Good morning. I’m Corinne Straight, and this is AlterNet America. Please take a moment to click the ❤️ and restack this post. The oligarchs’ platforms are trying to keep stories like the ones below from hitting your feeds, and this helps us break through.
Trump, 80, again fell asleep on camera, this time during his own steel plant announcement. His administration just made your car worse to help the oil industry. The FBI’s co-deputy director, who helped lead the raid on a Georgia election center, resigned after just one year on the job. And Ken Paxton went on stage and bragged about a plea deal that let a child predator walk free.
**Before we get to the news, a brief ask: **AlterNet America was launched as a direct response to MAGA billionaires buying up networks like CBS and newspapers like the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. We’re going all-in on the bet that reader-supported journalism can compete directly with the billionaires by being the one thing they can’t buy.
We’re incredibly grateful to all the free subscribers who have signed up to receive our newsletters in recent weeks. But if you’ve been thinking about making the leap to become a paying subscriber, this is the time when it matters the most. Please upgrade today.
The event was supposed to be about energy, and the president proved he has none.
Trump again had trouble staying awake during a public event on Monday, nodding off just moments after announcing a $15 billion steel plant in eastern Iowa. As Energy Secretary Chris Wright began to explain the administration’s partnership with Mesabi Metallics, Trump’s eyes closed and his head drooped forward.
Mesabi chairman Rewant Ruia then grabbed the mic to talk about how excited he was for the project. Trump kept his eyes shut and his neck bent throughout the remarks, eyelids fluttering open and shut as Ruia spoke.
When reporters asked Trump questions afterward, his responses were quiet, and his speech was slurred.
Trump has seemingly nodded off during signing ceremonies, Cabinet meetings, the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham, and most recently, the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon. His behavior has led politicians and voters to call for a formal health examination, but Trump has refused to undergo one.
Just in case you thought you weren’t already paying too much at the pump.
The Trump administration announced Monday that it is rolling back federal fuel economy standards for new cars. Now automakers will need to improve the efficiency of their fleets by up to 1% a year, averaging 34.9 miles per gallon by 2031.
The rules announced under the Biden administration called for a 2% annual increase, with a goal of 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031. In other words, Trump’s making American cars burn more gas so that oil companies can sell more.
Officials in the administration say that the fuel efficiency technology adds to the cost of vehicles, and the rollback will reduce the price of a new car by about $1,300. Over the lifetime of a less efficient car, fuel costs will be much higher than that.
The move is a direct gift to the oil industry, which has lobbied for years to roll back fuel economy rules. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the lobbying group for Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, applauded the decision within hours of the announcement.
The FBI’s co-deputy director lasted one year working with Kash Patel, eleven months longer than anyone who’s met Kash Patel would have predicted.
Andrew Bailey, who assisted in the FBI’s controversial raid on a Georgia election center in January, resigned from his position Monday. The former Missouri attorney general joined the bureau last September, and didn’t even make it to his first anniversary.
Bailey said he was leaving to return to his family in Missouri. He lauded Trump’s leadership and said he was confident FBI Director Kash Patel will continue to “reform” the bureau.
But according to the New York Times, the real reason was that Bailey and Patel couldn’t stand each other. The two reportedly went months at a time without talking to each other, despite the role being created specifically so that the two men could share leadership after Dan Bongino proved unable to handle it alone.
Former talk radio host and conspiracy theorist Bongino dramatically resigned as co-deputy director late last year. He lasted about nine months in the role before announcing his departure in December, after clashing with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
You couldn’t waterboard this confession out of most people.
Ken Paxton on Monday stood before the United States Hispanic Business Council in Fort Worth and defended his office’s handling of a child sex abuse case. The charges involved a Texas man, Adam Hoffman, who pleaded guilty to repeatedly molesting a young boy.
Paxton’s prosecutors had offered Hoffman a plea deal that would have put him in jail for just one day. They also did not include the victim’s age in the plea documents, which meant Hoffman would not have had to register as a sex offender.
Judge Roy Sparkman rejected the deal, calling it absurd and demanding a 60-day sentence instead. Hoffman was released after only 30 days.
Paxton told the audience Monday that the criticism of his office was overblown. He acknowledged Hoffman was released, but said his office “did not control the situation” and “did our best.”
Paxton is running for U.S. Senate against Democratic state Representative James Talarico, who has strongly condemned his handling of the case. In a campaign ad that’s been running since July, Talarico says “We don’t need any more pedophile protectors in Washington.”
Right-wing billionaires are quietly gobbling up more media outlets, while smaller outlets unable to keep up shut down on a nearly daily basis. If left unchecked, the rich and well-connected get to do their dirt in the dark and escape all accountability. But AlterNet America doesn’t answer to them. We only answer to you, and that means we can cover these stories the way they need to be covered. But our editorial independence is only possible with the support of our paying subscribers.
If you’re still reading, that means you found this newsletter valuable. Now we need you to make your support official by upgrading your free subscription to a paying one.** It only costs 22 cents a day, and ensures AlterNet America will be able to continue working exclusively for you instead of a billionaire or corporate owner. Please subscribe or upgrade now.**
Thank you again for reading and for supporting independent media. And if you haven’t yet, click the ❤️ and restack this post so we can break through to more feeds.
** Trump’s Most Fanatical Rally-Goers Are Deserting Him.** Several high-profile members of the “Front Row Joes,” a group of MAGA supporters that spent years following Trump around the country to attend his rallies, have publicly split with the president. Rick Frazier, a founding member who estimates he has attended more than 100 Trump rallies, told Politico’s Playbook that Trump’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and the war in Iran were disqualifying, and that he may not even vote in the November midterms. Trisha Hope, who once published a book consisting entirely of Trump’s social media posts, said a “light switch went on and a veil lifted” when Trump dismissed the Epstein files during a Cabinet meeting.
** Secretive Network Finds New Jobs for Climate Workers Fired by Trump.** Since the Trump administration began slashing science funding last year, one group called Climate Reserve has been quietly placing fired federal climate scientists and researchers into new jobs at nonprofits and universities. The initiative, born out of private conversations among dozens of laid-off experts, is being driven by former senior Biden climate official Aparna Shrivastava. More than two dozen climate workers have already been transitioned to new roles, and the goal is to reach 50 by the end of September. Climate Reserve has also revived federal projects abandoned by the administration, including EJScreen, a government tool that maps pollution exposure in U.S. communities.
** VA Awards Record $1.17 Billion in Grants to Fight Veteran Homelessness.** The Department of Veterans Affairs announced a record $1.17 billion in grants to 680 organizations across the country to help veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The grants will be distributed in fiscal year 2027, following the VA’s housing of 51,936 homeless veterans in fiscal year 2025, the highest number in seven years. The announcement was a positive step from an administration that has otherwise spent the past two years gutting the VA, cutting nearly 28,000 positions in 2025 alone, including thousands of nurses, physicians, and psychologists. Since Trump took office, an estimated 1.2 million veterans have lost their VA physicians.
** Wyoming Wind Farm Uses AI Cameras to Protect Eagles.** In Converse County, Wyoming, a 110-turbine wind farm is using AI-powered cameras to help protect eagles from colliding with its blades. The system, called IdentiFlight, uses wide-view cameras to spot incoming birds, then a high-resolution camera to track their flight path and classify the species. When it detects a collision risk, it slows the specific turbine in the eagle’s path rather than turning off the whole facility. A 2021 study estimated the technology reduced eagle fatalities by 82% compared with a nearby site, while an updated 2022 analysis put the figure at 85%, though with a wide range of uncertainty.