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

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AP Exclusive: Trump’s immigration crackdown has detained dozens of military spouses and parents More than 50 parents and spouses of active-duty service members have been detained since Trump took office for a second term. At least six have been deported and one self-deported, an AP investigation found in the first accounting of such detentions, which the government does not track. Read more.

Why this matters: Parents and spouses of people in the military have generally been shielded from deportation under bipartisan consensus for decades. Experts warn that the reversal could undermine military preparedness even as the U.S. is at war in Iran. It’s left military members without emotional support and caretakers for their children, delayed deployments and forced some to take leave.   “DHS and ICE value the contributions of all those who have served in the U.S. military,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. “U.S. military service alone does not automatically grant lawful immigration status, or exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws.”

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ WATCH: Service members speak about how their lives have been upended Empty pews and fear of ICE on Maryland’s Eastern Shore after TPS ends for Haitians Salvadoran man complained of access to medication before death at NJ immigration jail, family says A $150M contract for migrant kids’ lawyers goes to a Trump-linked Texas firm, raising concerns

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Judge criticizes the Justice Department as he dismisses Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta decried efforts to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as he reluctantly dismissed the seditious conspiracy case against members of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group. Read more.

Why this matters: The Department of Justice in April acted to vacate the convictions of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and others who had their sentences commuted but did not receive pardons.   Mehta, who oversaw the Oath Keepers’ trials, criticized the department’s move, writing in his ruling that the government “asks to absolve these Defendants of crimes against the United States itself.” But Mehta wrote that he had no choice but to grant the administration’s request. Mehta’s order closes the book on the Jan. 6 cases that were wiped out with President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardons and commutations last year.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ No evidence? No problem. Trump pushes ahead on false claims that Reflecting Pool was vandalized Senate panel to vote on holding Fauci in contempt for refusing to answer questions State of New Mexico sues Justice Department and Todd Blanche, saying they blocked its Epstein probe North Carolina congressman Edwards quits reelection bid after committee finds inappropriate conduct GOP Rep. Max Miller resists pressure to drop reelection bid as party anxiety grows over abuse claims Fauci’s decision to invoke the Fifth Amendment tees up a legal debate and a contempt vote Crews remove the granite seal on the White House helipad, signaling potential project delays

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Trump’s Reflecting Pool Target Faces Explosive New Test

The criminal contempt referral against Dr Anthony Fauci now lands on the desk of the embattled MAGA prosecutor.

After infuriating Donald Trump by throwing out the Reflecting Pool vandalism case, MAGA prosecutor Jeanine Pirro now faces another politically explosive test: whether to prosecute Dr. Anthony Fauci for criminal contempt.

Senate Republicans voted Thursday to hold the former COVID adviser in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about the origins of the pandemic, marking the GOP’s latest attempt to jail the 85-year-old.

The matter will now be referred to the Justice Department, where Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, must decide whether to prosecute.

The move sets up another challenge for the embattled former Fox host, who Trump came close to firing this week after she refused to back his claims that vandals ruined the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

“I was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. Really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro,” Trump fumed to reporters before the pair reportedly “had it out” in the Oval Office on Monday.

“She folded like an umbrella.”

Thursday’s vote came after Fauci appeared before the Senate Homeland Security Committee after being subpoenaed by Republicans, who have spent years targeting and vilifying him.

He invoked his Fifth Amendment rights—but not before he went scorched earth on GOP members and accused committee chairman Rand Paul of being obsessed and unhinged.

“Given Senator Paul’s obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution, his repeated slanderous comments about me, and recently his publicly releasing my unredacted personal diary aimed at embarrassing and intimidating me, the only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, ‘behind bars,’” Fauci said.

“Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion.”

The showdown on Capitol Hill came after Paul released over 1,100 pages of Fauci’s personal diary entries ahead of the grilling, detailing his daily life between December 2019 and December 2022 when he retired from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

But among other things, the secret diary exposed the hypocrisy of some MAGA Republicans.

For instance, it revealed how Fauci calmed Stephen Miller’s wife Katie when she tested positive for COVID while only 10 weeks pregnant with her first child, and gave her husband advice on what to do for both their safety. Both have publicly called for him to be jailed.

Democrats on Thursday had unsuccessfully tried to delay the contempt vote, with a series of procedural motions.

Michigan Senator Gary Stevens argued that the full Senate, not just the committee, should determine whether a witness should be in contempt.

New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan sought a delay so the committee could hear testimony from outside legal experts on the constitutional and procedural questions surrounding the case.

And Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal also urged the vote to be postponed so the committee could hear from Fauci’s lawyer, who was ejected from the hearing when Fauci appeared last week.

He said parts of the hearing were “worse than the darkest days of the McCarthy era.”

“There is virtually no chance that a court would actually approve any contempt because he had a well-founded fear of self-incrimination, which entitled him to invoke the Fifth Amendment and to hear from his counsel,” Blumenthal said.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-reflecting-pool-target-faces-explosive-new-test/?

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Americans Overwhelmingly Call BS on Trump as Chaos Fear Spikes

A new poll shows the public rejecting the president’s insistence that a deal is close.

