We started this week with Trump’s announcement that he is deploying 800 National Guard soldiers to get rampant crime under control in Washington, D.C. in spite of the fact that major crimes there are at a 30-year low. Could it be that Monday’s announcement and nearly two-hour news conference were meant to distract us from the Epstein files and everything else that’s going on?
Trump announced on Wednesday that he is putting forth a crime bill which will in the beginning only pertain to Washington, DC. He said he will need National Guard troops in the district for more than 30 days and he will declare a national emergency if he has to. In other words, that’s all part of the “plan.”
In the last seven months, Trump has mastered the practice of solving problems that didn’t exist by declaring emergencies that weren’t happening.
Today, Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska to discuss the future of Ukraine. Too bad Ukraine was shut out of the negotiations. Trump and Putin are both so arrogant, that makes perfect sense to them. What could possibly go wrong?
Here are a few other highlights from this week. I can’t keep up with everything.
Transgender members of the U.S. Air Force
On August 7, 2025, the U.S. Air Force announced that all transgender members of that branch of the military are being forced out of the service. Service members with 15 to 18 years of service were allowed to apply for an exception, but they were all denied.
In May, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the Pentagon permission to ban transgender troops. The Air Force is the first branch of the military to follow through. Even those who have served for 18 years are being forced out without retirement benefits. Their only options are to take a lump-sum separation payment or be removed from the service with nothing. Their service records are being reverted to their birth gender.
This is no way to treat members of our military. A PBS report quoted a master sergeant with 15 years of service including a deployment to Afghanistan as saying, “I feel betrayed and devastated by the news.”
National Weather Service needs people
You’ll recall that a few months ago, the Trump Administration said we didn’t need the National Weather Service any more, so hundred of employees were fired. Now it seems that after a record-breaking hot summer and a summer filled with floods in places that have not had floods before… the Trump Administration now wants to hire 450 people.
Someone must have told them this is hurricane season?
Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge
A 2023 land protection plan for the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge provided for the refuge to be expanded by 700,000 acres in West Texas and eastern New Mexico, but the Trump Administration cancelled those plans so the land will be available for energy development and agriculture.
White House Protocol Snubbed
It is White House protocol for the official portraits of the three preceding Presidents to be displayed in the entrance to the building so visitors can see them.
In a typically petty move, Trump ordered the portraits of President Barack Obama, President George W. Bush, and President George H.W. Bush to be moved to locations where they cannot be viewed by visitors.
President Obama’s portrait was moved to the top of a staircase that is only used by the First Family, Secret Service, and certain staff. The portraits of both President George W. and George H.W. Bush were moved to the same staircase area.
Trump has snubbed them and moved their portraits, but that doesn’t mean I can include their pictures in my blog.
Trump Golf Resort in Vietnam
As Vietnamese farmers are being paid a pittance for their land, the Trump Organization plows forward with construction of a golf resort in Vietnam. Trump wants us to think that the recently negotiated tariffs with Vietnam and the progress toward building the resort have nothing to do with one another.
He wants us to think it is coincidental that the trade tariffs on Vietnamese goods dropped from 46% to 20% at the same time his golf resort plans were being approved.
The 54-hole golf course for VIPs, luxury hotels and villas received swift approval in Vietnam as no fewer than six mandatory procedures, including environmental impact assessments, were ignored.
Reuters quotes the White House as stating, “the business deals of the Trump Organization are entirely separate from trade negotiations.” After all, President Trump’s personal assets are in a trust managed by his children>
Yeah, right!
Trump’s Impeachments & the Smithsonian
USA Today reports that Trump’s two impeachments have been reinstated in the Presidential Impeachments exhibit at the National Museum of American History. The report says, “Some text was changed between displays, specifically concerning Trump’s involvement with the Janu. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and accusations of election interference.” The article did not explain whether references to the attempted coup on January 6, 2021, and Trump’s election interference were included in the revised exhibit or omitted from it.
Kennedy Center Honors
Trump announced the 2025 recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors on Wednesday during a long, rambling press conference. He said he will serve as master of ceremonies for the nationally-televised show even though he claimed that he does not want to do it. It seems the White House Chief of Staff convinced him that, even though he is the President of the United States, he should serve as the master of ceremonies. He went on to say that the TV ratings will be higher if he does it, so he has agreed to do it.
What a joke!
He say $257 million will be spent to rehabilitate the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He claims it has fallen into disrepair. Of course, that’s what he says about the White House, too.
He said new grass will be planted at all the parks in Washington, DC because the grass there is “old.” He says he knows grass because he owns golf courses. In other words, chemical fertilizer will be running freely through the parks in Washington, DC and I suppose sprinkler systems and grounds keepers with Ph.D.s in grass will have to be hired. Anything to keep a park from looking like nature!
