MAGA Senator Mike Lee Posts Creepy AI Clip of Trump Rewarding ‘Big Balls'
The post came as the president finally addressed the 19-year-old ex-DOGE staffer by name in a Truth Social message on Thursday.
Trump wrote, 'Edward: The Crime situation in Washington, just like our Southern Border where ZERO Illegals entered in the last three months, will be a safe place very soon. Thank you for your bravery and heart. Stay tuned!'
Senator Lee has already posted the fake clip on his personal account this week, but he doubled down on Thursday with a caption about making 'DC safe again,' including 'Trump gives the Medal of Freedom to Big Balls.'
The AI clip appears to show a fake Trump leaning into the computer-generated image of the teenager, before placing his hands on his shoulders.
Senator Lee credited X user ALX with making the AI clip–the user's bio states they are an 'American supremacist'.
ALX had posted the clip –made using Elon Musk's Grok technology–on Wednesday with the caption 'Give Big Balls The Presidential Medal of Freedom.'
ALX's account has featured a string of pro-'Balls' content, from complaining about a lack of mainstream media coverage over the assault to posting an apparent tribute in Washington that read, 'Heal fast Big Balls, thanks Trump! Love DOGE.'
As well as trying to hard launch the hashtag #BigBallsForDCMayor, Lee also backed Trump's latest passion project of a potential federal government takeover power of Washington D.C, adding it would lead to a restoration of 'law and order'.
Crime in D.C. has become a Trump talking point this week after the president posted a graphic photo of the teenager, who uses the nickname 'Big Balls,' from Sunday's crime scene.
Coristine was left bloodied after an alleged carjacking in Washington on Sunday. He was approached by at least two teenagers at around 3 a.m., according to a police report. Metropolitan Police arrested a 15-year-old male and 15-year-old female, both of Hyattsville, Maryland, and charged them with unarmed carjacking.
On Wednesday, Trump referenced the teen, who now works for the Social Security Administration, in a press conference at the White House, without actually mentioning him by name.
'We have a capital that's very unsafe,' Trump said. 'You know, we just almost lost a young man, beautiful, handsome guy that got the hell knocked out of him the night before last and, uh, I'm going to call him now. We wanted to give him a little recovery time.'
Trump continued, 'We just put a call into him. They're calling back in a little while, but he he went through a bad situation to put it mildly, and there's too much of it. We're going to we're going to do something about it.'
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for an update on the president's interactions with Coristine.
On Thursday, Fox News' Gutfield co-host and ex-wrestler Tyrus called for more respect on Coristine's name.
'Instead of calling him 'Big Balls,' we should call him by his name; we should revere him,' Tyrus said.
He added, 'The problem is we've worked so hard to water men down... and the ones who suffer the most are women. We need to praise this man, and we need to praise more young men for getting involved because men, it's time to get back in the game.'
Corisitine entered the MAGAsphere earlier this year when Elon Musk hired him to overhaul the federal government as part of DOGE, with his ballsy nickname being spotted on his LinkedIn profile.
