Early in President Trump’s first term, McSweeney’s editors began to catalog the head-spinning number of misdeeds coming from his administration. We called this list a collection of Trump’s cruelties, collusions, corruptions, and crimes, and it felt urgent to track them, to ensure these horrors—happening almost daily—would not be forgotten. Now that Trump has returned to office, amid civil rights, humanitarian, economic, and constitutional crises, we felt it critical to make an inventory of this new round of horrors. This list will be updated monthly between now and the end of Donald Trump’s second term.
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ATROCITYKEY
– Constitutional Illegalities, Collusion, and/or Obstruction of Justice – Environment – Harassment, Bullying, Retribution, and/or Sexual Misconduct – Lies and Misinformation – Musk Madness – Policy – Public Statements and Social Media Posts – Trump Family Business Dealings – Trump Staff and Administration – White Supremacy, Racism, Misogyny, Homophobia, Transphobia, and/or Xenophobia
– July 1, 2025 – Trump toured “Alligator Alcatraz,” the new immigration detention center surrounded by alligator-filled swamps in the Florida Everglades. Trump suggested it could be a model for future lockups as his administration raced to expand the necessary infrastructure for increasing deportations. He said, “Pretty soon, this facility will handle the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet.” During the tour, he endorsed having Florida National Guard forces serve as immigration judges. Immigrant advocates criticized the Trump administration’s move. Mark Fleming, the associate director of federal litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center, said it amounted to an “independent, unaccountable detention system.” Florida Republican Party (RPOF) Chair Evan Powers claimed the project had “immense public support,” and said they had sold thousands of “Alligator Alcatraz”–themed shirts, hats, and gear.
President Trump participates in a guided walking tour of Alligator Alcatraz (The White House)
– July 2, 2025 – Pardoned January 6 rioter Jared L. Wise was named as an advisor to counselor Ed Martin, leader of the “Weaponization Working Group” in Trump’s Justice Department. Martin was an outspoken supporter of the January 6 defendants. According to a memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi, the group’s mission includes investigating “improper investigative tactics and unethical prosecutions” tied to the insurrection. A source familiar with Martin’s thinking told The New York Times that Martin was “thrilled” to have Wise, even suggesting that if “we could genetically design an adviser,” he or she would look like Wise. During the January 6 insurrection, Wise allegedly shouted, “Kill ’em! Kill ’em! Kill ’em!” at law enforcement officers.
– July 2, 2025 – Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit over the editing of a 60 Minutes pre-election interview with then Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Trump’s legal team said the settlement was “another win for the American people,” who were holding “the fake news media accountable.” The move by Paramount, according to a statement by the Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), smacked of favoritism and referenced Paramount’s planned merger with Skydance Media. First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, who represented The New York Times during the Pentagon Papers case, told the FPF that “the agreement of Paramount to pay any settlement amount to Donald Trump based on a broadcast that was both journalistically responsible and fully protected by the First Amendment is an ominous blow to press freedom.”
– July 3, 2025 – Jewish advocacy groups slammed Trump for using the antisemitic term “Shylock” during a speech celebrating the passage of his spending bill. “No death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and bar exam for, in some cases, a fine banker, and in some cases, Shylocks and bad people,” Trump said. Later, he told reporters he had “never heard” that the term was considered an offensive stereotype. “Shylock” refers to the villainous Jewish moneylender in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, condemned Trump’s comments and said in a statement that he had used one of “the most quintessential antisemitic stereotypes.” Trump has made cracking down on antisemitism a priority. His administration said it is screening for antisemitic activity when granting immigration benefits, and its fight with Harvard University has centered on allegations that the school tolerated antisemitism.
– July 4, 2025 – After signing the spending and tax bill known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Trump declared, “I can say very proudly that our country is more proud right now than it has been in many, many years.” House Speaker Mike Johnson said of the bill, “If you’re for common-sense fiscal responsibility and reducing the deficit, this bill is for you. If you’re for fairer and lower taxes, bigger paychecks, then this is the bill for you.” Economists have estimated that the bill’s greatest benefits would go to the wealthiest Americans. It would cost the poorest Americans an estimated $1,600 a year, mainly due to reductions in Medicaid and food aid. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted that cuts to Medicaid could leave 11.8 million more people without health insurance by 2034. The budget office also reported the measure would swell the already soaring national debt by at least $3.4 trillion over a decade.
