The Wheels Come Off the MAGA Machine

George Ochenski

 April 13, 2026

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Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

The recent events on the national and world stage are pretty hard to ignore given the effects on Americans, our allies and even our fellow Montanans who just want to go fishing. 

But the wheels are coming off Donald Trump’s MAGA-mobile in real time and the result is absolutely predictable as he, his administration, and our once-stable nation are now all over the road, bouncing off curbs, going through fences, and headed for the barrow ditch. 

The undeniable signs aren’t coming from “lib-tards” — they’re coming from hard right-wing MAGA supporters, or perhaps “former supporters” is more accurate.  That lineup now includes Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones, Megyn Kelly, neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes, Mark Levin, and even looney Laura Loomer.  

These are the headliners of Fox and Friends, the people who praised the president and believed he would keep his promises of “America First,” halt U.S. involvement in foreign wars and “Make America Great Again.”  

But anyone who takes Donald Trump at his word is in for a rude awakening.  The record is clear, his word means absolutely nothing.  Not to us, not to our allies, and now not to the rest of the world as he becomes more erratic, violent, and threatening toward friends and foes alike.

The primary reason for the tidal wave of conservative criticism now crashing over the White House is Trump’s disastrous decision to allow Israel’s Benjamin “The Butcher” Netanyahu to drag us into his genocidal attacks on the sovereign nations of the Middle East.  

Netanyahu has been indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in his own country — and the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for his “crimes against humanity” including “murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts,” against Palestinians in Gaza.  Of all the people not to follow anywhere, let alone into war, Netanyahu tops the list as he turns Israel into a rogue state in the eyes of the world.

Nonetheless, the rapidly-diminishing mental capacity of our president somehow justified the Iran War by claiming he had to because Israel was going to. How Israel can call the decision for the U.S. to go to war is a real mystery since declaring war is Constitutionally-delegated to Congress, not the president, and surely not a war criminal from another country.

But wars are a lot easier to start than win.  And now, billions and billions of dollars and thousands of deaths later, this delusional president who claimed he deserved to win the Nobel Peace Prize, is forced to agree to a two-week “cease fire.”  Putting that in quotes is intentional since Israel hasn’t quit bombing Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza as Netanyahu just announced it’s a “forever war.” 

Moreover, none of the ever-changing reasons for the Iran War have been accomplished.  Not seizing the uranium, effecting regime change, halting missile production, or “freeing” the Iranian people. 

Instead, after being attacked by the U.S. and Israel Iran closed the Straits of Hormuz, cutting off one-fifth of the world’s oil supply and driving fuel and fertilizer prices sky high.  When a Montanan decides he can’t go on an annual fishing campout at Fort Peck because it costs a thousand bucks to drive his truck and boat there and back, the impacts have truly come home to roost.

The talking heads at Fox News are largely responsible for the horrific situation they’re now facing. They have been betrayed, openly and repeatedly, and now they are viciously turning on their own creation — and for once, in a very rare instance, they are correct.

George Ochenski is a columnist for the Daily Montanan, where this essay originally appeared.

Staircase to Nowhere: MAGA’s Crowning Achievement



The former East Wing
Photo by Pedro Ugarte/AFP via Getty Image

Abby Zimet
Mar 31, 2026

Further

Poor deplorable MAGA. Maybe they’re disheartened by Trump’s well-deserved plunging approval rating, now at barely 33%. Maybe it’s because their regime is such a half-assed shitshow and their people are such self-serving, hypocritical dickwads. As in: Amidst a government shutdown that’s seen TSA agents (starting salary $34,454) compelled to work without pay as Congress takes a two-week recess (pay over $170,000) on the taxpayers’ dime, TMZ urged readers to send in photos of vacationing pols, and here comes Lindsey Graham at Disney World, “The Most Magical Place On Earth,” gaily twirling a Little Mermaid bubble wand yet. America and Megyn Kelly: WTF.

Or maybe it’s because Commander-In-Chief Private Bonespurs started another forever quagmire without legal or political justification, and it turns out wars in the Middle East are hard and complex and above his pay grade - like health care! - to solve, and now with no good options he’s spewing up only staggering incoherence for strategy, like hailing “great progress” in imaginary “serious discussions” while pivoting to rabidly threatening to “conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran” by “obliterating” their civilian infrastructure, electricity, energy and drinking water, which is a war crime. But talks are going “unbelievably well.”

