McSweeney's

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The official Bluesky feed of McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, & McSweeney's Books. .

June 19, 2026 – The Trump administration announced that it would end South Africa’s participation in PEPFAR, the US program that has supported HIV prevention and treatment across Africa for more than two decades. The administration said South Africa had failed to satisfy White House policy demands unrelated to public health, including repealing a land-expropriation law, exempting American companies from Black empowerment laws, and distancing itself from Iran. South Africa has the world’s largest HIV epidemic, with about eight million people living with the virus.
June 17, 2026 – At the G7 Summit, Donald Trump repeatedly compared his Iran agreement to the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated under Barack Obama, insisting his own agreement was superior. Trump claimed that Iranians had mocked Obama as “a stupid son of a bitch” and denied that the United States would contribute to a $300 billion reconstruction plan for Iran despite the agreement’s commitment to work with regional partners on such a plan. Of his own deal, he said, “Nobody knows what it is, but it’s very strong.”
The Trump administration announced that it would transfer the Education Department's special education programs to the Department of Health and Human Services and move enforcement of school civil rights laws to the Justice Department, further dismantling the agency without congressional approval. The change put special education under Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said in 2025 that people with autism "will never pay taxes, they'll never hold a job, they'll never play baseball, they'll never write a poem, they'll never go on a date," and later defended the transfer by arguing that special education programs "are health-related programs rather than particularly educated programs."
May 28, 2026 – The Pentagon announced a $9.7 billion contract with Dell that could financially benefit Trump personally, setting up a potential conflict of interest. On February 10, Trump acquired between $1-5 million in Dell stock. He then encouraged supporters to “go out and buy a Dell computer” at a Georgia rally, purchased additional Dell stock the following month, and praised Dell at numerous public events, including a White House Rose Garden lunch. The company’s founder, Michael Dell, sits on Trump’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, has appeared at White House events, and has pledged $6 billion to fund the administration’s “Trump accounts” project.
June 23, 2025 – President Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran: “CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE! It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED!” Despite Trump’s announcement, the two countries continued to attack each other.
May 20, 2026 – The World Health Organization projected that the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda involved nearly six hundred suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths, warning that the numbers were likely to rise. Public health experts and aid workers said the response had been hampered by the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID and cuts at the CDC, which had previously supported disease surveillance and emergency response across the region. American officials learned of the outbreak nine days after the WHO and nearly a month after the first known death.
Parody cover of Trump's book "Art of the Deal."
April 28, 2026 – The State Department announced it will issue commemorative passports for America’s 250th birthday featuring a picture of Trump, whose administration has paused and revoked visas for many. Living presidents do not typically appear on US passports. Since taking office, Trump has had his name and image added to numerous buildings, and plans were also in the works to place his picture on paper currency and coins.
April 26, 2026 – In the aftermath of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner shooting, Trump pushed for approval of his ballroom project. “This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House. It cannot be built fast enough,” Trump wrote on social media. The White House Correspondents’ Association is an independent association of journalists who cover the White House, not a government entity, and they have never held their event on White House grounds.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended Trump’s repeated mathematically impossible claims that his administration had lowered prescription drug prices by 400, 500, or even 1,500 percent, telling lawmakers during a Senate hearing that the president “has a different way of calculating.” In reality, a discount greater than 100 percent would reduce a price below zero. Trump had previously dismissed criticism of the claims by saying, “You could say whatever you want.”
March 23, 2026 – In a social media post, Trump instructed the Pentagon to postpone all airstrikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period. He claimed that Iran and the US have had “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.” This came after Trump warned that he would “obliterate” Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not fully opened within forty-eight hours. In an interview the previous day with Kristen Welker on NBC’s Meet the Press, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried to clarify Trump’s shifting messages on the war. Welker asked, “Just to put a fine point on this, though, is the president in the process of winding down this war or escalating the conflict?” Bessent responded, “They’re not mutually exclusive. Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate, Kristen.”
February 11, 2026 – Attorney General Pam Bondi took heated questions in a combative congressional hearing over the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files. She gave a wide-ranging, passionate defense of Donald Trump. Bondi also mocked her Democratic questioners and refused to respond to accusations that she was perpetuating a cover-up and ignoring victims, several of whom were sitting behind her in the hearing room. She refused to look at them. The hearing devolved into a partisan brawl, with Bondi lobbing insults at Democrats while insisting she was not “going to get in the gutter” with them. In one exchange, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland accused Bondi of refusing to answer his questions. She responded to the top Democrat on the committee by calling him a “washed-up loser lawyer—not even a lawyer.”
