WEEKLY DEBRIEF: Trump plasters his face on new passport with warning to visitors; Alligator Alcatraz finally closes; and who is that blonde?
Your selective summary of the top news from the previous week, plus a look ahead to coming events. And more.
That Was The Week That Was
President Donald Trump has unveiled an updated rendering of himself to appear inside a new commemorative U.S. passport celebrating the 250th anniversary of American independence.
The image was shared by the White House, which labeled it a “patriot passport,” and also by Trump himself on social media, in which he said it would include the words: “Welcome, but be good!” — a phrase that makes no sense and appears to confuse passports with entry visas for foreigners. Passports are issued to Americans, not visitors.
Washington buzzing about new revelations of Trump and his 34-year-old blonde assistant
The White House’s tight-lipped responses to inquiries about the relationship between Donald Trump and his 34-year-old aide, Natalie Harp, are raising eyebrows.
This follows revelations by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan in their book Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump.
Harp, according to the book, is so infatuated with the 80-year-old president that she wrote adoring letters to him to find in his personal spaces. “You are all that matters to me,” she said in one of them.
Trump, in turn, reportedly said that Harp, unlike his other staffers, “will never leave me.”
Religious Commission calls for more public funds for churches
A so-called Religious Liberty Commission, put together by Trump and comprising a gaggle of conservative Christians, is calling for a relaxation of the founding principles separating church and state, and is arguing for more public funds to be spent on church-sponsored organizations. It also wants the creation of a new Presidential Medal of Religious Liberty and First Freedom Hero Awards. Maybe Trump can award himself and put them next to his FIFA Peace Prize.
Public schools must excuse students for religious instruction, Florida AG says
Speaking of tearing down the separation of church and state, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a legal opinion affirming that all school districts must accommodate parents who request that their children leave school for religious instruction, and that blanket denials of such requests violate state law. The opinion coincided with a Florida Board of Education policy update that requires districts to grant excused absences for religious instruction, with the rules taking effect this month.
Florida gives millions in tax breaks for data centers
Gov. Ron DeSantis has branded himself as one of the country’s leading skeptics of data centers, arguing that regular people should not bear the brunt of higher electricity bills or scarcer water.
But for years, Florida has granted a sales tax break to data centers, saving them millions of dollars that would have otherwise gone into state coffers, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The tax break originated in a bill passed by Tallahassee lawmakers in 2017, when data centers were an emerging industry that had not yet morphed into a political lightning rod. But last year, lawmakers renewed the exemption, and according to the lawmaker who sponsored that bill, it was DeSantis who pushed for the renewal.
Alligator Alcatraz finally shut down
Gov Ron DeSantis formally announced the closing of Alligator Alcatraz this week, declaring that it had “fulfilled the role it was designed to serve.”
That role?
Bolstering DeSantis’ creds with the MAGA crowd, of course, and continuing to curry favor from Donald Trump
The costly publicity stunt, in addition to the incalculable harm to the environment and human suffering, so far has cost Florida taxpayers more than $1 billion.
Former President Barack Obama had specific instructions to his chefs at his newly opened presidential center in Chicago: “I don’t want fancy, I want good.” He was referring the official Obama cheeseburger. The ingredients: A toasted brioche bun, housemade pickles, tomato and lettuce — and the Obama-mandated yellow mustard and sharp Cheddar.
Meme of the Week
Quote of the Week
"I'm saying that if other countries have them, it's a little bit unfair for them not to have some... If Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and they all have some, I would say in relative proportion, I think it's okay."
—President Donald Trump on whether Iran should have ballistic missiles
Letter of the Week
“There is no ambiguity as to what is happening. The present Supreme Court is the most corrupt court this country has ever seen and will go down in infamy as Trump’s personal law firm.”
—Richard Bellerose
Looking Ahead
When I’m not writing this newsletter, I also scribble a current events column for Florida Weekly. You should check it out. Here are some snippets, from there and elsewhere, to help guide your week ahead.
Today: The 32 surviving teams from the World Cup’s first bouts will begin their knockout rounds today. The United States will face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday. By the tournament’s end in July, Miami will have been the host for seven matches.
June 29. The annual tennis championship matches at Wimbledon begin today and run through July 12. Some tickets sell on the secondary markets for as much as $20,000, rivaling the price tags for some World Cup Finals seats. Sadly, Chrissy Evert of Fort Lauderdale will not be able to attend the games. She announced this week that her ovarian cancer has returned. Thoughts and prayers.
June 30. It’s Asteroid Day. About 66 million years ago, an asteroid smashed into our planet, wiping out the dinosaurs, which allowed other lifeforms, like the primate species known today as homo sapiens, to evolve. Whether that turned out to be good for the planet is yet to be determined.
July 1. On this day in 1898, the Rough Riders, led by Lt. Col. (and soon to be President) Theodore Roosevelt, and African American troops known as the Buffalo Soldiers stormed San Juan Hill in Santiago de Cuba, leading to the eventual United States victory in the Spanish-American War. This liberated Cuba from Spain but made it a vassal state of the United States for decades. The Rough Riders trained for their expedition in Tampa.
July 2. World UFO Day, celebrating the crash of a mysterious object near Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. At first, the Air Force said it was a “flying disc.” Then it later said it was a surveillance balloon. So, who knows?
July 3. Dog Days of Summer begins today and continue through August 11. In case you were wondering, it has nothing to do with actual barking dogs. It refers to Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, also known as the Dog Star because it is in the constellation Canis Major. The ancient Romans noticed that in early July, Sirius rose at the very same time as the Sun, but since science hadn’t been invented yet, they drew the mistaken conclusion the reason July was so hot was because the Sun and Sirius were in the sky at the same time warming things up. It wasn’t true, but it wasn’t completely crazy.
July 4. Independence Day. In 1776, Thomas Jefferson penned the immortal words, “All men are created equal.” He didn’t mean that to apply to women or slaves, of course, but it was a start.
July 5. International Bikini Day. It was on this day in 1946 that French designer Louis Reard introduced the two-piece bathing suit. He named it after the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific that had recently been blown up during atomic bomb testing.
Last Week’s Tropic Press headlines
In case you missed it, here are some of the stories that headlined Tropic Press this past week. Click on the headlines to read the stories.
John Morgan had a lot of ideas for naming his new party. Now he needs a mascot
While David Jolly will be the nominee, he still faces a primary. Here’s who else is running
ASK THE BIRD: Wasn’t Trump supposed to drain the swamp, not make it worse?
Feeling whipsawed about Alligator Alcatraz? Well, you’re not alone. Bring in the Red Cross?
Juries found Trump liable for defamation and sexual abuse, but he hasn’t paid one red cent
Democrats’ bill would prevent Trump from sending troops to the polls to block voters
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J.C. Bruce
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