GOP loses seat badly, Trump has soldiers picking up trash

The David Pakman Show - August 27, 2025

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Democrats pulled off a major upset in Iowa, flipping a deep-red state senate seat and ending Republicans’ three-year supermajority. In a special election, Democrat Catelin Drey defeated Republican Christopher Prosch in District 1, a district Donald Trump carried by 11 points in 2024. Drey’s nine-point victory represents a 20-point swing toward Democrats in just nine months, forcing Governor Kim Reynolds to seek at least one Democratic vote to confirm her nominees.

Donald Trump has ordered National Guard troops, many brought in from out of state, to pick up trash in Washington, DC as part of a ‘beautification’ effort he calls a community restoration project. While Trump presents it as supporting the military and reducing crime, it largely functions as a photo op that misuses trained service members for sanitation work rather than disaster relief, security, or emergencies.

At Trump’s latest cabinet meeting, policy discussions were overshadowed by rants, bizarre claims, and excessive flattery. He made impossible promises, like a “15 hundred percent” drug price cut, suggested the death penalty in D.C., repeated discredited vaccine claims, and promoted authoritarian solutions to crime while touting a revival of D.C.’s dining scene. Officials, including Tulsi Gabbard, Kelly Loeffler, Kristi Noem, Lee Zeldin, Scott Bessent, and Steve Witkoff, competed to praise him, with Witkoff claiming Trump deserved a Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump’s support among young voters, particularly men under 30, is sharply declining. Approval among this group dropped from 92% in February to 69% now. Economic pressures, job losses in male-dominated industries, inflation, rent increases, and disappointment over the Epstein files have left many feeling misled.

Governor Gavin Newsom criticized Trump’s cognitive and physical health, sharing clips of him rambling incoherently and noting the irony of Trump mocking others’ hand tremors while often appearing with bruised hands himself.

Charlie Kirk commented on Taylor Swift’s engagement to Travis Kelce, suggesting that getting married and having children could make her more conservative politically. However, there is no evidence that marriage or parenthood reliably shifts political beliefs.

On today’s bonus show:

Donald Trump signs an executive order directing the Justice Department to prioritize cases where flag burning is tied to crimes. Trump suggests renaming the Department of Defense back to the Department of War. And the Department of Transportation announces it will withhold federal funding from several blue states unless they enforce English proficiency requirements for commercial truck drivers.

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