Week 36 — The Return

This week, Trump continued to consolidate power within his regime, even as public opinion and parts of his MAGA base turned against him on key issues. On Trump’s signature issue, immigration, public opinion has turned sharply against him, with just 35% approving. Notably, the country is experiencing a broad shift in attitudes on immigration, with nearly 8 in 10 Americans now saying it is a good thing (I wrote more about this here). More than 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of Trump’s signature legislation passed in Week 35.

The MAGA base continues to be at odds with Trump, this time over the decision not to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, which have been the subject of a myriad of conspiracy theories. His MAGA base is also upset this week with Trump’s decision to send weapons to Ukraine, and is still seething over his strikes on Iran. For the first time, House Speaker Mike Johnson publicly broke from Trump on releasing the Epstein files, a sign this issue, which has long been flamed by Trump and members of his regime, is not going away, despite Trump going on the offense as the week came to a close and calling critics “PAST supporters.”

All the while, Trump continues to unabashedly consolidate power. Supreme Court rulings issued in the “emergency docket” (aka the shadow docket) continue to grant broad, additional powers to the presidency, without explanation. This week a ruling allowed the regime to conduct mass firings, and continue to dismantle federal agencies, disempowering Congress. Trump also expanded his trade war, and has seized on using tariffs as a tool for his personal agenda, as Congress continues to abdicate their role. Trump continues to bully, threaten, and cow members of Congress into submission on his agenda. He and his regime are starting to take some small, yet alarming steps, on the 2026 midterms.

The regime’s tepid response in Texas was further evidence that efforts to dismantle federal agencies have started to have real world effects on the well being of the American people. As with reports on the limited success of his Iran strikes, which are now squarely in the rearview mirror amid the weekly chaos, Trump deployed a strategy of shaming reporters and the media for asking about missteps in the handling of severe storms, as a way to obfuscate from a real discussion of the issue at hand.

1. A Gallup poll found a broad shift on Americans’ attitudes on immigration: 79% consider immigration to be a good thing, and just 30% said immigration should be decreased, down by nearly half from 55% in 2024.
2. Just 35% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of immigration, with 62% disapproving, split along party lines; notably, 69% of Independents disapprove.
3. On Wednesday, Trump said he would impose a 50% tariff on Brazil, a jump from the 10% tariff imposed in April, in part as retaliation for the nation’s prosecution of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, calling it an “international disgrace” and “witch hunt.”
4. In a social media post, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said, “Brazil is a sovereign country with independent institutions that will not accept being lectured by anyone,” adding that the country would impose reciprocal tariffs.
5. NYT reported that legal experts questioned whether Trump had the authority to issue tariffs in pursuit of purely political objectives. Trump had incorrectly claimed that the U.S. has a trade deficit with Brazil.
6. On Thursday, Trump announced 35% tariffs on Canada starting on August 1, citing, without evidence, fentanyl crossing the border as a reason for the tariffs, while also complaining about Ottawa’s retaliatory duties. The move was another clear sign of his unilateral power.
7. On Saturday, Trump said he would impose a 30% tariff on goods imported from the European Union and Mexico, starting on August 1. Several of the countries being threatened with tariffs, including South Korea, Japan, Canada, and Mexico, had struck trade deals with Trump during the first regime.
8. Although regime officials described the tariff impositions as an effort to get more concessions, so far Trump had only struck a framework deal with two countries, the U.K. and Vietnam, and the status of the latter was in question.
9. Trump’s tariffs against the EU provoked outrage from European leaders, some of whom urged for retaliatory tariffs, after Trump’s imposition on Saturday upended months of deliberations. The chairman of the Committee on International Trade called Trump’s letter an “outrage.”
10. On Sunday, Bloomberg reported the EU plans to engage with new trade partners after Trump’s most recent tariffs. The EU is in dialogue with Canada and Japan, which includes the potential for coordination.
11. On Sunday, NYT reported that Asian countries are exploring new trade partners. Business and political leaders have been baffled by Trump imposing new tariffs, even as they seek to negotiate. While sending envoys to negotiate, new trade deals are being struck away from the U.S.
12. On Tuesday, the Consumer Price Index, a gauge of inflation, rose 2.7% from a year ago, an indication that Trump’s tariffs were starting to affect the economy.
13. On Tuesday, Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, said he was opening a trade investigation “into Brazil’s attacks on American social media companies as well as other unfair trading practices that harm American companies, workers, farmers and technology innovators.”
14. On Wednesday, Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, made a highly unusual appearance at the corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, signaling Trump’s support for Bibi.