He quit in June, after working on projects including Trump's 'gold card' visa, which was designed to sell U.S. citizenships for $5 million apiece.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
a few seconds ago
- CBS News
$20K reward offered to find driver that killed toddler and father in Long Beach
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors increased the reward to find the hit-and-run driver who allegedly killed a 3-year-old and her father in 2022. The deadly crash happened in North Long Beach on the night of March 1, 2022. Samantha Palacios, 3, and her father, Jose Palacios-Gonzalez, 42, were asleep in their apartment on the 6600 block of Rose Avenue when suspect Octavio Montano Islas slammed his 2014 Dodge Ram pickup truck through their wall. The Long Beach Police Department said Montano Islas was drunk and driving away from a nearby bar. Initially, LA County offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension and conviction of Montano Islas. Supervisor Janice Hahn increased the reward to $20,000 after it expired this year. "Today Samantha would have been seven years old, possibly starting 2nd grade in a few weeks, had Octavio Montano Islas not brutally cut her life short. Nothing will fill the gap left by the deaths of Samantha and her dad Jose, but we need to find this driver and hold him accountable. Their families deserve justice," Hahn said. Following the deadly collision, family members and supporters pleaded for justice and implored Montano Islas to turn himself in to the police. "Nothing is going to return our loved ones, but Octavio Montano Islas has to pay for what he did," said mother Esnelia Palacios in 2023. "I ask you to please help us do justice." Investigators described Islas as a 5-foot-8, 160-pound man with black hair and tattoos on his right forearm. Authorities urged anyone with information to contact Scott Jenson of the Long Beach Police Department Detective Division at (562) 570-7218. "To the suspect that took the lives of Jose and Samantha, know this: our officers will not be dissuaded by the passage of time," Long Beach Police Chief Wally Hebeish said in 2023. "We will continue our investigation until we find and arrest you. You will be held accountable for the death of Jose and Samantha — and you will be held responsible for the subsequent pain you've caused by failing to turn yourself in."
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Early results from Utah's municipal primary elections
Various cities and towns across Utah will be voting in Tuesday's primary election for mayoral spots and city council posts, among others that are on the ballot this year. The filing period for most of the positions ended June 6, providing voters an initial glimpse at potential future leadership. Still, there's plenty of time to get to know the hopefuls — primary voting, if necessary to narrow the list of candidates, culminates on Tuesday, with general election voting ending on Nov. 4. Four Salt Lake County cities will be using ranked-choice voting — Salt Lake City, Millcreek, Midvale and South Salt Lake — and the filing period for those goes from Aug. 12-19. The ranked-choice voting process eliminates the need for a primary, and the varied candidates under the alternative system go directly to the general election ballot. Numerous posts on school boards and special districts across Utah will also be on the ballot this cycle, including school board seats for the three new school districts in Utah County in anticipation of the upcoming voter-approved split of the Alpine School District. Here's a look at some