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

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Presidential address

President Donald Trump delivered a primetime address to the nation on Wednesday, touting his economic achievements despite many Americans' concerns about affordability. He opened his speech by airing grievances against Democrats and his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, blaming them for inflation and rising health care costs. The president went on to pledge fresh relief for Americans in 2026, pointing to new tax measures passed under Republicans' "one big beautiful bill." Throughout the address, Trump defended his administration's actions — from tariffs to his immigration crackdown — though he repeated several false claims that have been previously debunked.   Christmas checks More than 1.4 million members of the US military will receive checks for $1,776 before Christmas, President Trump announced Wednesday. Trump called the payment the "Warrior Dividend" in honor of the country's founding in 1776. Trump did not specify how the initiative would be funded, but credited his tariffs for bringing in revenue. "We made a lot more money than anybody thought because of tariffs … Nobody deserves it more than our military, and I say congratulations to everybody," Trump said. A senior administration official told CNN that the Pentagon has been directed to distribute $2.6 billion as a "one-time basic allowance for housing supplement" to all eligible service members in pay grades O-6 and below.   ps:He's actually taking credit for this!! This was already OK by congress!!!!!   Boat strikes At least four people were killed in the latest US strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in international waters. US Southern Command said the vessel, operated by a "designated terrorist organization," was targeted on Wednesday in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It marks the second US strike this week on an alleged drug boat in the region. At least 99 people have been killed since the US launched Operation Southern Spear in September. The strikes are a part of increased US military action in South America, focused on Venezuela, a nation that President Trump has accused of stealing US "oil, land and other assets."

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Trump Spills Real Reason for Manic Address When Cameras Stop

Susie Wiles made me do it, the president explained after his disastrous televised address.

President Donald Trump was heard explaining why he gave his bizarre national address as soon as the cameras stopped rolling.

In seemingly unguarded comments made in front of journalists after the address, the president admitted that it had not even been his choice—but that his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, had made him do it as she plays cleanup amid the fallout from her embarrassingly candid Vanity Fair article.

In Wednesday night’s 18-minute double-speed diatribe, the 79-year-old president fired off mistruth after mistruth about how well his administration is doing and attacked his predecessor, Joe Biden, without having anything new to say.

The White House address was carried live by the major networks, with CBS forced to interrupt the live finale of its reality TV show hit Survivor so viewers could catch the presidential speech.

Trump announced the rare national address on Truth Social on Tuesday evening, just hours after Vanity Fair published its profile of Wiles. His post prompted speculation of a major public announcement, perhaps even a declaration of war on Venezuela.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner, CNN’s medical analyst who served as Vice President Dick Cheney’s cardiologist for three decades, was one of many to voice alarm about the president’s “manic” address even as the cameras rolled.

“I’m seriously concerned about the health of the president,” Reiner posted on X. “No one should be happy to see the president like this. He looks unwell.”

Detailing what happened after the cameras stopped rolling in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room, the Independent’s White House correspondent, Andrew Feinberg, posted on X: “@realDonaldTrump turned to his staff and asked how he did. They all responded [with] some version of great. ‘Very good, it looked really good!’”

According to The Hill’s White House correspondent, Julia Manchester, the staff in question were Wiles and deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, communications director Steven Cheung, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and his executive assistant Natalie Harp—none of whom were ever likely to say anything else.

Tellingly, Feinberg added: “He then said @SusieWiles told him he had... to give an address to [the ] nation."

Freelance political journalist Laura Rozen confirmed Feinberg’s version of events and revealed further details of what was said as Trump was “reviewing his speech with staff.”

“He... said (not exact) ‘Susie told me I have to give an address to [the] nation,’” she wrote on X. “They went back and forth on length, and he said ‘how did I do?’ Wiles said ‘I told you 20 minutes and you were 20 minutes on the dot.’ The president then thanked the press and walked out.”

