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

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Trump Pictured With Mystery Women in Shock Epstein Photo Dump

The photos are the latest set of documents released by the estate of the late sex trafficker.

An image of Donald Trump posing with a group of mystery young women forms part of a new trove of explosive photos disclosed by the estate of convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.Another photo also shows a bowl of novelty condoms bearing a caricature of the president’s face, along with the text: “I’m HUUUUGE!”

House Democrats on the Oversight Committee released the images on Friday, together with photographs of other people in Epstein’s orbit, including former president Bill Clinton, MAGA acolyte Steve Bannon, Prince Andrew, former Harvard President Larry Summers and billionaires Bill Gates and Richard Branson.

Many of the men have previously been linked to the late sex predator, but the photos may shed new light on Epstein’s expansive networks.

“Obviously, there are photos of powerful men and folks that we want to have an opportunity to speak with,” Garcia told reporters.

“But the thing right now that’s the most important is there is one man who has the power to release the files and get to the truth and bring justice to the survivors—and that’s Donald Trump.”

The committee received about 95,000 photographs from the Epstein estate, and had gone through about 25,000 of them.Only 19 were released on Friday, but more would be put out in the weeks and months ahead, Garcia said.

Some of the images only contain sexually explicit items, such as bondage instructions, a large latex glove and various sex toys.

Others show Epstein’s former friends and associates. One of the photos, for example, shows Trump with six young women or girls whose faces were redacted by the committee. Trump also appears in another photo standing behind Epstein at what appears to be a social event.

Former president Bill Clinton is pictured posing with his arms around Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell, while former Harvard president and Treasury Secretary Larry Summers is photographed on a private plane sitting next to controversial director Woody Allen.

It is not clear whether the plane is Epstein’s infamous “Lolita Express,” the Boeing 727 jet that he used to traffic young girls and women.

Bannon, who served as Trump’s adviser during his first administration, is also in some of the photos, including one showing him taking a photograph in a mirror with the sex predator.

There is also an image of the pair sitting at a desk that appears to display a photo of a young woman on a couch or bed, apparently passed out.

Allen is also photographed on a director’s chair while speaking to Epstein, while Branson is seen smiling on a beach, sitting next to inventor Dean Kamen and holding up a pad of paper as Epstein walks behind them.

A cropped version of a professionally-taken photo of the now former Prince Andrew also forms part of the trove released on Friday.

In the photo, Andrew, who was accused of sexual abuse by Epstein’s most high-profile victim, Virginia Giuffre, appears alongside Bill Gates and King Charles (then Prince of Wales) at summit in London.

It is not clear when most of the photos were taken or who took them. But they are nonetheless likely to reignite the political firestorm that has plagued the White House for months over the Epstein files.

The release of the images came as a new poll showed that most Americans believe Trump is hiding information from the public about the late sex predator.

According to the Reuters/Ipsos survey, 70 percent of respondents said they thought the Trump administration is trying to conceal who may have been involved in the disgraced financier’s child sex crimes—including 62 percent of Republicans.

The president came to office promising his MAGA base that he would release the files, only to later describe them as a Democratic hoax.

In July, the Department of Justice also sought to kill the issue by releasing a memo stating that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”

But the documents released by the committee have sparked ongoing questions about the sex trafficker’s powerful networks and operations.

The photos released so far do not appear to show any wrongdoing, and Epstein’s many associates—including Trump—have long denied knowing about his heinous crimes.

But Trump has been frustrated for months that the matter has continued to take oxygen away from his second-term achievements.

Last month, in a stunning reversal, he finally signed new laws officially directing the DOJ to release all unclassified records and documents connected to the convicted sex offender, but when that happens remains a mystery.

The reversal came only after it became clear that enough Republicans would break ranks with the president and vote in favor of releasing the files.

“But don’t talk about it too much, because honestly, I don’t want to take it away from us,” he told reporters ahead of signing the Epstein Transparency Act. “It’s really a Democrat problem.”

Trump has also ordered his Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Democrats who were once associated with the convicted child sex offender, including Clinton, Summers and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. All three have denied knowing about Epstein’s crimes.

“Once again, House Democrats are selectively releasing cherry-picked photos with random redactions to try and create a false narrative,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in response to the latest photos.

“The Democrat hoax against President Trump has been repeatedly debunked and the Trump Administration has done more for Epstein’s victims than Democrats ever have by repeatedly calling for transparency, releasing thousands of pages of documents, and calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends,” she added.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-pictured-with-mystery-women-in-shock-epstein-photo-dump/?

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Trump sued by preservationists seeking reviews and congressional approval for ballroom project

President Donald Trump was sued on Friday by preservationists asking a federal court to halt his White House ballroom project until it goes through multiple independent reviews and wins approval from Congress.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-white-house-ballroom-sued-preservationists-76dc3bbea28257e79f8becd487d2c4d7?

Trump says he’s sealed Thailand-Cambodia ceasefire, but fighting continues

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that Thai and Cambodian leaders had agreed to renew a truce after days of deadly clashes, even as Thai and Cambodian officials suggested there is still work to do to get the ceasefire that the U.S. administration had helped broker earlier this year back on track.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-thailand-cambodia-ceasefire-clashes-8c7dd464da0c8914e07c7e1146a9ce8c?

Trump's approval rating on the economy hits record low 31%

President Trump's approval rating on his longtime political calling card — the economy — has sunk to 31%, the lowest it has been across both of his terms as president, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC.

https://www.axios.com/2025/12/12/trump-economy-inflation-affordability?

• ?️ The National Trust is suing to stop construction on Trump's White House ballroom project, The Washington Post reports. It's "the first major legal challenge to Trump's planned 90,000-square-foot addition and is poised to test the limits of his power." Gift link.

Trump pledges retaliation after 3 Americans are killed in Syria attack that the US blames on IS

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that “there will be very serious retaliation” after two U.S. service members and one American civilian were killed in an attack in Syria that the United States blames on the Islamic State group.

https://apnews.com/article/syria-us-military-attack-palmyra-is-22f67e54c1a15fcc643de2672b83aacb?

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Succession

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For almost an entire year, Donald Trump has begged the Federal Reserve to slash interest rates and supercharge the American economy. And for almost an entire year, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has barely budged.

Now, as the president prepares to appoint Powell’s successor, amenability seems to be top of mind. “I don’t think he should do exactly what we say,” Trump told The Wall Street Journal today of the future chair. But “I’m a smart voice and should be listened to.”

Trump himself appointed Powell to the chairmanship during his first term, but their relationship has since soured. The president’s nickname for him is “Too Late,” referencing Powell’s reluctance to lower interest rates as quickly and as dramatically as Trump would like. He has also called Powell a “moron” and a “numbskull.” Tensions peaked in July when, during a visit to one of the Fed buildings currently under renovation, Powell fact-checked some of Trump’s claims directly to his face. This week, Trump called Powell a “bad head of the Fed.”

