Trump Administration 2.0 ~ #6
This is a continuation of the topic Trump Administration 2.0 ~ #5.
Talk Pro and Con
Join LibraryThing to post.
1margd
Didn't Trump promise to DRAIN the swamp??
Andrew—#IAmTheResistance @AmoneyResists | 12:18 AM · Jun 14, 2026:
"$14 million “beautification” and just 3 days later it looks worse than ever because there was a reason we didn’t paint the reflecting pool dark colors like “American flag blue.” Mainly that it would raise the water temp and cause rapid algae growth."
{1:47} https://x.com/AmoneyResists/status/2066012311295312199
Andrew—#IAmTheResistance @AmoneyResists | 12:18 AM · Jun 14, 2026:
"$14 million “beautification” and just 3 days later it looks worse than ever because there was a reason we didn’t paint the reflecting pool dark colors like “American flag blue.” Mainly that it would raise the water temp and cause rapid algae growth."
{1:47} https://x.com/AmoneyResists/status/2066012311295312199
2margd
Lawfare Daily: For-Profit Cage-Fighting at the White House (31:00)
Roger Parloff, Brendan Ballou, Jen Patja | June 16, 2026
"Discussing the litigation over the UFC cage-fighting event on the White House South Lawn ..."
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawfare-daily--for-profit-cage-fighting-at-...
Roger Parloff, Brendan Ballou, Jen Patja | June 16, 2026
"Discussing the litigation over the UFC cage-fighting event on the White House South Lawn ..."
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawfare-daily--for-profit-cage-fighting-at-...
3margd
KLEPTOCRACY: Is Trump Selling Himself Back His D.C. Hotel?
Timothy Noah | June 15, 2026
"...the Trump administration is also on a tear to unload government buildings that it’s judged to be all cost and no value. The General Services Administration, which is the federal government’s real estate arm, is selling off government real estate at fire-sale prices into a historically depressed commercial market. These prices are lousy even within the context of the post-Covid office-space glut, making the GSA look very foolish as it claims thrifty stewardship of the taxpayer dollar.
... I’ve been primarily concerned about the fate of the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building, which the GSA designated last year for “accelerated disposition.” Gray Brechin, founder of the nonprofit Living New Deal, described the Cohen Building to me last September as “a kind of Sistine Chapel of the New Deal” because of its murals by Philip Guston, Seymour Fogel, Ethel and Jenne Magafan—and, most especially, Ben Shahn, whose dry frescoes along both sides of a 70-foot lobby corridor, “The Meaning of Social Security,” Shahn judged “the best work I’ve done.” ...
Three {government buildings the GSA has sold already} are in Washington, and the first two, like the Cohen, have been designated for “accelerated disposition.” In March, the GSA’s own Regional Office Building was sold (to the residential developer Dalian Development) for $24.26 million. That worked out to $26 per square foot, or less than one-tenth its market value. In May, the GSA sold the Liberty Loan Building (to Satvik “Vinny” Raj, founder and managing director of Digilent Consulting) for $17 million. That works out to $98 per square foot, which is somewhat better, but still about one-fifth the average sale price for a D.C. office building in the current depressed market. Why the government insists on disposing of these buildings at so inopportune a moment is anybody’s guess...
The third building, which is not on the accelerated disposition list, is the Old Post Office Building. It sold earlier this month for $80 million, or $172 per square foot. Which sounds like a big improvement on the GSA Annex and the Liberty Loan building until you remember that the Old Post Office is a gorgeous Romanesque revival structure completed in 1899; that a mere 10 years ago Trump spent $200 million, or $430 per square foot, to convert the Old Post Office into a luxury hotel; and that Trump sold the hotel five years ago for a reported $375 million—and that was just for the lease, because until last week the GSA retained ownership of the building and the land. In current dollars, Trump got paid for the renovated Old Post Office $452 million, or $972 million per square foot—again, just for the lease.
That means, among other things, that even if the Old Post Office Building’s new buyer gets its asking price of $400 million, the building and the land will sell for less in 2026 than just the lease sold for in 2021. And who’s the likeliest buyer? According to The Wall Street Journal, Eric Trump has been in talks to repurchase the Old Post Office Building since mid-January 2025. Trump wants his Kleptorium back, at a discount ..."
https://newrepublic.com/article/211821/trump-international-hotel-kleptocratic-sc...
Timothy Noah | June 15, 2026
"...the Trump administration is also on a tear to unload government buildings that it’s judged to be all cost and no value. The General Services Administration, which is the federal government’s real estate arm, is selling off government real estate at fire-sale prices into a historically depressed commercial market. These prices are lousy even within the context of the post-Covid office-space glut, making the GSA look very foolish as it claims thrifty stewardship of the taxpayer dollar.
