Politics Curator

I think about this tweet at least once a month

nobody, but nobody holds the MAGA base in lower regard than Trump himself.

Trump is about to lock 157 million Americans out of their own bank accounts. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed an executive order forcing every US bank to collect proof of citizenship is "in process." And he just doubled down: "If Treasury and the banking regulators say it's their job, it's their job." This sounds irrelevant but here's what this really means: Per the Congressional Research Service, only 48% of Americans hold a US passport. That leaves over 170 million Americans without one. REAL IDs don't count. Driver's licenses don't count. Social Security cards don't count. Per Wall Street Journal reporting, banks will need a passport or birth certificate. The Brennan Center found 21.3 million voting-age US citizens don't have documents proving their citizenship easily available. These are Americans who are about to lose access to their own bank accounts. And here's the thing: The order applies to new AND existing customers. Banks could be forced to close accounts of people who can't produce documents. Your 78-year-old grandmother born at home in 1948. Your naturalized dad who lost his papers 30 years ago. Your cousin mid-passport renewal. The official story is that this stops illegal immigrants from accessing banking. But the actual reality: Illegal immigrants can't open US bank accounts anyway. Know Your Customer rules already require SSNs or ITINs. The existing system ALREADY blocks what this order claims to block. So who does this actually target? The half of Americans without a passport. Rural Americans. Elderly Americans born before centralized record-keeping. Black Americans in Southern states where birth records were historically unreliable. Low-income Americans who can't afford $225 for an expedited passport. The American Action Forum, a center-right think tank, estimates this adds 33 to 73 million paperwork hours and $2.6 to $5.6 billion in compliance costs. Guess who pays those costs? You do. Through fees. Through closed accounts. Through denied loans. Bessent's defense quote: "I have a place in the UK, they want to know who lives in every apartment." Bessent's net worth: $600 million. He has a "place in the UK." He will not be affected by this. So this isn't really about immigration. For the first time in American history, access to the banking system would be conditioned on proving citizenship to the federal government. That creates a permanent database linking every American's finances to their citizenship status. Once that database exists, it gets used by ICE, voting enforcement, tax enforcement, Social Security, and future administrations for purposes nobody has announced yet. Every future government gets the keys to decide who has a bank account based on paperwork. And Wall Street's reaction tells you everything: Bank execs privately called it "unworkable" and "a complete nightmare." One researcher called it "a way to weaponize the banking system to achieve political ends." They're not pushing back because they love immigrants. They just KNOW the compliance costs are catastrophic and half their customers will walk. Tom Cotton also introduced a companion bill in March making it a federal crime for any unauthorized person to "open or maintain a US bank account." Maintain. Meaning existing accounts. These things are literally being drafted right now. I'm surprised that all of this went under the radar.

Donald Trump just wrapped up a disastrous speech in Phoenix, Arizona, at a Turning Point USA event. He started by lying about a supposed deal with Iran, claiming, “We have now secured the Strait of Hormuz. It is ours.” He also said that the United States and Iran would be excavating nuclear sites together to collect “nuclear dust.” Iran has denied all of these claims. Trump also falsely claimed that Iran had announced the Strait of Hormuz is “fully open and ready for business.” That is not what Iran said. Iranian officials have stated the strait will remain open under their control—specifically under the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps—using coordinated, predetermined routes. They plan to charge tolls and assert full control and sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.

Consistently full of scorn for the American people. Consistently working to make things better for billionaires oligarchs and autocrats. That's why he was appointed.

During the flight a White House official told us that President Trump will bring the press pool in the Oval Office at 9am et tomorrow for remarks. Trump then told us… “Somebody’s coming to the White House who’s very good, very smart, a caring person who cares about the country and beyond.”

A federal judge in Illinois today ruled that the Trump administration improperly coerced Facebook and Apple to remove ICE-tracking apps in violation of the First Amendment. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

Our first day in the world’s most beautiful building, the Hungarian Parliament. Every day, we will work to live up to the enormous trust and mandate the Hungarian people have given us. God bless Hungary!

US Army Secretary Driscoll: Ukrainians have fundamentally altered how humans engage in conflict. They've done an absolutely amazing job of innovating, and I am publicly on record saying we're learning a lot from them and we're changing to a lot of lessons that they've developed.

Scoop: Trump has recorded a two-and-a-half-minute reading of the Bible (Second Chronicles 7:14) to be released Tuesday as a part of an 84-hour Bible reading at the Museum of the Bible. Susie Wiles and at least half a dozen cabinet enemies will participate politico.com/news/2026/04/1…

The US dropped a Friday night notice lifting sanctions on Russian oil for another month. Comes just 2 days after Treasury Secretary Bessant said the US would not renew the waiver.

“Open and/or rapidly opening.”

In an attempt to block a report by The Atlantic, the FBI director’s team detailed allegations that had not been made public. trib.al/xbJV51r

TRUMP: “Next we’re going to war with Cuba. Watch what happens.” I’m lost for words at this point.

@Nick_Offerman FYI. Ivanka trump rents a 5.5 million dollar mansion in DC from Andrónico Luksic, the head of Antofagasta PLC. The mining company fighting for this. queticosuperior.org/twin-metals-ow….

Lmao Trump at 6:00PM: “I made Iran open the Strait of Hormuz. NATO countries are calling me begging to help coordinate.” Spain at 6:10PM: “That’s a lie. He never called us. He is still living in delusion.” Ten minutes. They couldn’t even let him finish the speech. 😭😂

Q: Did Anthropic have a meeting at the White House? TRUMP: Who? Q: Anthropic. TRUMP: I have no idea. *walks away*

If a two-term Democratic President succeeds Trump, Alito would have to make it to 86 years old. Clarence Thomas would have to make it to 88. If a Dem President gets to fill their seats, we'd have a Dem-majority Supreme Court for the first time since 1969 x.com/EricMGarcia/st…

In a dramatic scene that unfolded in the wee hours this morning, members of the House defeated a ploy by the administration and Speaker Johnson to ram through a 5-year reauthorization of FISA Section 702. Here’s what happened, and what will/should happen next. 1/20

From @S_Fitzpatrick, via @TheAtlantic: "Several officials told me that Patel’s drinking has been a recurring source of concern across the government. They said that he is known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication, in many cases at the private club Ned’s in Washington, D.C., while in the presence of White House and other administration staff." theatlantic.com/politics/archi…