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

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Billionaire Trump Gives Jaw-Dropping Lecture to Parents as Prices Surge

The president says it might be time to “give up” certain things to get by—starting with children’s toys this Christmas.

Donald Trump has urged parents to cut back on Christmas presents for their kids this year, as Americans struggle to pay for food, housing, and medical care.

The president’s remarks came as he spoke to steelworkers in Pennsylvania on Tuesday during a rally about “affordability,” which he has dismissed as a “Democrat hoax” and not at all the result of his policies.

Trump, 79, told the crowd of workers who had come to support him, “You can give up certain products.” He inexplicably mentioned “pencils” as an acceptable sacrifice before moving on to children’s toys, saying: “You don’t need 37 dolls for your daughter. Two or three is nice, but you don’t need 37 dolls.” The bizarre advice came as Trump again tried to shrug off the cost-of-living crisis, which is proving an enduring thorn in his side as voters increasingly voice their frustrations. A Politico–Public First survey found that almost half of Americans are struggling to pay for groceries, utility bills, health care, housing, and transportation, and 55 percent blame Trump.

Trump’s message to parents also jarred with his own finances. Forbes estimates his personal wealth to be $7.3 billion, with his net worth having skyrocketed during this second term, largely thanks to media and crypto ventures.

At the same time, Trump has covered the Oval Office in gilded trinkets and gold-leafed moldings, and regularly boasts about it.

He is also pushing ahead with a vast new ballroom project at the White House, modeled on his Mar-a-Lago property. The 90,000-plus-square-foot hall is set to cost $200–$300 million and has seen the demolition of historic East Wing space that once housed the First Lady’s offices. Trump has said the costs will be covered by private donors.

Trump has previously cited children’s toys to argue that the economic fallout of his policies is no big deal. He used “37 dolls” as a punchline for tariff pain back in the spring, insisting that a “young lady…doesn’t need 37 dolls” and could be “very happy with two or three or four or five.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/billionaire-donald-trump-sends-christmas-affordability-message-to-parents-as-prices-surge/?

ps:This man is out of touch with reality!!!!!

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Trump Aides Float ICE Barbie Replacements as Scandals Spiral

One White House source said they heard Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is “about to leave.”

Trump administration officials are quietly floating replacements for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as rumors about her alleged romance with her top adviser spiral out of control.

Publicly, the White House has brushed off speculation that Noem’s job is in jeopardy, while Noem nervously laughed off questions about whether President Donald Trump had weighed firing her over an alleged extramarital relationship with Corey Lewandowski, dubbed D.C.’s “worst-kept secret.”

Privately, however, an administration official and two people close to the administration told Politico that names have already surfaced as possible successors, including Fox News contributor and former Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz and term-limited Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, who is set to leave office in January.

The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment.

One person close to the Trump administration said they had heard “from people that she’s about to leave” but that she likely wouldn’t be fired. She could leave gracefully for “another opportunity” and be able to brag about her success helming Trump’s aggressive immigration agenda, the source said.

Multiple administration officials and people close to the White House said Noem, who has earned the moniker “ICE Barbie” for her camera-ready immigration crackdowns, has annoyed some in the president’s circle who believe she’s positioning herself for a 2028 campaign, according to the report.

“She’s not doing this so she can get a cushy job on Fox News when she leaves,” one administration official said. “Her best shot is to get out on the campaign trail now, start lining up endorsements from governors and then use that to negotiate a role in the next administration—secretary of state, vice president.”

Noem, who is married, and Lewandowski, her chief adviser and a former Trump campaign manager, have repeatedly denied the alleged relationship.

The duo has also been accused of mismanaging federal funds. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that they were issued warnings by DHS officials after they ordered 10 Spirit Airlines jets before realizing the aircraft had no engines.

Some White House officials have also raised concerns that amid the scrutiny about Noem’s reported fund mismanagement, other DHS contracts and wider agency spending could come under fire.

“There’s definitely some fishy stuff going on with money,” the first administration official said. “Whether or not it’s true—even just a rumor—optics are everything.”

Noem’s clashes with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan have also added instability to her tenure, according to Politico. In September, it was reported that the pair had been at each other’s throats to such an extent that the president himself wondered if he’d need to step in.

“Her clashes with Tom Homan are a problem. The rivalry, neither wanting to be subordinate to the other,” said the first person close to the administration. “Their insistence on independence and on being the one running the show — or at least the one perceived to be running the show.”

A former ICE official said Youngkin had already met with Trump immigration officials. Three former DHS officials previously told The Bulwark that Youngkin was being floated as a replacement for Noem.

Chaffetz, a close Trump ally, chaired the House Oversight Committee from 2015 until he resigned two years later. He frequently battled Obama-era DHS officials.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told the Daily Beast in a statement that Trump has “assembled the most talented and capable Cabinet in American history.”

“Secretary Noem is doing a great job implementing the president’s agenda and making America safe again,” Jackson said. “Reports of her departing are Fake News. President Trump, Secretary Noem, and Tom Homan are all on the same page when it comes to implementing the President’s agenda and the results speak for themselves — the border is secure and deportations continue to increase.”

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Beast: “I can’t speak for the President, but I’ve seen more credible reporting on Big Foot.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-aides-float-ice-barbie-replacements-as-scandals-spiral/?

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Pentagon Insiders Reveal Trump’s Macho Bluster Is Pure BS

Trump has declined to rule out sending U.S. troops into Venezuela, but his own team says he’s all talk.

Pentagon and White House advisers have poured cold water on President Donald Trump’s threats to invade countries deemed enemies to the U.S.

In an interview with Politico that aired Tuesday, Trump said Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s “days are numbered” and refused to rule out American troops entering the South American country on foot.

Mexico and Colombia, too, were singled out, with Trump name-checking them for possible ground invasions.

However, the same publication has now interviewed six Republican lawmakers, Pentagon officials, and White House advisers who have all but admitted that Trump’s words are empty threats.

His statements are “a designed strategy to pressure Maduro to leave,” said one White House insider, while others dismissed Trump’s threat of involvement in Mexico or Colombia.

“This has a 99.9 percent chance of not happening,” a second anonymous White House insider conceded, before attempting to paint the bluster as a brilliant piece of 3D chess. “But leaving that .01 percent chance on the table will bring people to the table.”

“This isn’t something you can just dial up and go,” an unnamed defense official added, in reference to the planning it would take to launch such an operation.

