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

[phkrause]

Republican Podcaster Says ‘Wheels Are Coming Off the Trump Train’

Tim Miller of The Bulwark believes that time is running out for the Trump administration.

The Trump Train is losing steam.

Political commentator and former communications director for the Jeb Bush campaign, Tim Miller, spoke with Nicole Wallace on Deadline: White House about how the Trump administration is falling apart at the seams.

“We think the wheels are coming off the Trump Train right now,” The Bulwark Podcast co-host said in a Wednesday episode recapping his appearance on the MS NOW program.

While discussing U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan’s court appearance, where she revealed that a full grand jury never reviewed the final indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, Miller indicated that this slip-up was indicative of a sinking ship for the Trump administration.

“I look at all this and it’s just blatantly incompetent,” Miller told Wallace. “The incompetence almost papers over the perniciousness of this.”

“I think there’s something to the fact that we all kind of know that this is a preposterous case and that Jim Comey is not a real criminal and that they’re doing this for show,” Miller continued. “So the stakes feel a little bit low for people at some level. But to me it’s like, look, this is the government of the United States.”

The case brought by Halligan, a former beauty pageant contestant who had never tried a case before her appointment, accuses Comey of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.

The revelation that the full grand jury never saw the altered indictment is the latest in a series of challenges for a case already under scrutiny.

Miller also railed on Attorney General Pam Bondi over her “extremely gross” selfie with billionaire Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff as details were coming out about the botched indictment.

“That’s the attorney general in that selfie with a tech CEO [as she is] ordering an investigation against a political foe; that’s purely political—it’s based on nothing,” Miller said.

“It’s based on pure politics because her boss told her to do so, like it’s a banana republic,” he added. “And she assigned a Florida insurance lawyer to do it because none of the professionals would actually do it. And then that lawyer botches it so badly that the judge is gobsmacked.”

“To me, that series of facts would make anybody in polite society want to say, ‘I don’t want to be seen with Pam Bondi,’” he continued. “What she is doing is a frontal assault on the rule of law. She’s doing it in an extremely incompetent manner.”

Wallace then cut to MAGA-adjacent podcaster Tim Dillon, who defected from previous Trump praise to label his second term “the lame duck presidency.”

“This is the end of the Trump administration,” Dillon claimed, while speaking about H1-B visas. “Now we’ll start three years of talking about a ballroom. He will trail off, he will get older, he’s adorned the White House in gold. Epstein’s gonna suck the oxygen out of a lot of this.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-gop-strategist-tim-miller-says-wheels-are-coming-off-the-trump-train/?

[phkrause]

TACO Trump, 79, Shamelessly Sucks Up To Winner Mamdani, 34

The president’s Oval Office meeting with the New York mayor-elect was a love-in despite the insults both men have hurled at one another.

President Donald Trump lavished praise on New York Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office on Friday after weeks of insulting him as a “communist.”

Trump, 79, said “he is going to change” after meeting with Mamdani, the Democratic socialist 45 years his junior.

“We’ve just had a great meeting, a really good, very productive meeting,” said Trump, sitting at his desk with Mamdani standing next to him.

Joking about Mamdani calling him a “despot,” Trump said: ”I’ve been called much worse than a despot."

“I think this mayor could be really great,” he added. “We agree on a lot more than I would have thought.”

Their first face-to-face comes after Trump lobbed a series of nasty attacks on the political upstart who mounted an underdog campaign and went on to win the race to lead the largest city in the U.S.

Trump has blasted Mamdani as a “communist lunatic” and “not very smart.” He falsely accused him of being in the country illegally, threatened to arrest him, and warned that he would cut off money to New York if he won.

On Wednesday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that “Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran ‘Kwame’ Mamdani, has asked for a meeting.”

In a radio interview with Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade on Friday morning, Trump said he did not know what to expect from their sit-down, but he shied away from his previous attacks and even praised Mamdani’s campaign.

“He’s got a different philosophy. He’s a little bit different. I give a lot of credit for the run. They did a successful run, and we all know that runs are not easy, but I think we’ll get along fine,” Trump said.

Trump said he thought their meeting would be “quite civil” and said, “I think so” in response to a question about whether he would open it up to the press after their talks.

“I mean, it’s fine with me, I would think so, he’s a politician, so I don’t think he has a problem,” Trump said.

Typically, the press is called in at the top of Trump’s Oval Office meetings.

Mamdani, who referred to himself as “Trump’s worst nightmare” during his campaign, said his team had reached out to the White House for the meeting.

Speaking to reporters in New York on Thursday, the 34-year-old said he was doing it to fulfill his campaign promise to meet with “anyone and everyone so long as it was to the benefit of the eight and a half million people who call this city their home.”

Mamdani said he was looking to address the affordability crisis facing his city.

During his election night victory speech earlier this month, Mamdani put Trump on blast with a direct message.

“So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up!” he declared to rancorous cheers.

He went on to deliver a series of scathing rebukes against the president and his policies before stating, “So hear me President Trump when I say this, to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”

“Well, I was hitting him a little hard too, in all fairness. Hard to be totally friendly toward the opponent,” Trump said when a short clip of the speech was played back for him during the radio interview Friday. “I don’t know exactly what he means by ‘turn the volume up.’”

“I said ‘what does that mean?’ Turn the volume up. Does that mean let’s go at it?” Trump asked. “I don’t think so, I mean, he was very nice in calling.”

Both men have been masters of wielding social media to communicate with their dramatically different bases and have not shied away from addressing their White House sitdown.

Mamdani posted a selfie of himself smiling on a plane Friday morning as he made his way to Washington, D.C. He was also spotted taking selfies and shaking hands with people after he arrived at Washington’s Reagan airport.

The White House did not address the Daily Beast’s question early on Friday about the meeting being scheduled behind closed doors and instead referred it to press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comments at her Thursday briefing.

“I won’t get into the president’s thinking on it. I think you’ll all hear from him directly,” she said.

The press secretary said the meeting speaks to the fact that Trump is willing to meet with anyone to do what’s right on behalf of the American people, but she didn’t let it go without attempting a dig at the mayor-elect and Democratic Party.

“I will just add, it speaks volumes that tomorrow we have a communist coming to the White House because that’s who the Democrat Party elected mayor of the largest city in the country,” she said.

Her comment was a far cry from the president’s words as he gushed about Mamdani in the Oval Office just 24-hours later.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-79-chickens-out-of-public-showdown-with-mamdani-34/?

[phkrause]

Johnson Busted Lying About Helping Blatant Trump Power Grab

The House speaker has said he’s not directly involved in the president’s nationwide redistricting war. Now read on...

House Speaker Mike Johnson has been busted making bogus claims that has stayed out of President Donald Trump’s effort to lock in control of the House by redrawing red states’ political maps.

The speaker—who has developed a reputation for regularly appearing to feign ignorance about what the president is up to—has claimed for months that he’s not directly involved in Trump’s push to draw new, gerrymandered congressional districts mid-cycle.

But now a Republican, Indiana state Senate president pro tempore Rodric Bray, has revealed how Johnson intervened to push him to redraw his state’s political maps to favor Republicans.

The plan which had been pushed by Trump was for Indiana Republicans to redraw every one of its nine congressional districts to help the party pick up two seats next year, Politico reported.

Bray has refused to go along with the plan, making it now almost certain that Indiana will not give Trump extra seats, while the redistricting which started it all, in Texas, is also in doubt.

A panel of federal judges—including two Trump appointees—struck down the Texas state legislature’s new, Republican-friendly maps earlier this week.

