The Roundup

Donald Trump promises not to run for president again and hawks collectible coins, Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits the US, and more!

There Won't Be Another Federal Government Shutdown Before the November Election

Last week I mentioned that a federal government shutdown on October 1 was a possibility due to Donald Trump throwing a major hissy fit claiming that Democrats are registering tens of thousands of illegal immigrants. This week Congress passed a bill to avert a shutdown before the election, defying Donald Trump by removing a provision that he demanded be included in the bill. The provision included a requirement that Americans provide proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. (Never mind the fact that non-citizens are already prohibited from voting in US elections.) The bill goes to President Joe Biden to sign so the government will remain open for the forseeable future.

Another Empty Promise From Donald Trump

This year Donald Trump is running for president for the third time. (Actually it's really the fourth time if you count the brief ill-fated presidential run that Trump made on the Reform Party ticket back in 2000 but most people seem to forget that one.) Trump recently did an interview with Sinclair Media Group where he said that if he loses he doesn't forsee making any more presidential runs after this year. It sounds great that 2024 will be the year of Trump's final campaign. But there's one problem.

Back in 2020 Donald Trump vowed that if he loses to Joe Biden, people will never see him again. Biden won and—guess what?—people continued to see Trump because he didn't lower his public profile at all. He kept on saying that the election was stolen, he instigated that Stop the Steal riot at the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021, and he managed to continue to maintain a dominant role in the Republican Party despite not remaining in the Oval Office.

I'm not going to count on him going away if Kamala Harris defeats him in November because he probably won't. He has this insatiable need for attention and adoration so if he remains alive and free, you can count on him continue to maintain a high political profile. The biggest incentive to remain in politics is that he can continue to make money off of his supporters selling all kinds of tacky Trump stuff, such as the one that is mentioned in the next story below. At this point only death or prison can permanently stop Donald Trump from running for future political office or even maintaining a high political profile.

Donald Trump is at it Again With Making Money Off of His Own Presidential Campaign

For many months Donald Trump has been using his latest presidential campaign to sell merchandise—like special edition gold sneakers, Bibles, and cryptocurrency—on a level that no other presidential candidate has ever done while still actively campaigning and is documented in this latest video from the Lincoln Project.

Now Trump is reaching out to his MAGA base to get them to open their wallets once again by selling collectible Trump silver coins featuring a portrait of the former president that he claimed that he actually designed himself. Here he is trying to entice people to buy them while warning them against purchasing anything from the numerous other companies that have come out with their own unauthorized collectible Trump coins featuring his “very beautiful face.”

Here is what the official Trump coin looks like on the front and back.

You can buy your own authentic Trump silver collectible coin right here.

Ukrainians Weigh in on the 2024 US Presidential Election

The YouTube channel Real Ukraine asked some Ukrainians about whether they would prefer Donald Trump or Kamala Harris as the next US president and they came up with some really interesting answers.

A Hilarious Parody of J.D. Vance From Canada

The CBC series 22 Minutes has this funny sketch about Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance and his alleged fascination with sofas.

A Haitian Nonprofit Group Files Criminal Charges Against Donald Trump and J.D. Vance

The leader of a community group known as the Haitian Bridge Alliance filed charges against Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance in Springfield, Ohio for spreading the hoax about Haitian immigrants eating pets. Under Ohio law individuals can file affidavits charging people with crimes. The group's executive director, Guerline Jozef, decided to do so citing inaction from a prosecuting attorney.

Trump and Vance were charged with disrupting public services, making false alarms, complicity, telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing in the filing, which asked Clark County Municipal Court to find that there is probable cause and to issue warrants for Trump's and Vance's arrests.

As a result of that hoax more than 33 bomb threats have been made to schools and city buildings. Springfield Mayor Rob Rue has also endured threats.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Comes to America

This week the Ukrainian president made another visit to the US where he stopped by a factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania that is making munitions for Ukraine. President Zelenskyy can be seen in the photo signing one of the missiles.

President Zelenskyy gave an interview with ABC News where he said that the war with Russia could end sooner than some people think.

President Zelenskyy visited the United Nations where he gave this speech.

Ukraine Strikes at Russia

While President Zelenskyy was in the United States Ukraine made a breakthrough in its efforts to get rid of the Russian invaders. Ukraine has made a strike on a Russian storage facility in the town of Toropets that is located in Russia's western Tver region. Analysts say that it destroyed enough ammo to impact Russian attacks on Ukraine for the next two or three months. (You can check out this link for an even deeper dive into this story.)

But that's not all, folks! A Russian base accidentally attacked itself with its own ballistic missile. TVP World's Break the Fake show has the details about that self-inflicted disaster.

Show these two stories the next time someone tries to tell you that there is no way that Ukraine will ever win its war against Russia.

Russia and Childless Adults

A group of Russian MPs have put forward a bill that would ban all kinds of propaganda promoting childless lifestyles. It makes vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance's complaints about the existence of “childless cat ladies” seem benign by comparison. It also sounds like something straight out of The Handmaid's Tale. Russia has been experiencing a decline in population and the war in Ukraine definitely haven't helped. More children born will lead to more cannon fodder for future wars down the road.

The Future of Fox News

This week 93-year-old Rupert Murdoch is battling three of his four oldest children in court to change the conditions of how his vast media empire will be controlled after his inevitable passing. As it stands right now, his four oldest children will all have an equal say in how the company is run. (He has two additional children from his third marriage but they have no voting rights in his company.) Apparently three of his kids are less than thrilled with Fox News being little more than a right-wing pro-Republican and pro-Russia propaganda outlet while his oldest son, Lachlan, shares his father's outlook regarding how Fox News is currently run and wants to leave the network as is. So now Rupert Murdoch wants to change how his company will be run by making Lachlan Murdoch have full control over the company after he's gone. Thom Hartmann has the fascinating details about this battle and what the future could potentially hold for Fox News and American democracy.

Argentina vs. Venezuela

This is interesting. A federal court in Argentina has ordered the immediate arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello for crimes against humanity that were committed against dissidents. The order was made hours after Venezuela's Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for Argentinian President Javier Milei over the detention in Argentina of a cargo plane that officials in Washington say was sold by a sanctioned Iranian airline to a Venezuelan-owned state company. Only time will tell what happens next in relations between the two countries.

And Finally

This week Donald Trump ran a campaign ad aimed at the voters in the state of Georgia urging them to make sure that their voter registration status is up to date. The ad includes a picture of the Georgia countryside that includes a beautiful mountain range with fields of white flowers and low-hanging clouds. Sounds pretty nice but there's one big problem: That picture was shot in the Eastern European nation of Georgia, not the US state of the same name.

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