Jackie Calmes
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jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Jackie Calmes
@jackiecalmes.bsky.social
700 followers 140 following 100 posts
National columnist, LATimes. Ex-NYT & WSJ in DC, covering White House, Congresses & campaigns. Author of "Dissent: The Radicalization of the Republican Party & Its Capture of the Court." Mom....On Threads: jkcalmes
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jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: A defensive Trump has been flailing, pinballing dumb ideas--$2,000 rebates and debt payoffs with nonexistent "trillions" from tariffs, 50-year mortgages, ending Obamacare. Policy ignorance has been a defining trait, but this knee-jerk junk is nuts.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Trump's improv approach to policymaking doesn't actually make policy
On social media and in interviews, the president has been blurting out proposals that are news even to the advisors who should be vetting them first.
www.latimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:44 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: A gilded White House, Gatsbyesque parties, crypto-grift. Trump won two elections on his appeal to working class voters, but he seems utterly out of touch, enjoying his personal Golden Age as voters struggle with costs he vowed to contain. They've noticed.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Trump's tone-deaf displays are turning off voters
The president faced poetic comeuppance after his ostentatious party: a blue wave in Tuesday’s elections.
www.latimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:16 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: Only next to the inept radicals and flatterers in Trump's Cabinet does Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stand out as a “normie.” But his Argentina bailout at rural America's expense is just the latest sign that he's normal only by Trump standards.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Argentina bailout shows that Trump's Cabinet has no adults in the room
To survive in this administration means to be servile. And Scott Bessent of Treasury is doing both.
www.latimes.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:11 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: As sickening as Trump's East Wing teardown is, it's small stuff compared to killing noncombatant civilians from nations with which the US isn't at war. Yet together the actions reflect the spectrum of his utter sense of impunity. No kings indeed.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Trump is in his Louis XIV era, and it's not a good look
The president with delusions of empire is building a new Versailles and using the military as his own personal hit squad.
www.latimes.com
October 23, 2025 at 4:23 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: Democrats are right to demand continued healthcare subsidies before they vote to reopen the government. But the shutdown is at least as valuable for drawing attention to the de facto Trump shutdown of government that he's been executing all year.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: This is Trump's shutdown. But he's been dismantling the government all year
The government hasn’t been functional since Republicans took control of the White House, Senate and House in January.
www.latimes.com
October 16, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Jackie Calmes
thedailyshow.com
The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.
October 9, 2025 at 8:23 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: George Washington warned about the likes of Trump. But 200+ years later the checks and balances the founders wrote into the Constitution to guard against a wannabe king with a standing army are proving inadequate to the charge when Congress bows.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: George Washington would be spinning in his grave
The founder who built the wall between our military and politics would be appalled by Trump's power grabs. But not surprised.
www.latimes.com
October 9, 2025 at 6:16 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
America First? Trump cuts money funded by law to blue states & cities amid the govt shutdown while his Treasury extends a $20 BILLION bailout package to Argentina that's only domestic benefit is to rich US holders of Argentinian bonds.
October 3, 2025 at 8:03 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: Not since the pro-slavery Taney court before the Civil War has a Supreme Court been so wrong for its moment in history as the Roberts court. Lower courts have stepped up to Trump's anticonstitutional threats, but SCOTUS trumps them. Pun intended.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Today's Supreme Court is exactly the wrong group for this moment
Not since the pro-slavery court before the Civil War has a Supreme Court been as ill-suited as the Roberts court that opens a new term on Monday.
www.latimes.com
October 2, 2025 at 2:38 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: Trump lately obsesses about getting into heaven. Hint: Stop wishing that so many fellow citizens go to hell.
The disconnect between Trump's dreams of heaven and his earthly avenging was never plainer than in his hateful message at Charlie Kirk's memorial.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Charlie Kirk preached 'Love your enemies,' but Trump spews hate
At the activist's funeral, the president condemned Christian teaching: 'That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent.'
www.latimes.com
September 24, 2025 at 4:16 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: Each day since the Trump-Putin summit shows that worse than nothing came from that failed bro-fest. Putin arrived to a red carpet even as Russian kept bombing Ukraine and left with license for Russians “to do whatever the hell they want,” as Trump once put it.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: What came of Trump's Putin summit? Nothing good
As the president himself put it, the Russians feel free now 'to do whatever the hell they want.'
www.latimes.com
September 18, 2025 at 2:13 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: Democrats’ leverage on spending bills is pointless if senators don’t use it. They were right in March not to force a shutdown but they can no longer help fund a government that's become a plaything for Trump's power lust, enrichment and retribution.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Democrats should force a shutdown to save the government
Shutting down the government hurts Americans. Letting Trump destroy it would hurt more.
www.latimes.com
September 11, 2025 at 4:26 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: Troops patrol the National Mall--"America's Front Yard"--as Trump normalizes a police state in DC. If he sends masked feds & more red-state troops to other blue cities, protests will grow. That's good but probably just what he wants: an excuse for more troops.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Armed troops at the Washington Monument? This is not normal
What you see out in the open is bad enough. It’s what you don’t see, or can’t identify, that’s more disturbing in the land of the free.
www.latimes.com
September 4, 2025 at 1:57 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
“I am not a crook,” Nixon said in 1973.
“I’m not a dictator,” Trump insisted on Monday.
And with that, another famously false presidential proclamation entered the annals of memorable statements no president should ever feel compelled to make.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: When the president has to say 'I'm not a dictator,' we're in trouble
That's the sort of thing rising dictators tend to say, urging the public to ignore the accumulating evidence.
www.latimes.com
August 28, 2025 at 1:26 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: It's time to quit tuning out Trump's Big Lie that he won the 2020 election (validated by Putin!). It's his pretext, along with trying to ban mail ballots & militarize Democratic cities, to disrupt the '26 midterm elections lest he lose control of Congress.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: The Big Lie is back and coming for American elections
President Trump's attack on mail ballots isn't just a rehash of his 2020 claims, it's a pretext for disrupting the 2026 midterms.
www.latimes.com
August 21, 2025 at 2:55 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: Trump's showy obsession with redoing the Oval Office & Rose Garden, his plane & even golf cart (!), and adding a White House ballroom reflects something much bigger--his unchecked makeover of the nation's government & institutions, all in service of his power.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Donald Trump makes America worse than tacky
President Trump’s virtually unchecked makeover of institutions and government creates the appearance of gilded grandeur and raw power: His.
www.latimes.com
August 14, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Jackie Calmes
lisafung.bsky.social
'The president’s rigging goes beyond elections, to all aspects of governance, if his cruel, chaotic maladministration can be called that.'

