From one George to another
Plus: Why Britney sold her music
The last U.S. president named George just celebrated Presidents Day by writing an essay about the first U.S. president named George. Meanwhile, Gallup says they’re ending their presidential approval rating polling, which sure seems convenient for the unpopular President Donald Trump.
Welcome to this week’s issue of Whig. Read on to find out what pop star FLOTUS and Alex Cooper have in common. — Hunter Schwarz
Gallup is ending presidential approval ratings after nearly 90 years:
The public opinion polling firm Gallup told USA Today it would no longer publish its “favorability ratings of political figures.” The company, founded in 1935 by George Gallup, has polled every president going back to Harry Truman.
Though Gallup said its decision is “solely based on Gallup’s research goals and priorities,” some people find the timing convenient considering Trump’s falling popularity. “This is like turning off comments when the ratio gets bad,” one person wrote on X. Trump’s final approval rating in the poll was 36%.
Here’s Gallup’s entire presidential approval rating history from Truman to Trump 2:
There’s at least half a dozen Trump officials in the Epstein files:
As NBC News notes, “the degree to which each individual was connected to Epstein varies significantly, from a single email to years of communications.”
Trump’s tariffs cost American households $1,000 in 2025, a report found:
The nonpartisan Tax Foundation said in a report that tariffs cost the average American household $1,000 last year and could cost $1,300 in 2026.
FLOTUS is a Miley Cyrus stan:
First Lady Melania Trump celebrated Valentine’s Day early at the National Institute of Health last Wednesday where she made crafts with children. When one kid asked FLOTUS what kind of music she listens to, Trump said, “I listen to all kinds of music. I like Michael Jackson, [opera singer Luciano] Pavorotti. I like Tina Turner. I like Miley Cyrus.” FLOTUS added, “It’s hard to choose the favorite song but one of them, it’s Michael Jackson ‘Billie Jean.’”
From one George to another:
In his first Substack post, former President George W. Bush wrote about George Washington and how humility is the ultimate strength for a leader. “Few qualities have inspired me more than Washington’s humility,” Bush wrote. Now watch this drive:
“I have studied the corrupting nature of power, and how retaining power for power’s sake has infected politics for generations,” Bush said. “Our first president could have remained all-powerful, but twice he chose not to. In so doing, he set a standard for all presidents to live up to.” Seems directed at someone, no?
Obama says aliens are real, but he hasn’t seen them:
Former President Barack Obama said in an interview with Brian Tyler Cohen last week that aliens are “real, but I haven’t seen them,” and after that caused a lot of raised eyebrows, he clarified on Instagram that he meant that statistically, “the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there.” No aliens at Area 51, though, he says.
Obama also spoke during the interview for the first time about Trump’s since-deleted racist video post directed at him and his wife. “I think it’s important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling,” Obama said. “It is true that it gets attention. It’s true that it’s a distraction,” but most people “believe in decency, courtesy, kindness.” Obama also called out ICE, saying the “rogue behavior of agents of the federal government ... is deeply concerning and dangerous.”
“We’re going to fight back, and we’re going to push back with the truth and with cameras and with peaceful protests and shining a light on the sort of behavior that in the past we’ve seen in authoritarian countries and we’ve seen in dictatorships, but we have not seen in America,” he said.
The Obamas had date night at the NBA All-Star Game:
The former POTUS and former First Lady Michelle Obama were courtside in L.A. Sunday with daughter Sasha for the NBA’s All-Star Game where the Stars beat the Stripes and Minnesota Timberwolves player Anthony Edwards walked away with the MVP Trophy.
“My favorite teammates on and off the court,” the former FLOTUS wrote on Instagram.
RIP Jesse Jackson:
Civil rights activist, 1984 and 1988 presidential candidate, and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Jesse Jackson died Tuesday at the age of 84. Barack Obama said Jackson “laid the foundation for my own campaign to the highest office of the land” and said he “helped lead some of the most significant movements for change in human history.” Trump said Jackson was “a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts,’” as well as “a force of nature like few others before him.”
