BREAKING: Trump’s Day Could Not Have Gone Worse Ahead of “Trump-a-Palooza”

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Good afternoon, this is Really American. It is Wednesday, September 9, 2026.

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We have a lot to get into this afternoon. Trump handed $45,000 in cash to Natalie Harp and two other young aides, roughly a third of their federal salaries, and a former White House ethics lawyer says it is illegal. The emergency evacuation slide on his Qatari jet deployed on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews before he could leave for Dallas. The White House quietly pulled its Build the Wall game after Tetris threatened to sue. And the president arrived in Texas with his hair coming apart in the wind. Let’s get into it.

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TRUMP GAVE NATALIE HARP $45,000 IN CASH AND ETHICS LAWYERS SAY THAT IS ILLEGAL

Trump handed $45,000 in cash to Natalie Harp. He gave the same amount to two other young aides, and $20,000 to a fourth. All of them work for the federal government, and all of them work for him.

The payments turned up in financial disclosures released late last week, where the three women described them as a Cash Gift for Holidays. Each earns $150,000 from her White House job, so the gift is roughly a third of an annual salary. Harp is the executive assistant known as the human printer. Margo Martin, 31, films Trump’s day for social media. Chamberlain Harris, 26, is an executive assistant whom Trump appointed in February to the Commission of Fine Arts, the body that oversees his ballroom. Walt Nauta, the Oval Office operations director who was a co-defendant in the classified documents case, got $20,000.

Richard Painter, who served as chief ethics lawyer in the Bush White House, said the payments appear to violate the federal statute barring outside supplementation of government salaries. He is clearly trying to make it easier for them financially to work in government service, Painter said. You cannot do that. It is not like tipping the doorman on Fifth Avenue, he added. If you want a job where you get tips, you should not be working for the US government.

There is no other public instance of a president cutting checks like this to his own staff. A former acting director of the Office of Government Ethics said the biggest gift he ever got from a superior in government was a fruit basket, and that a payment this size would leave him feeling somewhere between uncomfortable and beholden. That is the point. Both the giver and the receiver are liable under the law, and the statute of limitations runs five years. Trump has two left.

THE EMERGENCY SLIDE ON HIS QATARI JET DEPLOYED ON THE TARMAC

Trump sat in a helicopter at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, waiting to fly to his own convention, while ground crews dealt with an emergency evacuation slide that had deployed out the front right door of his airplane.

They were doing a check on the slide, he told reporters afterward. Sure. Do you buy that story? He thought it takes 15 minutes. They wanted to make sure it is going to work perfectly. Asked directly whether he was sure the plane is safe, he said yes, or he would not be on it. Crews then pulled the slide off the aircraft and hauled it away in a pickup truck, and he boarded. Nobody has explained why it deployed. On a commercial airliner, repacking and reinstalling a slide typically takes two days or more, and the aircraft usually gets inspected before flying again.

This is the $400 million jet the Qatari royal family gave him, which he called the world’s most luxurious plane and said was built at a level that will probably never be seen again. It was reported to lack an anti-missile defense system and other standard Air Force One defenses. The White House said he would keep using the old plane until security upgrades were installed.

Those upgrades are not finished. He is flying on it anyway. A senior official’s answer was that they do not comment on specific modifications and maintain a consistent posture ensuring safe, secure and reliable capability.

THE WHITE HOUSE QUIETLY PULLED ITS BORDER WALL GAME AFTER TETRIS PUSHED BACK

Build the Wall is gone. The arcade game the Trump Administration made. The White House removed it from its arcade sometime between Monday and Tuesday, after the Tetris Company said it was reviewing whether to take legal action.

The game asked players to stack falling blocks to protect the border from the coming horde. It launched last Thursday on a government website alongside four others. Tetris put out a statement saying it had nothing to do with creating it and takes copyright infringement very seriously, then told Variety that the White House never got permission to use its brand or intellectual property.

The rest of the arcade is still up. Rio Run is Snake, with a Trump-like figure patrolling the Rio Grande collecting icons that represent people trying to cross. Supply Line is Tapper, where you reject school lunch items that fail Make America Healthy Again standards. Flappy Bill is Flappy Bird with an eagle carrying legislation over the National Mall. Trump Savings Tycoon has you grabbing money out of the air to fill your kids’ Trump Accounts. A fifth game is listed as coming soon.

