Inmate P01135809. Donald Trump’s been booked on the criminal charges pending against him in Georgia …
■ … and photographed in a mug shot that USA Today’s Rex Huppke declares “the face of the GOP. If you call yourself a Republican, you should spend a good few minutes staring at it. Because he is you.”
■ He’s out on $200,000 bail—of which he paid only $20,000.
■ Here’s his official jail record.
■ Not long after his surrender—his fourth this year—Trump returned to Twitter X for the first time in more than two years, sharing that photo with the words, um … “NEVER SURRENDER!” …
■ … and, yes, he’s selling mug-shot mugs with that slogan …
■ … even though he says he never heard the phrase before yesterday.
Whoops. Over the course of a few hours, The Associated Press downgraded this headline from scores to dozens: “Dozens of Trump supporters cheer him on as former president turns himself in.”
■ Charlie Sykes at The Bulwark—a traditionally conservative site: “If you elect a serial liar and conman, a narcissist, bully, wannabe mobster, with the vocabulary of an emotionally insecure nine-year-old, you can’t really be shocked at how it turned out, can you?”
■ Lyz Lenz’s Dingus of the Week: Presidential debates, which “Trump was smart to not muck around in.”
‘Tears of relief.’ State Rep. Kelly Cassidy says that’s what she shed when she learned that indicted ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s longtime chief of staff—the Tribune calls him “Madigan’s longtime henchman”—Tim Mapes has been convicted for lying to a grand jury investigating Madigan.
■ Politico: “The big question is whether Mapes will flip on Madigan, who faces his own federal trial next year.”
Chicago vs. carmakers. Blaming “a citywide and nationwide crime spree” on Kia and Hyundai, Chicago’s suing them for failing to install anti-theft tech on their vehicles.
■ Were you affected? Email consumerprotection@cityofchicago.org.
‘People are expensive.’ And so, the Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg predicts, driverless cars are headed to Chicago.
■ The CTA says it’s doing better in fighting crime and providing reliable service.
■ For the first time in more than two years, the Chicago Water Taxi service says it’ll return to weekday service next month.
Free gas, cheap movies.
■ On Saturday, chronic Chicago political candidate Willie Wilson’s giving away more free gasoline.
■ On Sunday, 3,000 movie theaters across the country will mark National Cinema Day by offering all tickets, all shows, all formats for $4 or less …
■ … and after Chicago’s first 100-degree day here in more than a decade, the weekend’s not looking bad …
■ … although the storms we dodged yesterday ravaged Michigan …
■ … flooding tunnels that lead to Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
‘There’s certainly plenty of space to put a couple hundred in there.’ Fed up with the housing of migrants in Chicago’s police stations, Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara says City Hall should take some in, too.
■ Freedom of Information docs obtained by CBS 2 reveal how Chicago’s spent taxpayer money on migrant care for the more than 13,000 who’ve arrived in Chicago over the last year.
Pets, popes and Prigozhin. That’s some of what awaits you in this week’s news quiz, prepped by The Conversation’s quizmaster, past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel.
■ If you get a score better than your Chicago Public Square columnist’s 75%, go ahead and rub it in.
Happy semicentennial. By one measure at least, this week marks the 50th anniversary of your columnist’s entry to the broadcasting business.
■ Thanks to Rick Kaempfer for the nod in today’s Chicago media news roundup.
Correction. Yesterday’s Square mixed up Trump’s lawyers, past and present. The one he replaced is a self-proclaimed liberal who’d previously criticized Trump on social media.
■ Thanks, Laurie Bunkers, for the catch.