'BradCast' 4/23/2026 (So Much Losing: In Iran, in public opinion, at the ballot box, in the courtroom)

Cash went before the press to make it very clear that he will dodge any question that comes his way. Can you say dissinatively that you have not been intoxicated or absent during your tenure as FBI director? I can say unequivocally that I never listen to the fake news mafia. I've never been intoxicated on the job. Your lawsuit contends that you were not able to log into the system. What did you think after you were unable to lock into the system? Let's have a survey. How many of you people believe that's true? Survey sent. You can't deny the survey. Well, I don't know why I came here tonight. I got the feeling of something right. I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair. And I'm wondering how I'll get down with stairs. From Pacifica Radio and Los Angeles, this is the broadcast. As heard on KPFK 90.7 FM in LA and on dozens of other fine affiliate stations on both our public airwaves and the internets around the country and the world, blanketing planet Earth. I'm Brad Friedman, your friendly investigative blogger, journalist, troublemaker, muckraker. And all around, swell fellow says me from bradblog.com. Thank you very much for joining us. Welcome to the Bradcast. We have, as usual, a lot to get to today. As I hope, don't be chuckling, Desi Doyen. Well, you know, we always have a 10-pound show to try to fit into a one-pound bag. We do these days more than ever. And I do hope to catch up on both some new items and catch up on a few that I have not been able to get to in recent days with, as usual, too much going on in our... 5 or 10 pound bag. Even as we try to keep up with the deeper dive issues throughout the week, such as my conversation with Nancy Sam Altman of Social Security Works yesterday on the Doge Bro theft of your social security data. And my conversation the day before with Craig Holman, a public citizen on the White House insiders who are making a killing, it seems, on the betting markets with insider information on Donald Trump's war. If you missed either of those two shows, I hope that you will get all caught up over the weekend at bradblog.com, where I should note. I think we will finally, we'll see, but I think we'll finally be doing our big transition to an all-new website, all-new software and design that is about, oh, I don't know, about 20 years or so overdue, would you say, Des? Yeah, that sounds about right. Yeah, I have been working for the past, I don't know, almost a year. Well, certainly the past eight months or eight or nine months, redesigning things from the ground up with all new software after a few folks were able to finally jump in.

help me do some stuff with the database that had been impossible for years, preventing me from upgrading the software at all. Not all heroes wear capes, as they say. Yeah, thanks to those folks. Some of them are just coders and stuff. So hopefully that will all move forward smoothly this weekend if you want to check it out. Hopefully without too much interruption at bradblog.com, though there may be some downtime there. And as always, if you stop on by, please consider hitting one of those donation buttons there to help us. Continue what we try to do here and there every day and have for the past more than 20 years. And, of course, you will help me to afford some associated costs with this long overdue upgrade, et cetera. It should be a lot easier in any event to use bradblog.com if all goes well and to download and listen to our shows, et cetera, there. I hope so. I'm very excited about it. If it works, we'll see if it all goes as hoped anyway this weekend with finally a design that works, by the way, nicely on mobile and tablets, et cetera. And we'll make the whole thing faster, easier to search, to leave comments, et cetera. Very excited. Can you tell I've got that on my mind today? Yes. Anyway, we got into the... doge bro theft of social security data so deeply yesterday that I wasn't able to update you on Donald Trump's indescribably dumb and ill-considered war in the Middle East, which is probably just fine for Donald Trump because he's kind of at the point where he's hoping to pretend it all away since he has absolutely no clue how to get out of the mess that he started. That, of course, is why after Iran refused to fall for his ridiculous threats of a new genocidal war, new genocidal war crimes against them earlier in the week, if they didn't agree to his terms, well, instead of bombing the hell out of them as he had promised, he just declared that, well, I know the deadline is up on the ceasefire, but let's go ahead and continue that ceasefire indefinitely. And that, of course, told Iran and the world that, in fact, he has no actual plans to keep any of this going for the time being and that he was essentially willing the war away. It'll just be an indefinite ceasefire. I didn't lose. Like COVID, it will just magically disappear. Exactly. And, you know, he's always his whole life. He's been able to will things in and out of existence. Like COVID, it'll just go away magically.