15. Trump threatened taking control of New York City if mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani wins, saying, “if a communist gets elected to run New York, it can never be the same. But we have tremendous power at the White House to run places when we have to.”
16. Trump also threatened to take control of Washington, D.C., saying, “We could run D.C. We’re looking at D.C. We don’t want crime in D.C.” Data from the the Metropolitan Police Department showed violent crime is down 25% from this time last year and all crime is down 8%.
17. NYT reported that CIA director John Ratcliffe has made a criminal referral to the FBI against former CIA director John Brennan, who oversaw the investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, accusing him of lying to Congress.
18. Former FBI director James Comey is also under scrutiny for his role in the investigation of the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, although the basis was unclear. The investigations are the clearest signs yet of retribution against Trump’s perceived enemies.
19. NYT also reported that Comey and his wife were tracked by Secret Service agents in unmarked cars and street clothes, after he posted a picture on Instagram of seashells arranged to say “86 47” in Week 28. Such steps are typically reserved for serious threats.
20. A study by the American Association for the Advancement of Science found that Trump’s budget plan would result in cutting scientific research by one-third, including research on the type of studies that produce most breakthroughs.
21. HHS Sec. Robert Kennedy, Jr. abruptly canceled a scheduled meeting of the Preventive Services Task Force, which makes recommendations for which screenings and other preventive measures must be covered by insurance, raising concerns about the future of the nonpartisan panel.
22. On Wednesday, Trump named Sean Duffy, who is currently the head of the Transportation Department, as the interim leader of NASA. Trump’s withdrawing of his nomination of Jared Isaacman, an ally of Elon Musk, is a point of contention between him and Musk.
23. On Thursday, Trump nominated Nick Adams, a crass, self-described ‘alpha male’ influencer, who is a naturalized citizen, a super fan of Trump, and has a history of Islamophobic remarks, to be ambassador to Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country with a population of 35 million.
24. On Wednesday, while meeting with leaders of African countries at the White House, Trump asked President Joseph Boakai of Liberia, “Such good English…Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?” Liberia’s official language is English.
25. On Wednesday, the Trump regime’s Justice Department sued California’s Education Department and the agency that oversees the state’s high school sports, alleging that they were in violation of Title IX by allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports.
26. NYT reported the DOJ’s consumer protection unit issued subpoenas to more than 20 doctors and hospitals that provide gender-related treatments to minors, demanding patient information, a move that would pierce confidentiality protections for patients and providers.
27. On Wednesday, Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem continued to push for the elimination of FEMA, saying efforts “should be state and locally led,” adding FEMA “has been slow to respond at the federal level” and “slower to get the resources to Americans in crisis.”
28. CNN reported that because Noem ordered that she approve every contract above $100,000 in her agency in Week 33, FEMA’s response in Texas was slowed considerably, including not being able to pre-position Urban Search and Rescue crews until four days after the flooding began.
29. WAPO reported that as Trump prepared to visit Texas on Friday, the Trump regime quietly dropped plans to abolish FEMA, as Trump and Noem have repeatedly called for, saying instead that FEMA will undergo changes as part of a review process.
30. An AP-NORC poll found that more than eight in 10 Americans believe the federal government should have a “major role” in “providing aid to communities in the aftermath of natural disasters,” including 80% of Republicans and 87% of Democrats.
31. On Friday, when asked by a reporter while visiting Texas if he had a message for families that were upset about the alarm system, Trump said “everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances,” and later added, “Only a very evil person would ask a question like that.”
32. NYT reported that in the two days after the catastrophic floods, FEMA had not answered nearly two-thirds of thousands of calls from flood survivors, because the agency had fired hundreds of contractors at call centers on July 5, after their contracts expired.
33. Prior to the contracts expiring, most of the calls were answered; however Noem did not extend the contracts with the four call centers on Saturday. Noem ultimately did renew the contracts on Thursday, five days after the contracts expired.
34. An analysis by the NYT found that more than a third of National Weather Service offices overseeing regions that are particularly vulnerable to flash floods have vacancies in one or more of the three senior leadership roles, including chief meteorologist.
35. Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar said at least 1,875 employees, totaling a combined 27,000 years of experience and institutional knowledge, have been lost at the NOAA, which now has more than 3,000 vacant staff positions.
36. On Monday, NASA announced it will no longer post the National Climate Assessments on its website. The assessments, which are mandated by Congress, detail the ways climate change is affecting every part of the country and how communities can respond.
37. On Tuesday, the Commerce Department suspended work on the NOAA’s Atlas 15 project, a crucial tool to help communities predict how rising global temperatures will alter the frequency of extreme rainfall.