Since he first took office, Trump has applied pressure on the Fed via the bully pulpit of social media. But during his second term, Trump has tried to exert influence over the country’s central bank—long considered independent from the machinations of Congress and the White House—by other means. His attempt this past summer to fire one of the Fed’s governors, Lisa Cook, defied precedent (although it has been held up in the courts for now). He has also installed Stephen Miran, a Trump ally who served elsewhere in the administration, to the Fed’s board. At both of the meetings he attended, Miran pushed for a more extreme rate cut than the other governors.

This week, when the bank cut rates by another 0.25 percent, it did so under a cloud of speculation about who the next Fed chair might be. Powell’s second term as chair will be up in May, and although interviews for a successor are ongoing, Trump has signaled that he’s already made his choice. Kevin Hassett, who leads the National Economic Council and who has been broadly supportive of Trump’s push to decrease interest rates, is widely considered the front-runner. Although Hassett has emphasized his “firm commitment to not being partisan,” his penchant for reduced borrowing costs happens to align exactly with Trump’s. Today, the president confirmed to the Journal that Hassett is at the top of his list, along with Kevin Warsh, who previously served as a Fed governor during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations.

In his second term, Trump has sought to consolidate his influence across federal agencies.  Along the way, many of the traditional checks to executive power have been eroded. Trump’s pick for director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, has used the position to “inflict pain on the Democrats,” as my colleagues Toluse Olorunnipa and Jonathan Lemire put it: Vought has focused his federal spending cuts on programs spearheaded by the Biden administration. At the Department of Justice, the president has fired dissenters and attempted to install loyalists such as Lindsey Halligan and Alina Habba, both of whom were once on Trump’s legal team. For the Fed historian Peter Conti-Brown, Trump’s attempts to pressure the central bank are less about any particular economic strategy and more about the same desire for control that inflected these other moves. “I don’t know that Donald Trump thinks about policy or thinks about the Fed,” he told me. “I think he thinks about power.”

The results of direct presidential influence on the Fed could be catastrophic. The central bank, which controls the supply of money in the United States, is oriented toward what Conti-Brown described as the “medium term.” It is not meant to be an immediate lever for economic growth, as the president seems to see it. Lowering borrowing costs in service of partisan interests without respecting the broader macroeconomic picture, Conti-Brown said, could lead to “the collapse of the currency, hyperinflation, and devastation for all participants in the economy.” It could also give the president yet another avenue to reward his friends and punish his enemies: As my colleague Rogé Karma wrote recently, the Fed is the “central node of the U.S. financial system.” American banks and those who use them all ultimately feel the effects of the Fed’s judgments.

The Fed’s operations have never been entirely disentangled from politics. Sarah Binder, a professor of political science at George Washington University, told me that the central bank needs political support from the administration and from Congress in order to do its job: making tough choices that are sometimes unpopular in the near term but that ultimately ensure the stability of the economy. “Even just raising the issue, trying to fire Cook, going and challenging all this in the courts—that’s not great for this perception that the Fed can work independently,” Binder explained. Public distrust could make it harder for the Fed to perform its essential functions.

Then there’s Trump’s own political situation. Approval ratings for his management of the economy are dismal. This week, the president began an “affordability tour” to convince Americans that things aren’t really as bad as they feel; during the first stop (at a luxury resort), he mocked the word affordability and took a detour into ranting about Somalia. The Republican Party’s success during next year’s midterms could hinge on whether Trump can somehow lower prices on consumer goods, yet the president has not provided a coherent solution.

The Fed exists outside of these factors. After all, it’s not the agency’s job to lower the cost of beef and eggs. Its role is much larger, and touches nearly all aspects of American life—which is exactly what makes the president’s campaign to sway the agency so dangerous.

Related:

• Trump campaigned on affordability. Now he’s calling the idea a “con job.”
• The Court has an easy answer on the Fed.

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Trump Ballroom Challenged

The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued President Donald Trump yesterday, seeking to halt his White House ballroom project until it receives congressional approval and undergoes independent reviews.   The nonprofit alleges Trump exceeded his constitutional authority and skipped federally mandated reviews when he ordered the demolition of the East Wing in October to make space for a ballroom (see photos). At roughly 90,000 square feet, the planned ballroom would be nearly double the size of the White House’s primary residence and accommodate nearly 1,000 people. Trump has criticized the East Wing's roughly 200-person seating capacity as too small, forcing some events to be hosted in outdoor tents. Although Trump has stated the estimated $300M project will be privately funded, that does not necessarily exempt it from federal laws and procedures.   The last major White House renovation was completed in 1952 under President Harry Truman. Costing roughly $60M in today’s dollars, it involved a near-total gutting and rebuilding of the White House’s interior.

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Thailand denies Trump ceasefire claim as clashes with Cambodia continue at border

Thailand’s caretaker prime minister has denied the existence of a ceasefire with Cambodia, despite Donald Trump announcing that both countries had agreed to halt fighting.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/12/thailand-and-cambodia-agree-to-restart-ceasefire-brokered-by-us-says-trump?

ps:I hope no one is surprised?

Newly released Epstein estate photo shows Trump with 6 women

Claim:

A photo from the estate of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein authentically showed U.S. President Donald Trump with a group of six women.

Rating:

True About this rating

In December 2025, a claim (archived) circulated online that a photo from the estate of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein authentically showed U.S. President Donald Trump with a group of six women.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/epstein-photos-trump-women/?

 

Could 'Trump Gold Card' visas bring in president's predicted profits? What we know

Scores of millionaires could afford the visas, but it was unclear how many would buy them.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/12/12/gold-platinum-visas-profits/?

 

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?? Zelensky to meet Witkoff and Kushner on Trump's peace push

Ukrainian President Zelensky arrives this week at the Papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, on the outskirts of Rome, for talks with Pope Leo XIV. Photo: Riccardo De Luca/Anadolu via Getty Images President Trump's advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to meet Monday in Berlin with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders to try and reach an agreement over the U.S. plan for peace in Ukraine, Axios' Barak Ravid reports. Why it matters: The White House is pushing Ukraine hard to approve its plan. But the territorial concessions Kyiv is being asked to make remain a major sticking point. The latest: The U.S. side thinks all other issues are close to resolution, and that Zelensky may have offered a path forward on territory. Russia insists it must control the entire Donbas region under any deal, despite the fact that around 14% of the Donbas is still held by Ukraine. The U.S. included Russia's demand in its plan, while suggesting the area in question become a demilitarized zone. More on the negotiations. ps:My opinion to President Zelensky is, don't waste your time! They don't have your interests in mind!!!!!

