President Donald Trump wrapped up his weekend of ostentatious birthday celebrations with yet another social media attack on the Democratic Party. The president blasted “Dumocrats,” along with their support of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, in a rant posted to his Truth Social platform shortly before 4 a.m. Monday.
Trump's Pre-Dawn Rant
“The Dumocrats want FISA because that’s what they used to go after me for three years during my First Term!” he wrote. “I’m against FISA if it doesn’t come with The Save America Act (Full version!) firmly attached to it. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The “Save America Act,” Trump continued, would require all voters to provide photo identification and eliminate the option of mail-in ballots with few exceptions. In his words, it would also ban “MEN IN WOMEN’S SPORTS” and “TRANSGENDER MUTILIZATION SURGERY FOR OUR CHILDREN.”
FISA and National Security
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is used by U.S. intelligence agencies to collect the communications of hundreds of thousands of foreigners. The government has said that more than 60% of the president’s daily intelligence briefing is directly reliant on information collected under the authority.
Last week, the House rejected a three-week extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s Section 702 after Trump tapped Bill Pulte, who has demonstrated a willingness to use the government to attack the president’s critics, as acting director of national intelligence.
Birthday Festivities Under Fire
Trump’s Truth Social post came just hours after he wrapped his 80th birthday festivities, which included a UFC fight staged on the South Lawn of the White House that was captured for posterity in a Paramount+ streaming broadcast. The event drew widespread criticism, given Trump’s focus on planning it as the U.S. continues to grapple with the war in Iran and widespread economic concerns, including high gas prices.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll published last week found that just 16% of Americans said it was appropriate for Trump to use the White House grounds for such an event.
