Leland Vittert's War Notes: Defying Political Logic

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29-03-2025

Cost of MAHA: Liberty (my sister) is out with a must-read opinion piece in The Hill, 'MAHA will make groceries UNAFFORDABLE again.'
Never talked about in the discussion of dyes and ultraprocessed foods is the cost of taking them out.
'For example, a dye-free snack bar from Truvani — the health food company of one of MAHA's most vocal proponents — runs $42 for 12 bars, compared to $5 for 12 Nutrigrain bars that do have artificial food-dyes,' Liberty writes.
Liberty joins us tonight on whether Americans will pay the cost of going healthy.
Bonus coverage: 'Is Ozempic Really the Reason Americans Are Snacking Less?' headlines The Wall Street Journal.
By the rules of politics, Donald Trump had a God-awful, lousy week.
A sinking stock market.
The Dow closed out today with a loss of 700 points.
A major national security scandal.
For more on SignalGate, read Wednesday's 'War Notes' here.
Deporting multiple college students.
Over 300 student visas have been revoked, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Consumer confidence is down.
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 57.0 – its lowest rating since 2022.
Trump announced tariffs that will raise the cost of many cars by thousands of dollars.
According to the Anderson Economic Group, prices of cars could rise between $4,000 and $12,000 with the proposed tariffs.
For a wrap-up of Trump's week, check out NPR's piece, which shows how the Left is almost giddy with Trump's recent bad fortune.
BUT: The rules of politics don't apply to Donald Trump.
An Economist/YouGov poll shows his personal approval rating up two points as of Tuesday.
The number of Americans who say the country is on the right track is the highest it's been in over a decade.
Oh, and most of the big law firms that waged war against Trump and Republicans are rolling over while promising millions in pro bono work to Trump's pet projects.
The big law divide over capitulation versus fighting Trump in his retribution campaign is an awesome sideshow to watch.
Conclusion: There's something going on that the American people are responding to.
Watch here: Tim Walz explaining the problems of the Democratic Party – namely not being bolder on DEI and wokeness:
'We let them define the issue on immigration. We let them define the issue on DEI. And we let them define what 'woke' is. We got ourselves in this mess because we weren't bold enough to stand up and say, 'You're damn right we're proud of these policies. We're going to put them in and execute them.''
Maybe Americans feel how Jon Stewart does:
'Jon Stewart screams 'OMFG' and is rendered speechless after hearing all 14 steps to apply for 'Build Back Better' funding.'
Stewart was talking to Ezra Klein, a liberal New York Times columnist, about his new book.
Stewart realized why Americans feel so angry: It's because Trump is promising an answer to their anger.
Reminder: Trump won by stealing the Democratic agenda on working-class issues.
Warning signs: Trump's agenda can derail in many ways – a Democratic Congress would flip everything on its head.
A complete stop to his legislative agenda – plus investigations into his administration.
Math problems: Republicans hold a very slim majority in the House – 218 GOP seats to 213 Democrats.
Special elections in Florida for former representative turned national security adviser Mike Waltz and former Congressman Matt Gaetz's seats are already too close for Republican comfort.
Latest polling shows the Democratic candidate in Florida's 6th Congressional District now closely trailing the Republican within the poll's margin of error.
'How the hell is this race close,' headlines our friend Chris Cillizza.
My buddy Chad Pergram with the math on Trump withdrawing Rep. Elise Stefanik's nomination for ambassador to the United Nations to protect the House majority.
Warning bells from the race for a judge position on Wisconsin's Supreme Court could change the make-up of the court, but more importantly, show just how close swing states remain.
Watch tonight: Steve Cortes and Nina Turner on what happens if Trump loses the House of Representatives.
Cold as 💩
Vice President JD Vance showed up in Greenland today.
He wasn't invited to visit anywhere in Greenland, so he arrived at a U.S. military base.
'It's cold as s–t here,' Vance told the assembled troops.
Fact check: True.
But not exactly the most diplomatic entry to a country that America wants to 'take over.'
He then proceeded to trash Denmark:
'Denmark hasn't done a good job at keeping Greenland safe,' said Vance.
Vance's Greenland trip highlights a couple of things – and none of them are good for the VP.
Trump views him as an errand boy.
Trump wants him to play attack dog.
His portfolio is all of the administration's unpopular issues.
He's unable to push back in his own defense, yet he's a lightning rod for the Left.
From The New York Times on Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., trying to take on JD Vance:
'In an interview, Mr. Khanna, 48, said he intended to cast Mr. Vance as a unique threat to America's constitutional order, and argued that there was no time to waste in building the case against Mr. Vance, a likely heir to President Trump's right-wing political movement.'
Trump refused to name Vance as the rightful heir of the MAGA movement.
Be fair: At 40 years old, JD Vance is one of the most impressive political figures in American history.
His rise is JFK-adjacent but even more impressive since he came from drug-ravaged Appalachia rather than silver-spoon Boston.
Watch tonight: What's next for Vance and whether he can move out from the shadow of Trump.
He needs to move out of that shadow – he has the lowest favorability rating of any new vice president, at the two-month mark of their first term, since the polling began.
The Left finally figured out how to really show their displeasure with Donald Trump – by burning Teslas and stealing prosciutto, or anything else, from Whole Foods.
Yes, you read that right – the billionaire heroes of the Left, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, are now villains.
A year ago, driving your Tesla to Whole Foods proved that you were virtuous.
Now, it's worthy of attack – literally.
🪧 This weekend, anti-Elon groups planned protests at more than a dozen Tesla dealerships across the country.
Yes, protest American-made electric cars – that will certainly help Democrats win back working-class voters.
And, Business Insider reports that shoplifters are taking food from Whole Foods to express their displeasure with Jeff Bezos.
One thing never accounted for in politics is luck – and nothing continues to help President Trump more than those who oppose him being stupid.
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