Hey folks,
Welcome back to the newsletter!
Today, I sat down with my buddy Bill Scher from Washington Monthly. (Watch the whole thing here.)
You know we went deep into the story about top officials using hackable phone apps, flouting the Presidential Records Act, and flailing with denials — but there’s this one story that’s haunting me: A gay barber, hairstylist, and makeup artist deported to El Salvador.
His crime? As far as I can tell, knowing how to blend foundation. No gang ties, no rap sheet — just a guy who crossed the border and ended up shaved-headed, shipped off, and “disappeared” into what looks like a gulag.
Then there’s the Tufts student from Turkey, snatched off the street by masked, hooded feds with no badges, no explanation — just a revoked visa and vague Hamas whispers that don’t hold up. Unless we’re missing something, here’s what we know: She signed a “Free Gaza” op-ed, and suddenly she’s gone.
No due process, no appeal. Bill’s right: the video of that abduction is chilling. It’s terror as policy.
Look, I’m not soft on immigration. If you sneak in from Mexico and we send you back, fine. But sending a Venezuelan makeup artist to a dungeon in El Salvador — or forcefully detaining a student for an opinion — isn’t toughness. It’s cruelty.
And as Bill pointed out, the numbers don’t even back up the “success” here — Trump’s deportation stats lag behind Biden’s. This isn’t about results; it’s about the show. The message. Self-deport or else.
Meanwhile, my 14-year-old’s scrolling X, seeing this stuff play out in real time. It’s not radicalizing him — wrong word — but it’s shaping how he sees the Republican Party. And not in a good way.
Free trade? Free speech? National security competence? Those old GOP pillars are dust now. All that’s left is fealty to Trump. Ride or die.
Signalgate: The Sideshow That Says It All
The immigration mess doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Take Signalgate — day three (or is it four?) of this scandal, and it’s a masterclass in incompetence.
Trump’s team can’t get their story straight: The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg hacked his way onto a call! No, wait, we added him by mistake! He’s a loser anyway! Classic crisis management failure, as Bill noted. Deny, attack, repeat. No one’s owning up, no one’s fixing it—just a shrug and a “whatever.”
This isn’t just sloppy PR. It’s a window into a government run by people who don’t care about the basics. Competence? Out the window.
Elon Musk is at DOGE, making it harder for seniors to reach Social Security, while tariffs might jack up prices. Mix in the national security flubs, and you’ve got a presidency teetering on chaos faster than Joe Biden’s did after Afghanistan.
Bill’s take? This isn’t a typical presidency where mistakes pile up over time. Trump’s surrounded himself with unstable, incompetent folks from day one. It’s not a slow grind — it’s a jarring, bonkers freefall. And the GOP’s along for the ride.
JD Vance and the Post-Trump Puzzle
Speaking of the GOP, let’s talk JD Vance.
The guy’s not even 40, pure MAGA, handpicked by Don Jr. — yet Trump won’t say he’d back him as his successor.
Vance’s poll numbers? Worse than Trump’s, and worse than Kamala Harris’s at this stage.
Bill’s piece at Washington Monthly nails it: the public’s not buying his combative, petulant Trump Lite act. Haranguing Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office didn’t help. Neither did Signalgate, where he played the loyal soldier.
Here’s my takeaway: Trumpism only works for Trump. He’s got the charisma, the “Rizz,” as the kids put it. JD doesn’t.
And serving as Trump’s bitch only drags you down — you’ve got to say patently false, humiliating things to keep him happy.
So why would the GOP tap another politician post-Trump? Why not Tucker Carlson or Candace Owens?
If they’re sticking to the playbook, it won’t be the next loyalist in line—it’ll be a wild card.
Where’s This All Going?
Bill’s got a point: if eggs cost a fortune and the government’s abducting students, people might notice. Republicans running in 2026 or eyeing 2028 have to ask — does all-MAGA, all-the-time still work?
The base is rabid, sure, but midterms bring waves. We just saw Pennsylvania; Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race is next. And Signalgate’s a reminder: there’s no sign this crew’s learning from their mistakes.
Trump’s ethos — shoot from the hip, skip the briefing books, laugh off the screw-ups — is a model being replicated by his entire administration. “We’ll make a million mistakes and fix ’em,” Elon says. Fine, if you’re on Team Trump. Anyone else? Crucified. That double standard’s not sustainable.
Plug Time
Catch my full convo with Bill on the DMZ podcast—subscribe wherever you listen. Tomorrow, I’m talking Elon Musk with Matthew Sitman from Know Your Enemy. They’ve got a killer two-parter on him—fascinating stuff I didn’t know.
Till next time — keep your eyes open and your pearls unclutched!
Matt
Share this post