@jackiecalmes.bsky.social on the rigger in chief
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Trump yammers that he's the victim of rigged statistics. But he's the rigger in chief.
Trump complains he's being cheated while he openly works to fix the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections.
www.latimes.com
August 6, 2025 at 9:50 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: After retribution, Trump's guiding principle is projection: Falsely projecting his sins onto enemies. Everything is "rigged" against him, he vents--even as he works to rig the '26 midterms, jobs data, tariff law, DA appointments & more. Even golf!
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Trump yammers that he's the victim of rigging. But he's the rigger in chief.
Trump complains he's being cheated while he openly works to fix the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections.
www.latimes.com
August 6, 2025 at 10:49 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Israel's heinous policies in Gaza are taking their toll on Israel's own: Haaretz reports today the 7th death by suicide THIS MONTH of an Israeli soldier. The soldier, 24, had just ended a stint in Gaza. Because he died at home, the IDF won't consider him a fallen soldier. Shame.
July 31, 2025 at 10:57 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: By starving Gaza, Netanyahu is hastening a break in bipartisan US backing for Israel that endured for the entire lives of most Americans--until he arrived, denying Palestinians’ humanity and overtly courting US Republicans. It's not only shameful, it's stupid.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Has America's longstanding friendship with Israel reached a breaking point?
It's hard to watch — and even harder to be complicit in — Israel's cruelty, and the loss of support for a nation born of sympathy over the Holocaust.
www.latimes.com
July 30, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Reposted by Jackie Calmes
lisafung.bsky.social
‘In pre-Trump times, Bove’s nomination would be an easy call: No. And if ever there was a time for the Senate to use its power to send a president that message, it’s now.’

Via @jackiecalmes.bsky.social @latimes.com

www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Rejecting this federal judge nominee should be easy. Don't hold your breath
The Senate isn't a rubber stamp for the president. Will the Republican majority remember that when it comes to Emil Bove?
www.latimes.com
July 17, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Reposted by Jackie Calmes
lisafung.bsky.social
. @jackiecalmes.bsky.social: ‘For a president… to falsely allege a former president is a traitor, and to suggest that his lickspittles at the Justice Department and FBI should act against that former president, is a distraction that must command Americans’ attention.’
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Trump finds a new way to taint the office of the presidency
All but ordering his Justice Department lackeys to arrest and prosecute President Obama for treason is an unprecedented low for the president.
www.latimes.com
July 24, 2025 at 3:10 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: Trump now has completely sullied the office of president & I'm not referring to the Oval's gilt excess. His latest outrage--lying that a former president is a traitor--is one distraction from his Epstein mess that demands attention, and condemnation.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Trump finds a new way to taint the office of the presidency
All but ordering his Justice Department lackeys to arrest and prosecute President Obama for treason is an unprecedented low for the president.
www.latimes.com
July 24, 2025 at 4:53 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: It’s bad enough that Senate Republicans shirked their advice-&-consent power to confirm Trump’s Cabinet of crackpots, saying he should get to pick his posse. But now they seem poised to okay one of the worst nominees ever for a lifetime court seat: Emil Bove.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Rejecting this federal judge nominee should be easy. Don't hold your breath
The Senate isn't a rubber stamp for the president. Will the Republican majority remember that when it comes to Emil Bove?
www.latimes.com
July 17, 2025 at 1:20 PM
jackiecalmes.bsky.social
Column: It's no blame game over the Texas tragedy: Trump's sacking of the government, not least agencies for weather warnings & disaster aid, means he's accountable for each tragedy that might've been averted or mitigated by fed action. He can't say HE wasn't warned.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Thoughts and prayers? Sure, but hold the Trump administration accountable
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says 'blame' is a loser's word, but Americans deserve to know if government failed when the Guadalupe River flooded.
www.latimes.com
July 10, 2025 at 4:11 PM