While those Trump aides present may have said they thought the address went down well, Zeteo report that “several close Trump allies” had said that “it was shocking—or at least puzzling—that anyone in the White House would think that this speech was a wise idea."

“As they put it: The speech didn’t refocus the national conversation. It wouldn’t move the needle. And it did not look like the strategic move of somebody operating from a position of strength,” the outlet added.

But the revelation that Wiles—upon whom Trump so heavily relies and has praised to the point of even calling her “Susie Trump”—engineered the entire primetime event as her Vanity Fair embarrassment lingers is telling.

In the magazine’s two-part epic on Trump’s first year back in office, built on 11 on-the-record interviews, the previously discreet Wiles showed remarkable and surprising candor.

She described Trump as having an “alcoholic’s personality,” drawing on her experience of her own father’s addiction, and said he openly judges people by their “genes.”

She told the reporter she had read the Epstein files and concluded there was “no evidence” Bill Clinton visited the island, directly contradicting one of Trump’s favorite attacks, while conceding the president himself appears in the records but “not doing anything awful.”

Wiles also branded Vice President JD Vance a “conspiracy theorist”—lumping him in with FBI Director Kash Patel and his outgoing No. 2, Dan Bongino—and portrayed Elon Musk as a ketamine-using “odd duck” who naps in a sleeping bag at work.

The fallout was immediate and brutal, leading to MAGA unrest over her “swampy” lobbying past, critical TV segments, and a frantic damage-control campaign by Wiles and the West Wing—which culminated in Trump’s inexplicable address to the nation.

In the primetime speech itself, which was reportedly shorter than usual due to the insistence of TV bosses that it didn’t eat too much into the finale of reality show Survivor, Trump rattled through a greatest-hits reel of economic boasts that crumbled under basic scrutiny.

He promised troops a $1,776 “warrior dividend” Christmas bonus, even though Congress, not the president, controls the purse strings.

He bragged that gas was under $2.50 “across much of the country,” and even $1.99 in many states, despite federal data showing an average of around $2.90 and no state at $1.99.

He claimed to have slashed drug prices by “as much as 600 percent,” a mathematical impossibility, and to have attracted $18 trillion in new investment, even though his own White House puts the number below $10 trillion.

He insisted more Americans are working than ever, while unemployment has hit a four-year high. And he declared the affordability crisis “fixed” even as food prices and inflation remain stuck around 3 percent.

All of it was delivered at breakneck speed, leaving the public—and Trump’s own aides—baffled.

The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-forced-to-address-the-nation-to-cover-up-susie-wiles-vanity-fair-disaster/?

ps:Right, lets just blame someone else except the one that's really to blame!!

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All the Crazy Claims in Trump’s Frenzied Primetime Address

Gasoline, unemployment, affordability—the list goes on.

President Donald Trump was immediately on the defensive in his 18-minute primetime address Wednesday, insisting he’s “fixing” his predecessor’s “mess”—but his arguments were filled with holes.

The 79-year-old president, known for making tens of thousands of false claims, was at it again during his rushed speech from the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room.

For one, Trump claimed that gasoline was under $2.50 in much of the country, but the national average last week was $2.90, according to the Energy Information Administration. He also asserted that prices reached $1.99 in many states, but AAA says no state averaged that amount or lower.

The president then repeated his assertion that he lowered drug prices by as much as 600 percent—a mathematical impossibility, even though administration officials like Dr. Mehmet Oz tried to spin it otherwise.

In his address, Trump tried to credit his tariffs for how companies in the U.S. are “building factories and plants at levels we haven’t seen.” However, factory construction spending fell this year after peaking during the last year of his predecessor’s term.

Trump’s claim that he has brought in $18 trillion in investments also doesn’t square with the White House’s figure of $9.6 trillion.

