FLOTUS is planning a summit
Plus: Kim K just endorsed Cory Booker’s new bill
The First Lady is hosting representatives from around the world this week to the White House to talk about kids, technology, and education (Update: there was a robot) while over on Capitol Hill, Kim Kardashian just endorsed a piece of legislation she was moved to support following the Los Angeles fires.
Welcome to this week’s issue of Whig. Read to the end to find out a piece of really inspiring advice from the great Dolly Parton. — Hunter Schwarz
The Iran war is growing even more unpopular and no one knows why we’re there:
In less than a month, the percentage of Americans who disapprove of the U.S. taking military action in Iran has risen from 56% to 60%, according to a CBS News-YouGov poll released Sunday. The poll found 68% believe the Trump administration hasn’t yet explained the U.S. goals in Iran.
President Donald Trump said he spoke to a former president about Iran, but every living former president said they haven’t spoken to him (maybe he was talking to the portrait of Richard Nixon?). Trump also claims to have had “good talks” with Iran, but Iranian officials deny they’re in touch.
The U.S. was just downgraded on the global democracy index:
Bad news for lovers of freedom, democracy, and the American way: the democratic research group Varieties of Democracies Institute, or V-Dem, found that the U.S. is one of 44 countries “autocratizing,” and they blamed it on “rapid and aggressive concentration of powers in the presidency” under Trump’s second term.
“The speed with which American democracy is currently dismantled is unprecedented in modern history,” researchers wrote, citing factors including a decline in media freedom, Congress’s failure to hold the executive accountable, some loss of independence of the judiciary, and weakened rule of law and civil liberty protections.
Smh, Trump’s officially getting his own coin:
The Trump-appointed U.S. Commission of Fine Arts voted to approve a gold commemorative coin last week that shows Trump’s likeness despite federal law that prohibits living current or former presidents from appearing on U.S. currency. If it goes as well as his cryptocurrency, this could go bad.
Trump is deploying ICE to the airports:
Trump said Sunday that beginning this week, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, will help the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, at airports as it’s impacted by an ongoing partial government shutdown.
I can’t believe Trump mentioned Pearl Harbor in front of the Japanese PM:
You saw this one, right? While Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was in town last Thursday, a Japanese reporter asked Trump why he didn’t tell U.S. allies about attacking Iran, and Trump brought up Pearl Harbor. “We didn't tell anyone about it, because we wanted surprise,” he said. “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Okay, why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?” The look on Takaichi’s face was unamused.
FLOTUS is planning a summit:
First Lady Melania Trump is hosting leaders from 45 countries and 28 tech companies on Tuesday and Wednesday for Fostering the Future Together’s Global Coalition Summit. The White House called the initiative “a global coalition of nations aligned to empower children through education and technology.”
Pols cancel César Chávez Day celebrations:
After women accused the late civil rights leader César Chavez of sexual abuse in a New York Times investigation last week, elected leaders and public officials are calling to rename landmarks named for him. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said he supports a move to rename César Chavez Day to Farmworkers Day while Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), the first Arizona governor to celebrate the day in 2024, says her office will no longer recognize it.
RIP Robert Mueller:
Former FBI Director Robert Mueller III died Friday at the age of 81. The second-longest service director in FBI history, Muller took office a week before the 9/11 attacks and later led the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Former President Barack Obama called Muller “one of the finest directors in the history of the FBI” and said, “it was his relentless commitment to the rule of law and his unwavering belief in our bedrock values that made him one of the most respected public servants of our time.” Meanwhile, Trump celebrated Mueller’s passing because of course he did. “Good, I’m glad he’s dead,” he wrote on his social network. “He can no longer hurt innocent people!” RIP.
🎬 No. 1 movie: Project Hail Mary starring Ryan Gosling
💿 No. 1 album: Harry Styles’s Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.
🎵 No. 1 song: Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas”
Kim K just endorsed Cory Booker’s new bill:
Kardashian is doing her part to help a bill become a law after incarcerated people who helped fight the Los Angeles fires “were paid just a few dollars a day” for their work. “That’s not just unfair, it’s un-American,” Kardashian told People.
Kardashian endorsed the Fair Wages for Incarcerated Workers Act, a bill introduced by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) that would mandate incarcerated workers be paid at least the federal minimum wage.