of the municipal races this year in selected Utah counties that are on the primary ballot. Many cities across Utah are holding mayoral elections this year. Salt Lake County Bluffdale City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Adam Christian, 343 Wendy Aston, 891 Mackey Smith, 719 Jeffrey Steele, 460 Albert Allen Larsen, 472 Draper City Council, 2-year term (1 seat, top 2 move on): Brad Byington, 1,395 Oliver Herrera Schuster, 419 Evan Sorensen, 391 Kathryn Dahlin, 2,041 Emigration Canyon City Council (1 seat, top 2 move on): Dillon Wheelock, 13 Jacob Steed, 105 Zachary Posner, 46 Roberto Pinon, 146 Herriman City Council, District 3 (top 2 move on): Matt Basham, 487 Rodman D. Grimm, 161 Heather Garcia, 336 Holladay Mayor (top 2 move on): Daren A. Watts, 1,949 Zac Wilson, 1,783 Paul S. Fotheringham, 3,092 Kearns Mayor (top 2 move on): Tina Marie Snow, 1,006 Christopher James Geertsen, 184 Michael Jesse Xon Valdez, 689 Cache Dexter, 70 City Council, District 2 (top 2 move on): Lyndsay Longtin, 221 Alan Peterson, 122 T. Jordan Hansen, 114 Magna Mayor (top 2 move on): Maxwell Thomas White, 360 Michael Ronald Romero, 426 Alexander Adriano, 459 Mickey Sudbury, 999 City Council, District 2 (top 2 move on): Eric Gordon Barney, 153 Cisco Johnny Rodriguez, 58 Megan L. Olsen, 193 City Council, District 4 (top 2 move on): Brooks Jones, 70 Terry George, 138 Trish A. Hull, 141 Murray Mayor (top 2 move on): John Jeffrey Evans, 1,124 Bruce E. Turner, 1,817 Brett Hales (incumbent), 4,425 City Council, District 2 (top 2 move on): Pamela Jane Cotter, 805 Dale M. Cox, 382 Jared Michael Eborn, 412 Aaron Lee Holbrook, 174 City Council, District 3 (top 2 move on): Clark Bullen, 713 Scott Goodman, 317 Ben Peck, 424 Leann Parker-Reed, 162 Riverton Mayor (top 2 move on): Tish Buroker, 3,693 Tawnee McCay, 2,033 John Scott, 402 Sandy Mayor (top 2 move on): Monica Zoltanski (incumbent), 9,139 Alison Stroud, 1,909 Cyndi Sharkey, 4,358 Justin Hilgendorff, 95 Roger Downward, 223 City Council, District 3 (top 2 move on): Iva Williams, 978 Kris Nicholl, 1,770 Matthew Ostrander, 630 Parry Harrison, 921 West Jordan City Council (3 seats, top 6 move on): Rob Bennett, 1,986 Kayleen Whitelock, 2,790 Jessica Wignall, 2,040 Chris McConnehey, 2,051 Kevin Seal, 609 Sergio Sotelo, 1,876 JD Sheppard, 1,107 Rulon Green, 663 Kelvin Green, 1,807 David F. Pack, 1,782 Annette Harris, 2,632 Eric Hanna, 240 West Valley City City Council, at-large (top 2 move on): Heidi Roggenbuck, 2,398 Lars Nordfelt, 2,608 Ryan L. Mahoney, 892 Justin J. Turcsanski, 987 City Council, District 2 (top 2 move on): Danny George Jr., 610 Rocky A. Thomas, 272 Scott L. Harmon, 1,304 City Council, District 4 (top 2 move on): Cindy Wood, 1,288 Amitonu Wesley Amosa, 327 Geovani Salazar, 265 Jim M. Vesock, 314 Utah County Alpine City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Sarah Blackwell, 303 J. Ben Blank, 20 Jennifer Wadsworth, 353 Andrew Young, 475 Troy Slade, 231 Ali Garbero, 92 Wesley G. Funk, 155 Eagle Mountain Mayor (top 2 move on): Tom Westmoreland (incumbent), 481 Donna Rivera Burnham, 383 Melissa Clark, 906 Jared R. Gray, 944 Duncan J. Searcy, 266 City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Emily Buss, 895 Brett L Wright, 1,295 Craig Whiting, 1,264 Laure Jensen, 654 Oreta M. Tupola, 299 Charlotte Ducos, 978 Highland City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): McKaiden Carruth, 205 Ron Campbell, 489 Wes Warren, 347 Liz Rice, 563 Kristin Richey, 324 Scott L. Smith, 670 Corey Freeze, 175 Lehi Mayor (top 2 move on): Paige Albrecht, 2,552 Chris Condie, 1,115 Paul Binns, 2,013 