Another problematic claim by the president: that more Americans are working than ever before. The nation’s unemployment rate reached a four-year high last month, and about 700,000 more Americans were unemployed in November than before Trump took office.In an effort to confront the issue of “affordability,” which he has been claiming is “hoax” created by Democrats, Trump argued that the price of a Thanksgiving turkey fell by one-third in the last year. He may have been exaggerating by more than double, as the American Farm Bureau estimated turkey prices dropped about 16 percent. When it comes to wholesale, however, prices rose this year due to avian flu outbreaks, according to Purdue University.

The White House last month was called out for promoting how Walmart’s Thanksgiving food package was less than it was last year—without mentioning that it had fewer items.

Also on affordability, Trump declared that “inflation is stopped.” But the September rate was three percent—about the same as it was back in January.

And on migration through the southern border, Trump claimed that the Biden administration saw 25 million entries in total. As of last December, though, Customs and Border Protection said there had been under 11 million “encounters” with migrants under Biden. Interestingly, one of the new plaques on the White House’s “Walk of Fame” puts the number at 21 million, so it’s unclear how Trump gained an extra 4 million in the span of a few hours.

Finally, Trump repeated his claim that he had “settled eight wars.” That’s hyperbole, as has been previously noted.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/all-the-crazy-claims-in-trumps-frenzied-primetime-address/?

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FACT FOCUS: Trump’s glowing account of progress is at odds with his government’s own stats

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s glowing account of progress under his watch Wednesday was out of tune with the experience of price-squeezed Americans and the story told by some of his government’s own statistics.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-speech-fact-check-inflation-9d18903505dae93beb783594e435c72b?

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Trump demands Venezuela pay for seized US oil assets after calling for ‘blockade’ President Trump demanded Wednesday that Venezuela return assets that it seized from U.S. oil companies years ago, justifying anew his announcement of a “blockade” against oil tankers traveling to or from the South American country that face American sanctions. Read more.

What to know: Trump cited the lost U.S. investments in Venezuela when asked about his newest tactic in a pressure campaign against leader Nicolás Maduro, suggesting his administration’s moves are at least somewhat motivated by disputes over oil investments, along with accusations of drug trafficking. Some sanctioned tankers are already diverting away from Venezuela.   Venezuela first moved to nationalize its oil industry in the 1970s, a process that expanded under Hugo Chávez, who nationalized hundreds of private businesses and foreign-owned assets, including oil projects run by ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.   While Venezuela’s oil has long dominated relations with the U.S., the Trump administration has focused on Maduro’s links to drug traffickers, accusing his government of facilitating the shipment of dangerous drugs into the U.S. In his social media post Tuesday night, Trump said Venezuela was using oil to fund drug trafficking and other crimes.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ US military says strike on alleged drug boat kills 4 in eastern Pacific   House rejects resolutions to limit Trump’s campaign against Venezuela and drug cartels   A timeline of the US military's buildup near Venezuela and attacks on alleged drug boats

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Trump admin said it rescued more than 62K children from sex trafficking and abuse. Here are the facts

A November 2025 initiative by ICE is focused on the sponsors migrant children have been placed with.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/12/17/trump-admin-children-sex-trafficking-abuse/?

Tucker Carlson Humiliated as Big Trump Prediction Flops

The former Fox News host made a brave claim about the president’s speech from the White House on Wednesday.

Tucker Carlson is under fire for hyping President Donald Trump’s primetime speech to the nation as an announcement of war only for the president to rattle off stale talking points and whine for 18 minutes.

The former Fox News host turned podcaster, known for peddling conspiracy theories, appeared on Judge Andrew Napolitano’s Judging Freedom podcast ahead of Trump’s speech on Wednesday, where he claimed that trusted sources had tipped him off to an explosive announcement coming in the speech.

“Here’s what I know so far, which is that members of Congress were briefed yesterday that a war is coming, and it’ll be announced in the address to the nation tonight at nine o’clock by the president,” Carlson said. “Who knows, by the way, if that will actually happen—I don’t know, and I never want to overstate what I know, which is pretty limited in general—but a member of Congress told me that this morning. So that’s what I know.”

