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川普觀察：爛人爛事錄 -- 開欄文
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瀏覽5,338 ｜回應43｜推薦2 |
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請參考：Trump Slips Badly in Polling on Key Issue
讀了CNN吳爾福先生的深度分析後(本欄上一篇)，難免有幸災樂禍的喜悅。我去年年初時，在本欄開欄文中曾「大膽預測」：
「美國老百姓跟川普的政治蜜月期頂多到今年七月；明年美國國會期中選舉，共和黨會大敗。」(開欄文第1.1小節)
到目前為止，這個「預測」的前半段已然為真(請參見：本欄2025/08/04貼文，以上所附「超連結」，以及吳爾福先生大作第2段所附「超連結」)；此「預測」的後半段到今年11月也非常可能成真。
「期中選舉」之所以是川痞的夢魘，則因為我在該文中的第2個「預測」：
「如果民主黨2026年在參、眾兩院拿到絕對多數；川普就會面臨第三次彈劾，並且灰頭土臉的下台一鞠躬。」
如果川普真的被彈劾下台，他將面臨兩個窘境：
1) 官司或定讞、或纏身，外帶民事天價賠償。
2) 更悽慘的是：由於川痞對他在聯邦最高法院的保護傘們不再有任何價值，這些昔日的「三客流」一定會棄他如敝履(該欄2024/07/07貼文「附註」)。從而，他的餘生註定要在庭訊中或大牢裏渡過。
也許，我生平第一次該到指南宮或鎮南宮去燒根香、許個願；或就近找間教堂去面見聖母瑪利亞祈禱、阿門一番。
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川痞的夢魘：2026期中選舉 -- Zachary Wolf
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請參考：
Trump isn’t ‘screwing around’ with our elections -- it’s dangerous to suggest he is
No, Trump can’t cancel the midterms. He’s doing this instead
Zachary Wolf, CNN, 01/17/26
Worried about losing unified Republican power in Washington and mystified at his lack of support among the public, President Donald Trump keeps talking about not holding the November midterm elections, when Republicans could lose control of the House, Senate or both.
Trump doesn’t understand why his approval rating is underwater (and it is, on every issue, in a CNN Poll conducted by SSRS and released Friday).
“I wish you could explain to me what the hell’s going on with the mind of the public,” he told House Republicans in a speech earlier this month.
Later, he added: “Now, I won’t say, ‘Cancel the election. They should cancel the election,’ because the fake news will say, ‘He wants the elections canceled. He’s a dictator.’”
But Trump did talk about canceling the election in an interview with Reuters this week. He said Republicans have been so successful that “when you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later said the president was “joking” and “being facetious” about canceling the election.
If it’s a joke, it’s material he’s been working on for months. Told during an appearance with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last September that Ukraine won’t hold an election during a period of martial law during its war with Russia, Trump expressed some envy.
“So you say during the war, you can’t have elections,” Trump said. “So let me just say, three and a half years from now – so you mean, if we happen to be in a war with somebody, no more elections? Oh, that’s good.”
People laughed.
Sometimes they’re jokes, sometimes not
Trump routinely says things that seem like trolls until they don’t. Owning Greenland? Not a joke. However, he seems to have retreated from the oft-repeated idea of an unconstitutional third term.
And for the record, unlike Ukraine, the US has held elections in the midst of multiple wars, when the British had invaded in 1812 and when it was at war with itself in 1864. It held elections during world wars when millions of Americans fought overseas in the 20th century as well.
It makes sense that Trump would dread the November midterms
Trump knows that presidents rarely pick up seats in a midterm. His administration has been moving at breakneck speed to change the government because, as his chief of staff famously said, they know that presidents expect to lose power after their first two years. A net loss of just a handful of seats would give control of the House to Democrats, for instance, requiring their buy-in for spending and giving them power to investigate his administration.
Presidents do not have the power to delay or cancel elections
The Constitution requires that a new Congress be sworn in on January 3, 2027. Election Day is set in law, so it is theoretically feasible for Congress to move it, but not to cancel the election. Elections are supposed to be administered by each state, so state governors and legislatures could, in theory, move their own elections to deal with a major disaster, but there’s no precedent for it. To get into the weeds of all of this, read a report from the Congressional Research Service.
The president’s distrust of US elections is legendary
Trump has also mused about using emergency powers to meddle with elections. He told the New York Times recently that he regrets not directing National Guards to seize voting machines after the 2020 election.
Even the elections he has won, he has said were rigged. There’s still no evidence of any widespread voter fraud, even after all these years of the Trump era.
People are talking about doomsday election scenarios
Election officials say they are thinking very carefully about all of this. Asked about Trump’s musings at an event sponsored by The Atlantic this week, Arizona’s top election official, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, said this:
“The fact that we’re running through these scenarios in the first place should tell you something about the health of our democracy,” Fontes added.
To that end, he would not elaborate on what scenarios they’re preparing for.
“I don’t want to give the bad guys any ideas,” Fontes said.
What Trump is actually doing about the next election
While Trump might fantasize about canceling the election, the reality is that the election system is already changing in some key ways. Some of them may be enormously consequential.