Charlie Tautuaa, 368 City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): E. Larell Stephens, 596 Stephen Suafilo, 590 Kenneth Glade, 392 Emily Lockhart, 2,274 Rachel Freeman, 2,012 Jared V. Peterson, 1,515 James Harrison, 1,958 Paul Hancock, 1,442 Jordan M. Hutchinson, 455 Tyson Hodges, 253 Mapleton Mayor (top 2 move on): Dallas Hakes (incumbent), 1,015 Therin Garrett, 1,261 Scott Liggett, 715 Claudia Paradis, 72 City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Kasey Beck, 1,283 Melanie Bott, 1,077 David Smaldone, 415 Angela Silva, 717 Francis Gibson, 1,136 Jake Lake, 1,011 Orem City Council (3 seats, top 6 move on): Steven White, 1,047 Archie Williams, 157 Tommy Williams, 196 Quinn Mecham, 4,273 Crystal Muhlestein, 3,396 Doyle Mortimer, 3,921 Angela Moulton, 3,826 LaNae Millett, 3,628 David M. Spencer, 3,180 Truman Van Cott, 731 Payson City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Easton Brady, 558 Kirk D. Beecher, 517 Brett Christensen, 404 Lacee Smith, 644 Bob Provstgaard, 867 Joseph Hansen, 193 Provo Mayor (top 2 move on): Michelle Kaufusi (incumbent), 4,436 Marsha Judkins, 3,877 Eric Mutch, 265 Thatcher Alain Longman, 285 City Council City Wide I (1 seat, top 2 move on): Katrice MacKay, 4,939 Adam Shin, 2,555 Tom Fifita Sitake Sr., 1,170 City Council District 2 (1 seat, top 2 move on): Sally Clayton, 164 Jeff Whitlock, 886 Hannah Petersen, 836 City Council District 5 (1 seat, top 2 move on): Sam Blackburn, 113 Rachel Whipple, 450 Shay Aslett, 65 Tim Jafek, 41 Saratoga Springs City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Emma Wilson, 1,009 Kevin McMillan, 564 Michael D.S. McOmber, 401 Esther Sekiziyivu, 359 Rob Taylor, 545 Tyler Tolley, 373 Randall Diamond, 400 Spanish Fork Mayor (top 2 move on): Mike Mendenhall (incumbent), 2,238 Scott Neilson, 1,045 Richard Dougan, 138 City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Bryan Edman, 657 Shane Marshall, 1,920 Valerie Mills, 1,033 Kevin Oyler, 2,227 Edes Hill, 552 Spring Lake City Council 4-year term (2 seats, top 4 move on): Joy Benson, 61 Elizabeth Black, 22 David Charles, 109 Robert Judd, 87 Spensor Smith, 21 Jana Stanton, 21 Danise Farren, 29 City Council 2-year term (2 seats, top 4 move on): Richard Behling, 71 Sharon Bascom, 65 Shamayne Cram, 17 Von Menlove, 35 Robert C. Marsh, 94 Ryan Moore, 44 Jordy Smith, 25 Vineyard City Council (3 seats, top 6 move on): Brett Clawson, 227 Jacob Wood, 355 Caden Rhoton, 203 Terry Ewing, 204 Ezra Nair, 228 Parker McCumber, 306 David Lauret, 256 Steve Terry, 103 Davis County Clearfield City Council (2 open seats, top 4 move on): Brennan Berry, 474 Timothy Roper (incumbent), 791 Danielle King, 826 Karece Thompson (incumbent), 633 Tony B. De Mille, 298 Clinton City Council (2 open seats, top 4 move on): Jennifer Steele Christensen, 894 Robert Lee Eberhard, 120 Shelby Montgomery, 375 Adam B. Larsen, 1,110 Cameron M. Frick, 134 Gary Lee Tyler (incumbent), 352 Zackery M. Hatch, 536 Chris Danson, 927 Layton Mayor: Amy Midori Jones, 514 Trevor Lee Foust, 2,798 Joy Petro (incumbent), 4,814 City Council (2 open seats, top 4 move on): Britshana Dahl Barfuss, 1,616 Cody Rae, 607 Jory Rand Argyle, 1,739 Claude Young, 1,461 Jarrod Morrill, 1,210 Mike Kolendrianos, 2,606 Bettina Smith Edmondson (incumbent), 3,867 Linda Lartigue, 2,067 North Salt Lake City Council (2 open seats, top 4 move on): Gary Steven Widders, 229 Conrad Jacobson, 614 Heidi Smoot, 1,138 Alisa Van Langeveld (incumbent), 1,169 Ryan Holbrook, 828 Sunset City Council (2 open seats, top 4 move on): Raymond Harold Chapman Jr., 55 Ronald Fish Wilson, 83 Nancy Greco Smalling (incumbent), 255 David Silos-Aguirre, 68 Cornel Wilkes Thomas, 121 Katherine R. Hunter, 200 West Bountiful City Council (2 open seats, top 4 move on): Kelly Enquist (incumbent), 369 Frank Yingst, 40 Richmond S. Thornley, 302 Julie Nichols Thompson, 679 Mark W. Preece (incumbent), 443 West Point Mayor (top 2 move on): Annette Judd, 440 Brian Vincent (incumbent), 848 David Marvin Drake, 430 Weber County Harrisville City Council, at-large (2 seats, top 4 move on): Stephen Weiss, 152 Brenda Nelson, 172 Tracy Martinez, 58 Greg Montgomery, 512 Steven Wayne Hempel, 234 Jason Hadley, 535 Hooper City Council, Seat 3 (top 2 move on): Shauna Lee Ray, 82 Debra Marigoni, 117 Ray Hancock, 160 Marriott-Slaterville Mayor (top 2 move on): Les Syme, 264 Chelsie Stanger, 97 Mark Hodson, 122 Dennis Illum, 37 North Ogden Mayor (top 2 move on): Ryan Barker, 1,487 Mona Wald, 878 Phil Swanson, 1,046 City Council at-large (2 seats, top 4 move on): Kevin Burns, 1,020 Tera Carney, 1,150 Zach Ward, 866 Jared Paul Flandro, 805 Jay D. Dalpias, 2,130 Ogden Valley Mayor (top 2 move on): Janet Wampler, 901 Kyle F. Reeder, 200 Andrew Philip Newton, 60 Shanna Francis, 1,154 City Council, Seat 1 (top 2 move on): Michael Robert Zindel, 29 Christopher Charles Caldwell, 57 Chelsea J. Argyle, 94 Tia V. Shaw, 142 Raymond E. Higuera III, 42 City Council, Seat 2 (top 2 move on): Abe Kelly Wangsgard, 107 Rick Marriott Kelson, 47 Peggy Dooling-Baker, 255 City Council, Seat 3 (top 2 move on): Fred W. Blickle III, 74 Cari Cutler, 20 Marshall McGonegal, 52 Charlie Dickson Graff, 79 Benjamin H. Prall, 19 Kay Hoogland, 290 City Council, Seat 4 (top 2 move on): Christine Brown, 3 Chad Booth, 381 Laura Warburton, 49 Beau Rawlinson, 16 Trevor Shuman, 13 Heidi H. Gross, 13 Christy Veglia, 12 City Council, Seat 5 (top 2 move on): Donald E Griffiths, 92 Don Hickman, 235 Dan Davenport, 142 Ogden City Council, At-large Seat A (top 2 move on): Alicia Washington, 2,266 Marcia White, 2,464 Sheri Lyn Morreale, 454 John H. Thompson, 1,011 City Council, At-large Seat B (top 2 move on): Pieder Beeli, 874 Bart E. Blair, 2,383 Kevin Lundell, 2,954 Plain City Mayor (top 2 move on): Phil Meyer, 978 Shawna Faulkner, 366 Kade Parks, 126 City Council, at-large (2 seats, top 4 move on): Jed Jenkins, 845 Sean Jones, 390 Robert Jenkins Lamb, 391 Luigi Panunzio, 722 Lacey Hainline, 315 Pleasant View City Council, at-large (2 seats, top 4 move on): Sean Wilkinson, 796 Brian Gray, 349 Johnny Ferry, 733 Todd Hardman, 153 Derek Draper, 231 Riverdale City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Kent T. Anderson, 431 Bart Stevens, 339 Shauna Flinders, 332 Jim Packard, 279 Stacey E. Haws, 327 Roy City Council, at-large (2 seats, top 4 move on): Rebel Brooks, 394 Diane Wilson, 1,683 Blythe C. Wilde, 217 Jason Evan Sphar, 924 Anna Graff, 547 Janel Hulbert, 1,064 Anthony W. Dick, 778 City Council, at-large, 2-year (top 2 move on): Ty Chaston, 655 Sharin Marie Withers, 308 Darrin Albright, 522 Alexis Jackson, 780 Washington County Enterprise City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Yvonne Colby, 28 Justin Seegmiller, 113 Craig Gardner, 31 Ronald Alfred Lehm, 27 Douglas R Truman, 59 Kanton Vause, 47 Jerald Hunt, 58 Hurricane Mayor (top 2 move on): Nanette Billings (incumbent), 991 Rick Crow, 520 Gary Sanders, 315 Clark Fawcett, 1,058 City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Shavene E. Butler, 401 Cindy Charlton-Matejka, 607 Lynn L Excell, 976 Katheryne Knight, 312 Kevin Thomas, 791 Michael C. Hirschi, 955 David B Imlay, 1,317 Ivins City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Jenny