Serious discussions with Iran    Image from Australia's The Shovel


Anyway, his true passion is turning every crass, stupid thing he or Elvis can think of fake gold like the Oval bordello and even Social Security cards, and slathering his repulsive name on structures, coins, currency, and building trashy, illegal monuments to himself like an obscene, unapproved, un-permitted, $400 million ballroom twice the size of the White House, because, “They’ve always wanted a ballroom,” except now it’s suddenly, “essentially a shed for what goes under it,” a massive military complex, presumably a bunker where, as merciful history would have it, he’ll finally free us of him, “and we’re doing it very well.”

He’s so ballroom-enraptured that on Air Force One he just pulled out a swath of drawings to show reporters, explaining, “I thought I’d do this now because it’s easier. I’m so busy...fighting wars and other things.” Quick mindless pivot to “hand-carved, beautiful, Corinthian columns” - “Corinthian wut” - he’s also reportedly re-imagining for the White House facade, a change deemed “at odds with universally held historic preservation standards.” Same, experts say of “barely scrutinized” ballroom plans, “riddled with design flaws” - disproportionate, pillars block windows, grand staircase to nowhere. WH lackey on “the best builder in the world”: “The American people can rest well knowing this project is in his hands.” We feel better already.

Trump's "plan" for his oversized shed/ballroomImages from New York Times


And then there’s his new gold toilet, mounted on a 10-foot throne near the Lincoln Memorial. The new masterwork of Secret Handshake (Best Friends Forever), it celebrates the renovation of the White House Lincoln Bedroom bathroom, all in gold, and “what this President has actually accomplished.” The toilet’s plaque reads, “In a time of unprecedented division, escalating conflict, and economic turmoil, President Trump focused on what truly mattered: remodeling the Lincoln Bathroom....This, his crowning achievement, is a bold reminder that (he) isn’t just a businessman, he’s taking care of business. It stands as a tribute to an unwavering visionary who looked down, saw a problem, and painted it gold.”

A Throne Fit For a King.Photo from Secret Handshake

The US G20 Presidency Could Take Trump’s Pro-Billionaire Agenda Global

There’s a real risk that the US presidency could advance an economic agenda that prioritizes the interests of the wealthy while sidelining efforts to tackle inequality, strengthen fair taxation, and resolve deepening debt crises worldwide.



Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (R) speaks as US President Donald Trump announces plans to host the 2026 G20 summit in Miami, Florida while US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (C) looks on during a press availability in the Oval Office of the White House on September 5, 2025 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Charlotte Friar
Apr 12, 2026

Inequality.org

In just a year, the wealth of the 10 richest US billionaires increased by $698 billion dollars, while low-wage workers struggled as the Trump administration pushed an inequality-fueling agenda. Now, concerns are growing that the same policy choices—those driving a massive transfer of wealth to the richest—could be projected onto the global stage.

The United States recently assumed the presidency of the G20—a major platform for heads of state and governments to address global economic issues. The presidency is a role that carries significant influence over global economic priorities. There’s a real risk that the US presidency could advance an economic agenda that prioritizes the interests of the wealthy while sidelining efforts to tackle inequality, strengthen fair taxation, and resolve deepening debt crises worldwide.

Instead of focusing the G20 on poverty alleviation, reducing inequality, or dealing with a pending global economic crisis, the US government focus will center on removing regulatory burdens, unlocking energy supply chains, and pioneering new technologies and innovation. This marks a sharp departure from the 2025 theme of “Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability” and signals a shift toward exporting the Trump administration’s domestic agenda to the global stage.

This all comes at a time when inequality is rising across most countries, and many low- and middle-income nations face mounting debt and stagnant growth.

As the US government so blatantly prioritizes wealthy interests, it is a critical moment for civil society to step forward—organizing and advancing an agenda that breaks decisively from the G20’s all-too-often emphasis on preserving the status quo.

US officials are pitching a “back to the basics” approach—which in reality is a sidelining of issues such as inequality, poverty, labor, climate, and gender. It is also widely anticipated that the Trump administration will restrict avenues for civil society participation.

Current plans suggest a focus on the leaders’ summit and financial track; a reduction in working groups; and formal engagement limited to business stakeholders, excluding civil society organizations, women’s groups, labor unions, and youth representatives. Even acknowledging that past G20 efforts on sustainable development have been uneven, this “back to the basics” approach risks abandoning critical priorities altogether.

Recent G20 presidencies led by Brazil and South Africa demonstrated a different trajectory, placing inequality and debt at the center of global discussions. South Africa’s 2025 presidency elevated the urgency of inequality by commissioning the first-ever G20 report on the issue. Led by professor Joseph Stiglitz, the report described a global “inequality emergency” and proposed the creation of an International Panel on Inequality to guide coordinated action.

