FLOTUS got A.I. to narrate her memoir
Plus: Dolly Parton says she’ll hopefully have tea with Queen Camilla this fall
First Lady Melania Trump didn’t hire an American voice actor to narrate her audiobook and opted for artificial intelligence instead. Meanwhile, her husband’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed the House and could add trillions to the national debt while a new report finds we’ve never had a POTUS who personally profited from the office as much as he and his family are now. So much for “drain the swamp.”
Welcome to this week’s issue of Whig. Read to the end to find out what one pop star said is the closet feeling to God. — Hunter
Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act would help the rich, hurt the poor, and add to the national debt:
The House passed President Donald Trump’s tax bill, the Big Beautiful Bill Act, on Thursday, which the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said would add about $3.3 trillion to the national debt over a decade. The Congressional Budget Office, a federal agency, said the bill would increase income for the top 10% of U.S. households and decrease income for the bottom 10%. The legislation now heads to the Senate. You can read more about what the bill means for your money here.
Trump’s more than doubled his net worth since the start of his 2024 campaign:
This is a staggering figure from a new Bloomberg Businessweek report on Trump’s wealth: since launching his reelection campaign, his net worth has more than doubled to about $5.4 billion. That includes money from foreign real estate deals, cryptocurrency, lawsuit settlements, a $2.9 billion valuation of his social media company, and more. It’s unprecedented. As the outlet put it, “no modern American president has positioned his family to make so much money while in the White House.”
Trump’s killing the penny:
The U.S. Treasury said last Thursday that the U.S. Mint had made its final order of penny blanks and would stop producing pennies after the blanks run out.
FLOTUS got A.I. to narrate her memoir:
Calling it a “new era in publishing,” Trump said Thursday a new audiobook version of her 2024 memoir and New York Times bestseller Melania is “narrated entirely using artificial intelligence in my own voice.”
“Let the future of publishing begin,” she wrote in a social media post. The $25 audiobook is about seven hours long, and Trump’s voice was created using ElevenLabs, a text-to-speech A.I. voice generator.
Trump’s midterm plans:
Don’t call him a lame duck. Trump has at least $600 million in political donations, according to the Associated Press, with a goal of raising at least $1 billion by next year’s midterm election to keep Republicans in control of Congress. “It’s leverage,” Trump’s former director of legislative affairs Marc Short told the AP. “It’s a reflection of the power that he still holds.”
Our government is limiting COVID-19 vaccines:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said last week it would limit COVID-19 vaccines only to people with underlying health conditions or who are 65 years old and older, and on Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, would remove the COVID-19 vaccine from its immunization schedule for “healthy children and pregnant women.” That’s disappointing to hear.
About 350 people still die of COVID-19 a week in the U.S., according to CDC data, and the COVID-19 pandemic is the deadliest event in U.S. history. At least 1.2 million Americans have died from COVID-19, per World Health Organization data, a higher death toll than the Civil War, America’s deadliest war. The COVID-19 vaccine is estimated to have saved 14.4 million lives globally in 2021.
What Scott Pelley said at Wake Forest University’s commencement:
CBS News anchor and 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley told the Wake Forest University Class of 2025 that freedom of speech is under attack and history is calling them.
“Our sacred rule of law is under attack,” Pelley said. “Journalism is under an attack. Universities are under attack, freedom of speech is under attack. And insidious fear is reaching through our schools, our businesses, our homes, and into our private thoughts. The fear to speak. In America!” Pelley called out CBS News’s parent company Paramount Global in a closing segment on 60 Minutes last month for influencing the show’s coverage because of Trump. 60 Minutes has been the No. 1 TV news program in the U.S. for half a century.
Biden’s post-presidency challenges:
On the heels of his cancer diagnosis and Original Sin, the new book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson that reports members of former President Joe Biden’s team hid his decline while in office, Biden is facing a rough start to his post-presidency.
The Wall Street Journal reports Biden’s $300,000 to $500,000 speaking fees are below the rates former President Barack Obama commands, and that donors are reluctant to donate to a future Biden presidential library because he failed to prevent Trump’s comeback and some worry Biden won’t be alive for its opening.