Trump announced no such plans and didn’t even come close to it. Instead, he used the speech to frantically try to sell Americans on the idea that the economy is in good shape, and even if it isn’t, it is entirely his predecessor Joe Biden’s fault.

There have been growing concerns that Trump’s escalating pressure campaign against Venezuela—including frequent targeting of alleged drug-smuggling boats and the blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers—could be a precursor to launching an all-out war.

Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, even let slip to Vanity Fair that the president plans on “blowing boats up” suspected of carrying Venezuelan drug smugglers until the country’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro, “cries uncle,” hinting at a possible push for regime change.

Carlson, after claiming Trump’s speech would decisively put an end to speculation about war with Venezuela, said he hoped his prediction would not turn out to be true, arguing that there has never been a “regime change effort that’s benefited the United States” dating back several decades.

“And if there is, tell me what it is. I just don’t see any evidence of that. It all seems like a net loss for us,” Carlson said.

During his Fox News heyday, Carlson was so influential within Trump’s orbit that he was credited with helping to talk Trump down from entering a war with Iran. In January 2020, shortly after Iranian General Qassem Soleimani was killed in U.S. airstrikes authorized by Trump, Carlson urged the administration on air to avoid further escalation if Iran retaliated, asking, “Who’s actually benefiting from this?”

Shortly afterward, Trump said the U.S. would not respond to Iran’s retaliatory attacks at U.S. bases in Iraq, with Carlson’s objection to such a move widely believed to have played a part in his decision, according to Associated Press.

This time around, however, Carlson’s foreign policy input was roundly mocked for being astonishingly out of touch amid a wider feud in the world of MAGA podcasters.

“So Tucker lied,” far-right podcaster Nick Fuentes posted on X.

Far-right influencer Laura Loomer added: “Tucker Qatarlson takes another L!”

The Daily Beast has contacted Carlson for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/tucker-carlson-humiliated-as-big-trump-prediction-flops/?

ps:It's interesting how all these people just throw each other under the bus when they can't do anything else!! It reminds me of criminal organizations!!!!!

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CNN Data Guru Reminds Trump His Economic Approval Rating Is ‘Flat Out Awful’

Harry Enten discusses Trump’s dire numbers on the night of his address to the nation.

CNN’s data guru Harry Enten reminded Donald Trump that he is recording “flat out awful” approval ratings on the economy as the president tries to insist he is doing a fine job.

Enten, the network’s chief data analyst, noted on the night of Trump’s frantic speech attempting to convince voters that the economy is working that a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Americans are rapidly turning against the president on the crucial issue.

“Donald Trump’s economic net approval rating—it is just flat out awful, and it has declined precipitously since the beginning of his second term in office,” Enten told The Source’s Kaitlan Collins.

“In January, he was in positive territory at plus 6 percent, [but] way down he goes now. According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, he is 25 points underwater,” Enten added. “Donald Trump was elected to fix the economy. It was a strength for him during his first term, but at this point it is an anchor on him. That’s why we’re seeing poll after poll after poll showing him with a net negative approval rating—and in some polls, the worst approval rating he has had in his entire second term.”

The Reuters/Ipsos poll cited by Enten, released Tuesday, shows that just 33 percent of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, the lowest figure of his second term.

The damning survey is just one of several showing Trump with record-low approval ratings and plunging confidence in his ability to deal with the flailing economy.

Rather than address the financial struggles facing tens of millions of Americans, Trump has brushed aside affordability concerns, calling them a “con job” and a “hoax” orchestrated by Democrats.

The optics grew so dire that Trump was forced to deliver a primetime address Wednesday night, during which he gave a frantic and misleading speech largely aimed at blaming former President Joe Biden for the current state of the economy.

Soon after the 18-minute address, Enten said Americans are clearly not buying Trump’s insistence that the economy is strong, or that it will rapidly improve.

“How do Americans actually feel about it? All I can say is they feel awfully about it,” Enten said. “The percentage who say we’re on the right track when it comes to inflation—just 20 percent of Americans. The vast majority think we’re on the wrong track.”