The redistricting war Trump kicked off continues to rage
Republicans have drawn themselves nine more friendly seats across the country, and Democrats have ended up with six, mostly in California. Republicans see additional opportunity in Florida, while Democrats plan a redistricting ballot initiative in Virginia in April. Read more.
If the Supreme Court decides to further gut the Voting Rights Act, Republicans could in theory redraw maps in many other states. Read takeaways from October’s oral arguments.
Expect a very different House in the near future
The long-term result of more and more political gerrymandering without protections for racial minority-focused districts could be the smothering of minority-party delegations in multiple states, making the House map look increasingly more like the presidential map. Far fewer Democratic districts in Texas. Far fewer Republican districts in California — even though there are millions of both Republicans and Democrats in both states.
Trump wants vastly more control over how states conduct elections
While much of the effort has been stopped, for now, by courts, Trump’s goal is to exert more executive control over elections that are supposed to be governed by Congress and states.
A federal court on Thursday sided with California against the administration’s demand that the state turn over information on its 23 million voters.
The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether mail-in ballots that are postmarked by, but arrive after Election Day can still be counted. The decision could have serious consequences for the country’s large scale adoption of mail-in voting in recent years. Trump is a loud skeptic of the practice even though he has personally voted by mail. His executive order would also scramble how states use voting machines, another response to phantom voter fraud that could actually drastically slow down the counting of ballots.
Trump has chipped away at election oversight
Early on, his administration scaled back the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA, which is meant to helps states guard their election systems from attack. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem canceled funding for an information sharing network that helped states detect and ward off coordinated hacking attacks, as CNN reported last year.
His Justice Department has rewired the agency’s Civil Rights Division away from its original core mission of civil rights abuses, including those related to elections. One current focus of the division is to help states “clean” voter rolls, although a judge recently ruled that effort was a misapplication of the Civil Rights Act.
Trump’s administration has already tried to change how people vote through executive action, and who they vote for through changing maps.
There’s a lot of time for more gaming the system between now and November, and Trump clearly already has the midterms on the brain.
A version of this story appeared in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
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川普2025年終民調 -- Kinsey Crowley/Kathryn Palmer
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What is Donald Trump's approval rating? See year-end polls
Kinsey Crowley and Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 12/24/25
What is Donald Trump's approval rating? See year-end polls
President Donald Trump is nearing the end of 2025 with an approval rating underwater, but slightly better than his lows in November.
With the turn of the new year, voter moods will be top of mind as the 2026 midterms approach and Republicans hope to hold onto control of Congress. Recent elections and polls have been pointing to a weak spot for Trump: the economy and cost of living. But in a primetime address on Dec. 17, Trump blamed problems with affordability on the Democrats.
Another problem that has plagued Trump in his second term is rearing its head in the final weeks of December. The Department of Justice is in the process of releasing criminal case files on Jeffrey Epstein after the Dec. 19 deadline put in place by the Epstein Files Transparency Act. A batch released Dec. 23 mentioned Trump numerous times. Here is what to know about his approval rating:
What is Trump's average approval rating?
Averages based on RealClearPolitics and New York Times aggregators show Trump's approval rating is net negative, but appears to have rebounded slightly and begun stabilizing after a sharp drop last month.
As of Jan. 27, 50.5% approved, giving Trump a net positive rating until March 13, when it flipped to net negative with 47.8% approval, compared to 48.5% disapproval, RealClearPolitics graphics show. The approval rating reached a low on April 29 at 45.1% approval, which fell around Trump's 100-day mark. It reached a new low of 42.3% on Nov. 14, as the controversy on Jeffrey Epstein's emails heated up following the end of the government shutdown. The following week, his disapproval also ticked up to a term high of 55.6% on Nov. 21. As of Dec. 23, RealClearPolitics found 43% approve and 53.6% disapprove.
The New York Times aggregator showed Trump's approval fell from 52% approval in January to 44% approval in April, and then mostly held steady for months. According to the Times, Trump's term low is 41% approval, which he first reached on Nov. 12. His disapproval also notched up to 56% on Nov. 19, a high for this term per the aggregator. As of Dec. 23, 42% approve and 54% disapprove, per the Times.
Morning Consult: Voters want Trump to focus on the economy
In a Morning Consult poll conducted Dec. 19-21, Trump had a 45% approval rating. The poll surveyed 2,203 registered U.S. voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points. The approval is down one point from the previous week, while the 52% disapproval held steady. Both are worse than the pollster's average since January.
The survey also found that voters were most likely to want Trump to focus on lowering prices, but not as many see Trump as prioritizing those policies.
Gallup: Voters have negative view of other US leadership
A new two-week poll from Gallup released on Dec. 22 shows Trump's approval rating for the last month of the year is weak, standing at 36%, though it's buoyed by a strong 89% level of support among Republicans. Among independents, his support in the latest Gallup poll is 25%. Democrats' opinions of the president tanked to 3% in the survey. Trump's December approval rating is unchanged from last month's Gallup numbers, when it fell to the lowest of his second term, just barely above his personal low of 34% in January 2021.
