The Morning Sixpack - August 20, 2025

Trump targets “woke” museums, unleashes $100M bond buys, cracks down on immigrants, fumbles Navy drones, and Gaza war escalates.

Trump Goes on $100 Million Bond-Buying Spree Since Returning to Office

Donald Trump has quietly dropped more than $100 million into bonds since taking office in January.

According to 33 pages of filings with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), the president reported 690 separate transactions, scooping up debt from local governments, gas districts, school boards, and major corporations. The disclosures, made public August 12, don’t list exact values but do show a wide range of purchases that add up to a nine-figure sum.

Trump’s February haul alone included up to $1 million each in bonds from T-Mobile, United Health, and Home Depot, plus another half-million in Meta debt. These aren’t just mom-and-pop muni bonds—he’s buying into companies that have felt the heat, or the favor, of his policies. As one watchdog put it, “Some of the companies whose debt is now owned by Trump have been directly impacted by his policies or business dealings.”

The White House, predictably, had nothing to say when CNBC asked for comment. That silence only adds fuel to critics who argue Trump is racking up conflicts of interest like frequent flyer miles. Federal law technically exempts the president and VP from certain conflict rules, but every modern president before Trump chose to divest to avoid the stink. He’s not bothering with the optics.

With old Diaper Donny, it’s impossible to avoid the stink.

Forbes pegs his current net worth at $5.5 billion, more than double what it was at the end of his first term. They even call his post-presidency “the most lucrative in American history.”

Translation: The guy figured out how to make politics his most profitable business yet.

I guess being “the people’s president” now means buying up their school district’s debt and collecting interest on it. Nothing says public service like cashing coupon payments from your local hospital authority.

What’s the real “tell”? Trump believes interest rates are headed DOWN… BIGLY.

Source: CNBC

Trump and Maduro Edge Toward Military Showdown Over Venezuela

Venezuela just mobilized more than four million militia troops as U.S. Navy destroyers close in on its shores.

President Nicolás Maduro, in a fiery televised speech, declared, “No empire will touch the sacred soil of Venezuela, nor should it touch the sacred soil of South America.” His warning came as the Trump Administration confirmed the deployment of three Navy destroyers and thousands of personnel near Venezuelan waters, part of a broader effort to crush drug trafficking networks.

Trump and Maduro have been circling each other for years, but this standoff is sharper than ever. Washington hasn’t recognized Maduro’s government since 2019, and the U.S. has ratcheted up sanctions, criminal charges, and even bounties. Earlier this month, Trump doubled the reward for Maduro’s arrest to $50 million, accusing him of running a global drug cartel. Attorney General Pam Bondi claims the U.S. seized $700 million in Maduro-linked assets—including jets, luxury goods, and bank accounts.

The administration isn’t just talking tough—it’s backing it with military muscle. Alongside the destroyers, the Pentagon has ordered spy planes, warships, and an attack submarine into the region. Trump has openly framed Maduro as both a dictator and a drug kingpin, even designating Venezuelan and Central American gangs as foreign terrorist organizations to give the military a freer hand.

Maduro, for his part, is rallying his people with talk of arming workers and peasants, boasting of a 4.5 million-strong militia ready to “defend our homeland.” His government has even banned drones in Venezuelan skies after he survived an explosive drone attack back in 2018. Caracas is casting U.S. accusations as imperialist hypocrisy, accusing Washington of bullying Latin America while failing at home.

Nothing says “21st-century diplomacy” quite like a strongman arming factory workers with rifles while a U.S. president sends submarines to lurk offshore. Who needs peace talks when you can cosplay the Cold War all over again?

Source: TIME

Trump Targets Smithsonian in New War on “Woke” Museums

Donald Trump has declared America’s museums the next front in his crusade against “woke culture.”

In a lengthy Truth Social rant, Trump blasted the Smithsonian as “OUT OF CONTROL” and accused it of focusing too much on slavery and injustice instead of celebrating “success” and “brightness.” He vowed to purge museums of what he sees as leftist narratives, promising, “This Country cannot be WOKE, because WOKE IS BROKE.”

The White House followed up with a letter to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch, announcing audits of eight museums to ensure they “celebrate American exceptionalism” and align with Trump’s directives. Officials say the president will “start with the Smithsonian and then go from there,” signaling a broader push to reshape how American history is presented.

Historians and museum groups aren’t having it. The American Alliance of Museums issued a blistering statement warning of “growing threats of censorship” and a chilling effect on cultural institutions. “Freedom of thought and expression are foundational American values,” the AAM said, calling museums places for “honest, fact-based, and thought-provoking” engagement.

Trump, of course, is selling this as a win for patriotism—never mind that museums exist to preserve and interpret history, not to polish his brand of “American exceptionalism.” It’s less about facts and more about control of the narrative, and he’s already signaled he’ll treat museums the way he’s treated universities: by cracking down until they look and sound the way he wants.

