SCOTT LUDWIG: Trump’s colossally corrupt July … so far

If July of 2025 is any indication, Donald Trump has evolved. His administration is no longer just a simple s___ show; it’s turning into a full-blown spectacular.

Let’s begin with Alligator Alcatraz, Trump’s lame-brained idea to erect an immigration detention facility inside Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida. The compound is allegedly to relieve pressure on federal immigration jails by housing as many as 5,000 detainees in a remote area where they will be surrounded by – get this – alligators, presumably as a deterrent to escape.

Trump ally, right-wing influencer Laura Loomer, has his back, as evidenced by her post on social media: “Alligator lives matter. The good news is, alligators are guaranteed at least 65 million meals if we start now.” Not so coincidentally, the entire Latino population in the United States is 65 million.

Let’s move on to the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, which is actually anything but. It’s a disaster waiting to happen, so much so that not even the sycophantic Republican members of Congress could unanimously agree on it.

That is to say, initially, because at some point the naysayers were summoned to the White House for a meeting with the Big Cheese, where they left with selfies with the president in the Oval Office, personal invitations to Mar-a-Lardo, various trinkets commemorating the 45/47th POTUS, and assorted promises and guarantees that in all likelihood will never see the light of day. Ultimately, the majority of the naysayers capitulated and voted in favor of it anyway.

Ironically, Trump signed off on the bill on the 4th of July, our national day of independence. Ironically, in the sense that for the 12 million Americans who depend on Medicaid who, because of the bill, at some point will have to do without, they will now be on their own to find medical coverage. In other words, 12 million Americans are going to be – healthwise, at least – truly independent and have to fend for themselves.

After the vote confirmed the passage of the Big Ugly Bill, members of the GOP were observed chanting “USA, USA, USA” on the House floor, which undoubtedly turned the stomachs of the surviving members of the 1980 U.S. Men’s gold medal hockey team who were on the receiving end of that very same cheer 45 years ago when they upset the reigning four-time champion team from the Soviet Union.

Trump is considering staging a UFC fight – that’s Ultimate Fighting Championship – on White House grounds to celebrate 250 years of American independence. It’s no coincidence that Dana White, the CEO and president of UFC, is a good friend of his. How two men beating each other into bloody pulps symbolizes freedom — or anything other than what it actually is: bloodshed — is anyone’s guess.

The Department of Justice and the FBI reported that they found no evidence that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had a client list or blackmailed prominent associates, a direct contradiction of what Attorney General Pam Bondi said earlier this year. Also, Epstein’s death was confirmed to be a suicide, a direct contradiction of what conspiracy theorists believe was a hit by one of those prominent associates. I can’t imagine there is anyone more prominent than the man in the Oval Office, but maybe that’s just me.

In the aftermath of the horrific flash flood in Kerrville, Texas, that took the lives of more than 100 Americans, Trump took to the links, spending time at his golf course in New Jersey rather than heading to the Lone Star State. Incidentally, Texas Senator Ted Cruz – you may remember him being in Cancun during the horrific 2021 winter storm in his home state — was vacationing in Greece when the flooding occurred early in the morning of the 4th of July. Cruz returned to Texas late in the evening of July 6th – after spending July 5, the day after the flooding, visiting the Parthenon in Athens. Trump and Cruz: birds of a feather.

Originally my plan was to hold off writing anything about whatever is going on in the current administration until the month of July was over. But then all of this took place in just the first week.

There are just so many “oversights,” “accidents,” “mishaps,” and embarrassing moments with Trump in office that it’s hard to keep track of them all, let alone keep up. For example, as this column was about to go to press, Trump hosted a Faith Luncheon – a religious-based event — at the White House that resulted in yet another one of those embarrassing moments we’ve become so familiar with.

While addressing the audience, he went on a short rant that included “BS – only he said all eight letters of the compound word out loud – and joked about Russia bombing a Ukrainian nursing home.

But that’s not the punchline; the takeaway, if you will. Rather, it’s this: the audience laughed. Twice, in fact, because they laughed both times.

So at least there are some people who find humor in Trump’s colossal s___ show. I’m just not one of them.

Scott Ludwig is an Albany Herald columnist and independent writer/author who lives in Senoia. All of his books can be found on Amazon.