Obama wants you
Plus: Sabrina Carpenter is headlining a virtual Fortnite festival
President Donald Trump’s tariffs have markets in free fall and Republicans in open rebellion, and it’s all just in time for Resistance 2.0, which arrived in the form of nationwide protests over the weekend. Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama photobombed a family photo in D.C. and said “the most important office in this democracy is the citizen.” 🫡
Welcome to this week’s issue of Whig. Read to the end for what Kesha called “the most political act right now.” — Hunter
Trump’s tariffs lead to market losses:
Stocks fell for a third day after Trump announced worldwide tariffs last week that the bank JPMorgan called the biggest U.S. tax increase since 1968. Trump, who spent the weekend on an extended four-day golf trip in Florida, said in a post on his social network that Americans should be strong, courageous, and patient, not “weak and stupid.”
Republicans break ranks with Trump over tariffs:
Lawmakers last week introduced a bipartisan bill in the Senate that would reassert Congress’s authority on trade policy and tariffs called the Trade Review Act of 2025. Introduced by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), so far, it has the backing of Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Todd Young of Indiana.
Others on the right are pushing back, including Sen Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who wrote in a Fox News editorial, “If you think eggs are expensive, just wait until the new tariffs hit cars,” and Sen Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who called tariffs “a tax on consumers” and predicted Republicans would face an electoral “bloodbath” in the 2026 midterms if they cause a recession. First buddy Elon Musk said Saturday he hopes the U.S. and Europe move “to a zero tariff situation.”
Resistance 2.0 is finally here:
More than 1,300 protests were held across the U.S. in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. on Saturday against Trump and Musk. Called Hands Off, the protests were organized by a coalition of groups including ACLU, Human Rights Campaign, Women’s March, and more, and they claimed “millions” participated.
Courage is “a strength based in love,” FLOTUS says:
Speaking at the State Department’s International Women of Courage Award last Tuesday, First Lady Melania Trump said courage is based in love.
“I have harnessed the power of love as a source of strength during challenging times,” Trump said. “Love has inspired me to embrace forgiveness, nurture empathy, and exhibit bravery in the face of unforeseen obstacles.”
Trump wore a leopard-print calfskin coat by American designer Milly Park, according to WWD. The awards ceremony honored women who were leaders and advocates, including a group of student protesters from Bangladesh.
Trump’s first foreign trip of term 2 will be to the Middle East:
Trump said the first foreign trip of his second term could come as soon as “next month, maybe a little bit later,” and that he would visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and “other places.” Saudi Arabia was also part of Trump’s first foreign trip during his first term in 2017, when he touched the orb.
Booker breaks record:
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) delivered a 25-hour-5-minute speech from the Senate floor beginning last Monday evening about how the Trump administration is harming Americans and disregarding the rule of law. His speech broke a record set by the late Strom Thurmond who in 1957 filibustered the Civil Rights Act for 24 hours and 18 minutes.
“I was very aware of Strom Thurmond’s record since I’ve gotten to the Senate. I’ve always felt that it was a strange shadow to hang over this institution,” Booker told reporters after his speech. “There’s a lot of people out there asking Democrats to do more and to take risks and do things differently and this seemed like the right thing to do… A lot of us have to do a lot more.”
Booker said he fasted from food and water for days leading up to his speech so he wouldn’t have to use the restroom, and to stay light, the only thing he brought with him in his pockets was a Bible verse in his wallet for Isaiah 40:31. Booker had 164 pages of prepared material for his speech, including more than 200 stories from New Jerseyans and other Americans, and his office said it received more than 28,000 voicemails on his main office line from voters sending messages of encouragement.
Obama wants you:
In a speech last Thursday at Hamilton College in New York State, Obama spoke out against the Trump’s administration targeting of students, universities, law firms, and journalists, and said “it is up to all of us to fix this.”
“I don’t think what we just witnessed in terms of economic policy and tariffs is going to be good for America, but that’s a specific policy,” Obama said. “I’m more deeply concerned with a federal government that threatens universities if they don’t give up students who are exercising their right to free speech” or a federal government that threatens law firms and media outlets.
“That kind of behavior is contrary to the basic compact we have as Americans,” he said. The former president called on institutions threatened by Trump to stand up for their principles and not be intimidated, and he explained why he thinks it’s up to all of us to do something: “the most important office in this democracy is the citizen,” he said.
Obama photobombed this family’s photos:
A local family playing tourist and taking in the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., got more than they bargained for last week when they snapped a photo of their kids with the 44th POTUS taking a stroll with his security in the background.
Falls Church, Va., resident Portia Moore told USA Today their photographer captured their snap of her and kids Preston and Belle with the Washington Monument and Obama in the background but didn’t notice until her husband pointed it out after the fact. Obama left a comment on IG: “I hope you enjoyed peak bloom! My bad for stepping into the shot.” Thanks, Obama.
