September 28, 2026

"The spot is the latest in a series of pro-Trump ads funded by public money."

"Some ethics experts have argued that the Trump administration is violating federal laws banning the use of taxpayer dollars for propaganda, and the ads have drawn criticism from both parties. The most recent ad, one expert argued, is a more flagrant violation given its prior use in the political arena."


Trump posted the ad at Truth Social, here. 

130 comments:

narciso said...

Truth is propaganda got it

Dave Begley said...

The so-called "experts" are Norm Eisen and that Painter guy at Minnesota Law. Complete partisan hacks! And both are deeply infected with TDS.

If the NYT was a serious newspaper, it would pick better experts for their story. These two are not credible.

Dave Begley said...

Sen. John Kennedy is an impressive legal intellect. Vandy undergrad, UVA Law and Oxford. Just saw him in Weeping Water, NE at a Sen. Ricketts rally. Funny guy!

He makes a fair point. But I can imagine POTUS wants to be a little aggressive and push back against the Fake News. There's no law prohibiting pushing the limits.

tommyesq said...

Do they identify specifically which federal law this might violate? It can't be a campaign spending related one, as Trump is not running (and can not run) for a third term.

Peachy+2 said...

How dare anyone speak out against the Crime Syndicate that is the Democrat Party.

Peachy+2 said...

The Iran "war" really isn't much of a war. It's a project that if successful - could lead to economic prosperity and freedom.
Not just for the US, but for the ME and beyond.
Leftists HATE that.

Peachy+2 said...

The Democrats use donations and tax dollars to fund their fraud.
They can all ES&D.

Peachy+2 said...

Neo-Nazi grifting Leftism and Radical Islam = we get why they are perfect for each other.

Iman said...

“Some ethics experts…”

Yeah? Well they can go put their opinions where the Sun does not gain purchase.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

I didn’t hear Trump promoting a candidate. Unless Trump is running again? Is Trump running again?

Rustygrommet said...

The best part about being an "ethics expert" is that you don't need any. It's the perfect grift.

Caroline said...

Didn’t he fire Kristi Noem for spending $20 mill on an ad campaign featuring herself?

Oh Yea said...

I saw the add Saturday during the Ohio State game with no preconceptions. I thought what the hell is this? Forgetting any legal issues, if I were a Democrat, I would run that ad over and over again, freezing on the part where it was paid by the taxpayers. It is nothing but cringe for swing voters and I expect will be totally counterproductive at the polls.

Inga said...

“Expel the warmongers”? Does that include himself? Yay!

Breezy said...

He should avoid these kinds of kerfuffles. It’s distracting from the message. There’s enough cash in R accounts to run these to remind voters of his agenda.

Ampersand said...

"He should avoid these kinds of kerfuffles" Amen, Breezy!

Conrad said...

Streisand Effect.

OnwardandUpward said...

Anyone can be an "expert." Much ado about zilch.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

So is it “new” or did it just “return” or do the authors of this hit piece ever decide?

Christopher B said...

Stray Voltage

Aggie said...

'...“The president and his administration have gone from breaking the law to trampling it,” said Norm Eisen...'

The motivation exposed.

'...While it is not clear how much the government is spending to air the ads, the figure appears to be more than $1 million, according to an AdImpact modeled estimate based on media markets....'

The lede, buried.

...'“We do not allow government-sponsored propaganda in the United States.”....'

Let's see, which President was it that put the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 in place, which amended the original Smith-Mundt Act to allow U.S. government-produced media content to be disseminated domestically ? Let's see who was that exactly? Was it Obama? Has it backfired? Is that what this mewling is all about?

imTay said...

I saw the ad during a football game. I couldn't believe that Trump was again asserting that he would take on the deep state and the "warmongers" given what he has done, but it turns out that the ad is a list of the promises that made me vote for him, and the very promises that make me felled so betrayed by him. I think that this propaganda blast is just going to infuriate the part of his base that has been subtracted from the coalition, in order to make you guys' MAGA more pure. Usually politicians succeed by added to their coalitions and increasing their votes, but Trump has had the brilliant idea of making his appeal more selective.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-disavows-supporters-pushing-jeffrey-epstein-bulls-dont-want-supp-rcna219078

Trump kicked me out of MAGA himself.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

It's an old Trump ad already paid for by the Trump For President campaign and posted on Trump's own website. I don't see where it's "taxpayer funded" or government involved at all.
Sounds like it's just Democrat Party propagandists lying to incite their braindead anti-American minions and muddy the waters, again.
Am I missing something?

rehajm said...

