News On Tap For Monday, August 18, 2025

TACOs, Traitors, & Heroes

Today’s “News On Tap” tastes a little bit like TACOs, as Trump chickened out in his meeting with Putin on Friday. We’ll have an update on Trump’s showdown today with Europe’s Leaders & Ukraine’s Pres. Zelensky. We’ve also got updates on Trump’s illegitimate occupation of DC, Gov. Newsom & Texas Democrats’ fighting forward on voting, the war in Gaza, the Epstein files, and some entertainment news too. But first…

First Round - Hanging In The Balance

Trump's Alaskan TACOs With Putin

• Russia Jubilant After Putin Leaves Trump Summit Without Making Concessions

• Even Fox Admitted Trump Got Steamrolled By Putin In Alaska, When Trump Was Supposed To Be Tough And Impose Harsh New Sanctions On Putin

• Sensitive Trump-Putin Documents Left On Hotel Printer By Trump's State Dept. Team Reveal Private Details Of Summit

• John Fugelsang: 50 Shades Of Weak: In Alaska, Putin Looked Like A Strongman. Trump Looked Like An Old Man Asking Where They Keep The Pudding.

The Showdown Over Ukraine

• European Leaders To Join Ukraine’s Zelensky At The White House For Monday Meeting With Trump About Putin & Russia's War On Ukraine

• Trump Echoes Putin’s Position, Telling Zelensky To Forgo Regaining Crimea And Joining NATO Ahead Of White House Meeting

• Olga Rudenko: All That Needs To Be Done To End The War Is For Russia To Go Home

Second Round - Fascism & The Fight Against It

The Trump Regime’s Occupation Of DC

• The Weekend Recap: DC Resists Trump's Takeover — Both In Court And As Protests Flood DC's Streets

• Friday Night: Trump Admin. Steps Back On Total Takeover Of D.C. Police Department, Before Federal Judge Rules Against Them [Gift Link]

• Today: Three Republican-Led States To Send Hundreds Of National Guard Troops To Washington

• Phillip Bump: More People In Ohio, South Carolina, & West Virginia Are Facing Violent Crime Than There Are People In DC. Yet OH, SC, & WV Are Sending Their National Guard Members To DC To "Protect" Residents There.

• Related Issue: Dallas, Texas Ended Downtown Homelessness With Innovative Thinking & Actions. The Trump Administration Wants Their Efforts To Stop.

• *** Jonathan V. Last: Maybe Republicans Have Always Been Fascists ***

Fighting Forward

• Anti-Abortion Playbook, Flipped: Arkansas Abortion Fund Opens Its Own “Crisis Pregnancy Center”

• Sarah Stankorb: How A Group Of Michigan Parents Defeated Anti-Trans Maga Activists - And How Fighting Like Thy Did May Be Easier Than It Looks

• Elie Mystal: On Being Tired, And Energizing The Power Of Small Acts Of Noncompliance

Third Round - The Many Wars Of The Right

The War Over Voting

• Trump Declares Plan To End Mail-In Ballots & Change Voting Machines After Putin Told Him 2020 Election Was Stolen By Mail-In Voting

• Texas Republicans Set To Resume Push For Illegitimately Redrawn U.S. House Maps, As Dems Return & Second Special Session Gets Underway In Texas House

• Firing Back At Texas' Illegitimate Redistricting Actions, Gov. Gavin Newsom Calls Special Election To Authorize California's Countermoves

• Joan Walsh: “Unbelievably Disrepectful” - Trump Sends Troops To California Gov. Newsom’s Big Beautiful Press Conference

• Gov. Newsom Mocks Trump's Social Media Posting Style In A Flurry Of His Own Redistricting Posts

War On Good Government

• New Hegseth-Generated Air Force Policy Denies Transgender Troops Hearings Before They're Discharged

• A $45 Treatment Can Save A Starving Child. But Trump & Rubio's USAID Cuts Have Frozen The Supply.

