There’s going to be a Trump phone
Plus: Sabrina Carpenter on why she’s starting a new era
More people showed up for protests against President Donald Trump than turned out for his birthday party, but if it’s any consolation, his company is releasing a smartphone and mobile phone service for some reason. On a more serious note, a suspect has been charged in the disturbing shooting of state lawmakers in Minnesota.
Welcome to this week’s issue of Whig. Read to the end for the first-of-its-kind lawsuit against an A.I. company. — Hunter Schwarz
Suspect charged in Minnesota lawmaker shooting:
A suspect in the shooting of two Democratic state lawmakers and their spouses at their respective Minnesota homes was arrested Sunday and charged with second-degree murder. Law enforcement said the man allegedly wore a mask, pretended to be a cop, killed Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, shot and injured Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, and went to the homes of two other state lawmakers the night of the shooting.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), who said he hasn’t received a call from Trump since the shooting, said at a news conference Saturday, “our state lost a dear leader and I lost the dearest of friends.”
What is Mike Lee’s problem?:
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a clown who spends far too much time tweeting on her personal account than doing his actual job, posted an image of the alleged shooter in a mask and wrote “Nightmare on Waltz [sic] Street,” to falsely tie the accused gunman to the Democrat’s 2024 vice presidential nominee.
Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said she confronted Lee in person over the tweet (“I think that he, honestly, he seemed a little surprised to be confronted,” she said), and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said she’ll have words for Lee too. “This is not a laughing matter, and certainly what we’re seeing is an increase in violence, and this evil man who did this — this is not a joke,” Klobuchar said.
More than 5 million people took part in No Kings protests:
Organizers of Saturday’s nationwide No Kings protests against Trump said more than 5 million people participated in protests at more than 2,100 cities and towns, including Philadelphia where more than 100,000 attended. The protests were mostly peaceful, though a man at a Salt Lake City protest is in critical condition after being shot.
Trump’s in Canada:
Fresh off his 79th birthday and a parade on Saturday that nobody went to, Trump arrived in Alberta, Canada, Monday for a Group of Seven summit with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Speaking about Israel’s strike on Iran, Trump said Iran “is not winning this war. And they should talk and they should talk immediately before it’s too late.”
It’s true, the Trump Org hires foreign workers:
Trump acknowledged his immigration policies are hurting the agriculture and hospitality industries last week, and he would know. The Trump Organization has filed to bring in at least 1,880 temporary foreign workers since 2008, according to a Forbes review of Department of Labor data, including 382 in his first term and 31 so far this year.
There’s going to be a Trump phone:
The Trump Organization announced Monday it would launch a $499 smartphone and a Trump Mobile phone service priced at $47.45 a month to reference Trump’s status as the 47th and 45th president. First son Donald Trump Jr., said at a press conference that it’s just the beginning.
“We are going to be introducing an entire package of products where people can come and they can get telemedicine on their phones for one flat monthly fee, roadside assistance on their cars, unlimited texting to 100 countries around the world,” Jr. said.
Don’t tell me the Trump White House didn’t celebrate Pride:
Trump’s administration might not be celebrating Pride officially, but Trump was at opening night of “Les Misérables” at the Kennedy Center last Wednesday with First Lady Melania Trump, some of the administration’s openly gay appointees, and a group of drag queens.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions Richard Grenell, the first openly gay Cabinet-level official in U.S. history, were in attendance along with former Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.). Trump got a mix of boos and cheers, and the drag queens, who crashed the party, got all cheers.
“In my story time events I do for kids and families, I often read books about being brave, being strong, and being true to who you are,” drag artist Tara Hoot told The Advocate. “Showing up to the Kennedy Center with my fellow drag stars allowed me to live those words and lessons for all to see. Here’s to being brave, strong, and gorgeous.”
W speaks on his mom’s new stamp:
Former President George W. Bush was conspicuously absent at the U.S. Postal Service’s unveiling ceremony last month at the White House for its new postage stamp of his mother Barbara Bush, but he was on hand last Tuesday for the stamp’s first-day-of-issue ceremony in Kennebunkport, Maine.
“She left us with a lot of lessons. I think one of the lessons was, ‘Be willing to help people who hurt,” Bush said of his mother. “Compassion is important. It made a huge impact on me.”
Sabrina scores second No. 1 hit:
Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild” debuts at No. 1 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100. It’s her second No. 1 hit following “Please Please Please” and first to debut at No. 1.
Here’s what pop stars said about ICE raids and protests:
Carpenter wrote on Instagram Stories “Please join me in supporting the National Immigration Law Center” with a link to donate. Addison Rae wrote, “I'm so disappointed and disturbed by what is happening across our nation. This country could not exist without immigrants” also with a link to donate to the group.
