It’s Friday.
President Shitshow’s public schedule for…
Today’s key events are happening out of sight: executive orders in the morning and a post-lunch policy meeting, both closed to the press and light on details.
Since it’s me, they have announced what EO he will be signing today and it’s not closed to the press either.
FFS.
Trump orders up IndyCar race on the streets of Washington for 'America250 Grand Prix'https://t.co/8KPMyoIelp
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 30, 2026
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Friday aimed at launching an IndyCar race on the streets of the District of Columbia this summer during the celebration of America’s 250th birthday, a White House official told NBC News.
The order, which has not been made public yet, will instruct the Interior and Transportation departments to “coordinate with the Mayor” and design a race route near the National Mall “that showcases the majesty of Washington, D.C., and its iconic national monuments,” according to a fact sheet.
The departments are tasked with “expeditiously” securing the necessary permits and approvals, while Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will be given the authority “to use available funds to facilitate the race,” the White House added.
It will be called the “America250 Grand Prix.” IndyCar said it is on board to host the race on the weekend of Aug. 21-23, and will administer it in coordination with the Trump administration and Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office.
[snip]
Apart from the logistical challenges of establishing a street race in just a matter of months, there may be other hurdles. The project could require congressional approval, given that advertising is banned on Capitol grounds and IndyCar is decked out with ads.
NBC News. 01/30/2026.
We can’t afford to feed people but we can afford to host an Indy Car to celebrate freedoms we don’t have anymore. #Winning
Rapid Fire Friday:
Toddler Announces his Federal Chair Nominee via “Lies Social”.
I used Roll Call to grab the post.
I was doing a little scrolling for info on Kevin Warsh and came across Tim Miller host of the Bulwark podcast. And it sent me down a rabbit hole.
Kevin Warsh's father-in-law is Ron Lauder, the billionaire behind the Greenland plot who is also doing a Lithium deal with a US govt backed partner in Ukraine. Epstein claimed they were friends in his emails.
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) January 30, 2026
Concerning conflict of interest for the "independent" fed chair.
PBS News mentioned that yes indeed Ron Lauder “is the heir to the Estee Lauder cosmetics fortune and a longtime donor and confidant of Trump’s.”
Continuing the search I found this from The Irish Times (01/15/2026); The battle for Greenland: The billionaire behind Donald Trump’s obsession:
He is not just son and heir of cosmetics queen Esteé Lauder, the 81-year-old lawyer is a close confidant of Donald Trump. And, according to some, he is the one who put the Greenland flea in the president’s ear.
Trump’s promise this week to take Greenland “the easy way or the hard way”, flagging unsubstantiated US security concerns, has sparked outrage and unease in Nuuk, a semi-autonomous part of the Danish kingdom.
[snip]
At the same time last year, Lauder described Trump’s Greenland ambitions as “never absurd – it was strategic”. Greenland was, as he put it, “America’s next frontier” – a nod to the settling of the so-called Wild West.
As well as the water company, Lauder and his investment partners have expressed an interest in bidding to build a hydroelectric dam on Greenland’s largest lake.
[snip]
Lauder and Trump have known each other for decades and both attended the same Philadelphia business school.
In their 2022 book The Divider, journalists Peter Baker and Susan Glasser spoke to Trump’s first-term national security adviser John Bolton about Lauder. Bolton said Lauder offered himself as a go-between with the Danish government.
Online and off, Danish analysts fear a growing push by US politicians and allied business people to influence public opinion in Greenland.
Digital rights researcher Signe Ravn-Højgaard of Copenhagen’s Digital Infrastructure think tank says Greenland’s small population of just 56,000, and a reliance on US platforms like Facebook over traditional media, would make it “much easier to subtly shift the discourse than to run overt disinformation campaigns”.
The Irish Times (01/15/2026).
See? A rabbit hole…
The nomination hit a slight snag already…
Kevin Warsh is a qualified nominee with a deep understanding of monetary policy. However, the Department of Justice continues to pursue a criminal investigation into Chairman Jerome Powell based on committee testimony that no reasonable person could construe as possessing…
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) January 30, 2026
The full tweet:
Kevin Warsh is a qualified nominee with a deep understanding of monetary policy. However, the Department of Justice continues to pursue a criminal investigation into Chairman Jerome Powell based on committee testimony that no reasonable person could construe as possessing criminal intent. Protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve from political interference or legal intimidation is non-negotiable. My position has not changed: I will oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee, including for the position of Chairman, until the DOJ’s inquiry into Chairman Powell is fully and transparently resolved.
It’s the tweet. 01/30/2026.
