The Week that Was ...
Ending Sunday, May 18, 2025
Welcome to the latest edition of The Week that Was, my rundown of what happened last week, curated, in the loosest sense of the word, for your reading pleasure, or displeasure.
Trump went to the Middle East and got a lot and claimed he’s getting a lot for us. The Republicans can’t figure out how much to screw us. Grok doesn’t grok too well. Flying? Don’t worry, our airports have the most up-to-date technology from the 1980s. And, guess what? We were sold a bill of goods on inflation, and UHC is hurting now.
And Trump may be turning his affections from Israel to the Gulf States. After all, as Willie Sutton said, that’s where the money is.
1. Photo of the Week: Coltan Miners in the Congo
2. U.S. Politics and the Domestic Scene
3. Foreign Affairs and the Outside World
4. The Economy and Business, Real and Otherwise
5. Media Watch
6. Remember This? Bush and 9-11
7. Watch This: Jennifer C. Pan on Doomscroll
8. Read This: City of Quartz, by Mike Davis
9. Bonus Video: Hallorann Explains Shining in The Shining
Could I ask those who wish to send me an email explaining what you like and don’t like?
1. Photo of the Week: Coltan Miners in the Congo
Coltan is an ore from which tantalum and niobium are extracted. These metals are essential for mobile phones, personal computers, and automotive electronics.
© AP Photo Moses Sawasawa
2. U.S. Politics and the Domestic Scene
New Jet for Trump
The “gifting” of a 747 Boeing jet to “replace” the aging Air Force One by the Royal Family of Qatar has raised suspicion and outrage.
It is all legal, of course, at least according to Trump’s Minister of Injustice.
“President Donald Trump is slated to “accept a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar,” known as “a flying palace,” ABC News reports.
“Attorney General Pam Bondi, along with White House counsel David Warrington, advised the Trump administration ‘it would be ”legally permissible” for the donation of the aircraft to be conditioned on transferring its ownership to Trump's presidential library before the end of his term, according to sources familiar with their determination,’ ABC News reports.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary defended acceptance of the gift.
“’The French gave us the Statue of Liberty; the British gave us the Resolute Desk,’ Bessent told CNN’s Jake Tapper. ‘I’m not sure they asked for anything in advance.’”
Is Bessent equating the United States with Donald Trump?
Bessent defends Trump’s Qatari luxury jet gift: ‘French gave us the Statue of Liberty’
What to know about Trump's history with Qatar, which wants to gift him a plane
This is by far the biggest gift to a U.S. President in history.
“Why it matters: Trump's namesake business recently signed a deal to develop a golf course and luxury villas on Qatar's Eastern coastline, blurring the lines between America's diplomatic ties and Trump's personal financial interests.”
Air Force One gift would smash presidential records
Some facts about Qatar: The country has a population of 2.6 million, of which 313,000 are citizens, or subjects of His Highness, the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Qatar sits on the world’s third largest natural gas reserves. Qatar is largest per capita emitter of CO2 in the world.
As for Qatar’s purchase of Boeing jets, it was announced at $200B, but the White House Fact sheet said $96B. Either way it’s a lot of money.
It’s Business, and It’s Personal
Apparently the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, was unaware of the lifting of the sanctions.
Trump says US to lift Syria sanctions, secures $600 billion Saudi deal
After his Qatar visit, Trump visited Saudi Arabia, where he announced pledges of $600M Saudi investment in the U.S. and/or purchases of U.S. goods.
Negotiations with Iran are continuing.
And, notably, Trump acknowledged the suffering of the people of Gaza.
“There’s a lot of people starving, a lot of bad things going on.”
5 Takeaways From Trump’s Gulf Tour, Beyond the Lavish Receptions
Temporary Deals with China!
U.S. Stocks soared a bit on Monday after the announcements that the Trump Administration, after brief negotiations with China, dropped tariffs on China from 145% to 30%, and China dropped its tariffs on us from 125% to 10%. The Dow went up 28%!
This is only a 90-day “pause,” by the way.
The Dow surges 1,000 points and the Nasdaq soars 4% as the U.S. and China call a trade war truce
The Ugliness of the Big Beautiful Bill
The One Big Beautiful Bill of Trump and the Republic Party is in the sausage maker, and it’s a compendium of inhumanity. Massive cuts to things which help a plurality of Americans, and massive tax cuts for a tiny number of Americans. And an increase in defense spending to the equivalent of World War Two levels.
Trump’s $4.9 trillion tax plan targets Medicaid to offset costs
The one problem the Republicans have in getting this through is that their own conservatives don’t think it’s severe enough.
Conservatives block Trump’s big tax breaks bill in a stunning setback
Trump’s Polling Recovers, a Bit
Trump’s polling has recovered since his retreat from the most severe tariffs. This suggests to me that MAGA cannot be counted out, and that Democratic Party establishment glee about their anticipated comeback in 2016 is misplaced, and, frankly, smug.
