Trump's ballroom dead -- for now

Trump’s problem is never just the corruption. It’s the corruption wrapped in incompetence, wrapped in obvious non-credible denial.Take Iran. At the beginning of the war, Trump and his allies kept trying to tell us this wasn’t about regime change. Then it was about regime change. Then it wasn’t. Then maybe it was “liberation.” Or nukes. Then it was back to being something else entirely. And now we have this absolutely bizarre report that the Israeli strike that hit former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was tied to a plan to free him, and potentially use him as part of some larger regime-change play.Ahmadinejad. Seriously.This is not some heroic Iranian dissident, waiting in the wings with a Jefferson quote and a clean transition plan. This is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- Holocaust denier, anti-American, pro-nuclear, former face of the Iranian regime. A nutjob. And a dangerous one.And according to the NYT, Ahmadinejad was reportedly consulted about the plan — so whether he officially “agreed” or not, he was allegedly in on it. But then, the Times says, he got injured in the Israeli attack that was attack that was supposed free him from house arrest, and then became disillusioned with the whole thing. Which, if true, raises the obvious question: What exactly was the plan here? Because if your “freedom” strategy for Iran involves bombing a former hardline Iranian president out of house arrest so he can take over the regime, that’s not liberation.It also means Trump lied. Again. He never intended to free the Iranian people.Meanwhile, at home, the Senate, for now, stripped the $1 billion for Trump’s White House ballroom project from the Reconciliation bill because Republicans didn’t have the votes. GOP Senator John Kennedy said the votes weren’t there and they would lose if they put it up for a vote today. Good. They should lose. We’re talking about a billion dollars for yet another Trump vanity project, while Americans are still paying more for everything. Then there’s other piece of this. The IRS settlement. Trump sued the IRS, demanding at least $10 billion over the leak of his tax information. And IRS lawyers, we find out today, thought they could fight the case and win. But somehow, magically, the Justice Department didn’t fight it. They didn’t even show up in court to contest Trump’s bogus claims. Instead, they created an extraordinary $1.8 billion fund that could be used to fund Trump’s political allies, including the insurrectionists who tried to violently overthrow our government on January 6.And while Trump claims he won’t be eligible for the billion-dollar-bribe, he kinda sorta is. It seems the IRS is — well, was — going after Trump for possibly as high as $100 million in back taxes. Now he’s owes nothing, thanks to the sweetheart deal.Funny how that works.Interestingly, some Republicans are saying no. Mike Pence says January 6 defendants shouldn’t receive taxpayer compensation. Considering they were calling for him to be hanged, this isn’t surprising. But Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick now says he’ll oppose the whole settlement agreement. That’s good news. And Democrats are looking at reconciliation amendments to go after the fund.This isn’t complicated. People who attacked the Capitol shouldn’t get paid by the taxpayers because Trump found a way to launder their grievances into a settlement fund. And that’s the through-line here. Whether it’s Iran, Cuba, the IRS, the ballroom, Greenland, or anything else, Trump keeps using the machinery of government as if it’s his own personal property.So, yes, tonight had fewer stories than usual. But the stories all point in the same sad direction. Trump’s foreign policy is reckless. His domestic policy is corrupt. His governing style is chaos. His excuses are paper-thin. And every time you pull on one thread -- Iran, the IRS, Cuba, Greenland, USAID and Ebola -- you end up at the same place: Trump treats public power as private property, then acts offended when anyone notices.And then, because the news apparently wasn’t weird enough, we ended tonight’s show talking about haunted apartments, strange noises, and the old South Side Chicago Mary Worth mirror story (otherwise known as Bloody Mary).Honestly, at this point, Mary Worth showing up in the mirror might be one of the more positive things coming out of Washington of late. Have a good night, see you all tomorrow for more. JOHN This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aravosis.substack.com/subscribe