Hours later, Bray told Politico, Johnson called him.

Asked what they spoke about it, Bray said they “just talked about the importance of the House majority.” He called the conversation “fantastic” and “productive,” according to Politico, though he declined to say if Johnson empathized with Bray’s position.

Johnson did not respond to the outlet’s request for comment.

Bray has weathered online attacks from the president this week over Indiana’s refusal to draw new political maps.

Trump shared multiple posts to Truth Social blaming Bray personally for the impasse and calling him a “RINO,” or Republican in Name Only.

“A RINO State Senator, Rodric Bray, who doesn’t care about keeping the Majority in the House in D.C., is the primary problem,” Trump wrote. “Soon, he will have a Primary Problem, as will any other politician who supports him in this stupidity.”

So far, Indiana is the only Republican-led state that has refused to join a national redistricting war that Trump started in July, when he called for “just a simple redrawing” of Texas’ already heavily gerrymandered political maps to help the GOP gain five more House seats in 2026.

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun called a special session in October to redraw the state maps like Trump asked, and Vice President JD Vance has flown repeatedly to Indiana, which Trump won by 36 points in 2024, to lobby Republican lawmakers.

Bray, however, announced on Nov. 14 that the plan lacked the necessary votes after eight Republicans state senators broke ranks with the president on the issue.

In a statement, Bray said he and his caucus wanted to see a Republican-led House in 2026, but that he and other members did not think a mid-cycle redistrict was the best way to achieve that goal.

“We would rather support efforts to elect a Republican in the existing 1st Congressional District, which has been trending Republican for the last several years and would give President Trump another Republican in Congress,” the statement said.Bray said he had spoken to Trump to express his support and explain why he thought pursuing Congressional District 1 was the best strategy.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trumps-mike-johnson-busted-lying-about-blatant-power-grab/?

[phkrause]

Judge Shreds Lies and Provocations of ICE Barbie’s Goons

Federal judge says Border Patrol boss Gregory Bovino lied as body-cam videos show tear gas, brake-checks, and even ChatGPT-written reports.

A federal judge has sharply criticized Kristi Noem’s Border Patrol agents for their reckless and violent tactics in a court ruling that exposes the goons’ efforts to cover up their behaviour with false accounts that the court described as “impossible to believe.”

In a blistering 233-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis lays out stark new findings based on bodycam footage and false court statements made during the course of Chicago’s “Operation Midway Blitz” immigration sweep.

Criticizing controversial Border Patrol lead commander Gregory Bovino, Ellis painted a picture of an operation that has spun out of control. She said they had behaved with reckless abandon before lying about it.

The judge said one video “suggests that the agent drove erratically and brake-checked other motorists in an attempt to force accidents that agents could then use as justifications for deploying force.”

She concluded: “Every minor inconsistency adds up, and at some point, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to believe.”

In Evanston, Ellis described agents “driving erratically and through stop signs and red lights,” then making “a fast right turn” at a red light that set off a rear-end crash—before detaining bystanders on the pavement. One agent twice pointed a handgun at a resident who was filming and warned: “step back or I’m going to shoot you.” All three detainees were later released without charges.

Ellis wrote that video and witness accounts showed agents twisting a young man’s arm and “bashing the man’s head on the street at least two times,” while another woman was tackled to the ground without any warning to step back. Agents then pepper-sprayed the crowd.

The court also revealed, for the first time, that an agent used ChatGPT to “compile a narrative for a report” from a one-line prompt and a few images. Ellis said the AI-assisted write-up further undermined credibility when stacked against bodycam footage.

Again and again, the judge found official write-ups didn’t match the videos. Agents’ reports labeled “neighborhood moms and dads, Chicago Bears fans, people dressed in Halloween costumes, and the lawyer who lives on the block” as “professional agitators.”

During an Oct. 24 Lakeview encounter, bodycam shows agents in a white SUV hurl a tear-gas canister toward the sidewalks while the driver says to a colleague, “Hey, throw it for fun,” and another agent taunts protesters to “have fun” as the gas deploys.

About fifteen seconds later, two more canisters are tossed—even though video indicates their exit path wasn’t blocked and wind blew the agents’ own gas back into their vehicle.

The ruling also describes crowd-control weapons aimed at largely compliant neighbors and credentialed media. A CBS reporter was hit with pepper balls inside a marked press van, with other journalists saying tear gas and spray hit them as they stood well off to the side. In another sequence, an agent rolled down a window, pointed a handgun, and said “bang bang” before sneering, “You’re dead, liberal.”

Ellis also took aim once more at Bovino—the controversial Border Patrol lead commander and face of the Chicago push—finding him “evasive” over three days of testimony and, at points, “outright lying.”

Ellis’s order—since paused upon appeal from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which Secretary Noem heads up—barred agents from deploying tear gas or other munitions without two clear warnings, required activated bodycams and visible ID, and protected newsgathering from unlawful interference.

Government lawyers have depicted a volatile environment of aggressive drivers, fast-emerging threats, “spotter” networks, and the difficulty of distinguishing press from protesters in real time.

But Ellis found multiple depictions had been inflated or were unsupported by video, including crash narratives and claims that force was needed to exit scenes where egress appeared open.

Operation Midway Blitz, which moved hundreds of agents into Chicago and Illinois in early September, was given an explicit mandate to hunt “the worst of the worst.” But the court says the footage it reviewed belies that narrative—showing everyday neighbors, families in Halloween costumes, and journalists suffering tear gas, flash-bangs, and pepper rounds.

After the Chicago phase, Bovino’s motley crew last weekend moved to Charlotte, North Carolina—though only for a week. His team is next slated to redeploy to Louisiana and New Orleans on Dec. 1.

The appellate fight over Ellis’s order continues.

The Daily Beast has contacted DHS for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/judge-shreds-lies-and-provocations-of-ice-barbies-goons/?

[phkrause]

Trump Stiffs Thousands of Air Traffic Controllers With Shutdown Bonus Snub

Most workers miss out on a bonus for working through the shutdown.

Donald Trump has snubbed thousands of air traffic controllers and technicians who kept the skies safe during the longest government shutdown in history, union officials told Axios.

Only 776, or seven percent, of the roughly 11,000 air traffic controllers and technicians who worked through the 43-day government shutdown will get a $10,000 bonus.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the “perfect attendance” bonus on X as a Santa moment, apparently ignoring that most workers were gift-less.

According to an FAA statement emailed to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, 776 “will receive a $10,000 award for their patriotic work to ensure the safety of the skies,” Axios reported.

It serves as stinging blow to the professionals who were working without pay during the record-long shutdown. Some workers were forced to take on second jobs to make ends meet.

Despite their work, there were still flight delays, widespread cancellations, and a temporary reduction in flights at 40 of the busiest U.S. airports.

Trump previously blasted air traffic controllers who took time off, ranting on Truth Social that they “must get back to work, NOW!!!” He threatened that anyone who doesn’t will be “substantially docked” and warned that those who wanted to leave service wouldn’t receive payment or severance.

Duffy announced the bonus in a post on X, saying, “Santa’s coming to town a little early.”

NATCA told Axios that while it was grateful for the seven percent being rewarded, it was “concerned that thousands” of workers “who consistently reported for duty... were excluded from this recognition.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

Trump on Nov. 10 warned that controllers who failed to show up every single day during the shutdown would be “quickly replaced by true Patriots, who will do a better job on the Brand New State of the Art Equipment, the best in the World.”

He accused the previous administration of wasting “Billions of Dollars trying to fix antiquated ‘junk.’”

