ultimately named head of DOD or senator from Florida, etc., we can expect that as the power and prestige of an open post increases, so will the “loyalty” to Trump and his self-obsessed ends increase as a selection criterion. That is, mob-like loyalty to Trump’s lies and desires, at the expense of principles, human decency, experience and competence.
We are witnessing the Putinization of America.
We stemmed the know-nothing tide briefly with Biden’s win in 2020, but now it’s coming back in, w a vengeance.
John Roberts, who mightily enabled Trump with his unprecedented Presidential hyper-immunity, will get the karmic punishment of having to swear in this vile, ignorant, self-obsessed and seditious man for a second time, after his having violently attempted to nullify millions of votes in 2020, after stealing and breaching confidentiality on classified documents, and other high crimes, for which Roberts helped him skate.
It seems more and more like we are witnessing what some historian soon enough will call Rise and Fall of the American Empire. Thoughtless voters fell prey to a disinformation brigade, w Trump at the lead, and now we have a government run by vindictive conspiracy quacks. Who will do all they can to perpetuate their grip on power.
Trump is repulsed by people who drink to excess, for deep family reasons. Sexual assault, no problem -- but getting wasted on the regular will doom Hegseth.
Sorry, this is the way I read it. Again with the chaos, distraction and destruction... this time to veil the purpose of installing not just a loyalist but the first family member. Paranoia? Please, prove me wrong.
This is interesting. DeSantis will be a good SecDef. And if Lara Trump is appointed, Republicans will have two races on their hands in 2026. Democrats have two popular women politicians, Val Demings and Debbie Mucarsel Powell. My guess would be is Demings is going to run for governor; and in an anti-Trump year, she might have a shot.
Fetterman had the best response to JAG Off DeSantis’ potential elevation to SECDEF: He’ll consider supporting it if Ron admits to wearing lifts in his boots.
I wondered why Trump was considering DeSantis for DOD but it makes perfect sense in the transactional world Trump inhabits. He wants Lara to be installed as senator, so he’s buying off DeSantis with the promise of a juicy department to run. How utterly predictable.
Mark, I am sorry you are leaving The Bulwark. Your newsletters are always so informative; Bulwark’s loss is Axios’s gain.
Mark, I read this morning that you’re soon joining Axios. Will miss you. You have your ear to the MAGA ground. All the best
We're bombing Disney on Day One!
Dear God. That's about all I've got The ugliness, the cruelty and general incompetence is the point with Trump. I don't think the Republicans have the bandwidth to sustain even a marginal resistance until they walk away saying, "how bad can it really be?"
It can and will be really bad.
While DeSatan may be more competent than Hegseth, that's a really low bar. He has the same prejudices against anyone not white, christian, male, and rich, that Hegseth had, but in more refined quantities
Is DeSantis actually white himself? I always wonder about this. He's Cuban/hispanic – is he ashamed of this?
Depends on your definition of "white." Hispanics would classify him as white just like Spaniards are considered white. There was a time when Italians were not considered to be white either.
I don't want to hear another word about any Dems and family members. Trump is hiring everyone in his family. He did it his first term and doing it again. He thinks he's a King and sadly, that's how it's looking.
Agree. It's so annoying that they say nothing about Trump and multitude of crime (they just accept because it's Trump), but Biden does something that corrected what was over-reach by our government (Insert Republican Congress) when this was an issue dealt with in a manner that was typical for everyone in Hunter's position initially.
Get a grip, Press and complainers. There will be far more horrible and truly meaningful wrongs to worry about coming up. Worry more about what country and judicial you'll even have left to complain about.
I don't think they permit backless dresses in the Senate.
No matter who is ultimately named head of DOD or senator from Florida, etc., we can expect that as the power and prestige of an open post increases, so will the “loyalty” to Trump and his self-obsessed ends increase as a selection criterion. That is, mob-like loyalty to Trump’s lies and desires, at the expense of principles, human decency, experience and competence.
We are witnessing the Putinization of America.
We stemmed the know-nothing tide briefly with Biden’s win in 2020, but now it’s coming back in, w a vengeance.
John Roberts, who mightily enabled Trump with his unprecedented Presidential hyper-immunity, will get the karmic punishment of having to swear in this vile, ignorant, self-obsessed and seditious man for a second time, after his having violently attempted to nullify millions of votes in 2020, after stealing and breaching confidentiality on classified documents, and other high crimes, for which Roberts helped him skate.
It seems more and more like we are witnessing what some historian soon enough will call Rise and Fall of the American Empire. Thoughtless voters fell prey to a disinformation brigade, w Trump at the lead, and now we have a government run by vindictive conspiracy quacks. Who will do all they can to perpetuate their grip on power.
Trump is repulsed by people who drink to excess, for deep family reasons. Sexual assault, no problem -- but getting wasted on the regular will doom Hegseth.
In the words of Jon Lovett- "The worst people are winning."
Good points on the whole rearranging the deck chairs on the ship that is Florida.
And if my math is math-ing:
[(Hegseth - Defense Secretary nomination) + (DeSantis + Defense Secretary confirmation)] = Governor Gaetz?
Sorry, this is the way I read it. Again with the chaos, distraction and destruction... this time to veil the purpose of installing not just a loyalist but the first family member. Paranoia? Please, prove me wrong.
I’d love someone to ask Trump how he could nominate a cabinet secretary he accused of being a pedophile.
The great thing about Ron is how unlikeable he is. Anything that will help make the Trump Administration less popular is ideal in my view.