…experts are only interested in violations of public law when Republicans do it. Experts are kept in the dark when the liberal judiciary and Democrats in the states help facilitate trillion dollars in fraud or facilitate voter fraud. Experts are stupid…

Captain BillieBob said...

"Experts say.........", these days experts saying anything is immediate cause for skepticism if not outright denial

rehajm said...

Democrats love to make threats about what they’ll do to you when they return to power so just an observation back at them- those Republicans that are protecting your racket, some of them are slowly being voted out, some of them are vegetables, and you expect your commie allies will take their place…take a lesson from some of your political elders and be careful of believing your own propaganda. Those new people we’re trying to vote in, they’re as mad at you as the rest of us…

Bob Boyd said...

Wasn't Norm Eisen the guy funding numerous lawfare attacks against the President including the effort to keep Trump off the ballot in CO in 2024?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Ooh now with even MORE flagrancy! Pass the smelling salts.

rehajm said...

I think it’s kind of funny- every Democrat with a fighting chance is running against Trump so why shouldn’t he show an ad?

rehajm said...

I could make a convincing lawyerly argument that the ad isn’t and ad but historical record since Trump isn’t running for office…

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Aggie fingers the culprit, BHO, who signed the law repealing the anti-propaganda act that served us well until we elected him as our first Communist president. He is still campaigning for commies even as we reminisce about the Smith-Mundt Act and how Obama “modernized” it.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Without a call to action is it a “campaign” ad?

Iman said...

“Trump kicked me out of MAGA himself.”

Good on Trump! No pansies allowed.

RCOCEAN II said...

Here we go again. Once again we get the phony x-burts and phony "ethics" which only apply when its Trump. And of course "Both parties" attack Trump, because RINOS never shut up and never stop helping the Left.

Bob Boyd said...

Norm Eisen of The Contrarian with Jennifer Rubin? That impartial expert?
Hating Trump automatically qualifies you as an ethics expert. Did you know that? Yeah. It's not that hard to get the credential nowadays. So if you always wanted to be an ethics expert, now is the time.

Aggie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Aggie said...

Mark Elias is the Democrat lawyer that does the wet work for the party. Norm Eisen is the Democrat lawyer that oversees all of the lawfare efforts against Trump. If there is a lawsuit attacking Trump or the administration, Eisen is behind it. His life mission is to harass at every opportunity.

ForestwithouttreeS said...

Articles of Impeachment- page 14,263

Peachy+2 said...

The crowd "Booing" according to People Magazine (D)

Sad. All our glossy magazines are soviet.

rehajm said...

“His life mission is to harass at every opportunity.”

…this is why I haven’t hated lawyers enough in my life. Not because of pond scum like these gigs but the complacency from the rest of youse and the bars as they destroy normal people’s confidence in the justice system.

Peachy+2 said...

Show me where he used tax payer dollars.
Remember -the corrupt left use OUR tax dollars to fund their crime.

boatbuilder said...

I'm sort of puzzled as to where the "government funding" angle comes in.
Trump and the Republicans have more than enough campaign money to fund what appears to be a garden-variety (and practically free) ad--on Trump's own social network.
What am I missing?

Peachy+2 said...

Inga - Tell us your deep thoughts (without shuffling off to Candy Owens) On the Iran "war".
Are you hoping for failure?
Do you BACK the Islamic theocratic regime and hope it remains in power?
Do you understand that most Iranians want to rid their nation of forced Islamic theocracy and that old corrupt regime?
Do you agree Iran's Islamic thugs fund terror in the region?

Are you bothered by Islamic theocracy?

Do you care about the women and girls who are harmed, enslaved, subjugated and murdered under Islamic theocracy?

Peaceful warrior said...

Hi Aggie! I totally agree that the spending number is important and could’ve been highlighted more in the Times piece. I’m just not sure the Smith-Mundt Act gets at the main issue. The 2012 update was bipartisan and mostly made content like Voice of America programming, originally intended for overseas audiences, more readily available here at home.

The trickier question is where legitimate government advocacy ends and taxpayer-funded partisan advocacy begins. It can be difficult to draw a bright line, because any administration is allowed to promote and defend its policies in positive terms. This situation stands out because it reportedly used material originating with Donald Trump’s campaign, which makes that distinction especially interesting.

imTay said...

