Trump Encourages Companies Not to Seek Tariff Refunds (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he’d remember companies that decline to seek refunds on duties paid after the Supreme Court struck down a large swath of his tariffs. Most Read from Bloomber...

😆😆😆 Trump Encourages Companies Not to Seek Tariff Refunds (by promising $2K checks within 2 weeks?)

finance.yahoo.com/economy/poli...

Ossoff: "You were talking earlier about Jared Kushner. The guy leading our diplomacy in the Middle East is bringing in billions from Middle Eastern princes and sheiks and going around the region asking for billions more while he conducts nuclear diplomacy on behalf of the country. It's obscene."

Trump doesn't know what to do when his bullying and bluster fails.

If they can't blame Obama or Biden, they've got nothing. They can't defend Trump, so they point and attack some squirrels.

California’s Gun Safety Laws Work Overall firearm-related mortality rate California, rest of U.S.

CA has achieved something genuinely historic.

In recent years, CA became safer from gun violence than any other time on record.

This progress was not an accident. It was the result of a sustained commitment to gun violence prevention policies and investments.

We cannot lose momentum now.

❤️ if you agree that Donald Trump has lost his privilege to hold the highest office in our land

We need a labeler here that lets everyone know.

ACTUALLY WENT TO THE 2026 WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER

"Because Trump turned to culture war before joining an evil axis, because Ukraine and the rest of the world got time to adjust to the shift in American loyalties, the efficacy of Trump’s betrayal will be significantly diminished."

Marcy on how bad it all is & how dick-stepping gives us some grace.

🚨 Talks with Iran have collapsed before they even began.

Iran refuses to negotiate under a U.S. naval blockade and threats, and Trump says he expects bombing to resume once the ceasefire ends.

Iran is warning it will retaliate if attacked—and planned talks in Pakistan appear dead.

ZELENSKYY: First, we shouldn’t make big deal out of Kushner and Witkoff’s visit to Ukraine, because we are in constant contact with them.

Second, I believe it’s not us who need their visit — it’s them. Why? Because it’s simply disrespectful to go to Moscow and not come to Kyiv.

The Pentagon will stop requiring members of the military to get flu vaccines. Image Hegseth, wearing a blue suit, a tie and American flag pocket square, stands in front of an American flag. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that service members would no longer have to get flu vaccines.Credit...Pete Marovich for The New York Times The Pentagon will no longer require troops to get annual flu vaccines, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday, calling the policy an “absurd, overreaching” mandate.

George Washington LITERALLY would not have won the Revolutionary War had he not vaccinated the troops against smallpox.

Meanwhile, this idiot: www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04...

Today, VA Dems are showing the party how to fight back.

VA voter: Trump has explicitly stated to state legislators, 'find me more seats.' As Democrats, we can't come to a boxing match where the other person brings a knife.

Epstein wasn’t a financial consultant

He trafficked in young girls and used compromising information to extort money

From Ukraine to the Middle East: Are we living through a world war? | DW News Conflicts are spreading worldwide — from Ukraine, to Gaza, Iran and Lebanon. But does that make it a world war, or is it a new cold war? With global trade disrupted and major powers increasingly involved, the question feels unavoidable: are we already living through World War 3? We asked four leading international affairs experts to weigh in. Their answer isn’t what you might expect — but it explains why this moment still feels so dangerous. #iranwar #ukrainewar #gaza #lebanon #dwcurrentaffairs For more news go to: http://www.dw.com/en/ Follow DW on social media: ►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dwnews ►TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dwnews ►Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deutschewellenews/ ►Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwnews Für Videos in deutscher Sprache besuchen Sie: https://www.youtube.com/dwdeutsch Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/deutschewelleenglish?sub_confirmation=1

With so many conflicts happening (Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Sudan, and more) — are we in a world war / the beginnings of World War III? Analysts might scoff — but I get asked this a lot, so I put this to experts including @kschake.bsky.social and @jasminmuj.bsky.social:

