‘It’ll be bedlam’: how Trump is creating conditions for a post-election eruption

“Regardless of whether Donald Trump wins or loses, there’s going to be violence,” said Michael Fanone, a retired police officer who was seriously injured by pro-Trump rioters at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. “If Donald Trump loses, he’s not going to concede and he’s going to inspire people to commit acts of violence, …

Putin bromance has US intelligence officials fearing second Trump term

Trump praised the Russian president as a “genius” and “pretty savvy” when Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, and has boasted he would end the war in a “day”, sparking critics’ fears that if he’s elected again Trump would help Russia achieve a favorable peace deal by cutting off aid to Kyiv. Trump also recently …

Trump wants more tariffs. His earlier trade wars cost Americans $230 billion to date

Americans have paid more than $230 billion to date for tariffs that Trump imposed on imported solar panels, steel and aluminum and Chinese-made goods, according to US Customs and Border Protection. [...] In a 2023 study,the US International Trade Commission said that “U.S. importers bore nearly the full cost of these tariffs.” The independent federal agency, which provides …

Trump warns of enemies ‘within our country’ to Christian media gathering

Donald Trump told a warmly receptive gathering of religious broadcasters on Thursday that “it’s the people from within our country that are more dangerous than the people outside”, in his latest effort to mobilize Christian fundamentalists who have swung dramatically behind him in recent years. [...] The event spotlighted the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a …

How Putin Co-Opted the Republican Party

Donald Trump, the former President and current Republican frontrunner for renomination, has stubbornly refused to condemn Russia or President Vladimir Putin for their role in Navalny’s death in a remote arctic prison. In turn, he blamed Navalny for returning to Russia after an earlier attempt on his life—he would have been better served “staying away …

Steve Bannon [R] hawks disinformation to support Trump as legal troubles mount

But at the same time he is pushing a tidal wave of election disinformation on his War Room podcast to help Trump win the presidency again and promote a Maga-heavy policy agenda as Trump and his allies plot out authoritarian-style plans for a second presidency. [...] The exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, a Bannon ally …

Rudy Giuliani [R] ordered to pay nearly $150 million to two Georgia election workers he defamed

A Washington, DC, jury has ordered Rudy Giuliani to pay nearly $150 million to two Georgia election workers for the harm caused by defamatory statements he made about them following the 2020 election. [...] During the trial, an attorney for Freeman and Moss showed videos and played audio clips in which Giuliani repeated false claims that the …

The mystery of the missing binder: How a collection of raw Russian intelligence disappeared under Trump

Its disappearance, which has not been previously reported, was so concerning that intelligence officials briefed Senate Intelligence Committee leaders last year about the missing materials and the government’s efforts to retrieve them, the sources said. In the two-plus years since Trump left office, the missing intelligence does not appear to have been found. The binder …

Here’s what Trump 2.0 will bring: ignorance and vengeance in the US, chaos for world order

He must be defeated but not by adopting his toxic agenda. A vision of hope, fairness and justice is more likely to succeed https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/07/trump-20-ignorance-vengeance-us-chaos-for-world-order -The Guardian; 12/7/2023

Trump says ‘I’m not a dictator’ but top figures warn of authoritarian takeover

Liz Cheney leads condemnation of former president, who has increasingly talked about using the state to tighten his grip https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/07/trump-dictator-authoritarian-president-2024 -The Guardian; 12/7/2023