Public sentiment is also running against that approach. A recent CBS News poll found that 70 percent of Americans oppose Trump authorizing military action in Venezuela.

“The Trump administration was hoping to pressure Maduro into leaving, but if that fails, the remaining military choices are unattractive,” a former defense official said.

“And if Maduro does step aside, whether voluntarily or by force, it raises the question of whether U.S. troops would be needed to stabilize the country—and for how long.”

Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist, felt similarly, suggesting that the threats are a ploy to basically protect domestic interests.

“This is not the Monroe Doctrine 2.0, this is like the Monroe Doctrine 5.0,” he said, referring to the foreign policy position aimed at upholding U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere.

About a dozen U.S. warships in the Caribbean—now reinforced by the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford—can together fire close to 200 Tomahawk missiles at land targets in the region. They are there, ostensibly at least, to fight what the Trump administration calls “narco terrorism.”

This buildup puts “additional pressure on Maduro to surrender and do what Trump wants him to do, which is to go to Turkey, leave the country,” Bannon added. “Because I think the negotiations are kind of down to that—where this guy ends up [and] most of the stuff there now is for pressure.”

Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel, flat-out admitted that the U.S. doesn’t have what it takes to initiate a successful ground invasion. “The United States does not have the ground forces needed for an invasion,” he said, adding that there has been no movement to bolster the ranks in the region.

Republican lawmakers, too, aren’t universally hot on the idea. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a major Trump ally who refers to Maduro as a “narco-terrorist dictator,” said as much.

“I don’t think we need them right now,” he said of boots on the ground in Venezuela. Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley also pushed back.

“I’m not a supporter of ground troops,” he told Politico. “I’m not a supporter of regime change forced by the United States. I mean, if Maduro decides to go of his own accord, fine. But I’ve never been a supporter of regime change.”

The White House and the Department of Defense have been contacted for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-insiders-reveal-trumps-macho-bluster-is-pure-bs/?

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Democrat Flips State House Seat in Major Reversal of Pro-Trump District

Democrat Eric Gisler is projected to win a special election in a district that voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump.

Democrat Eric Gisler flipped a Republican-held Georgia House seat, a stinging reversal in a district that President Donald Trump won by double digits, according to media projections.

Gisler said his win was down to Democratic enthusiasm and Republicans looking for a change, the Associated Press reported.

CNN, Decision Desk HQ, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) all projected Gisler’s victory over Republican Mack “Dutch” Guest in the 121st House District, which includes parts of Oconee County and Athens.

The district last year voted for Trump by about 12 percentage points. Gisler also ran for the same seat last year and lost by 22 points.

Gisler’s win follows a series of stinging election defeats for the GOP last month, when Democrats secured victories in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York City.

Charlie Bailey, the Georgia state Democratic Party chair, said, “Our momentum is only growing, and we will continue outworking, out-organizing, and out-strategizing Republicans to turn it into more wins for the people of Georgia in 2026.”

The win continues the 2025 trend in which voters have signaled frustration with Trump amid his lowest approval ratings since returning to office. A senior White House aide warned in October that the numbers posed a serious problem for Republicans heading into next year’s midterms.

Speaking to AP, Gisler said he believes his team “had the right message for the time.”

“A lot of what I would call traditional conservatives held their nose and voted Republican last year on the promise of low prices and whatever else they were selling,” Gisler added. “But they hadn’t received that.”

The AJC’s chief political reporter, Greg Bluestein, described the win on X as a “stealth upset.”

The race was held to replace Republican Marcus Wiedower, who had held the seat since 2018 and stepped down to focus on business interests.

The Daily Beast reached out to Gisler and Guest’s campaigns for comment.

Gisler’s win added to a string of Democratic successes. This week, Miami elected its first Democratic mayor in 30 years, after Trump-backed Republican candidate Emilio González lost to Eileen Higgins.

Meanwhile, Trump’s approval ratings have dipped to 38 percent, the lowest since he returned to the White House for a second term, according to polling data from Ipsos/Reuters last month.

Former California GOP political director Mike Madrid told The Wall Street Journal that the trend suggested even Donald Trump is not immune to the physics of politics, which is that a lame-duck leader is going to start to see people abandon him.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/democrat-flips-state-house-seat-in-major-reversal-of-pro-trump-district/?

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Little Marco Loses It Over Big Problem of Woke Typeface in State Dept.

The move is the latest in the Trump administration’s effort to undo DEI policies.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has picked a new target in the war against wokeness, insisting the State Department revert to a pre-Joe Biden-era typeface.

The move undoes a 2023 directive from then-Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, who switched to a Calibri font to improve accessibility after 20 years of Times New Roman, on the recommendation of the department’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

On Tuesday, Rubio claimed the reversion offers a return to “tradition, formality, and ceremony,” in a directive sent to diplomatic outposts around the globe.

President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to undo an extensive list of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) measures introduced under and predating former President Biden.

Among them were the abolition of DEI offices and the removal of diversity criteria for hiring and firing, effectively removing mandates for inclusivity in employment. It has also sought to undo various equality-oriented grants and programs, which Rubio reportedly labeled “radical,” under the loose banner of meritocracy.

The New York Times has seen the “Action Request” memo sent to the department, titled “Return to Tradition: Times New Roman 14-Point Font Required for All Department Paper,” which reportedly sets out to “restore decorum and professionalism to the department’s written work.”

Blinken’s switch to sans-serif typeface Calibri, which is regarded as looking less cluttered on the page, was intended to reduce barriers for readers with disabilities such as dyslexia, The Times reports. Rubio claimed the move, however, had not reduced the number of “accessibility-based document remediation cases.”

His memo said, “Switching to Calibri achieved nothing except the degradation of the department’s official correspondence,” instead insisting serif typefaces are “generally perceived to connote tradition, formality and ceremony.”

It also demanded that all writing be reduced from the Blinken-mandated 15-point back to its predecessor of 14-point.

Rubio noted that serifs are used by the White House, the Supreme Court, on Air Force One’s livery, the State Department’s letterhead, and in other federal government departments.

The newspaper reports that Rubio admitted in his memo that moving over to Calibri, “was not among the department’s most illegal, immoral, radical or wasteful instances of D.E.I.A.”

A spokesperson for the State Department confirmed to the Daily Beast that the changes were being introduced, claiming they were intended to bolster credibility and dignity in official correspondence.