Pence is getting the JFK Profile in Courage Award:
The JFK Library Foundation said it will honor former Vice President Mike Pence with its John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award “for putting his life and career on the line to ensure the constitutional transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021.”
Calling Pence’s decision an example “that an act of political courage can change the course of history,” Caroline Kennedy and Jack Schlossberg, who will present the award next month at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, said in a statement, “Political courage is not outdated in the United States. At every level of government, leaders are putting country first, and not backing down. Despite our political differences, it is hard to imagine an act of greater consequence than Vice President Pence’s decision to certify the 2020 presidential election during an attack on the U.S. Capitol.”
Ari’s Eternal Sunshine reissue pushed the album back to No. 1:
Ariana Grande still has the juice. The release of her Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead powered the album back to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart more than a year after it debuted at No. 1 in March 2024.
Minecraft now has the biggest domestic opening for a video game movie:
A Minecraft Movie starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa had a global opening of $301 million, including $157 million in the U.S., making it the biggest domestic opening ever for a video game adaptation, beating 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Nicki Minaj is the best female rapper of all time, Billboard says:
Billboard staff compiled a list of the 25 best female rappers of all time, and Nicki Minaj came out on top for “still running laps around the competition.” She was followed at No. 2 by Missy Elliott and Lauryn Hill at No. 3. Did they get it right??
Sabrina Carpenter is headlining a virtual Fortnite festival:
You’ll soon be able to play as Sabrina Carpenter in Fortnite. The singer is the star of the game’s Fortnite Festival Season Eight, an Rock Band-style minigame that players can use to unlock prizes like in-game Carpenter skins designed like her Short n’ Sweet Tour outfits.
Carpenter told Rolling Stone in a statement the partnership is “for the fans that haven’t been able to come to the tour, or to any new fans, this is such a special way to still be a part of Short n’ Sweet world.”
The VMAs are heading to CBS:
MTV announced the 2025 Video Music Awards will be held at the UBS Arena just outside New York City on Long Island on Sept. 7, and in addition to airing on the network, they’ll be simulcast on Paramount+, and for the first time ever, on CBS. In a time of dwindling cable subscribers and viewership, simulcasting tentpole programs across multiple networks owned by a media conglomerate, in this case Paramount Global, helps make up at least some of the difference.
Madonna and Elton John quashed their beef and are now maybe collaborating:
Madonna says she’s been an Elton John fan since high school, but his critical public comments about her hurt her feelings (he once called her song “Die Another Day” “the word Bond tune ever,” which simply isn’t true). Luckily, they’ve buried the hatchet.
Madonna said she went to SNL this weekend to watch the Rocket Man perform, and backstage, “the first thing out of his mouth was, ‘Forgive Me’ and the wall between us fell down,” Madonna wrote in the Instagram caption of a photo of the pair together. “Forgiveness is a powerful tool. Within minutes. We were hugging. Then he told me had written a song for me and he wanted to collaborate. It was like everything came full circle!!” I can wait to hear these two icons queen out on a song together.
Dolly’s doing denim now:
Call them “Jolenes.” Dolly Parton partnered with Khloé Kardashian’s Good American brand for a collection they’re marketing as “a little bit country, a whole lot of glam.” The collection includes flare jeans, a white-and-red checkered shirt, and a denim corset shirt inspired by Parton’s wardrobe.
“The design process just kind of unfolded. We pulled things from my closet as far as the look, but for the jeans themselves, Khloé is really smart with what she’s doing,” Parton told Rolling Stone.
The singer also said she has a musical about her life story she wrote that will premiere in Nashville in July before heading to Broadway in 2026, and a gospel album could be next. She said she wants to “make a great gospel album. A big, inspirational production of some great uplifting music for this crazy world these days. But I’ll be writing and singing and creating as long as I’m alive.”
Kesha calls joy and love “the most political act right now”:
In her cover story for Paper, Kesha did a joint interview with Bob the Drag Queen who told her he cried during her concert when she performed “Blow” because it represented “being free and having fun” despite the challenges and personal and professional setbacks she’s faced.
“The most political act right now is to be happy and to be free and to spread love,” Kesha said in response. “And even when all the forces feel like they're against you — to put on that makeup and to put on your glitter and to dance — just demanding to feel your joy.”
In a message to “any marginalized person,” she added, “I want everyone out there to know that they have an ally, someone that is a warrior. I will not lay down, I will not be quiet about basic human rights. And as someone who's had her freedoms taken away from her and fought like hell to get them back, I'm going to echo that throughout my work until the day that I die.”
Thanks for reading! See you next week. ⭐