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? Calls to pull COVID vaccines surge

Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may have said he won't take vaccines away from anyone. But that's exactly what the anti-vaccine organization he founded asked the FDA to do in a petition this week, Axios' Caitlin Owens reports. Why it matters: The formal document — which the agency is required to respond to — is part of a growing call to pull COVID shots from the market. And it comes during a week when the agency said it's expanding an investigation of deaths potentially related to the shots, this time in adults. ? Children's Health Defense, the organization founded by Kennedy, this week filed a citizen's petition asking FDA commissioner Marty Makary to deem Moderna's and Pfizer's COVID vaccines "misbranded" and revoke their licenses "due to a lack of compliance with FDA regulations." The argument is based on the fine print surrounding the vaccines' conversion from emergency use early in the pandemic to full approval later on. ? What to watch: Kennedy's personal ties to Children's Health Defense may improve the petition's prospects. But most administration-watchers think pulling a vaccine off the market altogether — even the COVID ones — is still a bridge too far. Keep reading.

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Trump pledges retaliation after 3 Americans are killed in Syria attack that the US blames on IS

President Donald Trump said Saturday that “there will be very serious retaliation” after two U.S. service members and one American civilian were killed in an attack in Syria that the United States blames on the Islamic State group. The American president told reporters at the White House that Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was “devastated by what happened” and stressed that Syria was fighting alongside U.S. troops. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

What to know about the US military's role in Syria after deadly IS attack As Trump slams Europe over migration, most leaders toughen their stance. Spain is an exception As gerrymandering battles sweep country, supporters say partisan dominance is 'fair' Grassley built a reputation for government oversight. Has he abandoned it under Trump? Another blue wave? Meet the Democrat trying to make it happen and the Republican trying to stop her   ps:Is this the same IS that was proclaimed as being finished? From his 1st term?? Wow who would've thought that they are still around!!!!!

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White House Refuses to Rule Out Summary Executions of People on Its Secret Domestic Terrorist List

President Donald Trump has shattered the limits of executive authority by ordering the summary executions of individuals he deems members of designated terrorist organizations. He has also tested the bounds of his presidential powers by creating a secret list of domestic terrorist organizations, established under National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, or NSPM-7.

https://theintercept.com/2025/12/12/trump-nspm-7-domestic-terrorist-executions-antifa-boat-strikes/?

Trump Administration Diverted $2 Billion in Pentagon Funds to Target Immigrants, Lawmakers Say

The Trump Administration has siphoned off at least $2 billion from the Pentagon budget for anti-immigration measures, with plans to more than double that number in the coming fiscal year, according to a report released Thursday by Democratic lawmakers.

https://theintercept.com/2025/12/11/pentagon-dhs-immigrants-draining-defense/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=The Intercept Newsletter

“Trump Has Appointed Himself Judge, Jury, and Executioner”

In September, The Intercept broke the story of the U.S. military ordering an additional strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean.

https://theintercept.com/2025/12/12/venezuela-boat-strikes-video-press-coverage/?

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Trump's messianic belief

President Trump speaks last week in Mount Pocono, Pa. Photo: Matt Rourke/AP President Trump and his advisers have an almost messianic belief the economy will take off in the first quarter of next year, based largely on stimulus from the "One Big Beautiful Bill" he signed in July, Axios' Marc Caputo writes. For the White House, it's an article of faith. Why it matters: Trump's bullish belief is key to understanding why he's so reluctant to say there's an "affordability crisis." He calls that talk a "hoax" and a "con job," advisers say, because the problem didn't start under him and the economy is growing steadily. "It's a conundrum," said one Trump adviser who has discussed messaging with the president. "He doesn't want to say 'affordability.' That's different than not wanting to talk about it." ? Zoom in: Trump advisers are pinning their hopes on projections by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that Americans' finances and outlook will improve markedly during tax season: The "refund boom": Working Americans could see as much as $2,000 in returns from the IRS during tax filing season because of the tax-and-spending bill. It extended Trump's 2017 tax cuts and gave new write-offs to some tip earners, Social Security recipients, overtime workers and parents, Bessent said last week. Capital expenditures: Businesses can write these off, retroactive to Inauguration Day, providing more incentives to hire and raise wages. The administration says the expenditures have increased 15% since January. Independent analysts say it's closer to 8%, still strong. Stocks: Most strategists expect markets, which soared this year, to go even higher in 2026, largely because of AI giants that have Trump's hearty backing. Zoom out: Along with hoped-for reductions in inflation, lower interest rates and (continued) lower gas prices, Trump and his inner circle are counting on citizens benefiting from money-saving initiatives, from lax fuel economy standards to his prescription drug plans to sweeping deregulation. "The sky-is-falling crowd is just wrong," a Trump adviser said. The economy is "going to take off like a rocket ship," said another. ? Behind the scenes: Beneath the upbeat tone, some in the White House are frustrated that Trump isn't getting more credit for indicators that historically would be cause for celebration, or at least calm: Real wages (income after adjusting for inflation) are up by about 1% since Trump took office. Inflation is running around 3%, and unemployment is under 4.5%. ? Reality check: Trump, a former developer and reality-show host, is a natural salesman who casts his policies in the most favorable terms — and believes in the power of positive thinking. But his tariffs have driven up some prices, which he has tried to mitigate by rolling back import levies on coffee and beef. There are plenty who are skeptical of the stability of the stock market or the impact of no tax on tips, Social Security or overtime. ? What's next: Trump plans a nationwide address soon to cap off his first year in office. He'll hit the campaign trail ahead of the 2026 midterms and talk about affordability — but in his way. Another adviser said the president "is who he is, and it's why he won. ... And next year, when the economy is taking off, we're going to say we told you so."

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Billionaire Trump, 79, Reveals Unhinged White House Priority as Prices Surge

The president announced that one of his vanity projects was his administration’s “primary” domestic focus.

Donald Trump has revealed the White House’s domestic priority, and it’s not bringing down costs or addressing the looming healthcare crisis. Speaking at a holiday party on Sunday, the president described his aspirations for a triumphal arch in Washington, D.C., as White House Domestic Policy Council head Vince Haley’s “primary thing.”“It’s something that is so special. Uh, it will be like the one in, in Paris, but to be honest with you, it blows it away. Blows it away in every way,” Trump said. “And Vince came in one day and his eyes were teeming. I mean, he couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. He saw it and he wanted to do that. That’s your primary thing.”

Haley previously served as a speechwriter for Trump and as a longtime aide for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

“Vince is unbelievable on policy. And we have a policy thing that’s going to be unbelievable happening,” he said of the proposed arch.

Trump has spent months attempting to remake D.C. in his MAGAfied image, including paving over the White House Rose Garden, demolishing the East Wing, breaking ground on a $300 million ballroom, and announcing plans for other new construction around the nation’s capital—none of which has undergone the necessary legal reviews.

In October, he announced he wanted to build a knock-off of the Arc de Triomphe that would rival the Lincoln Memorial in scale. Sources say Trump has been presented with three different designs, but unsurprisingly he is reportedly most excited about a $100 million white-and-gold monstrosity.

“We’re building an arc, like the Arc de Triomphe, and we’re building it, uh, by the Arlington Bridge, the Arlington Cemetery, uh, opposite the Lincoln Memorial. You could say Jefferson, Washington, everything, ’cause they’re all right there,” Trump described the project on Sunday.

