One Patient Got a New Diet Drug Early. Guess Who.

Anti-ICE protestors have been sentenced to 50 years in prison, SCOTUS will soon decide if minors have First Amendment rights, and Trump's Reflecting Pool has killed three ducks

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

A 79-year-old mystery man got early access to Eli Lilly’s experimental obesity drug, and the White House would not deny it was Trump. Five anti-ICE protesters in Texas were sentenced to 50 years in prison on terrorism charges. The Supreme Court will soon decide whether Americans under 18 still have First Amendment rights. And Trump’s $14 million Reflecting Pool has killed three ducks and counting.

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Now, let’s dive in.

Mystery 79-Year-Old Patient Gets Early Access to Obesity Drug

Eli Lilly’s new diet drug isn’t out yet, but a very important 79-year-old already got some. Three guesses who.

Millions of Americans are waiting for retatrutide, Eli Lilly’s powerful new obesity drug. Only one unidentified person has already gotten it early, through the FDA’s compassionate use program, which exists for patients with grave or life-threatening conditions.

A senior NIH clinician requested the drug in April for the unnamed patient, citing refractory obesity with obstructive sleep apnea and pulmonary hypertension. The request drew attention from top health officials, which is generally a sign the patient is well connected.

When asked the obvious question — Was the 79-year-old man Donald Trump, who is obese and has publicly mused about obesity drugs? — the White House did not say no.

Spokesperson Kush Desai instead redirected the question to HHS. Asked whether Trump had sleep apnea and pulmonary hypertension, Desai pointed to Trump’s latest medical evaluation and claimed it “covers this.” It does not.

The patient in question was previously treated with tirzepatide and lost only moderate weight. He was 79 at the time of the request, and turned 80 earlier this month. Who else do we know who just turned 80?

Anti-ICE Protesters Got 50 Years for Fireworks

If you’re in a book club in Texas, maybe skip the next meeting.

Anti-ICE protesters in Texas were sentenced Tuesday to at least 50 years in prison on terrorism charges, in a case widely seen as a test of whether the administration could criminalize dissent over immigration.

Last July 4, activists set off fireworks at a detention center in Alvarado, Texas. Some vandalized cars, slashed tires, and broke a security camera. When a police officer arrived and drew his weapon, one person shot him in the shoulder from the woods.

Five protesters got 50 years for providing material support to terrorists. One got 70. The person who fired the shot got 100 years for attempted murder.

Trump and his administration have called the activists an “antifa cell,” even though antifa is not a single group or organization. Most of the protesters barely knew each other, and were connected through a local left-wing book club.

This was the first time federal prosecutors have tried to convict protesters against the Trump administration on domestic terrorism charges. The administration is openly trying to criminalize protest, so it almost certainly will not be the last.

They sentenced a book club to 50 years and called it counterterrorism. If you think they’ll stop there, you’re not paying attention. But this newsletter can’t be yanked off the air. It runs on paid subscribers. Upgrade your subscription today.

The Supreme Court Is Deciding If Kids Still Have Free Speech

Turns out the Bill of Rights has a kids’ menu.

Last year, Texas enacted the App Store Accountability Act, which forbids anyone under 18 from downloading any app to a mobile device without a parent or guardian’s permission. It also forces Apple’s App Store and Google Play to verify the age of every user.

This is the same law the Supreme Court already struck down, on steroids. In 2011, the Court rejected a California law barring minors from buying violent video games even with an adult’s permission. Texas’s version blocks young people from downloading any commercially available software at all.

The challenges landed at the 5th Circuit, a far-right court that allowed the law to take effect in an opinion that does not even mention the previous ruling. The cases are now before the Supreme Court on its shadow docket.

The Court’s pro-speech coalition has held when states target adults. In 2024, a 6-3 majority ruled against Texas and Florida laws seizing control of social media content moderation. But the justices could be less protective of people under 18. In 2025, the Court upheld a Texas law requiring porn sites to verify users’ ages.

Think of it this way: in Texas, a 17-year-old can buy a gun at a private sale but cannot download a calculator app.

Three Dead Ducks Found in Trump’s Reflecting Pool

Another day, another dead duck at the Lincoln Memorial.

Two more dead ducks have been pulled from the water near Trump’s newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. They were found floating in a pond at Constitution Gardens, a short distance from the pool itself. One duckling had already been found earlier, bringing the weekend total to three. The cause of death is unknown.

The renovation, ordered by Trump ahead of America’s 250th birthday, cost roughly $14 million. Despite that, an algae outbreak has turned the water green against the “American Flag blue” paint Trump personally selected. Visitors have reported a bad smell.

The ongoing construction likely disrupted the ducks’ habitat. The birds move between Constitution Gardens and the Reflecting Pool, and could have been exposed to peeling paint, algae, or the chemicals Trump has used in attempts to remove the algae.

Trump has a different theory. On Truth Social, he blamed “Radical Left Lunatics, most likely Dumocrats,” for cutting a 350-foot gash in the pool with “a very sharp knife or razors,” and threatened years in jail. He said six people have been arrested and seven cited.

He did not say whether the Radical Left Lunatics also killed the ducks.

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Thanks for reading. We’ll see you tomorrow.

POSITIVE STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:

Naming Your Kid ‘Donald’ Has Never Been So Unpopular. The president has gotten his name on buildings, warships, and the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration, but new parents are not cooperating. In 2025, “Donald” hit its lowest point of popularity in U.S. history, ranking 690th, with fewer than 400 Social Security card applications. The name peaked in 1934 with more than 30,400 babies and has fallen almost without interruption ever since, sinking through The Apprentice, a WWE Hall of Fame induction, and two presidential terms. Even in Florida, his home state, parents minted just 21 baby Donalds last year, slightly behind Keanu and Truce.

Michigan Forgives $200 Million in Medical Debt. Michigan announced Monday it would wipe out another $74 million in medical debt for 71,871 residents, the second round of a program launched last year. In total, more than $200 million has been forgiven for roughly 280,000 residents, with the state working through the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt, which buys unpaid debt in bulk and relieves $100 for every dollar it receives. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who allocated $4.5 million toward the effort, said it means fewer families must choose between food and medical bills.

A School Refused to Let a Gay Teen Graduate for Coming Out. Now It’s Paying the Price. A Tennessee Christian school found out that one of its students was gay when she posted a photo of herself and her girlfriend on Facebook. It responded by hauling her and her parents into a meeting, banning her from campus, blocking her from her own graduation, threatening to withhold her diploma, and, for good measure, threatening to send her social media posts to colleges. Her family sued. The school settled on Monday for $10,000, which is about what you’d spend on a semester of Christian school, and agreed to stop badmouthing her to universities.

Judge Blocks Trump’s SNAP Restrictions on Soda and Candy in Five States. A federal judge in Washington blocked the administration’s ban on food stamp recipients in Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee, and West Virginia using benefits to buy sugary foods and drinks. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled Monday that the USDA lacked the authority to approve the state waivers, which were part of the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative. SNAP provides an average of $190.59 a month to more than 42 million low-income Americans. As Jackson put it, officials may want to encourage healthy choices, but “what they cannot do is violate the law and their own regulations along the way.”