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PopInfo Weekly: Praise, payoffs, and peanutsA Popular Information investigation found that several stock purchases were made on the same day Trump publicly praised the companies.May 22 • Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims228658A lot of peanutsAs the Iran War drags on, President Trump has repeatedly belittled the economic impact of the conflict on Americans.May 21 • Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims42947115UPDATE: Vance confronted with Popular Information report on Trump stock purchasesVance attacks reporter, offers sarcastic and contradictory response.May 20 • Judd Legum1,22150347Inside California’s ICE facilities: deaths, denied care, and “dog food”During the second Trump administration, the population detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has ballooned.May 19 • Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims46030146The smoking guns in Trump’s new financial disclosureTrump publicly praised companies the same day he bought their stock.May 18 • Judd Legum97243348Independent accountability journalism.Subscribe
[H3] Investigations
View allCoachella performers are funding the MAGA movementFollowing the money from Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, and Karol G to the politicians advancing Trump’s agendaApr 13 • Judd Legum87448311The $1.7 trillion military budget includes a massive slush fund for Trump’s political alliesLast week, President Donald Trump declared that the federal government cannot afford to spend “any money for day care” because “we’re fighting wars…Apr 7 • Judd Legum and Noel Sims64452214The tale of the tape: Trump repeatedly pledged to cut gas prices by 50%“Mark it down, and you can get very angry at me if we don’t do it.”Apr 1 • Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby54464144One company’s million-dollar gambit to turn the healthcare crisis into a gold mineToday, Americans are facing dramatically increased health care costs, with millions losing coverage and one in three cutting back on daily living…Mar 23 • Judd Legum54844170The "meritocracy" exposed: Internal emails reveal how the Trump administration hires legal interns“You MUST be aligned politically with President Trump… GPA is not a strong factor.”Mar 4 • Judd Legum72749215
[H3] Corporate Power
View allTrump's CFTC goes to war with states — to protect his family's business partnersIn an unprecedented move, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it had filed lawsuits against several states to block their…Apr 9 • Rebecca Crosby51859151New lawsuit alleges DraftKings and FanDuel are digital heroin“By coordinating their use of immersive marketing, AI, cloud computing, and algorithms customized for every customer, they hijack customers’ brains”Mar 30 • Judd Legum41130110How companies are using AI to pay workers as little as possibleAs corporate profits surge, American workers are taking home a record-low percentage of the proceeds from their work.Mar 26 • Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims47746145Consumers paid for Trump’s illegal tariffs. These companies may profit.President Trump imposed sweeping global tariffs during his first year as president.Mar 12 • Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims51351132Major corporations bankroll political ad featuring white supremacist sloganCongressman Andy Barr (R-KY), who is running to replace Mitch McConnell in the United States Senate, released his first television ad earlier this…Feb 17 • Judd Legum79666239
[H3] Media
View allUPDATE: Judge dismisses Trump’s $10 billion Epstein lawsuit against the Wall Street JournalOn Monday, a federal judge dismissed Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal.Apr 14 • Judd Legum5582999CBS censors Colbert, bowing to pressure from Trump’s FCCCBS forbade Late Show host Stephen Colbert from interviewing Texas State Representative James Talarico, a Democrat running to unseat Republican Senator…Feb 18 • Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims54947116How legacy media fell for Trump’s fake “pivot” in MinnesotaNo, Trump did not "change course."Jan 28 • Judd Legum and Noel Sims85376218Breaking precedent, networks interrupt prime time for Trump political diatribeOn Wednesday night at 9 PM Eastern, President Trump delivered a prime time address to the nation that was aired by all major broadcast networks.Dec 18, 2025 • Rebecca Crosby, Noel Sims, and Judd Legum75363168The casino-fication of newsNew partnerships between the prediction market Kalshi and cable TV networks will transform every news event into a betting opportunity.Dec 8, 2025 • Judd Legum49361133
[H3] Crime
View allTrump declares war on America"It’s the enemy from within and we have to handle it before it gets out of control."Oct 1, 2025 • Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims77060191Criminal propagandaOn Tuesday, President Trump pledged to deploy the military in Chicago and Baltimore.Sep 3, 2025 • Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby60875139Calling crime data "fake news," Trump seizes DC policeLies, manipulated data, unsubstantiated allegations, and an unprecedented federal takeover.Aug 12, 2025 • Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims57654146Why you might not know that 2024 was America's safest year since the 1960sAn overwhelming majority of Americans, 64 percent, believe that crime increased across the country in 2024, according to a Gallup survey conducted late…Aug 7, 2025 • Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby67168214Cash bail myths debunked by plummeting city crime dataAccording to President Trump, large American cities are crime-infested hellholes.Jul 24, 2025 • Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims46145103SocialXTikTokThreadsInstagramFacebookResourcesThe January 6 corporate accountability index