February 9, 2026 – The Trump administration announced plans to rescind $600 million in public health funds from four states led by Democrats. The programs slated to be cut were in California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota. The funds were administered through the CDC. A spokesperson for the HHS said, “These grants are being terminated because they do not reflect agency priorities.” About two dozen of the grants were aimed at curbing HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Dr. Debra Houry, who served as the CDC’s chief medical officer before she resigned last year over Trump administration policies, stated, “It is concerning that HHS is cutting public health funding to local communities that cover core functions in the middle of a measles outbreak and other health threats.”
February 2, 2026 – Lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims asked a judge to shut down a Justice Department website that disclosed hundreds of victim names in recently released documents. The lawyers said the unredacted documents had turned the lives of nearly a hundred victims “upside down.” “For the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, every hour matters. The harm is ongoing and irreversible,” said Brittany Henderson and Brad Edwards, two of the lawyers. According to the lawyers, some victims had their private emails and banking information made public, and others experienced harassment. Attorney General Pam Bondi acknowledged the mistake but deflected blame to “various factors, including technical or human error.”
February 28, 2026 – At 2:30 a.m., Trump announced on social media that the US had launched an extensive military attack on Iran. He did not return to the White House to monitor events, nor did he deliver a televised public address to inform the public. Author and presidential historian Michael Beschloss stated, “What Americans of our time are accustomed to is a president giving a White House speech—usually from the Oval Office—that befits the supreme importance of making war.” That evening, instead of delivering a speech to the American people, Trump finished the day of US military aggression by attending a glittery fund-raising dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
Screenshot of mcsweeneys.net in dark mode.
January 7, 2026 – An ICE agent fatally shot Renée Nicole Good, 37, in Minneapolis, less than a mile from where police killed George Floyd in 2020. Videos of the shooting showed that Good’s Honda Pilot was partially blocking a one-lane residential street and that officers ordered her to get out of the car. One agent attempted to open the driver’s door and reach through the window. Another stepped in front of the vehicle. The SUV backed up, moved forward, and turned to leave. Agent Jonathan Ross then shot at Good and continued shooting as the vehicle moved past him, eventually crashing into a parked car. “One of the ICE agents tried to rip her door open, and another one got in front of the vehicle and then shouted ‘stop,’ before firing three times within a second of staying ‘stop,’” said Connor Janeksela, who witnessed the shooting. Trump falsely stated that Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the officer,” and Kristi Noem said without evidence that Good was “stalking” officers and described her actions as “domestic terrorism.”
Color key for Trump's atrocity list.
Repost of our post of an article about overripe bananas and making banana bread, followed by a reply about loaf pans and how you don't really need a loaf pan to make banana bread. Bluesky gonna Bluesky.
December 24, 2025 – ICE shot Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins during an immigration operation in a quiet Baltimore suburb on Christmas Eve. DHS alleged that Sousa-Martins, who was driving, tried to evade arrest and drove at the agents. ICE then shot Sousa-Martins, causing his vehicle to crash and injure the passenger, Solomon Antonio Serrano-Esquivel, as well. Both Sousa-Martins and Serrano-Esquivel were hospitalized. Anne Arundel Council Member Allison Pickard expressed concern about how the incident would affect the neighborhood, including the many children who were outside at the time, and called for “a clear, accountable process” to ensure agents were working to de-escalate such encounters. “I am concerned this is the new normal with communities across the country,” she said. “It is upsetting for this community, and it is upsetting in so many ways.”
During a speech at an inauguration celebration, Elon Musk, Trump’s pick to lead his Department of Governmental Efficiency, gave not one but two fascists gestures. “I just want to say thank you for making [Trump’s election victory] happen,” the billionaire told supporters. He then pounded his chest and extended his arm diagonally in the air, very similar to the Nazi Party’s infamous salute. After the crowd cheered, he did it a second time. In recent months, Musk had been increasingly engaging with far-right groups, like Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland. Trump, too, has been criticized for his fascist views, even by his vice president, JD Vance, who once called him “America’s Hitler.”
You have chosen to spend every Christmas Eve flying around the globe giving gifts to all of the, and I’m quoting here, “good girls and boys.” Why did you decide that only good children deserve gifts? I wouldn’t say that I made the decision. I’d say that I’m following the traditions set forth by Christianity and other religions in which acts of good are rewarded, while acts of bad are punished. Christmas is a fun way to teach children that being good and kind can lead to positive results, even if being mean or a bully feels better in the moment.