... I’ve been primarily concerned about the fate of the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building, which the GSA designated last year for “accelerated disposition.” Gray Brechin, founder of the nonprofit Living New Deal, described the Cohen Building to me last September as “a kind of Sistine Chapel of the New Deal” because of its murals by Philip Guston, Seymour Fogel, Ethel and Jenne Magafan—and, most especially, Ben Shahn, whose dry frescoes along both sides of a 70-foot lobby corridor, “The Meaning of Social Security,” Shahn judged “the best work I’ve done.” ...
Three {government buildings the GSA has sold already} are in Washington, and the first two, like the Cohen, have been designated for “accelerated disposition.” In March, the GSA’s own Regional Office Building was sold (to the residential developer Dalian Development) for $24.26 million. That worked out to $26 per square foot, or less than one-tenth its market value. In May, the GSA sold the Liberty Loan Building (to Satvik “Vinny” Raj, founder and managing director of Digilent Consulting) for $17 million. That works out to $98 per square foot, which is somewhat better, but still about one-fifth the average sale price for a D.C. office building in the current depressed market. Why the government insists on disposing of these buildings at so inopportune a moment is anybody’s guess...
The third building, which is not on the accelerated disposition list, is the Old Post Office Building. It sold earlier this month for $80 million, or $172 per square foot. Which sounds like a big improvement on the GSA Annex and the Liberty Loan building until you remember that the Old Post Office is a gorgeous Romanesque revival structure completed in 1899; that a mere 10 years ago Trump spent $200 million, or $430 per square foot, to convert the Old Post Office into a luxury hotel; and that Trump sold the hotel five years ago for a reported $375 million—and that was just for the lease, because until last week the GSA retained ownership of the building and the land. In current dollars, Trump got paid for the renovated Old Post Office $452 million, or $972 million per square foot—again, just for the lease.
That means, among other things, that even if the Old Post Office Building’s new buyer gets its asking price of $400 million, the building and the land will sell for less in 2026 than just the lease sold for in 2021. And who’s the likeliest buyer? According to The Wall Street Journal, Eric Trump has been in talks to repurchase the Old Post Office Building since mid-January 2025. Trump wants his Kleptorium back, at a discount ..."
https://newrepublic.com/article/211821/trump-international-hotel-kleptocratic-sc...
4margd
Anne Applebaum {The Atlantic} @anneapplebaum | 1:41 PM · Jun 21, 2026
"So @jonswaine {Jon Swaine} @washingtonpost {Washington Post} has seen hundreds of documents containing evidence that Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump's Director of National Intelligence, was directed throughout her career by the leader of the {fringe breakaway of the Hare Krishna movement} cult she grew up in"
{paywall} https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/06/21/tulsi-gabbard-her-guru-...
________________________________________
Excerpts from the WaPo article:
Has Tulsi Gabbard Been the Weird Little Puppet of an Alt-Right Religious Guru Her Entire Political Career?
Charles P. Pierce | Jun 22, 2026
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a71667211/tulsi-gabbard-chris-but...
"So @jonswaine {Jon Swaine} @washingtonpost {Washington Post} has seen hundreds of documents containing evidence that Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump's Director of National Intelligence, was directed throughout her career by the leader of the {fringe breakaway of the Hare Krishna movement} cult she grew up in"
{paywall} https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/06/21/tulsi-gabbard-her-guru-...
________________________________________
Excerpts from the WaPo article:
Has Tulsi Gabbard Been the Weird Little Puppet of an Alt-Right Religious Guru Her Entire Political Career?
Charles P. Pierce | Jun 22, 2026
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a71667211/tulsi-gabbard-chris-but...
5margd
Scott Lincicome @scottlincicome | 9:39 AM · Jun 28, 2026:
VP @CatoInstitute (econ/trade), adjunct @DukeLaw, columnist @TheDispatch & @Bloomberg
research from @nytimes finds that the US government is actively doing "critical minerals" deals with FOURTEEN different companies that have financial ties to the Trump and/or Lutnick families - deals worth around $9 billion in all: https://x.com/scottlincicome/status/2071226953240133641/photo/1
VP @CatoInstitute (econ/trade), adjunct @DukeLaw, columnist @TheDispatch & @Bloomberg
research from @nytimes finds that the US government is actively doing "critical minerals" deals with FOURTEEN different companies that have financial ties to the Trump and/or Lutnick families - deals worth around $9 billion in all: https://x.com/scottlincicome/status/2071226953240133641/photo/1
