Donald Trump has sweeping plans for a second administration. Here’s what he’s proposed

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🗳️ Trump obsession ties Senate in knots

President Trump won't let go of the SAVE America Act voting bill, no matter how many times Senate Republicans make it known it's never going to happen, Axios' Mike Zapler writes.

• Why it matters: Trump's refusal to relent on his voter ID/proof of citizenship plan shows how far removed he is from the vote-counting realities of Congress — and how that disconnect is starting to carry real consequences.

Trump dropped a bombshell Truth Social post early yesterday, declaring he wouldn't allow the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to be renewed until the SAVE America Act passes as well.

• The move means Bill Pulte, a Trump bulldog with no national security or intelligence experience, will likely take the helm as acting director of national intelligence tomorrow.
• Senators had been eager to prevent that by quickly confirming Trump nominee Jay Clayton — the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York — in the intelligence job.

Keep reading.

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MAGA Civil War Erupts Over Trump’s Peace Deal ‘Disaster’

The president’s closest allies are fighting over his not-so-“unconditional surrender” deal.

Donald Trump is facing massive fallout for the tentative deal he reached with Iran to end the war he started, which has exposed fault lines among even some of his most vocal MAGA backers.

The details of the memorandum of understanding with Iran, which the president signed in Versailles, France, on Wednesday before heading back to the U.S., are a far cry from his demand just months ago for “unconditional surrender.”

Instead, they lay out a series of stark concessions to Iran.

Some have called the temporary agreement to talk about a permanent deal the best possible outcome for the president, who has struggled to set clear objectives since he launched the war at the end of February.

But some of Trump’s biggest MAGA allies and conservatives have shredded it as a monumental foreign policy blunder.

The deal lays out a plan to lift all sanctions on Iran, unfreeze billions in assets, and provide $300 billion for reconstruction, all while letting Iran keep ballistic missiles.

While Iran has agreed to never have a nuclear weapon, the enforcement mechanisms remain to be worked out in 60 more days of negotiations.

“History teaches that giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is a bad idea,” GOP Sen. Ted Cruz told the conservative Daily Wire.

In another quote posted on X from the interview, Cruz said, “Nearly one thousand Americans have been murdered by the Ayatollah and the mullahs... It is not remotely in America’s interest for us to pay to rebuild that capacity that we just took out.”

But Trump’s eldest son was quick to fire back at Cruz and accused him of undermining the president and MAGA.

“The only problem with this quote is that @tedcruz is lying thru his teeth about the deal. We’re not giving them a cent and he knows that,“ he wrote on X. ”Using fake news about the peace deal to undermine @realDonaldTrump is the opposite of MAGA."

While the deal does not include the U.S. directly handing over cash, it does provide massive sanctions relief and the release of assets. Iran would also be able to export oil.

The Obama Iran nuclear deal, which Trump has raged against for more than a decade, also unfroze Iranian assets and settled a long-running arms purchase dispute.

Since Trump launched the war, Iran has also been proven to have immense leverage when it comes to activity in the Strait of Hormuz, which was open for shipping before Trump launched his strikes.

Podcaster Ben Shapiro, who is deeply tied to but not always full-blown MAGA, also slammed the president’s memo of understanding as a “disaster” that did not achieve any of the administration’s goals.

However, after the deal’s details were revealed and Trump signed it, many MAGA influencers furiously promoted it and heaped praise on the president.

They argued he could now come back to the U.S. and focus on domestic issues despite the agreement essentially laying out 60 more days of negotiations with Iran and the president threatening to go back to bombing if Iran does not comply.

Trump also appeared to freak out as he jumped into the fray to sell his deal amid escalating backlash over his war and its outcome.

The president posted an all-caps message on Truth Social on Thursday in which he declared, “OIL IS FLOWING, IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON.”

But Trump indicated at his Wednesday press conference that if the deal went south, he was open to throwing Vice President JD Vance under the bus.Republican critics of the deal quickly appeared to follow the president’s lead, already casting blame on Vance as the negotiator of the agreement.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-civil-war-erupts-over-trumps-peace-deal-disaster/?

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Trump Makes Desperate Pope Pitch to Sell His Surrender

The president is now amplifying the pope’s words as he faces growing backlash over a deal critics describe as a monumental failure.

President Donald Trump is now so eager to sell his embattled Iran deal that he has turned to an unlikely ally: the very pope he has spent months publicly attacking.

Trump on Thursday shared a glowing statement from Pope Leo XIV praising efforts to end the conflict and avoid further bloodshed in the Middle East.

The 80-year-old president followed it up soon after with his own all-caps post on Truth Social.

“OIL IS FLOWING, IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON (THE WORLD WILL BE SAFE!), THE STOCK MARKETS ARE ROARING, JOBS ARE AT RECORDS, AND PRICES ARE DROPPING (AFFORDABILITY!). OUR COUNTRY IS STRONG, SAFE, AND RESPECTED LIKE NEVER BEFORE. “YOU’RE WELCOME!” he wrote.

The Pope’s endorsement was made earlier this week, after months of increasingly bitter exchanges between Trump and the Vatican.

Trump repeatedly blasted the pontiff over immigration, accused him of being weak on crime, and suggested he was naive about foreign policy.

The Vatican, meanwhile, criticized the administration’s migrant policies and repeatedly warned against military escalation with Iran.

But Trump is now eagerly amplifying the pope’s words as he faces growing backlash over a deal critics say gives Iran significant concessions while delivering few immediate guarantees in return.

