Trump Is Stumbling And Already Course Correcting, My Discussion W/Heather Cox Richardson, Fighting Trump's Rancid Embrace Of Putin

We had some important wins this week, and need to keep fighting all.....

Morning all. As I wrote yesterday Trump had a terrible week of full of embarrassing retreats, losses and surrenders. He looked weak, unstable, deeply unreliable and yes even idiotic. Pressure forced him to abandon his reckless tariffs on Canada and Mexico and begin the hard process of reining in Musk’s lawless attack on the US government. With his poll numbers way down, the economy slowing and inflation rising, losses mounting in the courts including with his allied SCOTUS, Tesla crashing and SpaceX rockets exploding (again), there is a growing sense that this Trump 2.0 thing despite the bluster and the blather simply isn’t working for him or America. And thus Trump and his team began to change course this week.

Congratulations everyone. Our work, our efforts, our pressure is working.

In recent weeks we talked here how we’d seen cracks emerge in Trump’s Congressional support over his traitorous embrace of Putin; in his plutocratic, middle class betraying economic policies; and in Musk’s savage assault on our government and the Constitutional order. We saw retreats this week from Trump on the economic and Musk front. To me the next big question is whether Trump starts to retreat on his cowardly appeasement of Putin and betrayal of Zelenskyy, Europe and the what we call the America of the Four Freedoms.

The biggest fissure in Trump’s Congressional support is on Russia. It is where Republicans have been the most vocal, the most critical of Trump, the most shocked and outraged. It’s why Senator Slotkin hit Trump’s embrace of Putin so hard in her speech this week. She knows how uncomfortable her Republican Senate colleagues are Trump’s historic betrayal. Yesterday The Hill newspaper had a prominent story about Republican Senators advocating the restoration of our military and intelligence support of Ukraine, working under the assumption (illusion?) that what Trump has done was execute a temporary pause rather than a wholesale switching of sides in the war:

Republican lawmakers are starting to urge President Trump to reverse his decisions to pause U.S. military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine, warning that a prolonged stoppage of U.S. help for the war effort would have a seriously detrimental effect….

they warn that stopping the flow of weapons and munitions to Ukraine for too long could have a devastating effect on Ukraine’s warfighting ability, which would undercut its leverage in talks with Russia.

And GOP lawmakers say that sharing intelligence should resume immediately, wondering what the United States has to gain from depriving Ukraine from critical battlefield intelligence.

“It’s a concern for the Ukrainian people. I worry more about how people on the battlefield” feel about it, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a leading advocate for supporting Ukraine, said of the pause on U.S. military shipments.

Tillis warned the pause in aid, which was announced Monday, “could be helpful to Putin.”

Tillis said Ukraine has enough weapons and munitions to hold the front line for now but expressed his hope that the pause in military aid wouldn’t last long.

He said he’s “OK” with a pause as long as it’s a short-term “negotiation tactic.”

“I’m hoping and praying that it’s short-lived,” he said. “I think it will be.”

……

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she opposed the stoppage of military aid.

“I do not think we should be pausing our efforts. It’s the Ukrainians who are shedding blood,” she said, calling the current moment “a critical time for Ukraine.”

Some Republican senators expressed shock Thursday over Trump’s statement that he would make a decision on revoking the temporary legal status for an estimated 240,000 Ukrainians living in the United States.

One Republican senator who requested anonymity called the threat to deport thousands of Ukrainian refugees excessively “punitive.”

“We’ve given them everything from jobs to housing until they get legal status — and now revoke legal status?” the lawmaker asked incredulously.

…….

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) emphasized that the pause on military aid to Ukraine will be temporary.

“It’s a pause, importantly, not a stop. I think it’s part of a negotiation. And I’m hopeful that in the end, that we’ll get folks to the table and be able to negotiate a deal that will bring a peaceful resolution to this three years-long conflict, and one hopefully that will respect the sovereignty of the Ukrainian people,” he said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has worked hard behind the scenes to put together the minerals deal, said he was dismayed by Trump’s announced pause on sharing intelligence with Ukraine.

“I’m very worried about that long-term,” he said. “It gives Ukraine an edge. Hopefully, all this will clear up pretty soon.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said “the intelligence that we provided the Ukrainians has been essential for them to be able to stay in the fight.”

“I hope the pause would be lifted at some point,” he said.

This morning we learned the US government has further escalated its undermining of the Ukrainian military by cutting off commercially available satellite data, making it far harder for Ukrainians to conduct operations to defend their country from Putin’s genocidal assault. We are not talking about the “pause” of arms shipments in a few months. These new actions will cause many, many Ukrainians to die, immediately, and give Putin a significant battlefield advantage he did not have a few days ago:

Artillery and drone units study the images to assess quality targets and review the damage to refine the attacks. A constant refresh of satellite imagery helps commanders and soldiers keep tabs on where enemy positions and depots are, making it easier to find vulnerabilities and troop movements. And they help logistics soldiers plan vehicle routes, with alternative corridors laid out if pathways are mined or destroyed.

