Status Sunday: Trump's Secret Wall St. Handout, Grocery Workers' Strike, Fossil Fuel-ers Target Trans People

Our weekly newsletter covering what the corporate media covers up...on Sundays.

Happy Sunday! Welcome to the Status Coup Sunday newsletter — your antidote to corporate media’s silence on the struggles shaping our world.

Every Sunday, we’re bring you a curated look at the week’s most important underreported stories and a round-up of key moments from our independent ON-THE-GROUND reporting from the frontlines of the class war.

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And Now, In Underreported News

Or, in the most reported, underreported news. On Saturday, Trump announced on Truth Social — with all the gravity a potential world war deserves — the U.S. had bombed Iran’s three nuclear sites: Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. He wrote, “a full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” and closed with, “NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.” Nothing like dropping GBU-57 bunker busters before declaring, as emphatically as social media allows, that now is the time for peace.

Trump — who ran a presidential campaign characterizing himself as the anti-war dealmaker, just so good he’d effortlessly end the Israeli genocide of Palestine — has pushed the U.S. into another potential forever war in the Middle East. Y2K is so back, baby!

As the Trump-led war machine lurches forward, mainstream outlets will once again help the regime manufacture consent for a war that nobody wants. (Unless you’re a defense contractor, own stock in Lockheed Martin, et al., or are a similarly morally bankrupt ghoul.) We must amplify those anti-war voices the corporate media won’t platform — and resist the next endless war before it begins.

Remember: Israel bombed Iran on June 12, after declaring once again that Iran is weeks or months away from a nuclear weapon. Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been telling us this since at least as far back as 1996. (Some of you reading this weren’t even born yet.) The U.S. then bombed Iranian nuclear sites to prevent the completion of nuclear weapons that, again, are not likely near completion — Tulsi Gabbard told us as much in March. Big WMD energy.

Jon Farina and I were on-the-ground in New York City covering a protest against war with Iran. I spoke with demonstrators about why they showed up. One woman, near tears, shared her fear for her parents in Iran (thankfully, they’ve been evacuated from Tehran). That is the human face of war — a face the media only highlights when it serves their narrative.

You can watch her interview and others here:

We’ll continue covering this on-the-ground and in studio, so for now, let’s move onto some other stories from the week.

Trump’s Tax Bill Hides $200 Billion Windfall for Wall Street Looters

Buried deep in Trump’s new tax bill is a handout to Wall Street so brazen it would have made Reagan blush, reports The Lever. Congressional lawmakers from both parties quietly slipped in a provision that could hand billions in tax breaks to private equity firms when they buy up companies, gut them, slash jobs, and drive them into bankruptcy. The change rewards the same debt-loaded takeovers that destroyed Toys “R” Us and Red Lobster — and it’s being pushed by the same private equity giants bankrolling the politicians behind the bill. Experts warn this could cost taxpayers $200 billion over the next decade.

Colorado Grocery Workers Push Back Against Billion-Dollar Corporation in Growing Strike

The 7,000-worker strong strike against Safeway and Albertsons is entering its second week — and will expand to more stores after the latest round of negotiations closed without an agreement. Roughly 7,000 workers represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 hit the picket line last week after nine months of failed negotiations. The union says the grocery chains (following a 2015 merger, Safeway is owned by Albertson’s) refused to meet basic demands for safe staffing, livable wages, and health and pension benefits.

Fossil Fuel Billionaires Bankroll the Anti-Trans Right to Fuel Climate Denial

A new investigation by Atmos and Heated exposes a chilling alliance between fossil fuel billionaires and the right-wing machine targeting trans communities. At the heart of this network is the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a leading architect of anti-trans legislation — from bathroom bans to lawsuits like its recent attack on Minnesota’s trans rights. Though ADF’s funding is often hidden, confirmed backers include Shell and oil tycoon Phil Anschutz. Shockingly, 80% of the 45 anti-trans groups reviewed in the investigation have received fossil fuel money. Experts say this isn’t accidental: fossil fuel interests weaponize anti-trans panic to build political power and distract from their role in driving the climate crisis. The result is a brutal one-two punch against trans people — targeted political repression paired with disproportionate impacts from climate disaster.

New Study Shows Climate Crisis Is Starving the World

A major new study published in Nature delivered yet another stark warning of the climate-changed world we’re sleepwalking into. Per the study, climate change is slashing global food production, and even the best adaptation strategies won’t be enough to stop it. The research finds that for every 1°C of warming, the world loses the equivalent of 120 calories per person per day. Basically, we’ll all be skipping at least one meal per week. The study projects up to an 11% drop in production of staple foods like corn, wheat, and rice by the end of the century. (That’s only 75 years from now.) And as always, working people — especially those in the Global South — will suffer while agribusiness giants and fossil fuel billionaires profit.

Status Coup ON-THE-GROUND

Jon Farina was on-the-ground covering the protest outside of the NYC immigration court demanding the release of mayoral candidate, Brad Lander. Lander was arrested by ICE last week while escorting immigrants from immigration court. This was the latest in a spate of arrests of representatives attempting to conduct ICE oversight.

And I spoke with Brad Lander about his arrest and the country’s march into authoritarianism on Thursday. Here’s what he had to say.

And if you haven’t had a chance to watch yet, don’t miss our on-the-ground coverage of the No Kings Day protests in D.C. last weekend!

As a bonus: I spoke with journalist, Evelyn Quartz, who wrote about the failure of liberal resistance to Trump for The Lever.

You can watch it in full here.

And that’s it for this Sunday’s edition of the Status Coup Newsletter! Thanks for spending your Sunday morning with us! And remember, this is not the last you’ll hear from us today: Status Sunday airs at 1 p.m. EST today and you won’t want to miss Jordan Chariton and Tina Desiree-Berg discussing the U.S. entering Israel’s war with Iran.

-Ashley

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