Against this backdrop, the Trump administration’s domestic policies, including the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), represent one of the largest upward transfers of wealth in decades, making it unlikely that current US leadership will champion similar efforts internationally.

Progress on global tax cooperation is also under threat. Brazil’s 2024 presidency achieved a breakthrough agreement to cooperate on taxing high-net-worth individuals. While extreme wealth concentration has increased in recent years, research shows billionaires pay effective tax rates close to 0.3% of their wealth—well below what average workers contribute.

Yet in 2025, the Trump administration has already taken actions that undermine these efforts, including withdrawing from United Nations tax negotiations, pressuring other advanced economies to shield US corporations from global tax agreements, and opposing measures such as digital services and carbon taxes.

Climate action presents another area of concern. G20 countries are responsible for approximately 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet many continue to fall short of their commitments. The US administration’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and rollback of domestic climate policies reflect a broader retreat from climate leadership.

The Trump administration’s emphasis on expanding energy supply chains raises the possibility that fossil fuel development could be prioritized over clean energy transitions, particularly if multilateral development banks are encouraged to increase investments in oil and gas projects.

Taken together, these signals suggest that the 2026 US G20 presidency could mark a significant retreat. Rather than building on recent efforts to address inequality, debt, and climate change, it may instead shift the forum toward a narrower agenda that prioritizes elite and corporate interests.

The direction ultimately taken will have far-reaching consequences, not only for the credibility of the G20 but for the future of global economic cooperation. As the US government so blatantly prioritizes wealthy interests, it is a critical moment for civil society to step forward—organizing and advancing an agenda that breaks decisively from the G20’s all-too-often emphasis on preserving the status quo.

Now is the time for people, institutions, and movements to unite and champion bold new forms of multilateral cooperation that serve billions, not billionaires.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


Charlotte Friar
Charlotte Friar is a senior policy analyst at Oxfam America.
Full Bio >

Congress; Pass a Windfall Tax on the Oil Companies Profiting From Trump’s Iran War

The oil and gas companies that invested at least $75 million in Trump’s reelection are cashing in on the instability he has caused.



Gas prices are displayed at a Mobil gas station on March 30, 2026 in Pasadena, California.
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Meghan Schneider

Cassidy Dipaola
Apr 11, 2026

OtherWords


Our dependence on fossil fuels does more than pollute our air. It destabilizes the world and empowers the ultra wealthy to profit off of that volatility, leaving working families to pay the price.

This dynamic has been on full display since President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran.



Big Oil Windfall Tax Would Return ‘Egregious’ Iran War Profits to Struggling US Families



Windfall Tax on Big Oil Demanded as Trump’s Iran War Pads Profits of Fossil Fuel Giants

Trump’s invasion of one of the world’s most oil-rich regions jolted energy markets, sending gas prices soaring to the highest level in either of his terms. In 2024 he campaigned on cutting them in half. Instead, Americans are now on track to pay roughly $720 more for gasoline this year.

The full cost to working families will be much steeper as high gas prices drive up prices on consumer goods across the board. We’re already seeing that ripple effect take hold, as the US Postal Service has proposed a temporary 8% fuel surcharge on package deliveries to offset rising transportation costs tied directly to the war-driven spike in oil prices.

To reclaim our foreign policy from those who see a global crisis as a line item on an earnings call, we must break the billionaire grip on our energy system, economy, and democracy writ large.

At the same time, the oil and gas companies that invested at least $75 million in Trump’s reelection are cashing in on this instability. A recent Financial Times analysis estimates that US oil companies could collect an additional $63 billion in revenue this year if crude prices remain at these wartime levels. In March alone, the industry is expected to generate $5 billion in extra cash flow.

This type of windfall isn’t a fluke. We’ve seen this pattern for decades.

Oil has a way of appearing in the background of every chapter of US military intervention in the Middle East and beyond. Iran nationalized its oil industry in the 1950s, and a CIA-backed coup followed. Iraq, sitting on some of the world’s largest reserves, was invaded in 2003. And earlier this year, the US invaded Venezuela and immediately began plans for a taxpayer-backed oil industry takeover.

Dependence on fossil fuels keeps us trapped in this cycle. Oil executives have spent billions to maintain this status quo, backing politicians like Trump who will protect their profits. As the oil industry rakes in eye-popping profits, it gains more power to elect leaders who prioritize policies that ensure Americans remain reliant on fossil fuels.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Congress considered a windfall profits tax on large oil companies that would capture the excess profits generated by the crisis—and return the money to American households. Roughly 80% of Americans supported the idea.

Failure to advance that legislation cost us. Researchers calculated that if the US had redistributed the portion of fossil fuel profits that exceeded 2021 returns, every American household could have received $1,715.

