The New York Times has two new stories highlighting the rampant corruption and self-dealing in the trump administration, all at the expense of the health and well-being of the American people.
Free Pass for Polluters
First the article “How Trump Gave the Worst Polluters a Free Pass” based on a 6 month-long investigation built on more than 10,000 pages of FOIA records.
The article lays bare the gutting of the EPA and its regulations by the administration, all to benefit the pocket-books of the worst polluters in the country, who in turn showered trump and his inner circle with donations and rewards.
JUST POSTED: Today at The NYT we are publishing a major investigation into how President Trump used his executive powers to expose millions of Americans to greater cancer risks. A six month-long investigation built on more than 10,000 pages of FOIA records. Read itwww.nytimes.com/2026/10/24/c…
— Eric Lipton NYT (@ericlipton.nytimes.com) 2026-10-24T09:20:35.338Z
In total, since taking office again, Mr. Trump exempted 202 facilities in 39 states and Puerto Rico from clean-air regulations that were going into effect. Some were among the country’s worst industrial polluters, including chemical manufacturers, copper smelters and coal-burning power plants. About 3.3 million people live within three miles of at least one affected facility.
The exemptions represent the biggest presidential intervention in enforcement of the Clean Air Act in the half-century since President Nixon signed the bedrock environmental law.
“These companies, with their campaign contributions and the revolving door of former lobbyists and executives that now work in the regulatory agencies — that is where the petrochemical industry gets its power.”
Here are the locations of the 71 coal plants, 71 chemical plants, 40 sterilizers, 19 steel-related facilities and 1 copper smelter exempted from clean-air regulations.
NY Times
They are among the biggest sources of cancer-causing pollution: chemical manufacturers, steel-making plants, facilities that sterilize medical devices.
In 2024, they were required to take steps to reduce toxic emissions. That all changed when President Trump returned to office and gave them a pass.
Wheeling and dealing
The second story shows how a Russian energy giant secretly moved to acquire a position in a massive Alaska gas project. It’s part of the talks between Witkoff/Kushner and Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
JUST POSTED: A Russian energy giant has secretly moved to acquire a position in a massive Alaska gas project. Its part of talks between Witkoff/Kushner & Putin. But CEO of US company resigns after learning of Russian money in the project. A wowzer of a story.www.nytimes.com/2026/10/23/u…
— Eric Lipton NYT (@ericlipton.nytimes.com) 2026-10-24T00:25:52.161Z
Joel Riddle, who was chief executive of the company, Polar LNG, resigned in September; he said he had been misled about the sources of the start-up funding, which ostensibly came from a company in the United Arab Emirates.
Instead, Mr. Riddle said he learned, the true source of at least some of Polar LNG’s money was Novatek, a Russian energy giant under partial U.S. sanctions.
“It’s not only unlawful, but it’s not in the U.S. interest to have Russian technology controlling the commercialization of Arctic gas in the North Slope,” Mr. Riddle said in a brief interview.
The sequence of events illustrates the unorthodox, opaque mixture of deal-making and high-stakes diplomacy that has defined Mr. Trump’s attempts to end Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.
Wait, there’s more
Trump’s “peace envoys”, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, Europe, have pitched the idea that Europe should resume buying more Russian gas — a move that would be an economic boon for Moscow and give it renewed influence in the region.
The idea was brought up in talks with Ukrainian and European officials, including with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv last month.
Some European and Ukrainian officials expect the United States to seek a stake in Russian gas exports, giving American companies or the government a cut of the profits, according to people familiar with the talks.
And Anton has separately written with Jim Tankersley our NYT colleague based in Berlin a piece about talks with Putin to push Europe to start buying Russian gas again–a proposal that would turn years of American energy policy upside-downwww.nytimes.com/2026/10/17/u…
— Eric Lipton NYT (@ericlipton.nytimes.com) 2026-10-24T00:32:14.401Z
Epilogue
Corruption, self-dealing, fascism, kleptocracy, the selling of America – these are the foundations of the trump regime, nothing new about it for those who keep their eyes open. But many are not aware of the rotten core of this regime and its enablers in the republican party.
Will these stories shift a few votes from republican to Democrat across the country? Let’s make sure they do. Let’s get these stories out so people can see the truth and escape the bubble created by right-wing media. Let’s GOTV.
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