Americans aren’t convinced the war with Iran is anywhere close to over, despite President Donald Trump’s claims that his administration is locked in talks to bring a close to hostilities.

In fact, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, they expect things to get worse before they get better, and those who think the Middle East will spiral into chaos outnumber those who think the war will bring more stability by a ratio of three to one.

The six-day poll concluded Monday, the same day Trump again backed away from threatened “massive attacks” on Iran, underscoring the uncertainty surrounding a five-month conflict he initially predicted would deliver a swift victory.

On July 23, Trump told Axios he was “considering a massive attack” that would be “bigger than ever before,” adding he was “close to making a decision.”

But by July 27, following reports that senior leadership had advised him to hold off, Trump told reporters he was pursuing negotiations instead. “They want to meet, and we’re meeting,” Trump said, traveling on Air Force One. “We’ll see what happens.” Iran denied that direct talks with the United States were taking place.

Talks or not, the American public isn’t buying the reassurances. Fifty percent of poll respondents said they expect U.S. military action in Iran to destabilize the Middle East over the next year, roughly three times the 17 percent who said the war would bring more stability. Another 16 percent said stability would stay about the same, while 17 percent said they were unsure.

Respondents were similarly pessimistic about gas prices, which have climbed as Iran chokes off traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical corridor for global oil supplies.

Fifty-eight percent said they expect gas prices to get worse, compared with just 15 percent who expect improvement.

Even Republicans, who overwhelmingly back Trump personally, are split on how his war is playing out. While 80 percent of Republicans approve of Trump’s overall performance and 66 percent back his handling of Iran, 41 percent believe Middle East stability will actually improve over the next year because of the war.

The conflict, which Trump launched alongside Israel in late February, has cost U.S. taxpayers at least $37.5 billion, killed 18 U.S. service members and killed thousands of Iranians. Just 35 percent of Americans approve of the war overall.

Asked which party has a better approach to handling war and terrorism, registered voters picked Democrats over Republicans, 37 percent to 36 percent, the first time Democrats have led on the question since Reuters/Ipsos began asking it in December 2024, when Republicans led 39 percent to 28 percent. The same polling has shown voters now see Democrats as better equipped to manage the economy for the first time in roughly a decade.

“This war was unpopular the day it started, and it’s gotten more unpopular since,” said Justin Logan, director of defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank.

Logan said Trump faces a difficult tradeoff, having set ambitious goals for the conflict—destroying Iran’s missile capabilities and preventing it from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon— while also trying to limit U.S. casualties and the political fallout that could come with them.

“That incoherence, or rudderlessness, in the conduct of the war is causing more problems for the president,” Logan said.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/americans-overwhelmingly-call-bs-on-trump-as-chaos-fear-spikes/?

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President Trump publicly defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, saying that reporting suggesting any friction between the two was "treasonous." Go deeper.

Trump’s Iran Oil Giveaway

As war with Iran drove oil prices higher, Trump gave politically connected oil companies — not taxpayers — the chance to cash in on publicly owned oil.

https://www.levernews.com/trumps-iran-oil-giveaway/?

Trump administration moves forward with Head Start overhaul, proposing to eliminate regulations

President Donald Trump's administration said Thursday it plans to overhaul Head Start, tossing out many of the regulations that are the hallmark of the early education program for the nation's neediest children. Read More.

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Trump’s Iran Oil Giveaway

As war with Iran drove oil prices higher, Trump gave politically connected oil companies — not taxpayers — the chance to cash in on publicly owned oil.

https://www.levernews.com/trumps-iran-oil-giveaway/?

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Trump's quicksand

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Read the polls, watch economic indicators and talk to President Trump's inner circle in private, and the verdict on his second term seems clear: Even some longtime insiders fear he's trapped by a war he shouldn't have waged, tariffs he shouldn't have levied, monuments he shouldn't be obsessed with, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen write in a "Behind the Curtain" column. Why it matters: These three topics chew up much of Trump's time and attention. All three are widely unpopular in polls. And it's almost impossible to see the public suddenly warming to war, tariffs or more statues. By the numbers: Trump's approval cratered to an all-time low of 32% in a Quinnipiac poll last week. Even more damning: 68% of voters said he isn't focused enough on the problems most Americans face. Trump has squandered the GOP's most durable political advantage: A Reuters/Ipsos poll this week (and a Pew poll last month) found voters split on which party is better for the economy — after Republicans had led on the issue for nine years, back to Trump's first term. Republicans still back Trump on immigration, a new AP-NORC poll shows. 👀 Behind the scenes: New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman estimates 70% of the president's mindshare goes to renovations and monuments. "It's a legacy thing," she told her colleague Ezra Klein. A Trump insider told us: "He concentrates on the hobbies that distract from his terrible polling numbers, about which he is in denial. The other issue is how the war, tariffs and monuments are demoralizing the base." And we keep hearing complaints from top Republicans about Trump's reluctance to unleash the $400 million cache built by his super PAC, MAGA Inc. The unwillingness to spend big, now, in game-changing races has "demoralized donors," the insider said. There's a saying in politics that campaigns are won and lost in the summer. For Republicans, this was the Trump-induced summer of discontent. The big picture: Our reporting shows Trump has no desire to back off any of these topics, especially renovations and monuments, or shift to a new policy agenda before or after the November elections. Ahead of the midterms, he has poured political capital into another self-destructive fixation: the SAVE America Act, which would impose national proof-of-citizenship and voter-ID requirements. Republicans have told Trump, repeatedly, that the bill has no path through the Senate. They lack the 60 votes needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster — and the 51 Republican votes needed to abolish it. Trump has refused to accept that reality, instead whipping the MAGA base into a frenzy against Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other Republicans who won't comply. 👀 What to watch: Top congressional Republicans tell us Trump's unpopularity points toward the likely loss of the House, and perhaps the Senate. Some gently, indirectly, plead with him to shift to affordability or the economy. But an 80-year-old man who made the greatest comeback in American political history appears too proud, stubborn and undisciplined to change, Republicans privately admit. So rather than face the issues, Trump often pivots to showing visitors renderings of the new White House ballroom or a model of the planned Triumphal Arch. He showcases his new Air Force One, touts his plans for Dulles, and obsesses about the helipad being built on the South Lawn. The bottom line: "Sixth-year summers are historically terrible for presidents," the insider said. Marc Caputo and Zachary Basu contributed reporting ...