38. NYT reported FBI director Kash Patel has significantly increased the use of polygraph testing on employees to test their loyalty. In interviews of senior staffers, they have been asked if they have said anything negative about Patel.
39. The use of polygraphs has been part of Patel’s efforts to crack down on leaks to the media, reflecting a concern by him in how he is being portrayed. Some employees say the moves are part of an alarming demand of fealty at the agency.
40. WAPO reported on widespread, abrupt firings at the DOJ and FBI, without explanations given, which have created a culture of fear. Some were fired in notices from Bondi, citing the broad powers of the president; others were told to leave or be demoted or terminated.
41. Scores of employees are choosing to leave voluntarily, rather than risk being fired at random, leaving staffing shortages at many U.S. attorney offices, including in D.C. and Los Angeles, which will give the Trump regime the opportunity to fill career staff vacancies.
42. NBC News reported FBI deputy director Dan Bongino is threatening to quit and torch Bondi after a heated exchange between him, Patel, and Bondi over frustration with the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files on Wednesday.
43. Bongino did not report to work on Friday. An official said Bongino and Patel have expressing frustration on this and other issues. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Bongino and Patel signed off on the Epstein memo, and there is no daylight between the DOJ and FBI.
44. On Saturday, Trump defended Bondi in a 400 word Truth Social post, saying, “We have a PERFECT Administration…and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein,” adding, “LET PAM BONDI DO HER JOB — SHE’S GREAT!”
45. On Saturday, Elon Musk posted on X, that Trump “said “Epstein”” half a dozen times while telling everyone to stop talking about Epstein,
    adding, “Just release the files as promised.”
46. Asked if he was briefed about the files, or if his name appeared, Trump said, “No, no, she’s — she’s given us just a very quick briefing,” and repeated his baseless claims that the files were “made up by Comey, they were made up by Obama, they were made up by the Biden.”
47. On Monday, a vote in the House put forth by Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries calling for the release of the Epstein files narrowly failed 210–211, after one Republican joined Democrats in the vote.
48. On Tuesday, asked by reporters, Trump said that Bondi handled the Epstein files very well, after pushback continued from the MAGA base, adding, “It’s going to be up to her. Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release.”
49. Later Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson broke from Trump for the first time over the Epstein files, saying on a podcast, “I’m for transparency,” and that Bondi “needs to come forward and explain” the confusion from her previous statements on having the client list.
50. NYT reported the MAGA coalition is increasingly fraying, over Trump’s strike in Iran, intervening to help Ukraine, and now on Epstein. MAGA voices say Trump is betraying the people who elected him. Since he is not on social media, they say he is not aware of the extent of the fray.
51. Republicans in Congress, some of whom are being bombarded with angry calls from constituents on the Epstein files, are trying to carve a path of being loyal to Trump, while coming up with ways to placate their voters ahead of midterms.
52. On Wednesday, Trump went on the offensive on Truth Social, calling the growing number of Republicans, including many loyal House members who broke with him on Epstein, “PAST supporters” who had “bought into this ‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker.”
53. Trump called the controversy a “scam” cooked up by Democrats, and said, “Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work,” and “don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!”
54. Politico reported Trump threatened to withhold his endorsements from Republican senators who don’t support a rescission bill which would allow the regime to claw back $9.4 billion of congressionally approved funds, including money for public media and global AIDS prevention.
55. On Tuesday, the Senate advanced the rescission bill 51–50, with three Republicans voting with Democrats, and Vice President JD Vance casting the tie breaking vote. Senate Republicans have removed $400 million in cuts to the HIV/AIDS relief program known as PEPFAR.
56. On Tuesday, the Trump regime sued three board members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — Laura Ross, Diane Kaplan, and Tom Rothman — who were fired by Trump but have refused to leave their posts. The regime requested a court order ousting them.
57. On Tuesday, Trump summoned 13 House Republicans who voted with Democrats against a procedural motion to move three crypto bills forward, to the White House. After meeting with them, he claimed most of the holdouts would back his crypto bill.
58. While at the meeting, Trump showed the lawmakers a draft letter firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and asked how they felt about it. Several expressed support.
59. On Saturday, Bondi fired at least 20 of the remaining prosecutors and support staffers who worked as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into Trump. The firings included the AG’s own ethics adviser, Joseph Tirrell, who posted he had been fired without cause.
60. With the firing, the DOJ is accelerating its efforts to undo decades of precedent of protecting civil servants and the work of law enforcement officials from political interference.