But that one did not, and this one definitely will not. He can't simply will his way out of it as much as he is trying to. The straight of Hormuz, no matter what Donald Trump would like to think, it continues to be closed to the traffic of about 20% of the world's oil and gas due to a blockade by Iran. And Trump continues to pretend. That he's the one who's blockading the strait. I meant to do that. At the beginning of the week, the U.S. Navy attacked and then took over an otherwise defenseless cargo ship. And later, it took over a sanctioned oil tanker, supposedly filled with Iranian oil. out near India. Thank God they didn't bomb it. In no kidding. In response over the past two days to that, Iran's Navy, which Trump had claimed he completely and totally obliterated. Just like their nuclear program, which apparently he did not completely and totally obliterate after all, Iran's Navy took over a number of cargo ships and tankers themselves in response. On the heels of that, Trump or his former Fox News weekend co-host turned defense secretary Pete Hegseth abruptly fired the secretary of the Navy in the middle of the highest stakes naval standoff for the U.S. in decades, he was let go for reasons that were not explained. That Navy secretary, John Phelan, was subsequently replaced. By a guy by the name of Hung Kow, no jokes here, hung kow as the acting Navy secretary, who will presumably now be in charge of the most serious U.S. naval battles since World War II, Hung Kau is apparently a failed Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Virginia, who, well, might be a bit of a loon. Here he is in a 2023 interview during his run for the Senate in Virginia, warning about the witches who had taken over the city of Monterey out here in California. And I guess nobody bothered to tell me anything about it the whole time. There's a place in Monterey, California, called Lovers Point. Yeah. The original name was Lovers of Christ Point, but now it's become, they took out the Christ, it's Lovers Point, and it's really Monterey is a very dark place now. A lot of witchcraft and the Wiccan community has really taken over there. And we can't let that happen to Virginia. Virginia is, I mean, especially down in Roanoke, they're God-loving people. Richmond, too, and Virginia Beach, and we just need to mobilize Christians across the nation.

So, you know, I've been to Monterey. I've noticed it was particularly dark. It was quite sunny and delightful there, other than when the Marine layer moves in. Oh, maybe that's the witches. So we can't let the witches take over in Virginia. We can't let Sharia law take over in Texas. This is what Republicans are now doing when they run for office. This is the best they can come up with. Anyway, that guy. The guy who won't let the witches take over Virginia is now in charge of the U.S. Navy. So this should all work out very well. Firing the top Navy official in the middle of a naval battle comes just a week or two after Trump fired the chief of staff of the U.S. Army just after he had sent the U.S. Army into its largest war in a decade or two. But of course, so as Trump can pretend that he's still interested in playing war. in a war that he wishes would just go away. On Thursday, he ordered that the U.S. Navy, quote, should shoot and kill any boat found to be laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz because he won't tolerate anyone other than the U.S. blockading the strait, I guess. He also said in a posting to his failing social media site, that U.S. minesweepers were, quote, at a tripled up level to clear any mines from the waters. Whatever that means. Yeah. But while he, so he can play tough guy, commander in chief, all he likes. So long as he doesn't have to, you know, commit actual ground troops in this war, that he cannot simply will away as much as he would love to. The straight. is closed. The price of energy continues to skyrocket. Brent crude futures were up another nearly 4% on Thursday with the price of barrel of a barrel of crude at above $105 a barrel. It had gone down to 90 something earlier in the week after his... you know endless ceasefire promise now traders are beginning to figure out that scheme, at least for now. Energy is beginning to be rationed around the world along with food, other commodities that need energy in order to be produced and manufactured and grown and shipped to market, which Desi Doyen and the Green News report will share a bit more news on later this hour. Yes. And of course, gas prices remain above $4 a gallon in the U.S. after Trump promised over and over and again that he would. cut gas and energy prices by 50% in half, he promised, during his first 12...

