Not much from me tonight, but I want to denounce the political signs saying “Stop Fraud: Vote Republican” that I saw today as I left Maine. They seemed particularly bold in light of today’s news from Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times that last summer the Department of Homeland Security paid more than $495 million for a 1,600-bed prison that the state of Minnesota declined to purchase a year ago for the asking price of $75 million — even “a fraction of that price.”
They also appear to contradict the report released yesterday by Wendy Siegelman of NewsTRACS that Trump Media & Technology Group received $350,000 for running ads on Trump’s social media site for this summer’s Freedom 250 events. Freedom 250 was the group backed by Trump in place of the nonpartisan America 250 organization, approved by Congress and designed to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Trump owns 41% of Trump Media & Technology Group.
Perhaps Republicans are hoping to attract voters who are less engaged and less attentive to politics. According to G. Elliott Morris of Strength in numbersthese voters favored Trump over Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris by 13 points in 2024. Today, however, they are not a good bet for Republicans, Morris notes. He explains that they moved away from Trump by 15 points and now prefer Democratic congressional candidates by 2 points.
These voters may not be very engaged in politics in general, but they can’t ignore rising prices in the country, particularly the price of gasoline and diesel — as well as the food delivered by the vehicles that use them — resulting from Trump’s war on Iran. Bloomberg reported today that nearly half of Americans’ spending is now on food and housing, the highest percentage in 15 years.
The rising costs contrast painfully with reports today that those higher prices are sending oil company profits soaring. NBC News’ Steve Kopack reported today that oil giant BP’s profits hit their highest level in 18 years and Chevron’s profits rose more than 180% from the previous year.
During the 2024 election campaign, Trump asked oil executives to give $1 billion to his campaign, calling it a “deal” given how much they would gain from the regulatory cuts and new permits Trump promised. This investment seems to have paid off. At an Oct. 24 rally, Trump told attendees, “I wonder if I should say this,” then added that “our country makes hundreds of billions of dollars off of what happened in the Middle East.” He continued: “My people said, ‘Please don’t mention that, sir,’ because people are paying a little more. But what we’ve done for this country, we’re making money like this country has never made before.” He finished: “I don’t care: I’m going to say it. We’re making a fucking fortune.”
But most Americans are not part of that “we,” and they are angry not only about rising oil company profits while they pay higher prices, but also about cuts to Medicaid, Affordable Care Act subsidies, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, medical and scientific research, and so on, just as the administration is investing lives and taxpayer dollars in Trump’s pet war with Iran.
On Wednesday, Ben Finley and Konstantin Toropin of the Associated Press reported that the Pentagon had provided a new estimate of the cost of the war to the Pentagon: $47.1 billion. This figure does not include damage to U.S. military bases in the Middle East, reported by the group’s Anika Arora Seth, John West, Shelby Holliday and Lara Seligman. The Wall Street Journal reported today could cost up to $15 billion. The graphics in this story, created by Carl Churchill and Katherine Chui, illustrate the extent of the damage.
Wednesday, Summer Said, Shelby Holliday, Benoit Faucon and Anat Peled from The Wall Street Journal reported that US officials have warned Gulf Arab countries to prepare for a resumption of US strikes against Iran as early as November 4.
Trump has been on the road since the midterms, convinced that his rallies will help Republican candidates combat the rise of Democratic opponents. But the rallies have drawn far fewer people than Trump wants, and his wandering monologues about how great the economy is, how he aced a cognitive test, how wonderful his ballroom will be, and how much he admires the anatomy of a certain male Republican candidate, as well as his deep unpopularity, have caused even his allies to distance themselves from him.
When Trump canceled rallies planned for this weekend in Kansas and Iowa in favor of webcasts, a senior Republican aide told CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Kaitlan Collins, Adam Cancryn and Alayna Treene: “Thank God. He didn’t move the needle anywhere.” Officials hoped he would stay more focused on what they called “telerallies.”
But, CNN journalists report, Trump became angry at media coverage of the cancellations and ordered the rallies to resume. He will therefore travel to Kansas and Iowa on Sunday to try to convince voters of his message.
It may not be an easy thing to sell. An image circulating on Bluesky shows a “Stop Fraud: Vote Republican” sign in Maine. Next to it, a handmade blue sign with a big white arrow pointing toward it reads: “HILARIOUS.”
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Remarks :
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/30/us/minnesota-prison-homeland-security.html
https://newstracs.com/trump-media-will-earn-350k-for-ads-by-freedom-250-linked-to-national-park-service/2026/10/29/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-10-30/housing-food-costs-make-up-half-of-americans-sending-most-in-15-years
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/energy/exxonmobil-chevron-profits-trump-high-oil-prices-rcna606524
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/09/trump-oil-industry-campaign-money/
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/us-warns-gulf-of-possible-short-intense-renewal-of-iran-war-after-midterms-cd1a55e1
https://apnews.com/article/iran-war-costs-trump-congress-81d781a54149709d1ca6754d2aab78bc
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-war-us-bases-damage-88db3224
https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/30/politics/trump-rally-cancellation-midterms
Blue sky:
activatemaine.bsky.social/post/3mynrcgxgbs2t
Gn headline
