But none of that has been proven to be true. The Financial Times reported Wednesday that there has been no evidence of oil money going back into the hands of the Venezuelans Trump claimed to care for, and that Venezuela’s first-quarter gross domestic product was the lowest it’s been in five years….
It seems clear that the most corrupt president in history is withholding oil revenue from Venezuelans who badly need it, as oil makes up nearly a quarter of the entire country’s GDP. In January, Semafor reported that Trump would be keeping proceeds from the first $500 million sale of Venezuelan oil in an offshore bank account based in Qatar. It might be worth checking up on that account.
That is another important topic that reporters could be asking Trump about.
This story is at the top of Memeorandum today, and it is crazy. It appears that the Department of Education may have rigged the outcome of the National Civics Contest.
Sam Fortier at Notus: Suspicion and Doubt at the National Civics Contest.
The morning after the competition, Aangad Singh’s family was trying to figure out what went wrong. They were walking through the National Museum of Natural History, going over answers, doing the math.
“It doesn’t make sense,” said his mother, Ramandeep.
Aangad Singh, 15, competes in the Presidential 1776 Award competition. Jalani Morgan for NOTUS
Ramandeep was good at numbers. But she couldn’t make them explain how her 15-year-old son had missed the top three in the Presidential 1776 Award competition, the civics contest for high schoolers that President Donald Trump’s party planners had created to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. She had watched the first round, when the field was whittled from 20 to eight, and the second round, when it went from eight to three. There was celebrity host Mario Lopez, an exclusive broadcast deal with CBS and a Kennedy Center stage that mixed game show spectacle with civic pageantry. The only thing missing was a scoreboard.
She told herself not to complain. She didn’t want to be that mom, a sore loser whose kid could never fail. On their way out, though, other parents kept stopping them.
“Shocked,” said more than one.
Later, a boy stopped her and said a group of contestants had kept score themselves.
“We thought he won,” the boy said.
She approached an official from the Department of Education, which had helped run the contest, and asked for the final scores.
“Proprietary,” the official said.
The scores are secret? What the hell? Please read the whole thing. And here’s a clue: these are the top three contestants:
The three finalists meet with President Donald Trump alongside Education Secretary Linda McMahon and contest host Mario Lopez in the Oval Office. Molly Riley, Official White House Photo
In Iran war news, Trump is threatening war crimes again.
The New York Times: Iran War Live Updates: Trump Threatens Retaliation Against Civilian Targets if Iran Strikes in Strait.
President Trump threatened on Wednesday to strike bridges and power plants in Iran if it targeted any more ships in the Strait of Hormuz, as the prospect of a prolonged conflict pushed the price of oil to its highest level in over a month.
An image taken from social media and verified by The New York Times showing a damaged portion of a bridge in Hormozgan Province, Iran, on Friday.Credit…Social Media, via Reuters
“Any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship” in the strait, Mr. Trump said on social media, U.S. forces would hit the sites, including in or near the capital, Tehran. Deliberate strikes on civilian infrastructure could be considered a war crime under international law.
Mr. Trump has escalated his threats through weeks of rising bluster and deadly military exchanges, in which the United States has failed to either stop Iranian attacks or force the country’s hard-line leaders, who want to prolong the war, back to the negotiating table.
The threats also reflected how much the focus of the war has narrowed into a fight over the strait, a critical passage for global oil and gas, even as Mr. Trump maintains that his wider objective is preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon. The strait was open and free to transit before the war began, but Iran has proved it can effectively control traffic with threats of strikes and, in doing so, gained powerful leverage over global markets.
The latest escalation came as Iranian officials had already reported recent strikes on bridges, and as Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States would keep waging war as long as Iran tried to control the strait. Iran’s attacks on vessels there have brought ship traffic there to a near-total halt.
While Mr. Rubio left the door open for diplomacy after another night of U.S. and Iranian strikes across the Persian Gulf, he told reporters in Manila that Iran at this point was “not serious about talks,” arguing that Tehran had violated a preliminary agreement that says it should allow ships to transit the strait.
It’s too bad Trump can’t keep his big mouth shut for once.
The book by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, Regime Change, is doing very well, and Trump is not happy about it.
Isabel Van Brugen at The Daily Beast: Trump’s Bid to Bury Embarrassing Book Backfires Spectacularly.
A book filled with damning revelations about Donald Trump’s second term is on track to be the bestselling nonfiction work of 2026, despite the president’s best efforts to undermine it.
The book, Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, has sold over 500,000 units since its June 23 publication and has topped the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list for three consecutive weeks, Axios reported on Wednesday. The figure includes hardcover, audio, and e-book sales.
Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, authors of Regime Change, on Meet the Press last month. Photo Shannon Finney, NBC via Getty Images
The strong sales follow a furious public attack by Trump, 80, who lashed out at Haberman in a post on Truth Social shortly after the book’s release.
“Based on a very quick and boring briefing concerning the Magot Hagerman book about me, it is mostly made up, Fake News, largely fiction, as have been most of the things she has written about me for so many years,” Trump, 80, wrote, intentionally using an insulting nickname for the veteran New York Times reporter….
He tore into Haberman, calling her “a third rate writer and intellect” without mentioning Swan.
According to Axios, Simon & Schuster has ordered a seventh printing of Regime Change, bringing the total number of hardcovers in print to 460,000. The publisher had already ordered an additional 150,000 copies on publication day to meet unexpectedly strong demand.
“Maggie and Swan pierced the veil of a White House that has been pretty locked down on scoops and scenes. ‘Regime Change’ is a unicorn of publishing. It goes well beyond political circles to people who are hungry for a narrative and frame to make sense of Trump 2.0. Even Trump and his team aren’t disputing the facts.”
Read some embarrassing tidbits from the book at the Daily Beast link.
This is interesting from Reuters: French modelling scout linked to Epstein found dead.
PARIS, July 22 (Reuters) – Daniel Siad, a modelling scout with ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been found dead at his home outside Paris, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
Siad’s body was discovered on Monday evening. An autopsy will be carried out to determine the cause of death, the Nanterre prosecutor’s office said.
Siad’s name appeared nearly 2,000 times in the Epstein files released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to French media, at least five women accused Siad, 69, of rape and human trafficking, allegations Siad denied.
Siad’s lawyer told Reuters in an emailed statement that the modelling scout was never formally the subject of judicial proceedings….
Siad told French broadcaster BFM in May that his relationship with Epstein was strictly professional.
“Daniel Siad never stopped proclaiming his innocence,” his lawyer, Meyna Arab-Tigrine, said. Siad had died of a heart attack, she added.
This seems like a very bad idea to me. Trump wants to let Saudi Arabia start down the road to owning nuclear weapons.
David E. Sanger, Edward Wong, and William J. Broad at The New York Times: Saudis Reach Deal With U.S. That Could Let Them Enrich Nuclear Fuel.
The Trump administration plans to announce Wednesday that it has reached a broad nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia that could lead to the country enriching its own fuel for nuclear reactors, U.S. officials said.
The accord is intended to further bind the United States with the Saudi government as the war with Iran strains the relationship. The Trump administration, according to officials, estimates it will provide billions of dollars for the U.S. nuclear industry — starting with Westinghouse, which designs many of the reactors sold abroad.
Trump and Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman in oval office
The Trump administration plans to formally sign and announce the agreement with the Saudis on Wednesday, said two U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy. It would announce the details to Congress soon afterward.
Although the agreement likely would have support among many Republicans, some U.S. lawmakers from both parties along with Israeli officials have expressed opposition to such a plan, fearing that the kingdom could use a civilian nuclear project to eventually develop nuclear weapons.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters traveling with him in Manila on Wednesday that he had nothing to say about any nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia. “Maybe later today, once Washington wakes up, there is an announcement,” he said. “I promise you’ll know about it.”
Asked about concerns that the agreement could lead to Saudi Arabia developing nuclear weapons, Mr. Rubio said, “Suffice it to say, the U.S. is not going to reach any agreement with any country in the world that leads to the risk of proliferation.”
The accord has been under discussion for years, and during the Biden administration it was envisioned as part of a broader deal that would include Saudi diplomatic recognition of Israel. But after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel by Hamas, that prospect receded. President Trump separated the proposal for U.S.-Saudi civilian nuclear cooperation from any demand that Saudi Arabia recognize Israel.
The agreement will require review by Congress, which under the Atomic Energy Act has the power to vote a resolution of disapproval. But as a practical matter, the agreement would likely pass, because Congress would have to assemble a veto-proof majority to override Mr. Trump’s initiative.
Politico reports on another Middle East giveaway by Trump: Staff warned of major security risks from giving UAE new tech access. The White House went ahead anyway.
The Trump administration ignored warnings from career staff at the Commerce Department when it granted the United Arab Emirates sweeping access to advanced American semiconductors and other technology, according to three former officials with knowledge of the reports and two other people familiar with the matter.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security announced on July 10 that it was loosening restrictions on sensitive tech exports to the UAE, a key ally in the war in the Middle East whose leaders pledged last year to invest more than $1 trillion in the U.S. over the coming decade. According to one of the people familiar and two former officials, the announcement surprised staff inside the agency, which is tasked with securing American tech from adversaries and criminals. It also ran directly against recommendations staffers submitted to senior Trump administration officials at the department last year.