The poll also shows that a majority of Americans are unhappy about congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle, dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country and do not approve of the country's top leaders in the White House, Supreme Court and the Federal Reserve.
The poll surveyed 1,016 U.S. adults living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, between Dec. 1 and Dec. 15. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
How does President Donald Trump's approval rating compare to past presidents?
A historical analysis by Gallup shows Trump's approval ratings in December of his first years in office − both as the 45th and 47th presidents − are lower than any other modern president at the same time in their administrations. Here is how his December approval compares to other presidents in December of their first year of their terms, according to Gallup:
* Joe Biden (December 2021) - 43% approve
* Trump (December 2017) - 36% approve
* Barack Obama (December 2009) - 50% approve
* George W. Bush (December 2001) - 86% approve
* Bill Clinton (December 1993) - 53% approve
* George H.W. Bush (December 1989) - 71% approve
* Ronald Reagan (December 1981) - 49% approve
Contributing: Kathryn Palmer, USA TODAY
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at KCrowley@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X (Twitter), Bluesky and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's approval rating? Epstein saga rears head as 2025 ends
相關新聞
Live updates on Epstein files: Trump named in latest documents
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白宮烏龍秘書長大爆烏龍料 -- Aaron Blake
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請參考：
* ‘The Trump Era Is Ending’: Political World Rocked by Bombshell Susie Wiles Tell-All
* What these close-up photos of the Trump administration really say
* Jake Tapper breaks down the bombshell quotes from the Vanity Fair profile of Susie Wiles (視頻)
無法置信；不予置評。
6 takeaways from Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles’ unvarnished interviews
Aaron Blake, 12/17/25
It was eight years ago that then-Trump White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci gave one of the most unvarnished – and infamous – political interviews of all time. Scaramucci made off-color remarks about the White House’s chief strategist and derided its chief of staff as a “paranoid schizophrenic.”
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles’ two-part set of interviews with Vanity Fair isn’t as crass as Scaramucci’s, but it’s in the same vein – and perhaps even more stunning from someone known as a studied, behind-the-scenes operator. When the history of the Trump presidencies is written, it’s likely to figure substantially.
The Vanity Fair articles appear to have rocked the administration, with Wiles distancing herself from her portrayal Tuesday morning. She said on X that it was “a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history.” She said it was missing context.
Below are some takeaways from the interview.
1. Wiles is not exactly flattering toward Bondi, Musk and Vance
The money quote from the interview might be Wiles saying that Trump – a known teetotaler – has an “alcoholic’s personality.”
Trump gave Wiles a vote of confidence in an interview later Tuesday with the New York Post, casting doubt on the accuracy of the report. But he suggested he saw some truth in her comment about him, because even though he doesn’t drink, he does have a “possessive and addictive type personality.”
“I didn’t read it, but I don’t read Vanity Fair — but she’s done a fantastic job,” Trump told the Post.
But Wiles’ comments about other top officials are even more interesting – and often uncharitable.
Indeed, they’re the kinds of quotes that could create some hard feelings internally.
She said that Attorney General Pam Bondi “completely whiffed” with her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. “First she gave them binders full of nothingness. And then she said that the witness list, or the client list, was on her desk,” Wiles said. “There is no client list, and it sure as hell wasn’t on her desk.”
Bondi said Tuesday her “dear friend” Wiles fights for Trump’s agenda “with grace, loyalty, and historic effectiveness,” writing on X that the administration will not be divided. “We are family. We are united.”
Wiles indicated that Elon Musk’s approach to the Department of Government Efficiency was just as chaotic and careless as it seemed from the outside. “Elon’s attitude is you have to get it done fast,” Wiles said, adding: “But no rational person could think the USAID process was a good one. Nobody.” She also suggested much of the chaos was linked to his alleged use of ketamine.
“He’s an avowed ketamine (user),” Wiles said, adding “I think that’s when he’s microdosing.”
(Wiles denied those quotes to The New York Times, but the Times says Vanity Fair played its tape of Wiles saying these things.)
And her comments about Vice President JD Vance are more subtly biting.
For one, she said he’s “a conspiracy theorist.” And secondly, she described his evolution from Never-Trumper to Trump loyalist as “a little bit more, sort of political” than what she cast as Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s more principled shifts.
That is not how Vance has described his own evolution; he’s said it came because he realized he was wrong about Trump.
Vance on Tuesday praised Wiles for her loyalty to Trump. Asked about the conspiracy theorist comments after giving a speech in Pennsylvania, Vance said: “I only believe in the conspiracy theories that are true.”
2. She undercut Trump’s public message on the boat strikes and Venezuela
It’s hardly just palace intrigue in these pieces; Wiles also weighs in on key issues in ways that call into question how they’ve been sold to the public.
Indeed, she suggests the administration has obscured the true purpose of its legally dubious strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.
While Trump has said they’re about stopping drugs from reaching the United States, Wiles indicated it’s about applying pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“He wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle,” Wiles said.
