Daily Business Report: Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Diagnosis Newsom: Obsessive Political Preoccupation with TRUMP
By Katy Grimes | California Globe
“Is ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ Real?” Jonathan Alpert asked in a column at the Wall Street Journal. “No therapist would render such a derogatory and partisan diagnosis, but I’ve seen it in my practice.”
We’ve all witnessed Trump Derangement Syndrome, and some of us have experienced it in real time with family members, friends, co-workers, and strangers, all who are triggered by a red hat or t-shirt, or an image of Donald Trump on television. TDS is a serious mental disorder in which a person has been driven mad over their hatred of Donald Trump, abandoning all rationality, logic and reason.
Mr. Alpert, who is a psychotherapist, says that he has seen it in his own psychotherapy practice. “Patients across the political spectrum have brought Donald Trump into therapy not to discuss policy but to process obsession, rage and dread,” he says. “Their distress is symptomatic, not ideological.”
By Katy Grimes | California Globe
“NEWSOM CAUGHT REDHANDED: Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy Exposes California Illegally Issued 17,000 Commercial Driver’s Licenses, Gets Them Canceled,” says the headline at the Department of Transportation.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy announced Wednesday that the California DMV actually admitted to illegally issuing 17,000 non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses to dangerous foreign drivers. Thanks to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s ongoing audit, each of these licenses is being revoked.
While the Associated Press reported that “California plans to revoke 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses given to immigrants after the Trump administration raised concerns about people in the country illegally improperly receiving licenses to drive a semitruck or a bus,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said that isn’t the reason.
California is a high-tax state. Are more taxes a balm for its budget deficits?
By Dan Walters | CalMatters
California has long had the reputation — backed by copious data — of being a high-tax state, which made Gov. Gavin Newsom’s declaration last June, in a prerecorded State of the State address, a bit startling.
“Here’s the truth Republicans never tell you: California is not a high-tax state,” Newsom said.
Later he clarified his assertion, saying California’s taxes on low-income residents are relatively lower than those in red states.
