Trump Is A Fool, A Coward, And A Traitor
Trump continues to bow to and appease global strongmen, doing enormous harm to America and freedom and democracy everywhere
Greetings all. I try to keep it light on the weekends but we are getting a clearer picture now of what happened in China, and where our addled, weakened, desperate leader is headed. In an interview with Fox’s Bret Baier yesterday Trump threw Taiwan under the bus, and gave it the “stop being so uppity” Ukraine treatment:
Whether through compromise, or a deep desire to be like them, Trump has a history of yielding to and appeasing strongmen. He has done it for years with Putin, giving him so much and getting nothing in return for the US. He did with Bibi in February, yielding to his ill-thought through total war with Iran. He’s now doing with Xi on Taiwan, again, yielding so much and getting nothing in return for the United States. He just gets played like a fool again and again, and accelerates our global geopolitical and economic decline. He gets admission to this club of autocrats, and as he walks in the door they pick his pockets, give him the table without a view of the stage, and howl with laughter for at their ridiculous good fortune.
In that interview when asked about the pain the war is bringing to our economy he repeated his magical thinking “COVID is just going to go away one day” line about short term pain, long term gain. We are way, way passed that now Mr. Trump:
Brent crude starts the day at one its highest points of the war:
Gas prices remain high across the US:
Inflation has exploded in the US, and interest rates are now at a 20 year high:
Farmers in the US are getting crushed:
From the article:
Farmers across the Midwest are entering planting season under mounting financial pressure, as the Iran conflict drives up diesel and fertilizer prices — deepening an agricultural downturn that some say is the worst since the crisis of the 1980s.
Why it matters: Rising fuel and fertilizer costs threaten to push more family farms out of business, drive up food prices and further strain rural economies already battered by trade disruptions, inflation and extreme weather.
The big picture: Mark Mueller — a northeast Iowa farmer and president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association — tells Axios that the current landscape is more challenging than at any time since the 1980s farm crisis, when interest rates soared and exports plunged, triggering agricultural bank failures.
The stresses are showing, with rising bankruptcies and lenders becoming more reluctant to provide farmers with operational loans.
“There’s going to be fewer farmers next year than there is this year,” Mueller says.
Zoom in: Farmers are grappling with a confluence of forces, including:
Skyrocketing energy prices triggered by President Trump’s Iran war, which led to the shuttering of Strait of Hormuz, a vital passageway for fossil fuels.
Spiking fertilizer prices and shortages after the Iranians blocked shipments through the strait.
Disrupted export markets tied to Trump’s tariffs and Chinese import restrictions.
Global drought and other weather pressures, including climate change.
What they’re saying: “What makes this moment particularly hard is that farmers can’t pivot quickly,” says Cornell University agricultural economist Wendong Zhang.
“Farmers have some tools, but none are quick fixes.”
This morning Iran announced the creation of a permanent toll system in the Strait of Hormuz, something that will strengthen Iran-China-Russia, and weaken the US, our European and Asian allies, and Trump’s Gulf Arab business partners:
We have to be clear eyed about what Trump is doing and who he is. He imagines himself to be like MBS, Bibi, Putin, and Xi. He envisions a world run by a handful of strongmen, with the US taking the Americas and leaving the rest to Putin, Xi, Bibi, and others. As we discussed yesterday he is trying to help Putin win in Ukraine, and Xi now take Taiwan. He has floated the idea this week of taking full possession of Venezuela and making it the 51st state. He will soon seize Cuba, as he did Venezuela. He is working furiously, with the help of the corrupt Roberts Court, to install minority rule here in the US for the Republican Party. He is literally working to bring an end to the 2nd Reconstruction/VRA era, the 80 year era of Pax America and the Four Freedoms (and American dominance), and the end of American democracy itself. He is the least American leader we have ever had, operating from a radical and ridiculous vision, one that is leaving America less prosperous, less safe, and less free; all while he builds his ballrooms, golf courses and golden statues, enriches himself, dances with dictators and let’s the rest of be grateful for the pain he has inflicted on us and for his surrendering the great idea of America itself, of freedom and democracy, to oligarchs, criminals, charlatans, and autocrats.
Despite his fantasies Trump is no strongman. He is a fool, a coward, and a traitor. The strongmen of the world laugh at him, and now at this once great country too.
And I am really fucking angry about it all this morning…….
It’s why…..
It’s Time To Get To Work Everyone…….
Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map
Rallying For Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin For Georgia Supreme Court - This is our next big opportunity to make good trouble all. The Election is May 19th, early voting has begun, and we have 2 great candidates, Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin, who have a serious shot at flipping two GOP-held Supreme Court seats. Watch our new interview with Jordan and Rankin, donate to their campaign, hear about the race from the great GA Dem Party Chair Charlie Bailey, and volunteer no matter where you are!
We’ve now raised $48,500 towards our $50,000 goal. Amazing work everyone!!!!!!!!!
Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $680,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Elaine Luria (VA-02), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews.
Friends if these twelve win, the House will flip, no matter redistricting madness the Rs execute in the coming days. So eyes on the prize here.
Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $93,700 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue.
James Talarico For Texas - $70,500 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue.
Winning Ohio - $145,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue | Watch my new discussions with US Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, our candidate for Governor Dr. Amy Acton, Lt. Gov candidate David Pepper, and Ohio Dem Chair Kathleen Clyde.
This total includes $21,000 sent by a Hopium community member directly to each of our three Buckeye State partners!
Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $565,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five new battlegrounds.
Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $20,000 to each of our five state parties over the past two years.
Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $112,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my new discussion with Gov. Cooper as he fights to turn North Carolina blue.
Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $175,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff.
Keep working hard everyone. We have a country to save, and elections to win, together! - Simon
“Farmers have some tools, but none are quick fixes.”
Actually there is a pretty quick one. Vote for Democrats for the House and Senate. Get all your farmer friends and everyone in related businesses and communities to vote for Democrats. A Democratic majority in both houses of Congress can stop Trump in his tracks and move towards recovery.
I recently had an acquaintance who is a farmer tell me that "farmers are hurting under Trump" was just a talking point of the left. He literally said that any farmer "worth his salt" would be able to weather "small increases in prices." The denial of reality and the lack of empathy for others is just a hallmark of MAGA.