The president has solicited private donations for the project, which would ostensibly commemorate the 250^th anniversary of the United States, and has doubled down on the idea even as his approval ratings have cratered over his administration’s failure to rein in the cost of living.

The president’s own voters increasingly blame him for high prices, and last week, Trump launched a national tour to try to convince voters his economic policies are working—despite the fact that many Americans are cutting back on buying gifts this holiday season.

Then there’s the fact that Republicans still don’t have a plan for bringing down healthcare costs after the latest GOP spending bill cut nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid spending and failed to extend health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.

Healthcare premiums for about 22 million Americans will skyrocket next year after the ACA credits expire, with the average recipient seeing their premiums double.

But to Trump, the more pressing issue is apparently that Washington is “the only city in the world that’s of great importance that doesn’t have a triumphal arch,” he said Sunday.

“This one is gonna blow ‘em all away. The one that people know mostly is the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France. And, uh, we’re gonna top it by I think a lot,” he said.

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

https://www.thedailybeast.com/billionaire-donald-trump-79-reveals-unhinged-white-house-priority-as-prices-surge/?

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Trump, 79, Swears His Non-Existent Boom Just Isn’t Here Yet

The president promised that the U.S. would start reaping the benefits of his tariffs next year.

President Donald Trump has insisted (again) that his tariff-led boomtime is on its way.

“I say it’s the golden age of America, when these factories and plants open up by the thousands,” Trump gushed at a White House Christmas reception on Sunday, as he promised a manufacturing surge the likes of which “this country has never seen.”

The billionaire president, 79, who has urged parents to buy fewer Christmas presents for their kids, failed to mention that Americans have lost trust in him when it comes to the economy. Just 31 percent of respondents have a positive view of Trump’s economic stewardship, according to an AP-NORC poll released last week.Speaking at the Christmas event, Trump leaned on news that foreign companies, including Toyota, have pledged to invest billions in the U.S. However, his tariffs have exponentially increased the cost of materials for U.S. producers. As a result, domestic manufacturing activity contracted for the ninth consecutive month in November.

“It really is all about tariffs,” said Susan Spence, chair of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). “We do not see anything on the horizon that’s going to turn this ship.”

Trump, however, thinks he’s manning the ship through stormy waters and into calm seas.

“They’re coming from Germany, they’re coming from Japan, they’re coming from Canada. Many factories are coming in because there’s, they don’t have, they don’t want to pay tariffs,” he said at the reception in the Cross Hall. “We have an age that’s coming up, the likes of which this country has never seen.”

But it’s been nothing but choppy waters since April. Sectors that saw declines since Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs included apparel, textiles, paper goods, chemicals, and transportation equipment. The transportation industry was hit especially hard, with the ISM saying tariffs have, in some cases, pushed companies to shift production abroad rather than bring manufacturing back to the United States.

As a result, many firms have slowed hiring as they contend with higher input costs and softer demand. In ISM’s survey, 67 percent of respondents said they were maintaining or reducing headcount rather than adding workers.

National unemployment, therefore, rose from 4.3 percent to 4.4 percent in September, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report, released last month.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage point to a range of 3.5 percent to 3.75 percent, citing a job market that has cooled more than expected while inflation concerns persist.

Even still, Trump was bullish that his tariff ploy would come good. “I just look so forward to the results,”

the president said. “You’re going to see results in six months to a year. I think you’ll see results. We’ve never had anything like it.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, too, has claimed that tariffs will bring long-term rewards. “I think we are going to see a substantial acceleration in the economy in the first, second quarter,” he told Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures in November. “We’re already seeing on many prices.”

Both men failed to mention a Supreme Court case challenging the president’s authority to unilaterally impose import tariffs, a decision on which is expected by June. This is, ironically, around the time Trump said that Americans should expect his tariffs to bear fruit.

It comes as voters have cooled drastically on the duties, according to CNN’s data guru, Harry Enten. Over the past 11 months, favorability on tariffs has swung from +4 to -24, with 62 percent of Americans now opposing them.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-79-swears-his-non-existent-boom-just-isnt-here-yet/?

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Trump Enemy Reveals Her Son Was Pulled Over by ICE

Ilhan Omar has complained about the president’s “disturbing and creepy” obsession with her.

Rep. Ilhan Omar said her American-born son was pulled over by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and asked to provide proof of citizenship.

The Minnesota Democrat, who has long been targeted by President Donald Trump’s attacks against Somali people and other immigrants, described the Saturday incident involving her 20-year-old son after writing a letter to the Department of Homeland Security accusing ICE of “blatant racial profiling” in her community.

“Yesterday, after he made a stop at Target, he did get pulled over by ICE agents, and once he was able to produce his passport ID, they did let him go,” Omar told local Minnesota news station WCCO on Sunday.

Omar also blasted the president’s attacks against her, including calling her and other Somali immigrants “garbage” who need to “go back” to where they came from.

During a speech in Pennsylvania—where the president was supposed to be trying to convince tens of millions of Americans suffering a cost-of-living crisis that the economy is in good shape—Trump instead went on a vicious tirade before a MAGA crowd and suggested the country should “throw her the hell out.”

Omar, a U.S. citizen who came to the U.S. as a child while fleeing Somalia’s civil war, told WCCO it is “really disturbing and creepy” to have the president be “obsessed with you and those who share your ethnicity.”“Everybody knows I came to the United States at the age of 12 [and] gained my citizenship at the age of 17,” she added.On Friday, Omar also wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, expressing concern about the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge, in which more than 400 members of the Somali, Latino, and Asian immigrant communities in the Twin Cities area have been detained.

“Constituents, advocates, and local officials have documented blatant racial profiling, an egregious level of unnecessary force, and activity that appears designed for social media rather than befitting a law enforcement agency,” Omar wrote. “I am demanding answers on behalf of my constituents whose constitutional rights are being violated on a daily basis.”

“It is clear to me that this surge came in direct response to Trump’s racist comments about Somali people, and about me in particular,” she added.

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

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-enemy-illhan-omar-reveals-her-son-was-pulled-over-by-ice/?

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Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.

On the one-month anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this year, a group of his appointed aides gathered to celebrate.

https://www.propublica.org/article/usaid-cholera-deaths-trump-humanitarian-aid-cuts-south-sudan?

They Came to the U.S. Legally. Then Trump Stripped Their Status Away.

“Status: Venezuelan,” a new documentary from ProPublica filmmaker Mauricio Rodríguez Pons, follows a family trying to hold on to their legal status as the second Trump administration targets Venezuelans amid an immigration crackdown.

https://www.propublica.org/article/status-venezuelan-trump-immigration-documentary?

Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book on a Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism to Cancer

For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.

https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement?

The Shakedown: Trump’s DOJ Pressured Lawyers to “Find” Evidence That UCLA Had Illegally Tolerated Antisemitism

On the morning of Thursday, July 31, James B. Milliken was enjoying a round of golf at the remote Sand Hills club in Western Nebraska when his cellphone buzzed.

https://www.propublica.org/article/ucla-antisemitism-investigation-trump-doj?