“What about jobs? Just 27 percent of Americans think we’re on the right track when it comes to jobs in this country,” he added. “So we’re talking about under 30 percent on two key economic metrics.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/cnn-data-guru-harry-enten-reminds-trump-his-economic-approval-rating-is-flat-out-awful/?

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Trump’s handpicked board votes to rename Washington performing arts center the Trump Kennedy Center

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s handpicked board voted Thursday to rename Washington’s leading performing arts center as the Trump Kennedy Center, the White House said, in a move that made Democrats fume, saying the board had overstepped its legal authority.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-kennedy-center-performing-arts-8b7159067174f3a0070b877c149ff0a7?

Trump signs executive order that could reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that could reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug and open new avenues for medical research, a major shift in federal drug policy that inches closer to what many states have done.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-marijuana-executive-order-bc1e3e5376105fdc6240982b10f74f6f?

Trump suspends green card lottery program that let Brown University, MIT shootings suspect into US

President Donald Trump suspended the green card lottery program on Thursday that allowed the suspect in the Brown University and MIT shootings to come to the United States.

https://apnews.com/article/brown-mit-shooting-suspect-green-card-1d6c1d83bc1237a21d0ca65d39981fa8?

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Trump Media goes nuclear

Illustration: Maura Kearns/Axios Trump Media's surprise nuclear fusion merger expands President Trump's interests into a promising yet unproven space hugely important to the AI world, Axios' Ben Geman, Dan Primack and Katie Fehrenbacher report. ? It's a massive pivot for Trump Media — which lost about 70% of its value this year through yesterday. ? And it will provide cash for the nuclear firm it's merging with, TAE Technologies, in the race to develop fusion — a contest that, if won, would mark one of humanity's biggest scientific achievements, cracking open a potentially limitless source of clean energy. Trump Media has arguably fallen short at media, generating less than $3 million in sales for the first nine months of 2025. ? The Truth Social parent has branched out into financial products, AI, streaming and more. But none of those changes moved the needle like today's pivot to fusion, which caused its shares to spike nearly 40% as of midafternoon. ? The all-stock deal values the merged company at $6 billion. A source familiar says that the combined firm intends to be solely focused on energy, which means that Truth Social and other Trump Media assets could be sold or otherwise separated. TAE CEO Michl Binderbauer didn't confirm or deny that when asked by Axios. ? Donald Trump Jr. will sit on the board of the combined company. ☢️ Fusion generates immense energy by combining atoms, as opposed to the atom-splitting fission technique used in today's reactors. ☀️ Fusion, which powers stars like the Sun, is generally seen as safer and cleaner than fission — but remains theoretical as a human-controlled power source. Money is pouring into fusion in hopes that it might satisfy the AI boom's seemingly endless thirst for electricity. ? What's next: The companies need approval from shareholders and regulators to merge, which they expect to do in mid-2026. Fusion remains future tech, unlikely to be commercialized while Trump is in office. ?But the companies say they plan to begin construction next year on "the world's first utility-scale fusion power plant," with hopes of generating power in 2031, Binderbauer tells Axios. Get the latest.

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? Out: "Kennedy Center." In: "Trump-Kennedy Center"

Via X The Kennedy Center board has voted to rename the performing arts venue the "Trump-Kennedy Center," Axios' Avery Lotz reports. ? White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, on X: "Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be a truly great team long into the future!" ?️ The building's name is set by law, and legal pushback is likely. ?While Leavitt framed the vote as "unanimous," one board member, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), says she "was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move." (Video) Exerting his influence over the iconic institution has been a major part of Trump's effort to recast D.C. in his own image. ?Trump — who had a tense relationship with the Kennedy Center during his first term — dismissed members of the board and was unanimously elected chair in February. The current board includes Attorney General Pam Bondi, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and second lady Usha Vance, among other Trump allies. Go deeper.