As oil executives profit off the war in Iran, Congress must once again push for a windfall profits tax on the largest oil companies. This isn’t an outlandish idea. Other countries have already done it. After the 2022 energy shock, the United Kingdom enacted a windfall tax on oil and gas companies, raising about $3.3 billion in its first year and roughly $4.5 billion the next—money used to help households pay their energy bills.

The current situation in Iran underscores how unchecked extreme wealth fuels corporate control, leaving working families vulnerable. New data from Impact Research for Tax the Greedy Billionaires shows that voters blame billionaires for the affordability crisis and want leaders to do more to address this. In fact, 77% of voters nationwide—including 65% of Republicans, 75% of Independents, and 91% of Democrats—support raising taxes on billionaires.

Under the Trump administration, war profiteering has reached new extremes. Confronting corporate power and taxing the ultra wealthy isn’t just about economic fairness—it’s a national security imperative.

To reclaim our foreign policy from those who see a global crisis as a line item on an earnings call, we must break the billionaire grip on our energy system, economy, and democracy writ large. If we want a democracy that works for the people, we must stop letting it be sold to the highest bidder.


This column was distributed by OtherWords.

Meghan Schneider
Meghan Schneider is the communications director for Tax the Greedy Billionaires.
Full Bio >

Cassidy Dipaola
Cassidy DiPaola is the communications director of Make Polluters Pay.
Full Bio >

NO DEMOCRACY WITHOUT ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY

Sanders Leads Launch of ‘Worker Power’ Movement to Fight ‘Status Quo Economics’

“Unless we fundamentally transform our economic and political systems, the worst is yet to come,” Sen. Bernie Sanders warned.


US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during a pro-union rally on April 12, 2026 in New York City.
(Photo by Ryan Murphy/Getty Images)

Brett Wilkins
Apr 13, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

As Republican policies, union-busting corporations, and the imminent threat of artificial intelligence put unprecedented pressure on the US workforce, Sen. Bernie Sanders headlined Sunday’s launch of a movement “to strengthen the labor movement and expand worker power across the country.”

Sanders (I-VT) spoke at the “Union Now: Building the Labor Movement” rally at Terminal 5 in Hell’s Kitchen in Midtown Manhattan alongside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA international president Sara Nelson, and other labor and social movement leaders.

“Unless we fundamentally transform our economic and political systems, the worst is yet to come,” Sanders warned. “If the middle class of this country is going to survive, we must understand that status quo politics and status quo economics is no longer good enough.”

“It’s absolutely important that all of us here and every American understand that in the ruling class of this country today, there is an extraordinary level of arrogance and cruelty,” the senator said.

“The truth is that the 1% the people on top, people running this country have never, ever had it so good,” Sanders told the crowd. “But the sad reality is that for these people, all that they have is not good enough. They want more and more and more, and they don’t care who they step on to get what they want.”

“These guys are extremely, extremely greedy people, and they could care less in terms of what happens to our children, what happens to our parents and our grandparents, and what happens to our environment today,” the senator argued.

“One of the goals of the oligarchs and the media that they own is to make ordinary people feel that there is nothing that they can do to shape the future,” he added. “And what we are here today to say to [Elon] Musk and his friends: Go to hell.”

Mamdani, who marked 100 days in office, said: “When we talk about the importance of taking on the crisis of income inequality, we know that the most effective tool to do so is increasing union density. Organizing drives and strikes can, frankly, be lonely work. So Union Now is going to support workers and provide them with more resources, and my administration will stand right alongside them. This moment demands nothing less.”

“AI and robots are coming for human jobs,” the mayor warned. “Worker protections are being eroded. There are companies that think that exploitation is a viable business model. They are wrong.”

Nelson asserted that “growing union membership and bargaining power is crucial for workers’ rights and economic justice.”

“Too often, the boss has all the power to starve workers during a fight,” she said. “Union Now will work with unions directly to ensure workers have the means to win.”

Brittany Norris, a Delta AFA Organizing Committee member and flight attendant, told the crowd that “when it comes to striking, when it comes to public actions, a lot of those things cost money and it’s a lot of time, dedication, and efforts coming from the workers.”

“We continuously hear about the profits... that our industry is making, but then we’re begging for a raise that comes up close to what the cost of living increase is every year,” she added.

Sunday’s Union Now launch comes amid Sanders’ ongoing “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, which has drawn large crowds across the country, including in so-called “red” states. The rally also follows last year’s “Workers Over Billionaires” Labor Day rallies and marches in over 1,000 locations.