Serif typefaces have small flicks on the ends of letters, and are used by the Daily Beast in the body of its articles, although a sans serif is used in its headlines.

Rubio, whom Trump in 2016 derided as “Little Marco,” claimed sans serifs, which have no flicks at the ends of letters and are often associated with a more modern family of typefaces, are “informal.”

He had already abolished the office that had recommended Blinken’s move to Calibri in the first place.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/little-marco-rubio-loses-it-over-big-problem-of-woke-typeface-in-state-dept/?

ps:Pathetic! Absolutely pathetic!!!!!

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The White House says the midterms are all about Trump. Democrats aren’t so sure

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico, both Democrats, have kicked off their Texas Senate campaigns with contrasting strategies. Crockett takes direct aim at President Donald Trump, using his insults to energize her 2026 campaign. Talarico is emphasizing economic divides rather than political ones. This split highlights a broader divide among Democrats over how much to center Trump in their campaigns. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

BREAKING: Trump says the US has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela Embracing profanity is one thing both political parties seem to agree on Federal Reserve cuts key rate but signals higher bar for future reductions Judge orders Trump to end California National Guard troop deployment in Los Angeles Justice Department can unseal records from Epstein’s 2019 sex trafficking case, judge says

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US has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, Trump says

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as tensions mount with the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-tanker-seized-venezuela-maduro-0a148ba01684fc6ce1a228dd276732c0?

? Stunning tanker takeover

Video still: U.S. Attorney General's Office Footage shared by Attorney General Pam Bondi shows U.S. forces rappelling from helicopters during yesterday's seizure of a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Why it matters: President Trump's pressure campaign on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has now struck at the heart of Venezuela's oil-based economy, Axios' Marc Caputo writes. Bondi said the "Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran." Go deeper: Latest Venezuela escalation ... Watch the footage. ps:Wow this administration must be so proud of themselves! Picking on a Country that can't defend itself from the big bad bully!! From a world leader to a laughing stock of the world!!!!!!!!!! How pathetic we've become!!!!!

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Trump eyes U.S. general for Gaza force

The Trump administration plans to appoint an American two-star general to command the International Stabilization Force in Gaza, Axios' Barak Ravid reports.

• Why it matters: The appointment will further increase the U.S. responsibility for securing and rebuilding Gaza, which is turning into the biggest U.S. project in the Middle East in more than two decades.

Breaking it down: The U.S. established a civil-military headquarters in Israel to monitor the ceasefire and coordinate humanitarian aid.

• The U.S. is leading the planning for the reconstruction of Gaza.
• Trump is expected to head the Gaza Board of Peace, and his top advisers will be members of an international executive board.
• Now, the U.S. will be in command of the enclave's security force.

The other side: White House officials stress there'll be no U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza.

• Keep reading.

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Trump Gold Card

President Trump on Wednesday officially launched his "gold card" visa, a new immigration pathway that will allow foreigners to pay $1 million to expedite their visa application, or have companies pay $2 million to sponsor a foreign worker they want to bring into the US. The visa website, trumpcard.gov, includes a link to the application and promises "U.S. residency in record time." It also previews that a "Trump Platinum Card" is coming soon and invites foreign nationals to add their names to a waiting list. For $5 million, the administration says eligible applicants will be able to "spend up to 270 days in the United States without being subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income."

The "Trump Gold Card" on display at the White House in September. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post/Getty Images)   ps:What a vain, greedy and pathetic man!!!!!

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Trump’s crackdown on immigration is taking a toll on child care workers Trump’s push for the largest mass deportation in history has had an outsized impact on the child care field, which is heavily reliant on immigrants and already strained by a worker shortage. Read more.

What to know: Immigrant child care workers and preschool teachers, the majority of whom are working and living in the U.S. legally, say they are wracked by anxiety over possible encounters with ICE officials. Some have left the field, and others have been forced out by changes to immigration policy.   Schools and child care centers were once off limits to ICE officials, in part to keep children out of harm’s way. But those rules were scrapped not long after Trump’s inauguration. Instead, ICE officials are urged to exercise “common sense.”   About one-fifth of America’s child care workers were born outside the United States and one-fifth are Latino. The proportion of immigrants in some places, particularly large cities, is much higher.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Trump administration separates thousands of migrant families in the US   Photos of families who set off on migration journeys and found themselves torn apart   Trump administration adds militarized zone in California along southern US border

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia freed from federal immigration detention, his attorney’s office says

PHILIPSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia was freed from immigration detention on a judge’s order Thursday while he fights to stay in the U.S., handing a major victory to the immigrant whose wrongful deportation to a notorious prison in El Salvador made him a flashpoint of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

https://apnews.com/article/abrego-garcia-el-salvador-deportation-31160936c51932f74b717eb1143edd55?

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On 8/22/2025 at 4:10 PM, phkrause said:

Trump, 79, has been promoting himself as the should-be winner of a Nobel Peace Prize. As such, ending the war between Ukraine and Russia, something he once declared he would do on day one of his presidency, has been among the president’s top priorities—but also is among his biggest flops, at least to date.

Still, Trump has claimed wins elsewhere in foreign affairs. He personally brokered peace agreements between Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Trump claims those conflicts are among seven that he has solved as president, but experts say that claim is dubious.

Rwanda-backed M23 offensive in Congo’s South Kivu kills over 400 civilians

GOMA, Congo (AP) — More than 400 civilians have been killed since the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group escalated its offensive in the South Kivu province in eastern Congo, regional officials said, adding that Rwandan special forces were in the strategic city of Uvira.

https://apnews.com/article/congo-rwanda-m23-trump-fighting-minerals-8a6b6b94c3c406c2c349077a09f5430d?

Indiana Republicans defy Trump and reject his House redistricting push in the state

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s Republican-led Senate decisively rejected a redrawn congressional map Thursday that would have favored their party, defying months of pressure from President Donald Trump and delivering a stark setback to the White House ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

https://apnews.com/article/indiana-lawmakers-redistricting-final-vote-80e3e546fc7acec4a7bd7cd110787375?

ps:It's always great to see that there are still real Republicans that work for the people and not for a person that believes he's a king!!!!!

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A Dawning Realization

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A force is pulling on Donald Trump that is even more inexorable than the march of time: political mortality.