In first public comment since his prostate cancer diagnosis, Biden told the local news outlet WTNH Friday he was “feeling great” when he was spotted at the Bradley International Airport in Hartford, Conn. Biden was visiting for his grandson’s graduation and had dinner Thursday at the Woodland, a restaurant in Lakeville, Conn., according to the station.
The King opens Canada’s Parliament:
Meanwhile in Ottawa, Canada’s head of state King Charles opened Parliament in a speech calling the country “strong and free” and a “force for good” following Liberal Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s reelection last month. It was the first time a monarch has read what’s called a “throne speech” to Canada’s legislature since the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1977.
“Every time I come to Canada, a little more of Canada seeps into my bloodstream and from there straight to my heart,” he said. “I’ve always had the greatest admiration for Canada’s unique identity, which is recognized across the world for bravery and sacrifice in defense of national values and for the diversity and kindness of Canadians.”
The “Senate Twink” speaks out:
Aidan Maese-Czeropski, a former aide to former Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) who quit his job after a sex tape filmed in a Senate hearing room leaked in 2023, says he has no regrets. The so-called “Senate Twink” told New York, “Who cares? The only person I negatively affected was myself. I bear those consequences. But I don’t regret f***ing in the Senate.”
After learning the video leaked, Maese-Czeropski said he “became catatonic” and his “brain shut down,” and he said he later experienced what he described as PTSD. He has since moved to Australia. “In some sense, I f***ed in the Senate because I was miserable and wanted a way out,” he said. “People ask me, ‘What now? You can’t work in politics.’ But I was so depressed when I worked in politics.” He added that he knows “so many people who’ve f***ed in the Senate.”
Tate McRae scores first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit:
Tate McRae’s collaboration with Morgan Wallen, “What I Want,” debuts at No. 1 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100. The song is from Wallen’s No. 1 album I’m The Problem, and it’s Wallen’s fourth No. 1 hit and McRae’s first, surpassing the No. 3 peak of “Greedy” last year. “Thank you,” McRae said on Instagram Stories. She’s celebrating with new music. “Just Keep Watching,” her contribution to the F1 The Movie soundtrack, comes out Friday.
Wallen’s “Just in Case” and “I’m the Problem” come in on this week’s chart at No. 2 and 3, respectively, making him the sixth artist — and first country artist — to occupy the entire top 3 in a single week in chart history, following The Beatles, Ariana Grande, Drake, Taylor Swift, and Kendrick Lamar.
Memorial Day weekend sets box office record:
The holiday weekend box office brought in a record $326 million domestically, led by Disney’s Lilo & Stitch ($183 million) and Mission: Impossible — Final Reckoning ($77 million).
Billie Eilish sweeps nominations AMAs:
Billie Eilish walked away from Monday’s fan-voted American Music Awards with awards for all seven categories she was nominated in, more than any other artist. Eilish won Artist of the Year, Favorite Touring Artist, and Favorite Female Pop Arts, her Hit Me Hard and Soft won Album of the Year and Favorite Pop Album, and her “Birds of a Feather” won Song of the Year and Favorite Pop Song.
In a video message, Eilish, who’s in Europe on tour, said, “Thank you to the AMAs, thank you to the fans, I know you voted for this. This means the world to me. I am so lucky to get to do what I do, and to do it with you! I love you all so much, thank you guys.”
The Boss presented Brandon Flowers with a songwriting award:
The Killers lead singer Brandon Flowers was awarded the Special International Award at last Thursday’s 2025 Ivor Novello Awards for songwriters and composers in London. Bruce Springsteen presented the award, and in an introductory speech, he said the first time he heard Flowers was walking past his son’s room who was playing “Somebody Told Me.”
“It was like the earworm of all earworms, that from here on in, you’d be singing somewhere in your head for the rest of your life,” Springsteen said. He called the band’s debut album Hot Fuss “the summer record of all summer records,” and added, “Brandon has one of the most beautiful, pure voices in all of rock ‘n’ roll.”
