Despite our differences, as Americans, we can all join together in the hope that when an enormous fireworks display happens at Mount Rushmore on Friday, it doesn’t spark a wildfire in the Black Hills National Forest. As in 2020, when the Trump administration suspended an 11-year ban on fireworks at the memorial, the show is being staged amid cautions about fire risk. The threat of catastrophe for a presidential photo op — indeed, the show appears to be largely for Trump’s benefit, as he will be in attendance — is par for the course in Trump’s Fourth of July celebrations.
Let’s start with Graft Force One. Trump is scheduled to fly to South Dakota on the $400 million jet gifted by the government of Qatar, just one high-profile part of the grubbiest presidential cash grab in 250 years of American history. He is clearly pleased that the plane was ready in time for the country’s semiquincentennial celebration. Pity that the festivities under his direction have been so shambolic.
This is a preview of a column by Paul Waldman. Read the full column here.
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From confirmation fights to the brink of firing, his officials have learned that the way to stay in the president’s favor runs through his conviction that 2020 was stolen. Read more.
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The president has floated adding his face to the national memorial. On Fourth of July eve, he will at least get to stand in front of it. Read more.
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Although the president has never won any of the more than 30 defamation cases he has filed over the years, media outlets have paid millions to settle with him. Read more.
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Securing an indictment is one thing; securing a conviction in Washington against an Olympian who touched the Reflecting Pool is something else. Read more.
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Tonight, tune in for a special celebration of America’s 250th anniversary with Rachel Maddow, Jen Psaki, and Ali Velshi from MS NOW’s live community event in Philadelphia. They’ll discuss the state of the nation with special guests Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and civil rights attorney Sherrilyn Ifill. Watch “We the People America 250: Country at a Crossroads” tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern on MS NOW.
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As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, a new special digital series from MS NOW examines the country’s complicated past, the battles we are still fighting centuries later, and how we will shape our future. Click here to read “America in the Balance: The Fight for Our History and Future.”
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