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Corbin Trent America is being hollowed out by an extractive economy. The post When GDP Goes Up and Democracy Goes Down appeared first on The Nation.

Jacob Silverman The strange saga of a shadowy UAE company’s $100 million investment in World Liberty Financial, the Trump-aligned crypto trader The post Does Trump’s Biggest Crypto Backer Really Exist? appeared first on The Nation.

Arnold Isaacs It’s hard not to see a straight line between Stalin’s version of photoshopping and the purge of the Pentagon archives in 2025. The post The Trump Administration Is Airbrushing History appeared first on The Nation.

Jennifer Abruzzo, Jay Swanson The Constitution, properly interpreted, protects workers. But the Trump administration isn’t going to enforce those protections unless labor fights for them. The post Remembering Labor’s Constitutional Rights appeared first on The Nation.

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott called a special session of the state legislature on Wednesday to demand the GOP-controlled body redraw the state’s congressional districts, an effort to gerrymander the state to try to squeeze out more seats for Republicans in the 2026 midterms. Abbott called the special session because President Donald Trump wants Texas Republicans to rig the map for the GOP to try to offset potential Republican losses next November, when Republicans could lose control of their three-seat House majority. Political analysts say that under the current congressional maps, Democrats are favored to win control of the House in 2026. Knowing that Democratic House control would end Trump’s legislative agenda and allow Democrats to investigate his corrupt business dealings and administration, Trump is desperately trying to prevent that from happening by getting Texas and Ohio to be “ruthless” and make their state congressional districts even more heavily Republican gerrymanders. Texas was the first state to bite, after Abbott called the special session. Abbott cited a letter Trump’s Department of Justice sent purporting to say that several Democratic-held Texas congressional districts “constitute unconstitutional racial gerrymanders” and should be redrawn. But that’s obviously just a ruse to give Republicans an excuse to redraw the congressional districts to give Republicans an edge. The New York Times reported, however, that Republicans in the Texas congressional delegation are wary about redrawing districts, worried that they could inadvertently make GOP lawmakers more vulnerable if the 2026 midterms turn out to be a Democratic wave. By spreading out GOP voters in more districts, it could make Republicans more vulnerable if independents break Democrats’ way next November. People look through belongings at Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area on July 6, in Hunt, Texas. “The only way you make the state more competitive congressionally is you do it at their expense,” Democratic state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer told the Times, referring to congressional Republicans. “I think the Republicans have already maximized their map, given the demographic changes in the state.” Abbott called the special session as his state is reeling from a horrible natural disaster in which at least 120 people—many of them children attending summer camps—were swept away and killed by flash flooding. Nearly 200 more are still missing and likely presumed dead, as it has been days since the flooding. Reports said that Texas state did not have adequate warning systems to prevent the tragedy, and that Trump’s cuts to federal disaster preparedness funding could make things even worse in future flood situations. Democrats, for their part, are slamming Abbott’s special session announcement, saying it is a craven political move that shows he is putting politics over saving lives. “Hundreds of people have died or are missing as a result of the deadly flooding in the Texas Hill country. There are real questions about Governor Greg Abbott’s failed leadership, lack of preparation and the reckless decision not to bolster the early warning infrastructure in flood prone communities,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement. “Instead of aggressively addressing the failures of his administration, Governor Abbott and shameless extremists are conspiring with Donald Trump and House Republicans to try to rig the election and disenfranchise millions of voters.” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Suzan DelBene echoed those sentiments. “It’s shameful that while Texans are still responding to the deadly and tragic floods, Governor Abbott, House Republicans, and Donald Trump are focusing their time and resources trying to push through new, rigged Congressional maps,” she said in a statement. “Republicans are running scared because they know the American people will reject them next year for their broken promises and failed agenda. They also know they cannot win fair and square, so they are trying once again to rig the maps.”

President Donald Trump can’t seem to get enough of Africa—or at least its “beautiful” reporters.  During a press briefing Wednesday, Trump scoured the media pool for his latest muse, African reporter Hariana Verás. “Where is my reporter from Africa?” he asked with a sly smirk. “There you are. How are you? She’s very famous in Africa.” YouTube Video Trump first crossed paths with Verás in the Oval Office late last month, when she recounted the suffering of citizens in the Congo.  “I saw hope. They have hope now for a better day in Congo,” she said. And while Verás’ impassioned speech lasted minutes, going over plenty of possible talking points for Trump, he still only managed to cling to her appearance.  “That’s so beautifully stated,” he began before diving into how “beautiful” Verás is. “I’m not allowed to say that,” he added. “You know that could be the end of my political career, but you are beautiful—and you’re beautiful inside. I wish I had more reporters like you.” In another awkward exchange Wednesday, Trump showered Liberian President Joseph Boakai with compliments for his well-spoken English.  “Such good English,” Trump said. “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”   YouTube Video And while Boakai accepted the compliment graciously, no one seemed to let Trump in on the fact that English is the official language of Liberia. At least he didn’t go on a rant about Boakai’s looks.

