Every day I am shocked by the actions that Donald Trump and Elon Musk have taken. I know that their recklessness is causing real and harmful damage to our nation, but you don’t just have to take me at my word.

You can see just a few of the many examples for yourself 🧵 Instead of lowering prices, the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans are preparing to gut services like Medicaid and Social Security to pay for a tax cut for billionaires.

The disclosure of highly classified information in a group chat wasn’t just some one-off security failure.

It was a window into how this Administration operates: with incompetence, recklessness, contempt for the truth, & a reflexive impulse to cover things up.

I'll explain🧵 Incompetence

Trump likes to talk about hiring based on merit. He issued an Executive Order last week stating it's "the policy of the Federal Government that hiring in foreign policy positions, like hiring in all other parts of the Government, shall be based solely on merit."

Elon Musk isn't going to save the government any money. It's the opposite, in fact.

He's currently pursuing a move that could blow a multi-trillion-dollar hole in the federal budget and let billionaires get away with tax evasion.

Here's how 🧵 Musk is proposing to cut the IRS workforce in half.

What does this mean for you? Your refund will take longer to hit your account and you'll have a harder time resolving issues.

What does this mean for billionaires? They'll be able to cheat on their taxes more easily.

Trump is overestimating his support and overplaying his hand.

We’re about six weeks in and voters—including many Republican voters—increasingly don’t like what they see.

A quick breakdown of recent polling shows how unpopular Trump/Musk have become with the American people🧵📉 – First, since 1953, only two presidential terms have had an approval rating below 50% at this early stage of the presidency: Donald Trump in 2017 and Donald Trump in 2025. (Gallup)

– Today, 63% of Americans say they are concerned about Musk and his team getting access to their personal data (WP/Ipsos)

– 66% say that Trump isn't focused enough on bringing down prices (CBS)

– 71% believe the wealthy have too much influence on Trump's administration (Reuters/Ipsos)

– 83% oppose the pardons of violent January 6 rioters (WP/Ipsos)

– 9 in 10 express negative views about food prices (WP/Ipsos)

– Only 39% approve of the way he's handling the economy (Reuters/Ipsos)

– Only 34% of Americans say they approve of Musk’s handling of his role in the government (WP/Ipsos)

– And only 31% 18-34 year olds say that Trump is taking the country the right direction (CNN)

Earlier this week, Trump gave another self-congratulatory speech full of what fact checkers have called lies and misleading assertions.

Here are five examples, of his many lies 🧵 He said he's "found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud."

He hasn't. He and Elon Musk are simply calling all spending they don't like "fraud"—spending on things like Social Security, cancer research, and care for veterans.

Donald Trump has betrayed America's farmers. Because of his actions many are facing financial catastrophes.

Trump froze farmer's funding, broke their contracts, and left them scrambling to make ends meet.

Now they're mad. And rightfully so.

See what farmers in Wisconsin, Kansas, Kentucky, and elsewhere are saying about Trump abandoning them 🧵⤵️ A farmer in Wisconsin:

"Trump very much sold farmers a false bill of sale. There was all of this talk of ‘farmers are the backbone of America’—when in reality, there are a number of things that he’s done in this very short time that have been and will continue to be detrimental for farmers.”

He continued:

“I don’t expect government to take care of me or to save me. But also what I don’t expect is the federal government to actively put roadblocks in the way of my success.”

The Anatomy of a Grift: firing his regulators, leveraging his cronies, and expanding his corporate empire.

Here's exactly how Elon Musk is using his role in the government to benefit his companies, enrich himself, and leave Americans out to dry 🧵 Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion from the federal government over the years. $38 billion.

Your tax dollars have helped to make him the richest person on the planet.

Elon Musk opposes government spending unless the spending goes to him.

MAGA-Republicans are coming after Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits you and your family may rely on now or in the future.

This isn’t my opinion—they just confirmed it. They're calling your benefits “waste, fraud, and abuse” to justify the cuts. More on their plan 🧵 Later tonight or in the early morning hours–when most Americans will be asleep–Republicans will work to pass a "budget resolution," a procedural step that paves the way for the cuts.

Why the cuts?

They're trying to come up with cash to pay for tax cuts for their wealthiest donors, billionaires like Elon Musk, at the expense of health care, veterans benefits, and economic security for working Americans.

We’re barely three weeks in, but Trump is laying the groundwork to allow staggering levels of corruption to occur in the US Government.

Here are five actions he's already taken to open the flood gates of corruption – just the facts🧵 1️⃣ He fired the head of the Office of Government Ethics – the person in charge of preventing conflicts of interest and financial entanglements among federal officials.