“I welcome with satisfaction the reaching of an agreement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, which will be signed on Friday, as an encouraging result of patient work in dialogue and negotiation,” the Pope had posted on Monday before the text of the Memorandum of Understanding had been unveiled.

“I hope that the agreement may help strengthen mutual trust, security, and stability in the Middle East, promoting paths of dialogue and cooperation among peoples.”

Under the framework, Iran would regain access to frozen assets, receive sanctions relief, and continue to use the Strait of Hormuz as leverage.

But broader questions surrounding nuclear power, missiles, regional proxies, and long-term enforcement remain unresolved, with some critics describing the deal as a monumental strategic failure.

“This agreement is far worse than I expected,” said former US Ambassador Michael McFaul, now a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.

“To reopen the Strait—a Strait that was open before the war—we and our partners are transferring billions to the autocrats. We get nothing else—no elimination of enriched uranium, missiles, or terrorist support."

The backlash has extended well beyond Democrats, with some Republicans lashing out at the agreement, while foreign policy hawks have warned that the framework could leave Iran in a stronger strategic position than before the war began.

“This will go down as a tremendous foreign policy blunder,” said GOP Senator Bill Cassidy, who recently lost his seat after Trump endorsed his opponent in his primary race.

With criticism mounting, Vice President J.D. Vance was dispatched on Thursday to serve as the administration’s chief salesman for the deal.

Vance has spent the week defending the agreement in television appearances and will front the briefing room in the absence of Karoline Leavitt, who is on maternity leave.

 

That has fueled growing speculation inside Washington that Vance is also being positioned as a convenient fall guy if the agreement unravels, with Trump himself joking at the G7 that he would take credit if the deal succeeds but blame Vance if it fails.

The president also took to social media at 4:32 am on Thursday morning to hit out at “fools” who trashed the memorandum of understanding.

“These fools, who think I haven’t been tough enough on Iran, when the Stock Market Just Hit A RECORD HIGH, and Oil prices are ‘tumbling’ down, are either jealous, bad people, or stupid. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” the 80-year-old president wrote.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-makes-desperate-pope-pitch-to-sell-his-surrender/?

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Obama Towers Over Trump in Humiliating Popularity Ranking

A significant portion of Republican voters even admit they like the former Democratic president.

Barack Obama is by far the most popular and admired U.S. president, holding a strong double-digit lead over Donald Trump, according to a poll.

A CNN/SSRS survey of 2,480 U.S. adults found that 57 percent hold a favorable view of Obama, compared to just 34 percent for Trump.

The two-term Democrat is held in such high regard among Americans that nearly one in five Republicans (19 percent) surveyed still hold a favorable view of Obama. He enjoys near-universal support among Democrats (96 percent), nine years after leaving office.

Obama is also considerably more popular than the other living presidents: Joe Biden (30 percent), George W. Bush (42 percent), and Bill Clinton (38 percent).

Elsewhere in the poll, Obama came out on top when respondents were asked which U.S. president they admire most, receiving 30 percent of the vote. He was followed by Trump (19 percent), Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan (9 percent), and John F. Kennedy (6 percent).

The poll results are likely to be particularly humiliating for Trump, especially as the president has helped push his longtime nemesis back into the limelight.

During Trump’s tacky UFC White House event on Sunday, heavyweight fighter Josh Hokit called former first lady Michelle Obama “a man” after defeating Derrick Lewis in the second round.

Trump also could not resist badmouthing Obama during a tantrum when asked about his Iran deal on Wednesday.

Hours before Trump signed the controversial memorandum of understanding at the Palace of Versailles, just outside Paris, the 80-year-old blasted the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal, which Tehran signed in 2015 during the Obama administration and which Trump withdrew from in 2018, during a foul-mouthed tirade.

“Nobody could have made this deal. I mean, the JCPOA, done by Obama... He gave them $1.7 billion in cash, green cash from banks, into a Boeing 757 and flew it into Iran.

“They tried to bribe their way out of it, and you know what the Iranians did? They laughed at Obama, and they said he’s a stupid son of a b---h,” Trump said before abruptly ending the press conference.

In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, which took place one day before the MOU was agreed, Obama said he was “doubtful” that any Iran agreement negotiated by Trump would be “significantly different” from, or a “significant improvement” on, the 2015 deal his administration brokered.

“It’s a reminder that on a lot of different foreign policy problems, the notion we can just bully our way or bomb our way to a solution may sometimes seem appealing,” Obama added. “You’d think we would’ve learned that lesson by now, but it seems like every so often we have to learn that lesson again.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/obama-towers-over-trump-in-humiliating-popularity-ranking/?

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Trump’s $14M Reflecting Pool Disaster Deepens With Record Slime Explosion

A Washington Post analysis found the reflecting pool is experiencing its worst algae bloom in years.

President Donald Trump’s controversial $14 million overhaul of the White House’s reflecting pool has hit another setback, as officials battle a record outbreak of algae.

A Washington Post analysis found that the reflecting pool now contains more algae than at any point recorded in June over the past five years.

The study also noted algae levels were among the highest seen in any month over the last two years.

Trump said the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which was renovated at a cost of around $13.1 million ahead of the 250th anniversary celebrations, would be refilled and repainted a shade of “American Flag Blue,” and pledged to overhaul what he described as the “filthy” and “disgusting” water in the Reflecting Pool.

After the pool was refilled on June 4, he hailed its “clean, beautiful water.”