🎬 No. 1 movie: Warner Bros.’s Wuthering Heights starring Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie
💿 No. 1 album: J. Cole’s The Fall-Off
🎵 No. 1 song: Bad Bunny’s “DtMF,” which previously hit No. 2 in January 2025
Why Britney sold her music:
Britney Spears sold the rights to her music catalog late last year to Primary Wave, a music publisher that also owns the music of artists like Prince, Whitney Houston, and Olivia Newton-John, TMZ reported last week. Congratulations, ma’am. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Britney’s catalog was sold for “close to $200 million,” a source told Us, but in my opinion, that’s less than half it’s worth. “The deal was in the works for a while now and was a decision made solely by Britney,” the source said. “She felt now was the right time for her and feels like she closed that chapter of her life. She has no plans to put out new music publicly but has been having fun working with [her aspiring musician son] Jayden in that capacity. She really is done with the music industry.”
A friend told Page Six the sale “was really about course correcting history” and “had nothing to do with her current financial situation.” The deal includes “any and all musical compositions and musical works written in whole or in part,” including all demos, tapes, and files, as of Dec. 30, 2025, the date it was signed, according to documents filed with the California Secretary of State’s office.
Bruce Springsteen says his new tour is in defense of America, freedom, and democracy:
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on Tuesday announced the Land of Hope and Dreams Tour, which will kick off in Minneapolis on March 31 and wrap up at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., on May 27. Springsteen says the tour has a special message for America.
“We are living through dark, disturbing and dangerous times, but do not despair — the cavalry is coming!” Springsteen said in a statement. “We will be rocking your town in celebration and in defense of America — American democracy, American freedom, our American Constitution and our sacred American dream — all of which are under attack by our wannabe king and his rogue government in Washington, D.C. Everyone, regardless of where you stand or what you believe in, is welcome.”
Bad Bunny streams are up, up, up:
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show was good for his streams of his music, which jumped 67% the day of and the day after his performance, according to data from Luminate, a music tracking firm. Mr. Bunny reached 98 million official on-demand streams in the U.S. the Monday after the Super Bowl, which believe it or not, is actually his second biggest streaming day. Bad Bunny previously hit 98.2 million official on-demand streams in 2022 after he released his album Un Verano Sin Ti.
Kid Rock said he didn’t lip sync:
Kid Rock says he didn’t lip sync during his “All-American Halftime Show” performance, and instead, what appeared to be lip syncing was a post-production issue of his pre-taped performance. “It’s extremely difficult for them to line up the sync,” the singer said in an Instagram video.
Wasserman to sell agency:
Wasserman Group founder Casey Wasserman is selling his talent agency. Artists including Chappell Roan and Orville Peck dropped Wasserman following revelations in the Epstein Files that he emailed Ghislaine Maxwell and traveled on Epstein’s jet in 2022 with former President Bill Clinton and others for an HIV/AIDS project in Africa. Wasserman, who is chair of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, said in a memo to his agency’s staff that he had “become a distraction.”
Alex Cooper will host the Hannah Montana 20th anniversary special:
Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper will host next month’s Disney+ special for the 20th anniversary of Hannah Montana with Miley Cyrus in front of a live studio audience. I can’t wait.
Zayn doesn’t want another public relationship:
Zayn told Cooper in a recent episode of Call Her Daddy that “I’m not looking for a public relationship again,” and I feel that. The former One Direction member previously dated model Gigi Hadid and musician Perrie Edwards. “No offense to anybody that I have been in public relationships with before. I’ve just learned from it that it don’t work for me, you know?” he said.
Zayn called himself “quite a private person.” and said dating apps weren’t for him. “No one ever believed it was me,” he said about trying Tinder.
Spencer Pratt’s sister tells people not to vote for him:
Stephanie Pratt, the sister of The-Hills-star-turned-L.A.-mayoral-candidate Spencer Pratt, said her brother is only running for office to “stay famous” and that “a vote for him is a vote for stupidity.”
“Spencer has done great work for the palisades,” she wrote, referencing work he’s done following the fires there. “But LA does not need another unqualified and inexperienced mayor.”
Thanks for reading! See you next week. ⭐