At 9:32 last night, hours into the rescheduled White House Correspondents' Association dinner, "God Bless the U.S.A." began playing loudly from the speakers inside the ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C. As the music played, Donald Trump stood up, gripped his chair with his right hand, and steadied himself before taking the short few steps to the podium. The song was then cut short, and he began to speak, telling the audience about the canceled first dinner back in April, "That was going to be a doozy," he said. "I was so psyched. I was going to rip people."
Commenting from the UK, it's clear that Trump must be removed from office or at least stopped in what harm he's doing. The world needs that to happen. The Democrats are placing all their hopes in the mid-term elections and by all measures their confidence is well placed.
However, Trump has made it plain that he will not accept any result that doesn't involve the Republicans winning. Between gerrymandering and threatening to put ICE officers on the streets, whether or not that's legal, he's doing everything he can to rig the elections.
I hope Democrats win the House and Senate but they have to realise that they have to do some serious campaigning to get the vote out and if the result does go their way, Trump and his acolytes will do everything in their power, and technically not in their power, to deny the win.
I thoroughly agree with you Robert. Trump is one of the most corrupt individuals on the planet. What do you expect of a man who had a copy of Hitler's book Mein Kampf on his bedside table, according to his ex-wife Ivanka. I just hope that our new PM will be more robust in his dealings with Trump.
Robert we are fully aware of what he is trying to do, so there's that. Most Substack authors are doing their best to keeping the spotlight on all of that, but it's difficult because it's daily and in all directions. I think and sincerely hope we are doing our part to spread the word, I know I am and all of it is not very far from my lips everyday.
Dear Heather, my name is Kevin Woo and I'm a freelance journalist who has become hooked on you. Each day, you end each YouTube video by asking for people to help in any way they can. I'm already a subscriber but I think I need to do more. I have a proposal for you - you have a lot of material to sift through, fact checking and writing every day. It's exhausting. I know. I've done it. Would it be helpful to have some backup support for fact checking, chasing down material, gathering data for you and Pete? If yes I'd like to be your backup band for the low low price of $0. Here's some of my writing clips: thewriterwithoutaclause.com. You'll find clips from Forbes, Entrepreneur, One+ (I know you were a travel blogger. I was a travel writer) and legal stories from California Lawyer. I think you can find my Substack via this message right?
I have no agenda other than to help you through use of my reporting skills. I leave the writing and content to you. bentandlibby@gmail.com is where you can find me.
One image that has stuck in my mind is when the people of Iraq tore down the towering statue of the authoritarian dictator saddam Hussein after the Americans pummeled the country in the 2nd Iraq war. That statue represents Trump and the dictatorial materialistic narcissist that must come down like that statute that was pulled down. Trump IS the end of his kind. He is the dinosaur headed to the inevitable extinction event. 2026 has the exact same calendar as 1914 when World War 1 began ending the 2,520 year long prophecy of Luke 21:24. Trump will go down in 2026. His karma assures this extinction event. He is not human His existence is no longer sustainable. . He is not worthy of bearing the distinction of being created in the image and likeness of the Creator. He is the “father of lies.” There is no truth to him. John 8:44. The arch comes down. The airport regains its identity. Any edifice bearing the name Trump will have his name removed. This is part of the paradigm shift from gross selfish materialism to the selfless nature of spirituality. Success will no longer be measured by money and power but by our humanity and our capacity to love one another unconditionally. This is the direction we are headed. The political system based on division will experience a transformation because of this spiritual revolution. Pluto is back in Aquarius after 250 years and with Uranus in Gemini back after 78 years it’s time to fasten our seatbelts because it’s going to be one heck of a ride. We must collectively transmute the 1914/2026 destructive energy to the energy of enlightenment, justice and interconnected Oneness. This is not wishful thinking. This is the emerging new reality.
Thank you always Heather for your selfless courage to speak truth to power. A power disintegrating before our very eyes. Trump is being judged by his own soul. We all are. It’s the Truman Show and it’s all being recorded. Everything. Every frame of the movie is preserved for eternity.
You have so eloquently stated my own deep intuitions on where this is all leading. The similarities in energies in the two time periods is not going unnoticed. I am in my 70's; I have never in my life seen this many with so much greed and lack of empathy, but believe we are witnessing some truly evil, soulless behaviors. As we are continually learning about genetic connections to so many diseases, genetics could very well be responsible for these subhumans that are imposing their will on all of us. Not that it cannot be overcome, but mixed with the right environmental and social poisons seems to result in humans without souls that create chaos and hate. True love does not live in their bank of emotions. Only hormone fueled thrills. They think that having more money will make them happy, but find they can't purchase enough satisfaction to improve their own miserable lives.