But the pool started to turn green with algae less than 24 hours after the renovations were completed earlier this month.Experts say the spike in algae is consistent with seasonal conditions, as hot, sunny weather in the Washington area creates an ideal environment for algae growth.

“We would expect June to have more algae naturally than February, March or April because there is more light availability and higher temperatures,” Alana Menendez, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Sciences, told the Washington Post.

The D.C. region experienced a heat wave as the pool was being refilled earlier this month.

Trump administration officials, however, blamed the problem on residual material left in supply lines that had reportedly been dormant for weeks.

The Interior Department has also linked the issue to an Obama-era renovation, saying the more than $30 million 2012 overhaul “resulted in massive algae clumps taking over the pool’s surface following years of construction that cost taxpayers millions upon millions only to be broken and disgusting days later.”

But critics questioned whether recent changes may be contributing to the problem.

One National Parks Conservation Association official suggested the darker paint color could be raising water temperatures and worsening algae growth, telling the Post: “These are all questions that would normally be answered during that review process that just was not done in this case.”

Elsewhere, a resident of Alexandria, Virginia, told The Daily Beast the reflecting pool is “a mess” and said they have “never seen it this green before.”

“I think it’s a waste of our tax dollars,” said James, who declined to give his surname and has lived in the D.C. area for decades.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-14m-reflecting-pool-disaster-deepens-with-record-slime-explosion/?

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Trump approval on Iran low even as tentative deal to end fighting emerged Most Americans continue to disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling Iran, according to a new AP-NORC poll that was conducted as Trump suggested a deal with Iran had been reached. Read more.

What to know: Trump’s overall job approval stands at 37%, unchanged from an AP-NORC poll conducted in May. Americans’ views on how the president is handling Iran are roughly in line with that. About one-third of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s approach to the economy. That’s in line with last month, and continues a challenging stretch for Trump on the issue.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Gas prices dip below $4 for 1st time since March but remain 25% higher than last year   Vance’s push to get Iran talks started hits an early bump as weekend negotiations are put on hold   Israeli military strikes in southern Lebanon in intense fighting as US-Iran talks postponed   JD Vance slams Israeli officials who criticized Iran deal, deepening rift between allies   Some GOP senators and Trump allies have harsh reviews of his agreement to end Iran war   Freed Israeli hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal recounts sexual abuse in Gaza, urges victims to speak out   Senators seek to block Hegseth travel funds until Pentagon releases report on Iran school strike    Trump presents the Medal of Honor to 3 veterans for heroism in Vietnam and Afghanistan    Senator urges FAA to reject any pressure from Trump to approve triumphal arch over aviation safety   Democrats say money from Trump’s tax cuts bill is paying for White House ballroom project   Trump from ‘hunted’ to ‘hunter’: New book details Trump’s push to test the limits of executive power   Trump administration can replace Washington slavery exhibit in Philadelphia, appeals court says   Obama Center opens in Chicago with a call to defend democracy and a celebrity crowd   Photos of the Obama Presidential Center opening

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Anxious Trump, 80, Self-Soothes With New Catchphrase as Republicans Revolt

The president has taken to repeatedly reminding frustrated aides, lawmakers, and arguably himself just who’s in charge.

Donald Trump has a new retort for anyone in his party or at the White House who’s brave enough to question his judgment: “I’m the president and you’re not.”

Trump, 80, has delivered the line time and again to allies and advisers offering strategic guidance on a mounting run of botched ploys, humiliating gaffes, and screeching U-turns, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper writes that Trump’s childish new catchphrase speaks to how the president now appears to trust his own instincts far more than those of the aides, lawmakers, and old hands who have so far helped grease the gears of his turbulent 18 months back at the White House.

The habit is severely testing his already weakening grip on a party that otherwise spent his first year back in office falling in line. Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger last month, told the Journal he was appalled by the president’s new arrangement with Iran.

“Reagan is rolling over in his grave,” the senator told the newspaper of Trump’s self-professed political hero, adding that Trump’s peace deal with the Iranian regime represents “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”

Trump signed a tentative agreement to wind down the war with Iran this week. The regime has agreed to reopen a vital oil corridor in the Persian Gulf, while the White House will lift sanctions, unfreeze assets, and help underwrite a $300 billion reconstruction package.

Cassidy’s comments make him only the most vocal of hawkish Republicans to balk at what they say amounts to throwing Tehran an economic lifeline while leaving its weapons program largely untouched.

The president sealed the agreement at a Wednesday dinner at the Palace of Versailles in France, a venue that for more than 100 years has served as a byword for disastrous deals. The Journal reports that the move caught aides off guard, as they had penciled in a separate ceremony for Friday.

Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, not known for public dissent, called the agreement “completely out of step with the president’s goals.”

Trump has also upended his own party’s timetable on Capitol Hill. He stalled the path of Jay Clayton, a former SEC chairman picked as his incoming director of national intelligence, so that acting director Bill Pulte, a 38-year-old loyalist, could first spend longer slashing jobs at the spy agency.

The freelancing has handed Democrats a trove of attack-ad fodder, the Journal says. Trump has brushed off the coming midterms and, when asked about soaring prices sparked by his war with Iran, offered only, “I love the inflation” as a retort.

Ron Bonjean, a onetime spokesman for Republican leaders in Congress, told the Journal the math has changed. “The total control that Trump once had over Congress just isn’t there anymore,” he said.

The White House has defended the president’s freewheeling approach. Spokesperson Olivia Wales said that “no president has worked harder or delivered more than President Trump.”

