Spain Edits Trump Out of Instagram Post
Ahead of the World Cup’s Round of 16, President Donald Trump literally interfered with the U.S. team’s run as he called FIFA boss Gianni Infantino and argued for a controversial red card to be reviewed. And, on Sunday, as the quadrennial tournament came to its conclusion, Trump crashed the stage during the final celebration.
After the Spanish national team defeated Argentina at MetLife stadium in New Jersey, Trump, Infantino, and the leaders of the other host nations, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, presented the winners with medals. The Spaniards then came together to lift their trophy and pose for photos, but Trump stuck around at the edge of their celebration.
At one point, Infantino seemingly tried to pull Trump away, but the president lingered on the stage. All of the other world leaders (including the King of Spain, who was also on hand for the festivities) managed to stay off to the side and let the winning team have their moment. But, of course, that’s not Trump’s way.
This whole scene — which I broke down in visual detail on TikTok and YouTube — wasn’t even the first time Trump crashed a soccer champion’s party. Almost exactly one year ago, after West London’s Chelsea won the Club World Cup at the same venue, Trump opted for a similar photo bomb.
The Spanish dealt with Trump’s participation in their big win by editing him out of their Instagram post showcasing the ceremony. Meanwhile, on the Trump campaign’s Instagram page, they operated in another reality and posted shots of the celebration that featured the president along with captions giving him credit for the whole tournament.
“AMERICA HOSTED AN INCREDIBLE WORLD CUP THANKS TO PRESIDENT @realdonaldtrump!” one post on the “Team Trump” page declared.
On the field, particularly after Argentina’s loss, many will debate whether or not that country’s star, Leo Messi, is truly the greatest of all time. However, after Sunday, there can be no question about who is the GOAT when it comes to stealing the spotlight and making everything about him.
— Hunter Walker
Of Course These Are the Guys Behind the Trump Gas Stations
A few weeks back, we covered the White House’s social media posts announcing the opening — or rebranding — of a dozen-plus gas stations across Philadelphia that are selling gas a little bit below market rate on Trump’s behalf — aka to make it seem like President Trump is doing anything to lower gas prices. Or something.
The Freedom Fuel Network of gas stations and convenience stores is selling gas for $3.47 per gallon in honor of Trump. The White House maintains that Trump does not have any personal ties to the company. “The Administration is not involved in the company, nor has the Administration given the company any funding. There is no other entity or person subsidizing the lower gasoline costs,” the White House said in a statement.
But new reporting from the Associated Press and the American Prospect this week shows that Trump has $25 million worth of stock in Blue Owl Capital, an investment firm that reportedly owns about a third of the Freedom Fuel locations.
The real kicker is the biographies of the guys running this operation. Per the AP:
Untangling exactly who is behind the Philadelphia-area venture has proven difficult. Records indicate the chain, which was launched last month, is run by a disparate collection of businessmen that includes an NFL kicking coach, a GOP fundraiser and a New Jersey entrepreneur who this year was ordered, along with his brother, to pay civil damages for unlawfully taking more than 200,000 gallons of fuel.
More from the American Prospect here: The Kleptocrat Nesting Dolls Behind Trump’s Potemkin Gas Stations
— Nicole LaFond
Trump DOJ Wants Phone Records of NYT Journos and Their Families
The Trump Justice Department sent subpoenas to third-party phone companies trying to access the phone and text message records of several journalists and their family members, including the mother of one reporter and the spouses of two of the reporters, the New York Times reported Monday. It’s all related to the DOJ’s effort to find out who the Times’ sources were in the newspaper’s coverage of the security concerns surrounding President Trump’s new Air Force One plane gifted by Qatar. The DOJ issued subpoenas earlier this month to try to compel Times reporters to testify before a federal grand jury about their sources.
An excerpt from the Times, reporting on the publication’s lawyers’ motion seeking to quash the subpoena, filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Saturday:
The Times said that two of the government’s subpoenas sought phone records dating back to Jan. 1, many months before The Times reported on the Air Force One security concerns. “That time frame strongly suggests that the department is using this investigation not to focus on any purported concerns arising from the July 8 and 9 articles, but instead to forage for information about the journalists’ source relationships more broadly,” the newspaper wrote.
The Times also raised concerns about the government’s attempt to extract the phone records of its journalists’ relatives. The news outlet said that one reporter’s mother was a mental health professional, and another reporter’s spouse was employed in a senior role at a major law firm.
— Nicole LaFond
More to Read From TPM Today
In case you missed it over the weekend, Allegra Kirkland took a closer look at the beneficiaries of President Trump’s pardon spree in the latest edition of The Weekender: Fraudsters, Politicos and Trump Pals: Ranking Trump’s Most Egregious Pardons
Emine Yücel reports on Trump’s acknowledgement today that the whole SAVE Act simply cannot be stuffed into a reconciliation bill, a reality that House Republicans have been quietly navigating as they try to make it seem like they are doing something to act on Trump’s demands that the voter suppression bill be passed ahead of the midterms: Trump Comes to Terms With the Fact That the Entire SAVE Act Can’t Be Stuffed in Budget Bill
In related reading, Charles Tiefer — the former assistant Senate legal counsel and acting general counsel of the House of Representatives — writes in TPM Cafe today about House Republicans’ attempt to twist the SAVE Act into a budget issue that could be included in a reconciliation package: The Outrageous House Republican Move to Enact Trump’s Vote Suppression Proposals By the Backdoor of Budget Reconciliation
David Kurtz writes in today’s edition of Morning Memo: “President Trump’s mass deportation operation continues to embody all of the worst elements of his second presidency: the retribution, the destruction, and the corruption, a lawless trifecta that subjugates immigrants while eroding the rights of American citizens.”
Yesterday’s Top Story
State Sovereignty and Trump’s War Against the Constitution
What I’m Reading
Google Is Censoring Reviews of ICE Detention Centers
Republicans back Trump’s legal theory to continue the Iran war without congressional approval
Pentagon Withheld Dozens of U.S. Military Injuries in Iran War
Why should the World Cup be different from anything else in his life. He heard the word world and thought, ME.
I started reading about “freedom fuel”—holy crap what a nest of criminals. This is something we absolutely have to change in this country—the ease and impunity with which corporate fraud is committed. All these people belong in jail for extended sentences.
Buy your hockey sticks from Canada now. Tariffs coming.
Free article
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/business/economy/trump-tariffs-canada.html?unlocked_article_code=1.zFA.JXwz.UofjgMDiHv5e&smid=url-share
Of course this stupid fool has ownership in this tiny fraction of the gas distribution market, there is nothing too petty for him to have his slimy shit stained little fingers in.
I think theoretical physicists need to look into trumps core, there’s got to be a black hole of emptiness that his pathetic imagination just can’t fill enough. All the cheap plastic and pot metal covered in fake gold leaf in the world will ever make you anything but a gigantic pathetic asshole, and nobody, and I mean nobody, will care when you’re gone. Nobody.
“If you’re completely off your rocker and have delusions of grandeur in which your personal existence is of special significance to the rest of the world, all hope is not lost. Mix in enough charisma and you have what it takes to start a religion… or become a serial killer.” ― Edward M. Wolfe