Trump job approval rating by news platform 🟢 Twitter/X: +9 🔴 Facebook: -7 🔴 Cable TV: -10 🔴 Podcasts/YouTube: -14 🔴 Local TV: -17 🔴 Instagram: -21 🔴 Broadcast TV: -28 🔴 TikTok: -28 🔴 Newspapers/news sites: -33 🔴 Reddit: -40 www.theargumentmag.com/p/twitter-is...
— Poll Tracker 📊 (@polltracker.bsky.social) February 6, 2026 at 6:10 AM
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2/6/26
Trump's popularity in the shitter
2/4/26
Google AI on Epstein's South Dakota ties
Updated 6 February, 1624 MST. Minutes before he was driven from the White House Herr Trump in 2021 pardoned Maria Butina's lover, Paul Erickson after his conviction for wire fraud and money laundering likely at Denny Sanford's request. Erickson's indictment, his relationship with Butina and Dusty Johnson, his efforts to establish backchannel communications with the National Rifle Association and MAGA conservatives covered up the Jeffrey Epstein connection.
Epstein had at least 64 trusts and entities associated with him and there were large amounts of money being moved each day between Epstein’s entities and his associates. Some of those activities included payments to women, tuition to various universities and routine large cash withdrawals for unknown purposes. Butina was deported for being a Russian agent.
and Alexander Torshin are linked by past political controversies involving Russian influence operations and the National Rifle Association (NRA). In 2023, Sanford was removed from the Giving Pledge—a philanthropic group founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett—following the release of court records from his South Dakota probe. His removal occurred around the same time other members faced questions about their own ties to Epstein, causing the two separate scandals to often be discussed together in media reports regarding billionaire ethics.
Recent investigations and a massive Department of Justice (DOJ) document release in February 2026 have provided the most detailed look yet at Jeffrey Epstein’s secretive financial network.South Dakota’s Role as a Financial HubSouth Dakota served as a critical domestic hub for Epstein due to its unique trust laws that prioritize secrecy and asset protection.
High Concentration: Investigations revealed Epstein utilized the state to hold 81 different trusts, more than any other U.S. jurisdiction in his network.Legal Shielding: These "SoDa" trusts allowed for high levels of privacy, no state income tax, and protection from creditors, effectively creating a "secret web" that made it difficult for victims to trace his domestic assets.Perpetual Secrecy: South Dakota law mandates that court records regarding trusts are sealed forever, preventing public scrutiny.Asset Protection: The state allows for "self-settled spendthrift trusts," which protect assets from creditors and legal judgments, making it exceptionally difficult for victims to trace or recover funds."Quiet" Trust Laws: These laws allow a grantor to withhold all information about a trust from its own beneficiaries, even after the grantor's death.Tax Shielding: South Dakota has no state income tax, no capital gains tax, and has repealed the "rule against perpetuities," allowing for "dynasty trusts" that never expire.Current Estate Status (2026)Fluctuating Value: Initially valued at $630 million, the estate has dropped significantly due to legal fees, taxes, and restitution. As of late 2025, it held approximately $120 million to $131 million in assets, bolstered by a $112 million tax refund from the IRS.
Victim Compensation: The estate has paid out $121 million to over 135 victims through a compensation fund, plus an additional $49 million in separate settlements.Distribution Freeze: No funds from the 1953 Trust will be disbursed to beneficiaries until all creditor claims and victim compensation obligations are fully resolved.The 1953 Trust & New Beneficiary DetailsThe "1953 Trust," named for Epstein's birth year, was a "pour-over" trust signed just 48 hours before his death to shield his assets from public view and legal claims. Newly unsealed records list 43 beneficiaries:Karyna Shuliak (Primary Beneficiary): Epstein’s girlfriend at the time, a Belarus-born dentist, was allocated $100 million ($50 million in cash and a $50 million annuity). She was also designated to inherit his real estate holdings, including his private islands and Manhattan mansion, plus a 33-carat diamond ring given "in contemplation of marriage".Ghislaine Maxwell & Mark Epstein: Both were designated to receive $10 million each.Darren Indyke & Richard Kahn: His longtime lawyer and accountant, who serve as co-executors, were slated to receive $50 million and $25 million, respectively.Other Associates: Harvard math professor Martin Nowak was listed for $5 million.