The president himself has cast the upheaval as a plus, writing on Truth Social that his moves “add a slight bit of intrigue” but have ultimately served the country.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for further comment on this story.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-80-self-soothes-with-new-catchphrase-reminding-himself-hes-president-as-republicans-revolt/?

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Jaw-Dropping Cost of Trump’s War With Iran Revealed

The financial impact of the president’s conflict just got worse.

The Pentagon has calculated it needs $80 billion in taxpayer funds to cover the costs of Trump’s four-month war with Iran.

The war, which began on Feb. 28, resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members, as well as more than 3,300 Iranians, pushing up oil prices around the world and spiking inflation and mortgage rates in the U.S.

An estimate from Moody’s Analytics said the war has already cost U.S. consumers and taxpayers around $132 billion. Last month, the Pentagon estimated the cost of the war in Iran was roughly $29 billion.

Now, a new report says the Pentagon told lawmakers this week that it needs an additional $80 billion to cover the costs of the Iran conflict and other non-war-related bills, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The publication cites people familiar with the discussions, which have been led by 66-year-old billionaire Stephen Feinberg, who has served as the deputy secretary of defense since March last year.

The figure comes as lawmakers try to put a precise price tag on the war. There are fears that the U.S. military has used munitions in the Iran conflict that could be required for security threats elsewhere.

Last month, the Pentagon flagged that it needs Congress to pass a new wartime spending bill in time to fund future operations, such as training exercises. The Department of Defense has funded Trump’s unplanned Iran war out of its annual operations and maintenance budget.

The Pentagon’s current budget for the next year is roughly $1 trillion, with any request for extra funds required to be approved by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget before it goes to Congress. However, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is already touting his plans for a $1.5 trillion budget.

The publication said Feinberg has briefed lawmakers on his plan this week, with money to be allocated to ship operations, personnel pay, and munitions.

Their sources added a full U.S. supplemental request, which would fund the Pentagon as well as non-defense priorities such as farm and disaster relief, could be sent to lawmakers in the coming days.

The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon and the White House for comment.

This week Trump signed a 14-point peace plan with Iran, claiming it represented a “major win” for America despite making political and financial concessions to Iran.

The president said the plan, and access to the Strait of Hormuz for global oil supplies, will prevent a “worldwide depression”.

Feinberg, who founded private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, has kept a low profile but has “far eclipsed” his boss, Hegseth, according to a report in The Guardian.

“Everything is centered around Feinberg,” one veteran Pentagon bureaucrat said.

“I don’t think there’s anything that goes on that he doesn’t have a stake in,” a financier familiar with his operations stated.

Hegseth’s figure of $1.5 trillion faced immediate pushback from Republicans, who were wary of the impact on domestic funding ahead of the critical midterm elections.

Ahead of Trump signing his peace deal, Hegseth met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, pushing for his unprecedented $1.5 trillion budget. Hegseth met with Republican Lindsey Graham, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee.

Graham posted on X that he is prepared to support extra money for the Pentagon.

“We discussed the urgent need to plus up the military budget to deal with replenishing and restoring our stockpile of weapons and other one-time expenses being incurred by constant conflict,” Graham said, suggesting a figure of $355 billion.

“We cannot turn our backs on an historic opportunity to help the Department of War at a time of multiple conflicts,” Graham added.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/jaw-dropping-cost-of-trumps-war-with-iran-revealed/?

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• 🇮🇹 Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Italy's conservative leader, sharply rejected President Trump's reported claim to Italian broadcaster La7 that she "begged" for a photo with him at the G7 summit. "Neither I nor Italy ever beg," she said, per a translation of her video statement. Go deeper.

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We’ve been here before, and we know what comes next

White supremacy has always been used to usher in massive economic inequality

https://www.epi.org/blog/weve-been-here-before-and-we-know-what-comes-next-white-supremacy-has-always-been-used-to-usher-in-massive-economic-inequality/?

Trump unveils new Air Force One, a converted Qatari 747

New craft, called VC-25B Bridge, had provoked protest since $400m jet wildly exceeds limit on unsolicited gifts

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/19/trump-air-force-one-qatar?

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Trump’s Kennedy Center Humiliation Fuels Fresh Conspiracy Theories

A week after a judge ordered Trump’s name removed from the building, massive tarps still block the public from seeing the result.

President Donald Trump’s name may be gone from the Kennedy Center, but a week later, nobody outside the building can prove it.

That simple fact has fueled a fresh round of conspiracy theories and accusations surrounding the president’s controversial takeover of America’s premier performing arts venue.

Enormous tarps have been draped across the front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since June 13, when workers moved in overnight to comply with a federal court order requiring that Trump’s name be removed from the building’s facade.

But Kennedy Center officials insist there is nothing mysterious about the cover-up.

“The scaffolding and tarp will remain up as crews address maintenance needs of the marble and soffit panels,” spokeswoman Roma Daravi told The New York Times.

The explanation has done little to satisfy Trump’s critics.

Ohio Democrat Joyce Beatty, who helped challenge Trump’s Kennedy Center overhaul in court, accused the president of trying to hide an embarrassing defeat.

“Donald Trump is embarrassed,” Beatty said in a statement to the Times.

“He lost in court, his name came down, and now he is trying to hide the result from the public.”

Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin went further, calling the situation “a literal cover-up.”

“Trump and his team got caught vandalizing federal property by posting graffiti with his name on the Kennedy Center and a judge shut them down,” he said.

Actor Tommy Gedrich, who is appearing in Moulin Rouge! The Musical at the center, also questioned the explanation.

