Trump pumps the brakes
Plus: My paws are up and my heart is full for Lady Gaga’s Mayhem
The honeymoon is over. On the same day ABC shut down its political polling news site FiveThirtyEight, the site’s average of President Donald Trump’s approval rating went negative for the first time in his second term. He seems to have noticed. Meanwhile, members of Congress just spilled on what life on Capitol Hill is really like.
Welcome to this week’s issue of Whig. Read to the end to find out who won an award for doing their job while not knowing who Britney Spears’ ex-boyfriend is. — Hunter
Trump pumps the brakes:
Could the U.S. be heading towards a recession? Trump didn’t rule it out during a Sunday Fox News interview. “I hate to predict things like that,” he said. “There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big.” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said a recession isn’t coming, but nevertheless stocks have tumbled. Do not check your 401(k) today.
Trump’s disapproval rating overtook his approval rating for the first time in his second term last Wednesday, according to FiveThirtyEight, the political polling and news site shut down by owner Disney the same day, and the stock market’s performance can’t be helping. As if to course correct, Trump took actions late last week to at least create the appearance of tempering some of his most controversial policies.
Trump threatened “large scale” sanctions on Russia if it doesn’t reach a peace deal, paused tariffs on some products from Canada and Mexico the same day the Nasdaq wiped out all its post-election gains, and pumped the brakes on DOGE. In a testy, closed-door cabinet meeting Thursday with Elon Musk in attendance, Trump said Musk’s team would only advise going forward, and Trump wrote in a post on his social network the same day that DOGE would use a “scalpel” instead of a “hatchet.” Still, Trump’s positions have had real-world effects. Ukraine has reported 264 Russian drone attacks in 48 hours after Trump paused intelligence to Ukraine.
Here’s who Melania had in her box for the joint address to Congress:
To sit with her at her husband’s address to a joint session of Congress last Tuesday, First Lady Melania Trump invited Haley Ferguson (below left), a former foster child who received a scholarship through Trump’s Fostering the Future initiative, and Elliston Berry (below right), who was the victim of an explicit A.I.-generated deepfake and who joined a roundtable discussion with Trump and lawmakers last week for the bipartisan anti-”revenge porn” bill, the Take It Down Act.
In social media posts, Trump called Ferguson “an inspiration” and called Berry “the epitome of perseverance.” They were joined in Trump’s box by the family of Corey Comperatore, who was killed at Trump’s 2024 rally in Butler, Pa., and other POTUS guests.
Musk gives his number to senators, but not House members:
Musk was on Capitol Hill last Wednesday trying to respond to backlash and iron over concerns about DOGE, and he gave his cellphone number to members of the more sober 100-person Senate while everyone else in the more unhinged 435-person House gets a helpline. That’s according to the AP, which reported Musk was selective about who he gave his number to based on which chamber they serve in. For the House, Musk’s team is opening a phone line for lawmakers to call with comments, complaints, questions, and suggestions about DOGE.
Congress confessional: What life on Capitol Hill is really like:
Politico interviewed members of Congress on-the-record and anonymously to ask them what life is really like as a lawmaker. “It is an endless grind that is far less romantic than people might think,” said Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.).
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) admitted between “six and a dozen” of his colleagues “don’t have the faculties to do their job” and Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) said he thought it was possible that Trump could do something that would push Republicans to impeach him, “if he completely went off the rails.” Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) said he’s introverted, “so I don’t love the pressure to constantly perform publicly,” but his favorite part of the job is “helping people.”
When asked what broke Congress, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said, “It would either be when C-SPAN came in or social media, but it seems to me that members of Congress became entertainers as much as they did legislators, whether it’s celebrity TV personalities or social media provocateurs.” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) expressed a similar sentiment. What broke Congress, she thought, was “spineless people more interested in clicks than serving the country.”
The woke right has canceled the Enola Gay:
The Defense Department’s crusade against diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, has come for the Enola Gay, the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb that just so happens to have “gay” in its name. Content including photos and online posts from the DOD about the plane, which dropped the bomb code named “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945, was flagged for deletion along with content about women, minorities, and the LGBTQ community, according to an Associated Press review of a database confirmed by U.S. officials.
The database includes a list of more than 26,000 images flagged for removal. Photos of members of the Army Corps of Engineers were flagged because an engineer pictured in the photo had the last name Gay and photos of the Tuskegee Airman, the first African American flying unit in U.S. military history, were also flagged.
Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot told the AP in a statement, “We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms. In the rare cases that content is removed that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct components accordingly.”
Canada has a new prime minister and he has a message for America:
Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to be replaced by Mark Carney, a former central banker who was elected to be leader of the country’s Liberal Party. In his victory speech Sunday, Carney accused Trump of “attacking Canadian families.”
“America is not Canada, and Canada never, ever will be part of America in any way, shape or form,” he said. “Look, we didn’t ask for this fight. We didn’t ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves. So the Americans, they should make no mistake in trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.”
Inside Trump Jr.’s venture capital plans:
First son Donald Trump, Jr., “has big plans for monetizing MAGA,” according to the headline for a story from Bloomberg looking into 1789 Capital, the venture capital firm that Jr. joined last November after his dad won the election.