Sometimes scandal or ineffectiveness is what fells a politician; if they survive those, term limits may get them anyway. But not even the most fearsome and durable leader escapes the eventual decay of their power. The towering Lyndon B. Johnson was forced to drop out of the 1968 presidential race, facing a tough Democratic primary; Margaret Thatcher’s powerful reign ended with a Conservative mutiny; Mitch McConnell, once the wily master of the Senate, now finds himself an ostracized backbencher.

Trump may have imagined he was immune. If so, he wasn’t alone. The rules of political gravity, journalists have often declared, sometimes seem not to apply to him. He defied the Republican Party establishment to win the 2016 nomination. He beat the odds to defeat Hillary Clinton that fall. And although he was written off as finished following the 2020 election and his attempt to steal it, Trump completed the greatest comeback in American political history in 2024, easily eclipsing Richard Nixon’s 1968 election.

One of the secrets to Trump’s success has been his control over other Republican figures, because of either their political and personal affinity or, failing that, the ability to bully them into submission with rhetorical attacks or threats of primary challenges. But as the end of Trump’s political career approaches, his grip over the GOP is showing some cracks.

This afternoon, the Republican-dominated Indiana Senate rejected a plan to redraw the state’s U.S. House districts to benefit the GOP, despite a weeks-long pressure campaign from the president and top allies including Vice President J. D. Vance and Speaker Mike Johnson. After an initial failure, Trump demanded a second attempt, but this one wasn’t even close: Senators voted it down 19–31.

This is the latest in a string of stumbles. The first was Trump’s inability to quash an effort to force the disclosure of files related to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Trump was unable to persuade even his protégées Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene not to sign a House discharge petition, and he eventually had to jump on the bandwagon himself. The experience permanently broke his relationship with Greene, who announced she would leave the House in January and has given a series of interviews criticizing the president. (The stories she’s told of death threats and harassment from Trump fans show one reason members are retiring at record rates.) On the other side of the Capitol, Trump’s demands that Republican senators kill the filibuster in order to end the government shutdown were met with a cold shoulder.

Now Trump is grappling with brewing unhappiness about his likely illegal military mission in the Caribbean Sea. Even Republicans have been troubled by reports that the U.S. killed survivors of one boat strike as they clung to wreckage, in what appears to be a textbook example of a war crime. (The administration says military leaders acted legally.) In response, Congress is withholding some of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s travel budget to demand he provide relevant videos. This arguably falls short of what the situation calls for—many experts have noted that Trump has no valid legal justification for any of the strikes—but it’s notable because of how hesitant Republicans have been to challenge the administration.

Members of one’s own party starting to draw away is a classic symptom of being a lame duck. Sometimes a president can stave lame-duck status off until after the midterm elections of his second term, but Trump has some particular weaknesses here. First, more than any time in recent history, Congress is dysfunctional—thanks in part to a slim majority and Trump’s efforts to bypass it—and incapable of approving any major legislation except must-pass bills, and even those are touch-and-go. Since the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed this summer, lawmakers know that few other initiatives will move. That gives them less incentive to avoid breaking ranks.

That’s especially true because Trump’s popularity is historically low and falling. Members know that Trump can wreck them in a primary, but they may not be convinced that he can save them in a general election—in fact, he may be dragging them toward big losses next November. One ominous sign is that Democrats keep performing well in elections this year. On Tuesday, a Democrat flipped a Georgia state-House district that Trump won by 12 points; another captured the mayorship of Miami for the first time since 1997. This is likely to get worse if Trump continues to angrily dismiss voter concerns about inflation.

Some Trump allies have offered a solution to the lame-duck problem: Simply run for a third term, Constitution be damned. But Trump himself has said, with evident regret, that he does not believe that is possible. (He could still change his mind.) As the indications of political obsolescence accrue, Trump’s public mood has taken a dark turn. During a Cabinet meeting last week, which he appeared to doze through parts of, he called Somali immigrants “garbage.” He reprised that during a speech—ostensibly on affordability—Tuesday, in which he also confirmed that he called several places “shithole countries” in 2018, a statement he had long denied making. Later that night, Trump uncorked a furious, meandering post of nearly 500 words on Truth Social, in which he called for The New York Times to be shut down and said he’d been asked to take three cognitive tests this year, which may not be the positive sign he seems to believe it is.

Trump remains an exceptionally powerful president—in part because he has seized power for the White House and sidelined Congress. Previous lame-duck presidents have taken some consolation from the freedom to act as they want, knowing they never have to face voters again, and Trump has already begun pursuing policies that he can see are not popular. Still, for a man whose life has been a story of improbable resurrections, the dawning realization that his political career is finite must be bitter.

Related:

• The Trump steamroller is broken.
• Trump is making the same mistake as Biden.

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Skipper Tanker Revealed

The oil tanker seized by the US military this week had been carrying sanctioned oil from Iran to Cuba and had a history of hiding its location, according to a maritime analytics firm. The company claims that for at least 80 days over the past two years, the tanker known as “Skipper” engaged in spoofing—a practice of falsifying location data in violation of a UN maritime treaty. Skipper's last known port call was Iran, where it allegedly arrived in July after visits to Iraq and the United Arab Emirates. Analysts say the ship loaded at least 1.1 million barrels of crude oil last month after engaging in rare ship-to-ship transfers. The vessel is owned by Marshall Islands-based Triton Navigation Corp., which the US says is run by Russian oil magnate Viktor Artemov. It is operated by a Nigeria-based company and flies a Guyana flag, though Guyana maintains it is not registered there. See lawmakers' reactions to the ship's seizure here.