“I think it doesn’t take that long to preserve marble, but also what do I know about preserving marble?” he told the Times.

Trump’s relationship with the Kennedy Center has been turbulent since he seized control of its board in February 2025 and installed loyalists who later voted to rename the institution in his honor.

The move sparked boycotts from performers, donors, and audience members, while several high-profile artists publicly distanced themselves from the center.

In May, a U.S. District Judge ordered Trump’s name removed from the building and all official branding, ruling that the change violated the center’s congressional charter.

The ruling triggered a furious response from Trump, who accused “Radical Left Democrats” of caring more about opposing him than preserving the arts center.

His allies unsuccessfully attempted to block the removal of the name before the deadline expired.

By the evening of June 12, hundreds of spectators had gathered outside the Kennedy Center waiting to witness the sign come down. Instead, workers arrived in the early hours of the morning and covered the facade with giant tarps.

Beatty has since asked the court to force Kennedy Center officials to explain under oath why the tarps are still in place and when they will finally come down.

For now, the giant coverings have become a spectacle themselves, keeping the fight over Trump’s name alive long after the sign itself has disappeared from view.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and Kennedy Center for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/president-donald-trumps-bizarre-kennedy-center-coverup-fuels-conspiracies/?

ps:Absolutely Pathetic!!!!!

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Felon Trump Pal Behind Green Slime Fiasco Exposed

Questions are swirling about the process behind the award of a $1.7 million contract to a longtime Trump donor.

The man whose subsidiary company was awarded a no-bid contract to remodel the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has been unmasked as a two-time felon and deep-pocketed MAGA donor.

A company owned by John J. Cafaro, whom President Donald Trump has called a “fantastic man” despite a pair of politics-related felonies, installed a water-purification system to prevent algae bloom in the pool—an installation that so far appears to be failing miserably.

Daily Beast Editor-in-Chief Hugh Dougherty and Chief Content Officer Joanna Coles broke down all the questions surrounding Cafaro and his relationship to Trump on The Daily Beast Podcast.

“How could he possibly get into this?” Dougherty asked. “We don’t really know, because it is a no-bid contract that is shrouded in secrecy.”

Dougherty, who notes that some are comparing a photo of a cigar-smoking Cafaro to “Fat Tony” from The Simpsons, rattled off what we do know about the businessman’s relationship with Trump.

Cafaro is a longtime Trump donor with a mansion in Palm Beach, near the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate. He has been praised by Trump (he called him a “fantastic man” in 2016) despite spending time in jail for making an undisclosed $10,000 “loan” to his daughter, Capri Cafaro, during her unsuccessful run for Congress in Ohio.

Cafaro spent five days in the hoosegow in 2010 over a judge’s dissatisfaction with his financial disclosures. He was ultimately released and sentenced to probation and a $250,000 fine.

Dougherty’s comments follow revelations in The New York Times that Cafaro, who also once pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to bribe a congressman, has donated $350,000 to PACs supporting Trump since 2016.

Cafaro’s company, Greenwater Services, was awarded a $1.7 million contract for the reflecting pool gig by the Interior Department, which oversees the National Park Service.

The contract did not have to go through a typical government bidding process because the Trump administration deemed it a priority, allowing the president to have his “American flag blue” reflecting pool installed in time for the America 250 celebrations.

Reached for comment, the White House claimed there was no favoritism in the administration’s selection of a company that has ties to a longtime donor.

“This contract was awarded by the Department of [the] Interior; the White House did not play any role in the selection process,” spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told the Daily Beast. “The failing New York Times’ continued attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest are irresponsible and further reinforce the public’s distrust in the news media, which is already at an all-time low.”

Beyond questions about the nature of the contract are criticisms that Trump may have blown through $14 million in taxpayer dollars—more than seven times the amount initially proposed—to repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, only for it to fill with green sludge two weeks before America’s 250th birthday.

The pool holds about 6.5 million gallons of water, and has a surface area of more than 300,000 square feet. On Thursday, around half of the surface water remained green.

Now, Park Service employees are resorting to pouring hydrogen peroxide into the pool in an attempt to kill off the algae.

Coles asked Dougherty if there was any chance the pool would be glistening blue in time for the July 4 celebrations.

“Anything’s possible,” he said, before noting that things still appear to be moving in the wrong direction, as The Washington Post reported that satellite imagery shows there is more algae in the pool this month than in any of the last five Junes.

“So can it be fixed? Maybe,” Dougherty said. “I’m not sure that the individual gallon bottles of unbranded bleach are the way. And as you see, the clock is ticking to July 4... It doesn’t look like it. [The algae] seems to be going up, not down.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-j-cafaro-felon-trump-pal-behind-green-slime-fiasco-exposed/?

ps:What a pathetic group of geniuses this administration is!!

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Trump Floats Bonkers New Theory for Reflecting Pool Disaster

A video highlighting fresh problems at the algae-filled Reflecting Pool sparked an extraordinary accusation from the president.

President Donald Trump has found a new suspect in the mystery of the National Mall’s struggling Reflecting Pool: ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl.

The president delivered a Truth Social tirade on Friday night, accusing Karl of trying to damage the landmark after a video of the correspondent inspecting the pool circulated on social media earlier this week.

“Lightweight ABC Reporter, Jonathan Karl, was seen sticking his hand into the Pool, and trying to rip the rubber off of the surface,” Trump wrote.

The bizarre accusation appeared to be a response to video posted on Thursday showing Karl at the Reflecting Pool while reporting on its ongoing algae and maintenance problems.