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Without affirmative action, elite colleges are prioritizing economic diversity in admissions Some of the country’s most prestigious colleges are enrolling record numbers of low-income students — a growing admissions priority in the absence of affirmative action. Read more.

What to know: America’s top campuses remain crowded with wealth, but some universities have accelerated efforts to reach a wider swath of the country, recruiting more in urban and rural areas and offering free tuition for students whose families are not among the highest earners.    The strategy could lead to friction with the federal government. The Trump administration, which has pulled funding from elite colleges over a range of grievances, has suggested it’s illegal to target needier students. College leaders believe they’re on solid legal ground.   On many campuses, officials hoped the focus on economic diversity would preserve racial diversity — Black, Hispanic and Indigenous Americans have the country’s highest poverty rates. But even as low-income numbers climb, many elite campuses have seen racial diversity decrease.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Former Trump aides set to appear in Wisconsin over 2020 election fraud charges   Trial set to begin for Wisconsin judge accused of helping immigrant evade federal authorities   Justice Department sues 4 more states for access to detailed voter data   Puerto Rico governor signs bill that critics say will restrict access to public information   Somali flag flown outside Vermont school building over Trump ‘garbage’ slur brings threats   Hassett says Federal Reserve can reject Trump’s views if he is chair   How the IRS’ crime-fighting force took on immigration and other issues in 2025   Ryan Crosswell quit Trump’s DOJ. Now his resignation letter is part of his stump speech for Congress   Ruben Gallego emerges as key Democratic figure in Latino voter outreach   A meeting meant to launch FEMA reforms is abruptly canceled   GOP chairman threatens Clintons with contempt of Congress in Epstein inquiry   Higher cost, worse coverage: Affordable Care Act enrollees say expiring subsidies will hit them hard   WATCH: Trump signs bill honoring 'Miracle on Ice' USA hockey team

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Trump Posts Psychotic ‘TDS’ Insult to Murdered Rob Reiner

The president’s shocking post came hours after the director and his wife were found slain in their home.

President Donald Trump has sought to blame Robert Reiner for his own grisly death, suggesting the Hollywood director was killed due to his own “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

Hours after Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michele Reiner, 68, were murdered at their Los Angeles home, Trump took to Truth Social to slam the slain director as a “struggling” man with “obvious paranoia” who may have brought his death upon himself.

“A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS,” Trump wrote.“He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!”

“Trump Derangement Syndrome” is a term often used by Trump and his supporters to dismiss criticism of him as irrational or hysterical.

The president’s jaw-dropping comments came as tributes poured in from Hollywood and across the nation following the news of the couple’s death.

The Los Angeles Police Department said it was investigating “an apparent homicide” after the pair was found in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood on Sunday afternoon.

The Reiner family confirmed the deaths through a spokesman. Reiner’s son, Nick Reiner, 32, was taken into custody on Sunday night on unspecified charges and is being held on $4 million bail.

But the President’s post was met with swift condemnation on Monday, with critics and supporters variously describing it as “despicable” and “heartless ”—even by the president’s norm-busting standards.

“This is both disgusting and expected. The Scumbag-in-Chief,” said former Republican Ron Filipkoswki, now the editor of MeidasTouch News.

Trump ally turned critic Marjorie Taylor Greene alleged the pair were “tragically killed at the hands of their own son, who reportedly had drug addiction and other issues, and their remaining children are left in serious mourning and heartbreak.”

“This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies,” said the MAGA Congresswoman.

The Blacklist founder Frank Leonard noted: “Every single time I see something this far beyond the pale, my first thought is “yes he’s terrible but that can’t possibly be real. And every time I’m wrong. Every. Damn. Time.”

Even some of Trump’s loyal base was angered by the president’s remarks.

“Terrible post and I am a big Trump supporter,” wrote one person in response to the Truth Social Post. “Take it down!”

“I respect you so much but this was heartless and uncalled for,” said another.

Robert Reiner was a popular sitcom actor before he shifted to directing films, overseeing classics such as “When Harry Met Sally,” “Stand By Me,” and “The Princess Bride.”

He went on to become a notable figure in Democratic politics, using his fame to advocate for issues such as gay marriage and gun reform. He was also a longtime critic of Trump, describing the president in a 2017 Vanity Fair interview as “mentally unfit” to be president.

His wife was a photographer - who captured the original image of Trump’s bestseller “The Art of the Deal” - and later a producer.

The pair married in 1989 and have three children: Nick, Jake, and Romy.

But news of their death shocked the political and entertainment world on Sunday.

The Los Angeles Police Department said that officers responded to reports of deaths at a home around 3:40 p.m. on Sunday.

Police identified it as Reiner’s residence and said that officers discovered two bodies inside. According to TMZ, the pair were the victims of a knife attack and had been found with their throats slit.

Their son Nick was arrested, according to online records from the LA Sheriff’s Department.

Former President Barack Obama said that he and his wife, Michelle, were “heartbroken” to hear the news, while Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement: “This is a devastating loss for our city and our country.”

“Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” she said.

Hollywood tributes also poured in. Actor Josh Gad described Reiner as “one of the greatest directors of our time.”

“He was a friend. He was simply a beautiful person. Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle were two of the most kind and caring souls you could ever imagine. He cared so much for those who had no voices. This loss is devastating. I cannot express how much this hurts,” he said.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-posts-jaw-dropping-insult-to-murdered-rob-reiner/?

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Trump Rages at Dumpster Fire Economy Ratings With Image of Literal Dumpster Fire

The president has finally admitted voters are having a hard time, but he’s made clear he won’t take responsibility for it.

President Donald Trump is rage-posting through a devastating downward turn in the polls by clogging up his feed with dubious assurances it’s all the Democratic Party’s fault.

In a series of reposts on Truth Social on Monday, he appeared to rely on weeks-old posts from random social media users to prop up his own alternative reality.

“President Trump is trying his damndest to clean up this country,” read one post from an account named WomenForTrump, shared to the president’s timeline on Truth Social. “The Democrats are trying their damnedest to stop him.”

“The Biden/Harris regime spent four years carpet bombing American consumers with inflation,” another shared post said. “Now, in a BIG Lie layup ahead of the midterms, Democrats and their Leftmedia publicists are blame-shifting the ‘affordability’ issue to Trump.”

A third post simply featured a rendering of a literal dumpster fire with the year 2020 emblazoned on the side.By almost all metrics, the economy is not doing well under the second MAGA administration. GDP growth has almost halved against 2024 amid the president’s trade war with enemy and ally alike, with the labor market taking repeated poundings as unemployment rises to 4.3 percent nationwide.With the consumer price index at 3 percent, inflation remains persistently high, with the soaring cost of essentials like energy, utilities and groceries understood to be hitting lower- and middle-income families hardest.Almost half of Americans believe the current cost-of-living crisis is the worst they’ve ever seen, according to the latest polls, with one survey in November suggesting as many as 60 percent of respondents disapprove of the president’s economic leadership.Trump, for the most part, has responded to these concerns by shrugging them off as nothing more than a Democratic “hoax.”

