Weekend Report: What's going on?

Trump on totalitarian retribution campaign. Preparing to go to war in Venezuela? Mike Johnson delays swearing in of newly-elected Democrat to block Epstein file release.

Donald Trump promised retribution against his enemies during the campaign, and even as his approval numbers are tanking—and even after a loss with ABC and Jimmy Kimmel—he’s hellbent on damaging perceived enemies. For Trump, the numbers don’t matter. His anger and hate override political concerns. But also, he sees the retribution as a means to an end, to silence his critics as he and the GOP attempt to hobble Democrats heading into the mid-terms.

After several lethal attacks on boats the Trump administration claimed were drug cartel smuggling operations—providing no proof while engaging in summary executions using the military—the Pentagon appears to be gearing up for attacks inside Venezuela on supposed drug cartels. This is not only against everything Trump promised his base regarding foreign wars; it’s actually about oil and natural resources and not about drugs.

The election of Adelita Grijalva to the House in Arizona last week, filling her late father’s seat, helped Democrats and the handful of Republicans to meet the magic number for a discharge petition to force the DOJ to release the Epstein files. Now House Speaker Mike Johnson is delaying her swearing in, doing Trump’s bidding, and even hoping for a government shutdown to delay it further.