to maybe 18 months in office. But he has done the opposite. He has doubled the price of gas. His economy here at home is tanking. Inflation is on the rise along with unemployment and supply chains once again beginning to buckle because of his dumb war, just like the last time that he was in office and got in way over his head on the COVID crisis, which he was similarly ill-equipped to navigate. But this time, he's got no one but himself to blame. Not that it will keep him from trying to find someone to blame. But he cannot just will this one away with his magic powers. He can't ignore it. He can't change the topic. Because the world economy is remaining at a standstill. And the American public, including Republicans, including MAGA Republicans, are finally beginning to notice. And his poll numbers are taking a beating, falling to below where they were in some cases below his lowest approval ratings from his first term, including after January 6th, his attempted insurrection of the U.S. government in his failed hopes of stealing the 2020 election from the American people. Yes, he has become even less. popular than that. Trump is more unpopular than he was then, according to several polls out this week. A poll from the Associated Press, Nork Center for Public Affairs Research released April 21 shows that only 30% of Americans approve of his handling of the economy, which was once supposedly his strong suit. That 30% in mid-April is a precipitous fall from just March when he was at 38% in the very same poll. So that's an eight-point plummet in a matter of weeks. In the same poll, a whopping 72% of Americans say that the country is headed in the wrong direction. And the president's overall approval rating in this poll is a dismal 33%. 33% in the AP poll. 33% approval rating. In a story about its poll, the AP quoted Catherine Bright, a 60-year-old retired U.S. Air Force captain who supported Trump in the last election, with her noting, quote, I feel disgusted with myself. I feel betrayed like he was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Well, glad you're... Finally beginning to notice, it only took about a decade and the near collapse of our nation and the world. Twice, by the way. But okay, we'll take it. You're starting to realize exactly who he is.

A new strength in numbers Verasite poll found Trump's net approval on prices and inflation has now fallen to negative 46, 46 points below water. The worst rating on any issue, the outfit says that they have ever recorded. Trump has also managed to turn Americans against his deportation policies, with Reuters Ipsos polling released April 22, showing a majority now. 52% of Americans say that they are less likely. To support a candidate, not just Trump, but any other candidate, 52% are less likely to support a candidate who embraces Trump's mass deportation policies. Only 42% said that they would be more likely to support a candidate who is in line with the president's draconian approach to immigration. Y'all going to run on that this November, Republicans? Good luck. With approval ratings in the mid-30s, USA Today's Rex Hupke observes Trump is now well into the dreadful range of George W. Bush during his second term, another president who got the United States embroiled in a war in the Middle East. He keeps telling us that the war in Iran is going swimmingly, writes Hupke, that we have dominated the enemy, that he is in complete control and that everything will be over soon. But none of that is true, and Iranian leaders appear to be playing him like a fiddle, leveraging their control over the Strait of Hormuz to spike gas prices here at home and out maneuver Trump in ceasefire talks. That, of course, presumes that there are actually any ceasefire talks ongoing, which does not actually appear to be happening, because Iran has realized that they are winning this thing and they do not need to talk to Trump, no matter what he says. He loves to say, oh, they agreed to our deal, but I changed my mind. I didn't want it. He needs desperately to talk to them and they don't want to talk to him. But remember now, he cannot be, you know, seen as losing anything ever. So when it comes to negotiations in this thing, he can't give anything up because it will look like him losing. So, you know, really, what is there to talk about if they won't agree to his terms on everything? So they're not going to bother to talk to him anything they don't agree to. Or any, you know, if they don't take his terms entirely, well, that is seen as a loss for Trump. And his whole brand is winning. If he has seen as losing, there goes the entire brand. He can't do that. And guess what? There goes the entire brand, it seems, now that America is realizing, yeah, he's losing this thing.

Meanwhile, back to Hubkey here. A quick stroll, he writes through the president's truth social page shows that he's primarily focused on posting self-aggrandizing artificial intelligence slop. worrying about his precious White House ballroom project and insisting that everything is perfect. Well, good luck with that, Mr. President, because it's not perfect. It's not working. At least if you believe the mountain of different polling all coming out this week showing the opposite, including from Republicans and, of course, the American people as a whole. Trump writes Hubkey is now seeing high-profile departures from what Hubkey accurately describes as his clown car of avid right-wing supporters, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Hupke says the thing you would get if the word disingenuous took human form. That's Tucker Carlson. He recently said he regrets supporting Donald Trump, noting, quote, we'll be tormented by it for a long time. I will be, he said. And I want to say, I'm sorry for misleading people. Tucker Carlson is sorry for misleading people about Donald Trump. Well, I'm pretty sure that I recall Tucker Carlson offering the same regrets after the same unflagging support for years for George W. Bush, the last time we had a president who was stupid enough to get entangled in an unwinnable war in the Middle East. Tucker Carlson is, he's always sorry. Maybe we should just call him the sorry Tucker Carlson. as we've already noted conspiracy theorist alex Jay Jones has bailed on trump as has Megyn Kelly as has Candace Owens as has former rep Marjorie Taylor Greene There's a point when even the most deluded among us, writes Hupke, those that Trump pulled so effectively into his vast web of lies and false promises. There's a point when they cannot reconcile their reality with the president's fiction. I think we've reached that point. He writes, which explains why Trump has recently seemed more unhinged than usual. The magic trick isn't working. He is flailing. That, Hupkeep portends, spells almost certain doom for Republicans in November's midterm elections. Well, we will see. He concludes this way. When the lying stops working, it all crumbles. And it's looking increasingly like the GOP will be well and deservedly crumbled come November. Again, we will see.