[H3] Recent posts
View allPopInfo Weekly: Slop, scams, and subpoenasA Popular Information investigation found that a network of award-winning newspapers has quietly published over 17,000 online articles pushing promo…May 15 • Rebecca Crosby243662UPDATE: Media parrots Pentagon’s low-ball cost estimate for Iran WarThis week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Acting Undersecretary Jules Hurst, the Pentagon’s Chief Financial Officer, answered questions about the…May 14 • Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby43129110Pulitzer-winning newsrooms are quietly publishing mountains of gambling slopA large network of prominent regional newspapers has posted thousands of low-quality articles promoting gambling and prediction markets — and is…May 13 • Judd Legum41327110Violent crime plummets in “Democrat run cities” blasted by TrumpSince his return to the White House, President Trump has repeatedly claimed that major cities across the United States are overrun with crime.May 12 • Rebecca Crosby60347160We were promised a gold-plated Trump phoneFor 11 months, Trump Mobile has been collecting $100 deposits for a Trump phone. No phones have shipped to customers.May 11 • Judd Legum90558238PopInfo Weekly: Leaks, lapses, and liesThe Trump administration has not paid third-parties for medical care provided to detainees in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody for over…May 8 • Judd Legum3041173See allRecommendationsView all 8
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PopInfo Weekly: Praise, payoffs, and peanutsA Popular Information investigation found that several stock purchases were made on the same day Trump publicly praised the companies.May 22 • Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims228658A lot of peanutsAs the Iran War drags on, President Trump has repeatedly belittled the economic impact of the conflict on Americans.May 21 • Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims42947115UPDATE: Vance confronted with Popular Information report on Trump stock purchasesVance attacks reporter, offers sarcastic and contradictory response.May 20 • Judd Legum1,22050347Inside California’s ICE facilities: deaths, denied care, and “dog food”During the second Trump administration, the population detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has ballooned.May 19 • Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims46030146The smoking guns in Trump’s new financial disclosureTrump publicly praised companies the same day he bought their stock.May 18 • Judd Legum97243348PopInfo Weekly: Slop, scams, and subpoenasA Popular Information investigation found that a network of award-winning newspapers has quietly published over 17,000 online articles pushing promo…May 15 • Rebecca Crosby243662UPDATE: Media parrots Pentagon’s low-ball cost estimate for Iran WarThis week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Acting Undersecretary Jules Hurst, the Pentagon’s Chief Financial Officer, answered questions about the…May 14 • Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby43129110Pulitzer-winning newsrooms are quietly publishing mountains of gambling slopA large network of prominent regional newspapers has posted thousands of low-quality articles promoting gambling and prediction markets — and is…May 13 • Judd Legum41327110Violent crime plummets in “Democrat run cities” blasted by TrumpSince his return to the White House, President Trump has repeatedly claimed that major cities across the United States are overrun with crime.May 12 • Rebecca Crosby60347160We were promised a gold-plated Trump phoneFor 11 months, Trump Mobile has been collecting $100 deposits for a Trump phone. No phones have shipped to customers.May 11 • Judd Legum90558238PopInfo Weekly: Leaks, lapses, and liesThe Trump administration has not paid third-parties for medical care provided to detainees in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody for over…May 8 • Judd Legum3041173The truth about State Farm"So forget what we told you. It ain’t worth squat."May 7 • Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby62447158

A new financial disclosure from President Trump reveals that he has made thousands of stock trades in 2026. A Popular Information investigation found that several stock purchases were made on the same day Trump publicly praised the companies, or shortly thereafter. For example, Trump purchased between $15,000 and $50,000 in Thermo Fisher stock on the same day that he visited one of the company’s facilities.
[IMG: The smoking guns in Trump’s new financial disclosure]
[H4] The smoking guns in Trump’s new financial disclosure
Judd Legum·May 18Read full storyWhen confronted by a reporter with Popular Information’s reporting about Trump’s stock trades, Vice President JD Vance offered a sarcastic and contradictory response. Vance accused the reporter of not being “objective,” before adding that he and Trump favored banning members of Congress from trading stocks. While Popular Information’s reporting picked up steam, several major outlets ignored Trump’s stock trades altogether or published pieces lacking critical context.