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🇨🇺 Inside Rubio's Cuba pressure campaign

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is waging an unprecedented economic war on Cuba — and wants to make sure the island's communist leaders know it's going to get worse, Axios' Marc Caputo writes. "What we're trying to teach them is, there are no escape valves," Rubio told Axios. Why it matters: Cuba's economy is in a state of slow-motion collapse because of crushing U.S. sanctions and communist mismanagement of the island, which prides itself as the hemisphere's chief foe of the superpower 90 miles to its north. President Trump hasn't ruled out military action. 🖼️ The big picture: Because of the pressure campaign, Cuba is now a de facto renegade colony of the U.S., upon which it now relies for most of its food, fuel, medicine and currency — all of which are scarce on the island. Rubio told Axios that Cuba is playing for time by faking reforms while seeking ways to evade sanctions. "Every time they create a new mechanism in which they try to get out of the noose, we just close it off," Rubio said. "They certainly can't wait us out. Certainly this isn't going to go away for the next 2½ years." Behind the scenes: Foreign companies are fleeing Cuba amid the threat of sanctions. U.S. companies — especially fuel distributors — are moving in as enterprises such as Cuba's state-run oil company crumble under the pressure. It's creating a nascent capitalist black market. Rubio has been in talks to change governance of the island with Raulito Castro, the grandson of ailing Cuban revolutionary Raúl Castro. But it's unclear whether he could lead a transition government or have much staying power. The U.S. is trying to cultivate other Cuban officials and figure out how to create a coalition for reform. But "it's hard to deduce entirely because that system is so paranoid," a U.S. official said. Worthy of your time. ps:Just another pathetic person in trumps administration!  He used to be a respectable Senator, but not anymore!!!!!

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Birthright citizenship

President Donald Trump signed two new executive orders Thursday aimed at further restricting birthright citizenship and "birth tourism." In June, the Supreme Court rejected Trump's earlier push to narrow birthright citizenship, affirming that children born on US soil are citizens even if their parents are in the country illegally or temporarily. But the new orders take a more limited approach: One would deny birthright citizenship to children born to "alien enemies," members of foreign terrorist organizations and some people acting on behalf of foreign governments. The other targets people traveling to the US to give birth, though existing law already prohibits obtaining a visa primarily to secure US citizenship for a child. ps:Pathetic!!!!!

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Trump again tries to restrict birthright citizenship after Supreme Court ruling President Donald Trump said he was signing two executive actions on immigration, including one limiting the number of people eligible for U.S. citizenship after being born in the United States. The second order focused on stopping people from coming to the U.S. to give birth. Read more.

Why this matters: In June, the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s previous efforts to declare that children born to people in the U.S. illegally or temporarily aren’t American citizens, and upheld a broad conception of birthright citizenship. It was not immediately clear how successful the president’s most recent attempt to restrict birthright citizenship would be. Trump said he thought his latest actions would be constitutional. The American Civil Liberties Union predicted that Trump’s second attempt would also be rejected.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ ICE will release body camera video only when seen in the agency’s ‘best interests,’ policy says A deal with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz may require a compromise from Trump Union representing IRS workers asks judge to block Trump tax audit immunity deal DOGE overstated savings on federal ‘receipts’ website, auditors find ‘I’m very good at grass.’ Why Trump goes into the weeds on one of his favorite topics

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Trump boasts about the economy, but there’s more to the story President Donald Trump has been extolling his economic accomplishments on social media and at events. Some of the claims are clearly true, some exaggerated, some unclear. Read our team’s full analysis.