61. The State Department said in a letter to employees to expect a workforce reduction, claiming, “There are simply too many people,” and describing it as “the most complicated reorganization in government history.” The move comes after the Supreme Court ruling in Week 35.
62. The State Department fired more than 1,300 employees via email on Friday, the most far reaching cuts in decades. Current and former State employees say the cuts will degrade America’s standing in the world and curb U.S. soft power.
63. Cuts were made in the Office of Global Women’s Issues, DEI programs, and senior officials in charge of chemical weapons issues and multilateral nuclear diplomacy, including 1,100 civil servants and 240 Foreign Service employees.
64. Cuts included every senior leader at the office of the Coordinator Afghan Relocation Efforts, as 250,000 Afghans, who assisted and served alongside Americans in Afghanistan, are waiting their turn to resettle in the U.S.
65. On Monday, Democratic attorneys general from 24 states and D.C. sued the Trump regime over $6.8 billion in educational funding that the regime abruptly withheld weeks before the start of the school year, which includes 14% of funding for elementary and secondary schools.
66. On Monday, the Supreme Court lifted a lower-court’s temporary ruling that prevented Trump officials from slashing more than a third of Education’s 4,100 employees, clearing the way for sharp cuts.
67. The majority did not explain its decision, but rather provided a single four-sentence paragraph entirely devoted to the procedural mechanics of pausing a lower court’s ruling, the latest ruling in favor of Trump in the “emergency docket” that has empowered him without explanation.
68. In a 19 page dissent written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the three liberal justices said, “The majority is either willfully blind to the implications of its ruling or naïve,” adding, “either way the threat to our Constitution’s separation of powers is grave.”
69. Education Sec. Linda McMahon was also set to move forward to farming out responsibilities of her agency to other agencies in an effort to dismantle it, including the Treasury Department taking over federal students loans, and moving adult education to the Labor Department.
70. On Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services finalized layoffs of thousands of employees. Those fired included communications staff members, public records officials, and employees who oversaw contracts related to medical research.
71. On Thursday, White House budget director Russell Vought accused Federal Reserve Chair Powell of “grossly mismanaging” the renovations of the central bank’s headquarter, claiming plans may have violated government building rules with an “ostentatious overhaul.”
72. On Friday, Vought ramped up criticism of Powell, telling CNBC, “When you go to the nation’s mall, you see the construction of this palace … upwards of $2.5 billion massive cost overrun.” The move was part of the Trump regime’s efforts to push Powell to lower rates or resign.
73. On Friday, the Federal Reserve website had a new “Frequently Asked Questions” page, on which the central bank quietly defended its renovations, noting the two buildings had “not been comprehensively renovated since their construction in the 1930s.”
74. On Sunday, Trump’s National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told ABC News that Trump “certainly” can fire Powell “if there is cause,” adding it is “being looked into.”
75. On Monday, Powell asked the inspector general to review the cost of the Central Bank’s renovations.
76. On Tuesday, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan, said on a quarterly earnings calls that he hoped Trump would not fire Powell, adding, “Playing around with the Fed can often have adverse consequences — the absolute opposite of what you might be hoping for.”
77. Former president Joseph Biden’s White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor refused to testify before a Republican-led House Oversight Committee investigation into Biden’s “cognitive decline” while in office, citing his “oath of confidentiality to any of his patients.”
78. Biden told the NYT in an interview that he had orally granted all the pardons and commutations issued at the end of his term, calling Republicans who say aides used the autopen without his knowledge “liars,” adding, “I made every decision.”
79. NBC News reported that House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, the lead investigator into Biden’s use of an autopen, used a digital signature himself on some of the letters and subpoena notices he sent out in connection to his investigation.
80. On Thursday, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship, after certifying class action status for a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.
81. On Thursday, federal agents clashed with protestors during an ICE raid at a Southern California farm, a week after Trump said in Iowa that farmworkers would be spared from deportation. Masked federal agents used use crowd control measures, including deploying irritants.
82. The Trump regime said it would cut off undocumented immigrants from more than a dozen health and education programs. HHS officials said they would expand the number of programs that qualify as federal public benefits, including the Head Start program.
83. The Education Department would end subsidies for undocumented immigrants enrolled in post-secondary career and technical education programs. The Department of Labor said it would limit access to federal work force development grants.
84. On Thursday, Mahmoud Khalil filed an administrative complaint, a precursor to a federal lawsuit, against the Trump regime, seeking $20 million in damages and an apology. Monies would be used to “help others similarly targeted” by the regime and Columbia University.