The president added, “Again, to our great American Patriots, GOD BLESS YOU - I won’t be able to send your money fast enough! To all others, REPORT TO WORK IMMEDIATELY.”

Duffy said the award “is an acknowledgement of their dedication and a heartfelt appreciation for going above and beyond in service to the nation.”

“These patriotic men and women never missed a beat and kept the flying public safe throughout the shutdown,” he said.

The lucky few will get the sum no later than Dec. 9, according to the FAA.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-stiffs-thousands-of-air-traffic-controllers-with-shutdown-bonus-snub/?

[phkrause]

Snowflake Trump Orders Agenda Changes to Attend Elite Summit

The president received assurances that the conference wouldn’t focus on topics he doesn’t like.

Organizers for the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, convinced President Donald Trump to attend for the first time in six years by assuring him that the program would not focus too heavily on “woke” topics. As a condition for Trump’s participation, administration officials asked the event’s organizers to eliminate or scale back discussions about female empowerment, diversity, the green energy transition, climate change, and financing for international development, the Financial Times reported. Despite those topics being central themes of the last few editions of Davos, the WEF offered the administration the needed “reassurances” that they wouldn’t feature prominently at the January 2026 gathering of high-level government and business leaders.

A source told the FT, “The U.S. side wanted to make sure Trump’s appearance at the elite, progressive event would still play well with his MAGA base,” many of whom view Davos as part of an elite, globalist plot to rule the world.

The administration has made similar demands as a condition of Trump participating in other global forums, another source said.

“The world would benefit from adopting America’s focus on economic security, secure borders, and peace through strength over woke ideology,” a White House spokesperson told the FT.

The Daily Beast has also reached out for comment.

A spokesperson for the WEF told the paper that “no government influences our editorial interdependence or the agenda of our meetings.”

“We select meeting themes and topics based on global relevance,” the organization said.

Officials representing heads of state often have “routine” talks about the program for the invitation-only event, another source said.

The theme for this year’s program is “A Spirit of Dialogue,” with discussions centered around five themes: cooperating in a more contested world, unlocking new sources of growth, investing in people, deploying innovation responsibly, and building prosperity “within planetary boundaries”—which sounds suspiciously like a euphemism for the energy transition.

The president has adopted a broad use of the term “woke” to encompass anything he doesn’t personally support.

His administration abandoned the U.S. government’s longstanding, bipartisan commitment to international development and defunded efforts to promote U.S. values, including the free flow of information.

Those efforts have traditionally been seen as vital forms of soft power for maintaining American influence and promoting stability around the world.

Trump has also attempted to roll back Biden-era investments in the energy transition that non-partisan analysts said would offer major economic benefits.

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act was projected to create 1.5 million new jobs, the Department of Energy found, and reduce the federal deficit by almost $2 trillion in the long run, according to an analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Instead, Trump’s economic policies—including his sweeping tariffs on products from dozens of U.S. trading partners—have led to the worst jobs crisis in two decades.

His “big beautiful” spending bill is also expected to raise the deficit by $3.4 trillion over the next 10 years, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found.

Last year, Trump appeared at the Davos conference virtually to warn business leaders attending the summit that if they didn’t make their products in the U.S., they would face punishing tariffs.

But the duties—a type of import tax paid by American businesses, which must eat the higher costs or pass them along to consumers—have also raised the price of domestic manufacturing for companies that rely on components created abroad.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/snowflake-donald-trump-needed-agenda-changes-to-attend-elite-davos-summit/?

ps:Of course he did!!!!!

[phkrause]

Trump’s assault on independent agencies endangers us all

Summary: Independent agencies were carefully designed by Congress to ensure that those charged with safeguarding critically important public interests—like workers’ rights, product safety, or household financial security—would act to serve the public good, not the president’s political needs. However, since taking office, the Trump administration has been on a crusade to attack and undermine the effectiveness of independent agencies. Trump has taken several unprecedented and illegal steps to politicize these agencies, including:

https://www.epi.org/publication/trumps-assault-on-independent-agencies-endangers-us-all/?

MAHA idealism meets political reality as RFK Jr. attempts to wrangle a growing movement

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is fending off criticism from his own base as some of the environmental and anti-vaccine activists who propelled him into politics have said they want stronger action against vaccines and pharmaceutical companies. Other Kennedy supporters have questioned why he and other government leaders have appeared willing to work closely with large corporations. The tensions reflect emerging cracks within Kennedy's “Make America Healthy Again” coalition as it amasses power and broadens in scope. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Live updates: Trump expects meeting with Mamdani to be ‘quite civil’ Rep. Eric Swalwell announces his bid for California governor New York Democratic Rep. Nydia Velázquez says she won’t run for reelection in 2026 Judge criticizes federal prosecutors for relying on testimony by officer with credibility concerns

[phkrause]

? GOP infighting spree

Photo: Via Getty Images

Call them testy or just tired, but this week, more Republican lawmakers defied Trump, their leaders and each other. The fissures are emerging after 10 months of total GOP control, with MAGA victories on Trump's mega bill and (eventually) a government funding deal. Zoom in: Republicans have broken with Trump on ... The Epstein files: All but one Republican on the Hill voted for requiring the Justice Department to release files related to the investigation into late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — despite months of Trump's cries of "hoax" and fighting the bill. Tariff checks: Congressional Republicans shrugged off Trump and top officials' talks about $2,000 tariff rebate checks, suggesting the money would be better spent shrinking the deficit. Filibuster: Senators rebuffed Trump on the filibuster after he repeatedly demanded that they do away with the 60-vote threshold to reopen the government. Redistricting: Indiana Republican state lawmakers are defying Trump's call to move on mid-cycle redistricting. Between the lines: The Republican rifts also extend to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Thune blindsided Johnson by slipping a provision into the government funding bill that would allow senators to sue if their phone records were secretly seized — without Johnson's knowledge. Even a unanimous House vote hasn't been enough to compel Thune to change it. Johnson was "deeply disappointed" after Thune rejected his plea for changes on the Epstein files bill, which was forced onto the House floor via discharge petition. The Senate passed the bill as is. Thune also made the stalled, bipartisan Russia sanctions bill Johnson's problem, claiming this week it was best if it originated in the House. "That was not my understanding until yesterday," Johnson told The Hill today. What they're saying: "I have total trust" in Thune, Johnson told reporters Wednesday. "We have different processes and procedures in the two chambers, and sometimes we all get frustrated by that, but it's not personal." Thune said Wednesday: "I think sometimes there are differences of opinion or disagreements that are partly related to the difference between the House and Senate. They're different cultures. But in the end, the Speaker and I talk regularly. We communicate on a consistent basis, and we are unified in terms of our objectives and goals." The intrigue: Thune also had to deal with a revolt from GOP senators over the Arctic Frost phone records provision, with a heated discussion at lunch and momentum to at least tweak the language. Johnson sparked fresh outrage among his House colleagues after telling us he would consider changing the rules around discharge petitions, one of the few tools rank-and-file lawmakers have to force their legislation on the floor. "Even suggesting this is disturbing," Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) wrote on X. — Stef Kight and Kate Santaliz

[phkrause]

Fear, Fact, and Fiction (John Moore / Getty)