"Show me where he used tax payer dollars."

Have you seen one of the spots on television? They were on during the Bills game I was watching, and right at the end it says "Paid for by the US Government."

"No pansies allowed."

Purification through subtraction. The antiwar vote got crossover votes from young black and hispanic men, many Sanders voters, a lot from the antiwar right, and if Trump can get along without our votes, well, that''s democracy. It remains to be seen.

Freder Frederson said...

"Show me where he used tax payer dollars."

Watch the freaking ad. The ad says it is paid for by the U.S. Government.

imTay said...

This doesn't give me a lot of agita, because I think that the spots will hurt Trump. The spot is infuriating.

boatbuilder said...

"He should avoid these kinds of kerfuffles. It’s distracting from the message."
"If you don't know me by now,
You will never ever know me, who-eyu-eyoo."
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes

R C Belaire said...

tommyesq said... : "Do they identify specifically which federal law this might violate? It can't be a campaign spending related one, as Trump is not running (and can not run) for a third term."
In actual fact, there is nothing that prohibits Trump from RUNNING for a 3rd term -- if he wins, he is simply prohibited from SERVING.

imTay said...

I wanted Trump to burn down the whole system in DC, but he got co-opted, who knows what is in the Epstein files. I would have bet against them having anything on Trump until he did his u-turn on the Epstein files and became the warmonger he promised us in that very ad that he would not be.

The Epstein files are like the Ring of Power, we were hoping that Trump was Frodo, but it turns out that he is Gollum.

Peachy+2 said...

LOL - Sanders voters are mostly communists & are as far left as it gets. They would never vote for Trump anyway.

AS far as the ad saying "paid for by the US government" - I didn't see it.

Peachy+2 said...

The Epstein files were released.
Biden never did that. Why?

boatbuilder said...

Imtay:
"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-disavows-supporters-pushing-jeffrey-epstein-bulls-dont-want-supp-rcna219078"
Buh-bye. You and MTG have the place all to yourselves. Whatever that place is.

imTay said...

And yet Sanders voters were important to flipping some states, that the Democrats had marked down as permanently blue, red.

https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-trump-2016-election-654320

That is just the first article that I found. Reagan also won over a lot of Democrats, me among them, but I was a Republican for decades, Trump threw it away with his stupid war.

Peachy+2 said...

IM Tay - we get it. You are a democrat now. Enjoy the decline.

Peachy+2 said...

Bernie Sanders is a fraud. I cannot change that.
It's a sad fact.
Oligarchy!

imTay said...

There are plenty of files that were not released, and the ones released were heavily redacted.

"You and MTG have the place all to yourselves"

You forgot Tucker, Masse, Joe Kent, Robert Barnes, but I guess that none of them bring any people with them, except both Masse and Kent are polling significantly among Republicans for POTUS 2028.

It's not just the two of us.

Breezy said...

Personally, I’d like to see him do some ads that describe how socialism has really worked every time it’s been tried. It’s not the antidote to low affordability people are led to believe it is. Socialism has some major costs that its advocates never mention. Trump should drive the cost side of the dispute.

Peachy+2 said...

We heard you the first time - IM TAY.
and the second and the third ..blah blah blah. At his point you sound like a bot. Or you are paid by the Islamic lobby.

chuck said...

There is no such thing as "ethics experts."

imTay said...

"Bernie Sanders is a fraud."

I guess that is why Sanders voters were drawn to Trump, they like frauds.

Did you watch the part of the spot about Trump being agains "the warmongers"?

War is Peace.

Lazarus said...

There must be a lot in old Trump ads and speeches that could be used against him now.

I don't really get how a reused 2024 ad is "paid for by the U.S. government." Or why Trump would have needed to use government money to buy the time for it. Is Trump trolling, or shooting himself in the foot again?

boatbuilder said...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Painter

Totally unbiased "Republican" ethics expert. Sure.

Quaestor said...

This called the bully pulpit.

Quaestor said...

And I'm not surprised many of the usual suspects have never heard of it.

Big Mike said...

“Captain BillieBob said...

"Experts say........."


Lest we forget, in 2020 one of those “experts” who was saying, was Anthony Fauci. And the government’s expert on medical ethics was … Mrs. Anthony Fauci!

boatbuilder said...