Johnson Christiansen, 297 Lance Burton Anderson, 125 Shad Johnsen, 440 Mike Scott, 1,100 Wayne D Pennington, 660 Dillon Hurt, 711 Jamy Dahle, 179 La Verkin City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Amanda Barr, 158 John Vincent Valenti, 104 Christian Kenneth Harrison, 74 Richard Brooks Howard, 148 Annika Durum, 90 Leeds Town Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Doris Brown-McNally, 87 Adam Ken Law, 47 Aaron Price, 87 Christine Marie Harvey, 70 Troi Gee Hoster, 55 Town Council 2-year term (1 seat, top 2 move on): Jeffrey Douglas Allen, 52 Rochelle Gardner, 98 Kenneth Hadley, 29 Springdale Mayor (top 2 move on): Barbara Bruno (incumbent), 110 Pat Campbell, 53 Jeff McKee, 4 City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Noel Benson, 58 Jack Burns, 49 Paul Zimmerman, 28 Randy Aton, 70 Tom Kenaston, 71 Kathy LaFave, 29 St. George Mayor (top 2 move on): Michelle Randall (incumbent), 5,243 Brannon R. Razo, 314 Aros Mackey, 2,002 Jimmie B. Hughes, 4,554 City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Nathan Caplin, 2,182 Greg Aldred, 3,296 Jami Leavitt, 4,054 Natalie Larsen, 4,454 Shane Losee, 1,751 Michelle Tanner, 5,019 Bryan D. Thiriot, 1,468 Tooele County Erda City Council District 4 (top 2 move on): Tynley Bean, 28 Lawrence Kimpel, 51 Craig Smith, 45 Grantsville Mayor (top 2 move on) Heidi B. Hammond, 663 Jolene Jenkins, 501 Todd Stewart, 386 City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Kevin D Casey, 117 Mackenzie Wilstead, 340 Charles Sipes, 53 Tom Tripp, 756 Michael L. Tate, 324 Jake Thomas, 608 Mint Phillipps, 63 Derek Dalton, 633 Tooele Mayor (top 2 move on): Karen Betancor, 706 Priums S. Butler, 142 Maresa Tonioli Manzione, 1,513 Brad Pratt, 1,051 City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Emily A Chandler, 1,094 Kelley Anderson, 775 Dave McCall, 1,528 Jon Gossett, 1,572 Spencer Peck, 1,123 Iron County Cedar City Mayor (top 2 move on): Emily Rhodes, 554 Steve Nelson, 2,162 Rebecca Faith Munn, 119 Phil E. Schmidt, 1,355 City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Ronald Riddle, 1,500 Barry E. Short, 611 Waldo D. Galan, 1,502 Kathy A. Long, 893 R. Scott Phillips, 2,955 Enoch Mayor (top 2 move on): Noel J Wells, 205 Jim Rushton, 394 Katherine A. Ross, 422 Wasatch County Charleston Mayor (top 2 move on) Brenda Christensen, 29 Jan Wilson, 100 Shawn Taylor, 68 Town Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Michael Bauer, 80 Marc L. Mair, 64 John (Bob) Robert 'Bob' Kowallis, 44 Scott Todd Solum, 132 Brenda Angela Gemmell, 60 Heber City Mayor (top 2 move on) Heidi Franco (incumbent), 1,468 D. Scott Phillips, 1,271 Mike Hewlett, 206 City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Yvonne M Barney, 1,259 Lori Wikert Rutland, 388 Corey Noyes, 620 Morgan Murdock, 940 Nick Lopez, 921 Christen Thompson, 550 Jami Hewlett, 152 Ken Davis, 583 Midway City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Craig Knight, 158 Starr Stratford, 648 Jared (JC) Simonsen, 430 Andy Garland, 621 Randy Lundin, 250 Genene Probst, 401 Summit County Coalville Mayor: (top 2 move on) Walter William Brock, 39 Lynn Wood, 111 Tyler J. Rowser, 34 Rory Thomas Swensen, 143 City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on) Matthew Boyer, 188 Steven Bingham Richins, 61 Andrew Edward Nelson, 72 Colleen C. Goodman, 104 Chris Tomczyk, 33 Jeff M Peterson, 166 Francis City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on): Scott Ian Buchanan, 26 Justin Ciampi, 47 Riley J. Atkinson, 149 Lynsi Stone, 98 Shana Jai Fryer, 83 Clayton Wilson Querry, 98 Henefer Mayor (top 2 move on): James Alfre Rees, 95 Kay H. Richins (incumbent), 119 Dawn M. Langston, 9 Park City City Council (2 seats, top 4 move on) Diego Zegarra, 799 Jeremy Rubell, 545 Beth Armstrong, 459 Molly Miller. 360 John 'J.K.' Kenworthy, 467 Danny Glasser, 442 Tana Toly, 909 Ian Hartley, 165 Solve the daily Crossword