While the two campaigns are certainly related — Trump has said Maduro’s “days are numbered” and CNN has reported the administration has been quietly planning for what would happen if he were ousted – this is not how the boat strikes have been sold. And given the stakes here – this involves possible regime change and even a threatened invasion – it’s pretty stunning to see Wiles be so candid about Maduro.
Wiles also said that Trump would need congressional approval for a land war in Venezuela — which the president has said he doesn’t.
“If he were to authorize some activity on land, then it’s war, then (we’d need) Congress,” she said.
When Trump was asked about this last month, he said, “We don’t have to get their approval. But I think letting them know is good.”
3. She comes across as a willing enabler
Another of the money quotes from Wiles is this one: “So no, I’m not an enabler. I’m also not a bitch.”
But the totality of the interviews suggest she’s played the role of enabler plenty. Indeed, she seems to be the kind of malleable figure we might have expected to be leading the White House at a time when it seems anything Trump wants, goes.
She distanced herself from or suggested she was uncomfortable with many things. Those include: Trump’s tariffs, his pardons of those associated with the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, his retribution against his foes, the USAID cuts, Signalgate, his deportations and the administration’s handling of Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
But her prevailing attitude seems to be that Trump and others are just going to do stuff and that bad stuff happens – even on issues as serious as dismantling USAID, which eliminated life-saving AIDS treatments in Africa.
“I was initially aghast,” Wiles said. “Because I think anybody that pays attention to government and has ever paid attention to USAID believed, as I did, that they do very good work.”
But she added that Musk’s approach meant “you’re going to break some china.”
“But he decided that it was a better approach to shut it down, fire everybody, shut them out, and then go rebuild,” Wiles said. “Not the way I would do it.”
She also suggested she has tried to limit Trump’s targeting of his foes. But she said, “Who would blame him? Not me.”
If there’s one quote that encapsulates all this, it might be her comments on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“He pushes the envelope — some would say too far,” Wiles said. “But I say in order to get back to the middle, you have to push it too far.”
That seems to be how Wiles justifies plenty of things she disagrees with. And it’s certainly created a permission structure for Trump.
4. She admits Trump is out for retribution
Just as Wiles seems to enable Trump without wanting to use that word for it, she also makes clear Trump is out for retribution. She just doesn’t want to call it that.
“I don’t think he’s on a retribution tour,” she said at one point.
But the rest of her comments tell the tale.
For one, she said she and Trump had an informal agreement that his “score settling” would end after 90 days. Trump clearly didn’t abide by that.
“In some cases, it may look like retribution,” she said. “And there may be an element of that from time to time.”
She also said of the attempted prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James, “Well, that might be the one retribution.”
Then she added of Trump, while talking about the attempted prosecution of former FBI director James Comey: “I don’t think he wakes up thinking about retribution. But when there’s an opportunity, he will go for it.”
In other words, yes, it’s retribution.
5. Rubio says he’ll defer to Vance in 2028
Wiles wasn’t the only one making news. We actually got a big early signal about the 2028 GOP presidential primary, courtesy of Rubio.
“If JD Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him,” Rubio told Vanity Fair.
Vance has been the clear frontrunner in early polling of the primary, but Rubio is generally considered in the top two. Trump hasn’t been shy in talking about the possibility of the two of them running together on the same ticket.
To the extent Rubio’s deference holds, it’s a big get for Vance.
6. Her big political concerns for Trump and the GOP
One some key issues, Wiles indicated she fears Trump and the administration are alienating key voters.
She suggested that the Epstein files could cost the Republican Party some very important voters who have a tenuous relationship with the GOP.
“The people that are inordinately interested in Epstein are the new members of the Trump coalition, the people that I think about all the time — because I want to make sure that they are not Trump voters, they’re Republican voters,” Wiles said. “It’s the Joe Rogan listeners. It’s the people that are sort of new to our world. It’s not the MAGA base.”
She also, perhaps more significantly, echoed bubbling concerns in the GOP that Trump is too focused on foreign policy and not enough on issues like affordability.
“More talks about the domestic economy and less about Saudi Arabia is probably called for,” Wiles said. “They like peace in the world. But that’s not why he was elected.”
But she was otherwise bullish on the GOP’s hopes.
“We’re going to win the midterms,” she predicted.
Still, if Trump’s attacks on affordability as a “Democrat hoax” are any indication, Wiles has not prevailed on Trump to change his focus. But the picture of Trump’s chief of staff in these interviews is of someone who is content to disagree, try her best, and see what happens.
This story has been updated with comments from President Donald Trump.
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川普的殺！殺！殺！國防部長 – Kevin Freking
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昔有台灣的衝！衝！衝！行政院院長；今有美國的殺！殺！殺！國防部部長。外加一位飛！飛！飛！聯邦調查局局長。「豬隊友」者，其此之謂乎？
請參考本欄上一篇貼文中，對這兩位國防部部長和聯邦調查局局長的評價：前者為”misogynist sycophant”；後者為”conspiracy-theory-peddling podcaster“(該文第一段)。
Lawmakers voice support for congressional reviews of Trump's military strikes on boats
KEVIN FREKING, 12/01/25
Trump Cartels Congress
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., speaks with reporters about President Donald Trump's foreign policy intentions, with Venezuela in particular, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) 照片
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers from both parties said Sunday they support congressional reviews of U.S. military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, citing a published report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for all crew members to be killed as part of a Sept. 2 attack.