I know these things to be true because science proves these elemental truths. Energy never goes away - it just changes form. Genetics carries the traits of all living animals. Only the strongest survive. Kindness and empathy is a strength. Evil only serves you if you are in power, but it is unsustainable.
I appreciate that you used the word extinction because it is an important part of perpetuating a better universe. Looking forward to their coming extinction in every way.
Heather you must be applauded for listening to the orange buffoon's tedious word salad. That joke (?) he made went down like a lead balloon didn't it? The man has absolutely no sense of humour, except crude jokes, which reflects his juvenile mind. No wonder the journalists at the WH dinner greeted his remarks in silence.
As for Trump seeking a third term, surely he's forbidden by your Constitution? Anyway, by that time he might be comfortably ensconced in a care facility for dementia patients. I hate to wish any human being any harm but I'll make an exception for Trump.
On another topic: lucky you seeing dolphins at play. I absolutely love the creatures but have never seen any wild ones. I just wish it were cooler here in Europe so you were lucky to have a cooler spell.
What I thought was strange was that all the awardees went up to Trump, smiled, shook his hand, and acted as if he weren’t the devil in disguise they all reported against. If it had been me, I wouldn’t had done any of these things. I also read the secret Service refused to let people leave- could you check this out?
I thought the same thing. And you could see each one of those journalists shaking his hand, smiling, and mouthing, "Thank you, Mr President." Why on earth wouldn't they have just turned on their heel and left the stage without acknowledging him? They had just received an award exposing him. Yet, they politely acquiesced. I want to say congrats on the award but also, shame on you at the same time for seemingly "bending a knee." Just my opinion...
I had exactly the same thought. They had absolutely no obligation to acknowledge him or shake his grubby little hand. They should have snubbed him and walked out.
Not only must the Democrats sweep the mid term elections, they must be prepared to make certain the elections are fair. I'm not sure how, but I hope they have a plan
They can't rely on the Constitution to make things right. They must rally the American people to protest vehemently if the Reps try to claim a win. They must file lawsuits now based on the claims this man is making. We all must be ready to march.
I don’t agree that Batsby’s inane blatherings means he is going to fail now. He has been an idiot since the beginning and look where he is and he exercises his power because of the feckless Republicans. He was elected because of the ignorance, misogyny and racism of a large portion of the population. We have to vote him out despite the steps to suppress the vote. The press corps should have walked out of the dinner and not listened to his bs.
A great article as always, but as I sit here reading, a political add comes on by, Rick Brattin, running for another term as a state senator in Missouri. He's walking to the back of his pickup truck and lowers the tailgate, grabs a gun and shoves the clip into it, and in the next shot he's holding an AK-47, he then makes some stupid comment about following Trumps agenda over illegals, etc. I don't live in his state, Missouri, but I'm five minutes from the state line and all of us in Kansas know what happened in 1863 in Lawrence, KS., "Quantrill's Raid" by confederate guerrillas. This ass hole is of the same mindset with his fucking guns, he's a former Marine who was taught how to fight in war and in his mind he wants to bring those same skills home and use it on us or those he doesn't deem worthy of being here in the country. We need to rid ourselves of these small-minded people running for elected office who think a gun is the solution to our problems and his website touts his Christen faith, WTF.
Sorry for my rant here but these political adds with guns really pisses me off and that season is upon all of us now.
Rant accepted, you are so right. Bratttin and so many of his ilk have only the past and fragile myth to uphold their relevance.To let go of that is to let go of their carefully crafted identity and to reveal to everyone the O that they are.
Every journalist,media person and members of his regime saw him for who and what he truly is Friday night..without applause..without canned fanfare and handpicked seat fillers they saw him naked and incapable of speaking or performing as a person let alone a competent leader.
The jig is up…it is now incumbent upon those very journalists to take the kid gloves off and report the truth about him every day..no more softening from some ..just the outright truth and facts.
We must support that but also demand it..we know as they know he’s finished and we have to make sure November 3 rd is the placement of the final nail.
Keep on spreading the truth and doing all we can to take our country out of their grip.