In follow-up posts he explained:
Speaking of Hassett…
EISEN: It's strange if you really think GDP is around 7% to argue for lower interest rates in that environment, especially with inflation above target
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 30, 2026
HASSETT: If we continue to have the supply side boom that we've seen in the first half of this year, there will be plenty of… pic.twitter.com/TNkPBqRdT3
Show more =’s HASSETT: If we continue to have the supply side boom that we’ve seen in the first half of this year, there will be plenty of room for the Fed to lower rates
If we have a boom lowering rates is bad.
He says the losers who didn’t get the Fed job have a future with “TRUMP”.
DOJ Arrests Don Lemon
Attorney for my colleague and friend Don Lemon has released a statement saying Don was arrested by federal agents in LA last night. This is outrageous and cannot stand. The First Amendment is under attack in America! pic.twitter.com/V4TVEK7Icy
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 30, 2026
Don Lemon was not alone in being arrested for being a journalist.
Independent journalist Georgia Fort was, like Don Lemon, arrested for doing her job: documenting a protest of public concern. When members of the press are taken into custody simply for filming and reporting, it sends a chilling message to every journalist in America. The First… pic.twitter.com/nmFF0pp5b2
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) January 30, 2026
As a reminder.
DOJ’s original complaint against Don was rejected by Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko who refused to sign the criminal complaint and then the DOJ appealed and that too was rejected. That chief judge, Hon. Patrick J. Schiltz— is a former Scalia clerk and George W. Bush appointee: https://t.co/TE64kt59CJ pic.twitter.com/dccCoXNc5w
— Jake Tapper 🦅 (@jaketapper) January 30, 2026
Propaganda AG Pam Bondi said:
At my direction, early this morning federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 30, 2026
More details soon.
The White House is mad that the sealed document the DOJ hasn’t unsealed isn’t being mentioned in headlines.
🚨 Any “news” outlet failing to make clear in their headline that Don Lemon was indicted by a federal grand jury is intentionally misleading the public.
— James Blair (@JamesBlairUSA) January 30, 2026
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
#EpsteinFileGate
The DOJ forty plus days late has released more Epstein Files.
“The Justice Department on Friday dropped more than 3 million documents from its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, completing the release of its records as mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said.”…
— MS NOW (@MSNOWNews) January 30, 2026
The Justice Department link to the Epstein Files can be found here.
Given it’s Rapid News Friday, I haven’t had time to think today.
Government Shutdown
Yesterday, the Senate and Toddler reached a deal on preventing a long-term shutdown. Senator Lindsey Graham has stalled the plan cause he wants to play victim and be able to sue Jack Smith aka the taxpayer because Smith had the nerve to obtain his phone call logs. I’m starting to think Graham has some pretty shady shit on his phone given his reaction to Smith’s obtaining, legally, his phone call logs.
LINDSEY GRAHAM has now moved on to the provision that prevents him from suing the government for surveilling him.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 30, 2026
"I'm not going to give up on the idea that we should abandon holding Jack Smith accountable."
GRAHAM says the House "jammed me. … Speaker Johnson, I won't forget… https://t.co/ohUmYlXUdP
Show more =’s GRAHAM says the House “jammed me. … Speaker Johnson, I won’t forget this.”
FBI/DOJ to investigate the murder of Alex Pretti
BREAKING: The FBI is now leading the investigation into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a DHS spokesperson says. https://t.co/RDMfSrlKG7
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 30, 2026
The FBI is now leading the federal investigation into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, with the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security – known as Homeland Security Investigations – supporting the investigation, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.
HSI had been leading the probe into Saturday’s shooting of Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
CBS News. 01/30/2026.
The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting death of Alex Pretti in Minnesota, the deputy attorney general says.https://t.co/UU0SuYC4JH pic.twitter.com/AnNcWvoGj0
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 30, 2026
That CNN article is paywalled.
AP News (01/30/2026):
The Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting of Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis resident killed Saturday by Border Patrol officers, federal officials said Friday.
“We’re looking at everything that would shed light on what happened that day and in the days and weeks leading up to what happened,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said during a news conference.
Blanche did not explain why DOJ decided to open an investigation into Pretti’s killing, but has said a similar probe is not warranted in the Jan. 7 death of Renee Good, who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis. He said only on Friday that the Civil Rights Division does not investigate every law enforcement shooting and that there have to be circumstances and facts that “warrant an investigation.”
“President Trump has said repeatedly, ‘Of course, this is something we’re going to investigate,’” Blanche said of the Pretti shooting.
AP News (01/30/2026).
I’m done guys, my rapid news Friday brain has hit the wall.
Have a great weekend!
This is an open thread
