JD Vance Outs Trump as a Liar, While Reflecting Pool Turns Green

ICE raided the offices of lawyers assisting migrant children, and the DOJ has approved Paramount and Warner Bros' $111 billion merger

Good afternoon. I’m Ryan Rose, and this is AlterNet America.

JD Vance admitted on CNBC that nothing surrounding the Strait of Hormuz has been decided yet, hours after Trump declared it open and toll-free. Trump’s $14 million project to repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool “American Flag Blue” is already blooming with green algae. ICE agents tried to raid the offices of three different law firms representing migrant children in the D.C. area within 48 hours. And the DOJ approved a $111 billion merger that would put CBS News and CNN under the control of a single Trump-allied family.

Before we dive in: AlterNet America runs on readers. Not advertisers, not billionaires, and not anyone holding a broadcast license. Nobody can call our newsroom and threaten the thing that pays our bills, because the thing that pays our bills is you. If you want this kind of reporting to keep showing up at 5:30, become a paid subscriber today.

Now, let’s dive in.

Vance Reveals Trump Lied About the Iran Deal

The Strait of Hormuz is open for business, according to Donald Trump, who was contradicted by his vice president, Iran’s foreign ministry, and the ships.

On Sunday, Trump announced he had fully authorized “the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz” and the immediate removal of the U.S. naval blockade. “Ships of the World, start your engines,” he wrote. “Let the oil flow!”

Then JD Vance went on CNBC on Monday and was asked about it. His answer revealed that nothing has actually been decided yet, saying that the tolls being lifted was “the sort of thing that we’re going to figure out in these technical negotiations.”

Shortly after, Trump announced the U.S. and Iran had signed a memorandum of understanding. The text is not public. Trump says it might come out “some time after Friday.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry was even less enthusiastic. Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed that fees would still be charged for ships using the strait, and that a “secure passage” would take “a certain period of time” to discuss.

So the blockade lift is unsettled, the tolls remain, and the agreement is weeks or months away. Ships of the world, stay where you are.

Green Algae Fills Reflecting Pool After Trump Makeover

The good news is that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is once again a vivid, eye-catching color. The bad news is why.

Just days after Trump’s $14 million beautification project attempted to restore the pool and repaint its bottom “American Flag Blue,” the water is already blooming with bright green algae, visible in the post-renovation photos.

The pool, which stretches along the National Mall, was drained and repainted over six weeks to fix chronic leaking and resurface it in Trump’s chosen patriotic shade. It was one of his most talked-about pet projects in recent months.

An Interior Department spokesperson explained that the green was “residual algae from the supply lines, which have been sitting dormant for eight weeks while construction has been taking place.” It is apparently “part of the normal startup process.”

Trump has repeatedly used the renovation to take shots at Obama and Biden for letting the pool fall into disrepair. Earlier this week he told reporters he wouldn’t be surprised if it descended into filth under a future president, but promised, “when I’m here, it’ll be perfect.” No further punchline required.

Unlike the Reflecting Pool, AlterNet America is not falling into disrepair. But only because readers keep it running. If you’ve been reading for free, today is a good day to change that.

ICE Agents Go After Lawyers Who Defend Migrant Children

The Trump administration has decided that the most pressing national security threat is the people who hold the door open for nine-year-olds in immigration court.

ICE agents tried to raid the offices of attorneys representing unaccompanied migrant children this week, lawyers told the Lever, in at least three attempted raids within forty-eight hours, all in the DC area.

On Thursday, two agents from Homeland Security Investigations arrived at the Washington offices of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights. According to executive director Michael Lukens, security guards turned them away because they had no valid warrant. Ayuda and Kids in Need of Defense confirmed federal agents had visited them too, on Wednesday and Thursday.

Here is the part that makes this especially absurd: these nonprofits are subcontractors of the federal government, with audit provisions written into their contracts. As Lukens put it, “There are audit provisions in our subcontracts, you know. Send us an email.” Instead, ICE sent agents.

Meanwhile, many of these legal nonprofits have not been paid in months, courts are expediting children’s cases, and DHS has been encouraging unaccompanied children to self-deport. The agents, unlike the checks, arrived quickly.

DOJ Approves Paramount and Warner Bros’ $111 Billion Merger

The Justice Department reviewed an $111 billion merger between two of the president’s allies and found nothing wrong. How thorough.

On Friday, the DOJ greenlit Paramount’s bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, writing that the deal would “increase competition.” If completed, it would consolidate two major movie studios, two top streaming services, HBO, and the news outlets CNN and CBS News, all under the control of the Ellison family.

Larry Ellison is a close Trump ally. His son David is Paramount’s CEO.

Craig Aaron, co-CEO of Free Press, called it “one of the most shallow and corrupt merger review processes we’ve ever seen,” describing how Paramount leadership wooed the administration with fancy dinners and promises to overhaul newsrooms like CNN.

We already know what that overhaul looks like. After Skydance took control of Paramount last year, Ellison installed right-wing journalist Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News. Then 60 Minutes was gutted, and Scott Pelley was fired.

Aaron warns CNN is next: “getting rid of independent journalists asking hard questions” and “spiking stories about crimes being committed by the Trump administration.”

State attorneys general in New York and California can still go to court to block the deal. 60 Minutes, if it hadn’t been gutted, would have loved this story.

A single family is about to control CBS, CNN, HBO, and two major movie studios. The only thing that stopped this from being a done deal years ago is that there are still a few newsrooms nobody can buy. We are one of them.

We don’t have a broadcast license the FCC can dangle over our heads. We don’t have a billionaire owner who takes dinner meetings to soften our coverage. But that independence is not free. It is paid for by readers who decide that accountability journalism is worth a few dollars a month.

If you believe a newsletter should be owned by the people who read it, become a paid subscriber today.

Thanks for reading. We’ll see you tomorrow.

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