Why this matters: Voters are frustrated with the economy and the high cost of living. Only 32% of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s handling of the economy in an AP-NORC poll conducted in late July. The same poll found that 69% of Americans characterized the economy as “poor.” Many said the cost of everyday essentials like groceries and gas was a “major” source of stress in their lives.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ WATCH: Trump says ‘we may have to’ send oil prices ‘up again’  US likely added nearly 100,000 jobs in July, but market is still tough for young and unemployed In a post-pandemic world, job candidates feel caught between suits and hoodies

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US job market stalled in July as employers cut 23,000 jobs, delivering political setback to Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. job market stalled unexpectedly last month, delivering a political blow to President Donald Trump three months ahead of midterm elections and complicating decision-making for the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve.

https://apnews.com/article/economy-jobs-trump-unemployment-rate-jobseekers-9c2d147c14bc428458be5a1e83e54957?

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Trump’s Monstrous Ballroom Plot Derailed by Bombshell Ruling

Trump’s power has been given a reality check.

Donald Trump’s $400 million ballroom vanity project has been blocked by a court in Washington, D.C.

In a major blow to the president, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered that work stop on the project, which has already seen the East Wing of the White House demolished.

The court has put the ruling on hold for 14 days to give the administration the opportunity to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction won by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued after the Trump administration went ahead with the work without congressional approval.

The order came after the court’s 2-1 split, with the majority saying, “Whether or not a ⁠massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help.”

“Congress has not ceded unfettered authority to the Executive Branch to dramatically redesign, reshape, and reconstruct the White House — the People’s House — to fit a particular President’s desires,” the panel added.

Trump appealed to the court after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, twice halted construction above ground while allowing below-ground work to continue.

Leon said that there was no federal statute that “comes close to giving the president” the power to make the alterations without congressional approval, Reuters reported.

Trump has previously called the 90,000 sq ft development a “gift” to the people.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on the court order.

Since his return to the White House, Trump has undertaken several so-called beautification projects around Washington, D.C.

Many have hit early roadblocks, such as the refurbishment of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. A new liner was fitted inside the pool, but soon algae broke out—turning the surface of the water slime green—and the lining began to peel off. The pool has since had to be drained.

In another clanger, a judge ruled that his name had been illegally added to the outside of the Kennedy Center and ordered it be removed.

The ballroom is the flagship of the real-estate mogul’s reimagining of the capital. He has claimed that it is vital for carrying out state events in safety, even using the attempted shooting at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner as justification for the project.

Bragging about it last month, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the ballroom “is approximately twice the size, and a far higher quality, than the original proposal,” promising that “it will be magnificent, safe, and secure!”

It also doubled in price.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-monstrous-ballroom-plot-derailed-by-bombshell-ruling/?

ps:How pathetic!!!!!

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ICE Barbie’s Alleged Lover’s Desperate Trump Comeback Plot Revealed

Corey Lewandowski has floated a Senate primary challenge against a sitting Republican leader.

A former Trump administration political operative and rumored paramour of former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is plotting a return from political exile while maintaining his relationship with her, according to the New York Post.

Corey Lewandowski, 52, served as an unpaid senior adviser and acting chief of staff to Noem before her exit from the administration, which came a few months after federal agents in Minneapolis killed two citizens. The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti prompted the administration to walk back its aggressive approach to immigration enforcement and spelled the beginning of the end for ‘ICE Barbie’ Noem.

The fallout ended Lewandowski’s formal role alongside Noem, but according to the Post, he’s now maneuvering his way back into President Donald Trump’s orbit.

“Corey is looking for ways to get back in good with President Trump,” one Republican strategist said. Lewandowski caught attention inside the Beltway when he singled out Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota as a potential primary target.

“John Thune, who happens to be up for re-election—not this November but two years from now—is very susceptible to a very serious Republican primary challenge,” Lewandowski told conservative podcaster John Fredericks in late June.

“The American people will be looking at someone who has a proven history of winning an election in South Dakota to maybe challenge John Thune,” he added, a description sources said evoked Noem.

Multiple Republicans stated that staying on Trump’s good side is crucial for Lewandowski if he is to succeed in his alleged comeback plot.

“He values that relationship more than anything else,” one source said, while another confirmed Lewandowski “dines out” on having the attention of the MAGA chief.

Reached for comment Thursday, Lewandowski insisted to the Post that his comments were about the voters, not himself. “President Trump carried the state of South Dakota by nearly 30 points. The people of that state overwhelmingly support his agenda for America,” he said. “No politician is immune to the will of the voters.”

Lewandowski then made a comment that reads like a suck-up to Trump, urging senators to pass Trump’s SAVE America Act, legislation that would require Americans to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote and present photo ID at the polls, something the president has made a priority.

Although Thune has insisted the measure lacks the Senate votes to clear the chamber—a persistent point of friction with the White House—Lewandowski delivered a sharp directive: “I would encourage every incumbent senator to achieve this objective.”

The Daily Beast approached Lewandowski and received the same response. He ignored a question about Noem being his alleged lover.

The maneuvering comes just days after Noem and Lewandowski were spotted hanging out together in a suburb of Minneapolis. The two joined each other on Tuesday for an afternoon of biking in Wayzata, roughly nine miles west of the city.

