Julie Zebrak

Opinion | Why Trump's revival of this outdated fitness program is likely to do more harm than good The president used to trash exercise and wellness culture. Now he’s rebooting the outdated Presidential Fitness Test as a public school requirement.

American kids should be exercising more, and this should 100 percent be a national priority.

But Trump’s plan to resurrect a hollowed-out version of JFK’s presidential fitness is not the way to make this happen IMO

wrote about it for @msnbc.com

www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

It’s not you. It’s really not. It’s the President and his tariffs and the federal government shrinkage he has perpetrated and the economic uncertainty that he has caused. Keep your chin up and keep looking. Just know it’s not you.

Many things can be true at the same time. All are horrific.

‘Losing Republicans by the day’: Support for Israel slipping among Trump’s base Younger Republicans join MAGA isolationists and Christian conservatives in calling out Jewish state as Gaza war drags on; president hasn't adopted their more hostile rhetoric, but has taken notice

‘Losing Republicans by the day’: Support for Israel slipping among Trump’s base https://www.timesofisrael.com/losing-republicans-by-the-day-support-for-israel-slipping-among-trumps-base/

Many things can be true at the same time. All are horrific.

It’s hard not to be dispirited by the capitulation of so many elite institutions. When renowned universities and prestigious law firms bow to pressure from this authoritarian movement that is a signal to so many others that it is OK to capitulate too, or even worse, obey in advance.

1/7

Opinion | The Trump Economy Stumbles The President has his new world tariff order in place, but jobs and growth don’t look so good.

WSJ editorial board hits Trump where it hurts. www.wsj.com/opinion/dona...

Mike Huckabee, Israel’s Passionate Defender as Gaza War Drives Allies Away

Abandon Harris voted for this:
Mike Huckabee, Israel’s Passionate Defender as Gaza War Drives Allies Away
Mr. Huckabee, a Baptist minister, is the first evangelical to serve as American ambassador to Israel. Christian conservatives and the Netanyahu government are pleased.

Having flashbacks to Trump’s 2021 demand that a state official “find” missing votes, because the numbers weren’t in his favor.
This is what he expects of the BLS commissioner too: “find” missing jobs. He will try to appoint someone who does this bidding, unless GOP senators miraculously grow spines

I don’t think we’ve ever had a president exhibiting this severe of a cognitive decline this early in their term. Not even Reagan in his second term.

Trump’s firing of the BLS head & his withholding of federal research funding both come from the same place: not valuing science & data & viewing them merely as tools for his authoritarian goals.

Trump's authoritarian streak With one social media post, Trump threatened to eviscerate the integrity of U.S. government data.

Apply any of these five storylines from the past week to a foreign leader — or even a past U.S. president — and it reads like an authoritarian playbook.

After a historic economic week, stagflation fears are back The word "stagflation" revives miserable memories of the 1970s, when Americans faced a dreadful combination of higher prices and few job opportunities.

America is showing new signs of stagflation — inflation running hotter, the job market suffering new weakness, and economists warning both are at risk of getting worse in the months ahead.

Opinion | The Trump Economy Stumbles The President has his new world tariff order in place, but jobs and growth don’t look so good.

WSJ editorial board hits Trump where it hurts. www.wsj.com/opinion/dona...

Arab States Call for Hamas to Disarm Amid Push for a Palestinian State

The world’s Arab countries for the first time have joined unanimously in the call for Hamas to lay down its weapons, release all hostages and end its rule of the Gaza Strip.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/w...

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Trump seems to be using "invasion" agitprop to recreate the national trauma that reigned after 9/11, to hyper-militarize the homeland.

As one scholar tells me, this "could create a kind of domestic ‘Forever War,’ but one that is uniquely dangerous."

newrepublic.com/article/1987...

Strikingly, the memo says straightforwardly that what happened in Los Angeles is the sort of operation that may be necessary "for years to come."

As one expert told me: "They see Los Angeles as a model to be replicated."

newrepublic.com/article/1987...

The memo says DHS is seeking an "agreement" in which Pentagon agrees to "detail personnel within ICE and CBP."

It also describes threat of cartels/transnational gangs as akin to having Al Qaeda and ISIS.

Experts see those lines as particularly alarming.

newrepublic.com/article/1987...

The memo says bluntly that US military leadership need to better grasp the threat of illegal immigration *in the homeland.*

Experts say this means DHS, maybe w/Pete Hegseth's help, may be pressuring top Defense officials to get more involved domestically.

newrepublic.com/article/1987...

The DHS memo lays out the agenda for a July 21 meeting among top level officials from DHS and Defense Department. It was authored by Philip Hegseth (yes, he's Pete Hegseth's brother), a top adviser to DHS Sec Kristi Noem and liason to the Pentagon.

newrepublic.com/article/1987...

Trump’s Domestic Use of Military Set to Get Worse, Leaked Memo Shows A Department of Homeland Security memo obtained by TNR signals top-level discussions about a potential escalation of the Pentagon’s domestic anti-immigration role, and lays out new details.

NEWS --> An internal Homeland Security memo suggests Trump's use of military for domestic enforcement is about to get worse. It details top-level talks between Defense Department and DHS on what this should look like. Experts say it's alarming.

We obtained the memo:
newrepublic.com/article/1987...

July Jobs Report Comes in Far Weaker Than Expected Just 73,000 jobs were created last month, on a seasonally adjusted basis. + Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast that about 100,000 roles were added. Large revisions for previous ...

July Jobs Report Comes in Far Weaker Than Expected www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

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Trump Shoots the Messenger Firing the BLS Commissioner moves us into banana republic territory

New, from me:
Trump just fired the head of the BLS, accusing her of rigging data.
The reality is that by shooting the messenger reporting on the negative effects of his economic policies, Trump pushed America further into banana republic territory.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/trump-shoo...

The deep state is real and it works for Donald Trump The FBI perverted privacy laws in furtherance of a coverup.

The public has a right to know whether Trump was part of Epstein’s pedophile ring; whether he covered up his involvement; and whether he has induced gov't agents to pervert privacy laws in the furtherance of an ongoing conspiracy to hide his sexual crimes.

www.editorialboard.com/the-deep-sta...

and corporation for public broadcasting

Yep

The firing of the BLS Commissioner, favorable treatment of Maxwell, intimidation of the universities—a notable week on the slide to a banana republic.

Ghislaine Maxwell was not eligible to be transferred to Texas prison camp, according to Bureau of Prison policy Ghislaine Maxwell was ineligible to be transferred to a minimum security prison camp — like the one she was transferred to in Texas — because she is a

www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...