"You forgot Tucker, Masse, Joe Kent, Robert Barnes, but I guess that none of them bring any people with them, except both Masse and Kent are polling significantly among Republicans for POTUS 2028."

Yea, those guys. No, I didn't forget about them. I just mostly don't think about them. Good luck in 2028. And Tucker Carlson. Really?

Not an oldster. said...

Laws?.
We dont need no stinking laws
You put down due process and justice when you advocate wealth and weapons settling border and legal issues, annie.

This is the world you've worked for... 💪

Quaestor said...

In Theodore Roosevelt's day a primary political tactic was known as "whistle-stop campaigning". A train consisting of an engine and several private cars would follow rail routes with many contested states or districts in its schedule. At each stop, the candidate would make a speech, often from the trailing car's platform. If said candidate happened to be the incumbent POTUS, some of the expense came from public funds, particularly the charges for the train itself.

Peachy+2 said...

I know Sanders voters - THEY HATE TRUMP.

Peachy+2 said...

Thanks to McCain Feingold - both parties get our tax dollars to fund their campaigns.

Not an oldster. said...

Maybe th3y will all drop on their swords and take one for team America, Inga?

I fear...there will be blood.
The Old Testament minds currently in charge only know an eye for an eye. Pray for Israel's children now... 🇺🇸 ✝️ 🕊 🌎

🇺🇸 >🇮🇱
Like Muhammed Ali said, not my religious state, not my battle to fight... Most Americans think like he did, the Iran war is as popular as VietNam out here. Dont let Ann's propaganda bots or personal isolation fool ya...

(I hope begley tips well for you to surrender your platform to his dominant opinions like that... good girl, annie.)

Not an oldster. said...

Who pays "peachy" to post here? Curious...

Dr Weevil said...

Poor imTay hasn't figured out that being against warmongers requires one to be against Iran, which has been supporting and subsidizing war and terrorism in dozens countries for ~47 years now. Finishing off their evil regime will vastly reduce the amount of war in the world.

Dr Weevil said...

Quaestor (9:46am):
Not just TR. Truman won reelection in 1948, contrary to all expectations, with a whistlestop tour of the U.S. in which he told large crowds that Thomas E. Dewey, of all people, was just like Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini.

Aggie said...

I'm a little confused, I confess, about the 'funded by the US Government' tag line. A political ad being placed by a political campaign is required to put a 'paid by' disclaimer, normally at the end of the ad (Paid for by the committee to re-elect Joe Blow, etc). I'm assuming this is a legal notification that the preceding represents a candidate's view and should not be taken at face value, as campaigns often engage in mud slinging.

But in this case, it's being argued that it's not technically a campaign ad, or rather, it's an ad from 2024, a previous campaign. So, why the disclaimer?

'...and the ads have drawn criticism from both parties. ....' What are the other ads?

hanuman_prodigious_leaper said...

R C Belaire said...

In actual fact, there is nothing that prohibits Trump from RUNNING for a 3rd term -- if he wins, he is simply prohibited from SERVING ...

Does that mean vacancy so VP is sworn in?!

That's nice.

hanuman_prodigious_leaper said...

Is Trump trolling, or shooting himself in the foot again? ...

He could be Shooting to pace his dance moves!!!!

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

BTW. There is a migrant caravan making their way to the southern border, as we sit here nitpicking the definitions of the Smith-Mundt Act. Or is it the Dingell-Norwood bill?

Rustygrommet said...

imTay said...
"Bernie Sanders is a fraud."

I guess that is why Sanders voters were drawn to Trump, they like frauds.

Did you watch the part of the spot about Trump being agains "the warmongers"?

War is Peace.

You make a point of not getting it.
Of course Bernie is a fraud. In order to be a a successful red carpet socialist you need capitalism. He's exploited it successfully.

Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...


Dr Weevil writes: 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥.

No one needs to pretend Iran is a benign actor. Its support for Hezbollah, Hamas and other armed groups is well documented. The rather impressive leap of logic is from “Iran sponsors violence” to “destroying the regime will vastly reduce war.”

We’ve tried the “remove the bad regime and the Middle East will become more peaceful” strategy before. Iraq, Libya and Syria provide some rather inconvenient case studies.