But I suspect he is more right than wrong. Survey said. Yes. Survey says we will see one of Trump's other magic tricks, by the way, that is not working as well as it used to either. is, well, namely suing people, suing media outlets to expose true things about him. That is all falling apart as well, it seems, for him. and for his pals who tried the same trick. Let's take a quick break here. We will come back with a spate of such failures for Trump and friends in defamation court this week, plus Green News Report, plus whatever the hell else happens between now and then. I'm Brad Friedman, and you're listening to the Brandcast.

They reported that cash, well, he has a few issues with drinking a bit too much and that the FBI has not been able to reach him on several occasions when they needed to because he was passed out drunk somewhere. Well, good luck with that lawsuit, Cash. Hope it works out better than the similar lawsuit of yours that just got tossed out of court by a judge this week, just hours after you announced. your suit against the Atlantic. A Houston federal court judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by FBI director Kash Patel alleging that former FBI official Frank Faglusey defamed him by saying that Kash Patel last year had, quote, been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the bureau's headquarters in Washington, D.C. U.S. District Judge George Hanks Jr. wrote in his decision, tossing the suit, quote, the court. finds that Fagluse's statement is rhetorical hyperbole that cannot constitute defamation. Accordingly, Director Kash Patel has failed to state a claim against Faglusee and his lawsuit must be dismissed. That dismissal came just one day after Kash Patel filed that $250 million defamation lawsuit. In D.C. federal court against the Atlantic CNBC reports. Fugluse's lawyer, Mark Fuller, in a statement to CNBC, said, quote, this is a victory for press freedom and the First Amendment. Director Kash Patel's claims against Frank was baseless, and we are pleased that the court has dismissed it. In his decision on Tuesday, Judge Hanks wrote that Faglussi's nightclub jibe, quote, when taken in context, cannot have been perceived by a person of ordinary intelligence as stating actual facts about Kash Patel. I see why you're laughing there. I don't think that was meant as a dig against Kash Patel, but maybe it was. A person of reasonable intelligence and learning would not have taken his statement literally that Director Kash Patel has actually spent more hours physically in a nightclub than he has spent physically in his office building, Judge Hanks wrote. By saying that Kash Patel spent far more time at nightclubs than his office. Figluse delivered his answer in an exaggerated, provocative, and amusing way employing rhetorical hyperbole, the judge wrote.

in large letters in crayons. So Cash could read it. Oh, he's going to sue you for agreeing with me, Des. If Cash couldn't win that one, frankly, I mean, is he going to have any more luck against a journalist at a serious publication with more than a dozen sources for her article? Kash Patel was asked a question about that lawsuit against the Atlantic and whether he had ever been drinking on the job. During a presser earlier this week at the Department of Justice just hours before his suit against Fugluzy was summarily dismissed. I'm like an everyday American who loves his country, loves this for to hockey, and champions my friends when they raise a gold medal and invite me in to celebrate. I've never been intoxicated on the job, and that is why we file a $250 million defamation lawsuit. And any one of you that wants to participate, bring it on. I'll see you in court. Well, if you want to see cash in court, you better hurry because his suits seem to get tossed out pretty quickly. Apparently, these people who work for Trump and or idolize Trump think that they can act like Trump by filing these suits and that it will work for them as well. Even if, as you will see in a moment, it no longer seems to be working for Donald Trump either. But another Trump's sycophant on Wednesday night suffered a very similar fate to poor poor Kash Patel in court when her defamation lawsuit was also similarly dismissed by a federal judge. A federal judge in Florida has now dismissed right-wing Trump-loven activist Laura Loomers' defamation lawsuit against comedian Bill Maher and HBO. ruling that the satirist's suggestion that she was having an affair with Donald Trump was clearly a joke. U.S. District Judge James Moody also said in his dismissal on Wednesday that Lumer failed to prove that she suffered any reputational harm. or loss of income as a result of the comedian's jokes about her on his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher back in September of 2024. Quote, a reasonable real-time viewer would have understood Marr was making a joke and not a statement of fact about plaintiff and President Trump, Judge Moody wrote. Said Lumer in response to the case getting tossed and vowing to appeal, by the way. She said, quote, it is beyond the pale for any judge to say that a woman can be accused of having sex with a man and having it be brushed off as a joke just because she proclaimed a platonic love for their politics and leadership style. In her statement, she said the ruling is totally dishonest.