View in browser Last week, Leonardo Williams, the mayor of Durham, North Carolina, received a call from the office of Governor Josh Stein. Stein’s office had heard that the Trump administration was going to launch an immigration-enforcement operation in Charlotte and possibly in Raleigh, but it didn’t have much more information. Over the weekend, Customs and Border Protection agents swarmed Charlotte, ultimately arresting about 370 people. But Williams didn’t hear anything about operations in Durham until Tuesday morning. He was in Washington, D.C., for meetings when someone sent him a video of what were apparently CBP officers in tactical gear and masks arresting three men behind a strip mall. He wasn’t the only one with no idea what was happening. “When I call my sheriff and my police chief and the governor’s office and I say, ‘What is going on?’ they say, ‘Mayor, we are trying to find out,’” he told me on Wednesday afternoon. In Durham, where I live, sightings of apparent CBP agents around Durham continued throughout Tuesday. Local officials said that four or five people were arrested by these agents, but the federal government has not released the names of those arrested or what charges they face. It hasn’t even made an official statement on the operation in Durham, and the Department of Homeland Security did not reply to my questions about the arrests or why CBP had targeted Durham. Keeping local officials in the dark seems to be part of the Trump administration’s plan. Local leaders in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, have also said that the federal government did not inform them of its plans ahead of actions this summer and fall. Like them, the North Carolina governor and the mayors of Charlotte, Durham, and Raleigh are all Democrats. In addition, all three cities are in counties whose sheriffs declined to participate in 287(g) programs, in which county jails voluntarily cooperate with ICE even when it doesn’t have warrants. (Earlier this year, the state legislature passed a law requiring cooperation.) Garry McFadden, the sheriff of Charlotte’s Mecklenburg County, told NPR last weekend that he believed that the administration’s actions there were payback. “When people say, ‘Why Charlotte?’ Well, because when we took 287(g) off the table, we were very vocal about protecting our citizens and residents here and stood at the door each time immigration came in,” he said. But even U.S. Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican, voiced concern yesterday, demanding a “definitive list of people who were detained, how long they were detained, whether or not they were released,” and other information. The Department of Homeland Security has said that arrests in previous operations targeted serious criminals accused of felonies, but because federal officials aren’t providing any meaningful information, there is no way for local officials—or members of the public—to assess whether these actions are part of lawful immigration enforcement or not. The combination of little reliable information and widespread fear produced a vacuum in Durham. Hundreds of ordinary residents, eager to do something to resist raids but without clear ideas about how or where, organized themselves via group chats, where rumors flew quickly—some true, some false, some simply impossible to verify. Trying to understand things myself, I joined a Signal group where residents were sharing reports and discussing possible organizing responses. I noticed that several local elected officials were active in the group. Following a tip there about possible CBP activity at an apartment complex, I drove north from my house along a major thoroughfare studded with Latin American businesses carrying names such as Tenochtitlan, Pahuatlán, and Michoacan. My favorite taqueria was dark and closed; the gates around the parking lot at the normally bustling Latin grocery were locked. I received a text in Spanish from another supermarket, which had been the site of an ICE-raid hoax in January, saying that “due to the current situation,” it would accept orders on WhatsApp and provide free delivery. Many students stayed home from Durham public schools, which are roughly 35 percent Latino. The school district reported that one-fifth of students were absent on Tuesday. “I have lived in Durham all my life, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Bertha Bradley, an activist known locally as Mama Cookie, said at a press conference of union leaders and clergy members on Wednesday morning. “People scared to leave their home. They’re scared to take the children to school.” When I got to the apartment complex, people on the scene said they’d seen a suspicious-looking black SUV enter, driven by a man whom no residents recognized. As we stood around, a car with three Hispanic men inside drove up and rolled down its window. Someone explained the situation, and the eyes of the man in the passenger seat grew big. He hurriedly told the driver to turn around and leave. I never did find out whether a federal agent was present. (When I called the apartment office, a manager said no.) But this confusion seemed to capture the frenzied feeling around the city. Did the men in the car have a close encounter, or were they scared away by a mere rumor? For activists, whether veteran organizers or people who had self-deployed, getting reliable information was both important and impossible. No better source than the rumor mill existed—local media couldn’t possibly track down reports and confirm them quickly enough—and social media allowed hearsay to spread widely, for better or worse. Every white van or black SUV with tinted windows set off alarm bells. As I crisscrossed the city, following new tips and recognizing some of the same faces from previous stops, I felt like I was chasing ghosts. CBP seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time, creating a sense of omnipresent menace that was presumably just what the agents wanted. Local officials also suggested, as they have in other locations where ICE or CBP has been active, that the Trump administration is attempting to provoke confrontations, either with officials or with ordinary people. “We follow the law. We remain peaceful. We do not allow ourselves to be provoked. We stand with our neighbors,” Governor Stein said in a statement last week. “If you see any inappropriate behavior, use your phones to record and notify local law enforcement, who will continue to keep our communities safe long after these federal agents leave.” (That did provoke the CBP commander Gregory Bovino, who was leading the Charlotte operation and who angrily posted on X, “You need to check yourself.”) Williams told me that local officials were “trying not to antagonize and poke the bear and give them what they want, which is a public government-on-government fight” and trying to reassure residents at the same time. Meanwhile, the residents were taking things into their own hands. When I dropped my children off at school on Wednesday morning, some 30 people were standing outside, a few with whistles to alert anyone if CBP arrived and others waving anti-ICE signs. But the Signal chat was no longer lighting up with spottings. That morning, ABC News reported that CBP was leaving the area and heading back to Charlotte, and yesterday, officials in Charlotte said CBP had informed them that they were leaving, though DHS denied that the operation was over. “I think the best way to describe it is: They came in, they made a splash, they terrorized, and they left,” Williams said. But even the agents’ apparent departure was marked by mixed messaging and confusion. All Durham officials and residents can do is wait and see if it’s really over. Related: Hundreds of thousands of anonymous deportees Fast times at Immigration and Customs Enforcement

[phkrause]

Trump and Mamdani form an unlikely alliance at White House meeting

Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor-elect, walked out of their meeting on Friday afternoon with an unlikely alliance, agreeing to work together on housing, food prices and cost-of-living concerns that have defined both their political appeals to working-class voters.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/21/donald-trump-zohran-mamdani-meeting?

Trump and Mamdani's show

The hype about a showdown was wrong. President Trump and New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani had a surprising bond when they met in the Oval Office yesterday: populist outsiders, lovers of the Big Apple, and two politicians who each want what the other has, Axios' Marc Caputo, Alex Isenstadt and Holly Otterbein write.

• They put on a show with head-turning congeniality.

? Why it matters: For a few minutes, Mamdani (whom Trump had called a communist) and Trump (whom Mamdani had called a fascist) gave a glimpse of how they might work together, or at least appear to.

Mamdani, facing a city budget deficit, needs federal money and doesn't want Trump to send National Guard troops into New York City.

• Trump, reeling from bad polling on the economy, sought to co-opt some of the shine from the charismatic Mamdani's message on affordability.

In a joint press appearance, the president zeroed in on affordability — an issue the mayor-elect relentlessly focused on in his odds-defying campaign, which bore some echoes to Trump's first run for president.

• "If I can get prices down, it's good for New York," Trump said. Mamdani pledged to work with the White House.

?️ "This is great for Democrats," says Joe Calvello, a progressive strategist close to Mamdani's team.

• GOP efforts to cast Mamdani as a too-far-left bogeyman could be tough in next year's elections, Calvello says, when "here's Trump joshing it up with him, tapping him on the shoulder, complimenting him."

Cover: New York Post

Friction point: Trump's praise of Mamdani may have undermined one of the president's closest GOP allies — New York Rep. Elise Stefanik.

• In her 2026 campaign for New York governor, Stefanik is portraying incumbent Kathy Hochul as a socialist in Mamdani's mold.