And six months into this war, the Trump administration still hasn’t produced the quick victory it predicted, its objectives have shifted, the conflict has expanded regionally, and the U.S. is now weighing everything from an indefinite military campaign to another ceasefire or negotiated settlement. That sounds less like a master plan for peace and more like a reminder that wars are considerably easier to start than to finish.

Being opposed to warmongering doesn’t require pretending Iran isn’t dangerous. It requires asking whether launching another war is actually a credible strategy for reducing the amount of war.

MadisonMan said...

Ah, yes. "Some ethics experts" and "one ethics expert" are weighing in!

What are the ethics behind being quoted anonymously?

Dr Weevil said...

More cut-and-paste crap from the proven plagiarist. No need to refute IEE's statements. It's already been done, many times, and he just ignores the refutations and repeats his lies, like the paid propagandist he obviously is.

Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...

A Democratic midterm rout—similar to the one Obama experienced at the hands of Republicans could perhaps prove a gift to Trump, setting him up to finish his term as a pragmatic, centrist unifier, drawing upon his decades in business to deliver results for the country. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...

Dr Weevil writes: 𝘕𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘐𝘌𝘌'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.

If it’s been “refuted many times,” then surely you can identify one of the alleged refutations and explain which factual claim it disproves. “Paid propagandist” isn’t a rebuttal; it’s what people reach for when they don’t want to engage the argument.

Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...

It’s almost as if some Trump supporters are getting a little testy about the polling, the Iran war, its mounting costs, and what all of that might mean for the midterms. Funny how enthusiasm for “winning” sometimes becomes less enthusiastic when the bill arrives.

Dr Weevil said...

Creepy propagandist uses typical creepy propagandist ploy. I'm supposed to keep a database of every single refutation, and then bore everyone else to tears by listing them here, at which point he will just bring up some other already-refuted talking point, and expect me to go find all the refutations of that, and so on ad nauseam, if not ad infinitum.

Of course, no one cares about polling, which is fantastically inept at best, utterly dishonest at worst. Only a fool thinks it's going to be a "rout" of Republicans, and only a liar could suggest that it would be good for Trump if it were. If only the lying fools would bugger off to Blue Sky, this would be a much better site.

Peachy+2 said...

Trump doing this forces dems to do it?
Dems operate in secrecy.

Big Mike said...

@Indefinitely Extended Excursion, funny you should ask. Just a couple days ago I refuted you foolish assertion that Trump’s tariffs are and have been hurting the American economy. I trie to se small woods so hat you could grasp the principles involved. (An individual like you may need to look up the word “principle.”)

And.i have also pointed out that most of the hike in by gasoline and diesel prices is due to the closure of US refineries during the Biden administration (and last year in California by Newsom). You generally ignore this data.

The US economy is doing well, despite the best efforts of Democrats to tank it, but that’s mostly true if one is working or middle class — elitists like you might not see a rise in real wages.

Breezy said...

Warmongers by definition advocate for endless wars, not stopping them. Trump engaged in the war Iran had started, inflicted quick and brutal destruction on critical parts of their regime, for quite a while now has stopped proactive kinetic activity, and is now actively working to end it by strangling Iran’s economy and any financial means it has to keep the war going.

Warmongers don’t work to stop wars - they’re into the chaos and money flows that they generate (see Afghanistan, Iraq). Trump is not a warmonger.

boatbuilder said...

I've thought about why Trump would run an ad reminding people that he said that he's going to rout the warmongers, deep staters, globalists et al?

Perhaps a deal is in the works with the Iranians. For real this time. And he's getting lots of internal/deep state pushback.

Or he wants the Iranians to believe it.

Just a guess.

D.D. Driver said...

Question: will this be a problem when we get the AOC propaganda hour?

Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...

@ BM: You’re conflating “the economy is still growing” with “Trump’s tariffs aren’t imposing costs.” Those aren’t the same claim. The New York Fed’s September 2026 research finds that about 26% of the 2025 tariff increase passed through to consumer prices, with additional indirect effects through U.S. producers’ imported inputs. The Minneapolis Fed estimates tariffs added roughly 0.4 percentage points to core PCE inflation through July. So there’s measurable tariff-related inflation even though the overall economy continues to grow.

The refinery argument is also much narrower than you’re presenting it. Refinery closures can raise gasoline prices, especially on the West Coast, but that doesn’t establish that they account for most of the national increase in gasoline and diesel prices.