And misogynistic. Okay. Lumer filed suit a month after Mar had speculated that Trump was having an affair with someone and said, quote, I think it might be Laura Lumer. That came after Lumer had accompanied Trump on his private jet several times, had attended a 9-11 memorial with him, etc. In a deposition filed in response to Loomer's suit, Marr said, quote, I made a joke based on their sudden closeness in the news that week. I could have shown a video of them together and all the places that they were together and all the things that they were going on, the I love you, the I love you, the blowing of kisses, you're very special, all this stuff, and then just said, hey, get a room, he said. Instead, he gave his opinion in the form of a joke that, oh, I think it might be Laura Lumer. Which, you know, the notion that you can sue someone for making a joke or for expressing an opinion, as she was doing here, as, as Kash Patel was doing against Frank Faglusi. I mean, I don't know what these people understand the First Amendment to actually mean. I don't think they do understand it. Exactly. The only way that they understand free speech in the First Amendment is that they are allowed to say whatever they want about other people, but no one can say anything about them that they don't like. You're welcome to praise them to the high heavens as long as you want. You're welcome to say and think what they believe you have a right to say and think as long as it's what they tell you you have a right to say and think. And you would think. The FBI director, never mind, Laura Lumer, who knows what's going on in her mind, but you would think that the FBI director would understand that and would understand the First Amendment. Maybe past FBI directors, but not this clown car. Well, actually, I think that he does understand it. I think he understands it damn well. But the point is not to be right, not to win the lawsuit, but to push back against these claims based on things. that turn out to be facts and, you know, reported. But if you turn around and you sue them, well, then, you know, your supporters will see, well, I guess he didn't do it. He's suing. We'll see who's right about this. Lumer said that she received threats as a result of Bill Maher's jokes. The judge found that she had not shown that she had suffered. Any reputational or financial harm, however. According to the judge, quote, the record reflects that to the contrary, Lumer testified that her income increased in 2024 compared to prior years and that she continues to speak to and meet with President Trump. He continues to solicit her opinions and she continues to receive invitations to the White House. So no harm, no foul. Her reputation wasn't harmed. She made more money.

And the whole thing was a joke. Go away, Miss Lumer, is essentially what the judge is saying. So, yeah, it doesn't work if you are not actually Donald Trump. And by the way, even if you are Donald Trump, well, it doesn't seem to work either. At least if you're not a, you know, if he's not suing a company that actually needs him, that actually needs his approval for any particular thing at any particular moment. A federal judge also in Florida last week dismissed Donald Trump's own $10 billion lawsuit against right-wing media baron Rupert Murdoch and his Wall Street Journal, which claimed that the newspaper had defamed Donald Trump with a story saying that the president had sent a, quote, bawdy 50th birthday letter to notorious sex offender. And yes, Donald Trump's years-long best friend, Jeffrey Epstein. That was the letter that was drawn with a sharpie of a nude woman with Trump's signature substituted for pubic hair and the suggestion that the two of them shared a quote, wonderful secret. But nonetheless, despite this suit being tossed out against Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal, Trump will be given a chance to file a new amended lawsuit by next week if he is dumb enough to do so, that according to the U.S. District Judge Darren Gales, a Barack Obama appointee who said that he had to dismiss the civil complaint because Trump had, quote, not plausibly alleged that the defendants published the article with... actual malice. We're all getting a lesson in the First Amendment here today, aren't we? Plaintiffs who are public figures like Donald Trump must show that a defendant had actual malice when they made allegedly defamatory statements. according to legal precedent. It's not just enough to show that they defame them. They got to show that they did it on purpose. They knew better. And they did it anyway. Yeah. Remember, the definition of malice, the legal definition is not what we all think of as common malice. Oh, I don't like that person. I hate them. It's actually about you had to have known that the information was false or should have known that the information was false and intentionally put it out there. That's the legal definition. Essentially, yeah. a problem that I suspect our friend Kash Patel is going to similarly crash into with his ridiculous $250 million suit against the Atlantic, which they may publish something that turns out to be not true, but you also have to show that the paper, the Atlantic, the magazine or the journalist knew that it was not true and printed it anyway. And by the way, the Atlantic vows to defend its reporting and its reporter vigorously in this matter. They stand by their reporting, which means cash is going to have to sit for, you know, depositions in this case. He's going to have to turn over discovery documents regarding how drunk he was or wasn't at any given time. This is not going to work out well for him.

