What Happened today - 1 May 2025

What Happened Today – 1 May 2025
*Posting early as I'm headed to Denver in a bit*

Today’s Topics
Detached from Reality – Surprise, Surprise…not
Trump “loving” on Veteran’s again
RFK, Fluoride and “Stupid Children”
“I am not afraid of you” – we should all be saying this OUT LOUD
Minerals Deal with Ukraine…not the deal you think it is
Fall Guy for SIGNAL Chat – Waltz
Math is Hard…Bondi
The Declaration of Independence

Detached from Reality
Watching Trump and his MAGA Republicans lately is like watching people completely detached from reality-Trump especially. Just yesterday, he blamed Biden for this quarter’s economic drop, and in the same breath, he was already setting up Biden as the scapegoat for any possible decline next quarter too. It’s never his fault. He’ll say, “If the market drops by two dollars, that’s Biden’s doing, but if it goes up thirty dollars, that’s all thanks to me.” It’s exhausting.
During a recent NewsNation town hall, Trump was asked about Harvard and instead started rambling about Harlem, confusing the two entirely and leaving people genuinely puzzled. This wasn’t just a harmless slip-it’s more evidence that he’s living in his own world, making things up as he goes, and never pausing to check the facts or, God forbid, admit he’s wrong.
And let’s talk about accountability. Has Trump ever once said, “You know what, I got that wrong,” or “That was a bad call on my part”? Not a chance. The closest he’s come is blaming other people for his own bad hires or decisions. He’s incapable of taking real responsibility for anything that matters.
Meanwhile, his MAGA Republicans are parroting the same message. They’re out there telling everyone that “there will be pain” and that we just have to “get through the pain to reach the goal”. Trump himself has shifted from his campaign promise of immediate relief to now telling Americans to be patient and endure a “transition period,” even though he very clearly promised on the campaign trail that he would lower prices “starting on Day One”. In fact, at multiple rallies and press conferences-including one in August 2024 and another in Michigan-he said, “On Day One of my administration, we will end inflation and make America affordable again, to bring down the prices of all goods”. But the reality is, all prices are up. Grocery prices have increased every month since he took office, and the inflation rate for food is now at its highest in nearly two years. Not a single category of prices has gone down-contrary to his repeated campaign promises.
Trump and his MAGA crew are allergic to accountability. They live in a fantasy world where nothing is ever their fault, and if you’re hurting, it’s just part of their plan. It’s not leadership-it’s delusion and deflection, plain and simple.

Trump “loving” on Veteran’s again
Trump just ended the VA Servicing Purchase Program (VASP), which is honestly infuriating because this program was a literal lifeline for thousands of veterans trying to keep their homes. VASP was created after the pandemic because so many vets were about to lose their houses when the old VA policies failed them. It let the VA step in, buy up those struggling loans, and give vets a fresh start with a super low 2.5% fixed interest rate-way better than the 7% or higher rates out there now. For a lot of veterans, this was the only thing standing between them and foreclosure.
Now, with VASP shut down as of May 1, there are nearly 90,000 VA loans seriously delinquent and over 30,000 already in foreclosure. And here’s the kicker: these aren’t people who just stopped paying for no reason. Most of them got caught up in a mess that the VA itself helped create with confusing, ever-changing rules after the pandemic. VASP was the fix, and now that’s gone.
Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration are saying, “Don’t worry, we’ll roll out a new program soon.” But there’s nothing on the table right now-no actual replacement, just vague promises about a “partial claims program” that doesn’t exist yet. Even if they do get something passed, it’ll take months to get up and running. Meanwhile, veterans are getting foreclosure notices and losing their homes in real time.
Veterans’ groups, mortgage experts, and even the Mortgage Bankers Association are all basically begging the VA and Congress to keep VASP going until there’s a real replacement. But instead, they pulled the rug out, leaving thousands of veterans-people who served this country-completely exposed.
VASP was saving veterans’ homes. Ending it now, with nothing ready to take its place, is reckless and cruel. All this talk about a new program is just that-talk. Veterans need real help, not empty promises.

RFK, Fluoride and “Stupid Children”
RFK Jr. keeps saying that fluoride in our drinking water “makes kids stupid,” waving around studies to back it up. But here’s the truth: the fluoride in U.S. water is really low-about 0.7 mg/L, way below the World Health Organization’s safety limit.
The studies he cites mostly come from countries like China and India, where fluoride levels are much higher than anything in the U.S. When you look at the science for our water, there’s just no solid evidence that it lowers kids’ IQs. The National Toxicology Program even says there isn’t enough proof that our low levels do anything to intelligence.
Major health organizations have called out RFK Jr. for twisting the facts. They all agree U.S. water fluoridation is safe and actually helps prevent cavities.
RFK Jr.’s claim that fluoride “makes kids stupid” just isn’t backed up by science at U.S. levels. There’s no proof it hurts kids’ brains here.

“I am not afraid of you” – we should all be saying this OUT LOUD
After getting released yesterday, the Columbia student-Mohsen Mahdawi-stood right outside the courthouse and said straight up, “I’m not afraid of you,” calling out Trump and his administration directly. But he didn’t stop there. He told everyone not to give up hope and to keep fighting for justice, because what happens here in America really does ripple out to the rest of the world.
He talked about standing up for humanity, not just Palestine, and made it clear that the whole world is watching how we handle this moment. He also pointed out that his freedom isn’t just about him-there are still other students being detained, and he’s not going to stop until they’re free too.
He led the crowd in chants like “The people united will never be defeated” and “No fear,” and pushed for an end to the war in Gaza and for the U.S. to stop sending aid to Israel. Mohsen is not backing down, and he wants everyone to know that giving up isn’t an option – I couldn’t agree more.