New York Times
28 minutes ago
- New York Times
Trump Is Doubling Down on Sanctions. Putin Is Laughing All the Way to Alaska.
Donald Trump wants the war in Ukraine to end. Volodymyr Zelensky wants the war in Ukraine to end. Many other presidents and prime ministers want the war to end. Vladimir Putin is not one of those presidents. The war in Ukraine has become the political, psychological and economic center of Putin's regime. That basic asymmetry would seem to doom any attempt at a negotiated peace — it is, in fact, the main reason no meaningful peace negotiations have occurred in the three and a half years since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Trump thinks he has a solution, though. He says he intends to use his negotiating prowess and keep ratcheting up economic pressure until Putin has no choice but to stop the fighting. Between the bombastic social media posts, the shifting deadlines, the erratic announcements — one day a White House official says Trump will meet with Putin only after Putin meets with Zelensky, another day Trump drops the requirement — it's easy to overlook the fact that Trump's policy toward Russia largely follows the same failed strategy employed by the Biden administration, the first Trump administration and the Obama administration before that. For more than a decade, the United States has responded to Russian aggression by threatening and gradually imposing economic sanctions. That some of Trump's sanctions take the form of tariffs doesn't alter the nature of the policy. The conventional theory behind sanctions is that economic pressure destabilizes regimes, possibly forcing the leader to change course. In one scenario, widespread hardship — unemployment, inflation, shortages — leads to popular discontent, even unrest. In another, a shrinking economy and loss of access to foreign markets anger the elites, who stage a palace coup or at least compel the leader to change direction. The problem with this theory is that it's wrong. When sanctions have an effect, it is usually to immiserate ordinary people. The elites remain wealthy, and the gap between the rich and the poor only grows. Rather than foment resentment against the regime and the elites, this tends to rally society against the country that imposed the sanctions. That enemy, after all, is far away and easily turned into an abstraction, while the elites at home control the media, which frames the conflict. They also control the jobs and the goods, making it much costlier to hate the elites at home than the enemy far away. And beyond a certain level, hardship leads people to withdraw from even thinking about politics, because they have to focus on survival. As for the palace coup scenario, Russia has shown clearly how sanctions come to have the opposite of their intended effect. Superrich Russians living abroad who found their access to Western markets cut off and some of their assets frozen moved to places like Dubai or returned to Moscow. What else were they going to do? That the economic pie is shrinking doesn't mean that the elites suddenly start conspiring to overthrow the leader — a risky proposition unlikely to succeed in the best of cases; it means only that they compete harder for what remains of the pie. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