– July 5, 2025 – An email sent by the US Social Security Administration (SSA) claiming Trump’s new spending bill had eliminated taxes on benefits for most recipients was slammed by critics as misleading. The email claimed the new law “includes a provision that eliminates federal income taxes on Social Security benefits for most beneficiaries” and “it provides an enhanced deduction for taxpayers aged 65 and older.” Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, said, “The SSA statement implies there is a direct tax cut on Social Security benefits, which there is not.” The legislation provides a temporary tax deduction of up to $6,000 for people aged sixty-five and older and $12,000 for married seniors. Jeff Nesbit, who served as a top SSA official under Republican and Democratic presidents, posted on X, “The agency has never issued such a blatant political statement. The fact that Trump and his minions running SSA have done this is unconscionable.”
– July 7, 2025 – Despite criticizing Democratic administrations over their handling of Hurricane Helene and the Los Angeles wildfires, President Trump sought to defuse blame over his own administration’s handling of the Texas floods, which killed over one hundred people, including many children. “This is a hundred-year catastrophe, and it’s just so horrible to watch,” Trump told reporters at his golf course, while rescue teams in Texas continued to search for the missing. When asked whether the disaster was worsened by his administration’s cuts to the National Weather Service, Trump responded, “What a situation that all is. That was really a Biden setup. That was not our setup. But I wouldn’t blame Biden for it either.”
– July 7, 2025 – US measles cases reached their highest total in thirty-three years, according to data published by Johns Hopkins showing at least 1,277 confirmed cases, 155 hospitalizations, and 3 deaths in 2025. According to the CDC, approximately 92 percent of measles cases this year were in people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. The three individuals who died from measles this year, including two otherwise healthy children, were all unvaccinated. Although measles was officially eliminated from the US in 2000, public health experts warned that the country was on track to lose its elimination status. Earlier this year, anti-vaccine activist Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. downplayed concerns about measles, spread misinformation about the MMR vaccine’s safety, and recommended bogus treatments. “It’s not unusual,” Kennedy Jr. said of the West Texas measles outbreak, “We have measles outbreaks every year.”
– July 7, 2025 – According to a document written by the Salvadoran government in response to a UN inquiry, the US bears legal responsibility for Venezuelan men who were deported to El Salvador. “The actions of the state of El Salvador have been limited to the implementation of a bilateral cooperation mechanism with another state, through which it has facilitated the use of the Salvadoran prison infrastructure for the custody of persons detained within the scope of the justice system and law enforcement of that other state,” the document stated. “In this context, the jurisdiction and legal responsibility for these persons lie exclusively with the competent foreign authorities, by virtue of international agreements signed and in accordance with the principles of sovereignty and international cooperation in criminal matters.” For months, the Trump administration insisted in court filings and hearings that the US had no control over the deported Venezuelans and no authority to return them to the United States.
– July 7, 2025 – On an otherwise quiet Monday morning, heavily armed federal immigration agents and California National Guard troops stormed through MacArthur Park, an area of Los Angeles where many immigrants live. As the agents and troops marched through the park, some on horseback and many wearing masks and helmets, armored vehicles blocked the street; a federal helicopter also flew overhead. The widely criticized show of force came after Trump ordered National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles in June to quell protests against immigration raids. “What I saw in the park today looked like a city under siege, under armed occupation,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. “It’s the way a city looks before a coup.”
National Guard and federal agents descend on Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park (AP)
– July 7, 2025 – The Justice Department announced there was no evidence that accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was murdered or kept a client list. “This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list,’” the Justice Department stated in an unsigned memo. “There was no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.” The memo’s conclusions contradicted prior statements made by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who for months hyped conspiracy theories and promised to release files related to the case. Back in February, Bondi told Fox News that a client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review.”
– July 7, 2025 – President Trump posted letters on social media informing twelve countries that he planned to impose new tariffs on their exports beginning August 1 unless they reached new trade deals with the United States. By the end of the week, Trump had informed roughly two dozen countries and the European Union that they could face up to 50 percent export tariffs. The impacted trading partners included Mexico, Canada, Japan, and the European Union, which together account for over 50 percent of US imports.