This position typically serves 5 year terms to help shield them from presidential politics.

Trump, Elon, and their allies are calling all spending they don't like "fraud." Spending on things like consumer protection, Social Security, and medicine for sick kids.

But just calling something "fraud" doesn't make it so. Here are the actual facts 🧵⤵️ They claim that America's consumer protection agency is "a woke and weaponized agency against disfavored industries and individuals."

This is a lie. CFPB sues scammers, fraudsters, and predatory lenders who get rich by exploiting people. It's returned about $20 billion to Americans who've been cheated – and it stops bad actors from targeting you and your family.

A few things Trump has done that won’t lower costs but will make life harder for no good reason... 🧵 It was easy to miss. He did it late on a Friday, hoping no one would notice – or we would quickly move on.

In the dark of night, Donald Trump fired nearly every Inspector General from the U.S. federal government. These are the professional, independent watchdogs who actually root out fraud, counter abuse, and stop waste.

They saved taxpayers over $90 billion in 2023 alone.

Donald Trump is making a deliberate attempt to overwhelm the system, and to overwhelm you. It can be difficult to keep up. And that’s by design.

But we can keep up – and respond. Here’s what he’s doing, and what it means for you. Just the facts. 🧵⤵️ Let’s be clear: Trump and Elon are illegally seizing government resources, accessing your private medical and financial data, and firing – without cause – thousands of employees.

They are not looking for waste or fraud, they are circumventing constitutional checks and balances and breaking the law.

In humble acknowledgement of the anniversary of The Seneca Falls Convention, where women collectively gathered for the first time to discuss their constitutionally guaranteed rights to be equal to men as U.S. citizens… And in recognition of all the
struggle and strain;
heartache and pain;
dedication and determination; resilience and resistance;
and courageous conviction it took to advance change.

As we celebrate Black History Month, I want to make sure we celebrate the some Black history still being made just this week:

At the Grammys, Beyoncé became the most awarded artist ever and Viola Davis earned her EGOT, an incredible and well-deserved feat. For the first time at a Super Bowl, two Black quarterbacks, Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes, will start against one another – 35 years after Doug Williams became the first Black quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl.

I believe in the power of teams.

Here is to rugged individualism and self-reliance. But rugged individualism didn't beat the Nazis or get us to the moon or map the human genome. We did those things because of our teams. Since I began in sports I have believed in the acronym: TEAM, Together Everyone Achieves More.

I love the examples all throughout nature:

"By flying together in a v-formation, scientists estimate that a flock of birds can fly about 70% farther with the same amount of energy…

Too many farmers in America are struggling. Our Federal Farm Bill's massive corporate factory farm subsidies are hurting too many. There are so many in our country like @IronboundFarm who are trying to forge a different way. Many are focusing on more regenerative practices and/or local food systems that support farmers, healthy food, strong environmental practices, humane treatment of animals, good pay and dignity for farm workers, and more.

The past year has been a deeply moving, transformative experience for me—and much of that is because of our incredible team. They poured their hearts into our mission. None of this would have been possible without them. To our incredible Iowa team, who brought #HopeHypeHustle each day on the trail—you inspired me from the very beginning with your creativity and joy. I see you, I love you.

Today is the deadline for the DNC's December debate qualifying threshold—and while I may not be on the debate stage next Thursday, thanks to the outpouring of support over the past few weeks, we know there’s a path to victory, and we no longer need the debate stage to get there. The voters deserve to decide who the Democratic nominee should be, and I know that together, we can win this race.

Next week, I’ll be on the road hearing directly from and sharing my vision with the people who will determine the outcome of this race—the way it should be.

Today I crossed the US-Mexico border in El Paso with @fams2gether and @LasAmericasIAC to help five women present themselves for asylum. These are my observations. Please don't look away. One of them shared that she spent one month in detention. While there, she said the entire detention center had to stand in the sun all day without food, just water—but sometimes they ran out of water too.

The Alabama abortion ban is part of a coordinated, all-out effort to erode women’s reproductive rights and freedom nationwide. But let me be clear: Women shouldn't have to face this fight alone. Men, it's on us to speak out too. It's on us to take action.

Not because women are our mothers, wives, daughters. Because women are people. And all people deserve to control their own bodies.

The failed War on Drugs has really been a war on people—disproportionately criminalizing poor people, people of color & people with mental illness. I’m reintroducing the #MarijuanaJustice Act to begin reversing our failed federal drug policies. Join us: act.corybooker.com/page/s/justice… The Marijuana Justice Act doesn’t just end the federal prohibition on marijuana—it also incentivizes states to change their marijuana laws if those laws are being enforced in a way that disproportionately impacts people of color and the poor.