In footage obtained by TMZ, the pair biked beside Lake Minnetonka before stopping for an outdoor table at The Grocer’s Table, then biked on to the restaurant CōV, where they sat outside and appeared to laugh over something on Noem’s phone. At one point, Lewandowski seemed to notice he was being filmed and quickly turned away.

Lewandowski and Noem have long denied being romantically involved. Lewandowski told the Daily Beast in March that he had denied having an affair with Noem 10,000 times, and that his call with the Beast was No. 10,001.

He still appears to be married, and has four children with his wife, Alison. Noem’s mother said last month that the former Cabinet official is divorcing her husband, Bryon, with whom she has three children.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that Bryon, 56, had an online alter ego as a crossdresser. “It’s called bimbofication. People who modify their body to look like a doll. The Barbie look,” one model told the Daily Mail. “His kink is for huge, huge ridiculous boobs.”

The alleged relationship between Noem and Lewandowski, dubbed Washington’s “worst-kept secret,” reportedly contributed to Noem’s ouster.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-barbies-alleged-lover-corey-lewandowskis-desperate-trump-comeback-plot-revealed/?

ps:It goes without saying: "These people are just pathetic!!!!!"

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Vance Drags Jesus Into Fat-Shaming His MAGA Ally

JD Vance converted to Roman Catholicism in 2019 at the age of 35.

JD Vance has defended a fat gibe he made against a fellow Republican, dragging the son of God into the debate.

The devout Catholic joked about Fox News contributor and Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen’s weight on Wednesday as part of an ongoing national conversation about the price of burritos.

The humble burrito is being used as a lightning rod for a conversation about inflation. Thiessen weighed in, earning a rebuke that many thought was unbecoming of a vice president, who has been mocked for his own chubby cheeks.

“I’m surprised to hear Mark say this. If you’ve ever met him in person, it’s quite obvious the man has never missed a burrito,” he wrote, spelling Thiessen’s first name incorrectly.

Now, Vance, 42, has defended himself, claiming the post was not mean-spirited. Vance called into Hugh Hewitt’s Salem News Channel show on Thursday, telling the host it was just a “joke.”

“You know, it was a joke, Hugh. I think there are ways in which you’re allowed to punch back, and you’re allowed to be a little bit humorous. I’m sure it was not as charitable as I should have been, but, you know, one thing is—look, I think he’s a good Catholic,” Vance said.

He added that he “feels pretty good” about the bizarre comment. “I certainly wish him the best. I think he’s been a little unfair to me over the last couple of weeks, and so I decided to hit back with a little spice. I will say that if you read the Gospel, you know, Jesus has remarkable humility.

“He also has a remarkable way with words. And so I’m always going to fall short of that example, but I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with being a little spicy from time to time. And, you know, maybe in two years you’ll look back and say, ‘I wish I hadn’t said that,’ but right now I feel pretty good about that,” he explained.

The discussion began when right-wing commentator Matt Walsh said that high grocery prices were becoming a vulnerability for President Donald Trump. Turning Point USA personality Andrew Kolvet then provided anecdotal evidence on the affordability crisis from a college student’s observation of the price of burritos.

“One of our TPUSA college students gave me his take on affordability: ‘A burrito shouldn’t cost $20,’” Kolvet posted, adding a complaint about Biden-era COVID-19 policies.

In response, Thiessen appeared to defend the high burrito prices, saying college students should not be spending their money to go out for a casual meal.

“Cry me a river. The burritos in the college cafeteria are included in your meal plan,” Thiessen complained.

Vance then inserted himself in the MAGA burrito debate, launching his jab at Thiessen’s apparent eating habits.

Vance talked up Thiessen’s Catholic credentials in the Salem News Channel interview, but this might land awkwardly with his congregation because of his past hiccups.

For example, when President Donald Trump branded Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Vance defended him. The convert was asked on Special Report with Bret Baier about his thoughts “as a Catholic” about Trump’s papal feud, and repeatedly called the matter not “newsworthy.” The self-described “baby Catholic” also insisted that Trump was “posting a joke” when he shared the since-deleted AI image of himself as Jesus.

Last month, the vice president was on Fox News again lecturing the pope on immigration. “I do think that some of the things that have come out of the Vatican on the immigration question in particular have been troubling, and ultimately I disagree with it,” Vance told Laura Ingraham.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/jd-vance-drags-jesus-into-fat-shaming-his-maga-ally-marc-thiessen/?

ps:ibid

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MAGA Gov Candidate Busted Living in Luxury Out of State

The Trump-endorsed candidate in the toss-up Iowa governor’s race now faces carpetbagging accusations.

A MAGA governor hopeful has secretly been living in a multimillion-dollar mansion hundreds of miles away from the state he wants to run, contradicting his humble farmer claims.

Zach Lahn, the Trump-endorsed candidate in the Iowa gubernatorial race, has actually been living in Kansas for years, in a $2 million mansion, not in Iowa as he claims, a Daily Beast investigation can reveal.

