A Saturday Reid: Everything Trump touches dies

From conservative political parties around the world, to McDonalds, America's global reputation and U.S. Christianity, Donald Trump is ruining everything.

Donald Trump is bad for business.

He’s crushing tourism to the U.S. (flushing billions of dollars in revenue in the process) no matter how hard he denies that it’s a big deal. From the Washington Post in late April:

Industry experts say some of the reasons are plain to see: Reports of detentions and deportations, including the weeks-long lockup of European tourists, have sowed fears of bad experiences at the border. Some countries have tightened travel advisories, and Trump’s whiplash tariffs have ratcheted up international tensions.

Last month, the number of overseas visitors fell nearly 12 percent compared with the same time last year, according to data from the International Trade Administration, an agency under the U.S. Department of Commerce

His tariffs are making the economy so ugly it’s even hurting McDonald’s sales at home, while international disgust is hitting their profits worldwide. (though they’re also still in the midst of a boycott-divestment campaign after its chief executive offered free meals to Israeli defense forces fighting in Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attack.)

Trump’s Medusa-like touch is also evident among conservative parties around the world.

Canada elected a liberal leader almost entirely, it seems, because he seemed like the best bet to stand up to the U.S. president who can’t stop day dreaming about absorbing our northern neighbor. And this weekend, it’s Australia’s turn…

SYDNEY—Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was returned to power in an election Saturday, the latest left-leaning leader to achieve a comeback victory as President Trump roils global markets and upends international affairs.

As of about 11 p.m. Sydney time, Albanese’s Labor Party was projected to win at least 87 seats in the nation’s House of Representatives—where governments are formed—defeating the conservative bloc of the Liberal and National parties, which was projected to win at least 40, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

The result was a decisive win for Albanese, whose party expanded its majority in the 150-seat chamber. Before the vote, polls showed Albanese leading, but not by much.

“Our government will choose the Australian way, because we are proud of who we are,” Albanese told a cheering crowd at Labor headquarters. “We do not need to beg or borrow or copy from anywhere else.”

The election is the latest snapshot of how voters are reacting to a shifting world order as President Trump targets countries with tariffs, pivots toward Russia and uses harsh rhetoric about Washington’s traditional allies. Polls show voters in Australia, Canada, and the U.K. view Washington more unfavorably since Trump took office.

Earlier this week, Canadians gave the left-leaning Liberal Party a fourth term in office, even though the party was trailing badly in the polls at the start of the year. Canadians embraced the tough-talking approach of Prime Minister Mark Carney, a former central banker, while shying away from the conservative candidate, Pierre Poilievre, who was viewed as being too similar to Trump.

The Rick Wilson Principle continues to bear out: Everything Trump Touches Dies (ETTD)…

Trump loves to claim that with him in power, America is “respected again.” Actually, it’s the literal opposite:

A new 29-country Ipsos poll explores attitudes towards the United States, alongside a number of other nations and international institutions. It provides an update on how President Donald Trump’s second, non-consecutive term, has impacted America’s global reputation.

Key Findings

Belief in the US as a force for good falls. The proportion saying America will have an overall positive influence on world affairs has fallen in 26 out of 29 countries over the last six months. Today, almost two in five (46% on average across the 29 countries) say the US will have a positive influence, down from 59% who said the same in Sept/Oct 2024, prior to the presidential election.

The reputation of the US plummets in Canada. Only six months ago 52% of Canadians saw the US as a positive influencer; now only 19% feel the same. This 33-point fall is the largest recorded for any country. While ratings of the US did also fall among its northern neighbour during the first Trump term, this is the lowest score we have recorded for Canada since we started tracking this question in 2015. …

The divided state of America. More than eight in ten (85%) Republicans currently predict their country will have a positive impact, compared to just 45% of Democrats. For Americans overall, 63% now think the US will have a positive impact on the world, which is the lowest figure we have recorded for the country in the last decade.

China is now seen as a more positive influence than the US. It’s the first time this has been the case during the ten years we have tracked this question. Across the 29 countries covered, an average of 49% say China will have positive effect on world affairs, up 10 points on six months ago. Israel and Iran remain the countries least likely to be seen as having a positive influence on the international arena. Iran’s score has however improved over the last six months, as have those of China, Pakistan, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Commenting on the findings, Chris Jackson, Senior Vice President, Ipsos in the US said:

Three months into the second Trump Administration and six months after his election, the reputation of the United States as a force for good in the world has taken a serious hit, particularly among our traditional allies in Europe and Canada. This flies in the face of Donald Trump’s repeated campaign promise to restore respect for America around the world. However, given the inward focus of many Americans, its unlikely the MAGA base will notice our diminished standing on the world stage.

