The thing, to remember about The Art of the Deal is Trump didn't write it. And there's a good chance he never read it, either. As Tony Schwartz, Trump's ghostwriter, explains, ""He is incapable of reading a book, much less writing one."

When you move beyond simple intimidation, smash and grab, busting-out a business, and outright theft Trump is at a loss for what to do and how to account for himself.

That's when he kicks his fake-gold Lego dollhouse into a gazillion pieces, stomps his little feet, and cries out - as tears transform his makeup into a rivuleting creation rivaling one of Jackson Pollock's later drip canvases that Peggy Guggenheim squeezed out of him - "I'M NOT PLAYING ANYMORE!" as he stomps away, pausing to make sure some hired flatterer is paying attention. Just another wonderful day in the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue neighborhood.

The Brit's took a helluva self-inflicted hit with that nativist vote. It may cost them some to get back in, but they want to, should, and most probably will.

Haven't got the numbers to run - let's recognize the Shyness Factor may play a role here - but there does seem to be a weird MAGA-pedophilia connection. I mean, yeah, sure, they rage about how they're "agin" that sick sheet. But then a lot of the cult's members seem to get popped for it. And then, always, there's an excuse. Problems then, good with Gawd now. That kind of juvenile horsepuckey. Babbling seems to be the entry signal with eye-rolling to seal the deal. No, you can't ask Donald Trump's buddy Jeffrey Epstein. Because he's dead. "Suspicious circumstances." So why not ask Trump? It's his coverup of his pedo buds. Yeah, MAGA and pedophilia. Remember what even they (especially they) say: where there's smoke ...

Tisdall points out:

"The Trump conundrum is ultimately one for the American people to resolve. They elected him. They saddled the world with this dangerous monster."

It's they who may ultimately pay the highest price for his depredations. Like Thomas Jefferson and the founding fathers back in 1776, we, the people of the world, hold these truths to be self-evident: far from making America great again, Trump makes it smaller, meaner, unhappier, more divided, isolated and unloved. Urgently needed now: a 2026 declaration of independence from Trump.

Playing the markets? Quelle sooprise.

With negotiations breaking down and hostilities resuming between the U.S. and Iran, the Iranian government does have an incentive to make the Trump administration look worse than usual. Unfortunately, even if this report is false, the White House's track record makes it seem all too plausible.

Market manipulation has become all too common in Trump's second term, particularly during the Iran war, with Trump making carefully timed statements that seem designed to create short-term stock gains. Suspiciously timed bets on prediction markets during the war also raised suspicions that insider trading was taking place within the White House, with the Trump administration even warning staff not to bet on world events.

By the way, I am *not* saying China is some sort of peace-love-dove operation. It most certainly is not. But what it is *not* doing is moving around the world with a booming voice and sharp elbows, aggressively hurling insults, screwing with economies, and playing Bull in a China Shop for no apparent reason other than the dementia-greed combo eating away at whatever may remain of the cult leader's brain. We are now viewed, far and wide, as an extremely dangerous, kleptocratic, out-of-control nation because we have become an extremely dangerous, kleptocratic, out-of-control nation.