In 2024, Lahn and his wife Annie, the ex-daughter-in-law of billionaire donor Charles Koch, purchased their Wichita property, which he later transferred to an LLC in what appeared to be a move meant to hide his ownership—and true residency—as he planned to run for governor a few states over.

The Kansas mansion sits on a large plot of land with a private lake. The luxurious home came equipped with an indoor pool, with one real estate outlet even calling the property “a place on Earth that was closest to heaven.”

Lahn also owns property in Iowa, having bought his great-grandmother’s farm in his hometown of Belle Plaine, but there does not appear to be any indication that he treats this as a primary residence.

Records reviewed by the Daily Beast indicate that he has never claimed any property in Iowa as his primary residence. When he refinanced the Iowa property in 2021, he and Annie waived the Iowa Homestead Tax Credit, a sign that they do not consider the Iowa property to be their primary home.

Flight records also reveal that while Lahn, a licensed pilot who owns his own plane, travels to and from campaign events, he regularly flies in and out of Wichita to attend those events.

These flights include his trip from Wichita to his “hometown” in June for a campaign event. He even flew from Wichita to Des Moines to submit his paperwork for his nomination at the State Capitol.

Voting records also show that Lahn has voted in Kansas elections in the 2018, 2020 and 2022 cycles. He told The Wall Street Journal, however, that he voted in Iowa in 2024.

Lahn, a graduate of the University of Colorado, worked for years in Republican politics in Colorado and Montana in his early adult life. He also worked for the Koch-affiliated group Americans for Prosperity.

In 2017, he and his current wife, Annie, met while they were both still married to their former partners.

Before getting married, they co-founded and still sit on the board of the Wonder School, an unorthodox, for-profit K-12 school in Wichita that boasts that it “doesn’t hire teachers.” Tuition currently costs $10,000 a year, and after graduation, only about a third of students go on to attend a 4-year college.

The Lahns applied for their marriage license in Montana just 11 days after his divorce was finalized. With their combined kids from previous marriages, the couple co-parents seven children.

In addition to his luxury mansion in Kansas, Lahn sold his multimillion-dollar mansion in Whitefish, Montana in October. The house, which was valued just under $5 million dollars last year, was described online as a “ski-in, ski-out mansion” that came equipped with an outdoor spa and hot tub. He still owns a plot of land on the same road.

Lahn’s campaign has focused on what he calls an “Iowa First” agenda, as he has attacked corporate agriculture and has touted his endorsement from RFK Jr.’s “MAHA Action.”

But with his apparent strong roots in Kansas and Montana, it remains unclear why Lahn chose Iowa to launch his political career.

He has not publicly commented on carpetbagging accusations, and when reached for comment by the Daily Beast, his deputy campaign manager, Meg Deneen, again did not comment on Lahn’s out-of-state life. Deneen instead attacked his opponent, Rob Sand’s in-law’s multimillion-dollar real estate in Aspen, Colorado, and Sand’s prior work as a model.

When Sand’s campaign was reached for comment, Emma O’Brien, deputy campaign manager, accused Lahn of “lying to Iowans from day one of this campaign about where he lives, how much time he spends in Iowa, and his background.”

Lahn narrowly beat House Republican Randy Feenstra in the state’s primary election in June.

Feenstra had been endorsed by Trump in the primary, but Trump has since turned sour on him since Lahn’s upset win. Trump reportedly regretted his endorsement because Lahn was “much more Trump” than Feenstra.

The gubernatorial race is currently viewed as one of the most competitive in the country, and a potential pick-up for Democrats as the 2026 midterm elections are expected to be a catastrophe for Republicans.

Polling shows that his opponent, Sand, the state’s Democratic auditor and the only Democrat who holds a statewide office in the Republican-leaning state, has a slight edge in the race.

As it relates to the carpetbagging accusations, a recent poll from Emerson College found that 76 percent of Iowa voters said it is important that a candidate has lived in the state for most of their adult life.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-iowa-gov-candidate-zach-lahn-busted-living-in-luxury-out-of-state/?

ps:These are trumps kind of people!!!!

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Trump’s Accidental Sabotage of His Own Vanity Project Revealed

The botched renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has caused no end of embarrassment for the president.

Donald Trump inadvertently doomed his multimillion-dollar renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with his sweeping tariff plans, according to a report.

Rodney Jarboe, president of paint and coating manufacturer Creative Polymers, revealed to The New York Times how he had been approached by David Schutzenhofer, manager of the president’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, for advice on how to reline the pool for the America250 celebrations.

Schutzenhofer, who works in hospitality and has no training in engineering or architecture, then came up with a novel idea to coat the pool’s concrete slabs with a polyurea liner to fix the long-standing issue of it leaking millions of gallons of water every year.

However, Trump’s tariff plans targeting resins—the raw or semi-solid form of a polymer—from China severely limited the amount of available polyurea coatings. “Tariffs were reducing the amount of materials that could come into the U.S. to make this stuff,” Jarboe told the Times.