But back to it not working out anymore for Trump either. Judge Gales said that Trump's complaint against Murdoch and the journal, quote, falls short of pleading actual malice. And also said that the president, quote, comes nowhere close to, unquote, the standard for showing that the newspaper deliberately avoided investigating the truth of the statements that had published about the letter that he wrote. to his best friend, Jeffrey Epstein, first 50th birthday. And Judge Gale noted that the article included the fact that Trump denied writing the letter, which makes an allegation of actual malice less plausible since they included that. Donald Trump says he knows nothing about this letter. A spokesman for the journal's publisher Dow Jay Jones and Company said in a statement, quote, we are pleased with the judge's decision to dismiss this complaint. We stand behind the reliability, rigor and accuracy of the Wall Street Journal's reporting. A spokesman for Trump's legal team in a statement said, quote, President Trump will follow Judge Gail's ruling and guidance to refile this powerhouse lawsuit. Against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other defendants. This powerhouse $10 billion lawsuit. So this stuff only works, however, if you want something from Donald Trump, which as of now anyway, Rupert Murdoch does not seem to want. And if you're willing to settle to get it, that's how this works for Trump. The shakedown. If you hang in there, however, and if you fight it, he and those who try the same idiotic intimidation tactics like Lumer like Kash Patel will eventually lose. The First Amendment will win. And of course, in addition to intimidation, it's also about that PR value that I mentioned. You know, a story comes out that makes you look terrible because it's probably true. So you just file some ridiculous $250 million lawsuit or a $10 billion lawsuit, a defamation suit so that, you know, your supporters, you know, see that, well, you mean it. You didn't do this thing. Otherwise, why would you file a suit like that? It couldn't be true. Because he just filed a $10 billion defamation suit because it's so totally undrue. But even for Trump, that ultimately fails against media companies who do not need something from Donald Trump and from the federal government, like, for example, the British outlet, The Guardian. Donald Trump's Media Corporation dropped a defamation claim against The Guardian and two other defendants over a report that federal prosecutors were investigating and $8 million in payments that Trump's company received from entities with ties to Vladimir Putin, describing it at the time as The Guardian did as potential money laundering.

A filing in the 12th Judicial Circuit in, once again, Sarasota County, Florida, the week before last, confirmed that Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of the president's failing truth social media platform, which trades on the stock market as DJT, was withdrawing its claim. The business, Trump's business says, okay, never mind. Guardian had reported back in March of 2023 that New York prosecutors had launched a criminal inquiry into money that was wired to Trump's company through the Caribbean by two entities that appear to be controlled in part by the relation of an ally of Vladimir Putin. So as Trump does, when he's embarrassed by something, he sues the outlet that reports it. So his supporters think that it couldn't possibly be true. Then that lawsuit either gets dismissed or it gets settled if the company in question needs something from him or he quietly drops the thing altogether before the actual evidence might come out in court, as is the case in this particular suit against the guardian. In November, the state judge in this case, hearing the case, Hunter W. Carroll threw it out. Judge Carroll, so last year, Judge Carroll, he's an appointee of Trump ally, by the way, so he's not some, what do they like to say, lefty, crazy, radical leftist judge. He's an ally of now Senator Rick Scott, who was then the Republican governor of Florida. Judge Carroll. stated that the plaintiffs had failed to prove. The defendants showed actual malice last year when he dismissed this case in their reporting. So that probably sounds familiar by now, but he allowed the Trump group to file an amended complaint. Also should sound familiar. So the Trump company did that in January of this year. And a hearing in that case had been set for last week on Tuesday, according to the court docket, before the company's decision to withdraw the legal action entirely just a day or so before the hearing. See how this works? See how it works? You getting it now? Well, it actually doesn't work. It is actually now failing. When you have outlets like The Guardian and outlets like the Wall Street Journal who are willing to stand up to Donald Trump. Because while you probably heard about Donald Trump's lawsuit at the time, that was probably all over the news. Most never heard about when these suits get dismissed or when he simply just drops it right before it's actually coming to a public courtroom. For the record, you often hear me referring to Trump's social media site, truth social, as his failing social media site.