Olivia Rodrigo wrote, “I've lived in LA my whole life and I'm deeply upset about these violent deportations of my neighbors under the current administration. LA simply wouldn't exist without immigrants.”
Shakira, who came to the U.S. from Columbia when she was 19, told BBC being an immigrant in the U.S. today “means living in constant fear and it’s painful to see.” She added, “Now, more than ever, we have to remain united. Now, more than ever, we have to raise our voices and make it very clear that a country can change its immigration policies, but the treatment of all people must always be humane.”
The Grammys just added a category for Best Album Cover:
The Grammys announced Thursday that for next year’s show on Feb. 1, 2026, there will be a new category for Best Album Cover to award the best album art of the year.
There’s already a Best Recording Package category that Charli XCX’s Brat won earlier this year, and that category next year will have the Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package category folded into it. So basically, Best Album Cover will be for the art itself, and Best Recording Package will take into account an overall album package.
Sabrina Carpenter on why she’s starting a new era:
Carpenter released the provocative album art for her forthcoming Man’s Best Friend and people have a lot of thoughts (what do you think??), and in her new cover story for Rolling Stone, she spoke about why she’s already moving on to a new album.
“If I really wanted to, I could have stretched out Short n’ Sweet much, much longer,” she said. “But I’m at that point in my life where I’m like, ‘Wait a second, there’s no rules.’ If I’m inspired to write and make something new, I would rather do that. Why would I wait three years just for the sake of waiting three years? It’s all about what feels right. I’m learning to listen to that a lot more, instead of what is perceived as the right or wrong move.”
Caitlyn Jenner was stuck in Israel but now she’s out:
Caitlyn Jenner was in Tel Aviv for the city’s Pride when Israel strikes hit Iran on Friday. In a since-deleted post, Israeli influencer Regev Gur shared an image of Jenner having wine and wrote, “What did you do during the alerts, because I’m drinking wine with Caitlyn.” Jenner was able to leave Israel Sunday. “There is nowhere I would have rather been,” she wrote on X.
Alice Marie Johnson can help you get a pardon:
Want to get a presidential pardon? Getting some face time with Alice Marie Johnson, Trump’s “pardon czar” who he pardoned in 2018 after Kim Kardashian highlighted her case, could help.
According to a report by NOTUS, getting a pardon from Trump is “all about getting your case in front of the right person and making the right connections, according to interviews with over a dozen lawyers, lobbyists, pardon recipients, Trump officials and friends of the president, who described a far more transactional operation than in the past that may lead to favoring those with means over those without.”
While Johnson told NOTUS she looks “at everything holistically,” other ways to get Trump’s attention is to visit Mar-a-Lago to make your case in person or getting on TV or publishing an op-ed. “The one key thing is that you just need to get in front of the president for a couple minutes,” said a source who said they tell their clients not to get into details with Trump.
Paris Hilton says that photo of her and Britney and Lindsay was taken because they were running away from boys:
In an interview with “Call Her Daddy” host Alex Cooper, Paris Hilton said the famous 2006 photo with her, Britney Spears, and Lindsay Lohan together in a car was taken because they were trying to get away from men. Hilton said she and Spears were at the Beverly Hills Hotel and “these guys were just being so annoying” so they went to the bathroom, locked the door, and jumped out the window so they could leave without saying goodbye.
“I hate saying bye to people because everyone’s like why are you leaving and then it’s like a whole half hour of why you want to leave,” Hilton explained (editor’s note: same). “We were walking to the car and then all the sudden just got blasted with all this paparazzi and then Lindsay came over and then we were all in the car together.”
She said “it was just like a normal night out, we weren’t doing anything, and the media the next day made it out to be this huge deal vilifying us like we’re bad people.” They were just “running away from boys,” she said.
A Daily Show staffer won the Pedro Pascal lookalike contest:
George Gountas, a lighting designer at The Daily Show since 2018 won a Pedro Pascal lookalike contest hosted by a New York City Mexican restaurant that wanted to prove the actor wrong that the city has no good Mexican food. “I look more like him than I look like my own brother,” Gountas told The Hollywood Reporter.
These entertainment companies are suing Midjourney for copyright infringement:
Hollywood is fighting back against artificial intelligence. In a first-of-its-kind lawsuit from major studios, Disney and Universal filed suit against Midjourney last Wednesday, arguing the artificial intelligence company used its copyrighted work and intellectual property like Darth Vader, Buzz Lightyear, and Homer Simpson, to train its A.I. engines.
“Piracy is piracy, and whether an infringing image or video is made with A.I. or another technology does not make it any less infringing,” the suit reads.
The studios join a push from others in the content business that have already filed lawsuits, like news media (The New York Times filed suit against OpenAI and Microsoft in 2023) and the music industry (Sony, Universal, and Warner filed suit against A.I. music generators last year).
Thanks for reading! See you next week. ⭐