The lawmakers said they did not know whether last week's Washington Post report was true, and some Republicans were skeptical, but they said attacking survivors of an initial missile strike poses serious legal concerns.
“This rises to the level of a war crime if it's true,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, when asked about a follow-up strike aimed at people no long able to fight, said Congress does not have information that happened. He noted that leaders of the Armed Services Committee in both the House and Senate have opened investigations.
“Obviously, if that occurred, that would be very serious and I agree that that would be an illegal act,” Turner said.
Turner said there are concerns in Congress about the attacks on vessels that the Trump administration says are transporting drugs, but the allegations regarding the Sept. 2 attack “is completely outside anything that has been discussed with Congress and there is an ongoing investigation.”
The comments from lawmakers during news show appearance come as the administration escalates a campaign to combat drug trafficking into the U.S. On Saturday, Republican President Donald Trump said the airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela should be considered as “closed in its entirety,” an assertion that raised more questions about the U.S. pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Maduro's government accused Trump of making a ”colonial threat” and seeking to undermine the South American country’s sovereignty.
After the Post's report, Hegseth said Friday on X that “fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland.”
"Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict—and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command," Hegseth wrote.
Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and its top Democrat, Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, said in a joint statement late Friday that the committee “will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”
That was followed Saturday with the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, and ranking Democratic member, Washington Rep. Adam Smith, issuing a joint statement saying the panel was committed to “providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s military operations in the Caribbean.”
“We take seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics in the SOUTHCOM region and are taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question,” Rogers and Smith said, referring to U.S. Southern Command.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., asked about the Sept. 2 attack, said Hegseth deserves a chance to present his side.
“We should get to the truth. I don’t think he would be foolish enough to make this decision to say, kill everybody, kill the survivors because that’s a clear violation of the law of war,” Bacon said. “So, I’m very suspicious that he would’ve done something like that because it would go against common sense.”
Kaine and Turner appeared on CBS' “Face the Nation," and Bacon was on ABC's “This Week."
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川痞政府成員之蛇鼠大雜燴 -- Danielle Han
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我在這篇拙作中說過：「…，沒有提到『官員素質』這個重要議題」(該欄2025/02/19)。從下面的報導可見，我此言非虛。
Federal Judge Calls Out Pam Bondi's Attempt at Time Travel While Disqualifying Lindsey Halligan
The judge threw out the indictments against James Comey and Letitia James and wrote that Bondi couldn't "reach back in time and rewrite the terms of a past appointment.”
Danielle Han, 11/25/25
It should be a no-brainer that when you assume a position you are neither qualified nor authorized to take, you’re not going to get very far. But in the Trump administration—which put a conspiracy-theory-peddling podcaster as head of the FBI and a misogynist sycophant as head of the Department of Defense—anything usually goes. Unless your name is Lindsey Halligan.
In a rare good-news moment on Monday, a federal judge dismissed Halligan’s indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, saying she was “unlawfully appointed” to her post as U.S. attorney of the Eastern District of Virginia, and she had “no lawful authority to present the indictment.” Half the country understood this already, but it’s just nice to have it confirmed again.
If you need a quick recap: in September, her predecessor, Erik Siebert, was forced out of his post for refusing to prosecute Trump’s political enemies. Shortly after, Trump announced via Truth Social that he would nominate Halligan as his replacement—and in another post, ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to immediately swear her in. (Our cognitively sound president seemingly thought he was sending a text.) Halligan had the job two days later and immediately filed an indictment against Comey for allegedly lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding during Russiagate. A week later, she did the same against New York AG Letitia James, for alleged bank fraud.
“All actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment, including securing and signing Mr. Comey’s indictment, constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside,” District Judge Cameron Currie wrote in her dismissal of Comey’s indictment, referring to the fact that Halligan, unusually, was the only one to collect evidence and sign his indictment. “The Government attempts to counter this result with several arguments, but none is persuasive.” (Currie issued two dismissals: one that followed up on Comey’s motion to dismiss the case specifically, and one for James.)
Speaking about the decision, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called Currie a “partisan” and warned an appeal would soon come.
In October, Halligan accidentally condemned the indictments while speaking to a reporter (without realizing that the reporter would, um, report), and last week, a magistrate judge criticized her “profound investigative missteps.” And as acting U.S. attorney, Halligan was expecting a 120-day limit, but Siebert had already used them up before he was pushed out. Earlier this month, Bondi tried to cement the indictments by legitimizing Halligan—retroactively—as a special attorney, and pretending that she gave her the title when she swore her in back in September. But that effort was rinsed by Currie, who wrote “the Government has identified no authority allowing the Attorney General to reach back in time and rewrite the terms of a past appointment.” Ha!