[IMG: UPDATE: Vance confronted with Popular Information report on Trump stock purchases]
[H4] UPDATE: Vance confronted with Popular Information report on Trump stock purchases
Judd Legum·May 20Read full storyTrump has repeatedly belittled the economic impact of the Iran War on Americans. On Tuesday, Trump compared high gas prices to “peanuts.” But according to the Iran War Energy Cost Tracker from Brown University, Americans have spent an extra $43.6 billion on fuel costs because of the Iran War. Each U.S. household has paid over $330 in additional costs across both gasoline and diesel.
[IMG: A lot of peanuts]
[H4] A lot of peanuts
Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims·May 21Read full storyA new report by the California Department of Justice reveals a human rights crisis in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities across the state. The report cited Popular Information’s reporting about the Trump administration’s October decision to stop paying third parties for medical care for detainees. The Cal DOJ concluded that the move “has caused widespread disruption in the provision of appropriate medical care at facilities in California.”
[IMG: Inside California’s ICE facilities: deaths, denied care, and “dog food”]
[H4] Inside California’s ICE facilities: deaths, denied care, and “dog food”
Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims·May 19Read full story
[H2] The best of the rest
Memphis community members sue Trump administration officials over immigration operation. Over 2,700 officers are stationed in Memphis, Tennessee, as part of an immigration operation that’s been happening since September. Community members are now suing, arguing that “agents are engaged in a pattern of intimidation and retaliation that hampers their First Amendment rights to record the police.” (Mother Jones)Election officials are preparing for the possibility of ICE at polling locations. The Trump administration has refused to rule out sending ICE agents to polling locations in the upcoming midterm elections. Election officials told WIRED that they have “major concerns” about the possibility. One said he had “actively planned for a scenario in which he’s arrested.” (WIRED)The future of nuclear waste clean up is uncertain at some of the country’s most contaminated sites. According to a NOTUS report from this week, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has lost over 50% of its staff that manages nuclear waste — with most of the losses coming after the Trump administration encouraged federal employees to quit. (NOTUS)What happens when your lawyer tells a judge to rule against you? ProPublica and the Philadelphia Inquirer identified 50 cases since 2018 in which court-appointed lawyers for people seeking to overturn their convictions in Philadelphia told judges that their clients’ cases had no merit — only for their clients to be granted new trials or sentences later on. While these lawyers say they were working with the facts available to them, the clients — whose appeals were sometimes set back years — wonder how closely the lawyers actually looked at their cases. (ProPublica)
[H2] Numerical information
$1.776 billion: This week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it was creating a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to compensate Trump’s allies as part of a settlement agreement in Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).$5 million: The amount that big tobacco company Reynolds American donated to Trump’s super PAC just a week before the Trump administration introduced a new policy that would allow Reynolds American and other companies to cash in on selling flavored vapes.$4.56: The average price of a gallon of gas nationwide as of Thursday, according to AAA.
[H2] Quote of the week
“You know who never, ever gets an ounce of sympathy when it comes to disproportionate sentencing? [It] is people who voted for Donald Trump and participated in the January 6 protest.” — J.D. Vance
[H2] Photo of the week
President Trump speaks to the media alongside posters of his proposed White House ballroom on May 19, 2026 (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)Previous
[H4] Discussion about this post
CommentsRestacks
[IMG: Mike D.]
Mike D. 2dgraft and grift are part of tRumps DNA.ReplyShare
[IMG: Sally Stevens]
Sally Stevens 2dJudd, you are so remarkable - brave, intelligent, committed - I am so grateful for you and I learned about you from Nicholas Kristol, another journalist/human being I so admire!! I receive 2 "Paid Subsccriber" emails from you daily, plus one "Unpaid" - I would like to just send a donation if I could, and continue - ALL OF US who read of your incredible work are so lucky to be a part of your community. THANK YOU.ReplyShare4 more comments...No posts
[H3] Ready for more?

