Good Morning, this is the Commonwealth Report
News for the public, not the powerful
Is Donald Trump About to Drag Us Into Another Messy Killing-Spree War?
Senior Trump officials have been gaming out military action against Cuba, and they’re saying the quiet part out loud. Axios reported that Southern Command ran a recent tabletop exercise as the White House tightens sanctions meant to crush Havana’s government. One official said everything’s on the table, but no invasion is planned. Another bragged the regime doesn’t have time, but they do. They’re betting blackouts, food shortages, and rising summer heat will spark the kind of unrest they can exploit, just like the protests that swept the island in 2021. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading the squeeze, signing off on sanctions that target Cuba’s military-linked business empire. And one adviser admitted the obvious. “This could get messy,” he said. When unelected officials war-game regime change over coffee, that’s not strategy. That’s how empires stumble into disaster.
Why Is Trump Trying to Put His Own Face on Your Money?
Two Trump appointees are pressuring the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to break federal law and slap Trump’s portrait on a brand new 250 dollar bill. The Washington Post reported that Treasurer Brandon Beach handed staff mockups with Trump’s face front and center. Problem is, no living person has appeared on American currency since 1866. It’s flat out illegal. When the bureau’s director, a 24-year Army veteran, told them so, they shoved her aside. In her farewell email she wrote it was “not my choice.” They’ve already started printing 100 dollar bills with Trump’s signature, a first in American history. This is what authoritarian vanity looks like. Kings put their faces on coins. Presidents aren’t supposed to.
Is America Going to Allow Convicted Trump to Hunt E. Jean Carroll Down - His Victim?
This one should make your blood boil. The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the 82-year-old writer who two juries found Trump sexually abused and defamed. They awarded her more than 88 million dollars. Now Trump’s own DOJ is going after her for supposed perjury, claiming she lied about who paid her legal bills. Think about that. A man found liable for sexual abuse is using the federal government to hunt down his victim. This is a revenge hunt, plain and simple, weaponizing prosecutors to punish a woman who told the truth. Even Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former lawyer, had to recuse himself. When the loser of a lawsuit can criminalize the winner, the rule of law is dead.
Can a Maine Oyster Farmer Take Down Susan Collins?
Here’s some good news for working people. Progressive Graham Platner has opened up a nine-point lead over Republican Senator Susan Collins, 51 percent to 42. And get this, that’s after a pro-Collins super PAC dumped millions into negative ads against him. The University of New Hampshire poll shows the attacks just aren’t sticking. Platner, an oyster farmer and veteran backed by Bernie Sanders, has become the clear Democratic favorite. The same poll shows progressive Troy Jackson surging into a tie for first in the governor’s race. Both ran on the cost of living and taking on the billionaires. When a working-class populist beats back millions in dark money, it proves something. The people still have power if they use it.
Grift Dressed up as Policy - Trump is Rigging the Rules So His Family Cashed In
Donald Trump went on Truth Social this week and declared it critically important that federal regulators keep states from policing prediction markets. These are the betting platforms where people gamble on wars, elections, and disasters. Why does Trump care so much? Because his son Donald Trump Jr. advises Polymarket and Kalshi and sank millions into the industry through his venture firm. Trump’s own media company launched a prediction market product too. Senator Chris Murphy nailed it. “Trump and his family are making tons of money,” he said. Six accounts made a million dollars betting on the Iran strikes before they happened. That’s insider trading dressed up as a casino. The president is rigging the rules from the Oval Office so his own family cashes in. That’s not governing. That’s a grift dressed up as policy.
Fox News and Larry Kudlow Need to Go Back to School
Larry Kudlow went on Fox Business and called New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani a stupid kid and a throwback to Stalin. Stalin. The man who murdered millions. And what did Mamdani actually do? He proposed building 200,000 rent-stabilized apartments to help people afford to live in their own city. That’s not a gulag, Larry. That’s housing. Somebody needs to send Kudlow and Fox News back to school for a lesson on democracy. Americans want affordability, and Mamdani is doing exactly what voters elected him to do. Unlike Kudlow, who doesn’t seem to care whether working families can pay the rent. When building homes gets you compared to a mass murderer, you know whose side the pundits are on. And it isn’t yours.
And that’s the way it is, Today Thursday, May 28, 2026. I’m Thom Hartmann.
