Probably the best column I ever wrote

Dear friends: I enjoy sending you my column every week, but I ask you to pay special attention to this one. Here goes...

Let's stop pretending. Let's stop acting like this is normal. Let's stop kidding ourselves that there is any adult supervision left in Washington.

There isn't.

If the first few weeks of 2026 have taught us anything, it's that the chaos we are witnessing isn't an accident. It's the plan. We are watching the systematic dismantling of the guardrails that have protected this Republic for 250 years, and it is happening right in front of our faces.

Look at the headlines. A president who openly flouts international law to invade a sovereign nation like Venezuela - not because of a national security threat, but for oil. A president who treats the Justice Department like his personal law firm. A president who demonizes career civil servants and replaces them with lackeys whose only qualification is absolute loyalty to the Boss.

This isn't foreign policy. It's a stick-up.

And what do we get from the Republicans in Congress? Silence. Crickets. Men and women who once preached the gospel of "fiscal responsibility" and "rule of law" have suddenly lost their voices. They see the same chaos we do. They see the same violation of norms. But they are too terrified of a mean tweet to do their constitutional duty.

It is no happy new year when the truth is the first casualty of the administration. We are fed a daily diet of "alternative facts" so colossal, repeated so often, that they make Orwell's "1984" look like a documentary. They tell us the economy is booming for the little guy while they cut deals for their billionaire friends. They tell us they are restoring order while they sow division in our streets.

Don't buy it.

We have seen this movie before. We know how it ends. It ends with a country divided, a reputation in tatters and a citizenry too exhausted to fight back. That is exactly what they want. They want you to tune out. They want you to give up.

But we can't afford to be tired. The stakes are too high. The survival of our democracy is on the ballot every single day now, not just in November.

God save the Republic.

There you go! So, what do you think? I think it might be my best column ever. But, here's the kicker: I didn't write it! It was entirely written by Google's Gemini AI when asked by my podcast producer Jay Feldman to write a column on the current political landscape in Bill Press style.

First, Gemini noted that "to write in the style of Bill Press, one must channel the voice of an unapologetic, old-school progressive fighter who combines the punchiness of a radio host with the moral indignation of a seasoned columnist. His writing is direct, confrontational and deeply concerned with the erosion of democratic norms."

Gemini continued: "Press writes like he speaks. He uses short, staccato sentences to build rhythm. He often starts with a conventional observation or a pleasantry, then immediately pivots to a hard-hitting critique. He loves repeating a phrase at the beginning of consecutive sentences to hammer home a point. He doesn't mince words. If he thinks someone is lying, he calls them a 'liar.'"

That's not all: "Press frequently draws parallels to historical failures (Vietnam, Iraq, Watergate) to frame current events. He is laser-focused on disinformation and often references the concept of the "Big Lie" to describe political gaslighting. His columns almost always end with a dramatic, often ominous, summary sentence that serves as a warning."

Google's Gemini AI then produced the column - my reaction to which, I must admit, is mixed.

First, I'm floored that Gemini knows me better than I know myself. I'm afraid it might soon put me out of a job. Second, while recognizing its many positive aspects, I fear the negative impacts an uncontrolled, unregulated AI could have across our culture and economy, including jobs lost.

At the same time, I'm impressed that, without prompting, even AI knows how bad things are under Donald Trump and expresses it so forcefully.

To Google Gemini AI's column, I'd just add one comment: We were treated this week to a photo of Donald Trump flipping the bird to a protester in Detroit. Now it's our turn - for the vast majority of Americans to flip the bird to Donald Trump in the mid-term elections on Tuesday, November 3.

(C)2026 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

I'd like to kick off 2026 by wishing everybody a happy new year, but I can't.

It's no happy new year when a president of the United States openly breaks domestic and international law by invading another country that poses no national security threat to the United States, killing innocent civilians, kidnapping its president and first lady - and lying to the American people about it.

It's no happy new year when, on the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, a president of the United States issues a statement from the White House praising 1,600 armed rioters who stormed the U. S. Capitol as "patriots" and then blaming Democrats and Capitol Hill police officers for starting the assault.

It's no happy new year when an American citizen in Minneapolis is murdered by an ICE agent while simply trying to drive away from the scene, and a president of the United States, without any evidence, calls her a "professional agitator" who was "very disorderly," and accuses her of "running over" an ICE officer, which she clearly did not do.

And, may I remind you, we're barely one week into 2026.

By any definition, we are now a country in utter chaos. There are no rules. If there are, there's no one to enforce them. There's no law. If so, there's no one, courts or Congress, willing to uphold the law. There's no truth. But only a continuing cascade of big lies. So many colossal lies, repeated so often, as Hitler proved with his "Big Lie" theory, that a clueless populace starts to believe them.

For those who still believe in the rule of law and the primacy of truth, the challenge is how to respond to Trump's daily, reckless, illegal actions. Unfortunately, Steve Bannon's "flood the zone" strategy is working. We hardly have time to respond to the latest Trump outrage before he drops another one. But we can and must hold him responsible for each and every outrage - and make sure the American people know how dangerous he is.

Let's start with this week. There's no justification for Trump's invasion of Venezuela. Period. It's a total violation of international law, including treaties which the United States has ratified. Venezuela is no national security threat to the United States. Venezuela has never attacked any American citizens or property. Venezuela's responsible for only a tiny sliver of illegal drugs coming into the United States. There's no way Trump can justify blowing up small boats off the coast of Venezuela, seizing its oil tankers or kidnapping its admittedly illegally elected leader as a matter of self-defense.