A cartoon by Pedro Molina. Related | Watch Trump make it weird when reporter asks about Epstein

One of the most enduring conservative myths is that of the self-reliant, salt-of-the-earth, rural-dwelling American who pulls himself up by his bootstraps, wrestles a steer before breakfast, and builds his own house out of patriotism and chewing tobacco because, by god, they sure do love America!  If that were ever true, it hasn’t been for a while. These days, rural America is largely dependent on the federal government it claims to hate. In fact, far from self-reliant, rural America is subsidized by blue states. And it’s not even close. The Economic Innovation Group, a bipartisan public policy organization, has put together a map tracking the share of every county’s personal income that’s made up of government transfers, which include Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, food assistance, and veterans benefits—money specifically sent or spent on individuals.  I circled some of the country’s largest metropolitan areas to highlight how stark the urban-rural disparity can be. The metros around Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco all show minimal (less than 15% of personal income) or moderate (15% to less than 25%) reliance on government transfers. Rural America, meanwhile, is a glowing sea of government-dependent yellow. The South in particular looks like it took a bath in it. There are reasons for this. Rural regions have a big share of older people, given decades of young people fleeing for big cities. And while there is evidence of that trend reversing since 2020, due largely to the proliferation of remote work, rural areas still tend to be older than large metros. And more older people in a county means a bigger share of that country drawing Social Security and Medicare. And rural areas are more dependent on Medicaid. Government benefits are a good thing, so none of this is inherently bad, per se. But it does mean those rural areas are dependent on the very social safety net that Republicans are gleefully hacking apart with their cuts on Medicaid, food assistance, and the like. They’re also poorer than expensive urban regions, so they rely more on federal food assistance to eat.  But hey, that’s what these voters asked for. Rural areas lean heavily Republican, and farming-dependent counties voted for Trump at an eye-popping average of 78%. Maybe they were just eager to get back to some serious bootstrap-pulling, or maybe they thought the government cheese tasted better if it came with a side of moral superiority and immigrant-blaming. And can anyone actually eat when a handful of trans girls might be playing high school sports? They sure had their priorities!  And don’t worry, rural Republican voters: Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, gets a tax cut. Which he definitely needed. For reasons. 

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s cost-cutting measures at the Federal Emergency Management Agency slowed search and rescue efforts in Texas by 72 hours, possibly costing some of the at least 120 lives lost in the devastating natural disaster, CNN reported. According to CNN, Noem created a new policy that requires her to personally sign off on any costs greater than $100,000. The Urban Search and Rescue crews seeking to be deployed to the Texas Hill Country—where hundreds of people were swept away by the rapidly rising rivers after heavy rainstorms—met that criteria. But CNN reported that Noem didn’t approve the deployment of those search and rescue crews until Monday—three days after the floods swept through Texas. From CNN’s report: As central Texas towns were submerged in rising waters, FEMA officials realized they couldn’t pre-position Urban Search and Rescue crews from a network of teams stationed regionally across the country. In the past, FEMA would have swiftly staged these teams, which are specifically trained for situations including catastrophic floods, closer to a disaster zone in anticipation of urgent requests, multiple agency sources told CNN. But even as Texas rescue crews raced to save lives, FEMA officials realized they needed Noem’s approval before sending those additional assets. Noem didn’t authorize FEMA’s deployment of Urban Search and Rescue teams until Monday, more than 72 hours after the flooding began, multiple sources told CNN. DHS tried to deny that Noem’s incompetence hindered the search and rescue efforts. But their denial actually proved the CNN story. DHS said in a post on X, “President Trump approved a Major Disaster Declaration, hours after Governor Greg Abbott’s request. By Tuesday, FEMA had deployed 311 staffers, providing support and shelter for hundreds of people. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, DHS is reforming FEMA to prioritize state-led, locally executed disaster response, as Texas has exemplified.” That means that CNN’s report was correct, that it took until Tuesday for FEMA to deploy the search and rescue teams. Noem appeared on “Fox & Friends” on Thursday, where she was asked about the CNN report. But instead of providing evidence that she swiftly approved the search and rescue teams, she only attacked CNN—classic deflection that did not actually deny the report. “CNN has a report accusing you of slowing the process in Texas,” one of the hosts asked Noem, to which she replied, “Well there you go. Fake news CNN is absolutely trash, what they are doing.” YouTube Video Noem, for her part, has implemented the cost-cutting measures in DHS that hamstrung the search and rescue efforts in Texas even as she spends hundreds of millions galavanting around the country and globe cosplaying for PR stunts and visiting the torture camps she’s gleefully sending immigrants to. A Wall Street Journal report from April said Noem spent $9 million on a television ad advising immigrants to self-deport. She also sported a $50,000 Rolex watch on a visit to the CECOT prison in El Salvador where the Trump administration illegally deported immigrants against court orders. Noem is also seeking a $50 million private jet to transport her to the stunts she’s carrying out. Turns out, Noem cares more about creating torture porn than she does about saving lives. 

A cartoon by Clay Jones. Related | You won’t believe how badly Kristi Noem bungled Texas flood response