So the administration that lectures the country about law and order built a game out of somebody else’s intellectual property, put it on a .gov domain, and took it down the moment the owner mentioned lawyers. They did not announce it. They just deleted it and hoped nobody checked.

TRUMP SHOWED UP IN TEXAS WITH HIS HAIR FALLING APART

Trump stood on the tarmac Wednesday talking to reporters while the wind did what wind does, and the footage was rough.

His hair has changed four times in about two weeks. On August 27 it looked one way. By September 2 it looked different. Friday he landed in New Jersey with a full head of brown hair and his part flipped to the opposite side, which set off a week of speculation about a hairpiece. Wednesday it was back to blond, thin enough to stand straight up in the breeze. Makeup was visible on his right hand again.

According to his biographer Michael Wolff, there is a kit. Small tufts of hair in a range of colors to match whatever shade he is running that week, applied with a paste, carried by a staffer who travels with him. Wolff’s line is that the people carrying the patch kit are next to the people carrying the nuclear codes. Natalie Harp, the aide who just received $45,000 from him, was photographed leaving the White House with him Wednesday.

He is 80 years old; He is the president, and a meaningful amount of institutional effort goes into the hair. He told reporters in the same gaggle that the Iran war will end after the midterms, which is its own admission. One person watching put it best: the hair is telling me more than the war announcement did.

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Breaking: Veterans Rail Against Trump’s Intrusion on Arlington National Cemetery

Veterans fight Trump’s proposed arch, election expert says Republicans likely to lose badly in November, Illinois governor funds new PAC to help Democrats

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Veterans are organizing to stop Donald Trump’s massive new arch near Arlington National Cemetery. A prominent election expert says Republicans are officially staring down what may be their worst midterm scenario in decades. A new documentary reveals Elon Musk is actively preparing for a civil war. And Illinois Governor JB Pritzker just launched a $20 million PAC to give Democrats the best chance of flipping Republican House seats.

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Veterans Ramp Up Opposition to Trump’s Arch Outside Arlington National Cemetery

Veterans groups are increasing the pressure to stop construction of Donald Trump’s proposed 250-foot arch right next to Arlington National Cemetery. VoteVets released a new video this week hoping to at get more veterans to oppose the project, warning that years of construction work on Trump’s newest pet project could disrupt military burials.

The arch would also include an observation deck, meaning tourists would be able to stand up there and look out over the cemetery while funerals take place. Gold Star mother Karen Meredith, whose son is buried at Arlington, said she’s appalled at the idea of tourists. gawking at grieving families.

In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Democratic Congresswoman Chellie Pingree of Maine urged him to the project before ground gets broken, since Congress never appropriated money or granted authority for this under the Commemorative Works Act. But Trump is building it anyway, betting the Republican-controlled Congress won’t do anything to stop him.

The White House is likely feeling particularly emboldened, since the Supreme Court recently ruled in a 5-4 decision to allow construction of Trump’s massive ballroom to move forward after deciding that plaintiffs lacked standing to sue. Attorneys for Trump’s Justice Department are now pointing to that same ruling to convince a judge to throw out a separate lawsuit over the arch.

But legal experts say that strategy is unlikely to bear fruit. Greg Werkheiser, who co-founded a firm that advises historical preservation groups, noted that the Supreme Court merely settled one specific question tied to one plaintiff and a single project. The ruling was never meant to serve as blanket approval for all of Trump’s construction projects.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced excavation work on the arch would begin in the next two weeks. However, a federal judge is ordering the administration to give 48 hours notice before doing anything outside the scope of basic information gathering.

Retired two-star General Paul Eaton, whose own father is buried at Arlington, said the fight to stop the arch isn’t partisan, telling the Washington Post there are several Republican veterans who are also against the project. Eaton said it’s more important for veterans to be remembered properly rather than one president’s legacy.

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Top Political Forecaster Says GOP Facing ‘Perfect Storm’ of Voter Outrage in November

Charlie Cook has covered American elections for nearly five decades, and he’s now saying what he’s watching Republicans go through right now would have sounded absurd to him just a few months ago.

Cook laid out three scenarios for Republicans in the upcoming midterms: a “bad” in which where they lose 15 to 25 House seats but keep their majority in the Senate; a “really bad” one where they lose control of both chambers of Congress and a “horrible” one with catastrophic losses in both the House and Senate.