And it's not only because that's how Trump likes to describe other media outlets that he doesn't like, but also because it is a wildly failing social media site. And it has been from the start. And if you want to sue me for saying so, please have at me. But trading on DJT. That's the symbol that he uses on the stock exchange for this company. Trading on DJT was down yet again on Thursday by more than 3%. It just keeps falling and falling. The stock, which was bought up. A couple of years ago by gullible MAGA folks. When I first went public, some of them bought it for nearly $100 a share. Well, DJT is today worth just over $9 a share. Sad trombone. And... After years of losing hundreds of millions of dollars, as they have, Trump is now desperately trying to bail water from that dog of a venture as well, while blaming others for its failure, of course. As the New York Times reports this week, President Trump's social media company, which has consistently lost money and struggled with a flagging share price, announced on Tuesday that it was replacing Devin Nunes as its chief executive. officer. There you go. It's Devin Nunes's fault. I knew it all along. The announcement offered no reason for the sudden departure of Nunes, the former Republican congressman who Trump tapped to run the company called Trump Media and Technology back in late 2021. which has been losing money ever since. Trump media has incurred hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. The Times reports, and its shares have performed poorly since the company went public. Last year, for example, Trump media. That's the company, which has one product, by the way, which is Truth Social as of now. Trump Media took in $3.7 million in revenue and recorded a $712 million net loss. It made less than $4 million. It lost more than $700 million. And that's what it's been doing, year after year after year. Because, you know, he's the greatest businessman of all time. Never mind all that evidence to the contrary. All of it. Losing in Iran. Losing on the economy. Losing in court. Losing at the polls in special election after special election after special election, it is all taking its toll. When your brand is winning and you keep losing.

Well, it becomes impossible to keep up that brand, to continue that lie, and it all comes tumbling down. Things change very quickly around here these days, so we will see if something changes. But for now, it sure is looking a hell of a lot like all of it is tumbling down around him. Hang in there. November is just around the corner, right? Green News Report is next. I'm Brad Friedman, and you're listening to The Brandcast. Hey, this is Brad. Please consider supporting whichever progressive media outlet is supporting you and the things that you care about. Most, just like us, do not receive corporate or political support. We all need your support to counter the powerful corporate media echo chamber. Right now, as much as ever. If you choose to support us, you can do it really easily, safely, and quickly via brandblog.com slash donate. From Desi Doyan and myself, thank you. Welcome back to the broadcast, Bradfrey from Bradblock.com. Are we ready? Yes, I think we are. We actually have for a change some very, very good news, I think, at the end of this. Yes, so stay tuned. For our latest Green News report. Higher prices are primarily inflationary. Shortages hit output directly and are worse for growth. Europe warns of rising shortages amid Trump's war on Iran. Two-thirds of the U.S. is officially in drought. Bad news for summer crops and wildfires. Plus, renewable energy has overtaken coal as the main source of electricity globally. Really? Yes. Cool. All of those stories and more straight ahead from bradblog.com. I'm Brad Friedman. And I'm Desi Doyen. Stand by for six minutes of independent green news, politics, analysis, and snarky comment. I'm pretty confident. Coal will lead the world in global electricity production when I die. Hey, Chris Wright, energy secretary. You might want to check in with your doctor. This is your Green News Report. I'm going to soak up the sun. Okay, Desi Doyne, Donald Trump's war continues to continue. And the world continues to try and survive it, I guess. Yes, European leaders are increasingly alarmed over the Iran war's destabilizing impact on the global economy. This week, EU's central bank president, Christine Lagarde, noted that Asian countries are already rationing, cooking, and jet fuel. One third of the global fertilizer supply is stuck in the strait, and she warned of potential rationing of food and fuel.