“Enten noted that Trump’s net approval rating among voters in a Reuters/Ipsos poll jumped from -8 percentage points on April 21 to -1 percentage point on Tuesday.
CNN Data Chief Spots Exactly How Trump Is Avoiding His 'Political Obituary' In New Polling
Why Flying Feels Dangerous in the U.S.A.
Car trips are sounding better this summer.
Why? Are we not the most technologically advanced country in the world?
“It has been a scary few months for air travel.”
“Air traffic controllers rely on two essential things: radar screens, which provide a visual representation of what’s going on in the air, and radio communications, which allow them to talk with pilots.
“In certain cases, copper wiring, first developed in the 19th century, is used to transmit data from one place to another. Some systems still rely on floppy disks and compact discs [emphasis added]. Flight records are occasionally printed out on slips of paper rather than relayed electronically.
“The result is a hodgepodge network of software, parts and wires. ….
“Officials said that archaic technology was to blame for the recent outages at Newark.”
Oh, and there are not enough people to operate this 1980’s technology.
285 of 313 Air Traffic Control Facilities Are Understaffed
Andrew Cuomo Demonstrates His Integrity, Again
Andrew Cuomo demonstrated his commitment to fighting corruption by circumventing campaign rules. And who thought that New York City had better enforcement than the federal government?
Cuomo Loses $622,000 in Campaign Funds for Coordinating With Super PAC
MAGA Dude’s Restaurant Closes to Protect Undocumented Workers
Oh, and Kid Rock’s restaurant shut down on Saturday because, fearing a raid from ICE, they sent their undocumented workers home, and didn’t have enough staff to open.
Kid Rock's Nashville Restaurant Closed to Avoid Weekend ICE Raids by Trump Administration
3. Foreign Affairs and the Outside World
Trump Pivots to the Arab World
The big Mid East story is that the Trump Administration seems to have put some distance between itself and the Israeli government. They are not consulting with the Netanyahu government, and they are informing said government of what they are up to.
Trump Shrugs Off Netanyahu on Gulf Tour
Hamas releases Edan Alexander, last living American hostage in Gaza.
Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander was released by Hamas.
Parents of released hostage Edan Alexander thank Trump and Witkoff, not Netanyahu
And now the Trump Administration is meeting directly with Hamas. This was in response to an outreach from Hamas to Trump.
Scoop: Hamas approached pro-Trump activist for secret talks that freed Edan Alexander
Adam Boehler, an advisor to Trump and Trump’s acting Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (serving in a capacity that does not require Senate approval), met with Hamas as well. And he seemed to report that speaking with Hamas leaders was not difficult. Boehler said, to Jake Tapper of CNN:
“I could say, they don’t have horns growing out of their heads, they’re pretty nice guys.”
Whether that was his impression exactly or just a statement Boehler made, conditionally, is not totally clear.
Note: Adam Boehler is a close friend of Trump for a long time. He was Jared Kushner’s summer roommate when they attended a summer session of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Trump appoints Adam Boehler to expanded hostage envoy role after Hamas talks uproar
Steve Witkoff, the New York City real estate developer who is also Trump’s golf buddy, also met with Hamas.
Sources confirm U.S. envoy Witkoff met directly with Hamas leaders in Doha
The below-linked interview of Jeremy Scahill of Dropsitenews on The Majority Report goes a long long way to explain what has been going on between the U.S. and Hamas, and sheds an enormous amount of light on Hamas itself.
Hamas, Gaza And Trump’s Pay To Play Diplomacy w/ Jeremy Scahill | MR Live | Majority Report
Das Boot Reboot
A German defense start-up Helsing has announced that it is developing an underwater submarine.
“European defence technology start-up Helsing has unveiled plans for a fleet of unmanned mini submarines that it claims will greatly enhance naval surveillance, at a time of rising threats to ships and critical ocean infrastructure.
“The company said its autonomous glider, SG-1 Fathom, would be able to patrol underwater for up to three months at a time.”
A far cry from this.
German defence start-up plans underwater drones for naval surveillance
The Second Reich? Not Quite
Before the Third Reich, there was the Second Reich: The German Empire from 1871 to 1918.
“Berlin has banned “Kingdom of Germany”, a separatist organisation that sees modern German institutions as illegitimate, amid growing debate over how to curb far-right sentiment in Europe’s largest democracy.”
Berlin bans far-right group ‘Kingdom of Germany’
Of late, Christine Murray of The Financial Times seems to have dropped some of her pejorative, sarcastic tone in reporting on Mexico and President Sheinbaum. This piece is still, however, primarily, a compendium of quotes from the usual suspects. Also notable is the omission of our ambassador to Mexico’s involvement with U.S.-financed death squads in Latin America.
