Washington

Donald Trump drops the mother of all bombs

Daily Trump Tracker: The president listens to the moneyed men around him, Britain gets cast as Chicken Little, and Trump drops a really big one

030311-D-9085M-007 Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (Mar. 11, 2003) -- A Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) weapon is prepared for testing at the Eglin Air Force Armament Center.  The MOAB is a precision-guided munition weighing 21,500 pounds and will be dropped from a C-130 Hercules aircraft for the test.  It will be the largest non-nuclear conventional weapon in existence.  The MOAB is an Air Force Research Laboratory technology project that began in fiscal year 2002 and is to be completed this year.  DoD photo.  (Released)

A Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) weapon is prepared for testing at the Eglin Air Force Armament Center. DoD photo. (Released)

How big is your bomb?
The Pentagon sounded the trumpets for the debut of Moab (“the mother of all bombs,” or if we’re being technical, Massive Ordnance Air Blast). It’s America’s largest bomb, non-nuclear edition. The 11-ton GBU-43 was dropped in Afghanistan, falling on a set of caves believed to be used by ISIS.

Billionaire to billionaire
The president is reportedly listening increasingly to his moneyed mates on matters of policy. The hedge fund and banking types Trump pals around with and brought to the White House are battling with Steve Bannon to influence the administration’s moves on issues like immigration, trade and taxes.

Leave Ivanka alone
Ivanka Trump faces a double standard, charges one conservative commentator, opining that the First Daughter is the target of so much ire because her dad’s a Republican. Ivanka’s entrepreneurial cred is contrasted with the clan-sponsored do-goodism of Chelsea Clinton, though it’s worth noting that both CVs are heavy on the family name.

Today in “Really? Really?”
Trump surrogate Jeffrey Lord equated the president’s moves to replace Obamacare with those of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights era. The pallid panelist said the comparison had to do with forcing intransigent officials to act, or something. This administration needs a serious remedial course on the history of the civil rights movement.

Friends don’t let friends’ elections possibly be influenced by foreign agents
Despite being turfed from the territory two centuries ago, those Limeys are still trying to tell Americans how to run their damn country. Britain’s spy agencies were reportedly the first to give their special friends in the U.S. a heads-up about links between Trump team personnel and the Russians. Also having the “I didn’t want you to find out like this, but” conversation with U.S. intelligence: Australia, Estonia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland.

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