Charli XCX was awarded Songwriter of the Year. “I’m hardly Bob Dylan,” she said. U2 was inducted in the Ivor’s Fellowship Academy, and before the band’s performance of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” about 1972’s Bloody Sunday massacre, Bono said “believing in the possibilities of peace was then and is now a rebellious act.” He said, “Hamas, release the hostages, stop the war” and “Israel, be released from [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and the far-right fundamentalists that twist your sacred texts. All of you protect our aid workers, they are the best of us!”
Off-White shares details of the custom bomber jacket they made for Beyoncé:
Following Beyoncé’s three-night run at Chicago’s Soldier Field during her Cowboy Carter Tour, Off-White, the Italian luxury fashion brand founded by the late Virgil Abloh, shared details of the custom look they designed for the singer. The red, white, and blue bomber jacket is rhinestone-embellished and Beyoncé paired them with white hip-high leather chap boots with “For Walking” written on the sides.
In other Cowboy Carter Tour news, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said last week he wished the tour stayed in town longer. Johnson said he needed Beyoncé “to stay two more days so she could help solve my budget crisis.”
Kim K throws graduation party:
Kim Kardashian held a graduation ceremony for her Law Office Study Program in photos shared last Thursday. “Six years ago, I embarked on an unconventional path to pursue my dream of becoming a lawyer,” she wrote. “It wasn’t easy, and it took longer than planned, but I never gave up.”
Then on Friday, eight defendants in the trial of Kim K’s 2016 Paris robbery were found guilty. Kardashian told People she was “deeply grateful to the French authorities for pursuing justice in this case.”
“The crime was the most terrifying experience of my life, leaving a lasting impact on me and my family,” she said. “While I’ll never forget what happened, I believe in the power of growth and accountability and pray for healing for all. I remain committed to advocating for justice, and promoting a fair legal system.”
Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson dies at 79:
Reality TV star Phil Robertson died at the age of 79, his family said Sunday. Robertson, the founder of hunting supply company Duck Commander, appeared on the A&E series Duck Dynasty with his family from 2012 to 2017, and his family said in December he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
So, Lamar Odom went to the Trump crypto dinner:
Former NBC player Lamar Odom was among the attendees at Trump’s dinner last Thursday with the top 220 Trump meme coin holders. Trump reportedly gave a 20-minute speech, and the dinner included the choice of either filet mignon finished with a demi glaze sauce or pan seared halibut finished with citrus reduction sauce, served with garlic mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley, according to a menu obtained by CNN. Social media influencer Nicholas Pinto, who has about $360,000 in Trump meme coin and went to the dinner, called it “Walmart steak” and said, “Everyone at my table was saying the food was some of the worst food that they ever had.”
Dolly Parton says she’ll hopefully have tea with Queen Camilla this fall:
Dolly Parton told HuffPost “ I’m going to go to England in October, and I’m going to actually, hopefully, get to have tea with the queen” because of their shared involvement in literacy, Parton with her Imagination Library initiative and Camilla with her charity and book club the Queen’s Reading Room.
Miley says a pop star loving her hits is a magical close-to-God feeling:
Ahead of the Friday release of Miley Cyrus’s album Something Beautiful, she sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and admitted the last 20 years of career has felt like “white noise” and that her Grammy Award-winning No. 1 hit “Flowers” is her favorite song.
“You’re allowed to love your hits,” Cyrus said. “When you love a song that other people love, that’s like the most magical, close-to-God feeling in the world. After I had ‘Flowers,’ after I felt that healing, that validation that somewhere inside of me needed to feel, I really felt free to make the album that I’ve really been craving kind of my whole adult career to create.”
Cyrus said Parton, her godmother, “didn’t love my [Endless Summer] Vacation era” and had a “talking to” with her. “She’s like, ‘Everyone’s asking me where you are and I’m wondering the same thing. Every day it’s just a new picture of you in a bikini but like what are you gonna do?’”
Thanks for reading! See you next week. ⭐
Pelley is a hero.