Former US army green beret becomes Trump’s man in Mexico
4. The Economy and Business, Real and Unreal
Turns Out We’ve Had Inflation Wrong for Forty Years
This episode of The Majority Report explained and clarified so much about the macro economy, it’s not even funny. Turns out we’ve been wrong about it for a while, and in a way that served the elite. Mark Blyth explains.
At 0:27:00 Mark Blyth (the link below should start there) comes on to talk about his latest book Inflation, a Guide for Users and Losers. He talks about how measures of inflation don’t measure inflation as most people feel it, how inflation is mismeasured,
Dr. Blyth explains how inflation is often created by supply shocks rather than budgetary policy. In other words, our monetary policy has been off for 40 years. And how during this recent bout of inflation, the European Central Bank recognized price gouging. But we didn’t, although apparently we knew about it.
At 0:54:00, Blyth goes into the Trump tariffs. He then provides a superb analysis of internal Republican Party politics: the national conservatives, like Bannon, and to a certain extent the “macro” guys like Bessent; the hardcore tariff guys; and the tech lords; and the red state Republicans, whose states’ business models are carbon based, meaning that the green economy is a mortal threat to their economy.
At 1:10:20, Blyth explains how, quoting Henry Farrell, the Democrats have become the party of the status quo. Blyth points out that strategy of the Democratic Party establishment is essentially:
“Our billionaires are nicer.”
Blyth points out that the debate in the Republican Party is wider than in the Democratic, except for AOC and Bernie. And the Democratic Party establishment hates them.
Blyth goes on to show that one way to change the economy is to build houses (not luxury condos). And he marvels at markets rallying because the tariff is only 30%!
Decoding Trump Tariffs & Inflation w/ Mark Blyth | MR Live | Majority Report
United Healthcare Feels the Pain
UHC’s stock tanked, apparently because the murder of one of their top executives exposed the extent and the lengths to which the company went to deny claims. So, they tried to quietly get nice, and their bottom line sank precipitously.
And the CEO resigned.
As a result, UHC is now being sued for securities fraud.
“My rule of thumb is that every bad thing that a public company does, or that happens to a public company, is also securities fraud. This is not literally true — really it’s only securities fraud if the company is lying to investors about the bad thing1 ….
Footnote 1: “Technically it is securities fraud ‘to make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, … in connection with the purchase or sale of any security.’”
Is being murdered securities fraud?
UnitedHealthcare sued by shareholders over reaction to CEO’s killing
The complaint, for your reading pleasure.
UnitedHealth stock tumbles as CEO resigns, 2025 outlook pulled
5. Media Watch
Grok on X Goes Haywire over Non-Existent White Genocide in South Africa
On X, the chatbots went off their rockers and started working in rants about “white genocide” into threads about just about any topic. I thought that job was reserved to your MAGA uncle at Thanksgiving.
“In response to topics ranging from streaming platform HBO Max’s name change to Medicaid cuts proposed by US lawmakers, the chatbot often seemed to initially stay on topic before veering back to white genocide in South Africa, completely unprompted.
Elon Musk’s Grok AI Can’t Stop Talking About ‘White Genocide’
Grok’s ‘white genocide’ auto responses show AI chatbots can be tampered with ‘at will’
But it turns out it was human error, just like Hal said.
Never Take Sides Against the Family (The Trump Family, that Is)
The Trump Administration is furious about an article in Business Insider comparing Donald Trump Jr. to Hunter Biden. Personally, I think the article is way overblown. Hunter Biden is a piker compared to Don Jr. in corruption. Hunter just had the directorship of a Ukrainian gas company; Don Jr. has his fingers into so much more! Bigly, I tell you.
Don Jr. is the new Hunter Biden
Much of the ire is falling on the German owner of Business Insider, Axel Springer SE. Ironically enough, this is a company with a long history of supporting rightwing politics and politicians. The current CEO of Axel Springer, Mathias Döpfner, invited employees to pray for Donald Trump’s reelection in 2020.
Politico’s new German owner has a ‘contrarian’ plan for American media
Now DOGE cut off subscriptions to media outlets in general over Axel Springe’s ownership of Business Insider and Politico.
Scoop: Trump orders key government agency to cancel all media contracts
6. Remember This? Bush and 9-11
Bush Administration Ignored Warnings About the September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda Attack
We’ve known this for a long time, but it’s worth reflecting on this.
Two months before 9/11, the Bush administration was told “the attacks will be spectacular”
7. Watch This: Jennifer C. Pan on Doomscroll
This is a great interview on Doomscroll.
Here you are going to learn how D.E.I. is more of an attempt to serve corporate power than to limit it, and that the New Deal was not racist.
Jennifer C. Pan: Selling Social Justice | Doomscroll
8. Read This: City of Quartz, by Mike Davis
This is the book that will change your view of, and deepen your understanding of, the great city of Los Angeles.
City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles by Mikr Davis.