And “the economy is doing well” doesn’t prove that tariffs aren’t hurting consumers or businesses. It simply means those costs haven’t prevented overall economic growth. Those are two very different propositions.

The particularly weak part of your argument is “𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢.” If you have data showing that refinery closures account for most of the national gasoline/diesel increase, you should identify the source and methodology. The existence of refinery closures is not itself evidence for the much larger causal claim you’re making.

Dr Weevil said...

And here's IEE, demanding that his opponent provide data to back up an assertion, while not even pretending to try to find any data to refute him. His usual method: make everyone else do all the work, and if they do that and prove he's wrong, ignore the refutation and repeat the refuted assertion later as if it had never been questioned.

Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...

Oil Is $95. So Why Is Diesel $6.50?
https://x.com/GasBuddyGuy/status/2103127173598990796?s=20

Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...

The recurring theme here from Dr Weevil seems to be: “I made the claim, therefore you must prove me wrong.” That’s not how evidence works.

Dr Weevil said...

IEE constantly makes claims, but expects everyone else to find the data to refute him. And he does routinely ignore any facts provided to refute him, because he's a hypocrite and a paid propagandist.

Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...

^^ I admire the commitment. Most people eventually run out of things to say; you’ve apparently discovered recursive arguing.

Dr Weevil said...

At least I'm not a paid propagandist, proven to have repeated talking points without quotation marks or attribution or link, who has never admitted having done so, or apologized for it, or done what any decent person would have done when caught red-handed like that, which is to bugger off to Blue Sky and stop damaging this site by his presence.

narciso said...

As with dana ward you chase him off with a rake

narciso said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Captain BillieBob said...

"Big Mike said...

“Captain BillieBob said...

"Experts say........."


Lest we forget, in 2020 one of those “experts” who was saying, was Anthony Fauci. And the government’s expert on medical ethics was … Mrs. Anthony Fauci!"

There are many things we should never forget, 9/11, covid, the global warming hoax, Bidenflation, the green nude eel, etc, etc but too many Americans have conveniently short memories.
and what would we do without experts (snort)

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, did my latest response to Indefinitely Extended Excursion get swallowed by spam?

Big Mike said...

“The Minneapolis Fed estimates tariffs added roughly 0.4 percentage points to core PCE inflation through July.”

Ergo, negligible.

“If you have data showing that refinery closures account for most of the national gasoline/diesel increase, you should identify the source and methodology.”

My source is the US Energy Information Administration, which seems authoritative enough. The US had a net loss of 800,000 barrels per day of production. I assume tgst the law of supply and demand has not been suspended. While Indefinitely Extended Excursion may demand further analysis but he can damned well do it himself.

Jim at said...

Maybe somebody could remind me what office Trump is running for. Otherwise, piss off.

Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...

the problem is we have adequate refining capacity- for normal times- but we're not in normal times. the strait of hormuz remains impeded, Russia's refineries are out of service- and Europe has increased regulations pushing shutdowns. no one can build around these many failures, nor do oil companies want to spend tens of billions of capacity when these geopolitical tensions may be over by the time said capacity comes online. https://x.com/GasBuddyGuy/status/2103179430697075167?s=20

D.D. Driver said...

How did MAGA decide that Fauci was not the man Trump picked to lead the COVID response?

These are the people Trump fired his first term: Sally Yates, Acting Attorney General, January 30, 2017; Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, March 11, 2017; James Comey, FBI Director, May 9, 2017; Reince Priebus, White House Chief of Staff, July 28, 2017; Anthony Scaramucci, White House Communications Director, July 31, 2017; Steve Bannon, White House Chief Strategist, August 18, 2017; Omarosa Manigault Newman, Director of Communications for the Office of Public Liaison, December 2017; Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State, March 13, 2018; David Shulkin, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, March 28, 2018; Jeff Sessions, Attorney General, November 7, 2018; Randolph “Tex” Alles, Director of the Secret Service, April 2019; John Bolton, National Security Adviser, September 10, 2019; Alexander Vindman, National Security Council Director for European Affairs, February 7, 2020; Yevgeny Vindman, National Security Council lawyer, February 7, 2020; Gordon Sondland, U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, February 7, 2020; Michael Atkinson, Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, April 3, 2020; Steve Linick, State Department Inspector General, May 15, 2020; Geoffrey Berman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, June 20, 2020; Mark Esper, Secretary of Defense, November 9, 2020; Christopher Krebs, Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, November 17, 2020.

