Weekend Report: Trump says high gas prices are great for you

“We” will make more money. Hegseth demands “patriotic press.” Putin is the big winner. Florida stripping voting rights, and passing bill to fire elected officials who celebrate Pride.

Now over two weeks into the war in Iran, there is no end in sight as 13 U.S. service members and well over two thousand civilians have been killed in the region. The reporting in news outlets this week that Trump and his small circle didn’t think about the possibility of the Strait of Hormuz being shut down—or just ignored the possibility—is pretty stunning. They caused a global oil crisis, and gas prices in the U.S. are skyrocketing. But not to worry, Trump says, because, since the U.S. exports a lot of oil, prices wil go up and “we” will make a lot of money.

The reports in the media of failure and chaos have enraged Trump, to the point where Pete Hegseth attacked CNN and said the quiet part out loud: They can’t wait until the MAGA billionaire Ellison family buys CNN, so it can become another propaganda arm of the administration, like CBS. During that rant Hegseth demanded reporters become a “patriotic press,” simply repeating the talking points put out by the so-called Department of War.

In Florida, meanwhile, a horrendous voter suppression law was passed—its version of the so-called Save Act that is now set for a Senate vote—at the same time that Republicans passed a bill to allow Ron DeSantis to fire local elected officials like mayors in cities like Miami or Orlando for celebrating LGBTQ Pride.