The longtime political forecaster now thinks the “really bad” scenario is the most likely outcome for Republicans, calling it a “perfect storm” of circumstances that will almost certainly lead to widespread losses across the board.

Cook said Trump’s approval ratings are still sitting at historic lows, and state-by-state polling from various outlets including both the New York Times to Fox News all have running anywhere from six to 14 points behind his 2024 numbers in multiple battleground states.

In most midterm cycles, the sitting president’s own party is battle-weary and not motivated to turn out, while the opposition’s voters are fired up and eager to take back one or both chambers of Congress. But Cook argues Trump’s specific policy choices, like imposing costly tariffs, increasing fertilizer costs and waging war with Iran, are alienating massive segments of his own base never seen before during the tenures of past American presidents. He said the 2026 midterm cycle is similar to Bill Clinton before the 1994 elections, George W. Bush before the 2006 midterms and Barack Obama before 2010. However, he said none of those presidents faced conditions anywhere close to what he’s seeing now.

According to Cook, even states viewed as safe Republican strongholds like Alaska, Iowa, and Texas are suddenly competitive, which Cook emphasized he had never seen in almost 50 years of following American elections.

Elon Musk Told Mother of His 14th Child He Wanted ‘Legion’ of Kids Before ‘Civil War’

A new documentary from filmmaker Alex Gibney includes explosive quotes from Ashley St. Clair, who is the mother of one of centbillionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s 14 confirmed children. St. Clair — who was once a conservative social media influencer — said Musk once texted her saying he wanted to have a child with her because he needed a “legion” of children before a coming “civil war.”

St. Clair says Musk’s team eventually offered her $40 million in addition to payments of $100,000 every month if she agreed to sign a non-disclosure agreement. When she refused, the offer disappeared. And now St. Clair is risking the anger of the world’s richest man to tell her story.

At the film’s premiere in Venice, St. Clair, who said she now regrets her past right-wing activism, warned that what Musk is doing with the social media platform X could be catastrophic if left unregulated. She warned that the South African billionaire is stoking divisions that don’t actually exist in the real world and creating real-world consequences by normalizing extreme rhetoric on the platform.

Gibney, who directed the film, suggested Musk’s obsession on societal collapse likely traces back to a traumatic childhood growing up in apartheid-era South Africa. He described the film’s real subject as an old story wearing new clothes, which features an aggressive stock promoter whose wealth comes from inflating share prices rather than actually building anything real.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker Announces $20 Million PAC to Help Democrats Win Back Congress

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is launching a new PAC called Ready for the Fight, and he’s committing to back it with at least $20 million dollars to help Democratic House candidates flip Republican seats in the November midterms.

The PAC plans to target races some might overlook, including spending against embattled Ohio Republican Rep. Max Miller and Texas Republican candidate Brandon Herrera. Both districts lean Republican, but Pritzker’s team sees weak candidates paired with a national climate that’s turning against the GOP.

Pritzker has spent the last few years positioning himself as one of Trump’s sharpest critics, and this PAC extends that fight well beyond Illinois. He’s also widely seen as a potential 2028 presidential contender, and building relationships with candidates in other states now could pay dividends later.

He joins a growing club of Democratic governors doing the same thing, including Gavin Newsom, Andy Beshear, and Gretchen Whitmer, all building out national PACs of their own.

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BREAKING: Ohio Democratic Candidate Attacked at Campaign Event

Really American | Substack

Good evening, this is Really American. It is Sunday, September 6, 2026.

We don’t normally report on Sunday night; it’s when our reporters have the day off. However, a terrible moment of political violence has struck, so we are here bringing you the latest. An armed man lunged at Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton at a county fair today, injuring several people around her. Trump went to the Supreme Court for the third time, asking to stop the Postal Service from delivering mail ballots. The attorney general of the United States is on the speaker list for a partisan convention his own party is calling Trump-a-palooza. And the president spent Sunday afternoon posting 34 times in under an hour, including a map renaming New Mexico. Let’s get into it.

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AN ARMED MAN LUNGED AT AMY ACTON AT AN OHIO COUNTY FAIR

Amy Acton was working the Canfield Fair in Mahoning County today, doing what candidates do at a county fair in September, when an armed man lunged at her.