Not likely they’ll notice at all. Why would they? Their brains are wired to Fox and right wing social media and podcasts. In their inward-looking world, everybody loves Trump like they do.

Cue this excellent explanation of fascism by Jason Stanley:

That is precisely where we are, folks…

Dispatch from the thugocracy

True to form, the kleptocratic Trump clan continues to gorge itself on crypto profits, while Elon and the rest of the Apartheid gang rake in the federal doge bennies and every would-be oligarch, fossil fuel baron and technofeudalist prepares to belly up to the bar for the American fire sale.

Meanwhile for Trump, the only thing better than crypto profits and absolute power is revenge… For his latest trick, America’s King Joffrey is vowing to remove Harvard’s tax exempt status, since they refused to bend the knee.

Paging Richard Nixon…

From the Wall Street Journal:

President Trump ramped up his fight with Harvard University, threatening to revoke the Ivy League school’s tax exemption after it filed a federal lawsuit against his administration.

“We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social Friday.

An administration official said the president’s social-media post wasn’t a formal directive to the Internal Revenue Service to take action.

The president’s comment comes after Harvard filed a lawsuit late last month against the Trump administration, setting up a legal showdown between America’s most prominent university and the White House. The suit argues the government has violated the university’s constitutional rights by freezing billions of dollars in federal funding and imperiling its academic independence.

A spokesperson for Harvard said there was no legal basis for Trump to revoke the college’s tax-exempt status. “Such an unprecedented action would endanger our ability to carry out our educational mission,” the spokesperson said. “The unlawful use of this instrument more broadly would have grave consequences for the future of higher education in America.”

The IRS didn’t respond to requests for comment Friday.

He also wants to rename Veteran’s Day and V.E. Day (which only Congress can do, but watch those Republican weaklings try to do it) to stop all that silly “honoring veterans” crap and turn the holidays into an opportunity to seize solo U.S. credit for victory in the two European world wars.

In a late-night post on Truth Social, Trump said that in addition to the Nov. 11 federal holiday, he was also going to rename May 8, a day widely celebrated as V-E Day, for Victory in Europe Day, as “Victory Day for World War II.” The post was not accompanied by an executive order, and only Congress has the authority to create or change a federal holiday.

“We won both Wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance, but we never celebrate anything — That’s because we don’t have leaders anymore, that know how to do so! We are going to start celebrating our victories again!” Trump wrote in the post.

Trump said in the same post that the United States “did more than any other Country, by far, in producing a victorious result on World War II” — a statement that is likely to receive some backlash from U.S. allies that lost millions of military service members, in addition to civilians who died and infrastructure that was destroyed in bombings. The Soviet Union, in particular, is thought to have suffered between 8.8 million and 10.7 million military deaths and 24 million civilian deaths.

In response to a request for comment, the White House on Friday referred to a social media post from press secretary Karoline Leavitt that characterized the holiday name-change as “fake news.”

“We will always honor Veterans Day AND we should commemorate the end of WWI and WWII as VICTORY DAYS!” Leavitt’s post said.

It’s giving “Cosplay Orange Pope…”

And yes, that post is offensive, at least to anyone with actual respect for the newly departed pope.

US President Donald Trump has stirred controversy after posting an AI-generated image of himself dressed in papal attire, just days after jokingly expressing his desire to become Pope. While some social media users found humor in the post, others criticized it as highly insensitive, accusing Trump of mocking the death of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis, who passed away last month at the age of 88, suffered a stroke and heart failure, according to the Vatican’s official death certificate. Trump was among several world leaders who attended the Pope’s funeral, which was a solemn occasion for many Catholics worldwide.

However, Trump’s recent post on social media quickly garnered backlash. Many users expressed their disapproval, claiming that the image was in poor taste, particularly given the timing following the Pope’s death. One user called the post “disrespectful to the church and God himself” while another commented, “This is disgusting and entirely offensive.” Some went as far as accusing Trump of narcissism, with one tweet stating, “This is extremely disrespectful and narcissistic. Republicans really voted for that.”

Others criticized Trump for mocking the process of selecting a new Pope, with one comment stating, “How disrespectful to Catholics. That is what Trump and his maggots are all about—disrespect and meanness.”

You know who was not offended? Lindsey Graham, who took his sycophancy to new lows with this apparently joking X Twitter post:

Sometimes you have to be embarrassed for those who lack the good sense or good taste to be embarrassed for themselves. I’m also old enough to remember when right wingers were super offended by people dressing up in Catholic garb for the sake of parody…

But you know who else won’t be bothered by the absurd Pope Trump image? Maga Christians. There’s literally nothing he could do to offend them, because in a sense, HE is their object of worship.