Since the Inauguration, 1789 has raised $500 million and it has about 30 investors. Its invested $50 million in Musk’s xAI and SpaceX, and has also invested in the Enhanced Games, a competition where athletes are allowed to use performance-enhancing drugs, and Happy Dad, a hard seltzer brand by the YouTubers the Nelk Boys, who interviewed Jr.’s dad during the campaign.
A prerequisite for working with 1789 is being longtime Trump supporter, and being a recent convert doesn’t seem to count. “I’ve turned down major deals where the ethoses don’t align,” Trump Jr. said. “There are people who have become MAGA more recently — and I don’t know they actually believe.”
Michelle is doing a podcast with her brother:
Former First Lady Michelle Obama has a podcast coming out. Her and her husband’s production company Higher Ground announced today that she’ll host “IMO,” for “in my opinion,” with her brother Craig Robinson.
“Craig is one of the people I turn to whenever I have anything on my mind,” the former FLOTUS wrote in an Instagram post. “He always has the insights, the wisdom, and the humor to get me through anything. Together, we’ll share our perspectives about some of your questions. And we won’t be doing it alone. We’ll be joined by special guests, friends, and experts along the way.”
Obama previously hosted the podcast miniseries “The Michelle Obama Podcast” in 2020. The new series isn’t launching as overly political. In the first two episodes, previewed by The New York Times, Obama and her brother talked about life experiences and in the second episode they were joined by actress Issa Rae, who spoke about maintaining friendships as an adult.
Obama sits courtside for the Clippers:
Former President Barack Obama was courtside at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., last Wednesday for a match-up between the Los Angeles Clippers and Detroit Pistons. Obama got a standing ovation after he was shown on the Jumbotron, and he was gifted an No. 44 Clippers jersey that said “Obama” on the back. Obama sat at the game between Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and his wife, Connie Snyder.
My paws are up and my heart is full for Lady Gaga’s Mayhem:
Mayhem is a concept album and the concept is Gaga. Lady Gaga’s new self-referential album hearkens back to the goth pop glory days of her late ‘00s-early ‘10s imperial period. In an interview with Apple Music, she called it “my favorite record in a long time. I feel like it has some teeth,” and she described it as “a series of gothic dreams.” I can hear that.
“Everything changed for me after the Fame Monster era,” Gaga told Vogue. “After that happened, my mission as an artist changed, and it became more about making people happy, and less about my personal mission as an artist. My personal mission became making the public smile as much as possible. So when I was making Mayhem, I wanted it to be a good time, and not all about me.” My favorite track right now is “LoveDrug,” wbu?
Chappell Roan just went No. 1 in the U.K.:
Five years after it was first released, Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” has gone No. 1 on the U.K. Official Singles Chart, becoming her first U.K. No. 1 hit. Meanwhile in the U.S., “Pink Pony Club” is currently at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Ariana has more Eternal Sunshine in store:
With Oscars season over and eight months to go until the Wicked sequel Wicked: For Good, Ariana Grande is getting back to her dreamy 2024 album Eternal Sunshine. Grande sent an announcement to her mailing list today that Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead will be out March 28 featuring five new songs.
The King of England loves Kylie Minogue and Beyoncé:
Apple just passed King Charles the aux. The monarch curated “The King’s Music Room,” a radio show for Apple Music to mark Commonwealth Day celebrating the Commonwealth of Nations. His playlist includes Kylie Minogue’s cover of “The Loco-Motion” (“this is music for dancing,” he said), Beyoncé’s “Crazy In Love” feat. Jay Z, and Dianna Ross’ “Upside Down.” K, but what’s his favorite Girls Aloud song?!
Charli XCX could be in the new Narnia movie:
Call it “The Lion, the Witch, and the White Mercedes.” Barbie director Greta Gerwig is reportedly eyeing Charli XCX to star in her upcoming Narnia film for Netflix, according to Deadline. Netflix announced a Narnia series in 2018, and the first installment is now scheduled to run exclusively on Imax for two weeks around Thanksgiving this year before being available on the streaming platform.
The next Avatar film will be the longest yet, says James Cameron:
Director James Cameron said the third installment of his Avatar franchise, Avatar: Fire and Ash, out this December, will be longer than the first two. “In a nutshell, we had too many great ideas packed into act one of Movie 2,” he told Empire. “Movie 3 will actually be a little bit longer than Movie 2.” The first two Avatar movies are the No. 1 and No. 3 highest-grossing movies of all time, respectively, with Avengers: Endgame between them and Cameron’s Titanic at No. 4.
The Long Island cop who arrested Justin Timberlake for DWI is Officer of the Year:
The Sag Harbor Village Police Department named Officer Michael Arkinson its Office of the Year. Atkinson arrested Justin Timberlake last summer for driving while intoxicated, and he didn’t know Timberlake was famous during the arrest.
Thanks for reading! See you next week. ⭐
Lovin’ this! You inform widely without exploding my head—a rarity. So, thank you :)