Trump Went 0-for-5 This Week: Courts, Cameras, and the Polls All Said No
A judge nuked his favorite budget-slashing trick, an appeals court reminded a felon that convictions don't expire, and a primetime address built to prove the election was stolen mostly proved nobody checked his homework first. Pour something cold — even his own war is polling worse than Iraq.
1. A Federal Judge Just Shut Down Trump's Favorite Trick for Gutting Federal Grants
A federal judge in Boston ruled Friday that the Trump administration can't keep using an obscure 'termination clause' to cancel billions of dollars in federal grants — the tactic a 23-state lawsuit called a 'nationwide slash-and-burn campaign' against everything from crime prevention to food security. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani granted summary judgment against the administration and denied its motion to throw the case out entirely, finding the clause's use 'not clearly supported by the text' and a violation of the Constitution's own Spending Clause. New Jersey's attorney general said the ruling 'confirms that the Trump Administration defied the law when it embarked on its campaign to gut critical federal funding to the states.'
Turns out 'agency priorities' isn't legal Latin for 'cancel whatever we feel like this week.' Twenty-three states just made that official — in writing, with citations.
2. Trump Promised a Voter-Fraud Bombshell in Primetime. Reporters Read the Documents and Found Nothing.
Trump used a rare July 16 primetime address to unveil what allies billed as a smoking gun proving his long-debunked claims of mass 2020 voter fraud, including supposed Chinese election meddling and a 'deep state' cover-up. The Associated Press reviewed the newly declassified documents and found no such confirmation — heavily redacted pages, years-old vulnerabilities already public, and, in AP's words, 'no evidence that China or any other foreign entity manipulated the vote in 2020 or any other year.' NPR reported Trump offered no new evidence of a single fraudulent vote cast in any American election, and officials in at least 30 states spent the following weekend publicly refuting his claims. 'The White House promised a bombshell, and they delivered a dud,' said David Becker, who attended the administration's briefing ahead of the speech.
He cleared the primetime schedule to unveil nothing, then made officials in 30 states cancel their weekends just to say so. That's not a bombshell — that's a wet firecracker with its own press briefing.
3. Peter Navarro Already Served the Prison Time for Contempt of Congress. The Appeals Court Just Confirmed It Still Counts.
A unanimous three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld Peter Navarro's contempt of Congress convictions on July 21, rejecting his years-long claim that Trump had shielded him from a Jan. 6 committee subpoena by invoking executive privilege. The court found Navarro 'acknowledged that even if executive privilege had been invoked, that would not have excused his categorical failure to comply with the Select Committee's subpoena.' Navarro already served four months in federal prison for the conviction, after which he told a cheering Republican National Convention crowd, 'I went to prison so you won't have to.' His attorney says the fight isn't over.
He served the sentence, gave the victory speech, and is still losing the same case four years later. At some point the appeal isn't a strategy, it's just prison with extra paperwork.
4. A Judge Tossed the RNC's Bid for New Jersey's Private Voter Rolls. It's Not Even Their First Time Losing This Exact Fight.
U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner dismissed the Republican National Committee's lawsuit on July 20, ruling the RNC lacked legal standing to force New Jersey to hand over sensitive statewide voter-roll data after twice demanding the records. Castner found the party 'fails to allege concrete plans for how it intends to use' the data, and pointed to a nearly identical Pennsylvania case the Third Circuit had already thrown out on the same grounds. The dismissal extends a losing streak: courts nationwide, including judges appointed by presidents of both parties, have repeatedly rejected attempts by the RNC and allied groups to seize state voter rolls through litigation.
Zero for a lot now on the voter-roll grabs. At some point 'election integrity' just means the integrity of their ability to keep losing the same lawsuit.
5. Trump's Approval Is Stuck in the 30s — and His Own War Is Polling Worse Than Iraq or Afghanistan
A Washington Post-Ipsos poll released July 16 found Trump's approval rating stuck in the 30s, with Americans broadly negative on his handling of the economy, the cost of living, and the ongoing war with Iran. The same data, tracked by Silver Bulletin, show just 33% of Americans support the Iran War and 59% oppose it — with only 28% calling it 'worth fighting,' a lower share than Americans gave the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan at comparable points in the Post's historical polling. U.S. strikes on Iran entered an eleventh consecutive night this week with no resolution in sight.
He picked a war that's polling worse than two conflicts historians already file under 'disaster.' Somewhere there's a focus group where 'worth it' scored lower than the DMV.
Now go back to doomscrolling. You've earned five minutes of not-doom.