Also commenting from the UK - the WHCA Dinner speech seems to have struck a nerve with several of my friends and colleagues, who simply could not believe the garbage that they were hearing in excerpts from the speech broadcast here, I do try to update them on what is actually happening in the US, based on the work of a number of independent commentators that I follow, but this latest word salad has really highlighted to some of them how ridiculous and, sadly dangerous, he is.
Another great assessment of Trump’s decline. Unfortunately, there is no political will to stop Trump from the “harm he’s doing”, since the Republicans control the House and the Senate. Thus, they are complicit in his corruption and lies. Trump is desperate and determined to rig or interfere with the November elections. Democratic candidates for the midterms MUST MAKE HIS CORRUPTION THE FOCUS OF THEIR CAMPAIGNS. Peter Magyar successfully used Orban’s corruption in his campaign for President of Hungary. This is how Democrats can win. I wonder how many Trump supporters know the extent of his corruption—the insider trades and deals, the grift of taxpayer monies for himself and his family.
The other thing we Democrats must do is GET OUT THE VOTE. Hungary had an 80% voter turnout. This is unheard of in the U.S. But we must step up and do everything we can to encourage people to vote and then help them get to the polls. Big victories are the only way we can ensure Democrats will control and House and Senate. There can be no question of who won.
While Blitzer spoke, about the recipients of the Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability, yes Donald Trump shrugged, sneered and tried to do that smile of his. What some may have missed while Blitzer was talking was the pat on the back that Karoline Leavitt gave to Trump. One of those pats on the back you give a child saying “there, there..” you know that comforting gesture that provides an emotional support, reassurance, and calmness as Blitzer is outlining all about the journalists and the Wall Street Journal publishing a story about a drawn young females body with his signature in a precarious position for Epstein on his birthday by his best friend Donald Trump.
Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins”.
If this dinner is to celebrate journalism and the entire concept of the Freedom of the Press and Free Speech then it totally missed the mark not just by a mile but this entire nation’s vastness…
The silence was deafening and the inactions by journalists from all the journalists just sitting there as to what that Felon said was complicity…the ruins have been laid..
We have those in the military doing their jobs to defend this nation that would render the ultimate sacrifice their lives, yet the White House correspondents could not walk out or say anything after their coworkers are being attacked for an hour…
“Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.” — Thurgood Marshall
Commenting from the UK, it's clear that Trump must be removed from office or at least stopped in what harm he's doing. The world needs that to happen. The Democrats are placing all their hopes in the mid-term elections and by all measures their confidence is well placed.
However, Trump has made it plain that he will not accept any result that doesn't involve the Republicans winning. Between gerrymandering and threatening to put ICE officers on the streets, whether or not that's legal, he's doing everything he can to rig the elections.
I hope Democrats win the House and Senate but they have to realise that they have to do some serious campaigning to get the vote out and if the result does go their way, Trump and his acolytes will do everything in their power, and technically not in their power, to deny the win.
I thoroughly agree with you Robert. Trump is one of the most corrupt individuals on the planet. What do you expect of a man who had a copy of Hitler's book Mein Kampf on his bedside table, according to his ex-wife Ivanka. I just hope that our new PM will be more robust in his dealings with Trump.
Robert we are fully aware of what he is trying to do, so there's that. Most Substack authors are doing their best to keeping the spotlight on all of that, but it's difficult because it's daily and in all directions. I think and sincerely hope we are doing our part to spread the word, I know I am and all of it is not very far from my lips everyday.
This is one of the most significant journalistic summaries of Trump that has even been written. This essay will be known decades from now.
Dear Heather, my name is Kevin Woo and I'm a freelance journalist who has become hooked on you. Each day, you end each YouTube video by asking for people to help in any way they can. I'm already a subscriber but I think I need to do more. I have a proposal for you - you have a lot of material to sift through, fact checking and writing every day. It's exhausting. I know. I've done it. Would it be helpful to have some backup support for fact checking, chasing down material, gathering data for you and Pete? If yes I'd like to be your backup band for the low low price of $0. Here's some of my writing clips: thewriterwithoutaclause.com. You'll find clips from Forbes, Entrepreneur, One+ (I know you were a travel blogger. I was a travel writer) and legal stories from California Lawyer. I think you can find my Substack via this message right?
I have no agenda other than to help you through use of my reporting skills. I leave the writing and content to you. bentandlibby@gmail.com is where you can find me.