85. On Saturday, Trump threatened to revoke citizenship of comedian and actress Rosie O’Donnell, posting on Truth Social that she “is not in the best interests of our Great Country,” a “threat to humanity,” and should stay in Ireland. Experts say Trump does not have power to do this.
86. On Saturday, a federal judge ordered the Trump regime to stop indiscriminate immigration raids in Los Angeles, without reasonable suspicion that those arrested are in the country illegally.
87. The judge also said there was “a mountain of evidence” that the regime’s agents were arresting people solely based on their race, accents, or the work they’re engaged in, which violates the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable government seizure.
88. On Saturday, a California farmworker, Jaime Alanis, 57, who fell from a greenhouse roof during an ICE raid, died of his injuries. Alanis was the first known person to die during one of the Trump regime’s immigration raids.
89. On Tuesday, Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth ordered the removal of 2,000 National Guard troops from Los Angeles. Half the National Guard troops, along with 700 Marines, remained in the city.
90. WAPO reported, in an ICE memo, acting director Todd Lyons told agents that they may deport immigrants to countries other than their own, with as little as six hours’ notice, without needing assurances that the new arrivals will be safe there, citing the recent Supreme Court ruling.
91. WAPO also reported in another memo, Lyons told ICE agents that undocumented migrants are ineligible for bond hearings, and should be held in detention “for the duration of their removal proceedings,” which can take months or years.
92. Bloomberg News reported ICE agents are using unprecedented wellness checks as an excuse to enter homes, and to intimidate rather than protect vulnerable children. The regime claimed the wellness checks are to protect such children from trafficking and exploitation.
93. NYT reported that with funding passed in Trump’s tax legislation, the regime plans to add thousands of new deportation agents, double detention space to hold thousands more immigrants, and add miles of new border walls and surveillance towers.
94. AP reported according to ICE data as of June 29, 57,861 people have been detained, and 41,495, or 72%, had no criminal convictions. Of the total, 14,318 had pending criminal charges and 27,177 were subject to immigration enforcement.
95. On Saturday, Democratic lawmakers toured Alligator Alcatraz, after previously being turned away, and described conditions as “inhumane,” saying it was 83 degrees at the threshold of the tents, and there were “cages of 32 detainees on either side, crammed in like sardines.”
96. The Miami Herald reported despite the Trump regime’s claims that the center would house dangerous criminals, more than 250 detainees at Alligator Alcatraz did not have criminal charges against them, and are listed as only having immigration violations against them.
97. NBC News reported immigrants held in ICE detention centers in at least seven states are complaining about hunger, food shortages, and spoiled food, according to advocates. They also say detainees have gotten sick and lost weight.
98. As of mid-June, ICE was detaining 60,000 people, almost 45% above existing detention centers’ capacity provided for by Congress.
99. AP reported according to an “information enforcement subpoena” obtained, immigration authorities are demanding that landlords turn over tenant information, including leases, rental applications, forwarding addresses, identification cards, and other information.
100. Reuters reported that the DOJ is considering bringing criminal charges against Minnesota judges and defense lawyers who discussed holding virtual court hearings to protect defendants from being arrested by ICE.
101. On Tuesday, the Trump regime resumed third-country deportation flights, sending migrants from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Yemen, and Cuba to Eswatini, a small country in southern Africa.
102. WAPO reported the Trump regime has directed staff at national parks to review all items at gift shops, and remove items that are “anti-American,” as part of the regime’s efforts to scrub federal institutions of content recognizing historical racism and sexism.
103. On Monday, the Defense Department abruptly pulled out of the Aspen Security Forum, which Republican and Democratic administrations have sent civilian officials and military commanders to for years, citing the forum’s values did not align with the Pentagon’s.
104. Trump told Texas Republicans to redistrict their state, saying they can gain five seats by doing so, in an effort to keep Republicans in the majority in the 2026 midterms.
105. WAPO reported that the Trump regime and its allies have launched an effort to gather data on voters and inspect voting equipment ahead of the 2026 midterms, alarming local and state election officials about federal interference.
106. The DOJ has asked at least nine states for copies of their voter rolls, and at least two have turned them over. A consultant working with the White House asked county clerks in Colorado to allow the federal government or a third party to physically examine their election equipment.
107. A poll by the Brennan Center for Justice found that 60% of local election officials are concerned about federal cuts to election security services.
108. On Tuesday, Trump accused Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of mortgage fraud on Truth Social, and said he has referred the case to the DOJ. Trump later told reporters, “I would love to see him brought to justice. A DOJ official told the Post, “this is just the beginning” for Schiff.