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Trump's great power cooperation

Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch; Photos: Getty Images

President Trump's first term opened the age of "Great Power Competition" with China and Russia. His second is working to end it, Axios' Dave Lawler and Zachary Basu report. Why it matters: For the past decade, Washington has operated on the bipartisan consensus that China seeks to overtake the U.S., Russia seeks to undermine it, and reinforcing alliances in Europe and Asia is key to winning the 21st century. Trump is challenging that entire foundation, envisioning a new world order where great powers cut deals — and look the other way when needed, rather than restrain each other's ambitions. ⚡ Catch up quick: The first Trump administration declared a genocide in Xinjiang, blacklisted Huawei, and moved to ban TikTok. After returning to office, Trump kicked off a spiral of U.S.-China tariffs, threats and export bans, before striking a truce with President Xi Jinping in October. Lately, Trump has been sounding like the biggest China dove in Washington. ?? Trump recently announced he'll be visiting Beijing in April. Xi will make a return trip later in 2026. A U.S. official said that under the October trade truce, China had "agreed to crack down on fentanyl precursors, purchase U.S. agricultural products, and keep rare earths flowing." This week, Trump stunned D.C.'s China hawks by lifting a ban on exports of Nvidia's H200 chips to China. The administration's bet is that selling to China will help reinforce U.S. dominance in designing the chips that power AI globally. The U.S. official noted that export controls on Nvidia's most advanced Blackwell chip remain in place. But it's a remarkable reversal, given that Trump 1.0 started construction on the high-tech firewall that Trump 2.0 is now lowering. ?? Trump's emerging Russia strategy mirrors his shift on China — a move away from confrontation and toward accommodation, deal-making, and a willingness to accept territorial conquest. Trump's envoys are pressuring Ukraine to cede the entire Donbas region to Russia and envisioning a new era of "strategic stability" with Moscow that could unlock vast commercial opportunities. An early 28-point peace plan produced by U.S. and Russian officials calls for a "long-term economic cooperation agreement" in the areas of energy, natural resources, infrastructure, AI, data centers, rare earths and more. Trump's National Security Strategy is notably far less hostile to Russia than to the European Union, which Trump has cast as a "decaying" project of the old liberal order.

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? Trump tries to neuter state AI laws

Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios

President Trump signed an executive order last night to override state AI laws, setting up high-stakes clashes nationwide and inside his own party. Why it matters: The president and David Sacks, his AI and crypto czar, are moving aggressively in favor of industry to rein in state regulation of the technology, Axios' Mackenzie Weinger and Maria Curi report. The order aims to gut state AI laws by launching legal challenges and conditioning federal grants on compliance. MAGA populists made a failed last-minute bid to try to shape the executive order, pitching two draft proposals to the White House this week. ? Zoom in: The executive order calls on government agencies to "check the most onerous and excessive" state laws in favor of a "minimally burdensome, uniform national policy framework." It directs the attorney general to set up an AI Litigation Task Force within 30 days to challenge state laws. ⚖️ Reality check: The order is likely to be challenged in court by states and consumer groups on the grounds that only Congress has the authority to override state laws, legal experts told the N.Y. Times. Between the lines: Sacks, the AI czar, posted on X that the order doesn't mean the administration will challenge every state AI law. "Far from it," he said. "The focus is on excessive and onerous State laws. We look forward to working with Congress to enact a stable and enduring framework that reduces unnecessary regulation, enables innovation, protects core values, and helps America win the AI race." White House fact sheet ... Executive order.

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? Trump leans toward reclassifying pot

Illustration: Maura Kearns/Axios

President Trump is likely to loosen still-tough federal restrictions on marijuana use early next year, Axios' Alex Isenstadt reports. Why it matters: While conservatives have long expressed a degree of discomfort with pot, Trump has shown an openness to it. ? Under the plan, Trump would reclassify marijuana — which under federal law is banned and faces the same restrictions as heroin — as a less-dangerous drug. That would ease regulations, make it easier to conduct marijuana-related medicinal research and create tax breaks for cannabis companies. It would not make marijuana federally legal for recreational use. Between the lines: Trump's team has been reviewing survey numbers showing growing support for reclassification. Public sentiment on pot use has been shifting for the past half-century, with Americans increasingly in favor of it. According to a recent Gallup poll, 64% support legalization, up from 36% in 2005. A White House official said no final decision had been made on the expected move, which was first reported by The Washington Post. ? Behind the scenes: Cannabis companies have been courting Trump. The pro-cannabis American Rights and Reform PAC has donated $1 million to a Trump-aligned super PAC. Several cannabis companies donated to his inaugural fund. Read on.

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?️ Naming Commanders' stadium

Photo illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios; Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

When the new Commanders' stadium opens in 2030, its naming-rights deal could crack $1 billion — smashing the current record-holder, $700 million for LA's Crypto.com Arena, Axios D.C.'s Cuneyt Dil reports. You can see why: Imagine an Axios Stadium. It'll be filled with Beltway insiders. Every time a broadcaster shows a beauty shot of Axios Stadium, powerful U.S. landmarks would be the backdrop. K Street is already trying all angles to get a foot in. Corporations are hiring premium sports consultants to engage team owner Josh Harris, and President Trump wants "Trump Stadium." ? Zoom in: You don't see many stadiums named for politicians. And it's hard to imagine the Commanders spurning a lucrative sponsorship — which would go a long way toward paying down the $4 billion stadium — just to please the president. But there are other ways the president could get his name up in D.C. lights. He's found megadonors to fund his new ballroom and the "Trump accounts" for kids. He could potentially do it again. Or he could land something else — like a Trump Hotel at RFK.

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Indiana Republicans defy Trump and reject his House redistricting push in the state Indiana’s Republican-led Senate decisively rejected a redrawn congressional map Thursday that would have favored their party, defying months of pressure from President Donald Trump and delivering a stark setback to the White House ahead of next year’s midterm elections. Read more.

What to know: The vote was overwhelmingly against the proposed redistricting, with more Republicans opposing than supporting the measure, signaling the limits of Trump’s influence even in one of the country’s most conservative states.   Trump has been urging Republicans nationwide to redraw their congressional maps in an unusual campaign to help the party maintain its thin majority in the House of Representatives. Although Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina went along, Indiana did not. “The federal government should not dictate by threat or other means what should happen in our states,” said Spencer Deery, one of the Republican senators who voted no.   District boundaries are usually adjusted once a decade after a new census. But Trump has described redistricting as an existential issue for the party as Democrats push to regain power in Washington.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ How gerrymandering is spreading across other US states   New judicial panels to hear Wisconsin redistricting lawsuits for the first time   US national park gift shops ordered to purge merchandise promoting DEI   Trump led Republicans to power in 2024. But 2026 could be a different story   Trump signs executive order to block state AI regulations   The man accused of killing Charlie Kirk appears in court for 1st time   Abrego Garcia won release from detention. He must check in with immigration officials 14 hours later   Court blocks release of hundreds of immigrants arrested in Chicago-area crackdown   Church nativity scenes add zip ties, gas masks and ICE to protest immigration raids   Immigration crackdown leaves teens to care for siblings after parents get detained   Justice Department again fails to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, AP sources say   Senator says FAA administrator failed to sell multimillion-dollar airline stake as promised   Arkansas becomes 1st state to sever ties with PBS, effective July 1   Trump pardons former Colorado elections clerk, but it alone won’t free her from prison   Oklahoma Black Lives Matter leader indicted for fraud, money laundering   Lawsuit challenges the approval of an exploratory drilling program in Alaska petroleum reserve   Florida’s capital city approves plan to sell golf course built on slaves’ graves, despite outcry   WATCH: Millions face higher health costs after Senate rejects rival ACA proposals

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Trump Gives Chilling Hint on His Future Plans

The president, 79, is looking forward to the next 10 years.

