Trump Thinks He Is 'The King of America'

Elvis Costello and Stephen Colbert commentary, as millions of others plan to protest tomorrow. Plus a Billie Joe tribute to Brian, and the usual cartoons.

Greg Mitchell is the author of more than a dozen books and now writer/director of three award-winning films aired via PBS, including “Atomic Cover-up” and “Memorial Day Massacre.” Now watch trailer for acclaimed 2025 film “The Atomic Bowl” coming to PBS in July. Before all that, he was a longtime editor of the legendary Crawdaddy. You can still subscribe to this newsletter for FREE. Sustain this newsletter by ordering one of his books.

Big news day, with Israel’s attack on Iran, a U.S. Senator wrestled to the floor, and tomorrow’s “festivities”—the national No Kings protest and Trump’s birthday military parade (lot of related cartoons below). But for a few much-needed laughs, we will open with Colbert monologue last night:

Given the No King protests and Trump parade, a good excuse to post one of my favorite Elvis Costello songs, “Brilliant Mistake,” with its memorable “He thought he was the King of America” opening, below in little-heard acoustic demo (or here in a rocking live version.

Now I try hard not to become hysterical
But I'm not sure if I am laughing or crying
I wish that I could push a button
And talk in the past and not the present tense
And watch this hurtin' feeling disappear
Like it was common sense
It was a fine idea at the time
Now it's a brilliant mistake

He thought he was the King of America
But it was just a boulevard of broken dreams
A trick they do with mirrors and with chemicals

You might also enjoy Warren Zevon’s early “Join Me in L.A.”

According to Politico, a majority of Americans believe Trump’s multimillion-dollar parade on Saturday is not a good use of government funds, a new AP-NORC poll shows. Sixty percent surveyed in the June poll said they believe the parade is not a good use of funds, while 38 percent said they believe the parade is worth the cost.

Too early to say much about Israel’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities—and some of its leadership, which meant bombing residential structures—but here was Sen. Chris Murphy late last night:

Israel's attack on Iran, clearly intended to scuttle the Trump Administration's negotiations with Iran, risks a regional war that will likely be catastrophic for America and is further evidence of how little respect world powers - including our own allies - have for President Trump. Iran would not be this close to possessing a nuclear weapon if Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu had not forced America out of the nuclear agreement with Iran that had brought Europe, Russia, and China together behind the United States to successfully contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions. This is a disaster of Trump and Netanyahu's own making, and now the region risks spiraling toward a new, deadly conflict. A war between Israel and Iran may be good for Netanyahu’s domestic politics, but it will likely be disastrous for both the security of Israel, the United States, and the rest of the region.

Wrapping up our Brian Wilson tributes (see previous two days for much much more), a hat tip to Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong yesterday posting his new tribute with a revved up version of one of his favorite songs, the Beach Boys’ “I Get Around.” One of the few singles for the group that I bought when it came out, although just as much for the flip side “Don’t Worry Baby.”

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Joe Ciardiello: