Trump's response to disaster proves Americans are on their own

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The news, in brief …

• Birthright citizenship order paused, again

  A federal judge temporarily blocked a Trump executive order that would end the centuries-old understanding of birthright citizenship in the United States. The order came down in response to the Supreme Court’s new rules for nationwide injunctions from the bench. Read more.

• EPA addresses MAGA weather manipulation concerns

  EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said cranks and loons were right to worry about “chemtrails” and other conspiracy theories while unveiling a website that says nothing the tin-foil hat crowd believes is actually true. Read more.

• Mahmoud Khalil seeks $20M from Trump admin

  The pro-Palestinian activist and legal resident was detained for months by immigration authorities. Read more.

Make me smarter …

SCOTUS backs “executive lawlessness”

Legal experts say the Supreme Court has effectively endorsed a two-tier system of justice known as the "dual state." Read more.

Powerless to help you

Last week, the center of many American small towns were decked out in tiny American flags and Party City red, white and blue garlands as cheap public address systems allowed redlining renditions of Lee Greenwood and Toby Keith to be drowned out by the sound of fireworks.

Suppose you went to any of those same downtowns this week and took a walk around. In that case, you’d be struck by how many of the storefronts are empty, how cracked and uneven the pavement is, how many people are living in doorways and under bridges on the periphery of a once bustling town center. That old conservative chestnut about how “we don’t make anything anymore” might spring to your mind, but please, let it pass and keep thinking.

The problem with the dying American small town isn’t the stuff that fuels Trump’s suicidal trade wars. Supporting U.S. manufacturing could help a few people live more comfortable lives, sure. But the universality of small-town decay points to a deeper problem and a more insidious kind of rot. It’s not that we don’t make anything anymore. It’s that we don’t do anything anymore.

Decades of post-Reagan cost-cutting and bootstrapping have completely atrophied the muscles of a once-strong government. Everything the federal government does in 2025 is reactionary in every sense of the word. It moves (far too slowly) from disaster to disaster, offering the bare minimum and a suspicious look to anyone who dares to ask them for help. The penny-pinching and general disdain for the unfortunate will ensure that nothing ever gets put back quite the way it was — or, god forbid, improves.

There are no new initiatives to improve life in the United States. There’s no belief in the future, no drive to make citizens’ day-to-day more connected, more convenient, more comfortable. The flexes of running electricity to our most remote regions, lifting millions out of poverty, beautifying public spaces with grand architecture and imposing art are nearly a century past.

Trump’s spending bill, coupled with the devastation in Texas, flipped on the flourescents and made the government’s remaining purpose abundantly clear. There’d be no money for art, no money for healthcare, no money for parks, no money for new infrastructure or building a more climate-resilient America. There’s plenty of money for the bombmakers and cops, though.

Isn’t it big and beautiful?

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Before you go …

In this week’s episode of Standing Room Only, Amanda Marcotte discusses the rise of Brett Cooper, a former star of the Daily Wire who broke away when she realized she no longer needed Ben Shapiro.