President Donald Trump ended his speech at the White House Congressional Ball with what sounded like a nod to a never-ending presidency.

The president again hinted at his wish to remain beyond the end of his second term, having previously told reporters he would love a third term.

At the moment, that would mean breaking the Constitution’s term limit laws in the 22nd Amendment.

“Have a great Christmas, a great Hanukkah, and a fantastic year,” he told attendees at the ball as first lady Melania Trump stood at his side. “We’re going to have a great three years, four years, 10 years, we’re going to make it great. Our country’s going to be strong, safe, rich, it’s going to be great. We’re going to make America great again!”

He also made waves in October with a video posted to Truth Social that showed him ruling for thousands of years, all the way up to the year 90,000 and beyond, ending with a sign that simply read, ‘TRUMP 4EVA.’

The president’s official merch store even began selling ‘Trump 2028’ hats in April, encouraging supporters to “make a statement” by wearing them.

Others in Trump’s orbit have also hinted at a potential circumvention of the 22nd Amendment, including Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who said in November that he was in talks with “one of the top constitutional lawyers” in the U.S. about the potential paths to a third Trump term.

“As he works through this, his quote to me is ‘Bannon, you can drive a Mack truck through the 22nd Amendment,’” Bannon recounted on his War Room podcast, adding, “So, suck on that.”

Bannon also told The Economist in an October interview that there were “many different alternatives” to overcoming the 22nd Amendment.

“At the appropriate time, we’ll lay out what the plan is, but there’s a plan and President Trump will be the president in ’28,” Bannon said.

Others, like former DOGE head Elon Musk, have also expressed support for continued MAGA control of the White House, albeit with Vice President JD Vance taking over in 2028 instead. Polling currently has Vance leading the pack of preferred potential nominees for 2028, although his lead is shrinking.

Polling released earlier this month found that among voters who backed Trump in 2024, 45 percent oppose the president running for a third term in 2028, and 43 percent support the idea.

But among all Americans, just 21 percent are in favor of a third Trump term.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-gives-chilling-hint-on-his-future-plans/?

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Stephen Miller’s Wife Makes Embarrassing Error While Defending Melania’s English

Katie Miller also said the first lady had “devoted her life” to serving the U.S.

The wife of the architect of Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy made an embarrassing blunder while attempting to defend Melania Trump’s command of English. Katie Miller, a conservative podcaster who is married to top Trump aide Stephen Miller, was apparently trying to argue that the first lady, a former model from Slovenia, is the “good” type of immigrant, unlike Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, who fled Somalia’s civil war as a child.

“Melanie Trump loves her country and has devoted her life to serving it,” Miller wrote in a post on X. “You can’t say the same for Ilhan Omar who openly hates America and laughs off the theft of a billion dollars by her own Somali people.”

Her replies were quickly flooded with users asking, “Who’s Melanie?”

Miller had been responding to a post from progressive influencer Alex Cole saying, “Ilhan Omar speaks MUCH better English than Melania. Just sayin.”

The Daily Beast has reached out to Miller for comment.

Earlier this month, President Trump renewed his long-running attacks on Omar, who spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya before being granted asylum and moving to the U.S., later becoming a citizen in 2000 at age 17. During a Cabinet meeting on Dec. 3, the president began ranting about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Omar, whom he called “incompetent” and “terrible,” and complaining about Somali immigrants in the state.

The tirade came after news broke that some members of Minnesota’s Somali diaspora had allegedly defrauded the state by billing for social services that were never provided.

“Ilhan Omar is garbage. Her friends are garbage. These aren’t people that work. These are people that say, ‘Let’s go, come on, let’s make this place great.’ These are people that do nothing but complain,” he said.

Less than a week later, he took the stage at a rally in Pennsylvania and announced a “permanent pause” on migration from “hellholes” like Somalia, and once again raged against Omar until the crowd began chanting, “Send her back!”

“Trump’s obsession with me is beyond weird. He needs serious help,” the lawmaker responded on social media. “Since he has no economic policies to tout, he’s resorting to regurgitating bigoted lies instead. He continues to be a national embarrassment.”

The president has a long history of attacking immigrants, despite having four children with two different women who came to the U.S. as immigrants from Eastern Europe: the late Ivana Trump, with whom the president shared Don Jr., Eric, and Ivanka, and Melania, mother of 19-year-old Barron Trump.

Melania Trump, 55, came to the U.S. in 1996 and was working as a model when she met Trump in 1998. She also started a jewelry brand in 2009.

As first lady, she has been largely missing in action, surfacing briefly for traditional White House duties like welcoming the official Christmas tree, and to support a bill banning deepfake porn.

Lately she’s also taken upon herself to push artificial intelligence on students as head of the “Presidential AI Challenge,” though President Trump admitted at a White House ball Thursday that he had no idea what policy initiatives his wife was working on.

Much of her time appears to be spent on her personal business ventures, including promoting a meme coin and launching a production company to back a $40 million documentary about her life being produced by Amazon MGM Studios.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/stephen-millers-wife-katie-makes-embarrassing-error-while-defending-melania-trumps-english/?

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Trump’s Gold Gifts Accused of Looking Like a ‘Bribe’

A former White House ethics adviser offers a grim prediction about the president’s fancy presents from Swiss business leaders.

A former White House ethics adviser says gold gifted to Donald Trump during tariff negotiations gave “the appearance of a bribe.” Richard Painter, 64, who served as George W. Bush’s chief ethics lawyer, told the Daily Beast he believes lawmakers should be asking questions about the lavish gifts. The gold Rolex desk clock and a one-kilogram gold bar were given to Trump by a Swiss business consortium a week before he issued a favorable tariff cut for the country and then displayed on his desk in the Oval Office. That should all trigger a congressional investigation, according to Painter.

