[From Radio Free Europe's website]
President Trump enjoyed an approval rating above 50% for the first days of his second term, but as of late April that approval rating has fallen before 45%, according to the polling average calculated by Decision Desk HQ/The Hill.
Musk and Trump – Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay talks Musk, Tesla and DOGE in today’s Right Column>>>>>>>>>>>>
Contributing Pundit Jerry Lanson says President Trump’s popularity, and therefore his authority, <<<<<<is slipping, in today’s Left Column
Trump Hands Putin the Win, Pt. II – As the White House prepares to exit peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, stage right, Russia hit Kyiv with its deadliest attack on the capital since last July. An overnight Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv has killed nine and injured 90, The Kyiv Independent reports, calling the attack “Russian peace in all its glory.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cut short a visit to South Africa after the attack. He has been planning to attend Pope Francis’ Vatican funeral Saturday.
President Trump, who says Russia already has won its war on Ukraine (while continuing to blame Ukraine for starting it), also plans to attend the pope’s funeral.
“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on Kyiv,” Trump posted on Truth Social, according to the Ukrainian newspaper. “Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, stop!”
Does “Vladimir, stop!” seem a bit reminiscent of the scene in Psycho in which Norman Bates discovers Marion Crane’s body in the shower and exclaims; “Mother! Oh God, mother! Blood! Blood!”?
Is this the White House’s chance to wrap the body of Ukraine in the trunk of a Ford sedan and sink it into a swamp?
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the US would walk away from peace talks if no progress is imminent. The White House has offered few details on said peace deal, but Vice President JD Vance has said it would “lock in” current frontlines, NPR’s Charles Maynes reports. The White House is frustrated that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refuses to recognize Crimea, which it lost in 2014, as part of Russia.
Still, Russia’s Vladimir Putin has good reason to continue close relations with the White House over investment opportunities, prisoner exchanges and negotiations with Iran, Maynes said on Morning Edition.
“Think of it as Putin’s Art of the Deal, Maynes concluded.
Fiona Hill, who was senior director for Europe and Russia for the US National Security Council for the first Trump administration, told the BBC it is “a complete lie” that Russia has won its war on Ukraine. Hill says she has been in the room for several meetings where she has witnessed Putin “playing” Trump.
“A lot of people know how to play Trump,” she said.
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Suit to Stop Tariffs – Twelve states filed State of Oregon et al. v. Donald J. Trump et al. with the Court of International Trade in Washington that contends his administration’s tariffs violate federal law and the Constitution (per CQ Roll Call). The 12 states are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Vermont.
“China and the United States have not held consultations or negotiations on the tariff issue, let alone reached an agreement,” Guo Jiakun, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday (per the WSJ). “If the US really wants to solve the problem, it should take seriously the rational voices from the international community and domestic sector, and fully eliminate all unilateral tariff measures against China.”
Fake talks … Reacting to a Wednesday story in The Wall Street Journal that the Trump White House is considering slashing tariffs on Chinese imports in order to de-escalate the raging trade war (that the Trump White House started), Chinese officials called this “fake news.”
“China and the United States have not held consultations or negotiations on the tariff issue, let alone reached an agreement,” Guo Jiakun, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday (per the WSJ). “If the US really wants to solve the problem, it should take seriously the rational voices from the international community and domestic sector, and fully eliminate all unilateral tariff measures against China.”
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Aging Out – As veteran centrist Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) continue to get flak from the party’s younger leaders about being soft against the GOP and out of touch, the number-two Democrat in the Senate has announced his retirement. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), 80 announced Wednesday he will not seek a sixth term in 2026 (per Politico). He was the author in 2001 of the DREAM Act, which gave undocumented aliens who grew up in the US a chance to become citizens, precursor to the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which is hanging by a thread under President Trump.
--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa