What Happened Today - 28 Oct 2025

What Happened Today – 28 Oct 2025 
Scott Bessent…in the spotlight this week
ICE Leadership…more evil coming
Grokapedia
Dementia Donny gives his own health updates…without being asked…
Trump’s speech at the Naval base in Japan
Hurricane Melissa 
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Scott Bessent…in the spotlight this week
Scott Bessent's name is everywhere this week because he's been out front as Treasury Secretary desperately trying to defend these so-called “historic” Trump trade deals, and it keeps blowing up in his face. The headlines are hot because he's personally admitted in court filings and public interviews that the administration has been outright lying about the scope and details of these deals. This sudden spotlight is partly because the administration is facing lawsuits, congressional scrutiny, and media fact-checks triggered by their overblown claims.

Bessent’s so shockingly green and unfit for this job it's laughable. He’s a hedge fund guy and campaign donor who somehow parachuted into running U.S. economic policy, despite having zero government experience. The only thing he’s really “qualified” for is writing checks to Trump’s political machine.

Here are the specific lies Bessent told this week—and why they're flat-out false:

- Lie #1: The U.S. signed binding trade “deals” with Japan and other countries, totaling trillions in investments.  
  Reality: In sworn legal filings this week, Bessent had to admit that there are no real deals, just loose “frameworks” or “understandings,” and that he’s still years away from negotiating anything meaningful. All those figures the administration threw around—$8 trillion in new U.S. investment, “binding” trade pacts—are total fiction. It’s all pie-in-the-sky promises, not enforceable agreements. The real number Bessent specifically acknowledged in court is around $2.35 trillion, scattered across non-binding “frameworks,” not “trillions” in signed deals.

- Lie #2: Tariffs created “$8 trillion in new U.S. investment and hundreds of thousands of jobs.”  
  Reality: Even inside Trump’s own administration, this number changes by the day. The Labor Day official White House announcement was all over the map—one minute pushing the “$8 trillion in investment” number, the next calling it “$8 trillion in tariff revenue,” as if those are the same thing. They’re not. Bessent’s own statement said there aren’t any actual binding commitments for those investments. Fact is, a big chunk of so-called “investment” is just speculative, and much of it is years away, if it happens at all. The jobs claim is equally bogus: current jobs numbers are miserable, even after booting out the last guy for not making up big enough numbers.

- Lie #3: Tariffs are paid by foreign countries, not American businesses or consumers.  
  Reality: Bessent tried to parrot Trump's talking point, but the truth laid out in this week’s filings and interviews is tariffs are a tax paid by U.S. importers—and that cost is passed right on to American businesses and buyers, not Beijing or Tokyo.

- Lie #4: Immediate “catastrophic” U.S. economic danger if courts slow-roll Trump’s tariffs.  
  Reality: The “catastrophe” is 100% self-inflicted. These trade “emergencies” and tariff regimes exist only because Trump and Bessent threw the switch for political theater, not because of real-world threats. The court filings are actually a plea to SCOTUS to pull Trump out of a mess he and Bessent created by trying to leverage phony economic “emergencies.”

- Lie #5: Frameworks guarantee specific, massive purchases (like $750B of LNG from the EU).  
  Reality: The real figures are pure fantasy; the U.S. couldn’t even produce that much LNG in those timeframes. These numbers are not just hype, they’re mathematically impossible.

That’s just the lies busted in public, on the record, THIS WEEK. You can’t really overstate how brazen it is: Bessent and the White House keep getting caught making things up, can’t land on one story, and then have to walk everything back under oath or in front of the press. If you’re wondering why he’s all over the news, it’s because every time he tries to cover up for Trump’s hype or spin, the whole house of cards gets exposed again. It’s becoming legendary for all the wrong reasons.
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ICE Leadership…more evil coming
Here’s the deal with the latest ICE shakeup: The Trump administration is in the middle of its biggest ICE leadership purge yet, dumping senior ICE officials in at least five major cities—Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and San Diego—with more cities likely on deck. These firings aren’t random; they’re about ramping up the pace and toughness of deportations after the White House got fed up that ICE wasn’t hitting Trump’s sky-high arrest targets. The top jobs are being handed over to Border Patrol heavyweights, which is a clear sign the administration wants more show-of-force, fewer questions, and a lot less pushback from the people supposed to run these offices.

The official line is that this is just “reassignments” and “support,” but behind the scenes, it’s about turning ICE into a blunt instrument for mass deportations and making sure no one inside the agency has the guts—or inclination—to say “wait” or “maybe not.” The shakeup is already extending past the first five cities, with LA, San Diego, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Denver, Portland, El Paso, and New Orleans all expected to see Border Patrol leadership take over. That means the same militant tactics folks have been seeing at the border—spot sweeps, high-visibility raids, helicopter drop-ins—are about to go nationwide, and especially into so-called “sanctuary” cities.

Is harsher and more cruel behavior expected? Absolutely. This whole reboot is driven by the “go harder, go faster, go louder” camp inside DHS, and the Border Patrol brass stepping in means we’re likely to see more aggressive enforcement, more indiscriminate arrests, raids on day labor sites, and less discretion over who gets picked up—all in the name of hitting those big deportation numbers. Dissenters inside ICE, including some of the people just axed, warned this approach will alienate the public, blur the lines between ICE and Border Patrol, and crank up the risk for abuses. But at this rate, compassion and due process are no longer on the priorities list—the new playbook is about sheer volume, not nuance. 

The administration wants ICE turned into a mass deportation machine with Border Patrol tactics, and these city-by-city takeovers are just the start. Things are about to get even rougher, especially for immigrant communities in the cities listed above and likely more to come.
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Grokapedia
Let’s get into the whole Musk-Grokapedia drama. Elon Musk just launched Grokapedia, a wannabe competitor to Wikipedia, but instead of offering more transparency, he’s pushing a platform totally shaped by AI and his own worldview. The big pitch is Musk’s claim that Grokapedia will deliver “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”—which in Musk-speak apparently means rewriting anything he doesn’t agree with, especially when it comes to history and politics.

For example, Grokapedia’s early articles already show efforts to retell events through a hard right, Musk-friendly filter. Articles about Trump’s loss in 2020 downplay the reality of that defeat; entries on January 6 sidestep calling the Capitol riot an insurrection and instead hint at “legitimate grievances” or “government overreach.” Some social issues like the AIDS epidemic and transgender rights get distorted too: Grokapedia has bizarrely claimed that pornography “worsened” the AIDS crisis, and implies social media is responsible for rising numbers of trans people—views that echo far-right talking points but fly in the face of established science and history.

Grokapedia also cribs large chunks of text straight from Wikipedia, but Musk isn’t just copying—he’s editing or omitting info to suit his message. Pages have appeared almost word-for-word from Wikipedia with a tag at the bottom, “adapted Wikipedia,” yet they’re stripped of context, sources, or updated facts. Musk’s own biography on Grokapedia glosses over his controversies (like his Nazi salute photo or his boosted conspiracy theories), painting him solely as an “innovator.”

Early critics, editors, and journalists checking Grokapedia found factual errors, right-wing spins, and lots of content that simply re-writes uncomfortable or politically inconvenient realities. Musk promised his far-right fans “he would rewrite human history in his Grok AI to reflect his far right ideology”—and with Grokapedia, that’s exactly what’s starting to play out.

This isn’t about fixing mistakes or expanding knowledge; it’s about Musk using his platform, his AI, and his money to control the narrative and tell history his way. That’s not just risky—it’s straight up dangerous for anyone who cares about actual facts.
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Dementia Donny gives his own health updates…without being asked…
Trump’s health is back in the spotlight because he’s once again been dropping a string of bizarre, unsolicited updates—this time about getting MRI scans and taking cognitive tests. In classic Trump style, he’s using social media to tell everyone he “aced” his latest “cognitive exam,” while also insisting his recent MRI was “just routine,” even though nobody was asking in the first place. The timing is weird—his team denies anything’s wrong, but these random disclosures (and the defensive tone) only add fuel to all the speculation about his physical and mental fitness.

And yes, Trump keeps trying to sell a cognitive assessment as proof he’s a genius, which totally misses the point. A basic cognitive screening checks for things like memory loss or early dementia signs—a pass means your brain is working at a minimum average healthy baseline, not that you’re some kind of savant. Trump conflating a routine cognitive test with an IQ test is a running joke with doctors and reporters. Seriously, anyone with an ounce of medical knowledge knows a cognitive screen isn’t remotely like a real IQ assessment—one is about ruling out concerning decline, the other is a controversial, debatable measurement for intelligence. That Trump keeps confusing (or deliberately misrepresenting) the two definitely isn’t reassuring.

The whole saga is all about optics: keep supporters feeling confident and get out ahead of negative rumors, even if the updates make him seem more frazzled. But to anyone paying attention, it just comes off as insecure and as more proof he’ll say literally anything to shape the narrative—facts, science, and basic definitions be damned.
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Trump’s speech at the Naval base in Japan
Trump’s speech at the naval base in Japan was classic Trump: mostly a campaign rally in a uniform, full of wild claims, outright lies, random rants about “good-looking people,” and promises that have zero bearing on reality. Instead of delivering a substantial policy address or any meaningful updates for the military, he used the moment to hype himself and lob partisan bombs. It was a campaign speech in all but name—with almost nothing of real substance for the troops or the alliance.