“It just gives the appearance of a bribe,” Painter said, adding, “I’m not saying it is a bribe…[but] to avoid the appearance of bribery and corruption, presidents almost always refuse…gifts.”

Trump, 79, hosted a delegation of business leaders on Nov. 4 and received the clock and the bar, which was later valued at roughly $130,000.

Under federal practice, high-value gifts presented because of a president’s official position are typically treated as U.S. government property and disclosed publicly. While the president is not bound by the sub-$20 gift cap that constrains most federal employees, Painter noted that he remains subject to criminal bribery law—and to impeachment for “bribery” under the Constitution.

Painter served as associate counsel to the president and chief White House ethics lawyer under Bush from February 2005 to July 2007, advising the president, vice president, senior staff, and nominees on conflicts of interest, disclosures, and ethics compliance. He has since held leadership roles in government-ethics reform.

His remarks come as America’s government ethics watchdog told the Beast it has no paperwork showing any review of the haul. This led Painter to urge congressional scrutiny—but he conceded that the “highly partisan” nature of Capitol Hill made such action unlikely until Democrats wrest back control, possibly at next year’s midterms.“We’re not there yet,” he said, “but…receiving gifts from business people impacted by tariffs at the same time as making decisions on tariffs is a red flag, and ordinarily, I think, would trigger an investigation in the House and the Senate.”

In Switzerland, lawmakers Raphaël Mahaim and Greta Gysin have pressed prosecutors to assess whether giving luxury items to a U.S. president during a sensitive trade moment violated their criminal code on offering an “undue advantage” to a foreign public official.

Prosecutors there confirmed to the Beast on Nov. 27 that they had received multiple criminal complaints “against persons unknown” over the meeting and are reviewing them before deciding whether to open a full investigation.

A person close to the delegation later told the Beast the items had been presented “to the Presidential Library… in full compliance with both U.S. and Swiss law, and were cleared with the White House ethics counsel.”

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Beast, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) said it had “searched and has not located any records” tied to the Nov. 4 Oval Office meeting or the gifts.

While administrations are not legally required to consult OGE on every gift, experts say the body is commonly consulted when high-value items from interested parties could be seen as influence-seeking.

Painter drew a distinction between the White House Counsel’s Office—which can advise internally—and OGE, which issues government-wide standards and guidance. He acknowledged that OGE’s “no records” letter does not mean the White House failed to review the matter, and that the administration’s lawyers may have given advice without consulting the body.

But Painter said the optics already undercut confidence and that the better practice would have been to refuse the gifts outright or immediately transfer them to the U.S. government—“which is not the Presidential Library”—and have them instead “displayed in the Smithsonian,” or similar.

The controversy comes amid Trump’s aggressive tariff agenda and business dealings by the Trump family business in the Middle East that critics say raise conflict-of-interest concerns. Painter argued that, taken together, the gifts, tariff leverage, and family-linked ventures all push the United States toward a system the nation’s founders sought to prevent.

“It’s transactional, [in] the way oligarchies operate,” he said, calling the dynamic “very Russian…the way oligarchs and monarchs have behaved.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House, the OGE, Raphaël Mahaim, Greta Gysin, and the member organizations of the Swiss delegation for comment. A spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) declined to comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-white-house-ethics-chief-richard-painter-says-donald-trumps-switzerland-gold-gifts-look-like-a-bribe/?

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Applicants for Trump’s Tacky Gold Card Warned of Million-Dollar Problem

There is also the possibility that the president’s visa program will be declared illegal.

Experts have warned that those hoping to fast-track their U.S. visa application via Donald Trump’s gold card scheme could end up losing a fortune due to potential legal obstacles, Axios reported.

The president’s program allows wealthy foreigners who have passed a background check to apply for EB-1 or EB-2 visas—usually reserved for those with “extraordinary ability”—once they have paid $1 million on top of a $15,000 processing fee to the Department of Homeland Security.

However, legal experts have said courts could still decide that using Trump’s Gold Card route to citizenship is illegal because Congress has not approved it. If that were to happen, applicants risk not having their $1 million fee returned.

“At the very minimum, they’d have to sue the U.S. government to get it back,” Shev Dalal-Dheini, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told Axios.

Dalal-Dheini also warned that any successful legal challenge to Trump’s financial-loophole visa scheme could result in recipients having their citizenship revoked. Those who apply for EB-1 or EB-2 visas through the traditional route could also miss out on having their applications approved.

“They are supposed to go to Nobel Prize winners, people who have done groundbreaking research—doctors, athletes, [people] providing services,” she said. “This gold card has no requirement. It’s just, ‘give us a million dollars and feel free to do whatever you want in the United States,’ instead of ‘individuals of exceptional ability.’”

Shira Levine, deputy legal director at the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area, also warned that people who apply for Trump’s gold card scheme could end up becoming victims of fraud because the program bypasses the usual legal process.

“There are not steps made to make sure people receive accurate information and have access to legitimate counsel,” Levine told Axios. “We’ve created a system where people don’t know what the law is, and everyone has to guess what the Trump admin and his appointees say the rule is, rather than what it actually is.”

Trump’s gold card program was launched on Wednesday. The administration is also proposing a $5 million “platinum card” scheme that would allow holders to spend up to 270 days in the U.S. without being subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income.

“President Trump has been clear: our immigration system should benefit the United States of America, which deserves the best and brightest who can contribute to our country,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai told Axios in a statement.

“Unfortunately for liberals and Democrats, neither the Trump administration nor the American people are interested in flooding our country with people who cannot contribute to our country or follow our laws.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/applicants-for-donald-trumps-tacky-gold-card-warned-of-million-dollar-problem/?

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The Aerial Drug Raid That Proves Trump’s War Is a Show of Farce

The fatality-free raid managed to slip under the radar.

Did you hear about the U.S. Coast Guard making its biggest drug bust in 20 years? The one on December 5, when it seized 20,000 pounds of cocaine valued at $148 million from a speedboat in the eastern Pacific?

Probably not.

However big that bust may have been, the crew was only arrested, not killed. And it was not accompanied by dramatic aerial video of a targeted, what court papers call, “go-fast vehicle (GFV)” speeding across the sea, and then suddenly obliterated in a fiery flash, as in 22 strikes in which the Department of War has killed 86 since September 2. That body count includes two who survived an initial strike but died in a “double tap.”

