alternet.org

Long before he first ran for president in 2000 or became a reality television star with "The Apprentice," Donald Trump generated a lot of discussion with his work as a real estate developer. Trump's detractors often used words like "ostentatious," "flashy," "pretentious" and "gaudy" to describe his hotels and casinos in Atlantic City — adjectives that are now being used to describe his architectural proposals in the Washington, DC area, from a White House ballroom to a 250-foot "triumphal arch" near Arlington National Cemetery. In The Nation, however, journalist Kate Wagner details Trump's ability to make sure architects

Talk of the Antichrist has surged in President Donald Trump's first year in office, and the discussion has broken out beyond the traditional right-wing circles. Christian Paz, writing for Vox, reported Tuesday that talk of the Antichrist has become a larger conversation among more mainstream political circles than the typical evangelical prophecies. The end-times conversation connects a renewed apocalyptic panic to those desperately searching for ways to grapple with a more complicated "crisis-driven" world by ascribing the "Antichrist" thinking to any figure who could match charismatic leaders in technology, war or politics.The ide

President Donald Trump’s last-minute endorsement of MAGA Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton over conservative U.S. Senator John Cornyn in the Texas primary runoff for Cornyn’s seat was not only a surprise to many who saw the Texas senator as the stronger candidate, it turned out to be a targeted attack on Senate Republicans.“Trump backing Paxton was an intentional ‘f—— you’ to a stalled Republican Senate, said a White House official granted anonymity to speak candidly about the president’s thinking,” reports MS NOW. Trump’s “endorsement of Paxton, people familiar with his thinking say, was aimed squarely at Senate Repu

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving a dispute between California and Florida over who can and cannot hold a commercial driver's license. Florida is making it clear that California will issue a driver's license to anyone who passes the required tests. Washington does as well. Florida restricts their drivers licenses to citizens only. On Tuesday, the full court denied the "motion for leave to file a bill of complaint." It means the High Court told Florida they couldn't file the case there. Sometimes, when states are going up against each other, they'll go directly to the Supreme Court to settle the dis

President Donald Trump has ignited a new feud against a figure that MS NOW called "the most powerful woman in Washington," and despite his efforts, he is largely powerless to do anything about her.Elizabeth MacDonough has served as the Senate's Parliamentarian since 2012. Her position involves providing key interpretations of the Senate's standing rules and procedures, as well as determining what provisions can or cannot be included in budget reconciliation packages, which allow bills to pass with a simple majority, and without needing to meet the 60-vote filibuster threshold.Throughout her time in the role, she has had a handful of notable ruling

It’s no secret that President Donald Trump enjoys praise and adoration, but according to Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman, this is no mere vanity, but part of a “flattery-failure doom loop” that is burning the country down. Citing a recent New York Times piece entitled “Trump Is the Only Person Who Can Save America, According to His Cabinet,” Krugman notes that an average of one in six statements made by the president’s officia

Writing at The Bulwark, Bill Kristol is pointing to three Republican Senators who over recent days told the truth about President Donald Trump’s war in Iran and possible deals to end it. The longtime conservative columnist who recently became a Democrat calls their remarks a “brief spasm of Republican truth-telling,” and “a step on the road to recovery” but warns that “the damage that’s been done is real.”U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) on Friday

When Donald Trump's critics compare his two presidencies, many of them argue that the second is much worse. Trump got a lot of pushback from traditional GOP conservatives he appointed to his first administration; this time, he is surrounded by MAGA loyalists who are more likely to praise him than challenge or question him. Now 16 months into his second presidency, Trump is, according to Salon's Chauncey DeVega, becoming even more brazen with his power grabs.A Washin

A three-judge panel has blocked Alabama's effort to readjust maps to eliminate congressional districts that contain large populations of people of color, reported Politico on Tuesday. It flies in the face of the recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down part of the Voting Rights Act, which makes it more difficult to challenge redistricting based on racially biased redistricting, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) analyzed.

This Memorial Day, as an “exhausted, unsteady, and vacant” President Donald Trump stood fidgeting and bored beneath shelter at the Arlington Cemetery wreath-laying ceremony, Gold Star families who had lost loved ones in military service sat uncomfortably in the rain. According to Republican strategist Steve Schmidt, “It was the perfect metaphor for this vulgar and degraded age in American life,” capturing “the truth of Trumpism better than any poll, speech or slogan ever could.