APO.Eagles

Monday, February 23, 2026

TODAY'S TOP MADDOWBLOG POSTS

As scandals mount, the troubled White House Cabinet isn't doing Trump any favors

The president's first-term Cabinet was a mess. The Republican's second-term Cabinet is almost certainly worse.

6 problems with Kash Patel partying with the Olympic men's hockey team

The director has faced months of accusations that he's misused FBI jets for personal reasons. He just did fresh damage to his poor reputation.

Trump pushes weird Supreme Court conspiracy theory that only he can see

Remember when Trump said it should be "illegal" to criticize judges? That was two years ago — before he started targeting justices in personal terms.

Why a generous super PAC donation makes Trump's 'Bridgegate' look even worse

Given the recent pattern, it's tough to ignore the pay-for-play appearances in an administration for which corruption allegations have become the norm.

MORE FROM THE MADDOWBLOG

WHAT'S ON RACHEL'S BLUESKY RADAR?

"A 3-year-old company with fewer than 5 employees is being considered for a $25 billion contract... raising red flags among investors.

"The company is unknown in the nuclear industry, never completed a nuclear project and is headquartered out of a WeWork office...
(Politico)
Stop trying to make like there's some kind of grand strategy or secret plan at work. It's not that. Truly. It's the simplest thing you can possibly imagine.

Don't think "four-dimensional chess"

Think "toddler + cheerios"
- "He is not building a strategy," said Mariana Mazzucato, an Italian economist who is a leading theorist of the state's role in the economy. "He is deploying instruments transactionally, without clear direction-setting and without the institutional capacity needed to govern them toward public purpose."
  
  Ultimately, many economists say, it is a mistake to try to understand Mr. Trump's actions through the lens of state capitalism, industrial policy or other clearly defined economic philosophy. Mr. Trump's approach to policymaking is transactional and personal, not ideological.
  
  "It's centralizing power in the Oval Office," Mr. Mankiw said. "That's the common thread."
  (Rachel shares New York Times)
"As Trump prepares his State of the Union address, he's facing a 19-point drop in approval among Latinos and an 18-point drop among Americans younger than 45. Among independents, his approval rating has dropped 15 points over the past year to 26%, the lowest it's been in either of his terms..."
(CNN)
"As Trump prepares to address the nation Tuesday evening, his approval rating stands at 39% positive and 60% negative, including 47% who say they strongly disapprove.

The last time Trump's disapproval touched 60% was shortly after the Jan. 6th attack..."

(Washington Post)

1. On January 23, Crypto.com donated $5 million to MAGA Inc, Trump's primary Super PAC. (The donation was first disclosed in a FEC filing Friday night.)

Less than 1 month later, on February 17, the Trump administration intervened on Crypto.com's behalf in a high-stakes federal lawsuit.
(Judd Legum with receipts)
ICE tackles and arrests New Jersey father outside his home, leaving his 6-year-old first-grade daughter at home alone.

She goes out looking for him.

"I got my boots and changed my clothes. I wanted to find some help to find my dad..."

MS NOW EXCLUSIVE: First grade girl recounts searching for father after ICE detained him
(MS NOW)
"Leo has called for 'deep reflection' about the way migrants are being treated under the Trump administration.

"The Vatican refuted reports that he might travel to the US for July 4th celebrations, stating: 'The pope will not go to the United States in 2026'..."
(Reuters)
Merrimack, NH:

"Testing of a groundwater sample from a well near the warehouse [site of proposed Trump prison camp] in 2021 found PFOA present at 109 parts per trillion. That's far higher than the state standard for PFOA in drinking water of 12 parts per trillion..."
(NHPR)
Slavery exhibit returns to Philadelphia's Independence Mall after Trump administration ordered its removal
(PBS News)
"In the first year of Trump's second term, economic growth fell to a 9-year low, and domestic job growth fell to a 16-year low..."
(MaddowBlog)
"The reason we're here is that tens of millions of people will punch a hole in a wall if they hear someone used food stamps to buy soda but they're fine if the right-wing podcaster turned fbi director uses his taxpayer funded private jet to go party whenever he feels like it "
- "His assistant public affairs director insisted the FBI director was not in Italy for the Winter Olympics."
  Keystone Kash Busted Celebrating in Olympic Locker Room on 'Work Trip'
  (Adam Serwer shares The Daily Beast)
"As the journalists interacted with the migrants, uniformed police barged in and detained the lawyer and four journalists. Police confiscated their cameras, laptops and phones..."

U.S. Immigration Deportees Held in Secret African Detention Facility
(Wall Street Journal)
"So to recap, the administration endorsed the agreement, only to have Trump reject it, only to have the administration re-endorse the agreement, only to have Trump reject it again.

Time will tell what becomes of the issue, and by all accounts, there's nothing to suggest the U.K. is prepared to back out of the agreement it's already reached. But the conflict between Trump and his own team doesn't just reinforce concerns about the administration's competence; it also signals to the world that no country, including our closest allies, can count on foreign policy consistency from the planet's preeminent superpower."
(MaddowBlog)
"Spending two to three times the cost to create what we already had access to makes absolutely no sense..."

After blasting WHO costs, Trump officials propose more expensive alternative
(Washington Post)
In the midst of the Epstein files revelations, this is the guy who Trump's defense secretary invites in to the Pentagon for an official U.S. government-endorsed religious service:

(warning that story contains details of child sexual abuse and rape)

Inside the Church That Preaches 'Wives Need to Be Led with a Firm Hand'
(Vice)
"Always, always, always concentration camps are an end run around the existing legal system. These people that are getting rounded up because whoever's in power wants to do something that they can't do using the letter of the law..."
(New York Times)
"The Social Circle city manager was contacted by ICE...

"They asked me to turn on the water," he said of a 1m sq ft warehouse nearby that the government plans to use for locking up as many as 10,000 detainees.

"I told them I'm not going to do it," he said...

Conservative Georgia town pushes back against ICE detention center: 'We are Americans after all'
(The Guardian)
Seriously, read the whole thing:

(David Noll with a thread of highlights and a link to Urquilla-Ramos v. Trump)
👀The federal judges in West Virginia, where ICE has been pulling over and detaining people on the freeway, are literally screaming about ICE's tactics.

"It is an assault on the constitutional order," Judge Goodwin says.

(Kyle Cheney shares court documents)

"The rally will take place outside Merrimack Town Hall and is scheduled for Saturday at noon.

'Now the front line has reached us here in New England. The question for everyone in the Granite State and across New England is: will we allow our communities to be complicit in these barbaric practices?' said Ken Barnes, a No ICE NH organizer from Contoocook. 'Our answer is a resounding NO.'"

Merrimack officials scoff at promised windfall from ICE warehouse
(New Hampshire Union Leader)
"It's about time to have Christians standing up for what Jesus said," including welcoming immigrants," he said.

"People being pushed into unmarked vans by masked men isn't it," added his wife...
(Chicago Catholic)
"More than 3,000 people attended the Mass and walked in the procession.

"Families affected by immigration enforcement were among the first to receive ashes from Cupich, in a highly symbolic reversal of the marking and tracking many say defines their daily lives."
...
"Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, as well, began Ash Wednesday by celebrating Masses inside Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, where he met with women detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, emphasizing the church's responsibility to uphold human dignity in places of confinement. Tobin said starting the day with detainees was his priority before later celebrating Mass at St. Patrick's Pro-Cathedral."
(National Catholic Reporter)