In the video, Karl can be seen reaching into the water to examine the condition of the newly renovated attraction.

“The $14 million job to redo the bottom of this reflecting pool is falling apart before our eyes,” Karl said in the video.

“The algae is still here, but the paint appears to be going away.”

Trump responded by accusing unnamed vandals of damaging the site and pouring chemicals into the water, while also suggesting Karl himself had attempted to pull up the lining.

The president offered no evidence for the claim but said law enforcement was investigating.

He also insisted the algae problem was “75% gone” and would soon be fully resolved.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.

The Reflecting Pool has become an unexpected headache for the White House after Trump personally championed a plan to repaint the basin in what he called “American flag blue.”

The project was originally expected to cost about $1.8 million and take a week to complete. Instead, it stretched for nearly two months and ultimately cost taxpayers an estimated $14 million.

The problems began almost immediately after the pool reopened earlier this month.

Within days, a major algae bloom turned much of the water green, undermining Trump’s promise of a more picturesque landmark.

Researchers who analyzed satellite imagery later found higher algal levels in the pool than at any point in June over the previous five years.

Federal workers have since spent days vacuuming algae from the 6.5-million-gallon pool and treating the water with hydrogen peroxide.

The project has also drawn scrutiny over the awarding of a $1.7 million water-purification contract to a company linked to longtime Trump donor, and convicted felon, John J. Cafaro, according to a New York Times report.

Department of the Interior spokeswoman Katie Martin said the agency had no idea about Cafaro’s political ties and chose Greenwater because it “had the expertise, workforce and materials” to finish on time, she told the Times.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-floats-bonkers-new-theory-for-reflecting-pool-disaster/?

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Trump-Friendly Studio Abruptly Drops Movie About Tech Giant

Amazon ditched a film portraying Sam Altman as a schemer after striking major deals with his company.

Amazon MGM has ditched its nearly finished film about controversial OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman after becoming entangled in Altman’s company.

In February, Amazon committed to investing an eye-popping $50 billion in a partnership deal that would vastly expand OpenAI’s use of Amazon Web Services and develop custom AI models for Amazon. The companies also signed a $38 billion cloud computing deal just last year.

Amazon is now hunting for a “new home” for Oscar-nominated director Luca Guadagnino’s celeb-studded movie Artificial, starring Andrew Garfield, that focuses on the time Altman was briefly fired and rehired as head of OpenAI in 2023. The film had been slated for release later this year or in early 2027, and is expected to be in contention for awards season.

“We have the utmost respect and admiration for Luca Guadagnino as an award-winning filmmaker—not to mention a longstanding relationship that we hope to continue,” an Amazon spokesperson told Variety. “We believe that Artificial will be better served if it were released by a different studio.”

The Daily Beast has reached out to Guadagnino for comment.

The director was handed the bad news by Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios chief Mike Hopkins, who decided to dump the movie. Hopkins reportedly pulled the plug after viewing a cut of the film, as Puck first reported.

A draft of the script portrays Altman as a schemer intent on turning OpenAI from a nonprofit to a money-making machine, with one computer scientist describing the CEO as “one of the most manipulative people on the planet,” according to Puck.

The film, written by Saturday Night Live alum Simon Rich, also stars Anora actor Yura Borisov as Israeli engineer Ilya Sutskever, who co-founded OpenAI as a nonprofit. Jason Schwartzman, Mark Rylance, Zosia Mamet, and Ike Barinholtz (as Elon Musk) co-star.

Artificial would have been Amazon MGM’s third collaboration with Guadagnino, following After the Hunt and Challengers.

Amazon isn’t saying why it’s dumping the film, although the company would clearly have a conflict of interest in how it portrays a major new industry partner. The apparently dark view of Altman would also be awkward for Amazon, especially as both Altman and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos have been cozying up to 80-year-old Donald Trump.

Altman and Bezos are friends, and Altman attended Bezos’ Venetian wedding last year. They’re both busy cultivating a positive relationship with Trump and his administration. Altman was one of a number of U.S. tech leaders who appeared with Trump at the G7 summit earlier this week, urging world leaders to embrace AI.

Amazon’s Hopkins was at the red carpet premiere of Melania, the gushing documentary on the first lady, which took place at the temporarily Trumpified Kennedy Center earlier this year. The film cost Amazon some $75 million to release—and flopped big time.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/trump-friendly-studio-abruptly-drops-movie-about-tech-giant-sam-altman/?

ps:How pathetic!!

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🎨 Pic du jour: Reflecting flop

Reflecting Pool renovations as photographed on May 2, May 28, June 7, June 12, June 16 and June 18. Photos: Reuters The new "American flag blue" paint at the bottom of D.C.'s freshly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool appeared to be peeling away this week — less than two weeks after the $14.7 million project was completed, Reuters reports. Frantic work to kill the algae bloom that has tinted the water green post-renovation is ongoing. Watch a video: ABC's Jonathan Karl reports from the Reflecting Pool.

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Trump, 80, Spirals as Reflecting Pool Fiasco Takes Another Mortifying Turn

The president’s promises to improve a national monument have ended with algae, arrests, accusations of sabotage—and a likely draining.

President Donald Trump has found someone new to blame for his Reflecting Pool disaster.

In a Truth Social post on Saturday, the president claimed several alleged vandals had been arrested after damage was discovered at the newly refurbished Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

“The United States Park Police have arrested multiple individuals for vandalizing our Nations [sic] magnificent Reflecting Pool,” Trump wrote.

