Trump blames reflecting pool on… wait for it… OBAMA!

Top Stories for June 23:

Trump blames…Obama for Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool debacle
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but everything is Barack Obama’s fault. According to our 47th president, the botched $14 million paint job of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool actually pales in comparison to past renovation costs and also somehow failed because of restoration efforts taken back in 2012.

“Barack Hussein Obama. Have you ever heard of him?” Trump bloviated yesterday, claiming that the 44th president “destroyed” the pool with water from the Potomac River. According to Donald’s completely made-up figures, Obama and Joe Biden spent either $100 million or $147 million — and wanted to spend $400 million — repairing the pool, while his bungled job only cost taxpayers $10 million. Not sure “I fail for less!” is the winning message Trump thinks it is, but far be it from us to advise otherwise.

Take Action: Tell FIFA: Stop fueling the climate crisis!

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Trump goes on confused rant about reflecting pool fiasco
To hear Donald tell it, vandals managed to cut a 100-foot, 250-foot, or 350-foot slit in the bottom of the just-renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool…with a boxcutter. Just don’t bother asking for photographic or video evidence of any kind in the most heavily surveilled city in the country. We can’t just go around sharing that stuff willy nilly. Due process and all. Got it.

Take Action: Tell Speaker Johnson: Hands off Social Security!

Beloved Alaskan Mary Peltola drops love letter to Alaska in inspiring first TV ad
Mary Peltola for Alaska: US Senate candidate Mary Peltola is a native Yup’ik who has spent her entire life working for Alaska, and her genuine love for the state and its people flies off the screen. “When I think of an Alaskan, I think about somebody who has a genuine connection to the land and the people and the experience of living and growing and raising a family here,” says one man. “Every Alaskan I have ever known, no matter how young, no matter how old, no matter where they’re from, deeply understand the importance of making sure our kids and grandkids and all the generations after us have the same kind of abundance that we had. We can get back there if we’re all working on this together.” It’s the perfect message for a positive campaign that connects directly to voters and is even more powerful considering that incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan is a transplant from Ohio. Click here to watch her ad and chip in to help elect her to this must-win Senate seat!

Top intelligence agency begins mass firings under Trump lackey Bill Pulte, source says
Bill Pulte, the 38-year-old private equity bro with ZERO intelligence experience and nearly zero regular intelligence, has begun gutting the National Counterterrorism Center — the agency created after 9/11 specifically to prevent future terrorist attacks on American soil.

Pulte, who once publicly accepted a “Bill Pulte Fucks Only The Young” trophy at an event he helped organize, apparently spent his first week as acting DNI chief angling for access to a government plane and asking if he could take the President’s Daily Brief home. Now he’s dismantling America’s intelligence apparatus without congressional approval. What could possibly go horribly wrong?

Take Action: Investigate Kash Patel’s flagrant misuse of taxpayer funds!

Not so fast: Iran says it didn’t agree to nuclear inspections
Despite hyperbolic proclamations from Donald Trump declaring otherwise, Iranian leaders announced through state media that they will not allow nuclear inspectors back into the country, complicating whatever fledgling agreement may or may not exist between the United States and Iran. On Tuesday, Trump insisted otherwise, declaring that Iran had agreed to “highest level Nuclear inspections” for “Infinity!!!” Okay, okay, but what about BEYOND??

An explosion of household debt has put the US economy in a precarious spot
In yet another glaring sign that all is definitely well and bigly good in the age of Trump, total liabilities among US households swelled to a record $19.9 trillion at the end of the first quarter in 2026 — a sign that Americans are continuing to borrow at an alarming clip to fund their spending. Fret not, the warning signs get brighter! According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the personal savings rate in the United States is hovering near a record low, shrinking to 2.6% in April.

The trend might be the result of the so-called wealth effect, a phenomenon where Americans spend more because they feel wealthier as the price of assets like stocks and real estate rise, Albert Edwards, a SocGen strategist and famed market permabear, said. “The US consumer currently resembles the Wile E. Coyote character, running off the cliff and suspended in thin air briefly, before collapsing,” Edwards said.

And just like Wile E. Coyote, the US consumer will surely bounce back, catch that pesky Roadrunner once and for all, and live happily and responsibly ever after. Right?

Tucker Carlson says he’ll no longer support the Republican Party
Having spent the better part of the past two decades breathlessly fanning conspiratorial flames; amplifying far-right, very white, phantom grievances; and flat-out lying to millions of unscrupulous television viewers in service of the world’s most incorrigible grifter, Tucker Carlson has apparently finally seen some kind of light and will no longer support the Republican Party he enthusiastically helped drive off a cliff. We’re all familiar with the old “enemy of my enemy is my friend” proverb, but in this case that’s a hard pass. Don’t let the door hit you on your way into the abyss, Tucker.

LGBTQ rights are under attack from Trump’s administration. This Pride Month, let’s fight back
Christopher Street Project: Across the country, we’ve seen LGBTQ rights come under fire from Trump and the MAGA movement. To fight back, we have to harness our political power and make our voices heard. Join Christopher Street Project, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and more for the Pride Is Power Mass Call on June 29th at 7 PM ET. Speakers like Mark Ruffalo, Congresswoman Sarah McBride, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer will join to answer one central question: how do we turn pride into political power this year? Click here to RSVP!