@marcelias.bsky.social, the great Democratic legal fighter for democracy, on me:

"We need more people like this guy in Congress…This guy's a fighter. And he's not just saying he's a fighter, he's got the receipts, because he has gone toe-to-toe with Donald Trump and the Republicans for years now...

four seasons total dumbfuckery: Donny blows up Iran negotiations with his own reckless mouth Dear Leader always makes things worse for himself

here's today's post: "four seasons total dumbfuckery: Donny blows up Iran negotiations with his own reckless mouth" — Dear Leader always makes things worse for himself.
thanks for reading, and please sign up for my daily newsletter so you never miss a post —

Why Trump Will Be Removed From Office Sooner Than You Think George Conway, the former GOPer turned Trump critic who’s running for Congress as a Democrat, lays out his case that Republicans will have no choice but to remove the president before his term ends.

On the pod, @gtconway.bsky.social lays out accountability agenda if Dems win House:

*Impeach Trump and top officials
*Criminal referrals to DOJ
*25th Amendment commission
*Fix Impoundment Act
*Codify DOJ independence

There's much more here. It's a good discussion:
newrepublic.com/article/2091...

In our discussion, @gtconway.bsky.social envisions two steps: Accountability for Trump and top officials first, then reforms to prevent future fascism second. It all amounts to a pretty good accountability agenda for the post-Trump era.

Here's the key exchange:

newrepublic.com/article/2091...

This is also good stuff from @gtconway.bsky.social: He says only one of the major parties is functioning as an actor in a democracy, and that this is unsustainable.

"We can’t survive another 33 months of what we’ve seen for the last 15," he tells me.

newrepublic.com/article/2091...

I heard some interesting tea yesterday that Hegseth asked the guys at RTB if they can just revoke every ranger tab issued since they supposedly lowered standards for women. Apparently he was shocked to learn this would affect thousands of soldiers including 75th boys.

"[Republicans] have overlooked [Trump's] mental disorders in the past— dismissed them. They've overlooked his depravity. They've overlooked the fact that he is an adjudicated sexual abuser. That he's a convicted criminal ... Because it served their purposes. It no longer serves their purposes."

RFK's rage and self-righteous sense of entitlement are obvious and scary. He is not someone I would want to be around at work or personally.

Nancy Sinatra Fires Back At Trump With Four Powerful Words After He Uses Her Father's Song In Cryptic Post

Our thoughts exactly, Nancy.

Trump Is Said to Be in Talks to Send Afghans Who Aided U.S. Forces to Congo A U.S. aid worker said that the Afghans, who were evacuated to Qatar, would face a choice between moving to the Democratic Republic of Congo and living under the Taliban.

Breaking News: President Trump is said to be in talks to send Afghans who helped the U.S. war effort to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In the Civil War, "Roughly 500,000 soldiers perished from diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery, and typhoid, which killed twice as many men as battle wounds. Roughly 250,000 died from battle wounds or accidents."

Disease prevention is absolutely vital to war-fighting capability.

BALDWIN: Will you use the CDC's wastewater monitoring program to track the use of mifepristone?

RFK Jr: I have no plans to do that at the moment

IT’S ELECTION DAY 📢

Virginia, stop Trump’s power grab, vote YES.
#VoteYesVirginiaToday

If only the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic was some kind of a lesson we could draw on, where the very name told us something about its impact on military readiness. Oh well!

BALDWIN: Do you think NIH should fund less cancer research?

RFK Jr: No, they should fund more, & one of the few agencies that got a raise in the budget was NCI

B: That increase is less than $1m for an institute with a $7b budget. That's a .01% increase. It wouldn't even cover one additional grant

Simple rule: the Senate should not confirm any appointee to any post who can’t say clearly who legitimately won the 2020 presidential election. Not just who was “installed”, but who won the vote and the electoral college.