“Who would do such a thing?”

Hours later, Trump claimed that “many additional people” had been arrested and alleged that vandals used a knife or blade to carve a 250-foot gash into the pool’s new lining.

He also accused unidentified individuals of pouring “corrosive and destructive chemicals” into the water.

Trump also acknowledged that the problems at the Reflecting Pool have become so severe that much of the water may need to be drained again for repairs.

“We met with contractors today, will probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to do the necessary repairs,” he wrote.

The admission marks another setback for a renovation that was originally expected to take a week but stretched into nearly two months before being overtaken by algae days after reopening.

“The Reflecting Pool was never so beautiful as it was just one week ago,” Trump wrote.

“We are very proud of what we have done with this magnificent structure.”

Trump’s vandalism claims quickly became fodder for critics online.

“They’ve arrested more people for touching the peeling paint at the Reflecting Pool than they’ve arrested from the Epstein files,” one person wrote.

“Keeping his promise to drain the swamp,” another wrote.

Others accused Trump of looking for a scapegoat rather than accepting responsibility for the troubled project.

“Why admit it when you can blame your own citizens?” one person commented.

One of the people caught up in the crackdown insists he was doing little more than satisfying his curiosity.

David Hearn, a 67-year-old former Olympic canoe racer from Bethesda, Maryland, told the Associated Press he was detained Friday after reaching down and touching part of the new coating.

“I’m a curious citizen,” Hearn said. “I reached down to see what it felt like. It was very rubbery.”

According to Hearn, he immediately stopped when a worker instructed him to leave it alone, but was nevertheless detained by National Guard troops and Park Police officers for roughly five hours.

The Washington Post reported that Hearn has been ordered to appear in court next month and is seeking legal assistance.

The arrests come as the Reflecting Pool makeover threatens to overshadow Trump’s broader campaign to spruce up Washington, D.C.

Trump had earlier on Saturday been celebrating what he described as his administration’s efforts to make Washington “SAFE & BEAUTIFUL.”

In a graphic posted to Truth Social, the president boasted that workers had fixed 1,695 lights, rehabilitated or installed 1,143 benches, cleaned 500 instances of graffiti, removed 152 homeless encampments, repaired 22 fountains, and cleaned dozens of monuments and statues.

The Reflecting Pool makeover was prominently featured among the administration’s accomplishments. Minutes later, Trump was blaming alleged vandals for damaging the project.

“These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments,” Trump wrote.

“Years in jail! Work will begin immediately on its repair.”

The Daily Beast reached out to the White House and National Park Service for comment.

The project’s troubles are particularly awkward for the White House as Trump personally championed a plan to repaint the basin in what he called “American flag blue.”

Originally expected to cost about $1.8 million and take a week to complete, the renovation dragged on for nearly two months and ultimately cost taxpayers an estimated $14 million.

The problems began almost immediately after the pool reopened earlier this month.

Within days, a major algae bloom turned much of the water green, undermining Trump’s promise of a more picturesque landmark.

Workers have spent days trying to rescue the troubled renovation, including removing algae from the water and pouring hydrogen peroxide into the pool to control the bloom.

Trump claimed Friday that the algae was already “75% gone” and would soon be completely eliminated. Yet pictures of the Reflecting Pool continue to show a landmark struggling to shake its green tint.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/president-donald-trump-80-spirals-as-his-dc-makeover-turns-into-slimy-fiasco/?

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Vance Boast Blows Up in His Face While Live on Air

The Strait of Hormuz was closed by Iran just as the vice president touted its opening on Fox News.

JD Vance was boasting about the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on Fox News just as news broke that Iran had actually closed the all-important waterway.

Asked by the Fox & Friends panel if the strait was open, Vance said that it was.

“We got 16 million barrels [of oil] out of the Strait of Hormuz in just the last 24 hours, that is basically to where it was before the war started, and so that suggests that the straits really are open,” he said.

He put forward a theory that a ship may have been prevented from entering dangerous waters, but was adamant that the waterway was open to commercial traffic.

“Now what I would believe is that if a ship is going near a minefield, either our navy or another country’s navy—there are a lot of countries other than Iran who are in the region—might say, ‘No, don’t go there because there are mines there,’” he said.

He then doubled down.

“No, we’re not seeing any evidence that the Iranians are still closing down the Strait of Hormuz,” he said. “It is going to take some time to clear those mines, though.”

Around the same time, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy declared the strait closed in a statement, saying the waterway was off limits because the United States failed to prevent the Israeli military from operating in Lebanon.

“In light of the United States’ clear bad faith and breach of its commitment to implement the first clause of the memorandum of understanding for ending the war, and in response to the continuous and ongoing violations of the ceasefire by the Zionist regime in southern Lebanon, it is hereby announced that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to maritime traffic,” the IRGC said in a statement.

The vice president and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israeli strikes on Saturday in southern Lebanon reportedly killed at least 16 people, including two children, according to Lebanese state media.

U.S. Central Command released a statement at 10.28 a.m. Saturday that said ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz had increased.

“Safe passage through the international waterway remained intact today as 55 merchant ships transited, moving large amounts of cargo and more than 17 million barrels of oil to global markets,” they wrote.

President Donald Trump, 80, boasted this week that he is the “reason Israel exists” and that he tells the nation what to do.

But it appears he has been unable to dictate how Israel handles its conflict with Lebanon, with Israel allegedly breaking a ceasefire that was insisted on by Iran as part of the Memorandum of Understanding the president signed this week.