He couldn’t leave well enough alone at his announcement and prese conference, though. He had to one again refer to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas,” and he had to rant again about how he actually won the 2020 election but it was “rigged.”
He was able to find the silver lining in being denied the Presidency in 2020, though, because it allowed him to win in 2024 and now he will preside over the World Cup in 2026 and the Summer Olympics in 2028.
He managed to sneak into his comments that he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
One has to wonder if this manic state he’s been in all week will continue through tomorrow’s meeting with Putin. If Putin flatters him, it will only get worse.
Continued crackdown on Smithsonian
Photo by Sung Jin Cho on Unsplash
Trump announced that eight institution members of the Smithsonian will initially be targeted for a thorough review of all exhibits. It is no accident that the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Museum of African American History and Culture are two of the eight museums Trump singled out for scrutiny.
The other six museums are the National Museum of American History, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of Natural History, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
Trump’s August 12, 2025, letter to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institutions stated, “This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”
Frankly, Trump’s intrusion into the exhibits at the 21 Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo just destroyed the confidence I’ve always had for the Smithsonian.
He is rewriting history. This is un-American. This is an authoritarian act.
Janet
Janet's Writing Blog 
Hi Janet, I’ve been reading your blogs when I get the time (along with as much world news as I can get), and I’m seeing what you’re seeing. Things aren’t looking good for the US. Trump is destroying the economy, the nation’s reputation and standing amongst allies, and its democracy. It’s the stuff that revolutions are made of. Might be time to move to Canada…
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And of course Congress does nothing! The Smithsonian is not under the control of the Executive Branch as I understand it, so why is he being allowed to meddle with it? And as far as the portraits, well, he is simply jealous, even of W. Bush! And W. Bush must feel honoured that he was included with Obama and transferred to that place that shows the world what a little man Trump really is. He has made W Bush, once the worst president, a good one and one we would long for. At least he was well educated and respected most institutions… Thank you Janet for your news updates with more information and details than are being mentioned here in Europe. All the best and I hope you have a smashing good weekend with normal weather. Our weather is turning nicer here, after a horrendous heat wave.
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Finest president money can buy. Same for his family. $$$
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Hi Chris,
I wish I could move to Canada. I really wish I could. Of course, Trump plans to make it our 51st state even though he also says that Canada has nothing we need. You can’t fix stupid. And you can’t fix mental illness when the person denies there is anything wrong with them.
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The inaction of Congress has been the nail in the coffin. You are absolutely right. The Smithsonian is under the control of Congress. So is the federal government’s money. But they have sat on their hands and allowed Trump to seize control of every single thing. The combination of Congress’ inaction and the US Supreme Court ruling that anything Trump does in his position as US President is legal… has doomed us into an authoritarian form of government. Truly unbelievable! When George W. Bush was President, he was very much the butt of jokes. But you are right. Trump has made Bush look like a genius. There have been Presidents in my lifetime that I did not like or agree with, but I never feared that any of them until Trump would do irreparable damage to our democracy. None of them — not even Nixon — were evil to their core. We actually had a few fleeting minutes of filtered sunshine yesterday and again today between thunderstorms and pouring rain. I’ve lost track of how much rain we’ve had in August. We’ve yet to have a full day of bright sunshine and the month is half over. And now we’re watching Hurricane Erin out in the Atlantic with some weather models predicting it coming close to North Carolina next week. Never a dull moment, it seems. Enjoy your weekend!
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Yes. $$$. If I ever again hear anyone say, “We need a businessman in the White House,” I will not be responsible for my actions.
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I can Roger that remark. Hopefully most businessmen are not narcissistic sociopaths with greedy, grubbing little rat paws.
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Then I believe, as a friend of mine from Florida told me three days ago, the Democrats are complicit…
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Hopefully, but I’m beginning to think it’s more widespread than I ever imagined. Too many of them seem to think Trump is doing a fine job.
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They have no spines. They should be shouting from the rooftops every day that there is nothing normal or legal about the Trump Regime. If I can do it, why can’t they?
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You’re right Janet, if the opposition doesn’t stand firm and oppose, it’s complicit with the crimes of the government.
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Is there no one in power to STOP HIM??
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Putin played him like a fiddle yesterday in Alaska, just as we all expected. During his first term, I often said, “He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.” When it comes to diplomacy, that is still true in 2025. We recognized on sight the team Putin brought with him because they’ve been in positions of power and influence for decades. And there sat Trump with Rubio and Lutnick who have a combined 15 minutes of experience.
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