[phkrause]

? Trump's tariff piggy bank

Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios

If you add up all of President Trump's plans for the tens of billions in tariff revenue the U.S. is collecting, the bucket of money has already dried up — and then some. Why it matters: Meaningful tariff revenue could improve the nation's fiscal outlook, creating a bright spot from the administration's trade policy, Axios' Courtenay Brown reports. ? But Trump's promised debt reduction, deficit reduction, $2,000 dividend checks and farm bailouts with the money, among other things. All of it would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions, more in total than is on track to be collected. Failure to follow through could result in political blowback in next year's midterm elections. ⚡ The latest: Trump said in a Truth Social post this month that "a dividend of at least $2,000 a person (not including high-income people!) will be paid to everyone." The Committee for a Responsible Budget estimates the checks would cost $600 billion — twice as much as Trump's tariffs are estimated to raise on an annual basis. Keep reading.

[phkrause]

Remember Trump's 300% Tariffs on Foreign-Made Chips? Don't Hold Your Breath

Trump suggested he'd impose the sky-high tariffs in August or September. But US officials are privately telling industry insiders not to expect them anytime soon, Reuters reports.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/remember-trumps-300-tariffs-on-foreign-made-chips-dont-hold-your-breath?

[phkrause]

?? U.S., Ukraine, Europeans huddle on Trump's peace plan

A woman holds up family photographs in front of a residential building, which was heavily damaged by a Russian strike on Ternopil, Ukraine, on Friday. Photo: Vlad Kravchuk/AP Ukrainian, U.S. and European officials met in Geneva today to discuss President Trump's plan to end the war in Ukraine, after Kyiv and its allies raised alarm over what they saw as major concessions to Russia, Reuters reports. Why it matters: Diplomacy over the plan has been unfolding at a fast pace since Axios revealed it on Tuesday. Trump has set a Thanksgiving deadline for reaching an understanding with Ukraine on the plan. "We're continuing to work with the Ukrainians to make this the best deal for them," a U.S. official told Axios' Barak Ravid and Colin Demarest yesterday. The official added that the details of the agreement may change from the original version of the U.S. peace plan: "That's why we're having talks." The U.S. team is led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and includes White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who met Ukrainian President Zelensky in Kyiv Thursday and presented him with the U.S. plan. Get the latest.

[phkrause]

⛳ Trump's new makeover

President Trump gets ready to board Marine One yesterday en route to Joint Base Andrews to tour the golf course. Photo: John McDonnell/Getty Images President Trump says he's enlisting legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus to spruce up the courses at Joint Base Andrews — adding a site long known as the "president's golf course" to his long list of construction projects. "We're doing some fix-up of the base, which it needs. We're gonna try and reinstitute the golf courses. I'm meeting with the greatest Jack Nicklaus," Trump told reporters outside the White House before boarding Marine One to head to Andrews. Go deeper.

[phkrause]

Trump’s breakup with Greene is not the same as others. But like always, there may be second chances In the end, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and President Donald Trump fell out not over ideological differences or fundamental fissures over his character, but rather disagreements over the Jeffrey Epstein files and health care. With her planned departure, Greene becomes the most prominent MAGA figure to break with Trump, and what that means for both of them is an open question. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Marjorie Taylor Greene is resigning. Here’s what to know about her five years in Congress Big changes to the agency charged with securing elections lead to midterm worries Potential presidential candidates are less coy about 2028 plans: ‘Of course I’m thinking about it’

[phkrause]

Trump health care proposal

President Donald Trump is planning to unveil a new proposal for addressing health care costs as soon as today, as his administration tries to avert a spike in premiums driven by the expiration of key Affordable Care Act subsidies, three people familiar with the matter told CNN. The plan aims to fulfill Trump’s vow to deliver a better alternative to the enhanced ACA subsidies relied on by nearly 22 million people and comes after Democrats rejected measures to reopen the shuttered government for more than a month over their demand for a clean extension of those payments. If the subsidies expire, the premiums people pay are expected to more than double next year, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.

[phkrause]

US set to label Maduro-tied Cartel de los Soles as a terror organization. It’s not a cartel per se President Donald Trump’s administration is set to ramp up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Monday by designating the Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization. But the entity that the U.S. government alleges is led by Maduro is not a cartel per se. Read more.

What to know: The designation is the latest measure in the Trump administration’s escalating campaign to combat drug trafficking into the U.S. In previewing the step about a week ago, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, of being “responsible for terrorist violence” in the Western Hemisphere.    Venezuelans began using the term Cartel de los Soles in the 1990s to refer to high-ranking military officers who had grown rich from drug-running. As corruption later expanded nationwide, first under the late President Hugo Chávez and then under Maduro, its use loosely expanded to police and government officials as well as activities like illegal mining and fuel trafficking.   “It is not a group,” said Adam Isaacson, director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America organization. “It’s not like a group that people would ever identify themselves as members. They don’t have regular meetings. They don’t have a hierarchy.”

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Airlines cancel flights to Venezuela after FAA warns of worsening security, military activity   Thousands of arrests by Trump’s crime-fighting task force in Memphis strain crowded jail and courts   Aftermath of Chicago’s intense immigration crackdown leaves lawsuits, investigations and anxiety   RFK Jr. says he’s following ‘gold standard’ science. Here’s what to know   Mamdani stands by Trump criticism despite friendly White House meeting   A sheriff, a billionaire, a tinge of scandal. California governor’s race packs drama, uncertainty   Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a law legalizing sports betting. He now says he’s opposed to it   Trump pledge to ‘immediately’ end protections for Minnesota Somalis sparks fear and legal questions   Tea tariffs once sparked a revolution. Now they are creating angst   Trump’s US tariff reversal hailed as victory by Brazilian coffee exporters   Supreme Court blocks order that found Texas congressional map is likely racially biased   Federal judge orders release of 16 migrants detained in Idaho raid, citing due process violations   Alabama board votes to remove books about being transgender from public library youth sections   Muslim civil rights group sues Texas for labeling it a terrorist organization   NJ high court rules shaken baby syndrome testimony unreliable and inadmissible in child abuse cases   WATCH: White House ballroom construction continues where East Wing once stood   Trump teaming up with Jack Nicklaus to revamp ‘president’s golf course’ at Joint Base Andrews   OpEd: Executive editor Julie Pace on why AP is standing for your right to speak freely

[phkrause]

Scathing Poll Shows How Little Americans Are Buying Trump’s Claims About Prices

Most Americans say Trump describes inflation as better than it really is, including four in 10 Republicans.

Americans are overwhelmingly rejecting President Donald Trump’s insistence that prices are dropping and inflation is barely a factor—a disconnect that drags down his standing on the economy, polls show.

There’s a stark gap between the White House’s glossy economic language and what respondents say they are living through, the CBS News/YouGov found.

Trump has been claiming prices are down, that there is “almost no inflation,” and that everything is more or less fine. Most Americans—60 percent—say he describes prices and inflation as better than they really are, including four in 10 Republicans.Ratings for the overall economy slid again, hitting the lowest mark of 2025, with most respondents saying prices are still going up. Only 32 percent think the economy is good, compared to 35 percent at the start of the month and highs of 39 percent in May and July.

A majority, 58 percent, also say Trump’s policies are making the cost of food and groceries rise. Just 31 percent think they’ve stayed the same, and 11 percent believe Trump’s message that things are cheaper. A whopping 65 percent say the president’s policies are making prices soar. Just 21 said they have no effect, while a measly 14 think Trump’s work has helped prices go down.

That sour mood continues to weigh heavily on his numbers.