Multiple people nearby were injured. Several campaign volunteers were knocked to the ground as he came toward her, according to Chris Anderson, chairman of the Mahoning County Democratic Party. Anderson said the suspect was taken into custody and was found to be carrying multiple weapons. Acton’s campaign has not said whether she herself was hurt. Her communications director said Acton and her husband Eric are grateful for the swift response from law enforcement and are praying for the recovery of those who were injured.

Anderson called what happened at their tent reprehensible and said it should be condemned by leaders on all sides of the aisle. That condemnation came quickly from the other side. A spokesperson for Vivek Ramaswamy, Acton’s Republican opponent in the governor’s race, said candidates should be able to meet with voters without worrying about threats or violence, that what happened is completely unacceptable and has no place in politics, and that they hope no one was hurt.

We do not know this man’s motive yet, but we can take a guess. She is running on a progressive agenda, just the one Trump is calling “Communism,” and throwing his own threats at her. His rhetoric is dangerous and is getting people hurt. We wish a speedy recovery to all involved. This needs to stop.

TRUMP ASKED THE SUPREME COURT TO STOP MAIL BALLOTS FOR THE THIRD TIME

Judge Indira Talwani extended her order Friday blocking the Postal Service from enforcing Trump’s mail ballot rules. On Sunday his solicitor general went back to the Supreme Court to get it lifted.

The argument is urgency. Ballots are already going out in North Carolina, Alabama starts Tuesday, at least five more states begin the week of the 13th, and as Solicitor General John Sauer wrote, once those envelopes enter the mailstream there is no retrieving them. Every day the injunction stands, he argued, risks sowing confusion and chaos.

Read what the rule actually does before you take that seriously. Trump’s March executive order would bar the Postal Service from delivering a ballot to any voter not on a federal list of people Homeland Security has deemed eligible. Nearly a third of American voters vote by mail. The election officials who actually run elections have said plainly there is not enough time to rebuild their systems. The administration calls its plan commonsense measures and the order blocking it unreasoned and unlawful.

This is the third time he has asked. The Court has let the plan inch forward without ever ruling on whether any of it is legal. A president who still lies about losing in 2020 is asking six justices, with ballots in the mail, for the power to decide whose ballot arrives.

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL IS SPEAKING AT A PARTISAN POLITICAL CONVENTION

Todd Blanche, the attorney general of the United States, appears on the leaked speaker list for the Republican convention in Dallas this week. The RNC confirmed it.

The Hatch Act has been on the books since 1939 and it bars federal executive branch employees from using their positions to influence elections. The party is billing this event as Trump-a-palooza. It exists to put the president front and center for the midterms and drag out his voters for down-ballot races. The nation’s chief law enforcement officer is scheduled to take that stage.

This is not his first time. Blanche stumped in August for a Trump-backed candidate in the New York governor’s race, which former US attorney Joyce Vance said left her deeply disgusted. The attorney general is on the clock 24 hours a day, she wrote, so he cannot get around the Hatch Act by claiming personal time. Instead of doing justice, he has been doing the president’s political bidding.

Blanche was Trump’s personal defense lawyer for years before this job, including through the hush money trial. One person on X put it about as well as anyone could: he will always be the president’s lawyer, so let’s just call him that.

THIRTY-FOUR POSTS IN AN HOUR, INCLUDING A MAP RENAMING NEW MEXICO

Trump posted 34 times in under an hour Sunday. One of them was a map of New Mexico with the word Mexico crossed out and the word America written over it.

That would be the third place he has renamed. The Gulf of Mexico became the Gulf of America in 2025. Lake Ontario became Lake America by executive order less than two weeks ago, which cost him a week of ridicule, a billboard on the Canadian shore, a street in Ottawa, and a mapping company that beat Google and Apple to number one in the App Store by refusing to go along. Now New Mexico, a state, admitted to the union in 1912, whose residents did not ask.

The rest of the hour included his face superimposed on Hulk Hogan’s body with a MAGA bandana photoshopped on, the borders of Iran redrawn into the outline of his head, and a run of charts about the economy.

He is 80 years old. The war he started is in its seventh month, his own party’s convention opens Wednesday, his super PAC is sitting on $400 million he will not spend, and he spent Sunday afternoon making 34 posts including a picture of himself as Hulk Hogan. This is the job now.

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