Immigration Wars

• A New Pandemic Is Growing Here In The U.S. As Tuberculosis Is Spawning In Crowded, Dirty Ice Detention Centers

• Federal Judge Rejects Trump’s Attempt To End Standards Of Care For Detained Migrant Children

Fourth Round - More News To Drink About

Netanyahu's War On Gaza

• Roughly 500,000 Israeli Protestors Gather In Tel Aviv Over The Weekend To Demand An End To Israel's War In Gaza

• Trump Admin. Stops Issuing Visas For Gaza’s Children To Get Medical Care After Far-Right Campaign By Influencer Laura Loomer

The Trump/Epstein Scandal Isn't Going Away

• Former Trump AG William Barr To Face House Oversight Committee Members Today For Deposition In Epstein Probe

• Trump Lashes Out At Rep. Thomas Massie's Plan To Bring Epstein Victims To The Capitol When Congress Returns

Climate Crisis

• Hurricane Erin Forecasted To Bring Life-Threatening Surf And Rip Currents As Category 4, But Unlikely To Hit Mainland U.S.

• Hurricane Erin, One Of The Fastest Intensifying Storms In Atlantic History, Moved From A Cat 0 To Cat 5 In Less Than 24 Ours, Before Dipping To Cat 4

Fifth Round - Media Matters, Entertainment & More

Rest In Peace

• Terence Stamp, Star Actor In ‘Superman’ And "Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert," Dead At 87

Media Matters

• Federal Judge Blocks Elon-Musk Spurred Retaliatory FTC Investigation Of Media Matters, Blasting Trump Admin's Actions As "Alarming" [Gift Link]

• Newsmax Settles Dominion Voting Systems Lawsuit For $67 Million Over False 2020 Election Claims

• MSNBC To Change Its Name Later This Year As Part Of Corporate Divorce From NBC

Entertainment & More

• Box Office Wrap: ‘Weapons’ Continues Slaying With $25M 2nd Weekend, 'Freakier Friday' Holds At $9.3M, While Sydney Sweeney’s ‘Americana’ Drops A $500K Bomb

• FX’s “Alien: Earth” Shatters Already High Expectations

• Ozzy Osbourne Documentary, Covering His Final Years, Pulled By BBC Hours Before Premiere; BBC Says They Will Reschedule Soon

• Cincinnati Reds End Milwaukee Brewers’ Franchise-Record 14-Game Winning Streak On With Bases-Loaded Hit In The 10th

• At The U.S. Open, Stars Will Team Up This Week For Mixed Doubles Early

• Scottie Scheffler Rallies From 4 Shots Down And Wins BMW Championship For 5th PGA Victory Of The Year

Today’s Special Guest

Parker Malloy is an amazing writer & highly respected media critic who writes & publishes The Present Age, her Substack newsletter covering news, politics, and trans issues in the U.S. She’s been brilliant lately, highlighting the ridiculousness of Chris Cuomo & Jim Acosta’s AI disasters, and the mainstream media’s failures on the Sydney Sweeney nontroversy. Her latest piece, “The Government Is Now Deciding What History Museums Can Display” is also an important look at how Trump’s fascist actions aren’t just affecting us now, but could affect us all far into the future.
We’re thrilled to have her back in the bar tonight to talk about media, politics - and a little Major League baseball too.

Your Bar Regular Today

Brooklyn Dad Defiant, AKA Majid M. Padellan, author, blogger, & activist will join us at the bar tonight for a little dancing, a little drinking, and a lot of talk about Trump’s humiliating meting with Putin, and the updates on that story from today. Plus, we’ll chat about how California Gov. Gavin Newsom is turning Trump’s own style of media communication against him, to show everyone how stupid Trump really is.

---

Join us today, on any of our radio affiliates, or subscribe and listen ad-free anytime!

• WCPT AM 820 – Chicago

• AM 950 - Minneapolis/St. Paul

• America One Radio - Atlanta

• Detour Talk Radio - Tri-Cities Area Of Tennessee

• Progressive Voices Radio - Worldwide, Via Tune In