Americans who judge the president primarily on his handling of the economy and inflation overwhelmingly say he is not spending enough time on those issues. A vast 77 percent were critical, 18 percent think he’s hitting the right balance, while five percent say he’s spending too much time on the economy.

His approval ratings on the economy and inflation have been falling for months, and both hit new lows in the latest survey: 36 percent, down from a 51 percent high in March. More than two-thirds disapprove of his handling of inflation. Sixty-four percent disapprove of his work on the economy overall. Sixty percent disapprove of his overall job performance.

 

Independents, in particular, have pushed his economic ratings to their lowest point of the year, helping drive his broader approval to a low for his second term after a steady months-long slide.

A Marquette University Law School poll conducted Nov. 5-12 found voters brushing off Trump’s upbeat claims about grocery prices. “Our groceries are way down. Everything is way down,” Trump said on Nov. 6. He reiterated that “groceries are way down, other than beef,” and later claimed prices were “already at a much lower level than they were with the last administration.”

Just 12 percent of Americans said grocery prices have gone down over the last six months, according to the poll, while 75 percent said they have risen. Average grocery prices were up roughly 1.4 percent in September compared to when Trump took office in January, and the one-month 0.6 percent jump from July to August was the largest in three years.

Even among Republicans, only two in ten echoed Trump’s version of events. Most said prices are higher.

A Fox News poll released earlier this month showed similar skepticism. In the survey conducted Nov. 14-17, 85 percent of registered voters said grocery prices are higher than a year ago, with 60 percent saying they have “increased a lot.” Around two-thirds or more said utilities, healthcare, and housing costs were also up. (“A year ago” includes two months before Trump took office, though voters likely interpreted the question as referring mainly to his presidency.)

White House spokesperson Kush Desai told the Daily Beast: “Putting Joe Biden’s economic disaster behind us has been the top priority for President Trump since Day One, and the Administration continues to push economic policies that are cooling inflation and raising real wages.

“These same policies created a historic economy with robust job, wage, and investment growth in President Trump’s first term, and Americans can rest assured that President Trump is focused on ensuring that the best is yet to come in his second term.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/scathing-poll-shows-how-little-americans-are-buying-trumps-claims-about-prices/?

[phkrause]

ICE Goons Detain Schoolkid During Lunch Break

Christian Jimenez repeatedly told officers he was an American citizen.

Immigration officers smashed a car window and detained a high school student during his lunch break.

Christian Jimenez, a 17-year-old U.S. citizen and senior at McMinnville High School in Oregon, was driving his father’s vehicle around 12.30 p.m. on Friday when agents from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement stopped him, his older brother, Cesar Jimenez, told Oregon Live.

Despite repeatedly telling officers he was a citizen, one agent broke the driver’s side window and detained him anyway. In a video shared by Cesar Jimenez, Christian can reportedly be heard insisting he is an American while an officer replies, “Get out of the car,” and “I don’t care.”

Christian was taken to an ICE facility in South Portland and held for hours before being released shortly before 7 p.m., his brother said.

According to Cesar, authorities are now trying to hit the teen with a charge of “interference or obstruction of investigation.”

KGW-TV reported that hundreds of people lined the streets in McMinnville to protest Christian’s heavy-handed arrest.

McMinnville High School Superintendent Kourtney Ferrua confirmed the detention in a message to families. She said the student, who had been off campus for lunch, was identified as a United States citizen and later reunited with relatives.

Ferrua emphasized that the district does not allow anyone without legitimate business to enter schools during the day and only releases students to authorized adults.

“The experience of an emotional event such as this one can have an impact on all of our students,” she wrote.

“Our goal is to keep our schools running as a safe and predictable routine, which is in the best interests of all of our students.”

Advocates say the incident is part of a wider sweep. An immigrant rights organization told Oregon Live that ICE detained four U.S. citizens near Portland this week, including Christian and two people who were recording officers.

Miriam Vargas Corona, executive director of Unidos Bridging Community, told KGW that six individuals were detained Friday in McMinnville, Dundee, and Newberg. The group said another arrest took place on Thursday in Newberg.

ICE has been asked to comment on Christian’s arrest.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-goons-detain-schoolkid-during-lunch-break/?

[phkrause]

Trump Family Fortune Plummets in Stinging Crypto Crash

The president and his sons are being hugely affected by market turmoil.

The Trump family fortune has plummeted by a billion dollars in just a few months due to losses in the volatile cryptocurrency market.

Analysis by Bloomberg News found that President Donald Trump and his family’s venture into meme coins and cryptocurrency has dragged their collective wealth down from an estimated $7.7 billion in early September to $6.7 billion.

This includes a Trump-branded memecoin losing around one quarter of its value since August, the president’s son Eric’s Bitcoin mining venture shedding roughly half its value from its peak, and shares in Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG)—which owns Truth Social—falling to all-time lows after the company invested heavily in crypto.

Not only have the Trumps lost heavily in their crypto ventures, but anyone who hoped to get rich by investing in the Trump name is also hemorrhaging money. Investors who bought Trump’s meme coin at its peak in January, for example, would have lost almost the entire value of their investment by November.

The massive downturn in the Trump family’s wealth coincided with a period of particular turmoil in the crypto market, during which around $1 trillion in value was wiped out.

Last week, bitcoin, the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency, tumbled below $82,000 for the first time since mid-April. This marks a 32 percent drop from bitcoin’s all-time high of $126,000, recorded in October, reported Fortune.

The fact remains, however, that Trump and his family’s move into cryptocurrency and NFTs has still been enormously lucrative overall, boosting their wealth by billions, especially since the president returned to office. In September, the Wall Street Journal estimated that cryptocurrency had overtaken the Trump family’s real estate portfolio as their most valuable asset.

That analysis came as World Liberty Financial, a Trump-backed crypto venture, began trading on multiple exchanges, earning the family around $5 billion. However, Bloomberg now reports that the value of the Trump family’s holdings of WLFI tokens has fallen to around $3.15 billion, down from a $6 billion peak. This drop is not included in the overall wealth decline, as the coins are locked and cannot be traded.

Shares in TMTG fell to an all-time low on Wednesday, months after the company spent about $2 billion on Bitcoin and other securities, including options, according to Bloomberg. President Trump’s stake in TMTG has fallen by roughly $800 million since September.

TMTG also invested heavily in CRO, a coin issued by the Singapore-based crypto exchange Crypto.com. In September, TMTG’s investment in the CRO token was worth around $147 million, but it is now worth roughly half that amount.

Another Trump-linked crypto venture has also cratered. Shares of American Bitcoin Corporation, in which Eric Trump owns a 7.5 percent stake, have plunged by more than half since September, wiping out more than $300 million from the family fortune. An investor who bought shares when the company went public would now be facing a 45 percent loss.

Eric Trump has downplayed the family’s massive crypto losses and insists the downturn represents a “great buying opportunity” for investors.

“People who buy dips and embrace volatility will be the ultimate winners. I have never been more bullish on the future of cryptocurrency and the modernization of the financial system,” he told Bloomberg.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-family-fortune-plummets-in-stinging-crypto-crash/?

[phkrause]

Trump, 79, Frets About His Supreme Court Battle in Late-Night Rant

The president is back to claiming that foreign countries pay his tariffs, not Americans.

President Donald Trump warned Supreme Court justices in a social media rant that striking down his sweeping tariffs would mean “serving hostile foreign interests.”

In a rambling Truth Social post published shortly after midnight Sunday, the president revived his fiction that foreign companies pay tariffs—even though the duties are levied on U.S. importers—and said anyone who doesn’t support them is anti-American.