In a rare moment of candidness, however, he did concede in a Sunday interview with The Wall Street Journal that voters appear to be having a hard time buying into his claim that he “created the greatest economy in history.”

But even then, he suggested his economic prowess was just too sophisticated for ordinary voters to understand.

“It may take people a while to figure all these things out,” he said. “All this money that’s pouring into our country is building things right now—car plants, AI, lots of stuff,” he went on. “I cannot tell you how that’s going to equate to the voter, all I can do is do my job.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/president-donald-trump-rages-at-dumpster-fire-economy-ratings-with-image-of-literal-dumpster-fire/?

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Americans Say They Can’t Afford Holiday Gifts Under Billionaire Trump

More Americans are spending less on presents this year.

Higher prices are forcing Americans to cut back on holiday presents this year, a new poll has found.

A total of 41 percent of Americans plan to spend less on presents this year, CNBC reported.

That’s a six-point jump compared to 2024 and the most significant increase since the 2022 inflation surge, according to the new CNBC All-America Economic Survey,

Of those who reported they would be spending less, 46 percent said the reason was the “high cost of goods,” a 10-percent increase from last year’s survey.

The survey results come as almost half of Americans say the cost-of-living crisis is the worst they’ve ever seen, with voters increasingly blaming President Donald Trump’s policies.

Only 16 percent of respondents in the CNBC poll said they planned to spend more, but even then, it wasn’t because they were earning more or because they thought the economy was in good shape.

In a new twist, among those spending more this year, 36 percent pointed to high prices as the reason for their increase, an 11-point jump compared to 2024, according to CNBC.

This is the first year that higher prices were found to contribute meaningfully to both increased and decreased spending, CNBC reported.

The survey found that 60 percent of the public was pessimistic about the current state of the economy, the highest level since 2023.

Even a majority of Republicans, or 53 percent, now rate the economy as just fair or poor.

Trump, however, appears in denial about the problem even as his approval ratings have cratered over his administration’s failure to rein in the cost of living.

The president has insisted that the affordability crisis is a “hoax” and a “con job.”

A new AP-NORC poll released last week found that Trump’s approval rating on the economy was just 31 percent, with his overall approval rating hovering at 36 percent.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published over the weekend, the president blamed voters for not yet understanding that he had “created the greatest economy in history.”

“It may take people a while to figure all these things out,” he said. The White House is convinced the economy will take off next year thanks to the “big beautiful” budget bill Trump signed over the summer.

In the meantime, the president has launched a national tour to try to convince voters his economic policies are working, though he’s struggled to stay on message.

“You can give up certain products,” he told supporters in Pennsylvania last week. “You don’t need 37 dolls for your daughter. Two or three is nice, but you don’t need 37 dolls.”

In a statement to the Daily Beast, White House spokesperson Kush Desai blamed former President Joe Biden for the cost-of-living crisis and said that bringing down prices has “informed nearly every action the Trump administration has taken since Day One.”

“Much work remains, and every member of the Trump administration continues to focus on recreating the historic job, wage, and economic growth that Americans enjoyed during President Trump’s first term,” he said.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/americans-say-they-cant-afford-holiday-gifts-under-billionaire-donald-trump/?

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Trump administration says it needs to fight SNAP fraud, but the extent of the problem is unclear

Accusations of widespread fraud are at the heart of the Trump administration's policies on SNAP. Officials looking at the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from a law enforcement view see it as a huge problem, costing taxpayers billions a year taken by both organized crime and people who receive benefits. Some advocates warn that measures intended to thwart fraud could also make it harder for qualified people to access benefits. Read more.

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US officials say Washington has agreed to give Ukraine security guarantees in peace talks JetBlue flight near Venezuela avoids ‘midair collision’ with US Air Force tanker US Army names 2 Iowa Guard members killed in attack in Syria Supreme Court will hear appeal of Black death row inmate over racial bias in Mississippi jury makeup US tariffs are having an uneven effect on holiday prices and purchases   ?? The White House told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that this weekend's killing of a top Hamas commander violated the ceasefire agreement brokered by President Trump, Axios' Barak Ravid scoops. Trump sues BBC for $10 billion, accusing it of defamation over editing of president’s Jan. 6 speech WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Monday seeking $10 billion in damages from the BBC, accusing the British broadcaster of defamation as well as deceptive and unfair trade practices. https://apnews.com/article/trump-bbc-lawsuit-defamation-a9fd196c4f242decd8f28e8d0ce74442?

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The Most Divisive Way (Alex Wong / Getty)

View in browser The president is the only person in the United States with the megaphone to speak to the nation and guide them through moments of tragedy. This morning, Donald Trump used that megaphone to hijack the apparent murder of the director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, in service of his political grievances. “A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump.” He then closed, incongruously, “May Rob and Michele rest in peace!” The post was nauseating even by Trump’s standards. Though Reiner was an outspoken Trump critic and longtime progressive activist, no serious reports have tied the deaths to his politics. Police have arrested the Reiners’ younger son, who had spoken publicly about struggling with addiction and homelessness. This makes Trump’s post seem even stranger. Did he invent this idea in the hope that a Trump supporter had killed the Reiners? Was his post intended as a threat to other anti-Trump people, warning that speaking out might get them killed? Is he simply extraordinarily cruel? Looking for a considered meaning in Trump’s words might be a wild-goose chase, though. The simplest reason Trump posted this is the same reason he posts anything: The man cannot resist making everything about himself, even if it’s the heartbreaking murder of a beloved artist in an alleged domestic dispute. If “TDS” is the tendency to become irrationally obsessed with Donald Trump and project that obsession onto everyone else, then somebody is indeed deranged, and it wasn’t Rob Reiner. Trump’s post creates some pungent ironies. “You won’t see people on the right celebrating the horrific murder of Rob Reiner and his wife,” the Trump ally and conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec wrote on X last night. “Compare to the Left’s reaction to Charlie Kirk’s murder,” Posobiec added. That’s an illuminating comparison. When Kirk critics brought up his more inflammatory rhetoric after his assassination in September, some prominent figures on the right, including the attorney general, accused them of hate speech, and scores were fired from their jobs. (This came at the same time that many right-wing pundits were celebrating Kirk as a champion of free speech.) Evidently the same standards don’t apply to Trump—though the replies to his post on Truth Social suggest some revulsion even among the kind of devoted fans who hang out on his personal social network. Trump has never shined in moments that call for dignity and restraint. Yesterday, discussing the mass shooting at Brown University on Saturday, the president seemed cold: “Things can happen,” he said. Empathy does not come naturally to him, even when it would be politically beneficial. Visiting Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria during his first term, Trump gave us the indelible image of tossing paper-towel rolls to beleaguered survivors. This is what makes Trump’s post about the Reiners not just despicable and cruel but also bad for the country. In moments of national mourning or trauma, a president can seek to bring people together: Think of Ronald Reagan’s remarks after the Challenger disaster, George W. Bush’s speech atop the rubble at Ground Zero, or Barack Obama’s eulogy at the memorial for victims of the Mother Emanuel massacre. Absent these presidents’ genuine ability and instinct to inspire unity, a leader can fake it, offering at least a boilerplate statement. If nothing else, they can just keep quiet. But not Trump. He finds the most divisive way to insert himself. The president began this year with another lowlight: After an air crash over the Potomac River in Washington, Trump was quick to point fingers (DEI was, absurdly, one of the supposed culprits) and slow to console. His choices deny the country a chance to mourn, and they take moments that could be unifying—surely Americans of all political views can agree on the greatness of When Harry Met Sally and The Princess Bride—and turn them into opportunities for anger. Which is, in effect, Trump’s political project. As James Mattis, Trump’s first defense secretary, said in June 2020, “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us.” Some signs have emerged of Americans rejecting this attitude, including huge “No Kings” protests and Trump’s sinking approval rating. But by other measures, Trump has been successful. The country is sad, anagry, and divided—coming to resemble its president more all the time. Related: Trump seizes back the spotlight. Adam Serwer: The cruelty is the point. (From 2018)