One image that has stuck in my mind is when the people of Iraq tore down the towering statue of the authoritarian dictator saddam Hussein after the Americans pummeled the country in the 2nd Iraq war. That statue represents Trump and the dictatorial materialistic narcissist that must come down like that statute that was pulled down. Trump IS the end of his kind. He is the dinosaur headed to the inevitable extinction event. 2026 has the exact same calendar as 1914 when World War 1 began ending the 2,520 year long prophecy of Luke 21:24. Trump will go down in 2026. His karma assures this extinction event. He is not human His existence is no longer sustainable. . He is not worthy of bearing the distinction of being created in the image and likeness of the Creator. He is the “father of lies.” There is no truth to him. John 8:44. The arch comes down. The airport regains its identity. Any edifice bearing the name Trump will have his name removed. This is part of the paradigm shift from gross selfish materialism to the selfless nature of spirituality. Success will no longer be measured by money and power but by our humanity and our capacity to love one another unconditionally. This is the direction we are headed. The political system based on division will experience a transformation because of this spiritual revolution. Pluto is back in Aquarius after 250 years and with Uranus in Gemini back after 78 years it’s time to fasten our seatbelts because it’s going to be one heck of a ride. We must collectively transmute the 1914/2026 destructive energy to the energy of enlightenment, justice and interconnected Oneness. This is not wishful thinking. This is the emerging new reality.
Thank you always Heather for your selfless courage to speak truth to power. A power disintegrating before our very eyes. Trump is being judged by his own soul. We all are. It’s the Truman Show and it’s all being recorded. Everything. Every frame of the movie is preserved for eternity.
Be kind to one another. Love more.
You have so eloquently stated my own deep intuitions on where this is all leading. The similarities in energies in the two time periods is not going unnoticed. I am in my 70's; I have never in my life seen this many with so much greed and lack of empathy, but believe we are witnessing some truly evil, soulless behaviors. As we are continually learning about genetic connections to so many diseases, genetics could very well be responsible for these subhumans that are imposing their will on all of us. Not that it cannot be overcome, but mixed with the right environmental and social poisons seems to result in humans without souls that create chaos and hate. True love does not live in their bank of emotions. Only hormone fueled thrills. They think that having more money will make them happy, but find they can't purchase enough satisfaction to improve their own miserable lives.
I know these things to be true because science proves these elemental truths. Energy never goes away - it just changes form. Genetics carries the traits of all living animals. Only the strongest survive. Kindness and empathy is a strength. Evil only serves you if you are in power, but it is unsustainable.
I appreciate that you used the word extinction because it is an important part of perpetuating a better universe. Looking forward to their coming extinction in every way.
Amen
Heather you must be applauded for listening to the orange buffoon's tedious word salad. That joke (?) he made went down like a lead balloon didn't it? The man has absolutely no sense of humour, except crude jokes, which reflects his juvenile mind. No wonder the journalists at the WH dinner greeted his remarks in silence.
As for Trump seeking a third term, surely he's forbidden by your Constitution? Anyway, by that time he might be comfortably ensconced in a care facility for dementia patients. I hate to wish any human being any harm but I'll make an exception for Trump.
On another topic: lucky you seeing dolphins at play. I absolutely love the creatures but have never seen any wild ones. I just wish it were cooler here in Europe so you were lucky to have a cooler spell.
What I thought was strange was that all the awardees went up to Trump, smiled, shook his hand, and acted as if he weren’t the devil in disguise they all reported against. If it had been me, I wouldn’t had done any of these things. I also read the secret Service refused to let people leave- could you check this out?
I thought the same thing. And you could see each one of those journalists shaking his hand, smiling, and mouthing, "Thank you, Mr President." Why on earth wouldn't they have just turned on their heel and left the stage without acknowledging him? They had just received an award exposing him. Yet, they politely acquiesced. I want to say congrats on the award but also, shame on you at the same time for seemingly "bending a knee." Just my opinion...
I had exactly the same thought. They had absolutely no obligation to acknowledge him or shake his grubby little hand. They should have snubbed him and walked out.
Not only must the Democrats sweep the mid term elections, they must be prepared to make certain the elections are fair. I'm not sure how, but I hope they have a plan
They can't rely on the Constitution to make things right. They must rally the American people to protest vehemently if the Reps try to claim a win. They must file lawsuits now based on the claims this man is making. We all must be ready to march.
We must ALL help expose Trump’s corruption and encourage and get voters to the polls!
I don’t agree that Batsby’s inane blatherings means he is going to fail now. He has been an idiot since the beginning and look where he is and he exercises his power because of the feckless Republicans. He was elected because of the ignorance, misogyny and racism of a large portion of the population. We have to vote him out despite the steps to suppress the vote. The press corps should have walked out of the dinner and not listened to his bs.