“It is time to end the exploitative practices in correctional facilities and ensure incarcerated workers are treated with dignity and paid minimum wage for their labor,” Booker said in a statement.
Afroman won his defamation case:
Rapper Afroman was sued by the Adams County Sheriff Department after officers raided his home in 2022 and he used surveillance footage of the officers in a music video about the event that mocked a officer who eyed his mom’s lemon pound cake.
The department sued, claiming the song defamed them and caused emotional distress, but Afroman testified that “I posted it because the sheriffs never were supposed to have raided my house in the first place” and a jury sided with him. The rapper wore an insane American flag suit in a video to celebrate his court victory.
SNL UK debuts:
Live from London, the U.K. spinoff of Saturday Night Live aired this weekend with a cold open that mocked U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s relationship with Trump. Tina Fey hosted and delivered a monologue and yes, they have their own version of Weekend Update and it was funny. I’m kind of obsessed.
The cast spoke here about watching the American version of the show and how much it inspired them.
Demi says it wasn’t her choice to sing “Heart Attack” at an American Heart Association event:
Demi Lovato has gotten a lot of heat for singing her 2013 song “Heart Attack” at an event for the American Heart Association in 2024, but now she’s setting the record straight and blaming organizers.
“I flagged it beforehand and was like, ‘Isn’t this, like, not the vibe?’ They were like, ‘No, they wanna hear it.’ I was like, ‘OK?’” Lovato told the Elvis Duran Show. “And then of course people online are like, ‘Why did she sing that?’” Now let’s talk about mugs.
Christina Aguilera mixed up her Mexicos:
While performing last week old Mexico, Christina Aguilera gave a shortened setlist at the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City that had some fans feeling shortchanged. Then to add insult to injury, she said, “I love you so much New Mexico!” Let’s hope she doesn’t make the same mistake next time she performs in York or Hampshire.
Olivia Rodrigo covers British Vogue:
Olivia Rodrigo was photographed by Laura Jane Coulson for the April issue of British Vogue wearing Givenchy while standing on the beach on the kind of chair you used to sit in high school. “I don’t think of myself as a star, at all,” she said.
Rodrigo describes the music on her forthcoming third album as “sad love songs,” and the magazine had a full-page ad for the album that’s just pink and says “love” with Rodrigo’s initials. The singer also called out the Trump administration for using her music in social media posts as “awful” and “dystopian.”
“The way that ICE is ripping apart communities and terrorizing people is so disturbing,” she said. “It’s a really sad, scary time.”
Gap just made another ad that’s basically just a music video:
I’m really a fan of this marketing strategy: Gap is following up last year’s “Better In Denim” ad starring Katseye dancing with Kelis’s “Milkshake” with its first-ever Spanish-language ad starring Puerto Rican rapper Young Miko. The three-minute spot is set to her song “Wassup” to sell some sweatshirts and sweatpants.
Luke Combs says his politics are basically just be a good person:
Luke Combs has described himself as a moderate, but he doesn’t want to get too political. In an interview with GQ Hype, the country singer whose song “Whoever You Turn Out to Be” is about loving your child no matter what, says he wants to focus on actions over words and only address topics he says should be non-political, like calling out racism and discrimination. He sees Dolly Parton as a role model for that right.
“That’s the space that I would like to operate in, you know what I mean? Basically, just being a good person,” Combs said. “Why can’t you just be a good person and just be loved? It does take some massaging to do it all in a way that doesn’t come off as, like, deceitful or trite. It’s a delicate balance, but she has done a masterful job of it.”
RIP Chuck Norris:
Death comes for us all eventually, even Chuck Norris. The Walker, Texas Ranger star died Thursday at the age of 86. “It was said that when Chuck Norris entered a room, he didn’t turn the lights on; he turned the dark off,” former President George W. Bush said in a statement praising the actor and martial artist. “Laura and I are fortunate to have called him a friend, and we send our sympathy to his family.” RIP
Miley Cyrus willed her Hannah Montana special into existence:
This is so inspiring. Miley Cyrus says she started promoting her 20th anniversary special for Hannah Montana before it existed. “I learned this terrible habit — but I actually think it was good advice — from Dolly,” she told Variety. “She told me that if you want something to happen, promote it before it exists. Then no one can say no. So I just started promoting a ‘Hannah Montana’ 20th-anniversary special that literally did not exist.”
Thanks for reading! See you next week. ⭐