Let’s break down every lie Trump told during that speech, and exactly why each one is a lie:
-    Lie #1: Cities in America need “more than the National Guard” to restore order, implying imminent domestic military deployments.
Fabrication: Trump is using fear tactics, threatening an unconstitutional, reckless use of active military power within American cities. There’s no support or factual basis for the claim that conditions anywhere in the US warrant such escalation—just cheap rally rhetoric that’s not backed by reality or law.
-    Lie #2: U.S.-built “F-35 missiles” headed to Japan are a new deal because of him.
Misleading: He conflated F-35 jet deliveries and missile sales, exaggerating his role. These military contracts have been years in the works, and his administration didn’t initiate them—they’re part of routine defense agreements established before Trump took office.
-    Lie #3: Toyota is making a $10 billion U.S. investment because of him.
Exaggeration: The Toyota investments are international supply chain and production updates, not new deals or expansion directly attributed to Trump. The announcements have been ongoing for years and are not some Trump-led achievement.
-    Lie #4: The U.S. was “number 1” in shipbuilding before China, Japan, and Korea took over, and he alone is reviving American shipyards.
False: Shipbuilding in the U.S. has been declining since WWII, and while federal grants have supported shipyard modernization, Trump has not singlehandedly rebooted the entire industry. China, Japan, and Korea’s dominance isn’t just recent, nor is the Philadelphia shipyard investment an outlier—similar programs pre-date him.
-    Lie #5: Steam engines on aircraft carriers are superior to “stupid” electric catapults, and his planned executive order will guarantee better performance.
Baseless: The Navy’s EMALS (Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System) is the result of decades of research and has shown improved safety, smoother launches, and lower maintenance than steam catapults. Trump’s claims that steam “just works” and electric “doesn’t” are scientifically and operationally wrong. Going back to steam would be a colossal technological and financial step backward, risking more breakdowns, costly repairs, and years of retrofitting. This entire rant—about steam looking “beautiful,” and electric failing because “you have to fly in MIT guys”—just exposes his shallow understanding and cognitive struggles to grasp basic engineering.
-    Lie #6: Magnets in hydraulic elevators are dangerous and ineffective, and “hydraulic with steam” is safer even in lightning storms.
Nonsense: Modern magnetic elevator tech is cutting edge, more reliable, and not “struck by lightning” as Trump claims. His nostalgia for outdated tech simply shows he doesn’t know how today’s Navy works, or he’s trying to play to a political crowd with zero regard for facts.
-    Lie #7: He’s responsible for a “new golden era” in U.S.-Japan relations and defense.
Exaggeration: The alliance with Japan is strong because of decades of consistent diplomacy, not Trump’s one-day visit or hyperbole. Japanese investments aren’t new, and the defense policies signed are continuations of long-term, bipartisan agreements.

Not only did Trump give a mostly useless campaign speech aboard a nuclear aircraft carrier, he rattled off a cringe-worthy list of lies and misstatements, all wrapped up in confused nostalgia about steam engines and magnets. The steam engine rant is especially silly—no serious military engineer thinks reverting to steam power would help. It’s the kind of soundbite that reveals just how out-of-touch, uninformed, and cognitively off-track Trump has become. The idea alone is idiotic, and every time he tries to explain it, it’s just more proof of his relentless decline. 
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Hurricane Melissa 
Here’s what’s happening right now with Hurricane Melissa: This beast hammered Jamaica today as a Category 5 monster, making landfall on the southwest coast with some of the strongest winds ever clocked in the Atlantic—up to 185 mph. It’s delivering catastrophic flooding, landslides, and a storm surge that could reach 13 feet. The rain is coming down in sheets—meteorologists are talking feet, not inches, and there’s already widespread power outages hitting about a third of the island’s residents.

The Jamaican military and reserves are scrambling to handle search and rescue—boats, helicopters, you name it, they’re ready for disaster response. Authorities are warning folks to hang tight and hunker down because parts of the island are experiencing “total structural failure”—buildings and infrastructure just not standing up to these winds. At least three fatalities have been reported in Jamaica so far, with more deaths linked to the storm in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
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There is never a shortage of news! 

Stay strong, use your voices. 

Speak Truth!  Keep speaking TRUTH!  

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.