Minerals Deal with Ukraine…not the deal you think it is
The deal with this new US-Ukraine minerals agreement: it’s making headlines, but honestly, it’s mostly symbolic right now.
The US gets first dibs on Ukraine’s critical minerals-stuff like lithium, titanium, and rare earths that are important for tech and defense. In exchange, the US promises to keep supporting Ukraine financially and help with rebuilding after the war, plus there’s talk of a joint investment fund to funnel profits back into Ukraine.
But here’s the reality: most of these minerals are in areas that are either still being fought over or have been wrecked by the war. It’s going to be years-maybe even decades-before anyone’s actually mining and shipping this stuff out. So, for now, this is way more about sending a message than it is about real economic impact.
Ukraine did get some wins here-they keep ownership and control of their own resources, and they don’t have to pay back the US for past military aid, which was a sticking point before. But the deal doesn’t include any of the security guarantees Ukraine was hoping for, so it doesn’t actually make them any safer from Russia.
This is a political move. It’s the US saying, “We’re still with you, Ukraine,” and giving Trump a chance to look tough on Russia. But in terms of actual minerals coming out of the ground or real money changing hands? That’s a long way off. The details are still fuzzy, and Ukraine’s parliament hasn’t even signed off yet. So, for now, it’s more about the optics than anything concrete.

Fall Guy for SIGNAL Chat – Waltz
Based on everything that’s come out, it’s pretty clear Mike Waltz is being made the fall guy for SIGNALGate. He was the one who accidentally added a journalist to that Signal group chat where top Trump officials were discussing sensitive military plans for Yemen. After the story broke, Waltz immediately went on TV and took “full responsibility,” saying it was his mistake, not a staffer’s, and calling the whole thing embarrassing.
Even though Trump initially tried to downplay the whole mess and called Waltz a “good man,” the pressure kept building, and now Waltz and his deputy are both out. Multiple reports say the administration is basically pinning the blame on Waltz to protect Trump and the rest of the team, even though other officials-like Defense Secretary Hegseth-were the ones actually sharing operational details in the chat.
So, yeah, Waltz is absolutely being set up as the scapegoat here. The administration rarely admits fault, but in this case, they’re letting Waltz take the fall to try to contain the political damage and move on.

Math is hard…
Pam Bondi seriously claimed that by seizing 22 million fentanyl pills, the Trump administration “saved 119 million lives.” She even doubled down later and said the number was 258 million, which is just wild-considering that’s like three-quarters of the entire U.S. population.
The U.S. has about 340 million people, so her math doesn’t even come close to making sense. She’s basically acting like every single pill would have killed multiple people and that all of them would’ve been taken in a lethal dose, which is just not how this works.
Yes, stopping fentanyl does save lives, but claiming these seizures saved a third-or even three-quarters-of the country is totally over the top and not backed up by any real data. It’s just another example of throwing out big, dramatic numbers with zero basis in reality.

The Declaration of Independence
When President Trump was asked what the Declaration of Independence means to him-specifically in a recent interview with ABC News' Terry Moran-he responded:
“It’s a declaration. It’s a declaration of unity and love and respect. And it means a lot, and it’s something very special to our country.”
Trump’s answer focused on themes of “unity” and “love,” which drew criticism and some mockery, since the Declaration is historically about the colonies breaking away from British rule-not about unity, but about asserting independence. Commentators pointed out that unity is actually the opposite of what the document was declaring at the time, making Trump’s answer notably off-base in the eyes of historians and critics.
In addition to this interview, Trump has recently displayed a framed copy of the Declaration of Independence in the Oval Office, sharing images of it on social media, but has not offered further detailed or historically grounded commentary about its meaning.

While Trump might have needed another Diet Coke to come up with anything coherent, here’s what the Declaration of Independence actually means to me: It’s a bold statement that all people are created equal - no exceptions. We ALL have rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It means we have the right to self-government: the government is made up of elected officials who are supposed to represent us, not rule over us. And if that government ever becomes oppressive or stops protecting our rights, WE THE PEOPLE have the right to alter or abolish it and create something better in its place.
The Declaration didn’t just justify why we broke away from British rule-it set out a model for how and why people everywhere can resist and replace unjust governments. It’s a reminder that these principles-equality, rights, and self-government-are supposed to be the foundation of what it means to be American.
I’m still shocked at the MS13 tattoo back and forth from this week’s interview on his First 100 days….Desi Lydic made a joke about - She quipped that Trump seemed genuinely proud of his “Gulf of America” poster because he thought the words “Gulf of America” were actually written on the water itself, not just on the map.

I hope that many of you out there go out and protest today. I hope to share some pictures tonight from Denver, CO. https://www.fiftyfifty.one/events

If this has helped, please like and share—cause good trouble.
Go Cause Good Trouble, with Your Elbows Up!
**These are facts that I researched and verified – AI helped put together some sentence structure, but the words and tone are mine. These are my views based upon facts, research and thoughtful consideration using logic. I own the copyright to any images used. I’m comfortable to stand alone to uphold truth. Feel free to check me, but do not attack me. I am only causing good trouble.**