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? Trump's new Venezuela phase

Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios; Photo: Brandon Bell and Jesus Vargas/Getty Images

The U.S. is preparing to seize more sanctioned oil tankers off Venezuela as the Trump administration opens a new phase of its pressure campaign on Nicolas Maduro's regime, officials tell Axios' Marc Caputo. That new phase also could soon include "land strikes on Venezuela," President Trump said Friday. Why it matters: Impounding more tankers would threaten to further impoverish the already struggling oil-rich nation as Trump tries to force Maduro to leave office. Trump last week authorized U.S. forces to conduct a first-of-its-kind seizure of a tanker with Venezuelan oil, the Skipper, in international waters. "The president has many tools in the toolbox, and this is a big one," a Trump adviser told Axios. The unprecedented U.S. armada offshore can effectively blockade Venezuela or form the launchpad of an invasion, which Trump so far hasn't authorized. ? Zoom in: As many as 18 sanctioned oil-laden ships are in Venezuela's waters now. Eight are classified as "Very Large Cargo Container ships" like Skipper, which can carry nearly 2 million barrels of Venezuelan crude, according to Samir Madani, co-founder of the firm Tanker Trackers, which monitors global shipping. "It's quite a buffet for the U.S. to choose from," Madani said. So far, Trump doesn't want to move into Venezuelan waters to seize ships. "We have to wait for them to move. They're sitting at the dock. Once they move, we'll go to court, get a warrant and then get them," the Trump adviser told Axios. "But if they make us wait too long, we might get a warrant to get them there," in Venezuelan waters. ⚡ Inside the room: Aides repeatedly have presented Trump with options to escalate military action inside Venezuela by striking alleged drug labs in the jungle, drug warehouses and anti-aircraft military installations. Keep reading.

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? Trump builds AI "Tech Force"

Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

The White House unveiled a new AI-focused "Tech Force" yesterday to tap employees from the nation's biggest tech firms to modernize the federal government, Axios' Emily Peck and Maria Curi write. Why it matters: The White House appears to be trying to pick up the pieces after Elon Musk's DOGE wiped out significant existing tech expertise. Big tech firms will be able to lend their workers for two-year stints before they return to their employer. The administration is attempting to recruit 1,000 employees at salaries between $135,000 and $195,000 a year. Tech Force home page ... Keep reading.

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Susie Wiles Fights for Job After Spilling Every Trump Secret

The White House chief of staff described the jaw-dropping Vanity Fair articles as disingenuous.

Donald Trump’s chief of staff is in damage control after a series of damning interviews about the White House, in which she shared bombshell revelations about the president’s retribution campaign, JD Vance’s conspiracy theory tendencies, and Elon Musk’s ketamine use.Hours after Susie Wiles’ tell-all was published in Vanity Fair on Tuesday morning, sending shockwaves through Washington, she issued a rare statement on social media trying to walk it back.

“The article published early this morning is a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history,” she wrote on X.

“Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story. I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team.

“The truth is the Trump White House has already accomplished more in eleven months than any other President has accomplished in eight years and that is due to the unmatched leadership and vision of President Trump, for whom I have been honored to work for the better part of a decade.

“None of this will stop our relentless pursuit of Making America Great Again!”

Wiles’ comments came after she gave a series of astonishingly unguarded interviews over the first year of Trump’s second term to Vanity Fair author Chris Whipple.

In the two-part series, she also described Trump as having an “alcoholic’s personality”—something she experienced firsthand with her late father, legendary football player and commentator Pat Summerall.

“High-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink,” she said. “And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities.”

Wiles also confirmed that the president is in the Epstein files, but is “not in the file doing anything awful,” and acknowledged that Trump was not telling the truth when he accused Bill Clinton of visiting Jeffrey Epstein’s private island.

The GOP operative also described Russell Vought, head of the Office of Management and Budget, as a “right wing absolute zealot”; took aim at Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the Epstein firestorm; and said that Vance’s conversion from a Never Trumper to MAGA acolyte had been driven by political ambition.

Such a raw on-the-record interview is rare for a serving White House chief of staff, but all the more so for the typically media-shy Wiles.

Long viewed as one of the architects behind Trump’s 2024 campaign revival and now a central force inside the West Wing, the 68-year-old grandmother has spent years cultivating a reputation as a disciplined, discreet operative—someone who not just advises Trump, but tries to keep him focused and filters out the noise for him.

Trump has also long been a staunch defender of his top aide, whom he affectionately calls “Ice Maiden” and once praised as “the most powerful person in the world.”

Wiles was the first major staffing appointment the president made after winning the election last year, marking the first time that a woman has held the position of chief of staff in the White House.

But her jaw-dropping interviews in Vanity Fair are not the first time she has been in the spotlight.

Last month, as reported by the Daily Beast, some of Trump’s longtime supporters started blaming her for his missteps on everything from the Epstein files to his America First agenda.

“She needs to go before she gets him destroyed in the midterms,” wrote one social media user in a sentiment shared by many others.

But Trump allies and family members—including Vance, Donald Trump Jr. and Robert F Kennedy Jr.—hit back to staunchly defend her.

“The Twitter trolls running their mouths don’t know the first thing about Susie Wiles or how this White House works,” Vance told the Daily Beast at the time.

“There are few people in this world that have done more to advance the MAGA agenda than Susie, and we are all incredibly grateful for the leadership she brings to this administration.”

Donald Trump Jr. added that Wiles “has been the most loyal and trusted advisor and friend my father could have ever asked for” and “has built a White House and Administration carrying out the America First Agenda.”

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also defended Wiles.

“Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has helped President Trump achieve the most successful first 11 months in office of any President in American history,” she posted alongside Wiles’s X statement.

“President Trump has no greater or more loyal advisor than Susie. The entire Administration is grateful for her steady leadership and united fully behind her.”

FBI director Kash Patel also weighed in, writing on X: Fake news comes after you when you’re effective… and there’s nobody in @realDonaldTrump’s team more effective than @SusieWiles."

Trump, however, has not yet commented.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/susie-wiles-fights-for-job-after-spilling-every-trump-secret/?

ps:I for one will wait and see if this passes the truth test!!

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MAGA Spins Brown Suspect’s Walk Into Wild Clue

Trump’s cronies are scrambling for a way to blame Democrats for the killings.

Donald Trump’s party is seizing on fringe theories to bolster their claims that the fatal shooting at Brown University was a politically motivated attack.

Authorities on Monday released surveillance footage of the suspected shooter in Providence, Rhode Island, in the Saturday attack that killed Aziz Umurzoko, an aspiring neurosurgeon, and Ella Cook, the vice president of Brown University’s Republican Club, and injured nine others.

The video shows an individual dressed in all black walking along a sidewalk. It quickly drew a reaction from MAGA influencers, who began speculating—without evidence—that the suspect’s gait was proof of a left-wing motive.

“Not sure I can explain this, but he walks like a leftist,” conservative influencer Rogan O’Handley shared with his 2.3 million followers on X.

Another MAGA influencer, known as “Salty Goat,” echoed the sentiment to his roughly 300,000 followers on Tuesday morning.

“I’ve seen a couple of people on here say it and after watching it I have to agree,” he wrote. “This ‘person of interest’ definitely walks like a leftist. Watch it and you’ll see exactly what I mean.”

The so-called evidence isn’t as infallible as MAGA may hope. In the clips circulating online, the only remotely distinctive feature of the suspect’s gait is that, at one point, their hands appear clasped behind their back—a posture some right-wing users online likened to a feminine stance.“That was the first thing I said when I saw the video,” one X user wrote in response to Salty Goat’s post. “I thought it might be a woman for a minute until I saw the second video. And then I thought, it’s an effeminate man.”

The speculation is part of an attempt from the right to frame the shooting as a targeted political attack following revelations about Cook’s involvement in the Republican Party—even as Trump himself has acknowledged that investigators have not determined a motive.

“Ella Cook was just 19 years old—a Conservative, a Christian, and Vice President of the Republican Club at Brown University. She was brutally killed by a shooter in what appears to be a targeted political attack,” conservative podcaster Benny Johnson wrote on X, alongside a list of violent attacks against right-wing figures such as Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk.

“If you still don’t see what’s happening, you haven’t been paying attention.”

The chairman of the College Republicans of America wrote on X that he was filled with “rage and sadness” after learning Cook was supposedly targeted “for her conservative beliefs, hunted, and killed in cold blood.”

MAGA Congressman Andy Biggs agreed, declaring, “Enough is enough. Political violence must come to a swift end.”

Government data and numerous independent studies paint a far different picture of who is most at risk of politically motivated attacks. For years, right-wing extremism has been far deadlier than left-wing violence. In 2024, for example, all extremist-related murders were committed by right-wing extremists, with white supremacists behind eight of the 13 killings and the remaining five having connections to far-right anti-government extremists, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The search for the shooter entered its fourth day on Tuesday. Until Monday, police had released just one video of what they believe shows the suspect walking near campus. Neither clip provides a clear view of the individual’s face, and authorities have said surveillance footage from inside the campus building where the shooting occurred is unusable. The shooter is believed to have fled the campus on foot.

The FBI has described the suspect as “approximately 5’8” with a stocky build” and is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.

“Anyone with information please contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or the Providence Police Department at 401-272-3121,” FBI Director Kash Patel said.

On Sunday, Patel announced that the FBI had tracked down a person of interest—only for local authorities to later release the individual, an embarrassing twist for the Trump-appointed director.

When asked on Monday whether Patel had explained why identifying the shooter had proven so difficult, Trump attempted to shift blame to the university itself.

“You’d really have to ask the school about that because this was a school problem,” Trump said. “They had their own guards, their own police, their own everything. But you would have to ask that question to the school and not to the FBI.”

The Daily Beast has reached out to the FBI for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-spins-brown-suspects-walk-into-wild-clue/?

ps:Doesn't surprise me at all!! That's all this administration does and wants to do, no matter what!!!! That's not saying that other administration haven't done this either, but not to this degree!!!!!!

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Grim Jobs Report Delivers Black Mark to Trump’s Economy

The latest jobs report is a warning sign that unemployment is a growing problem for an economy the president has described as A+++.

President Donald Trump was dealt a setback on Tuesday with a new report showing the U.S. lost 41,000 jobs over two months.

The data, delayed due to the government shutdown, showed the economy added 64,000 jobs last month.

However, 105,000 jobs were lost in October due to the government shutdown, the most lost since the U.S. was reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.

While the White House was quick to tout the November jobs numbers on Tuesday morning, the U.S. economy has added barely any jobs since April.

The data “paints a sobering picture of a job market that may officially be turning frigid after a prolonged cooling period,” according to Indeed’s director of economic research, Laura Ullrich.

There were roughly 700,000 more people unemployed in November than there were one year ago, before Trump took office.

The unemployment rate ticked up slightly more than expected to 4.6 percent last month, up from 4.4 percent in September. That is the highest unemployment rate since September 2021.

While November’s jobs added beat expectations, the report showed that the number of jobs created in August and September was also revised down by a combined 33,000 jobs.

Overall, the economy would have lost jobs over the past six months if not for the healthcare industry. It comes as Congress is grappling with a healthcare cliff.

Ullrich called the healthcare jobs, which accounted for all of 2025’s growth, a “worrisome concentration that is helping to push up unemployment overall as non-healthcare workers struggle to enter the market.”

Manufacturing has continued to lose jobs month over month and is down 58,000 this year to date.

“Far from sparking a manufacturing renaissance, Trump’s reckless trade agenda is bleeding working class jobs, forcing layoffs, and raising prices for businesses and consumers alike,” said Alex Jacquez from Groundwork Collaborative.

The year to date shows the least number of jobs added since 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic forced the U.S. into a recession.

Despite the grim jobs data, the president gave himself an A+++++ on the economy last week, but most Americans disagree.

An AP-NORC poll released last week showed the president’s approval for his handling of the economy has slipped to just 31 percent. 68 percent of adults say the economy is in poor shape.

After the jobs report was released on Tuesday, the president’s economic adviser Kevin Hassett argued that what is “probably” happening is that the data reflects the 250,000 federal workers who took the buyout but stayed in the workforce and are now looking for jobs.

Last week, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point, its third cut of the year.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell noted the softening in the labor market in the decision to cut the rate in December, but he indicated a period of uncertainty ahead.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/grim-jobs-report-delivers-black-mark-to-trumps-economy/?