The White House claims it cannot fund food stamp benefits for November. But not only is there a contingency fund meant to be used in this exact fashion, but it’s illegal for the Trump administration to refuse to do so.
Donald Trump
Posted inPolitics
Voters Did Not Understand the Stakes in 2024
A large majority of American voters are greatly dissatisfied with the state of things, most especially the economy. It turns out that median voters were catastrophically misled about the stakes of the election last year.
Posted inEconomic Policy
Trump Selling Out Cattle Ranchers Highlights Structural Food Economy Crisis
To lower beef prices and help out his pal Milei, Trump will quadruple beef quotas from Argentina—and domestic cattle ranchers are going ballistic. But the bigger problem is an America that can no longer feed itself.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Here’s What Trump’s Ballroom Donors Want
The price tag on Donald Trump’s garish White House ballroom, now up to $350 million, keeps increasing. That’s because the cost of construction isn’t nearly as important as having an inventory of donations available for corporate America to pony up.
Posted inAmerica and the World
Trump’s Feeble Made-for-TV Diplomacy
President Trump left town last weekend for a six-day Asia trip, partly to change the subject and partly to score some cheap symbolic victories. As always, his goal was short-run successes, with foreign leaders fawning in his presence.
Posted inTAP
Monroe Doctrine II, Trump Style
President Trump, with the help of his Treasury secretary, just pulled off a rescue that few thought possible, promising $40 billion to Argentina. What’s notable is not the novelty of Trump’s inter-American imperialism but the broad continuity with past U.S. policies.
Posted inAmerica and the World
Canada vs. the U.S.
President Trump announced the day before the World Series began that he was ending ongoing trade and tariff negotiations with Canada. As a result, the contest has taken on symbolic significance amid worsening relations between the two countries.
Posted inTransportation
Another Rail Headache for New York and New Jersey, Courtesy of Trump
The Gateway Program aims to bring the New York metro section of the nation’s rail infrastructure into the 21st century, but President Trump has threatened to terminate the project, blaming “DEI” and the government shutdown.
Posted inVideos
The Prospect Weekly Roundup: Presidential Construction Projects
David Dayen and Maureen Tkacik talk about the ICE raid in South Shore Chicago, in the shadow of the Obama Presidential Center, and the destruction of the East Wing of the White House in Washington.
Posted inTAP
Trump’s Faltering Economy
The seemingly not-too-bad Trump economy is living on borrowed time. Both inflation and employment are getting worse, and the booming stock market is in AI bubble territory.
