What's on my wondering mind tonight? Here's a sampling:
The Trump International Hotel and Tower planned for Australia's Gold Coast is a no-go, according to multiple sources. What happened to the ~$1.09B deal depends on who you ask. The Aussie developer is blaming the 'toxicity' of the Trump name, while folks who bear that name are saying the developer didn't meet the contract terms.
Both things seem plausible, and I wonder how many other projects tentatively on the docket might not go forward? The FOTUS (yeah, I know, 'he's not involved in day-to-day operations of the company,' or so they say) continues to display progressively more petulant, aggressive, and narcissistic tendencies, and I suspect there's a point at which some folks will pull a Nike and just say no...
Speaking of the FOTUS and his tendencies, I have to wonder if anyone in his administration is supposed to be playing the role of the adult in the room? Someone really should be, given this recap of his social media activity in the hours before he was to leave for China. Some of his posts were just plain crazy, like one from a fake JFK Jr. account about Barack Obama bugging Trump Tower, apparently not realizing, or caring, that Kennedy died several years before Obama's rise to national prominence. Others? Obama made $120M off the Obamacare name; Sen. Mark Kelly must resign; he own team is not doing enough to punish his enemies, and more.
Speaking of his China trip, among his entourage are a trillion dollars' worth of CEOs, a trio of Cabinet Secretaries (Rubio, Hegseth, and Bessent), Eric and Lara Trump, and Brett Ratner, the guy who directed the Melania movie, who was accused in 2017 by multiple women of sexual harassment. I don't know about you, but I can't help wondering what value Ratner will bring to the trip. Maybe it's just a chance for him to pitch a movie to China's first lady?
What else... Oh, how could I forget? The FOTUS, you'll remember, sued the Internal Revenue Service for $10B (that's two-thirds of the agency's total budget!) because it failed to protect his privacy when years of his tax returns were stolen, and juicy parts were published, like the fact that for several years, he paid no federal income tax. Last month, the judge in the case raised concerns about how 'adversarial' the parties are, given that the president pretty much controls the whole show. With briefs due on May 20th and a hearing scheduled for May 27th, there are reportedly discussions about settling the case before the judge's concerns are even addressed. Shocking, I know.
Among the options allegedly being tossed around? Dropping the audits against Trump, his sons, and his companies...the same audits that 'prevented' him from disclosing his taxes to the American people, as most major-party candidates have done for the past several decades. Now, if you're wondering what I'm wondering about on this one, it's this: would the FOTUS accept just the dropping of the audits, or would he demand a financial payment, too? If he demanded a payment, would he donate it to charity, as he's promised all along, or would he pocket it along with all the other money he's grifting from us?
Drop a comment if there's something you're wondering about; there's always more than I can fit into a single post.
