Good evening, and welcome to Raw America. I’m British Chris.
Donald Trump’s state visit to China turned out to be a massive diplomatic flop with nothing to show for it. House Speaker Mike Johnson is shrugging off domestic abuse allegations against one of his own members. Republicans are turning on Pete Hegseth after the Pentagon quietly pulled U.S. troops from Poland and a sweeping “Summer of Action” is being organized across the South in response to GOP gerrymandering and a gutted Voting Rights Act.
You’re not going to hear stories like this in the outlets billionaires control. The right-wing Ellison family owns CBS and is on the precipice of buying CNN. Jeff Bezos has turned the Washington Post into a shell of its former self. The Murdochs aren’t satisfied owning Fox, and are about to absorb new digital platforms into their portfolio.
Billionaires are pouring money into conquering the media so they can kill stories holding the powerful accountable and fire anyone who doesn’t play ball. That’s why Raw America exists, and why supporting us as a paying subscriber is the single most powerful thing you can do to fight back against the billionaires. If you’ve been enjoying our work and are not already a paying subscriber, it’s time to make the leap.
Trump’s China Trip Was a Massive Flop
Donald Trump flew to Beijing expecting to come home with wins. He came home with seeds and a ballroom compliment.
That’s not an exaggeration. As the Daily Beast reported, Trump was in a foul mood on his flight back, snapping at reporters and complaining about the quality of Chinese ballrooms compared to the one he wants to build near the White House. That’s where his head was after a summit with the United States’ chief rival.
Trump wanted China’s help reopening the Strait of Hormuz after his Iran war blew up the region. He didn’t get it. He asked China to stop supplying Iran with weapons. China didn’t commit. He wanted trade breakthroughs. He didn’t get those either. A Boeing aircraft deal was announced, but there was no signing ceremony. He wanted AI agreements. What he got was a vague promise about something in the future.
And then there was Xi Jinping’s characterization of the U.S. as a waning power.
Xi opened his remarks with a reference to the geopolitical theory that describes what happens when a rising power displaces an established one. Trump had no idea what Xi was talking about. When someone eventually explained it to him, Trump took to Truth Social to blame Biden. That’s a very weak response from a leader sitting across from a man who referred to the United States as a fading empire.
The optics weren’t any better. Xi was in command of every moment. Trump was the supplicant. And physically, Trump’s decline was hard to miss. He struggled to stay awake, had trouble walking, and looked small next to the five-foot-eleven Xi Jinping. He’s arguably never looked smaller.
Mike Johnson Keeps Mum on Republican Accused of Domestic Violence
Republican Congressman Max Miller of Ohio is facing serious domestic abuse allegations from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, who published photos of what she says are injuries from Miller’s physical attacks. This is the second woman to make such allegations against Miller, in addition to former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.
Mike Johnson’s response to all of this? “He’s got to work that out.”
That’s it. That’s the Speaker of the House’s position on a sitting member of Congress facing abuse allegations backed up by photographs.
Miller has denied everything and filed a defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife. Trump fully endorsed Miller for re-election, calling him a great guy. The Cuyahoga County child protective services looked into suspected child abuse at Miller’s home earlier this year, though Miller’s attorney says no evidence of abuse was found.
What’s notable here is that Emily Moreno is the daughter of Republican Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio. This is an intra-party feud now, and Republican leadership’s response is to look the other way and let it get sorted out in court. That’s the leadership of the party that spent years claiming the moral high ground.
Republicans Furious with Hegseth for Moving Troops Out of Poland
Pete Hegseth and the Trump Pentagon just pulled all U.S. troops from Poland, and Republican members of the Armed Services Committee are furious.
Poland is the only European country that actually wants more U.S. military presence, not less. Pulling troops there, coming just weeks after removing 5,000 troops from Germany, sends a signal to every NATO ally that the United States is an unreliable partner. And it’s a gift to Vladimir Putin.
Representative Don Bacon, a Republican who sits on the Armed Services Committee, called it “a slap in the face to Poland” and allies across the region. Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers said Congress wasn’t consulted before the move was made, despite the Pentagon insisting it wasn’t a last-minute decision.
This is the increasingly common pattern: Trump and Hegseth making major moves without explanation, without consultation, and without a coherent strategy anyone can articulate. And even Republicans are starting to say so out loud.