The video on the Coast Guard’s Facebook and Instagram pages of its historic Dec. 5 bust shows no “taps” at all.

“We didn’t do a full press release for that case, just what’s in the captions on FB/IG,” a Coast Guard spokesperson told the Daily Beast.

There is only a sniper firing a .50 caliber rifle from a Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) chopper to disable the target boat’s multiple outboard engines. A boarding party on a small boat from the stern of the Coast Guard Cutter Monro then closed in to arrest the crew as a first step towards justice, but not extrajudicial death.

Yawn.

Back in April, the Trump administration sought to publicize its anti–drug efforts with a press event in Florida featuring Attorney General Pam Bondi and FDI Director Kash Patel dockside with the Coast Guard Cutter James, which had seized 44,500 pounds of cocaine and 3,800 pounds of marijuana valued at some $500 million in 11 interdictions over six weeks in the eastern Pacific. A Coast Guard captain recounted stopping six GFVs in 72 hours. The overall effort resulted in 34 arrests, but no drug runners were eliminated. And, the prospective punishment was only a few years behind bars. The event generated even less excitement than most Bondi/Patel appearances that do not involve the Epstein files.

Barely even a yawn.

Then, on Sept. 2, President Trump announced an exciting escalation.

“Earlier this morning, on my Orders, US Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in international waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States. The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action.”

Trump also posted a 29-second video marked “UNCLASSIFIED” that amounts to a snuff film clip. The footage showed a GFV at the moment it was blasted by an aerial projectile and included three different views of fiery results.

“A clear demonstration of military might,” declared Pete Hegeth in keeping with his rebranding as a Secretary of War whose favorite word seems to be “lethal.”

But Trump and Hegseth failed to mention that two of the crew had survived for 45 minutes before they were dispatched with a “second tap.” That only came to light with reporting by The Intercept and The Washington Post. Even some Republicans in Congress demanded to see the full video. President Trump initially agreed.

“I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have, we’d certainly release, no problem,” he said.

But the president again lived up to his nickname TACO Trump, chickening out and saying it was Hegseth’s call. Hegseth said he was “reviewing” the matter.

In the meantime, the U.S. had continued to conduct strike after strike, releasing even more video snuff clips stamped “UNCLASSIFIED.” The designation was apparently predicated not on national security, but on public relations. And it extended only so far as the images that make the Trump administration look good.

That seems to have been the guiding principle after an Oct. 16 strike left two more unwanted survivors. Rather than again just unleashing a “second tap,” the military sent in a rescue helicopter that carried the two men to safety. Both were subsequently released, including 42-year-old Andres Fernando Tufino Chila of Ecuador, who had been arrested in an unheralded 2020 Coast Guard HITRON operation while at the helm of a GFV carrying more than a ton of cocaine. He was sentenced to five years, but was freed early, in January of 2024.

In the midst of all this, Trump decided to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was sentenced to 45 years in prison after being convicted at trial for his role in a conspiracy said in court papers to have “transported through Honduras more than approximately 500,000 kilograms of United States-bound cocaine.” Trump maintained that Hernandez had been the victim of a “Biden set up,” even though Emil Bove had been a prominent member of the prosecution team. Bove went on to represent Trump in the porn star hush money case. Bove then served as a high-level justice official until June, when Trump appointed him to a lifetime position as a federal judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Hernandez was freed from Hazelton Federal Prison in West Virginia on Dec. 1. The government of Honduras has since issued a warrant for his arrest. But he apparently remains one undocumented Honduran with a criminal record who is immune from being grabbed and deported by ICE.

Three days after Hernandez was released, the U.S. blasted another GFV, this time killing four. The Trump administration posted the latest video clip, but continued to resist releasing the longer one from Sept. 2 for reasons of public relations passed off as national security. Hegseth remained loving of lethal.

“We are tracking them. We are killing them, and we will keep killing them so long as they poison our people with narcotics!” he said at the Reagan National Defense Forum on Dec. 5, the same day as the huge aerial drug raid in which the Coast Guard killed nobody.

If the 79-year-old president really cared about national security, he would spend more time highlighting the successes of the Coast Guard and less time bragging about a killing spree.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-aerial-drug-raid-that-proves-trumps-war-is-a-show-of-farce/?

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Trump Voter Torches His Utterly ‘Tone Deaf’ Affordability Crisis PR Stunt

The president “should stop mocking affordability,” a conservative Texas mom fumed.

A woman who voted for Donald Trump savaged the president for his “tone-deaf” affordability tour stop, slamming his planned national public-appearance blitz as an insult to the American people.

USA Today columnist Nicole Russell took aim at Trump in a scathing op-ed published after president appeared in the key swing state of Pennsylvania for the first stop of what has been described as an affordability tour. The president is attempting to reassure voters that his economic agenda is delivering results, even as many Americans struggle with high prices.

Additional tour stops are expected later this month and into the new year nationwide, according to Axios.

“I voted for President Donald Trump, and I don’t regret it,” Russell wrote in the op-ed, published Friday morning. “But some days, I get tired of his banter and smears. They’re prosaic and stupid and they usually don’t solve any problems or showcase progress, even if there has been.”

The Texas mom of four described the tour as “as tone-deaf as it sounds” and urged Trump to “stop mocking affordability.”

“It’s not a partisan word—and most Americans are tired of the high costs of living that have lingered since the pandemic,” Russell wrote. “There is no need for a public relations spectacle— if Trump is confident in his policies, and I think he should be, or he should be willing to make changes where necessary.”

Russell also called on Trump to remain in D.C. and said his administration should “communicate confidently and directly to the American people about the economy.”

The criticism comes as Trump faces mounting scrutiny over his handling of the economy during his second term in office. Reducing grocery prices was one of Trump’s central promises during the 2024 campaign.

Trump was suffering from record low approval ratings at 31 percent as he kick-started his affordability tour this week.

The 79-year-old appeared to acknowledge those unfavorable numbers on Thursday in a post on Truth Social.

“When will I get credit for having created, with No Inflation, perhaps the Greatest Economy in the History of our Country?” Trump wrote. “When will people understand what is happening? When will Polls reflect the Greatness of America at this point in time, and how bad it was just one year ago?”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-voter-torches-his-utterly-tone-deaf-affordability-crisis-pr-stunt/?