The new PRRI American Values Survey has some telling results, and they speak to the utter isolation of white evangelicals from every other group of Americans when it comes to core Christian values like the Jesus-centered calls to service that the late Pope Francis preached — caring for the poor, the sick, the aged and the immigrant. Instead, white evangelicals, who form the core of the maga movement, have centered their politics around despising and rejecting (particularly nonwhite) refugees and immigrants, supporting their representatives in screwing over the poor and lavishing the wealthy with tax cuts and deregulation in order to ensure that the rich get richer, and everyone who isn’t a white, conservative Christian gets sicker, poorer, and more desperate. Oh, and they also want America to have a dictator. Robert Jones, who oversees the survey, posted about the alarming results:

In the new survey, a majority of Americans (52%), including 56% of independents, believe that “President Trump is a dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy,” compared with 44% who believe that “President Trump is a strong leader who should be given the power he needs to restore America’s greatness.”

As PRRI has consistently found in other surveys, there is a stunning ethno-religious divide in support for Trump. Most white Christians say Trump is a strong leader who should be given power he needs to restore American greatness. But most in other religious groups—non-white Christians, Jews, other non-Christian religions, and the unaffiliated—believe Trump is a dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy. [Emphasis added]

A majority (54%) of Americans disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president, with just 43% approving (although 85% of Republicans approve).

Among religious groups, Trump enjoys majority job approval only among white Christian groups and supporters of Christian nationalism. No more than 35% of any other religious group—including only 18% of Black Protestants—approve of the job Trump is doing as president.

Compared to a comparable period in Trump’s first term, his personal favorability among independents is down seven points, from 42% in 2017 to 35% today. In the religious landscape, Trump’s favorability ratings remain largely stable among most groups since the 2024 election, with two notable exceptions: Hispanic Protestants and Hispanic Catholics. Most notable are Hispanic Protestants, who voted 64% for Trump in 2024. Trump’s favorability among Hispanic Protestants is now down nearly 20 points since the election, from 51% to only 32%.

Nearly eight in ten Americans (78%) disagree with the statement, “When decisions by Congress or the Supreme Court hold our country back, the president should be able to ignore them,” compared with only about one in five (18%) who agree; Republicans are more than three times as likely as Democrats to agree (28% vs. 9%). Similarly, only one in five (20%) Americans, but 29% of Republicans, agree we need a president who is willing to break some laws if that’s what it takes to set things right. …

On immigration and the “great replacement” conspiracy theory that’s driving Republican politics:

Only one third of Americans (33%) agree with the statement, “Immigrants are invading our country and replacing our cultural and ethnic background,” the sentiment at the core of the racist so-called “Great Replacement Theory” that Trump has repeatedly touted in speeches. Republicans (60%) are more than twice as likely as independents (30%) and Democrats (12%) to agree with this sentiment.

Only about one third (35%) of Americans agree that the federal government should place immigrants who are in the country illegally in internment camps guarded by the U.S. military until they can be deported. Republicans (62%) are also roughly twice as likely as independents (31%) or Democrats (15%) to agree with this policy.

Perhaps the most disturbing finding in the religious landscape is this one: A majority of white evangelical Protestants believe both that immigrants are invading the country and replacing real Americans (57%) and that the government should place immigrants into militarized internment camps until they can be deported (56%). There are no other major religious groups in which majorities hold either of these views.

Jesus would never.

And on the right’s persecution complex and fear of history:

Less than four in ten Americans believe that discrimination against Christians (36%) or white Americans (37%) has become as big a problem as discrimination against other groups. However, roughly six in ten Republicans (58% Christians, 60% white Americans) and white evangelical Protestants (66% Christians, 59% white Americans) agree. No other religious groups have majorities who agree with either sentiment.

The vast majority of Americans (86%) agree that “we should teach American history that includes both our best achievements and our worst mistakes,” compared to only 10% who agree that “we should teach American history that only focuses on what makes this country exceptional and great.” Support for a critical approach to teaching American history includes 69% of Republicans and 88% of white evangelical Protestants.

Read the whole post including the nifty charts and a link to the full survey here.

The reality is that the American right, which is overwhelmingly white but includes some minority adherents, is steeped in a fully fascist swoon. They view themselves as a persecuted soon-to-be minority, and stand almost entirely alone in desiring a dictator to “set things right” and restore their feeling of cultural and legal supremacy. And that man … whom they essentially worship in place of a too-woke Jesus … is Donald Trump.

What is hopeful, however, is that it seems that some of the groups who clung to Trump in 2024, for either economic or religious reasons, are pulling away from him as he goes full dictator. We have to hope that by the time there’s another election, we have enough democratic infrastructure left to allow an awakened majority to make a change, before it’s too late.