14 Trump-tied critical minerals deals
The US government is actively doing critical minerals deals worth ~$9 billion with at least 14 companies that have financial ties to Trump or Lutnick.
Snapshot · The Bulwark Podcast
John Dickerson: When the Media Helps Rewrite Reality
Explore episode
Jun 29, 2026
Where this was said
JD Vance Rehabilitates Nixon — And What That Really Means
At 14:58 · chapter starts 9:05
Tim Miller recounts the surreal spectacle of JD Vance delivering carefully prepared remarks at the Nixon Foundation claiming Nixon is enjoying a renaissance and that Watergate would barely register as news today. John Dickerson's mother Nancy covered the Nixon White House for NBC, giving him a personal thread into the era — including Nixon's late-night, drink-fueled call to her expressing love for the Mall protesters, shortly before his famous midnight visit to the Lincoln Memorial. Dickerson then dissects the political logic of Vance's Nixon rehabilitation: it connects the administration's grievances about presidential power to a grievance with popular cultural resonance, framing critics as 'ninnies' or 'nattering nabobs' in the elite-versus-real-America framing. The problem, Dickerson argues with cutting precision, is that the smoking-gun tape is Nixon's own voice — there is no deep state to blame when the president is literally caught on recording ordering the CIA to obstruct justice. He and Miller also note the historical absurdity of claiming a 'deep state' victimized Nixon when the CIA and DOJ were in fact complicit in the coverup. [1] — John Dickerson "JD Vance's argument that Watergate would be a 12-hour news story today is a deliberate strategy to connect present grievances about preside…" 11:25
JD Vance's Nixon Rehabilitation and What It's Really About
JD Vance's argument that Watergate would be a 12-hour news story today is a deliberate strategy to connect present grievances about presidential power to a popular grievance. The problem: Nixon's own voice on the smoking-gun tape makes the 'deep state victim' narrative impossible.
Nixon's smoking gun tape is on-record proof
John Dickerson argued that JD Vance's attempt to rehabilitate Nixon ignores the 'smoking gun' tape in which Nixon himself ordered the CIA to obstruct the FBI's Watergate investigation.
The $9 Billion Minerals Shakedown
A New York Times report documents 14 companies with Trump or Lutnick financial ties winning roughly $9 billion in critical minerals deals. The Kazakhstan tungsten deal — where both Trump and Lutnick family announced lucrative connections shortly after a Trump-Lutnick-Kazakh summit — is the template.
$9 billion in corrupt mineral deals
The total value of critical minerals deals benefiting Trump-connected companies stands at approximately $9 billion.
Similar snapshots
Zero users on launch day
Despite months of meticulous preparation, Starter Story's initial launch attracted zero users — a humbling reminder that building alone guarantees nothing.
First Reddit post: 100 users
A single Reddit link post quickly drove 100 visitors to the Starter Story website, igniting the founder's belief in social traffic.
Hundreds of upvotes on repackaged post
After reformatting content as a native self-post (no direct link spam), the post exploded with hundreds of upvotes and thousands of readers.
Millions reading his content on Reddit
By posting again and again with the native-content strategy, the founder's posts repeatedly hit Reddit's front page, reaching millions of readers.
Tens of thousands of email subscribers
Before Reddit banned his domain, the founder converted his viral traffic into an email list of tens of thousands — a self-owned audience independent of Reddit.
Reddit petition to ban domain
Redditors eventually organized a petition to ban starterstory.com posts, effectively ending the Reddit growth channel — but the email list was already built.
$1M business built on Reddit hack
The Reddit attention strategy ultimately served as the foundation for a million-dollar business, proving that free distribution channels can replace paid marketing.
Strategy: native content, small footer link
The key tactic was keeping content fully on-platform (no direct link spam), then adding a small link at the post's end for users who wanted more.
Quit 9-to-5 after email list built
With a thriving email list and a self-owned audience, the founder quit his six-figure New York City salary job to go all-in on Starter Story.