As the Iran War drags on, President Trump has repeatedly belittled the economic impact of the conflict on Americans.Last week, Trump was asked by a reporter to what extent he considers “Americans’ financial situations” while negotiating with Iran. “Not even a little bit,” Trump responded. “The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody.”Trump doubled down on the comment later last week. In an interview with Fox News, Trump said, “That’s a perfect statement. I’d make it again.” Trump went on to say that it was worth having “to pay a little more, not that much more, a little more for gasoline, for a very short period of time” to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.On Tuesday, Trump said that high gas prices amounted to “peanuts.”But according to The Iran War Energy Cost Tracker at Brown University, the Iran War has caused Americans to spend an additional $43.6 billion on fuel costs so far.For that price, Americans could buy 14.5 billion pounds of peanuts, which is more than twice the amount produced annually in the United States.The tracker, which compares actual prices to an estimate of prices without the war, estimates that each U.S. household has paid an extra $331 across both gasoline and diesel. So the equivalent of each household buying 110 pounds of peanuts.Americans have spent an additional $184 per U.S. household on just gasoline because of the war, according to the tracker. In some states, the total extra cost is over $250, including Utah ($261.78 per household), Alabama ($274.94 per household), and Wyoming ($258.79 per household).The higher fuel costs are in addition to the direct cost of the war. A cost estimate of the Iran War conducted by Stephen Semler for Popular Information found that the U.S. spent an estimated $71.8 billion through the first 60 days of the conflict. This cost also ultimately falls to the American taxpayer.
[IMG: The real cost of the Iran War: $72 billion for the first 60 days]
[H4] The real cost of the Iran War: $72 billion for the first 60 days
Stephen Semler·May 6Read full storyBut as the costs continue to climb, there is no end to the Iran War in sight.
[H3] 11 weeks and no end in sight
Despite comments Trump has made throughout the last several weeks claiming that the war will soon be over, negotiations with Iran remain at a stalemate. Importantly for consumer prices, the Strait of Hormuz remains mostly closed.Before the war, about 20% of the world’s oil and gas passed through the Strait of Hormuz, making its current closure the biggest disruption to global fuel supply in history. Although Trump has floated some ideas for lowering gas prices for Americans, like pausing the federal gas tax, experts have said that the only sure way to bring fuel costs down is opening the strait.Trump has frequently claimed to be on the verge of a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. So why hasn’t it happened yet?On April 7, the U.S. and Iran reached a ceasefire agreement that Trump claimed would open the strait. However, Iran kept it closed, blaming Israeli attacks in Lebanon which it said violated the terms of the agreement. The next week, the U.S. announced a blockade on Iranian ports until Iran gave up its nuclear weapons program and Iran said it would continue to keep the strait closed until the blockade was over.Since then, Iran and the U.S. seem to have made little progress. In mid-April, Trump claimed that Iran had agreed to end its weapons program indefinitely, but last week he said he would be satisfied with a 20-year moratorium.Earlier this week, Trump said that the military was ready to launch a “full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice,” but that he had delayed an attack at the request of Emirati, Saudi, and Qatari leaders. Among those leaders was Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (MBS), Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. This raises questions about who is influencing Trump’s conduct in the war. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who has been involved in negotiations with Iran, receives tens of millions of dollars per year from a Saudi investment fund controlled by MBS.On Wednesday, Trump said he might be willing to sign a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz while leaving nuclear weapons and other priorities for later negotiations. But ultimately, he added, “I’m in no hurry.”PreviousNext
[H4] Discussion about this post
CommentsRestacks
[IMG: Johan]
Johan 3d“Peanuts” is the giveaway. Not a gaffe, a confession. The $43.6 billion isn’t spread across “Americans,” it’s concentrated on the households least able to absorb it: $275 in Alabama, $262 in Utah, the people for whom $331 is the difference between making rent and not.That’s the cost asymmetry that runs through everything I write. The decision-maker pays nothing. He’s “in no hurry” because the strait staying closed costs him nothing and costs MBS, who pays Kushner tens of millions a year, quite a lot to keep that way. The war’s price is socialized onto the powerless; the war’s patience is purchased by the powerful.And the precarity isn’t a side effect. A household one bad month from collapse doesn’t organize, doesn’t protest, doesn’t resist. “I don’t think about anybody” isn’t callousness. It’s the operating principle of a system that runs on your anxiety and calls your suffering peanuts.JohanReplyShare6 replies
[IMG: Joe Sheil]
Joe Sheil 3dTrump has nothing left for this fight. No sense, no attention span and certainly no cards. Just anger and hatred for everything and everyone, including himself. He’s a miserable, pathetic and increasingly dangerous fraud.ReplyShare4 replies45 more comments...No posts
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