The five people said agency staff compiled and circulated multiple internal reports and memos last fall documenting security risks tied to G42, the UAE’s state-backed AI giant, and its affiliated companies. In the assessments, which have not been previously reported, staff warned that expanding the companies’ access to U.S. technology — such as cutting-edge processors from companies like Nvidia, as well as the powerful AI models built with them — made it more likely the technology would get into the hands of adversaries. In particular, they flagged concerns about China’s influence in the Emirates.
“It is an open secret that the UAE is the primary diversion point for sensitive U.S. technologies in the Middle East — by orders of magnitude,” said one of the people familiar, who like others in this story was granted anonymity to describe internal deliberations.
But senior Commerce officials who were presented with the reports, including Jeffrey Kessler, the Commerce undersecretary in charge of BIS, ultimately brushed aside the warnings, the people said.
One more shocking story in this wide-ranging post:
Kate Taylor at Wired: Taylor Farms Spent Big on MAGA and Anti-Regulatory Lobbying Before Diarrhea Outbreak.
The lettuce supplier at the center of the turbo diarrhea outbreak has spent millions of dollars to sway sentiment around food regulation and elect Donald Trump and other MAGA Republicans, according to public filings.
Taylor Farms donated more than $2 million to conservative political groups in 2025, according to Federal Election Commission filings. That includes a $1 million donation to MAGA Inc., the Trump-centric super PAC, and $1.1 million to other super PACs dedicated to electing Republicans.
Bruce Taylor, CEO of Taylor Farms
From 2020 through the end of 2024, the company donated more than $1.6 million to conservative PACs, including a total of $850,000 to AFP Action, an anti-regulation super PAC with ties to the Koch network.
Bruce Taylor, the chairman and CEO of Taylor Farms, is also a longtime donor to Republican causes. Since 2020, Taylor has personally donated more than $900,000 to Republican PACs and candidates, including contributions to Texas senator John Cornyn and Tennessee senator Marsha Blackburn.
Like many corporate giants, Taylor Farms has also spent big on lobbying related to industry regulation. In early 2025, it hired lobbyists at the firm Sidley Austin to advocate on behalf of the company on “regulation of food safety,” according to disclosure documents. Since then, the company has spent $810,000 on its lobbying efforts.
Marion Nestle, a food policy expert, said that Taylor Farms’ donations are part of a wider problem in the American food industry: that multibillion-dollar companies use their financial resources to push policies that would reduce food safety regulation and accountability when outbreaks occur.
“The FDA has regulations in place for what food producers are supposed to be doing, but nobody wants to do it—because it’s expensive and difficult,” Nestle told WIRED.
In a post on X, the US Department of Health and Human Services emphasized that Taylor Farms’ political donations did not influence the Trump administration’s response to the cyclospora outbreak.
“This is how the FAKE NEWS works: imply collusion, ignore the facts,” the HHS account posted on Monday. “Nothing influences our decisions except science and the safety of the American people.”
Riiiiiight. I don’t believe that for one minute.
That’s all I have for today. Thoughts? Are there other stories you’d like to share?
peej
Carissa
ecocatwoman
mablue2
Mama Lopez
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday.
I’m a human barometer today. The pressure of the incoming Bertha is messing with my sinues, my bones, and my head is aching now. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be much, but wow, these pressure changes are really intense for some reason.
That’s a really interesting story about your mother. I’ve been having really intense dreams recently and all have a similar theme. Not the only one here with the same experience this week in the house. It’s puzzled us.
I have very intense dreams, especially in the early morning hours or during a nap. In my dreams, I often revisit people I love who have passed away or places where I used to live. My mother is one of the people I sense most in my dreams. I seldom actually ‘see’ her in the dreams, she is a presence. But strangely, I never feel her presence when I am awake. A good friend says maybe this is because my mother never lived or visited me in my current home. I can understand the logic in that explanation, but it’s odd, given how close my mother and I were. I do ‘talk’ to her every day. Sometimes I say to her, “Where are you?” But I still don’t feel her presence. I think it is because she suffered so much in life and doesn’t want to return to this vale of tears on earth. It makes me sad not to feel her near me.