Still, while Halligan’s disqualification is a setback for Trump’s retribution campaign, it’s almost definitely not the end. The DOJ initially rushed her Comey indictment to beat a statute of limitations that would expire September 30, and it’s unclear whether that same statute will block them now. And on Monday, Bondi confirmed that the administration will keep Halligan in her post, saying that because she appointed Halligan as a special attorney, the other cases will not be jeopardized.
“I know that Donald Trump will probably come after me again,” Comey said in an Instagram video following the news. “My attitude’s going to be the same. I’m innocent, I am not afraid, and I believe in an independent federal judiciary.”
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川普最新民調數據 ------ Tom Wrobleski
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‘Petulant child in the White House’: new poll shows ominous sign for Trump with Republicans
Tom Wrobleski, 11/13/25
A new poll shows American support for President Donald Trump’s handling of government plummeting, driven by a steep decline in backing from Republicans.
A survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that just 33% of U.S. adults approve of the way Trump is managing the government.
That figure is down from 43% seen in the AP-NORC poll in March.
Trump’s plummeting fortunes in that area of the poll are driven in large part by a decline in approval among Republicans and independents.
The survey said that 68% of Republicans said that they approve of Trump’s management of the federal government, down from 81% in March.
Independents’ approval of Trump’s handling of the government dropped from 38% to 25%.
The survey was conducted following Democratic wins in high-stakes gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia on Nov. 4, as well as democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral win in New York City, but before a deal to end the record shutdown of the federal government was made.
“I’m thoroughly disturbed by the government shutdown for 40-something days,” Beverly Lucas, 78, a Republican and retired educator who lives in Ormond Beach, Fla., told the pollsters.
She compared Trump’s second term to “having a petulant child in the White House, with unmitigated power.”
“When people are hungry, he had a party,” she said, referring to a Great Gatsby-themed Halloween party held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in the Sunshine State. “I thought he seems callous.”
But even with the decline in support for his management of the government, Trump’s overall approval rating remained steady in the new poll.
The survey showed that 36% approve of Trump’s overall handling of the presidency, roughly in line with 37% in an October AP-NORC poll.
Approval of his handling of key issues like immigration and the economy have also barely changed since last month.
Read the original article on silive.com.
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川普與澤倫斯基又爆粗口 ---- 陳韻聿
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在大多數歐洲人民心中，澤倫斯基是「抗俄英雄」；在歐洲各國領袖眼中，川普就是個笑話。
我有時不免突發奇想，或許二戰之後，美國歷任總統跟國務卿造的孽太多；所以，老天讓川普來給選出這種混帳領導人的美國老百姓一個現世報。
金融時報：川普促烏接受俄條件終戰 以免被毀滅
陳韻聿，中央社，2025/10/20
(中央社記者陳韻聿倫敦19日專電) 英國「金融時報」今天援引數名知情人士說法報導，美國總統川普17日在白宮強力要求烏克蘭總統澤倫斯基接受莫斯科提出的「終戰」條件，否則烏克蘭就要被俄羅斯總統普丁「毀滅」。
知情人士透露，川普(Donald Trump)與澤倫斯基(Volodymyr Zelenskyy)17日在白宮的會談多次演變為大聲爭執，川普「一直咒罵」，期間還把標記烏克蘭境內交戰前線的地圖丟在一邊，強力要求澤倫斯基將整個烏東頓巴斯(Donbass)地區讓給普丁(Vladimir Putin)，儘管俄軍至今仍未完全控制當地，且進展有限。
一名了解會面情況的歐洲國家官員告訴「金融時報」(Financial Times)，川普提到，他對一再看到畫有烏克蘭境內交戰前線的地圖真是「受夠了」。川普說：「這條紅線，我甚至不知道它到底是在哪裡，我從來沒去過。」
與澤倫斯基會晤前，川普曾與普丁通話約2.5小時並規劃在匈牙利舉行實體會談。雙方也再度談及一旦烏克蘭戰爭結束，美俄之間的經貿合作前景有多麼可觀。
知情人士表示，川普17日在白宮多次呼應、重申普丁的論點，包括告訴澤倫斯基，根據普丁的說法，在烏克蘭發生的不是戰爭，而僅是「特別行動」。川普強調，澤倫斯基有必要和普丁達成交易，否則就得面臨毀滅。
據知情歐洲官員透露，川普警告澤倫斯基，烏克蘭正在輸掉戰爭，而只要普丁有意，「他（普丁）就會毀掉你」。川普並花許多時間對澤倫斯基「說教」。
「金融時報」報導，儘管川普後來認可凍結既有前線的停戰方案，川普與澤倫斯基充滿火藥味的會談可謂反映了川普的反覆無常，以及川普願意支持普丁的極端要求。
在促成以色列和巴勒斯坦激進武裝組織哈瑪斯(Hamas)達成「停火」後，川普的注意力再度轉向烏克蘭戰爭。澤倫斯基試圖說服川普向烏方供應「戰斧」(Tomahawk)長程巡弋飛彈，但川普終究拒絕這麼做。
儘管不少分析曾認為川普對普丁已快要失去耐心、轉而更願意增加對烏克蘭的支持，知情人士告訴「金融時報」，在17日的會談，川普屢次幾乎是一字不差重述普丁論點，無論這些論點是否有違川普本人不久前的發言。
舉例而言，川普近日曾公開向普丁喊話，敦促他盡快上談判桌，因為俄羅斯「經濟快崩潰了」，但在17日的會談，川普改口稱俄羅斯「經濟好得很」。
白宮和烏克蘭總統府尚未回應「金融時報」的評論請求。
烏克蘭國會外交事務委員會主席梅列日科(Oleksandr Merezhko)說，普丁了解，不戰就出讓頓巴斯，這對烏克蘭多數民眾而言是無法接受的條件。普丁的真正目的因此可能是藉由刻意提出烏方明顯難以接受的條件，進一步削弱烏克蘭社會的團結。1141020
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歐洲國家領袖猛吃川普豆腐 -- Kelley Greene
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European World Leaders Got Caught On Camera Laughing About Donald Trump's "Solved Wars," And It's Kiiiiiiiinda Brutal
"World diplomacy these days: solved over a Trump punchline and a handshake."