It's also, of course, a total repudiation of his campaign promises to focus on "America First," to avoid "endless foreign wars," and, especially, not to engage in any "regime change." Promises made, promises broken. Like Vietnam, Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq, here we go with another ill-fated U.S. attempt at regime change, this one all Donald Trump's.

And, as it turns out, it's not about trafficking in illegal drugs, as Trump first declared. It's all about oil. Trump admits he talked to American oil companies before and after attacking Venezuela - while keeping Congress in the dark. Wednesday's New York Times headline blared: "Chevron Set to Reel in Big Rewards in Venezuela." And you can bet that, somehow, the Trump crime family will get a slice of those profits.

This January 6, Trump, again, blatantly lied about the 2020 election being stolen. But blaming Capitol Hill police officers, who responded on Jan. 6, 2021, five of whom lost their lives, with "provocative tactics" and turning "a peaceful demonstration into chaos" is a new low, even for Donald Trump.

As quick as he was to blame Capitol Hill police for starting a riot, Trump was even quicker to defend ICE officers in Minneapolis for murdering an innocent American woman, Renee Nicole Good - contradicting reports by state and local law enforcement officials and ignoring the evidence seen on video by millions of Americans.

If you think you see a common thread here, you're right. Three events this week unmask the essence of the Trump regime: Might makes right. We have the power and we have the right to exercise it anyhow, anywhere, any time we want - against perceived enemies at home or abroad - regardless of the law - and by violence, if necessary. For him, violence is good.

I fear for my country. This year will not be a happy year until we block this monster in the November midterms. I hope we still have a country left by then.

(C)2026 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

When Susie Wiles agreed to be Donald Trump's chief of staff, one of the first things she did was huddle with former chiefs to get their advice. Reportedly, they told her one thing she should definitely not do was talk to Chris Whipple.

Fortunately for all of us, Wiles did not take their advice. Whipple, a well-respected reporter and author of the 2017 classic "The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency," is known as the walking encyclopedia of chiefs of staff. But Wiles not only agreed to talk with him, she gave him 11 interviews over the last 11 months - every one of them, as she agreed, recorded on tape - and revealed by Whipple in this month's Vanity Fair. It's worth subscribing to, just to read the whole article.

All I can say is: Thank you, Susie! For me, it's the first present under the Christmas tree. Just in time for the holidays, Susie Wiles has given us all a gift: a peek behind the curtain into the personalities and workings of the Trump White House. And it ain't pretty.

While Wiles continues to profess her loyalty to the Trump team, she proceeds to dump on the whole bunch of them, starting with the president himself. Initially, she recounts, Trump agreed to limit retaliation against his perceived political enemies to his first 90 days in office. Promise broken. With the total cooperation of Attorney General Pam Bondi (more later), he's still busy at score-settling.

About January 6, Wiles told Whipple she tried to persuade Trump to pardon only those who just wandered into the Capitol without engaging in any violence, and certainly not those who were seen on camera assaulting police officers. Trump refused. He insisted on pardoning the whole lot.

Surprisingly, Wiles also admitted she believed Trump's tariffs were more harmful than he would admit, suggested his anti-immigration crusade had gone too far and said Trump was dead wrong when he claimed that Bill Clinton had once visited Jeffrey Epstein's island.

Asked to describe what it was like being so close to Trump, Wiles told Whipple it was like working for someone with an "alcoholic's personality" - which Trump immediately said he considered a compliment. Really? Medical experts list the following personality traits of an alcoholic: self-centeredness (prioritizing personal needs); impulsiveness (difficulty controlling urges); manipulativeness (use of deceitful tactics); emotional instability (exaggerated emotional reactions); defensiveness (irritable when confronted); and perfectionism (unrealistic self-expectations).

That may define Trump to a "t," but only in Trump's world would that be considered a compliment.

After undermining the image of Trump himself, Wiles proceeded to belittle many of those around him. She put down Vice President JD Vance as a "calculating conspiracy theorist," dismissed HHS Secretary RFK Jr. as "quirky Bobby," called OMB Director Russell Vought a "right-wing absolute zealot," and dismissed one-time Trump pal Elon Musk as an "odd, odd duck" and "avowed ketamine user."

Among Cabinet members, most of Wile's scorn was directed against AG Pam Bondi for her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein matter, starting with Bondi's distributing binders about Epstein to a group of social media influencers at the White House in February. "I think she completely whiffed on appreciating that that was the very targeted group that cared about this," Wiles said of Bondi. "First she gave them binders full of nothingness. And then she said that the witness list, or the client list, was on her desk. There is no client list, and it sure as hell wasn't on her desk."

For me, the most stunning quote in the interviews was Wiles description of her own job. "I hear stories from my predecessors about these seminal moments where you have to go in and tell the president what he wants to do is unconstitutional or will cost lives. I don't have that," Wiles told Whipple. WTF? If that's not her job, what is her job?

Upon publication, in true Trumpian fashion, Wiles attacked the Vanity Fair article as a "hit piece." But nobody believes her. She agreed to the interviews. Every one of them was taped. And the White House has not cited one case where she was misquoted.

Unwittingly, perhaps, Susie Wiles has performed a valuable public service. She has confirmed our worst beliefs in how bad things really are in the White House. The United States is led today by a bunch of amateurs, not one of whom, starting with Donald Trump, is qualified for the job they hold. God save the Republic.

(C)2025 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.