A great article as always, but as I sit here reading, a political add comes on by, Rick Brattin, running for another term as a state senator in Missouri. He's walking to the back of his pickup truck and lowers the tailgate, grabs a gun and shoves the clip into it, and in the next shot he's holding an AK-47, he then makes some stupid comment about following Trumps agenda over illegals, etc. I don't live in his state, Missouri, but I'm five minutes from the state line and all of us in Kansas know what happened in 1863 in Lawrence, KS., "Quantrill's Raid" by confederate guerrillas. This ass hole is of the same mindset with his fucking guns, he's a former Marine who was taught how to fight in war and in his mind he wants to bring those same skills home and use it on us or those he doesn't deem worthy of being here in the country. We need to rid ourselves of these small-minded people running for elected office who think a gun is the solution to our problems and his website touts his Christen faith, WTF.
Sorry for my rant here but these political adds with guns really pisses me off and that season is upon all of us now.
Rant accepted, you are so right. Bratttin and so many of his ilk have only the past and fragile myth to uphold their relevance.To let go of that is to let go of their carefully crafted identity and to reveal to everyone the O that they are.
Thank you Heather.💙💙🙏🙏👏👏🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊
Every journalist,media person and members of his regime saw him for who and what he truly is Friday night..without applause..without canned fanfare and handpicked seat fillers they saw him naked and incapable of speaking or performing as a person let alone a competent leader.
The jig is up…it is now incumbent upon those very journalists to take the kid gloves off and report the truth about him every day..no more softening from some ..just the outright truth and facts.
We must support that but also demand it..we know as they know he’s finished and we have to make sure November 3 rd is the placement of the final nail.
Keep on spreading the truth and doing all we can to take our country out of their grip.
Also commenting from the UK - the WHCA Dinner speech seems to have struck a nerve with several of my friends and colleagues, who simply could not believe the garbage that they were hearing in excerpts from the speech broadcast here, I do try to update them on what is actually happening in the US, based on the work of a number of independent commentators that I follow, but this latest word salad has really highlighted to some of them how ridiculous and, sadly dangerous, he is.
Please keep up your good work.
Such an essential summary. Thank you for the excellent work you do!
Another great assessment of Trump’s decline. Unfortunately, there is no political will to stop Trump from the “harm he’s doing”, since the Republicans control the House and the Senate. Thus, they are complicit in his corruption and lies. Trump is desperate and determined to rig or interfere with the November elections. Democratic candidates for the midterms MUST MAKE HIS CORRUPTION THE FOCUS OF THEIR CAMPAIGNS. Peter Magyar successfully used Orban’s corruption in his campaign for President of Hungary. This is how Democrats can win. I wonder how many Trump supporters know the extent of his corruption—the insider trades and deals, the grift of taxpayer monies for himself and his family.
The other thing we Democrats must do is GET OUT THE VOTE. Hungary had an 80% voter turnout. This is unheard of in the U.S. But we must step up and do everything we can to encourage people to vote and then help them get to the polls. Big victories are the only way we can ensure Democrats will control and House and Senate. There can be no question of who won.
Thank you Heather.
While Blitzer spoke, about the recipients of the Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability, yes Donald Trump shrugged, sneered and tried to do that smile of his. What some may have missed while Blitzer was talking was the pat on the back that Karoline Leavitt gave to Trump. One of those pats on the back you give a child saying “there, there..” you know that comforting gesture that provides an emotional support, reassurance, and calmness as Blitzer is outlining all about the journalists and the Wall Street Journal publishing a story about a drawn young females body with his signature in a precarious position for Epstein on his birthday by his best friend Donald Trump.
https://bsky.app/profile/ddiamond.bsky.social/post/3mrgouakfh226
Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins”.
If this dinner is to celebrate journalism and the entire concept of the Freedom of the Press and Free Speech then it totally missed the mark not just by a mile but this entire nation’s vastness…
The silence was deafening and the inactions by journalists from all the journalists just sitting there as to what that Felon said was complicity…the ruins have been laid..
We have those in the military doing their jobs to defend this nation that would render the ultimate sacrifice their lives, yet the White House correspondents could not walk out or say anything after their coworkers are being attacked for an hour…
“Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.” — Thurgood Marshall
Thank you for suffering through this speech to give us an excellent recap.