– July 8, 2025 – In a wide-ranging and rancorous Cabinet meeting, Trump criticized the media, Vladimir Putin, and Jerome Powell, among other targets. “It’s hard to have a really successful country if you have a corrupt media,” Trump said, still upset over reporting that questioned the extent of the damage caused by his strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. He later fumed at reporters who questioned Attorney General Pam Bondi about the release of a Justice Department memo related to Jeffrey Epstein, and told them he didn’t know who in his administration had ordered a pause in weapons shipments to Ukraine. “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?” he said. Trump also stated that he liked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a rumored replacement for Federal Reserve chair, better than Jerome Powell, the current chair. “We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said. After running through his laundry list of complaints, the president became fixated on White House decor, speaking excitedly about drapes, silverware, lighting fixtures, ceiling moldings, picture frames, and a grandfather clock.
– July 8, 2025 – The New York Times reported that the Energy Department hired three scientists who rejected the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change: Steven E. Koonin, a physicist who has called climate science “unsettled”; John Christy, an atmospheric scientist who has cast doubt on the relationship between human activity and global warming; and Roy Spencer, a meteorologist who has said that clouds impact global warming more than people do. “What this says is that the administration has no respect for the actual science, which overwhelmingly points in the direction of a growing crisis as we continue to warm the planet through fossil-fuel burning, the consequences of which we’ve seen play out in recent weeks in the form of deadly heat domes and floods here in the US,” said Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania. Earlier this year, the Trump administration fired hundreds of scientists working on a climate change report, cut funds for global warming research, and removed mentions of climate change from government websites.
– July 9, 2025 – During a lunch in the State Dining Room with leaders from five African nations, President Trump asked Liberian President Joseph Boakai where he had learned to speak English. “Such good English,” Trump said, after hearing Boakai speak. “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where? Were you educated? Where?” English is the official language of Liberia.
Trump asks Liberian president where he learned English (Indian Times)
– July 9, 2025 – Recently unsealed court documents and testimony revealed that the Trump administration relied on the anonymous pro-Israel groups Canary Mission and Betar to help identify pro-Palestinian academics for possible deportation. According to the records, more than seventy-five of the approximately one hundred pro-Palestinian foreign students and scholars targeted by intelligence analysts were identified by Canary Mission, which has been criticized for doxxing pro-Palestinian activists and accusing them of antisemitism based on little evidence. “Many of the names or even most of the names came from that website,” acknowledged Peter Hatch, assistant director of the Homeland Security Investigations department within ICE.
– July 9, 2025 – In a letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President Trump criticized the prosecution of his ally, the former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, and pledged to implement a 50 percent import tariff against Brazil on August 1. “The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace,” wrote Trump, who has characterized the trial against Bolsonaro as a “witch hunt.” Bolsonaro is on trial for attempting to hold on to power after losing his election in 2022, a plight to which Trump can apparently relate, as captured in his social media post from earlier in the week: “Brazil is doing a terrible thing on [sic] their treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro… He is not guilty of anything, except having fought for THE PEOPLE… This is nothing more, or less, than an attack on a Political Opponent—Something I know much about! It happened to me, times 10, and now our Country is the ‘HOTTEST’ in the World!”
– July 9, 2025 – Fox News reported that the FBI had launched criminal investigations into former CIA director John Brennan and former FBI director James Comey. The investigations followed a referral from CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who released a review criticizing the 2017 intelligence assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin had attempted to intervene in the 2016 US presidential election on Trump’s behalf. In his review, Ratcliffe argued that the intelligence community had rushed the investigation and that Brennan had “risked stifling analytic debate” by “signalling that agency heads had already reached consensus before the ICA was even coordinated.” Trump has long called for investigations into Comey and Brennan and referred to them as “dishonest people.” Comey, who Trump fired over his handling of an inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s emails, was previously brought in for Secret Service questioning after posting an image of shells spelling out “86 47,” a reference to Trump.
– July 10, 2025 – The Justice Department subpoenaed more than twenty doctors and hospitals for confidential patient information about gender-related treatment for minors. Subpoenas were also sent to drug manufacturers whose products are used in trans-related medical interventions. “Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. The subpoenas are part of the Trump administration’s efforts to ban pediatric gender-affirming health care, such as puberty-blocking drugs, hormones, and surgeries. “This politically motivated effort is a drastic overreach and a backhanded attempt to intimidate providers and institutions serving the transgender youth population,” said Dr. Scott Leibowitz, a pediatric psychiatrist who previously led a gender clinic.
