Good evening, this is Really American. It is Monday, May 18th. There was so much news today, it was chaotic, but our team was there to cover it.
While Washington is busy creating taxpayer slush funds and calling off airstrikes at the last minute, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is doing something different — he is governing. Mamdani announced the city’s second publicly run grocery store in the Bronx Monday, taking direct aim at Ronald Reagan and the affordability crisis in the same breath. Trump’s Justice Department announced the creation of a $1.7 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” using taxpayer dollars to compensate Trump allies who claim they were unfairly investigated — Democrats called it one of the most corrupt acts in American history. Trump called off a planned Iran strike at the last minute after three Middle Eastern leaders intervened. And an American has contracted Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo and is being evacuated to Germany as the CDC announces travel screening measures.
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NYC MAYOR MAMDANI IS TAKING ON THE AFFORDABILITY CRISIS AND TAKING ON RONALD REAGAN WHILE DOING IT.
While the rest of Washington is busy creating slush funds and calling off airstrikes, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is doing something different. He is governing.
On Monday, Mamdani announced the city’s second publicly run grocery store — to be located in the Bronx — as part of a broader vision to use government as a direct tool against the affordability crisis squeezing working families across the country. He opened the announcement by taking on Ronald Reagan directly.
“He famously said, the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help,’” Mamdani said. “It’s a good quote, but I disagree. I think nine more terrifying words are actually, ‘I worked all day and can’t feed my family.’”
Mamdani’s argument is simple and radical at the same time: government is not the enemy of working people. It is the only institution with the power and scale to fight back against the forces making their lives unaffordable. 77 percent of households in the Hunts Point area cannot afford basic needs. More than 50 percent have relied on public assistance in the last 12 months. The neighborhood sits next to one of the largest food distribution centers in the world. Residents still cannot access affordable fresh food.
So Mamdani is building a public grocery store there. And in East Harlem. And he has allocated $70 million for one in every borough. The stores will not be run by a private company extracting profit from food deserts. They will be run by the city, for the people who live there.
“When government understands its purpose as serving the very working people that it has left behind time and again, it can make a difference,” Mamdani said. “It’s not just that government can help. It’s that government must help. And our government will help.”
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez issued a statement: “Access to affordable, fresh food should not be a luxury determined by zip code. It should be a right.”
The store is being built at the former site of the Spofford Juvenile Detention Facility, alongside 740 units of affordable housing. A place once associated with incarceration is becoming a place associated with nourishment. Mamdani is not waiting for the market to fix the affordability crisis. He is not waiting for Congress. He is governing the city he was elected to lead and proving that the nine terrifying words do not have to apply.
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TRUMP JUST CREATED A $1.7 BILLION TAXPAYER SLUSH FUND FOR HIS ALLIES. DEMOCRATS CALL IT ONE OF THE MOST CORRUPT ACTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
The Trump Justice Department announced Monday the creation of a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” — funded by American taxpayers — that will compensate allies of the president who claim they were unfairly investigated or prosecuted under the Biden administration. The fund is the resolution of Trump’s personal $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, which he dropped Monday morning.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called it “a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.” He did not mention that his own Justice Department has spent the past year investigating and prosecuting Trump’s perceived political enemies — doing to Democrats exactly what he claimed Democrats did to Trump.
A five-member commission appointed by Blanche will oversee the fund and decide who receives payments. The Justice Department said there are no partisan requirements for applicants and that anyone who believes they were unfairly persecuted can apply. That means January 6th rioters, people convicted of crimes related to the 2020 election, and allies entangled in the Russia investigation are all potentially eligible for taxpayer-funded payouts.
The fund follows settlements already reached with Michael Flynn — over $1 million — and Carter Page. Trump’s own Mar-a-Lago investigation and the Russia probe are among the cases he has resolved as conditions of the settlement.
The reaction from Democrats and ethics watchdogs was immediate and unsparing. “This is one of the single most corrupt acts in American history,” said Donald Sherman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Representative Jamie Raskin called it “a racket designed to take $1.7 billion of taxpayer dollars out of the Treasury and pour it into a huge slush fund for Trump at DOJ to hand out to his private militia of insurrectionists, rioters, and white supremacists.”
Nearly 100 House Democrats filed a legal brief urging the judge to block the resolution. The judge had already raised concerns about the conflict of interest inherent in a sitting president suing an agency within his own executive branch. Trump’s attorneys argued the resolution would not be reviewable by a judge. $1.7 billion in taxpayer money. A commission appointed by Trump’s own attorney general. No judicial review. That is the fund.
TRUMP CALLED OFF THE IRAN STRIKE AT THE LAST MINUTE. HE SAYS THE MILITARY IS READY TO GO “ON A MOMENT’S NOTICE.”
President Trump announced Monday afternoon on Truth Social that he had called off a planned military strike against Iran — originally scheduled for Tuesday — after the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE personally asked him to hold off in light of what he described as “serious negotiations” on a peace deal.
“Based on my respect for the above mentioned Leaders,” Trump wrote, he had instructed US military leaders “that we will NOT be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow.”
He immediately added that the US military remains prepared to launch “a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice” if negotiations deteriorate. He said any deal must include no nuclear weapons for Iran.
The Qatari emir, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed all intervened directly to stop the strike. The UAE had particular urgency: a drone struck the UAE’s Barakah nuclear power plant Sunday, damaging an electrical generator. The UAE has not directly accused Iran but called it a dangerous escalation.
Trump convened his national security team in the Situation Room Monday to discuss military options. The strike was apparently scheduled. Three heads of state called him before Tuesday and he called it off. Iran has made a new proposal. Trump is reviewing it. The ceasefire that Trump declared terminated, then extended, then called life support, then nearly ended with a strike, is still technically in place. The military is ready to go on a moment’s notice. That is the situation.
AN AMERICAN HAS CONTRACTED EBOLA IN CONGO. THE CDC IS SCREENING TRAVELERS.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Monday that an American working in the Democratic Republic of Congo has contracted Ebola and is being evacuated to Germany for treatment. The individual developed symptoms over the weekend and tested positive late Sunday. Six other Americans are also being evacuated for treatment or monitoring.
The CDC and the Department of Homeland Security announced new travel screening measures Monday, including entry restrictions for non-US passport holders who have been in Uganda, the DRC, or South Sudan in the past 21 days. Enhanced screening will be implemented at US ports of entry. The measures will last for an initial 30 days.
The outbreak has now reached 336 suspected cases and 88 deaths in the DRC, including at least four health workers. Cases have been confirmed in Kinshasa and Kampala. The WHO declared a global health emergency Saturday. There is no approved vaccine and no treatment for the Bundibugyo strain behind this outbreak.
The CDC assessed the immediate risk to the general US public as low but said it would continue evaluating the situation. The Trump administration shut down USAID last year, cut CDC funding, and withdrew from the WHO in January. The United States has no formal role in the coordinated international response the WHO is now leading. An American has Ebola. The agencies built to stop outbreaks from reaching US shores have been gutted.
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A $1.7 billion taxpayer slush fund was announced today for Trump’s allies. An Iran strike was called off at the last minute. An American has Ebola. And a mayor in New York City is proving that government can actually work for people. The outlets owned by billionaires with business before this administration are not going to give you that full picture. Really American will. We did. And we will keep doing it.
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