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.
The Supreme Court greenlit Trump’s White House ballroom in a 5-4 decision that didn’t even determine whether the project is legal. Trump told Americans they’ll end up “backwards and poor” if they don’t want AI data centers in their backyards. The Department of Homeland Security labeled a Texas stay-at-home mom’s website a tool for domestic terrorism because it shows which companies profit from ICE. And a lawsuit alleges that the gas stations Trump praised for their patriotically low prices were selling fuel that was never paid for.
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John Roberts is concerned the president may have too much power. If only there were someone who could’ve stopped him.
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Monday that Trump can continue construction on his massive new ballroom at the White House. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the three liberal justices in dissent, writing that the construction is “likely unlawful” because Congress never authorized it.
The conservative majority did not decide if the ballroom is actually legal. The unsigned decision said the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which brought the lawsuit, lacks standing to challenge the project because it hasn’t suffered a concrete injury. If that sounds like a technicality, that’s because it is one.
The price tag has been climbing steadily from $200 million when announced in July 2025 to $300 million in October and $400 million in December. Trump repeatedly promised that private donors would pay for the entire cost, but a Washington Post report based on internal government documents pegged the total cost at $600 million, with taxpayers footing more than half the bill.
The National Trust warned that by allowing construction to continue, the Court effectively ended the case. Roberts agreed, writing that the ruling is “no victory for the separation of powers.” He would know, having spent the last two years handing them all to the same guy.
The man who couldn’t spell “covfefe” just called you stupid.
Trump posted on Truth Social Monday morning that communities rejecting data centers are choosing to be “backwards and poor,” warning that China “could not be happier” with the growing opposition. He closed the post with the rallying cry “let Data Reign.”
Those communities have enacted more than 100 moratoriums across 49 states, where 833 opposition groups have organized against new projects. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, that opposition blocked or delayed $130 billion worth of projects.
Even Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who declared Texas the “epicenter of AI development,” has done a complete reversal. With a tight reelection campaign on the horizon, Abbott froze all new data center grid connections in August and told voters he was “pushing back against these AI data centers that are trying to build in our neighborhoods.”
Trump called the move a “mistake,” saying data centers “could be bigger than oil.” Nothing is bigger than oil in Texas. Except a primary challenger.
The Department of Homeland Security wants you to believe that the most dangerous weapon in America is a spreadsheet.
Laura Berlin, a mother of two with a background in nonprofit communications, built an interactive map called “Who is Profiting from ICE?” after watching footage of men being deported to a Salvadoran prison without due process. The map plots the contractors, companies, and politicians across the country who take federal money to help carry out the administration’s deportation policies.
Some of the contractors include AT&T, Comcast, Dell, Deloitte, FedEx, Motorola, and Palantir. Activists have used the database to organize hundreds of protests targeting the companies, pressuring them to cut ties with ICE. In one case, an East Coast bank severed ties with two prominent detention center contractors after account holders threatened to pull their money.
The Department of Homeland Security responded by issuing a secret intelligence bulletin to local and federal law enforcement agencies in February, specifically naming Berlin’s website as information that could be used by “anarchist extremists.” The bulletin warned that protest activity could escalate to vandalism or the use of incendiary devices.
A DHS spokesperson said that gathering such information from local partners “helps sharpen the national threat picture.” Berlin’s website is entirely composed of publicly available government contract data.
As it turns out, the secret to cheap gas is not paying for it.
Freedom Fuel Network, a chain of gas stations mostly in the Philadelphia area, made national headlines in early July when it started selling gasoline at roughly 50 cents below market prices. Trump celebrated the chain on Truth Social, writing that the retailer was “taking the lead” out of its love of America, and that “others should follow.”
A federal lawsuit filed on August 19 by Georgia-based fuel supplier Mansfield Oil Company offers a simpler answer. The company alleges that a New Jersey businessman named Syed Kazmi of KRSM Inc. took more than 1.1 million gallons of fuel from a Sunoco terminal in Twin Oaks, Pennsylvania between late May and early July and never paid for it.
The haul was reportedly worth nearly $4 million, some of which was sold through Freedom Fuel stations. The lawsuit does not name Freedom Fuel or its stations as defendants, but public records show that Kazmi’s brother, Shamikh, is the facility operator for several of the Freedom Fuel stations.
A federal judge overseeing the case has ordered Kazmi and KRSM to maintain at least $2.75 million in a bank account. So far that is the only payment anyone in this story has been asked to make.
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Senate Republicans Privately Call Trump a Liability Ahead of the Midterms. Senate Republicans are privately calling Trump a growing political liability with the midterms approaching. His approval rating is 38 percent, and his refusal to walk back a $1.8 billion compensation fund for MAGA allies has given Democrats an easy attack line on corruption. New polls show Republican candidates trailing Democratic challengers in North Carolina and in traditionally red states like Ohio, Iowa and Texas. Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis said Republican candidate Michael Whatley would have to run a perfect race to overcome the “headwinds” and encouraged him to find ways to separate himself from the president.
Federal Judge Refuses to Lift Block on Trump’s Anti-Mail Voting Order. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani on Monday refused to stay a temporary restraining order she issued last week blocking the Postal Service from enforcing key parts of its new rule restricting mail-in voting. The Department of Justice had asked Talwani to suspend her own order while they appealed, but she noted that federal procedures generally do not allow parties to appeal a temporary restraining order. In her ruling, Talwani said the federal government’s attempts to change state election practices directly conflict with the public’s need for clear rules two months before the midterms.
Florida Orders Removal of Flock Surveillance Cameras from State Highways. The Florida Department of Transportation on Monday rescinded all permits for automated license plate readers on state roads, citing an “exponential increase in deployments coupled with concerning reports of misuse, data privacy concerns, and surveillance schemes.” Local law enforcement agencies have 30 days to remove the devices, or the state will take them down itself. Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis promised to remove the cameras from state rights-of-way after several instances of abuse, including an officer from Haines City police arrested for searching Flock camera data for his estranged wife’s vehicle more than 700 times.
** FDA Approves Mounjaro to Reduce Heart Attack and Stroke Risk in Type 2 Diabetes.** The FDA approved Eli Lilly’s diabetes drug Mounjaro to reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular death in adults with type 2 diabetes. Heart disease kills more people with the condition than anything else, but most treatment has focused on managing blood sugar rather than preventing cardiac events. A five-year trial of more than 13,000 people across 30 countries found Mounjaro matched or outperformed a competitor that already had proven heart benefits. No other drug in its class has received this kind of approval.