Outlaw obesity in South Dakota
If Republicans really want to end women's health care decisions state government should outlaw obesity and encourage businesses like airlines and taxi services to charge more for obese people. Food stores would have scales at tills that add surcharges according to body mass index, businesses with buffets would have scales, too and anyone with a BMI over 23 will pay an additional $1.00 for every whole number above that. Gas stations would have scales that determine price per gallon according to BMI unless you have documentation in your debit/credit card updated by your physician that you’re on a weight reduction regimen and Mr. Trump's health guru, Mr. Kennedy, apparently concurs.
Groups warn of ag sector collapse
Since at least 2017 Creighton University's Ernie Goss has been warning that the Trump Organization is bad for American agriculture.
Late 2025 marked the most severe three-month cost-price gap for U.S. agricultural producers since 2015, driven by soaring production costs and lower commodity returns.
Key findings from the USDA data and analysis:
- Deepening Deficit: October 2025 was the worst month in over a decade for the cost-price spread.
- Worst 3-Month Period: The final quarter of 2025 saw record-breaking gaps, with October (-34.1), December (-32.2), and November (-27.9) being the most severe.
- Long-term Trend: This is not a new issue; farmers have faced a cost-price deficit in every single month since at least January 2015.
- Production Costs vs. Revenue: In late 2025, production costs reached a point where they were 50% higher than in 2011, while prices received for crops and livestock were only 21% higher.
- Contributing Factors: High input costs (fuel, fertilizer,, labor) combined with reduced commodity prices (e.g., corn falling from $7 to closer to $4 per bushel) are forcing difficult financial decisions for farmers.
So, a cynical observer might suspect bankers provided gloomy outlooks to the Rural Mainstreet Index for the last five months of the Biden administration especially in midwestern swing states to sink Democratic Party prospects in 2024 just as Republicans in congress stalled immigration reform because it makes sense to Earth haters that after he was elected again the Orange Julius would run America into the dirt so banks can foreclose on the whole dealio to massage auction price points.
Data from December 2024 indicated that the average South Dakota household needed to spend approximately $191 more per month to maintain the same standard of living as the previous year, with cumulative costs since January 2021 being significantly higher, particularly for transportation, shelter, and food. Factors like tariffs have complicated anti-inflation efforts, and some sectors, such as the cattle industry, are experiencing higher costs. South Dakota experienced a 2.8% headline inflation rate in August 2025, with core inflation (excluding food and energy) at 3.0%.
A bipartisan group of former leaders of America's major agricultural commodity associations and biofuels organizations, farmer leaders, and former senior USDA officials sent congressional ag leaders a letter on Tuesday warning about the deteriorating state of the farm economy, stating there is a risk of "widespread collapse of American agriculture." The letter comes as the Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer (AEB) Index fell in January. [DTN/Progressive Farmer]Yes, the grassland fire danger index will reach the very high category again Thursday for much of the horrible red state of South Dakota.
2/2/26
Earth hater Johnson breaks with Trump Organization
Rep. Dusty Johnson is spot on with this one.“The reality is we’re $38 trillion in debt,” Johnson said. “We are in the process of going bankrupt. Now is not the time for us to borrow more money from the Chinese so we can send out $2,000 checks to every American.”
Absolutely agree, Congressman. We're already drowning in debt—over $38 trillion and climbing fast—and adding more borrowing (especially from China, our biggest foreign creditor) to fund another round of checks is fiscal insanity.Tariff revenue should go toward paying down the debt or reducing deficits, not handing out short-term "dividends" that just kick the can further down the road.We need real spending restraint and growth-focused policies, not more stimulus that fuels inflation and piles on interest payments crushing future generations.
Thanks for speaking plain truth on this, Rep. Dusty Johnson.Time to get serious about the debt before it's too late.
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