Instead, Jarboe’s Creative Polymers approached the California-based company Rhino Linings to produce enough polyurea coating at its factory in Texas to cover the 2,000-foot-long pool. Rhino was seen as a good fit because it made a coating in a shade called “American flag blue,” which they correctly assumed would delight Trump.

Rhino then teamed up with Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a Virginia-based company that had never won a government contract, for help applying the coating.

As noted by the Times, the chain of events starting with the president announcing major levies on imports from China resulted in a company with no previous federal contracts being awarded millions to fix a problem at a high-profile national landmark, following a brainwave by someone who runs one of Trump’s golf resorts.

“It’s like asking the museum guard to restore a painting in the Met,” Charles Birnbaum, the president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, who tried to prevent the Reflecting Pool renovation, told the Times.

Elsewhere, Jarboe said that Schutzenhofer had only contacted him in March about the idea of renovating the soon-to-be algae-infested pool to coincide with the July 4 celebrations.

“For this thing to be done in the time frame that was required, we almost had to have a contract and start manufacturing by the first week of April,” Jarboe said. “So it was a very tight deadline to make a decision.”

The rushed nature of the renovation was the cause of another embarrassment for Trump surrounding the pool.

Last month, the office of Trump’s handpicked U.S. attorney, Jeanine Pirro, announced it would drop charges against former Olympian David Hearn, who had been accused of sabotaging the pool liner.

Pirro’s office confirmed that the damage at the pool had nothing to do with vandalism and was instead the result of the “rush to complete” the renovation project ahead of celebrations marking the country’s 250th anniversary.

The Times also noted that the project’s late start resulted in some “bureaucratic jujitsu” from the Interior Department, which cited the tight deadline to fight off scrutiny of the project and accuse those raising questions about it of causing unnecessary delays.The department, led by top Trump ally Doug Burgum, is still pushing the false claim that the pool was damaged because it was targeted by vandals. “President Donald J. Trump is an expert builder who fixed the Reflecting Pool permanently before deranged people vandalized it,” Katie Martin, a department spokesperson, told the Times.

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers added: “For years, the Reflecting Pool sat neglected, plagued with algae and leaking millions of gallons of water. Fixing it was common sense. It’s another example of President Trump restoring our nation’s capital for the American people.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Interior Department for further comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-accidental-sabotage-of-his-own-reflecting-pool-vanity-project-revealed/?

ps:Again just another project that didn't need to be done!!!!!

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🧑‍⚖️ The Trump administration will ask the Supreme Court to reverse a block on its White House ballroom project, the president said today. A federal appeals court ruled earlier today that his plans need congressional approval. Get the latest.

• 🏦 The White House launched a new effort to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook: Deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino notified her in a letter, obtained by Axios' Courtenay Brown, that President Trump is considering her removal, and gave her 21 days to respond to mortgage fraud allegations. Read the letter.

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The Cost of Deportations Calculator

The Trump administration is taking billions of taxpayer dollars to pay for mass deportations.

https://www.epi.org/deportation-calculator/?

Appeals court rules Trump can't build White House ballroom without congressional approval

A divided federal appeals court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration must stop construction of the $400 million White House ballroom because Congress has not approved the project, a decision he blasted as “unjust” while vowing to appeal it to the nation's highest court. Read More.

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Baby Steps (Jim Watson / AFP / Getty)