The suspension was immediately felt by soldiers in the Ukrainian military, some of whom described the decision as treachery, not politics.

Senior troops have used battle software into which the imagery is integrated, but the maps within the programs are no longer usable, said Oleksandr, 40, an officer overseeing intelligence operations inside Russia’s Kursk region.

The reason I am spending so much time on Ukraine this morning is that the horror of what Trump has done this past week has not been adequately captured in our current discourse. By capriciously “suspending” or “pausing” our support of Ukraine with no warning rather than engaging in sustained diplomacy with our European and Ukrainian allies Trump has made America an enabler and supporter of Russia’s invasion and the genocidal killing of innocents. All of Trump’s negotiating “pressure” has been applied to Ukraine, while what Putin has gotten has been an historic normalization without giving America or the world anything. Trump’s pressure has been all on one side, while he has given the other side, Russia, gifts and support beyond anything they could have ever imagined.

And in the last few days, backed now by Trump, Putin has dramatically escalated his attacks on civilians in Ukraine.

Just ending military and intelligence support of a country defending itself from a hostile attack with no warning and planning is a hostile act, intended to inflict harm on Ukraine and help Russia. Republican Senators claim it is a negotiating tactic, but the hard cold reality now is that Trump appears to be in the process of ending our more than century old alliance with Europe, abandoning NATO and taking Russia’s side in the most significant war in Europe since WWII.

In addition to all the other reasons all of this is so wrong, we also have to acknowledge that without the NATO Article 5 protection of our European allies America is far less safe today, and far more vulnerable to a devastating attack by a hostile foreign power (including Russia) than any time in over 200 years. Trump is not just abandoning Ukraine and Europe, he is unilaterally tearing down the global security architecture that has keep America safe and free for generations.

Under Trump America is far, far weaker today, weaker than we’ve been in generations, and this is not something we could be prepared to accept.

The question now is whether the pressure Republicans applied to Trump about Musk and the tariffs will now be applied to Trump’s dangerous embrace of Putin and his attempt to end the Western alliance. Will we get more than statements of concern? Will they hold hearings? Will they band together with Democratic leaders to demand the restoration of our support of Ukraine? Whatever happens it is critical that Democrats force a big debate in the coming days about what is most cowardly and dangerous act of appeasement in all of American history. We can hold shadow hearings. Do live YouTube streams on what this means for Ukraine but also for us. Every Democrat in the Senate and House can sign a letter to Trump and the American people spelling out the gravity of what is happening here and demanding he change course on this policy too. Trump has gone too far here, way too far and we need to fight this historic betrayal of Ukraine, Europe and America with everything we got. We, as we’ve been doing, need to keep contacting our elected leaders and insist they fight Trump’s rancid embrace of Putin with great urgency for here, like in so many other areas, he is moving fast and breaking things that will be very, very hard to repair.

Weekend Reading And Videos - Thrown a lot at you these last few days. Some highlights for your weekend viewing, listening and reading pleasure:

• Thursday’s Big Video and Post - If you are to read or watch one thing this weekend please read/watch my new video and post, about the need for Democrats to open up a second front against Trump that goes beyond our early, appropriate focus on the economy and his plutocratic budget.

• New Hopium Videos/Interviews - Watch Senator Elissa Slotkin’s important speech; feel the passion and the power of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaking directly to the American and people and Trump; catch journalist Leon Krauze talking about what Dems here in the US must learn from Mexico’s experience with their own Trump like leader; enjoy NC Dem Chair Anderson Clayton giving us an update on their critical battle to hold onto a Supreme Court seat Republicans attempting to steal; learn from leading climate scientist Dr. Michael Mann about the extraordinary war the right and their global allies have been waging on American science.

• Appearances and Podcasts - Catch me on new podcasts with the New Republic’s Greg Sargent and another with Leigh McGowan (PoliticsGirl). Note we have a new Events page on the site that has a list of all upcoming Hopium events and my public appearances. On Wednesday I had the great pleasure of joining historian Heather Cox Richardson for a town hall discussion with our friends at Commit To Democracy. You can find a portion of our discussion below, and I will send along the full event when it’s posted.

Let’s Get To Work People!!!!! - Let’s start with our current four recommended sets of actions:

1 - Fight The Trump/Musk Attack On Our Government And Our Privacy, End This Historic Crime Spree - Encourage your Senators and Representatives to let Facts be be submitted to a candid world in what I’m calling a joint Senate/House “Letter to America;” hold their own hearings; file criminal referrals for Musk and his malicious posse to DOJ/FBI and amicus briefs in the court cases regarding the usurpation of their Constitutional authorities or file suits of their own (House Dems began doing this on Friday). Encourage them to hold a daily morning press conference to more aggressively challenge Musk’s ransacking of the USG that is making America less prosperous, less healthy, less safe and far less respected in the world.

