A BRIBE CALLED QUEST

Donald Trump kicked off a deal-making jaunt to the Middle East by accepting a luxurious jumbo jet from Qatar. Is this America First or… America For Sale?

• President Donald Trump is poised to accept what’s being called possibly “the most valuable gift ever extended to the United States from a foreign government,” in the form of a luxury jet so ridiculously lavish it’s known as a “palace in the sky.” News of the gift, from the ultra-rich nation of Qatar, dropped as Trump sets out on a quest to make deals in the Middle East. He’s visiting Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Why? “All three [countries] have a shit ton of money,” a White House ally told Politico . “It’s really that simple.”

• “I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane,’ but I thought it was a great gesture,” Trump said today . I can already imagine what people on the ground will be saying: Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird…. It’s a plane…. No, wait, it’s a GIANT FLYING BRIBE! 

• This is true “banana republic shit,” one legal analyst wrote. It’s a blatant violation of the constitution, which bars a president from accepting gifts from a foreign state, lawmakers and political analysts argue. But don’t worry! Attorney General Pam Bondi — who used to be a registered lobbyist for Qatar — says the plane present doesn’t break any rules. Phew! Trump promised he won’t fly the plane around anymore once it’s turned over to his presidential library when he leaves the White House. I dunno… I hear that once you start flying trillionaire class, you never go back to normal-rich-guy-coach.

• The new jet is even triggering some in MAGAworld, including far-right activist Laura Loomer, one of the most influential people in the president’s ear. She called the move “very disappointing … we are watching an Islamic takeover of our country in real time.” This lady is cuckoo bananas, but she’s also one of the few people Trump listens to.

This trip to the Middle East is off to a wild start. The jet is only the beginning.

• It’s extremely uncommon for the U.S. to engage in talks with groups designated as terrorist organizations. That didn’t stop Trump: Hamas released Edan Alexander  — the last living American hostage in Gaza — today as a sign of goodwill after direct talks with Trump’s team about a cease-fire deal. Former President Joe Biden refrained from doing that because he didn’t want to anger the Israelis, several experts pointed out today.

• When it comes to policy, Trump’s team explains his unorthodox moves as an attempt to unjam long-stuck problems. The White House aims to “solve a lot of major problems that have really plagued U.S. foreign policy,” a senior Trump official told What A Day. “These are massive, like, historical abnormalities that we’re having to fix … We are tasked with the impossible in many ways.”

• But Trump hasn’t ended any wars yet — and his track record of caring about Palestinian rights is atrocious. (Remember that Trump Gaza video, where he’s sipping cocktails next to a shirtless Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?) Yet Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu seems to be souring, so he’s cutting him out of the equation for the moment.

It’s all about dealmaking for Trump. “The guiding principle … is what can you do for me, and what have you done for me lately?” Yousef Munayyer, senior fellow at Arab Center Washington DC, told What A Day. “He’s sort of high on promoting himself.”

SHOTS FIRED

Donald Trump is pledging to dramatically lower prescription drug prices — after receiving an earful from one of his super rich Ozempic-dosing buddies.

Trump signed an executive order today requiring drugmakers to lower the cost of their drugs to align with what other countries pay. They’ll be provided with price targets within 30 days, which could include cuts between 59 percent and 90 percent.

Americans pay up to three times more for prescription drugs than other countries. But his policy would likely only cover certain drugs  covered by Medicare and provided in hospitals and clinics.

Countless Americans have long struggled to afford crucial medicine. But, naturally, their plight isn’t what inspired Trump’s latest push. Instead, apparently, he heard a story from a rich guy buddy and sprang into action. Some unnamed wealthy business guy told Trump he got an Ozempic injection for $88 in London, when the same shot cost $1,300 in the U.S.

“A friend of mine who’s a businessman — very, very, very top guy, most of you would have heard of him — a highly neurotic, brilliant businessman, seriously overweight, and he takes the fat shot,” Trump said. Okay, TMI!

A similar measure by Trump during his first term was blocked by courts. Legal analysts aren’t sure whether he’d have more luck this time around — and Big Pharma will surely attempt to stop it.

Side note: One of Trump’s first actions in office was to roll back a Biden-era order to lower prescription drug costs covered by Medicare. Make it make sense!

NEWS NEWS NEWS

The U.S. and China agreed to temporarily slash tariff rates imposed on each other, defusing Donald Trump’s devastating trade bomb for the time being. It’s a clear recognition from Trump, who repeatedly said he wouldn’t lower tariff rates on China, that his plan isn’t working. “We’re not looking to hurt China,” Trump said today. Welp, I’m not sure what else those 145 percent tariffs were meant to do, but okay!

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to meet with Russia dictator Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday, after Donald Trump urged Zelenskyy to engage in direct talks. It’s unclear if Putin will actually show up, even though he’s the one who initially claimed he wanted to talk.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that there could be disruptions at airports across the country, after the Newark airport suffered several air traffic equipment outages in the past month. “What you see in Newark is going to happen in other places across the country,” Duffy said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” yesterday. That’s the spirit! Good work, Mr. Secretary!

The Trump administration welcomed 59 White South Africans to the U.S. today, after the White House deemed them victims of racial discrimination. “It’s a genocide that’s taking place,” Trump told reporters, parroting far-right talking points about a “white genocide” in South Africa. Huh, funny who gets allowed into this country, and who gets kicked out these days….

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appears to have plagiarized the New York Times and Washington Post in his undergraduate senior thesis at Princeton. My first thought: How the hell did this guy get into Princeton in the first place???

Brainworm survivor Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went for a dip in a creek in Washington, D.C. that health officials say isn’t safe for swimming because the city’s sewage system flows into it. The worst part? He was wearing jeans the whole time.

Trump named Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the guy who defended him in his hush money trial, as the interim acting librarian of Congress. He is now legally required to wear those glasses with a chain on the side and constantly tell people: “Sssshhhhh!”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is bashing Republicans on Capitol Hill for trying to cut Medicaid to pay for Trump’s massive tax cuts. “Slashing health insurance for the working poor … is both morally wrong and politically suicidal,” Hawley wrote in a New York Times op-ed. It’s an extremely rare instance of a conservative lawmaker pushing back publicly against the party. This meme comes to mind : “Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point.

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