Here is the person Trump did not fire: Dr. Anthony Fauci.

They use to appear together on TV all the time. They worked hand in hand on Operation Warp Speed which brought us the fake vaccines that didn't work. That part was 100% on TRUMP'S watch.

Biden inherited Fauci from the Trump Administration. It's not like Sleepy Joe picked him.

Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...

Netanyahu Is Said to Have Been Warned About Hamas Attack Before Oct. 7 ~ NYT
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭’𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘪 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥.

Netanyahu flew to UAE to ask MBZ to deny giving him pre-Oct. 7 warning of Hamas attack ~ Times of Israel
𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘜𝘈𝘌 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘨𝘺𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘔 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴'𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦; 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘌𝘨𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘜𝘈𝘌 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵

Greg The Class Traitor said...

"The spot is the latest in a series of pro-Trump ads funded by public money."

You mean like ALL of USAID and VOA was for the Democrats under the Biden and Obama Admins?

Dr Weevil said...

More crap from IEE that anyone paying attention to world politics on Twitter has (a) already seen, and (b) knows from other Tweets is either entirely false, or technically true but twisted so far as to appear to say something it doesn't say. He really needs to stop wasting our time with one-sided second-hand third-rate propagandistic slop. Of course, if he did, he wouldn't get paid.

D.D. Driver said...

You mean like ALL of USAID and VOA was for the Democrats under the Biden and Obama Admins

Yes! Another way that Trump is like Obama and Biden. (It's a loooooong fucking list.)

D.D. Driver said...

The Uni-Party Way

✅ State sponsored propaganda
✅ Neverending War
✅ Lawfare
✅ Deficits
✅ Censorship of critics
✅ Use of eminent domain for pet projects

Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...

MAGA controls the White House and both houses of Congress, yet it still blames the shadowy “deep state,” NGOs, and the media for its own ineptitude.

Josephbleau said...

IEE is an echo chamber, when you give him data he shuts up, and then. 5 days later repeats the same tired old argument and demands data. It is useless to try to get him to engage because his purpose is to take one point and claim it means Trump is Satan. The truth is diesel was higher under Beiden in 2022 and IEE knows it, and Democrats did not give one shit, and they won’t give a shit about it again if they ever get back in office.

Remember way way back in July, IEE, when Russia banned the export of diesel, about 600,000 bbl pd, because Ukraine was blowing up their refineries and they needed fuel for the war they started when Beiden was president. The July 2026 ban created a supply squeeze raising the world price. But even today under Trump diesel is lower than it was under Beiden.

And next week you will once again discover anew that there is an increase in this years diesel price. And broadcast it in 8 new posts. People catch on after a time.

Josephbleau said...

“MAGA controls the White House and both houses of Congress, yet it still blames the shadowy “deep state,“

And rightfully so, but he has the lowest official poverty rate since 1959, the Atlanta Fed projects q3 gdp at 5.1%, The latest U.S. unemployment rate is 4.1% for August 2026, unchanged from July. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported 162,000 jobs added in August.

So even so Trump Soldiers on.

Josephbleau said...

“ Netanyahu Is Said to Have Been Warned About Hamas Attack Before Oct. 7 ~ NYT”

Joe Beiden is said to have been warned that opening the borders would result in the murder of young women.

Peachy+2 said...

Kicking BS NOW out of the white house is not "Censorship"

Censorship is what Obama and Biden did on a mass scale - with ALL social media.

Original Mike said...

"Netanyahu Is Said to Have Been Warned About Hamas Attack Before Oct. 7 ~ NYT
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, *𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬,*"

At which point, anyone with sense stops reading.

Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...

US and China agree $60bn low tariff regime for goods from foie gras to camels ~ FT

Well done! $30bn deal in a $4trillion corridor because of the great relationship between the two.

Identify a problem
• Implement a stupid policy or decision that makes a mess and doesn't really tackle the problem effectively
• Roll back some of the mess you made so you're in a worse position than square one
• Sell the roll back of your own stupid policy or decision to your idiot voters and fans around the world as a great and epic win for them and the US.

And the issue is this really works on tens of millions of voters in America, and it's hard to see a way back for the country as it's clear a big chunk of their electorate are happy being duped.

Sweetie said...