Nothing like rewriting history in real time to make sure future school field trips feel more like campaign rallies than education.

Source: NPR

Pentagon’s $5 Billion Drone Boat Dream Is Already Sinking

A U.S. Navy test of autonomous drone boats ended with one smashing into another and vaulting over its deck like a malfunctioning theme park ride.

The accident, captured on video and confirmed by Reuters, exposed just how shaky America’s push for an autonomous naval fleet really is. One boat stalled from a software glitch while another—built by a rival defense contractor—plowed into it, flipped over the deck, and splashed back into the Pacific. Officials scrambled, but the Pentagon’s showcase ended up looking more like a blooper reel than the future of warfare.

And that wasn’t the only disaster. Weeks earlier, a support boat captain got tossed into the water after another drone boat suddenly accelerated and capsized his vessel. He was rescued, but the episodes—caused by a mix of buggy code and human error—have fueled doubts about whether the Navy can actually field these systems at scale. “It will need to adapt its tactics as it better understands what the systems can do and what they can’t do,” said Bryan Clark of the Hudson Institute.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Inspired by Ukraine’s cheap kamikaze sea drones, the U.S. wants swarms of autonomous vessels to counter China in the Taiwan Strait. Trump has made drone fleets a top priority, signing off on nearly $5 billion for maritime autonomy in his “Big Beautiful Bill.” The Navy has already funneled $160 million to BlackSea Technologies, while Silicon Valley darling Saronic is valued at $4 billion without yet securing a major contract.

But behind the hype, the program is wobbling. The Navy sacked the admiral running its drone procurement unit, a $20 million software contract has been put on ice, and Pentagon officials are openly questioning whether the tech is worth the price. Meanwhile, defense startups are circling like sharks, pitching ever-bigger unmanned ships while the Navy’s smaller prototypes keep crashing into each other.

If this is the fleet meant to scare Beijing, they’re probably laughing their way across the Taiwan Strait right now. Call it “Project Titanic 2.0”—expensive, overhyped, and heading straight for the iceberg of reality.

Source: Reuters

Israel Greenlights Gaza City Offensive, Calls Up 60,000 Reservists

Israel’s defense minister has approved an offensive on Gaza City, escalating the war and crushing hopes for a ceasefire.

The military plan includes mobilizing 60,000 reservists to push into the city, a move humanitarian groups warn could deepen what the UN already calls a looming famine. Aid levels, the UN said this week, remain “far below what was required to avert widespread starvation.”

This comes as Hamas publicly accepted a 60-day ceasefire proposal, but Israel’s far-right cabinet members dismissed it as insufficient. The sticking point? Israel demands the release of all hostages, not a partial deal. For now, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government appears more interested in military escalation than in testing a fragile truce.

The political divide is clear. Even as the U.S. and mediators pushed for compromise, Israel’s hawks lobbied hard for an all-out assault, framing the ceasefire plan as weakness. That pressure, paired with Netanyahu’s domestic troubles, leaves little room for de-escalation.

Humanitarian experts say another full-scale offensive could turn Gaza’s crisis from catastrophic to unlivable. The UN has warned of “widespread starvation” if aid access continues to be blocked. Instead of easing up, Israel looks set to tighten the noose.

At this rate, “ceasefire” has become less a diplomatic term and more a punchline. Everyone’s talking peace while preparing for war—and civilians, as usual, are the ones paying the price.

Source: Semafor

U.S. to Screen Immigrants for “Anti-Americanism” in Sweeping Policy Shift

Immigrants applying to live or work in the United States will now be vetted for “anti-Americanism,” including social media checks, under new rules announced Tuesday.

The update from U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) expands Trump-era screening measures, empowering officers to scrutinize applicants for ties to “anti-American or terrorist organizations” and even “evidence of antisemitic activity.” The problem? The government hasn’t defined what “anti-American” actually means.

“America’s benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies,” USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said. He pledged “rigorous screening and vetting measures to the fullest extent possible.” The new criteria cite the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, which barred communists and anarchists, but lawyers say this interpretation opens a floodgate of subjectivity.

Already, the fallout is being felt. The State Department has yanked more than 6,000 student visas this year, and embassies are told to vet applicants for “hostile attitudes” toward U.S. culture or institutions. Critics warn this vague litmus test could punish dissenting views, not actual threats. As one immigration expert put it, “The term (anti-Americanism) has no prior precedent in immigration law… its definition is entirely up to the Trump administration.”

Immigration advocates compare the move to McCarthyism, arguing it risks bias-driven decisions dressed up as national security. From activists on Reddit to legal scholars, the fear is the same: if a meme, a protest sign, or even a critical opinion online counts as “anti-American,” then free speech itself is on the chopping block.

Nothing says defending American values quite like reviving a 1950s Red Scare playbook and handing bureaucrats the power to decide who loves the flag enough to stay here.

Source: CNN