– July 11, 2025 – The New York Times reported that thousands of calls from Texas flood survivors to FEMA went unanswered after hundreds of call center contractors’ contracts expired. On July 5, FEMA answered 99.7 percent of calls to its disaster assistance line. However, after the contracts expired that evening, only 35.8 percent of calls were answered on July 6; that number dropped to 15.9 percent the following day. Due to a new requirement implemented by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem that requires her to personally approve expenses over $100,000, the contracts were not renewed until July 10. After facing criticism over her handling of the Texas floods, Noem later went on Meet the Press and denied that the policy requiring her personal approval on contracts larger than $100,000 had left FEMA understaffed. “False reporting, fake news. That report needs to be validified,” she said. “What is really unfortunate is we have a situation where so many individuals are playing politics with what happened in Texas.” Just a few weeks before the Texas floods, President Trump talked about his intention to eliminate FEMA entirely. The Texas floods killed more than 130 people.
– July 1, 2025 – Trump toured “Alligator Alcatraz,” the new immigration detention center surrounded by alligator-filled swamps in the Florida Everglades. Trump suggested it could be a model for future lockups as his administration raced to expand the necessary infrastructure for increasing deportations. He said, “Pretty soon, this facility will handle the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet.” During the tour, he endorsed having Florida National Guard forces serve as immigration judges. Immigrant advocates criticized the Trump administration’s move. Mark Fleming, the associate director of federal litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center, said it amounted to an “independent, unaccountable detention system.” Florida Republican Party (RPOF) Chair Evan Powers claimed the project had “immense public support,” and said they had sold thousands of “Alligator Alcatraz”–themed shirts, hats, and gear.
– July 2, 2025 – Pardoned January 6 rioter Jared L. Wise was named as an advisor to counselor Ed Martin, leader of the “Weaponization Working Group” in Trump’s Justice Department. Martin was an outspoken supporter of the January 6 defendants. According to a memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi, the group’s mission includes investigating “improper investigative tactics and unethical prosecutions” tied to the insurrection. A source familiar with Martin’s thinking told The New York Times that Martin was “thrilled” to have Wise, even suggesting that if “we could genetically design an adviser,” he or she would look like Wise. During the January 6 insurrection, Wise allegedly shouted, “Kill ’em! Kill ’em! Kill ’em!” at law enforcement officers.
– July 2, 2025 – Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit over the editing of a 60 Minutes pre-election interview with then Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Trump’s legal team said the settlement was “another win for the American people,” who were holding “the fake news media accountable.” The move by Paramount, according to a statement by the Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), smacked of favoritism and referenced Paramount’s planned merger with Skydance Media. First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, who represented The New York Times during the Pentagon Papers case, told the FPF that “the agreement of Paramount to pay any settlement amount to Donald Trump based on a broadcast that was both journalistically responsible and fully protected by the First Amendment is an ominous blow to press freedom.”
– July 4, 2025 – After signing the spending and tax bill known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Trump declared, “I can say very proudly that our country is more proud right now than it has been in many, many years.” House Speaker Mike Johnson said of the bill, “If you’re for common-sense fiscal responsibility and reducing the deficit, this bill is for you. If you’re for fairer and lower taxes, bigger paychecks, then this is the bill for you.” Economists have estimated that the bill’s greatest benefits would go to the wealthiest Americans. It would cost the poorest Americans an estimated $1,600 a year, mainly due to reductions in Medicaid and food aid. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted that cuts to Medicaid could leave 11.8 million more people without health insurance by 2034. The budget office also reported the measure would swell the already soaring national debt by at least $3.4 trillion over a decade.
– July 5, 2025 – An email sent by the US Social Security Administration (SSA) claiming Trump’s new spending bill had eliminated taxes on benefits for most recipients was slammed by critics as misleading. The email claimed the new law “includes a provision that eliminates federal income taxes on Social Security benefits for most beneficiaries” and “it provides an enhanced deduction for taxpayers aged 65 and older.” Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, said, “The SSA statement implies there is a direct tax cut on Social Security benefits, which there is not.” The legislation provides a temporary tax deduction of up to $6,000 for people aged sixty-five and older and $12,000 for married seniors. Jeff Nesbit, who served as a top SSA official under Republican and Democratic presidents, posted on X, “The agency has never issued such a blatant political statement. The fact that Trump and his minions running SSA have done this is unconscionable.”