Was our refinery needs fine for 'normal times' before or after three refineries closed in California in the last few years?
If it's the latter, why is the state and city of Benicia (the last of the 3 to close less than a year ago) desperately trying to find someone to operate it (when Valero left, they left everything to the city and literally walked away.....after paying tens of millions in mitigation costs) when supply and demand are balanced? Someone forgot to tell Newsom I guess.
By the way, the plant still sits there, waiting on ANYONE to take over for, literally, a song. Nobody has and last I read the city was 'thinking' (low level) of trying to run it, an oil refinery, itself. I confess when I read that it was too good to check so it might have been a media misinterpretation.

Mason G said...

"Nobody has and last I read the city was 'thinking' (low level) of trying to run it, an oil refinery, itself."

The government in Venezuela tried that already.

Achilles said...

Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...

Oil Is $95. So Why Is Diesel $6.50?
https://x.com/GasBuddyGuy/status/2103127173598990796?s=20


Because Democrats keep shutting down refineries like the 3 they have shut down in California the last couple years.

Zelensky has also been blowing up Russian refineries in service to his globalist masters.

Democrats/globalists are the same group of people and they want gas prices high to defeat Trump.

I know you are stupid but it is an easy problem to figure out.

Most American voters aren't as stupid as you are.

Achilles said...

hanuman_prodigious_leaper said...

Is Trump trolling, or shooting himself in the foot again? ...

He could be Shooting to pace his dance moves!!!!


He is just doing what every president in history has done and retards like you pretend it is different when he does it.

Peachy+2 said...

JAQ/ IM Tay - just BS now all the way up and down.

Mason G said...

"Is Trump trolling, or shooting himself in the foot again? ..."

The Tone Police is sure to be ramping up the number of "Trump's Unforced Errors" comments they post as we get closer to Election Day (or "Election Week" or "Election Month", if you live someplace where progs are currently busy preparing for their vote fraud push).

Expect to see a lot more "Gee whiz- I like Trump but I wish he'd do less of *whatever*..." comments just about wherever you go on the intertubes.

Rustygrommet said...

Why is diesel in the US 6.50.
Refineries. Your stupid lefty friends closed a bunch of them.

loudogblog said...

I was really surprised when I found out that it was legal for the city of Los Angeles to take taxpayer money and give it to Act Blue to distribute directly to candidates running for office as "matching" contributions for small donations. And since only two Democrats are running for mayor, guess who is getting a lot of that money.

"Los Angeles voters created the Public Matching Funds Program in 1990 via Measure H to limit the influence of special interests in municipal elections."
"Over the decades, the city updated the framework, eventually raising the public match to a 6:1 ratio (where the city provides $6 in public funds for every qualifying $1 donated by an in-city small donor up to established per-contributor limits), which remains a focal point of modern Los Angeles campaign financing"
"Shortly after its passage, the public financing portion faced a major legal hurdle when state opponents argued it violated a statewide ban on public campaign financing under Proposition 73. However, the California Supreme Court ultimately ruled in Johnson v. Bradley (1992) that as a charter city, Los Angeles has the constitutional authority to implement its own public campaign financing rules for local elections."

Dr Weevil said...

It is of course utterly false to say that "MAGA" controls either house of congress, much less both. Republicans have narrow majorities in both, but not all Republicans are MAGA, and some (e.g. Cornyn) are openly hostile to Trump. In short, just another propagandistic lie from the paid troll.

Aggie said...

It's not just that California has made it a toxic business environment for refining, by imposing an impossible regulatory environment. They have also imposed their own formulations for fuels, in an effort to decrease emissions (mostly ineffective). This is an example of how California regulates other states by proxy. Refiners in other states must make separate runs for California fuels, and this then leads, as a matter of practicality, to those blends being sold to other states.

It would be best to simply offer California what other states gladly accept. If you really wanted to make fuel affordable. Of course that would also bring prices down on automobiles too, which must equip their vehicles with separately spec'd emissions control systems - to comply with California regulation.

JIM said...

That's all they have. Mostly fabricated allegations featuring "Trump". Besides turning Congress into a tribunal for the sole purpose of sending a message to any future "Trump-type" candidates - it would be a shame if your house caught on fire, what exactly are Democrats running on? Affordability? Inflation hit a 40-year high when they controlled the purse strings. Taxes? They will try to raise them on the job creators, probably causing a recession. Foreign policy? They gave Iran the green light. They gave Russia the green light. They are antisemitic. Immigration? Amnesty for all.

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