Kelley Greene, 10/03/25
Recently, President Trump has touted that he "solved wars that were unsolvable," including wars between "Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, and the Congo and Rwanda." But in a press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and an interview with Fox News last month, he seemingly misspoke, saying he'd also ended a war between Azerbaijan and Albania.
Azerbaijan has been at war with Armenia, not Albania, and those two countries did sit down to broker a peace deal in the White House after four decades of conflict in August.
Well, the gaffe does not appear to have gone unnoticed. This week, during the 7th European Political Community (EPC) Summit in Copenhagen, the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, and Azerbaijan's President, Ilham Aliyev, were seen joking about it with French President Emmanuel Macron.
The three men were caught on video chatting at the event, as Rama said to Macron, "You should make an apology to him — to us," as he gestured to Aliyev.
President Macron seemingly looked surprised for a moment, and then Rama continued, "Because you didn't congratulate us on the peace deal that President Trump made between Albania and Azerbaijan," as they all began to laugh.
"I am sorry for that," Macron said.
"And he worked very hard, he worked very hard..." Rama continued, as Macron playfully slapped his cheek before he turned to walk away.
Unsurprisingly, people have a lot to say about the clip. "World diplomacy these days: solved over a Trump punchline and a handshake."
"I'm confused because trump said countries were laughing at us when Biden and Obama were president. Are we respected now???"
"It sucks that the world is laughing at us but I get it because it is very funny if you're not living through it."
Even elected representatives shared their thoughts on the video. "They are laughing at us," said Representative Eric Swalwell.
Governor Newsom's press office said, "UNDER TRUMP, AMERICA IS BEING LAUGHED AT."
You can see the full video below.
@clashreport / @news_az / Via Twitter: @news_az
請點擊此聯結觀看歐洲領袖取笑川普視頻
What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
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Read it on BuzzFeed.com
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世界各國領袖眼中的川普大爺 - JENNIFER PELTZ
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我估計：外交辭令之外，不論隸屬那一個集團，85%以上的這些世界領袖，他/她們心中對川痞個人的「尊重」，跟一般老百姓對街頭收保護費混混的「尊重」差不多。此處請參考下文最後一段巴西總統的評論。
Through their eyes: Donald Trump and his actions, as seen by leaders from around the world
JENNIFER PELTZ, 09/28/25
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Regardless of political perspective, no one could argue that the presidency of Donald Trump — and his second term so far in particular — has been anything less than consequential, not only for the United States but for the world.
That hasn’t gone unremarked-upon at the U.N. General Assembly’s meeting of world leaders, to whom Trump spoke Tuesday. In marquee speeches and other settings, many of them have mentioned Trump and his policies, be it obliquely or directly.
Here’s a sampling of quotes by leaders and luminaries from around the world this past week at the United Nations talking about Trump and his administration — positive, negative and in between.
FRANCE
“Guess what? I’m waiting in the street because everything is frozen for you! ... I would love this weekend to have a short discussion with Qatar and you on the situation in Gaza.”
— French President Emmanuel Macron in a phone call to Trump after encountering a road closure because of the U.S. president’s motorcade
CHINA
“A major cause of the current global economic doldrums is the rise in unilateral and protective measures, such as tariff hikes and erection of walls and barriers. We should collaborate more closely to identify and expand convergence of interests, promote universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and help each other succeed by moving forward in the same direction.”
— Chinese Premier Li Qiang in his General Assembly speech
ARGENTINA
“President Trump of the United States also understands that the time has come to reverse a dynamic that is leading the United States towards a disaster, and we know that a disaster in the United States is a global disaster. His unflinching and successful policy in terms of halting illegal immigration makes that conviction more than clear. ... What Donald Trump is also doing is restructuring the terms of international trade in unprecedented fashion. ... Furthermore, he’s instituting a cleanup of the institutional capture of the American state.”