“Those opposing us are serving hostile foreign interests that are not aligned with the success, safety and prosperity of the USA,” Trump wrote. “They couldn’t care less about us. I look so much forward to the United States Supreme Court’s decision on this urgent and time sensitive matter so that we can continue, in an uninterrupted manner to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Earlier this month, the justices heard oral arguments in a case challenging the president’s authority to unilaterally impose tariffs on products from dozens of U.S. trading partners, which the administration argues is valid under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

But after two key conservative justices sounded skeptical on the government’s position, the president has repeatedly lobbied the court via social media post.

“Despite the massive amount of money being made by the United States of America, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, as a direct result of Tariffs being charged to other countries, the full benefit of the Tariffs has not yet been calculated in that many of the buyers of goods and products, in order to avoid paying the Tariffs in the short term, ‘STOCK UP’ by purchasing far more inventory than they can use in order to avoid Tariff payments in the short term,” he wrote Sunday night.

Now that the pre-stocked inventory is running out, though, and the tariffs have fully taken effect, the tariff revenue will “SKYROCKET,” Trump wrote.

While it’s true that some companies stockpiled inventory in the spring before the tariffs took effect, the tariffs aren’t paid by other countries. They’re a type of import duty paid by American companies, which must eat the costs or pass them along to consumers.

Last month, a Goldman Sachs report found that consumers were shouldering about 55 percent of the costs of the tariffs.

Many companies have been absorbing the additional costs in the hopes that the tariffs are temporary, but products such as cars, toys, and tea are set to get more expensive as the duties weigh on corporate profits, The New York Times reported in late October.

A study by Lending Tree found that the average American will spend an additional 14.6 percent on Christmas presents this year because of the tariffs.

Trump has nevertheless insisted the tariffs are here to stay, and claimed that an adverse Supreme Court ruling could reduce the U.S. to “almost Third World status.”

Without the tariffs, the president would also lose his favorite cudgel for pressuring and punishing foreign countries whose domestic policies he disagrees with.

Even though American companies pay the duties, foreign producers can see their products priced out of the U.S. market if the tariffs get too high.

Last month, Trump halted all trade negotiations with Canada and announced he was imposing an additional 10 percent tariff on Canadian products after the province of Ontario ran an ad that Trump didn’t like featuring Ronald Reagan warning about the dangers of protectionism.

So far, however, the new tariff—which would bring the total duty on Canadian exports to 45 percent—hasn’t been applied, Politico reported Sunday. Prime Minister Mark Carney personally apologized to Trump for the ad during an October economic summit in Asia.

“We are already the ‘hottest’ Country anywhere in the World, but this Tariff POWER will bring America National Security and Wealth the likes of which has never been seen before,” Trump wrote on Sunday night.

Just a few hours later, at 5:30 a.m. Monday, he was back on Truth Social complaining about the New York Giants’ decision to go for a touchdown instead of kicking a field goal during the team’s 34-27 loss on Sunday to the Detroit Lions.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-79-frets-about-his-supreme-court-tariff-battle-in-late-night-rant/?

[phkrause]

Musk’s DOGE Quietly Killed Off After Delivering Almost Nothing

The agency disbanded eight months ahead of schedule.

Less than a year after Elon Musk took the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, brandishing a bedazzled chainsaw to showcase the Department of Government Efficiency’s cost-cutting spree, the most significant cut was the agency itself.

Donald Trump’s DOGE disbanded eight months earlier than scheduled, Reuters first reported on Sunday.

“That doesn’t exist,” Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told the outlet when asked about DOGE. “There is no target around reductions,” he added.

The first few months of Trump’s second term were dominated by DOGE, the agency headed by Musk with a mandate to aggressively downsize the federal workforce and slash government spending. But the failed agency seems to have accomplished little beyond sowing chaos.

Tens of thousands of federal employees fired under Musk’s leadership were offered their jobs back in September after what amounted to monthslong paid vacations. Millions were reportedly lost in interest and fees after government projects were frozen, and some woefully underqualified DOGE staffers were reportedly pocketing six-figure salaries.

The Tesla billionaire ultimately presided over a $220 billion increase in federal spending this fiscal year, excluding interest, The Wall Street Journal reported last month.

Additionally, the agency generated some $21.7 billion in waste across the federal government in the first six months of the year, according to a July report from the minority staff of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI).

Musk left DOGE four months after its creation, after his status as a special government employee ended in late May. Shortly after, Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill revealed deep policy disagreements between the two, culminating in personal attacks. It came to a head with Trump threatening the SpaceX founder’s government contracts and Musk firing back by claiming Trump’s name appeared in the so-called “Epstein files.”

Vice President JD Vance and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles are reportedly attempting to repair the fractured bromance between the president and the world’s richest man.

Many DOGE staffers are getting second chances of their own, too. While Trump has referred to the agency in the past tense, many of DOGE’s most notable figures have quietly been moved to other federal agencies.

DOGE Administrator Amy Gleason became an adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy in March, Reuters reported. Joe Gebbia, who co-founded Airbnb, now presides over Trump’s newly created National Design Studio, tasked with “beautifying” government websites.

And notably, infamous 19-year-old DOGE employee Edward “Big Balls” Coristine resigned from the agency in the summer and began working at the Social Security Administration.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment. In a statement to Reuters, White House spokeswoman Liz Huston wrote: “President Trump was given a clear mandate to reduce waste, fraud and abuse across the federal government, and he continues to actively deliver on that commitment.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/musks-doge-quietly-killed-off-after-delivering-almost-nothing/?

ps:First off it's not Musks DOGE, it's trumps!! Second it was the biggest farce to cover up closing down an organization that was   investigating Musk!!

[phkrause]

Keystone Kash Explodes After SWAT Team Won’t Babysit Girlfriend at Performance

Patel’s list of government perks is seemingly endless.

Kash Patel, 45, blew up after his taxpayer-funded protection detail ditched his girlfriend at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention in Atlanta.

The FBI director assigned an entire SWAT team from the bureau’s Atlanta field office to shadow his 27-year-old girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, at the conference, The New York Times reported Sunday. Both current and former FBI officials told the outlet that Wilkins’ extensive—and unusually frequent—taxpayer-funded SWAT security, including at the conference where she performed the “Star-Spangled Banner,” was “highly unusual.”

“The assignment of SWAT-qualified special agents to guard his girlfriend are indicative of his lack of leadership experience, judgment and humility,” Christopher O’Leary, a former Marine and FBI agent who led a team that conducted “high-risk missions,” told the Times.

SWAT team members left their posts at the April event after determining that Wilkins, a country singer-hopeful, was safe and secure—igniting Patel’s fury.

The former MAGA podcaster “ripped” into the SWAT team’s commander for leaving his girlfriend unprotected and slammed it as a “failure” of the chain of command, the Times reported.

This isn’t the first time Patel’s protective-boyfriend tactics have come under scrutiny. Just last week, MS Now reported that the FBI director reallocated officers from the bureau’s Nashville SWAT team—Wilkins’ hometown—to protect her.

Officials told MS Now that, to their knowledge, Patel’s move to assign his girlfriend her own protective detail is unprecedented.

They added that the reallocation could hinder agents’ ability to respond to public safety emergencies, including mass shootings and terror threats, within the Nashville field office’s jurisdiction.

Bureau officials also told the Times that agents from the tactical team in Salt Lake City were ordered to provide a protective detail for Wilkins at an event in September—despite having just worked long hours amid the nearby killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“There is no legitimate justification for this. This is a clear abuse of position and misuse of government resources,” O’Leary told MS Now earlier this month. “She is not his spouse, does not live in the same house or even in the same city.”