2 - Protest, Loudly, Trump’s Embrace of Russia and Abandonment of Europe - Let your electeds know you are outraged by traitorous Trump’s selling out of Zelenskyy, abandonment of Europe and embrace of Putin; and that we cannot accept this level of appeasement of someone who is a clear enemy of America and the West, and certainly not an ally. Demand that Trump not let his Saudi meeting w/Putin become our Munich; demand that he not become our Neville Chamberlain; demand that we rejoin our European allies in support of Zelenskyy and democracy here and everywhere. The country is not with Trump’s embrace of Putin and we must be very loud, very, very loud now.

3 - Organize Against The 17 Most Vulnerable Republican House Members - For those of you who live in AZ, CA, CO, IA, MI, NE, NJ, NY, PA, VA, WI please start talking to your local orgs - state and local Democratic parties, grassroots groups, traditional Dem allies - about mounting a campaign targeting the most vulnerable 17 Republican House Members to urge them to vote against whatever joint House-Senate reconciliation bill emerges in the coming weeks. We launched this new effort two weeks ago and while we should be urging all our Senators and Reps to vote against these emerging plans, those of you can work these 17 House Rs have a special role to play in this next phase of the battle over the budget. As we’ve discussed there is a lot of concern in the Republican House about the size of the Medicaid cuts required in the House outline passed last Tuesday and we need to keep working it people!

4 - Keep Calling Attorneys General In The States - Ask them to protect you and your data, tax returns and privacy, and to keep federally mandated monies flowing to your states and communities. For those in the 19 states that brought the successful Treasury suit thank them and encourage them to keep going. I still believe these 19 states should make criminal referrals of Musk/his posse to DOJ/FBI and raise the stakes.

Paid subscribers should self-report their actions today in our daily chat. So inspired by how hard so many of you are working. I want to make a special plea to all Hopium readers in states with Republican Senators - please make your calls, every day. Even 50 to 100 people calling every day in every red state can make a difference. We have hundreds of Hopium subscribers in every state in the country and it’s critical that we all do our part now.

Next, for those wanting to do more traditional political/campaign work we have four Hopium-backed efforts we're rallying behind right now:

Help Susan Crawford and Ben Wikler in Wisconsin - As a way of honoring our good friend Ben Wikler and supporting this critical April Supreme Court race in Wisconsin, I’m asking our community to donate to the Wisconsin Democratic Party today. The money raised here will make sure Ben has the resources he needs to keep his team in place so they can support this critical statewide race. I know many of you are already deeply involved here - thank you all.

Watch our new discussion with Susan and Ben and thanks to a huge surge of support in recent days we have already raised $118,000, blowing past our original $50,000 goal and now our stretch $100,000 goal. We are now upping this to a new super-stretch goal of $150,000 by March 31st. Amazing work everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Help Get Ken Martin Off To A Strong Start - In this time of extraordinary challenge we need a strong DNC. Two weeks ago we set a goal of raising $100,000 by March 31st for our new Chair. Incredibly, over 1,000 of you have donated over $97,000 so far. Watch my interview with Ken about what he wants to do with the DNC, and chip in whatever you can to help Ken and the new exciting team at the DNC get off to a strong start. We now have a new stretch goal of $150,000 by March 31st after our very strong start for this effort (note that we did have some money clawed back due to an error in the amount someone gave!)

Help Abigail Spanberger Win Virginia - Virginia will be one of the big battlegrounds of the November, 2025 elections and we have a great candidate for Governor, Abigail Spanberger. Watch my interview with Abigail, donate, volunteer, and learn more here. Given how many federal employees live in Virginia, this race is also now on the front lines of the Trump/Musk assault on the federal government. We’ve raised more than $58,000 so far towards our March 31st goal of $100,000 - thank you all. Let’s keep working it for Abigail!

Get Anderson Clayton And The NC Dems Fight The GOP’s Attempt To Steal A Supreme Court Seat - Last week we began a campaign to raise $50,000 for Anderson Clayton and the NC Dems. These funds will help the NC Dems get off to a great start in 2025 and help cover the costs of their fight to prevent the Republicans from stealing a Supreme Court seat we won together in 2024. Watch my new interview with Chair Clayton from last week to get an update on the fight over the Supreme Court seat and her plans to win elections and counter Trump this year. We’ve raised $19,000 so far - thank you all!

Help Hopium Celebrate Our 2nd Anniversary - Yesterday in a post I reflected back on our work together over these past two years, and made two asks:

1) Commit to bring in one new Hopium subscriber at the level you are currently at this month. Help us grow this community, and bring our plucky, upbeat, hardworking spirit to more people across the US

2) Upgrade your subscription to paid or paid to Founding (10% off annual paid subscriptions through March). The resources you provide allows me to work full time at Hopium and keeps our community vibrant, growing and making all sorts of good trouble every day.

Keep working hard all. Our work is making a difference, and I am incredibly proud to be in this fight with all of you - Simon