The Union Now launch also coincides with growing wealth inequality not only in the United States but around a world in which the richest 10% of the global population own three-quarters of planetary wealth and account for nearly half of all consumer spending.

“If [President Donald] Trump and his fellow oligarchs get their way, we will be living in a society where fewer and fewer people have more and more wealth and more and more power, where democracy will be undermined, where workers will be thrown out on the street with no recourse,” Sanders said Sunday. “That is not the America we want for ourselves or for our kids.”

“The good news is,” he added, “if we stand together and we not let Trump and his friends divide us up, when we stand together and fight for a government that works for all of us, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish.”

New Evidence Bolsters Claim That US Lied About Another Iran Airstrike Massacre

Munitions experts and The New York Times say a US missile designed to inflict maximum casualties was used in a February bombing that killed 21 people, including at least five children.


Fire and other emergency workers are seen at the site of a February 28, 2026 US missile strike on a residential area of Lamerd, Iran.
(Photo by Tasnim News Agency/Wikimedia Commons)

Brett Wilkins
Apr 11, 2026
COMMON  DREAMS

New information published Friday by the New York Times further suggests that the US military may have lied when it tried to pin the blame for a February airstrike that killed 21 people in Iran on the Iranian government, with evidence indicating that the US carried out the attack with a new missile designed to inflict maximum casualties.

While much of the world knows about the February 28 massacre of around 175 children and staff at the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab—and about how President Donald Trump initially blamed Iran for the slaughter—the strike that hit a sports hall and playground in Lamerd on the same day, the first day of the war, received far less media coverage.


‘Slaughtered in Cold Blood’: Iranians Describe US Massacre of School Children to UN Human Rights Council

Munitions experts and the Times concluded that US-made Precision Strike Missiles, or PrSMs—pronounced “prism”—struck the residential area of the southern Iranian city. Developed by Lockheed Martin, PrSMs are airburst weapons, exploding above their targets and blasting 180,000 lethal tungsten pellets in every direction. Video footage of the Lamerd strike shows multiple airbursts.




The Times verified the identities of 21 people killed in the strike. At least five victims were children, the youngest of them just 2 years old. Helma Ahmadizadeh, 10, and Elham Zaeri, 11, were attending volleyball practice at the sports hall when it was bombed. Helma survived the strike with no visible injuries. However, she told her coach that she felt something enter her body. A medical examination at a local hospital revealed a small object in her body. She subsequently died.

“A young boy, Ilia Khatami, was killed alongside his coach, Mahmoud Najaf,” the newspaper said. “The Times confirmed their deaths, and the death of a second boy, Abdul Mosavar Rahmani, who was from Afghanistan.”

The 2-year-old, Avina Barzegar, was mortally wounded by a small object while she was playing outside her home. Video posted on Telegram shows her being treated in a local hospital before she died.

Local officials said 100 other people were injured in the attack.

Pentagon officials previously denied US responsibility for the attack following the March 29 publication of a Times investigation that used video analysis to identify PrSMs as the missiles used in the strike. US Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins issued a statement on March 31 calling reports that the US carried out the attack “false” and suggesting that weapon used in the strike was an Iranian Hoveyzeh cruise missile.

The Times’ latest analysis is “based on new video footage of detonations, new photo evidence of the damage, a missile-trajectory assessment, and the perspectives of multiple experts, including three US government officials.”

Findings include distinctive damage patterns consistent with tungsten pellet dispersion from a PrSM airburst, the discovery of a third detonation site consistent with a PrSM, a strike trajectory indicating the missile was launched from where US forces are based, and the sports hall’s proximity to an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps base. The Minab girls’ school is also located very close to an IRGC base.

Critically, Iran does not have any missiles in its arsenal that function in a similar manner to PrSMs.

“The problem is that CENTCOM chose as an alternative a very identifiable missile,” Amaël Kotlarski, who leads the weapons team at the defense intelligence firm Janes, told the Times. “And the Hoveyzeh’s distinct features aren’t seen in the video.”

Shahryar Pasandideh, another military analyst consulted by the Times, said “there is no public information to suggest that Iranian cruise missiles, including the Hoveyzeh, are equipped with an airburst fuse, let alone an airburst fuse and pre-formed tungsten pellets.”

After the Minab massacre, Trump claimed that Iran had somehow acquired a US Tomahawk missile and used it to blow up the school.

An earlier investigation by the BBC Verify also concluded that the Lamerd strike was carried out using US PrSM missiles.

More than 3,000 people have been killed over 42 days of US and Israeli strikes on Iran, according to medical officials there. This figure reportedly includes over 1,300 civilians, hundreds of whom are women and children.