— Argentine President Javier Milei in his General Assembly speech
BOLIVIA
“We have a third cause of the current wars, which is more immediate. That is the obsessive zeal of the new Trump administration to give the United States back its position as a hegemonic power, at the cost of the liberal system, free trade, globalization, and to cause pain and death. For what? To take ownership over natural resources, to take control over commodities for the benefit of an imperial system, and to subordinate the majority of countries for their insatiable thirst for privilege and wealth, and to try to maintain a unipolar order at any cost.”
— Bolivian President Luis Arce in his General Assembly speech
UKRAINE
“Yesterday, we had a good meeting with President Trump, and I also spoke with many other strong leaders, and together, we can change a lot.”
— Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his General Assembly speech.
RUSSIA
“In the approaches of the current U.S. administration, we see a desire not only to contribute to ways to realistically resolve the Ukrainian crisis, but also a desire to develop pragmatic cooperation without adopting an ideological stance.”
— Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in his General Assembly speech.
INDIA
"If climate action itself is questioned, what hope is there for climate justice?”
— Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
ARMENIA
“The role of United States President Donald Trump is decisive in this (Armenia-Azerbaijan) peace process, whose dedication, consistency and principledness made possible what seemed to be impossible.”
— Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in his General Assembly speech. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also thanked Trump for his role in the peace initiative and “for opening a new chapter in the U.S.-Azerbaijan relationship.
CAMBODIA
“We are grateful that a ceasefire (with Thailand), brokered by U.S. President Trump, effectively halted armed clashes.... However, the ceasefire remains very fragile.”
— Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sokhonn Prak in his General Assembly speech. Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow also saluted “President Trump’s strong dedication to peace” while calling the ceasefire “fragile.”
SLOVENIA
“States are withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, from the Ottawa treaty and from U.N. agencies, or simply cutting their financing. Each such act chips away at the support for multilateralism, a system designed not for the powerful few, but for the benefit of us all.”
— President Nataša Pirc Musar of Slovenia in her General Assembly speech. (The U.S. has withdrawn from the Paris accord and from multiple U.N. agencies. The U.S. never signed onto the Ottawa Convention against antipersonnel land mines; some other countries are withdrawing from it.)
BELARUS
“The actions of the United States of America to reduce its support to the U.N., which has already caused plans to cut staff in our organization, are a very unpleasant wake-up call. But you’ll have to agree that if the U.N. is able to be an impartial forum and move with the times, it will be in demand by everyone.”
— Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov of Belarus in his General Assembly speech
CONGO
“I applaud, in this regard (the Congo-Rwanda peace deal ) the leadership of President Donald Trump.”
— President Felix Tshisekedi of Congo in his General Assembly speech. Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe also credited “strong leadership” from Trump and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
HAITI
“I also must thank President Trump’s administration for the efforts made to bring support and resources to our common fight against gangs, the enemies who threaten both Haiti and the whole region.”
— Laurent Saint-Cyr, head of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, in his General Assembly speech
SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS
“We recognize the serious threats posed by drug trafficking and other transnational crimes. These scourges must be addressed through cooperation, dialogue respect for sovereignty and the full respect for the principles of international law....We encourage dialogue between our two friends — the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the United States of America — to ensure that our region remains a zone of peace.”
— Prime Minister Terrance Drew of Saint Kitts and Nevis
COLOMBIA
“Was it really necessary to bomb unarmed, poor young people in the Caribbean? The anti-drug policy is not meant to stop cocaine that is coming to the United States. The anti-drug policy is to dominate the peoples of the South as a whole.... And there should be criminal cases against those officials of the United States for doing this, including the the utmost official, President Trump, who allowed the shooting of missiles against these young people who were simply trying to escape poverty.”
— Colombian President Gustavo Petro in his General Assembly speech
SOUTH KOREA
“It would be fantastic if (Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un) met with each other in the near future. And (South Korean) President Lee Jae Myung made it clear to President Trump that he will not be sitting in the driver’s seat. He asked President Trump to become a peacemaker, and he relegated himself to become a pacemaker. We don’t mind. On the contrary, we want President Trump to exercise his leadership to pull North Korea to dialogue table.”
— South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, in an interview with the Associated Press
IRELAND
“I call on those who have provided — and who continue to provide — Israel with the means necessary to prosecute its war (in Gaza) to reflect carefully on the implications of their actions and the consequences for the Palestinian people.”
— Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in his General Assembly speech
ISRAEL
“Thankfully, President Trump’s administration is forcefully fighting the scourge of antisemitism, and every government here should follow its lead.”
— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his General Assembly speech
PALESTINIANS
“We are ready to work with U.S. President Donald Trump and with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and France and the United Nations to implement (a proposal for settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict).”
— Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in his video speech to the General Assembly
BRAZIL
“I think that indeed there was some chemistry there.... I’m going to treat him with the respect that he deserves as the president of the U.S., and he’s going to treat me with the respect that the president of the Federal Republic of Brazil deserves.”
— Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at a press conference at U.N. headquarters after he and Trump crossed paths in the General Assembly hall.
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