The Israeli strikes on Lebanon were reportedly retaliation for a Hezbollah attack. An Israeli military official said Hezbollah had fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight.

Hezbollah issued a statement Saturday that accused Israel of deliberately sabotaging the ceasefire.

Israeli media reported Saturday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz had ordered a ceasefire in southern Lebanon, but would not be withdrawing from the occupied areas.

The decision was reportedly made in coordination with the United States.

Vance is planning to join U.S. negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in Switzerland on Sunday or Monday for talks with Iran over its nuclear program.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/vice-president-jd-vances-boast-blows-up-in-his-face-while-live-on-air/?

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Trump’s Strait Deal Collapses While He Obsesses Over How to Spell ‘Dumb’

“Which do you prefer, Dumocrat or Dumbocrat?” the commander in chief asked.

President Donald Trump’s priorities are being called into question after he made a bizarre post on Saturday morning.

Just as Iran announced it was closing the Strait of Hormuz and accused the U.S. of violating the ceasefire agreement, Trump took to Truth Social to seek feedback on his derogatory new nickname for Democrats.

Trump posted a poll asking his followers, “Which do you prefer, Dumocrat or Dumbocrat?”

The 80-year-old president then offered a truly bizarre explanation of each spelling.

“In one case, you simply exchange the ‘e’ for ‘u,’ so simple and precise (Many people don’t know, or assume, that DUMB ends in ‘b’),” Trump wrote.

He continued, “In the other case, you spell out DUMB, but it seems to lose some of the identity to Democrats when done this way. Which is better?”

He ended the post with his now-familiar sign-off: “Thank you for your attention to this very important matter! President DJT.”The president has been repeatedly musing on the word “dumb” in recent months, claiming multiple times that “a lot of people don’t know dumb has a ‘b.’”

An hour into the poll, Trump’s followers preferred the president’s spelling of “Dumocrat,” which received 63 percent of the vote.

It was the same spelling Trump used earlier in the day during a posting spree in which he wrote that “Dumocrats realize how well we have done in our War against Iran.”

Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran on Wednesday, but it is already showing signs of falling apart, with Iran shutting down the Strait of Hormuz to maritime traffic. Critics and supporters alike have noted it falls far short of his earlier call for “unconditional surrender.”

The agreement ends military operations, lifts U.S. sanctions on Iran, and establishes a $300 billion reconstruction fund, while Iran commits not to pursue nuclear weapons. It also sets out a phased U.S. withdrawal from its naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days.

Iran said Saturday it was closing the Strait of Hormuz in response to continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran to implement a peace deal were due to take place in Switzerland on Friday but were postponed.

Vice President JD Vance, who was set to lead the talks, did not travel to Switzerland. Instead, he said that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff were on the ground and “dealing with some of the technical elements of this negotiation.”

Trump has joked that he will blame the vice president if the deal falls through.

“If it works out, I’m going to take the credit,” Trump said. “If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-strait-deal-collapses-while-he-obsesses-over-how-to-spell-dumb/?

ps:So predictably pathetic!!!!!!!!!!

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🏛️ Draining the swamp

Photo: Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images Above, you see algae-ridden water being drained from the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool yesterday. Trump wrote on Truth Social last night: "We met with contractors today, will probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to do the necessary repairs, but will have them done as quickly as possible." He blamed "terrible Vandals," and said there'll be many more arrests, even though the algae's return was foreseeable. Catch up quick: Crews have been working to kill the algae bloom that's tinted the pool green since the $14.7 million renovation wrapped with hydrogen peroxide. More recently, the fresh "American flag blue" paint at the bottom of the pool appeared to be peeling away and floating in the water. One person arrested by U.S. Park Police was David Hearn, a 67-year-old cyclist and former Olympian. Hearn told The Washington Post he "didn't destroy or break or peel anything" and was arrested after reaching down to touch a piece of already-peeled paint floating in the pool. More on the arrest (WP gift link).

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🇮🇹 Trump's Italian feud

President Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's war of words over a factually contested photo op request at the G-7 exploded yesterday, with the one-time friends blasting each other in angry terms on social media.

• Why it matters: Even as Trump lavishes praise on American adversaries like China's Xi Jinping, close allies are increasingly willing to split with him, Axios' Ben Berkowitz writes.

⚡ Catch up quick: The controversy erupted earlier this week when Trump claimed Meloni begged him for a photo together at the global gathering in France.

• Trump took to Truth Social yesterday to again insist she'd begged for a picture in an effort to improve her poll numbers, and to accuse her of being ungrateful for American support.
• "he wants to be friends again in order to get her 'numbers up.' No thanks!!!" Trump wrote.

Meloni blasted Trump in an Instagram post: "[M]y popularity is none of your concern. I suggest you focus on yours."

🔎 Between the lines: The U.S.-Italy relationship has grown strained in recent months over the war in Iran.

• At one point, Italy denied U.S. aircraft permission to land at its bases. Meloni, in her Instagram post, defended that decision as a matter of protecting Italian sovereignty.

ps:So pathetic!!!!!!!

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Trump tries to blame Reflecting Pool woes on vandalism, without offering substantiation

President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that federal authorities had made “multiple arrests” of people he said were vandalizing the Reflecting Pool as he struggled to explain why the $14-million-plus rehabilitation project he launched for the nation’s 250th anniversary seemingly backfired. He offered no details to substantiate his claim and agencies responsible for law enforcement and upkeep on the National Mall did not respond to requests for comment. Read more.

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