View in browser If at first you don’t succeed, appeal to a higher federal court. And if you even lose at the Supreme Court … just try again anyway. This seems to be President Trump’s approach to limiting birthright citizenship. Last year, he issued an executive order that purports to end the practice of automatically granting citizenship to babies born in the United States—as has been the norm since the late 19th century. Despite Trump visiting oral arguments in an apparent attempt to intimidate the justices, the Supreme Court struck down the order this June. Yesterday, Trump attempted to do some of the same things via new executive orders. One is intended to deny automatic citizenship to children born to people living in the United States while working for a foreign government and children of people declared to be terrorists or adversaries of the U.S. It would also deny citizenship to people born in U.S. territories if Congress passes a proposed law allowing that, creating a new group of stateless people. The second order is intended to prevent the practice of “birth tourism,” in which people visiting the United States on tourist visas give birth to babies who are then U.S. citizens. Legal experts and advocates say the orders are unconstitutional, and they are certain to be challenged in court. Trump’s loss at the Supreme Court seems to make these orders a long shot. As Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his opinion for the Court, “children born of parents unlawfully or temporarily present in the United States” satisfy the relevant conditions and thus “under the Constitution, they are citizens at birth.” The language in the orders about “alien enemies” is another likely area for dispute, not because anyone is eager to welcome the children of bona fide adversaries but because this administration has made absurd claims about illegal immigration constituting an “invasion,” which makes no sense on its face and has been rejected by federal judges. Trump’s announcement of the orders at the White House yesterday was full of fabrications, exaggerations, and lies. Trump claimed that the Fourteenth Amendment “was meant for the babies of slaves. It was—it was right after—one week or two weeks after the Civil War ended.” In fact, it passed three years later, in 1868. The presidential adviser Stephen Miller echoed the same idea, saying that the amendment “had no other meaning and purpose outside of that, and that’s been clear, obviously, since the day that it was passed.” When a politician uses the word obviously—like frankly—that’s a good sign that what follows will be neither obvious nor true. If this had been obvious since 1868, the U.S. wouldn’t have acted otherwise for more than a century, and the Supreme Court would have ruled in favor of the administration. Trump’s claims about birth tourism were even further off base. The president isn’t making the idea up—just wildly exaggerating it. Asked by a reporter how many people are engaging in the practice, Trump said, “I can tell you right now. Hundreds of thousands. Hundreds of thousands.” This number appears to be pulled out of thin air. During Supreme Court oral arguments, Solicitor General John Sauer, arguing on behalf of Trump, was asked how commonly birth tourism occurs and replied, “No one knows for sure.” In 2020, the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports much stricter laws, estimated the number at between 20,000 and 26,000 births each year, out of roughly 3.6 million babies born in the United States. By attempting to end or restrict birthright citizenship in order to address these issues, Trump is trying to use a bulldozer to achieve a task that calls for a small mallet. The law already prohibits fraudulent visa applications, and the Justice Department has prosecuted people for birth tourism in the past. Trying to undermine birthright citizenship risks jettisoning one of the fundamental bases of modern American society to deal with a minor challenge. Trump could have tried another path. Justice Brett Kavanaugh offered the White House a potential lifeline in his concurrence in the birthright case, suggesting that despite the plain language of the Fourteenth Amendment, Congress could pass a law altering birthright citizenship. The likelihood of such a bill succeeding seems very low, and pushing it through would require sustained attention from Trump. Instead, he’s trying to achieve his goals through executive orders, which are both easily reversed by a future president and have already proved unsuccessful. But the president has a demonstrated weakness for this kind of grand, overreaching presidential gesture. Last month, after a member of the U.S. men’s national soccer team was suspended for a game in the World Cup, Trump decided to use his position to exert some pressure, calling FIFA President Gianni Infantino to try to get the suspension waived. In a direct sense, it worked—FIFA allowed the player to participate—but it may have backfired. Belgium, the American opponent, was incensed, and trounced the United States 4–1. Trump ended up looking obnoxious and corrupt, but didn’t even get a victory out of it. The player in question, by the way, was Folarin Balogun—a U.S. citizen by birth because his mother, while pregnant and visiting family, got stuck in the United States. Related: The revolutionary idea that remade the New World The other case for birthright citizenship

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Trump, 80, Sets Sights on New Government Office He Plans to Loot

The president would love to get his hands on the State Department’s chandeliers, Corinthian columns, and a painting or two.

President Donald Trump appears to have decided that the federal government’s most prized possessions are his for the taking.

Speaking to roughly 200 mining executives at the State Department on Friday, Trump said being president means he can remove things from government buildings—and even “grab a painting” for the Oval Office should the mood strike him.

“It’s a beautiful building,” Trump remarked as he looked around from his seat at the State Department desk. “I’m liking the chandeliers. I like those Corinthian columns, but cutting them out would be not good.”

He emphasized: “I’m allowed to do it,” as he appeared to claim broad authority to take government property. “Every once in a while I’ll come in here and grab a painting and put it into the Oval Office,” he said.

Trump also ran his fingers over a small, solid-gold replica of a deep-sea nodule sitting on the desk, a gift presented Friday by the CEO of American Ocean Minerals ahead of the mining-industry roundtable.

After the roundtable, the White House announced more than $2 billion in funding to revitalize the industry, along with more than $180 million for mining-school investments aimed at boosting the workforce.

Trump came under heavy fire in his first administration for failing to account for some 100 gifts valued at $250,000 given by foreign leaders to the presidential office. Expensive foreign gifts belong to the U.S. government, not the individual president, who is allowed to keep only lower-value items.

Trump also has a history of treating government records as personal property. He took home several boxes of classified documents, mixing reports with personal effects, including his wife’s clothing. He stored stacked boxes of secret documents on a stage and close to a toilet at Mar-a-Lago.Posters on X went wild over the Fox News video about Trump eyeing State Department treasures he’d like to grab, with one user posting a photo of boxes of classified files in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago bathroom.“I love stealing things,” said a mocking clip featuring character Creed from The Office. Many observers couldn’t help but notice that Trump used the word “grab” when he said he could take whatever he wanted. The word echoed one of his most infamous uses of it: the hot-mic capture of Trump boasting on Access Hollywood before he was elected president the first time that he could kiss any woman he wanted without asking, and “grab [women] by the p---y.” He later dismissed it as “locker room banter.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-sets-sights-on-new-government-office-he-plans-to-loot/?

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Trump’s slapdash Reflecting Pool renovations stand in stark contrast to ingenuity of its creation

In the latest twist in one of the strangest ongoing scandals in Washington, D.C., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced that the government would be dropping charges against the four people accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the 2,000-foot long water basin that connects the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument. Pirro said faulty construction — not vandalism, as President Donald Trump had claimed — caused the pool’s liner to peel off in June 2026.

https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trumps-slapdash-reflecting-pool-renovations-stand-stark-contrast-ingenuity-its-creation?