Massive Protests Planned Against GOP Gerrymandering Efforts
Last month, the Supreme Court dealt a significant blow to the Voting Rights Act in a ruling that opened the door to a wave of racially discriminatory redistricting. Republican-led states like Tennessee and Alabama already moved to redraw congressional maps in ways that target majority-Black districts. Georgia’s governor has called a special session to redraw maps. Mississippi is planning to redistrict specifically to eliminate longtime Democratic congressman Bennie Thompson’s seat.
The response from organizers is a coordinated “Summer of Action” that kicks off this weekend. Marches are planned in Selma, Alabama, tied directly to the legacy of Bloody Sunday and the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Actions are being planned in Texas and across multiple Southern states.
Marc Morial of the National Urban League warned that the full impact of the court’s ruling hasn’t even been felt yet, saying it could cost ten to fifteen Black members of Congress their seats. Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown called Saturday’s march in Selma “an altar call.” Martin Luther King III is asking a harder question: “How do you fight a system that is being manipulated not to work?”
That’s the question civil rights organizers are trying to answer this summer, and it’s one every American who cares about democracy should be asking too.
Help Raw America Compete with the Billionaires
Trump is overseeing the real-time decline of the United States as a global superpower. A Republican speaker of the house is doing nothing about one of his own members being credibly accused of domestic violence. We just left a key NATO ally out to dry. And the civil rights movement is kicking into high gear this weekend over an unprecedented assault on voting rights. You won’t hear about this on Larry Ellison’s CBS or in Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post. That’s by design.
That’s why we built Raw America. We’re not only breaking down the news for you in these daily videos, but we’ve got reporters on the ground in Washington working on bringing you live coverage of Congress and direct interviews with lawmakers. We’re bringing you exclusive conversations with policy experts who are providing essential knowledge that the Trump regime and its enablers in the media want to hide from you.
None of this work is possible without paying subscribers. We don’t have a billionaire backer writing checks, and we don’t have any corporate advertisers pressuring us on what to report and what to bury. We have you. If you believe independent journalism is worth investing in, become a paying subscriber to Raw America right now. Your support isn’t just keeping the lights on, but building something that can actually fight back.
Thanks for watching. I’m British Chris with Raw America. We’ll see you next week.
STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
Colorado Governor Commutes Prison Sentence of Election Denying County Clerk. Gov. Jared Polis (D) on Friday commuted the prison sentence of Tina Peters, making her eligible for parole next month. Peters — the former Mesa County, Colorado Clerk who allowed an outside group to have access to voting machines — was a notorious far-right conspiracy theorist who believed the 2020 election was rigged against President Donald Trump. She was serving a nine-year prison sentence.
Eric Trump to Sue MS NOW Host Over Report on Trump’s China Trip. President Trump’s second-eldest son Eric announced he plans to sue MS NOW host Jen Psaki and her employer over her recent monologue about Trump’s recent trip to China. Psaki’s monologue covered Trump’s plans to withdraw his $10 billion IRS lawsuit in exchange for launching a $1.7 billion slush fund to divert taxpayer money to his political allies, and noted that both Trump and his family have made money from his presidency.
Pentagon Shutting Down Legally Mandated Program to Curb Civilian Deaths. The Pentagon’s internal watchdog is now sounding the alarm over the Department of Defense shuttering the Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response (CHMR) office, which is a legally required program to lower civilian deaths from U.S. troops. Even though the DoD Office of the Inspector General noted that the program has not yet been officially closed, the Pentagon ended funding for its data management platform, paused its committee meetings and reassigned and/or fired key personnel.
Civil Rights Groups Urge Florida Judge to Block GOP Redistricting Map. Circuit Judge Joshua Hawkes, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), is now considering a petition by a collection of civil rights and voting rights groups to block Republicans’ new redistricting map aiming to eliminate several Democratic congressional districts in the Sunshine State. The groups argued that the map violates a 2010 Florida constitutional amendment that bans the redrawing of congressional districts for partisan gain.
Harvey Weinstein’s Third Trial in New York Ends in Mistrial. Disgraced former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein — who is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence for sex crimes in California — will now face the prospect of a fourth trial after Manhattan jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict on Friday. Weinstein still awaits sentencing on his 2025 guilty verdict for sexually assaulting former production assistant Miriam “Mimi” Haley. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will now have to decide whether to move for a new trial, though other prosecutors have said Bragg should drop the case, since Weinstein will almost certainly die in prison in California.