Paul Ingrassia, Trump’s nominee to oversee federal whistleblower protections, dropped out after racist text messages he sent were published in Politico. The report featured messages where Ingrassia allegedly described himself as having “a Nazi streak” and suggested Martin Luther King, Jr. Day should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell.” Ingrassia’s lawyer, Edward Andrew Paltzik, initially questioned the authenticity of the messages but added that if authentic, they were meant satirically. CNN’s KFile previously reported on Ingrassia’s history of racist invective and conspiratorial rants. His nomination had drawn scrutiny over his past promotion of conspiracy theories and tweets from his podcast that included calls for martial law following Trump’s 2020 election loss and claims that “straight White men” were the most intelligent demographic group and should be prioritized in education.
The art of McSweeney’s 2026 wall calendar, featuring an image from the book “umbra” of a small wizard in a forest.
September 23, 2025 – Trump delivered a meandering hour-long address to the UN General Assembly in New York. His speech was filled with insults and misinformation. He began by repeating his dubious claim that he had ended seven wars during his eight month administration. He then attacked UN European leaders about their migration and energy policies, stating, “It’s time to end the failed experiment of open borders. You have to end it now. Your countries are going to hell.” He called climate change “a hoax” and “a con job.” He added, “I love the people of Europe. And I hate to see it being devastated by energy and immigration, that double-tailed monster that destroys everything in its wake.” Before his address, an escalator Trump was riding on broke as he entered the building, and his teleprompter malfunctioned early in his speech. The White House accused UN staff of attempting to sabotage him.
September 22, 2025 – During a press conference at the White House, Trump instructed pregnant women not to take Tylenol. He said, “Don’t take it. Fight like hell not to take it.” He offered unproven medical advice contradicting decades of research about the use of the common painkiller in pregnancy and infancy. He declared without offering any evidence that there was a link between rising autism rates and the use of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. Health agencies from around the world—including the FDA—have not found a conclusive link. Medical experts stressed that acetaminophen is safe. Dr. Nathaniel DeNicola, an adviser to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said, “Doctors have always approached medications in pregnancy by using it only when indicated, lowest dose, for the shortest duration. He added, “That applies to Tylenol tomorrow the same as it does today, the same as it did yesterday.”
September 15, 2025 – Seizing on the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s killing, Trump administration officials threatened a broad crackdown on liberal groups. Although investigators were still working to identify a motive for the Kirk killing, Trump and his allies alleged without evidence that the suspect, Tyler Robinson, was part of a coordinated movement committing violence against conservatives. “We have some pretty radical groups, and they got away with murder,” Trump said without naming any groups. Added Stephen Miller, “We are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, eliminate, and destroy this network and make America safe again for the American people.” The charging documents filed against Robinson did not suggest he was part of a movement; studies, including one removed days later from the Justice Department’s website, also show that far-right groups kill more Americans than other domestic terrorist groups.
August 18, 2025 – After years of opposing mail-in ballots, which he has baselessly claimed led to voter fraud and cost him the 2020 presidential election, Trump pledged to end mail-in voting. “I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we’re at it, Highly ‘Inaccurate,’ Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES,” he wrote on Truth Social. “We are now the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting. All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED…” In the same post, Trump also promised to sign an executive order to “help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections,” though he did not provide any details about what the executive order would include. According to FactCheck.org, voter fraud with mail-in ballots is still relatively rare, there is no evidence that voter machines are inaccurate, and other countries do allow mail-in voting. The president also does not have the power to change voting laws, which are handled by states and may be overridden only by Congress.
February 28, 2025 – During a televised Oval Office meeting, President Trump and Vice President Vance lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy and threatened to abandon Ukraine. After Zelenskyy expressed doubts about an American-brokered peace deal with Russia, the vice president called the Ukrainian leader “disrespectful,” adding, “You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.” As the meeting continued, Trump and Vance raised their voices, interrupted Zelenskyy, and pointed fingers at him. “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have,” said Trump. “You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out. And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out and I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.”
July 12, 2019 – Labor Secretary Alex Acosta resigned, accused of violating victims’ rights in sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s 2008 case. Epstein was a convicted and registered sex offender, accused of sex trafficking and sexual abuse with dozens of victims, some as young as 14 years old. Acosta was the top federal prosecutor in the Florida case, which ended in a plea deal. Epstein and Trump frequently socialized together at Trump’s Palm Beach Mar-a-Lago resort.