It’s Tuesday, May 6. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large.
Today: The Trump administration does the opposite of draining the swamp; a woman gets canceled for using the n-word and the far-right rewards her with cash; Tyler Cowen asks if classical liberalism is for losers; Suzy Weiss watches the Met Gala red carpet with Elliot Ackerman; and more.
But first: The president just spilled his secrets and nobody noticed.
On Sunday, Matthew Continetti emailed me to say he wanted his next column to be about a commencement speech Donald Trump had just given at the University of Alabama.
I admit I was a little skeptical at first.
Trump speeches are a dime a dozen, and from what I’d read in the press, this one looked unremarkable. According to my X feed, the president had made a good joke about Harvard—“The next chapter of the American story will not be written by The Harvard Crimson. It will be written by you, the Crimson Tide”—but otherwise, the speech seemed like standard Trump fare.
Not so, said Matt. He’d watched the event and said the media had missed the story. Trump had given his most revealing speech in a long time. A man not prone to self-reflection, he offered a room of new graduates the kind of life lessons expected from a commencement speech, and in doing so provided a rare insight into his personal philosophy. It was, as Matt puts it in his column, “a self-portrait in motivational guise.”
And whatever you think of Trump, “why not ask what makes him tick?”
Matt was right, I was wrong: The speech was worth writing about. And Matt’s column on the distilled wisdom of Donald Trump is very much worth reading. —Oliver Wiseman
You may have noticed that Donald Trump is not the most self-reflective person. At least, not in public. But last week at the University of Alabama, Trump delivered a commencement address that revealed more about his mind than any speech since taking office. Naturally, the press missed the story.
Business is booming for Republican lobbyists in the president’s inner circle. From seven-figure deals with Chinese-linked firms to exclusive $500,000 Georgetown clubs, the Beltway swamp Trump vowed to drain in 2016 is danker than ever.
How did America become a place where a woman who screams racial slurs at a child in a public park gets financially rewarded for it? Minnesota mom Shiloh Hendrix went viral last week after she was caught on video repeatedly using the n-word. The left doxxed her, the far-right celebrated her, and then she set up a crowdfunding site. It’s raised over $670,000.
The new right mocks them as weak, feckless, and out of touch. But before we bury classical liberals, Tyler Cowen urges us to ask: Who gave us the American Revolution and Constitution? The abolitionist movement? The fall of communism? No other philosophy has had more success building free societies and keeping tyranny in check.
Last week, Mark Zuckerberg said the average American needs 15 friends yet has far fewer. Then came the pitch: Meta’s AI could help these people feel less lonely. But what’s it like to replace a relationship with a chatbot? Last year, Julia Steinberg spoke to women with AI boyfriends.
She handled the White House press during the Iraq War, took a shoe for George Bush, and now keeps the peace on Fox News’ highest-rated show. Dana Perino joins Bari to talk Trump, newsroom chaos, and the life lessons behind her new book, I Wish Someone Had Told Me. . . . Watch their conversation here, or listen to it here:
The president’s two eldest sons have raised some eyebrows in the last two weeks by announcing billions of dollars in luxury real estate deals across the Middle East. Donald Trump Jr. dismissed allegations of influence peddling in a statement to The New York Times, saying he shouldn’t have to stop earning a living just because his father is in the White House—though, taking a swipe at the last administration’s First Son, he added that if he did, he “could always take up painting.”
“Don’t fly into Newark. Avoid Newark at all costs.” That’s what one air traffic controller at the airport, which ferries around 40,000 passengers a day, told MSNBC correspondent Tom Costello this weekend. It had just been revealed that the airport suffered a 90-second radar and radio blackout on April 28, which left the control tower unable to communicate with any incoming aircraft.
Trump is calling for Alcatraz to be reopened, “to house America’s most ruthless and violent offenders.” In a Truth Social post on Sunday, the president implied the San Francisco island penitentiary could even hold “Judges that are afraid to do their job and allow us to remove criminals, who came into our Country illegally.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a new “intensive” incursion into Gaza yesterday, a move that was condemned by the families of the remaining hostages. “The expansion of military operations puts every hostage at grave risk,” said an organization representing them. “We implore our decision-makers: Prioritize the hostages. Secure a deal. Bring them home—before it’s too late.”
Trump plans a 100 percent tariff on foreign-made films, which he accused of posing “a national security threat” and weakening American cultural dominance. But he’s promised he’ll work with Hollywood to implement it. “I want to make sure they’re happy with it, because we’re all about jobs,” Trump said in the Oval Office yesterday.
The White House is now offering $1,000 and travel assistance to undocumented immigrants who self-deport. According to Customs and Border Protection, the cash stipend program will actually save money: On average, forceful deportations currently cost about $17,000 per person.
On Trump and secrets-when someone tells you her intentions, believe her. History proves this. Be perpetually skeptical. Don’t give her the benefit of the doubt. He means what he says. Freudian slips? I think not. It’s the inner self in public display outing him/herself. On Tariffs, the economy, and the use of Power. Don’t let anyone tell you what you DON’T NEED. Always consider the source. Life is power relations and patterns of deference. Know thyself. Know BS when you hear it. People are what they do AND what they say.
Hey FP. You sent me an email announcing a substantial price hike. Included was a link to negotiate that increase. The link doesn't work.