in the months to come hitting developing countries the hardest. If the disruption persists long enough, The adjustment shifts from prices, which we are putting up with now, to possibly rationing with very different economic consequences. In particular, some of the low-income countries are emerging market economies that are taking a much more severe hit than us and are moving into rationing. Here in the U.S., I also don't know how long oil prices will take the economy, even if this ends, like there's a long time to get back to normal. Major airlines are canceling flights and entire routes for the summer, anticipating shortages of jet fuel. Delta, Air Canada, and Lufthansa are among the airlines this week that announced the cancellation of tens of thousands of flights. In science, March 2026 was the second hottest March ever recorded globally since recordkeeping began in the mid-1800s, tied with March 2025, according to Noah. Today, two-thirds of the continental U.S. is in serious drought, a record for the month of March. That's according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. March 2026 has ranked as the third all-time driest month ever recorded in the U.S., trailing only behind July and August of 1934 at the height of the Dust Bowl. Oh, yeah, I remember that. It was very, very dry. Yeah, it's not a great sign for the upcoming wildfire season, food prices or the Western... and water supply. Well, wildfire will be happy about it. In Georgia and Florida, extreme drought, low humidity, and high winds have set off raging wildfires, including a massive blaze in Florida's fragile everglades. Climate studies link the observed increase in drought and wildfire to man-made climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels. A new report finds that almost half of the U.S. population, that's more than 150 million people, live in areas with unhealthy. ozone levels and particle pollution, including half of U.S. children. The American Lung Association's annual State of the Air Report called it, quote, a grim indication of the deterioration of air quality nationwide. Did you check how it's looking out here in Los Angeles? Yes, Los Angeles is on the list of the top ten cities with the worst air quality. Fantastic. A different study released this week determined that extended exposure to wildfires. smoke could increase the risk of at least five different types of cancer. I'm not even going to ask how that looks in Los Angeles.

In the courts, a federal judge in Massachusetts this week blocked the Trump Interior Department from enforcing a series of arbitrary, unlawful new restrictions on renewable energy that have halted federal permitting, including requiring extra layers of approval from three different political appointees, not required of fossil fuel projects, that clearly favors fossil fuels and disadvantages solar and wind projects. The new policies resulted in the cancellation. or delay of numerous clean renewable energy projects. Yeah, and one of those people who had to sign off on these projects was the Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum. He could just say no any time he wanted to. For any reason whatsoever. Or no reason at all. Right. And finally, great news for anything that breathes. Surging renewable energy has edged out coal as the main source of electricity globally for the first time ever. That's according to energy data firm, Ember, due to a structural shift towards clean power. Ember found that solar is the key driver, meaning 75% of the growth in global electricity demand. Someone might want to let energy... Secretary Chris Wright know about that. For much more on all of these stories and the ones who couldn't get to today, check out our website at greennews.bradblog.com. I'm Brad Friedman. And I'm Desi Doyen. And this has been your Green News Report. Right, right. You're bloody well right. You got a bloody right to say. So hang on a second. You mean the world prefers clean, renewable, cheap energy to what I was supposed to say, clean, beautiful coal? What? What? Yes. Impossible. I thought it was a boutique energy that could never support electricity around the globe. Yes, the 1990s thanks you for reviving their stupid talking point. But no, that's what the think tank, Ember, has found. They're an energy data firm. They have been doing a deep dive into the electricity mix, and they have a big report on it. And that appears to be what they show, that they say that, you know, it's very light. It's a very slight edge. But renewables are on a very high hockey stick style. upward trajectory and everything else. All other sources of electricity are outpacing. Yes, completely outpacing coal, natural gas, all of that stuff. Yes. Unbelievable. Well, not quite believable, as we've been talking about for years. Of course, this is where we're going. Of course, this is what is going on. By the way, those fires, those wildfires down there in Georgia and Florida. Yes. Has Donald Trump yet? yelled at the governors down there to rake their forests or anything like that? Weirdly, he has not. Has not mentioned that. I wonder why. Ron DeSantis, that is weird. All right, anyway, we've got to get out. Thanks to all of you for spending a portion of your day or night with us. If you missed any portion of today's show or any other, you can download them always for free, no paywall at bradblog.com. That made possible by those of you.

who hit a donate button when you stop by. And hopefully we will have a brand new design for you in the coming days at bradblog.com. I hope you will check it out. Oh, yeah, my thanks to our producer, Desi Doyen, as well. You can drop me email if you like. I am Bradcast at Bradblog.com. You can find both of us on the social medias. especially Desi, especially at Blue Sky, where you will find her at Green News Report. And you will find me at The Brad Blog. That's right. We'll see you there. Until we see you here next time, I'm Brad Friedman. Good luck, world.