Saudi Crown Prince’s Visit: Deals and Awkward Moment. Nah to Title IX: 130 Congressional Democrats. Tisch Stays. Robby George Goes. Plus, More.
While Trump haters are positively giddy over yesterday’s congressional votes to release the Epstein files (here and here), cooler heads realize that the Jeffrey Epstein scandal is never going away, no matter what great volume of material is released. That’s because it is essentially a chimera.
Arguably more crucial to the world, controversial Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited the White House yesterday, where President Trump designated the Kingdom a major, non-NATO ally:
Trump said the partnership reached a new level after a day of meetings and signings with bin Salman. He praised Saudi Arabia’s modernization, calling it “an economic engine and a modern-day miracle,” and said new agreements in energy, minerals and artificial intelligence were “unprecedented.”
He added that Saudi Arabia had agreed to boost its investment in the U.S. from $600 billion to $1 trillion, a move he said would create American jobs and further strengthen the growing alliance.
An editorial in the Wall Street Journal headlined “The Art of a Deal with Saudi Arabia” concluded:
What will the U.S. get from MBS’s trip? So far, the answer is cash money. The Crown Prince said his May pledge of $600 billion in investments in the U.S. will be raised to $1 trillion. Wait to see how much of it materializes. But a strengthened U.S.-Saudi relationship is good news. From China and Israel to Yemen and Iran, there’s much the Saudis can do for America. For what Mr. Trump is offering them, though, he ought to make sure he isn’t asking too little.
“Trump Lauds Saudi Prince in Lavish Visit, Brushing Off Journalist’s Killing” is a New York Times headline. The killing was the gruesome 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, an activist and Washington Post columnist. The president glided right over it (“things happen” but “he knew nothing about it”), but the Washington Post today publishes an editorial about Khashoggi’s death, with the headline “Things Happen“:
The United States government often advances its national interests by working with nasty people, and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is one of the nastiest. It’s one thing, however regrettable, to deal reluctantly with him. President Donald Trump’s performance at the White House Tuesday was something else entirely: weak, crass and of no strategic benefit to America.
You’ve got to admit—it is a social conundrum never once addressed by Emily Post. Former President Joe Biden called MBS “a pariah” in response to the—ah—Khashoggi matter and came to bitterly regret it when the U.S. badly needed MBS. The New York Times has a partial guest list for the black tie dinner for MBS. Instead of suffering poor Mr. Khashoggi’s fate, Elon Musk was invited to dinner last night. Lee Smith takes a dim view of the effect of the Saudi Prince’s visit in The Tablet.
MBS got the royal treatment last night, partly because he is important to President Trump’s plans for the Middle East. With regard to that plan, New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin spots a miracle—“Trump Miraculously Receives Praise from New York Times after UN Backs Gaza Peace Plan.”
Remarkably, there was another rare instance of decency at the UN yesterday. Rap superstar Nicki Minaj stood up for Nigeria’s persecuted Christians, shaming the callous “human rights’ elite,” which prefers to dismiss Islamic attacks on Christians. The BBC is doing all it can to deny persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
“Trump Serves a McDonald’s Happy Meal” is the headline on a Wall Street Journal editorial on the former fry chef’s return to the fast food giant. This time, the editors note, Trump was trying to kill the joint-employer rule, beloved of former President Barack Obama, and pushed by unions to make organizing easier:
Mr. Trump vowed on Monday night that “as long as I’m President, I’ll always defend your right to run your own small business, and do it well.” If he means it, he’d also reduce his tariffs and stop his Administration’s mass deportation raids at law-abiding workplaces. Deregulation and tax reform were the secret sauce to his first-term’s economic success that helped him win re-election.
Please, sir, can we have another order of that—and hold the rest?
I have a hunch this headline at the lefty Salon wasn’t intended to be good news: “The GOP Is on the Cusp of Destroying Obamacare.” (Hat tip to RCP for spotting the story.) “This time Republicans are taking a death-by-increments approach to the ACA — and it just might work,” columnist Heather Digby opines.
I have another hunch this PJ Media subhead was written to gladden hearts: “Watching the Left Eat Its Own Never Gets Old.” PJ’s David Manney writes that Senator Corey Booker signals that it’s time for the feast to begin. They will chow down first on Minority Leader Chuck Schumer:
With ambitions to be the anti-Schumer, being younger, louder, and more camera-ready, [Booker is] beginning a snowball fight over succession politics, something that’s not complicated and also lacking subtlety.
King of New York. “Zohran Mamdani Just Declared NYC a City of…What?” is the headline on a Townhall article. Of course, you guessed—the Mayor-elect has declared that the Big Apple is a “city of international law.” Townhall observes:
It’s not, of course, but take two guesses why Mamdani is making such a claim.
Did you guess “to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu”? Of course you did. On the other hand, Mamdani has asked respected Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to stay on, and she has accepted.
Please Don’t Keep on Trucking: “ICE Arrests Uzbek Illegal Immigrant with Terrorist Connections Working as a Truck Driver in Kansas” is the headline on another troubling Townhall story. Dmitri Bolt writes:
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Monday the arrest of 31-year-old Akhror Bozorov, an illegal immigrant from Uzbekistan wanted in his home country for involvement with a terrorist organization. Bozorov was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers while operating an 18-wheeler in Kansas. He had been issued a commercial driver’s license by the state of Pennsylvania and was working as a truck driver.
Not Getting the Royal Treatment: That would be unelected Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “The president has signed off on possible operations inside Venezuela but has also reopened back-channel communications with the government of President Nicolás Maduro,” according to the New York Times.
On Second Thought: Our friends on the left, who used the FCC to censor conservatives, have experienced an epiphany. An editorial in the Wall Street Journal begins:
Well, well. The left’s media censors are suddenly discovering the dangers of letting the government regulate speech when their political opponents are in charge. The Trump era is concentrating minds in this way, and last week progressives asked the Federal Communications Commission to repeal its decades-old “news distortion” rule for broadcasters. It’s overdue.
Much-admired intellectual Robert George has resigned from the board of the Heritage Foundation in response to Heritage President Kevin Roberts’ remarks on Tucker Carlson. An editorial in the Wall Street Journal praises the “unfailingly civil” Mr. George. Righteous indignation is the hallmark of Commentary editor John Podhoretz’s piece headlined “Kevin Mamdani and Zohran Roberts.”
“How Do You Spell ‘Harvard’? With an Endless Supply of A’s,” is the headline on Jason Riley’s WSJ column. It is about grade inflation, proliferating at Ivy League colleges and beyond:
Because colleges have lowered admissions standards to take advantage of tuition subsidies and admit as many students as possible, they have a strong incentive to lower standards for grading and for graduation. The better way to address grade inflation would be to privatize student lending and require colleges to pay some portion of student loans for borrowers who default.
If we want schools to exercise more discretion in admitting students and maintain high academic standards, give them more skin in the game.
So Much for Title IX: One hundred and thirty Democrat congressional representatives are urging the Supreme Court to side with a “trans” athlete to allow men to compete with women in women’s sports. The coalition includes nine Senators and 121 House members.