These days, when I am awake, I often sense the presence of a former boyfriend whom I loved very deeply. Especially when I am in the kitchen, I feel that he is in my living room, sitting on my couch. It’s like I can see him there. He died before I moved into this home so he never lived here with me. Yet, I do sense his presence and it is comforting. He was the most significant person in my life, apart from my mother.
Another, possibly related, experience has been happening for several months. When I wake up from an intense dream, for a few minutes I am in rooms where I used to live. It can be in a childhood home or a place I lived as an adult. It’s very real. My room becomes totally different, the walls and furnishings are not where I am now. It doesn’t frighten me, it’s more like a deep longing for the past. When I realize where I really am, my current home, I feel sad and want to go back to happier places and times.
Ever since I was a little girl, I was considered the “psychic one” in our family. I had visions of various kinds and premonitions. They weren’t scary. It seems like they stopped when I was in my late twenties or early thirties, around the time my mother developed a severe chronic illness and I was completely focused on daily care for her. It was a traumatic time. I wonder if I “shut down” that psychic part of myself as a result. I needed to be practical. There was no time for daydreaming.
Beata
Hi Beata,
Thank you for sharing your experiences. You’ve given me a lot of food for thought.
As I get older, I find myself thinking of the past a lot. I still feel connected to some people who had powerful effects on my life, even though I’m not in touch with them. I sometimes feel their energy is still with me at times.
I do still feel very close to both of my parents. I talk to them often. After my father died. I once had a vivid image of him in a dream. It was so real that I really thought he had visited me.
I had an extremely vivid dream a few days after my mother died. I will never forget it. In the dream, I entered a building where a woman was sitting at a desk in front of archival boxes on shelves. She seemed to be the guardian of the archives. I asked the woman to show me where my mother was and she pointed down a long hallway. She didn’t speak, she just pointed the way.
I walked down the hallway to the last door on the left. I opened the door to my mother’s room. She was sitting on a bed that was covered with a pristine white bedspread, her eyes looking at a large window in front of her that showed nothing but a beautiful yellow white light outside. It was like no light I have ever seen before. Opaque, glowing, almost vibrating in intensity.
My mother looked an indeterminate age, neither young nor old. She seemed at peace, not unwell in any way. She said nothing as I entered the room nor did she turn to look at me. I communicated without speaking to ask if she was ready to leave. She stood up. For years, she had been wheelchair bound but now she had no trouble walking. She took my hand as we left the room. We walked down the hallway together, past the guardian of the archives who was still at her watch.
My mother and I went to the door of the building, continuing to hold hands. The door seemed to open by itself. Outside the door, the intense yellow white light was everywhere. There was no ground beneath it. It was endless, pure light. My mother turned to look at me, let go of my hand and walked into the light, disappearing. I remember thinking, someday I will join her there.
Beata
What an amazing dream! I’m glad you remembered it so clearly. That happens sometimes with powerful dreams–they don’t evaporate like the ordinary ones does.
I had another very vivid dream when I was in my late thirties that I will never forget. At the time, I had not seen or heard from my father for more than twenty years. He lived on the East Coast and I was in the Midwest. He was very abusive when I was growing up so I had no interest in having contact with him.
In the dream, my father was in a house with me. It was a house I didn’t recognize. I was an adult, packing a suitcase laid out on a bed. I don’t know where I was going, I was just leaving. I had to get out of there. But my father, who looked old and tired, did not want me to leave. He wasn’t angry the way he always was when I was growing up. He was sad, asking me to please stay. No, I said I have to go and continued to pack. I felt strong and resolute. He no longer had any control over me. As I was leaving the house with the suitcase, my father hugged me goodbye. When he hugged me, his heart next to my body felt odd. It was beating strangely, mechanically. I pulled away and told him that where I was going, he could not go with me, and I left the house.
I immediately woke up. The dream was unusual, partly because I don’t remember ever having a dream about my father before. Also the strange mechanical beating of his heart stayed on my mind. That day I made a note on my calendar about the dream with a question: “Daddy’s heart?”. I told several people about it. If you had asked me then, I would have said he didn’t have a heart. He was a cold and cruel man.
A couple of months later, my mother and I received notice that my father was dead. He had died of a massive heart attack the day I had my dream. His death came as a relief to me and the dream helped me in some small part to heal from years of abuse.
Beata
BB, I’m so glad you feel the presence of your mother in your life and that it comforts you. We all need comfort these days, don’t we? I believe she does come to be with you. Hold on to that feeling.
Beata
Thank you, Beata. I do feel comforted by these experiences. I talked to one of my sisters and one of my brothers about it. My brother reads the blog and called me yesterday. My sister said she feels both of our parents’ energy around her every day.