DL Open Thread: Thursday, April 24, 2025
President Donald Trump raised a record $239 million for his 2025 inauguration celebrations, propelled by contributions from corporations and ultra-wealthy individuals — including more than a dozen people Trump has nominated to a variety of roles in his administration.
Donors to his inaugural committee included picks for ambassadorships, members of Trump’s Cabinet and firms engaged in actionswith federal agencies or those looking for favorable regulatory decisions, according to a Washington Post analysis ofa filing the inaugural committee made to the Federal Election Commission on Sunday.Some companies have sought to influence the new administration’s policies on trade, taxes and government spending.
Tech and crypto companies also played a prominent role in Trump’s inauguration, contributing tens of millions of dollars to the committee after years of regulatory challenges during the Biden administration and Trump’s first term.
I know, I know. Dog bites Man. As is this:
Top owners of President Donald Trump’s crypto meme coin will soon be invited to dine with the president at his Washington-area golf club, the company behind the venture announced Wednesday.
At the “intimate private” dinner, Trump will discuss the future of crypto, according to the page on his meme coin’s website promoting the event. It’s another prominent example of Trump mixing politics and his personal business; a Trump-owned company owns a significant amount of the meme coin.
The memecoin is just one of several ways in which Trump and his family are positioning themselves to cash in on crypto. Trump’s sons launched a separate crypto company last year called World Liberty Financial, which is launching a digital token known as a stablecoin that is pegged to the value of the dollar.
The Trump family crypto ventures could all stand to benefit from industry-backed crypto legislation that is moving on Capitol Hill, but they have also complicated the political dynamics around the issue. Trump’s crypto ties have angered industry-friendly Democrats, whose support is needed for legislation to clear the Senate. House Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-Ark.), who has pushed for years to enact new rules that would benefit crypto, said last month that the family’s crypto ventures have made his work in Congress “more complicated.”
The Absolute Corruptor Corrupts Absolutely.
Why Hasn’t the University Of Delaware Stood Up To Trump’s Fascism? I’ve already mentioned UD’s refusal to join countless other universities and colleges in signing this letter. Students and allies, including Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton, are now demanding action:
The protesters decried the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, yelling that they didn’t want so-called ICE agents on campus. They complained that Secretary of State Marco Rubio “brags about deporting students for exercising their First Amendment rights.”
Some held signs railing against deportations, visa revocations and even the arrest of protesters at other campuses. One placard waved by a young man proclaimed: “My classmate isn’t the threat. ICE is.”
UD’s website informed students, however, that immigration enforcement agents are not required to notify university officials if they go to public areas such as its grounds, library or student centers, which are places anyone can enter.
But to enter private areas such as dormitories, ICE agents must have a warrant signed by a judge and an arrest warrant if they plan to detain someone, the school said.
But Emma Abrams, co-chair of UD’s Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter, which helped organize the rally, called on the school to be a more strident defender of its student body.
“We believe deeply that these visa revocations as they are happening currently are illegal and the university should not be complying with illegal visa revocations,” said Abrams, a junior from Charleston, South Carolina, who is majoring in environmental and natural resource economics.
Assanis would not speak with WHYY News about the revocations or the students’ concerns, but the school shared its notice to the campus community, including the webpage with questions and answers, and a statement issued after the demonstration.
Wilson-Anton said she’s concerned the leadership at her alma mater is playing it too safe with Trump. As a contrast, she pointed to Harvard University’s adamant and public refusal last week to enact several policies sought by Trump’s team under the threat of losing billions of dollars in federal grants and contracts. Harvard sued the Trump administration Monday.
“The sense that I’m getting is that the University of Delaware administration is trying to not make any moves that will bring attention to them,” Wilson-Anton said. “And that’s a strategy that I’ve seen a lot of people try to do during this time, and I think it’s not the best strategy.”
“I think what Harvard is doing and what other actors have decided to do, which is stand up and actually challenge unconstitutional behavior from the Trump administration, that’s what we should be doing,” she said. “And I think in a time like this, moral courage is incredibly important.”
Too many universities, including my alma mater (Syracuse University), have demonstrated a lack of moral courage. ‘If we don’t challenge them, they’ll spare us.’ Show me where that has ever been a successful strategy.
What do you want to talk about?
IAt least he finally cleared that up:
“Backwards reeled the mind.”