Wilkins defended her robust protective detail by posting on social media a series of threats she has received—some targeting both her and Patel. “A morning in my DMs,” she wrote on Nov. 17 alongside a screenshot of a message that read: “Can’t wait to celebrate your death, especially if I’m the one causing it.” Others included “you need to touch a bullet” and “someone kidnap her.”

But others have been quick to call out what they see as hypocrisy in Patel’s priorities. “I don’t want anything to happen to [Patel] or his girlfriend,” Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell wrote in an X post that has racked up more than 1.7 million views since Monday morning. “Protect her if she’s threatened.”

“It’s just F’d up that he REFUSES to protect me and my kids from MULTIPLE specific death threats. Same for other Dem colleagues,” the California lawmaker added. “Can only conclude he wants us dead.”

Patel—dubbed “Keystone Kash” for his bumbling oversight of several high-profile investigations—is known for cashing in on the perks of his government post. The director has been embroiled in scandal since October, when reports revealed he took a $60 million government jet to watch Wilkins perform, thrusting his luxurious lifestyle into the spotlight.

Just last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Patel then flew to a luxury hunting resort in Texas during the record-breaking government shutdown.

The allegations come after Patel was a particularly vocal critic of former FBI director Chris Wray for improper use of government planes for personal reasons.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the FBI and Wilkins for comment. A bureau spokesperson has previously told the Daily Beast, “Ms. Wilkins is receiving a protective detail because she has faced hundreds of credible death threats related to her relationship with Director Patel, whom she has been dating for three years. Out of respect for her safety, we will not be providing additional details.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/keystone-kash-rages-after-swat-team-wont-babysit-girlfriend/?

[phkrause]

Senators Launch Inquiry After a White House Official Intervened on Behalf of Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation

Two key Senate Democrats have launched an inquiry after a ProPublica investigation revealed this week that a White House official had intervened on behalf of his former legal clients — pro-Trump influencer Andrew Tate and his brother — during a federal investigation.

https://www.propublica.org/article/paul-ingrassia-probe-andrew-tate-investigation?

Trump Beauty Queen Humiliated as Judge Dismisses Cases Against His Enemies

A federal judge ruled the appointment of interim U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan was illegal.

A federal judge on Monday dismissed the indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The judge wrote that U.S. attorney Lindsay Halligan was appointed illegally and that, therefore, all actions taken after her appointment, including securing and signing the indictments, were unlawful.

“I agree with Mr. Comey that the Attorney General’s attempt to install Ms. Halligan as Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was invalid,” wrote Judge Cameron McGowan Currie. “And because Ms. Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment, I will grant Mr. Comey’s motion and dismiss the indictment without prejudice.”

Currie, who former President Bill Clinton appointed, heard arguments on the motions to dismiss from the attorneys for Comey and James nearly two weeks ago, on November 13, and said she would make her decision by Thanksgiving.

Comey and James’ lawyers argued that Halligan was unlawfully appointed after the former acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, resigned amid pressure to bring indictments against President Donald Trump’s perceived enemies.

The attorney general first appointed Siebert, and then the district court kept him on after his 120 days expired.

Halligan, a 36-year-old former beauty queen contestant and personal Trump attorney, was appointed by Bondi on September 22 following Siebert’s resignation despite having no previous prosecutorial experience.

Halligan was the lone person to present before the grand jury, which returned an indictment against Comey only days later, on September 25, just days before the statute of limitations was set to expire on September 30.

The former FBI director was charged with two counts, including making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.

On October 9, James was indicted on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.

But Comey and James’ attorneys argued the law does not give the attorney general the power to appoint a second interim U.S. attorney and that the district court had the exclusive authority to appoint Siebert’s replacement, so Halligan’s appointment was unlawful.

Currie found, based on the law, that if the court-appointed U.S. attorney resigned, the court retains the authority to make the interim appointment.

She also rejected Bondi’s later attempt to ratify Halligan’s actions.

“The president went to extreme measures to substitute one of his allies to bring these baseless charges after career prosecutors refused,” said James’s attorney Abbe Lowell in a statement. “This case was not about justice or the law.”

Because the case was dismissed without prejudice, it leaves the door open to future charges. Lowell said they would continue to challenge any “further politically motivated charges through every lawful means available.”

Comey’s attorney praised the decision and noting because of the statute of limitation “there can be no further indictment” in his case.

“The day when Mr. Comey was indicted was a sad day for our government,” said Patrick Fitzgerald in a statement. “Honest prosecutors were fired to clear a path for an unlawful prosecution. But today an independent judiciary vindicated our system of laws not just of for Mr. Comey but for all American citizens.”

Trump had not yet posted about the decision as of late Monday afternoon. However, the White House indicated the cases were far from over.

“The facts of the indictments against Comey and James have not changed and this will not be the final word on this matter,” said spokesperson Abigail Jackson in a statement.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt argued there was a judge “who was clearly trying to shield” James and Comey from “receiving accountability.”

Leavitt indicated the Justice Department would be appealing the decision and insisted Halligan was legally appointed. She also argued the president wasn’t targeting James and Comey.

“I wouldn’t say he’s ‘going after’ them. I think the president is more determined than ever to see accountability in this country,” she said in response to a question.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-beauty-queen-humiliated-as-judge-dismisses-cases-against-trump-enemies/?

[phkrause]

Furious House Republican Warns More ‘Explosive’ Resignations Are Coming After Marjorie Taylor Greene

“Morale has never been lower,” the senior lawmaker said.

A senior House Republican is warning that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s sudden decision to walk away from Congress is only the start of a deeper implosion inside the House GOP.

Greene, 51, who will retire in 42 days, announced the end of her tenure Friday night with a sweeping indictment of President Donald Trump’s second term and the party supposedly tasked with backing him.

Her central argument is that Trump and House Republicans are abandoning the president’s priorities, growing complacent, and barreling toward wasting a razor-thin majority. None of this is new territory for Greene. She was never representative of the broader conference, has feuded with Trump and leadership, and has long disliked Speaker Mike Johnson.

Speculation that she wants the Georgia governor’s mansion is already circulating again. But what stung Republicans most this weekend was not her theatrics—it was how many quietly agreed with her.

Several GOP lawmakers told reporters they are also weighing mid-term retirements. And another clearly frustrated senior Republican delivered a blistering assessment of the party’s trajectory.

“This entire White House team has treated ALL members like garbage. ALL. And Mike Johnson has let it happen because he wanted it to happen,” they told Punchbowl.

“That is the sentiment of nearly all—appropriators, authorizers, hawks, doves, rank and file,” the lawmaker said.

He blasted what he called “the arrogance of this White House team,” accusing them of running members “roughshod and threatened” while denying them even “little wins like announcing small grants or even responding from agencies.”

He warned that anger is spreading beyond the usual suspects. “Not even the high profile, the regular rank and file random members are more upset than ever. Members know they are going into the minority after the midterms.”

The lawmaker then dropped the real grenade, adding, “More explosive early resignations are coming. It’s a tinder box. Morale has never been lower. Mike Johnson will be stripped of his gavel, and they will lose the majority before this term is out.”

Johnson’s team counters that they are working with impossibly small margins and doing the best they can. But the math is unforgiving. If Republicans lose even one more member to retirement, death, or illness, the majority could flip as early as 2026. What once sounded far-fetched now seems increasingly plausible.

Mike Johnson’s people have been contacted for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/furious-house-republican-warns-more-explosive-resignations-are-coming-after-marjorie-taylor-greene/?