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Band-Aid Solutions

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The president took a few moments out of his scattershot address to the nation last night to shield his party from blame over high health-care costs. If federal subsidies for the Affordable Care Act lapse at the end of the year, premiums may rise for more than 20 million Americans, dramatically worsening the affordability issues that are now top of mind for both parties. “It’s the Unaffordable Care Act,” Trump said. And a health-care system in crisis is “the Democrats’ fault.”

In fact, Democrats have consistently pushed to extend the subsidies; it was House Speaker Mike Johnson who said on Tuesday that the House would not vote on whether to continue funding the credits before the House’s holiday recess. Yesterday, a few GOP dissenters lent their signatures to a Democrat-led effort to force a vote, but they were outflanked by party members who oppose the credits (mostly on grounds that it costs too much and enables insurance fraud). Even if the House did put it to a vote before current funding for the subsidies expires on December 31, the Senate has already rejected the plan. Barring some drastic intervention, health-care costs will go up.

A month ago, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries predicted that either those subsidies would be renewed “or the American people will throw Republicans out of their jobs next year and end the speakership of Donald J. Trump once and for all.” His theory is about to be tested. When funding lapses in the new year, some Americans will see their costs double or triple. The average affected enrollee will see their costs rise by more than $1,000 annually. An education consultant in Chicago told NPR that her plan would increase from $180 a month to $1,200 a month. Many enrollees may no longer be able to pay for coverage at all; nearly 5 million people could become uninsured. An Ohio family said on MS NOW that because their new plan would cost $1,500 monthly with a $15,000 deductible, they are having to forgo coverage altogether. At a moment when the majority of Americans are dissatisfied with Trump’s stewardship of the economy, millions could soon be hit with a huge new expense.

That’s when the second part of Jeffries’s prediction starts to kick in. The 2026 midterms are almost a year away, so there’s plenty of time for public opinion to rebound—but as of now, Americans trust Democrats more than Republicans to handle the economy, per PBS, and the cost of living remains the top priority for Republicans and independents ahead of the midterms. Backlash to the Republican stance on the Affordable Care Act contributed to House Democrats’ resurgence in the 2018 midterms. Now GOP lawmakers will have to contend with the possibility that it could happen again.

During the recent government shutdown, which was largely caused by disagreements over whether to extend the ACA credits, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right Georgia representative and former Trump ally, broke rank. “When the tax credits expire this year my own adult children’s insurance premiums for 2026 are going to DOUBLE, along with all the wonderful families and hard-working people in my district,” she wrote in October. Among the four centrist Republicans who defied Johnson yesterday by signing a Democrat-led discharge petition was Michael Lawler, the first Republican to represent his New York district since the early 1980s (he’s up for reelection next year). Also on the list is Brian Fitzpatrick, a representative for a battleground district in Pennsylvania. “I know my people back home care tremendously about this,” he said last week.

That sentiment extends well beyond Pennsylvania. Recent polling shows that 57 percent of Americans support the Affordable Care Act, and 74 percent support extending the credits. Responding to broader concerns about health-care costs, Trump recently unveiled TrumpRx, a new initiative to let consumers buy drugs directly from manufacturers at lower prices. But that can only do so much to offset a major insurance-premium spike. Health care involves more than just drugs—decreasing the sticker price for weight-loss and migraine medications won’t do much to cover a trip to the hospital for a broken leg.

Another tactic the administration is considering is simply handing out checks, which could help mitigate the impact of those expiring subsidies. In his speech yesterday, Trump announced a onetime bonus of $1,776 for all members of the military, and he has contemplated sending every American a neat sum of $2,000—part of his doubling down on affordability messaging. But these are Band-Aid solutions to long-term problems that have been exacerbated over the past year. Trump’s tariffs have played a large role in raising prices on all kinds of consumer goods. When the health-care cutbacks of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act go into effect next year, millions of Americans could be forced off Medicaid, opening them up to sky-high hospital bills. And even though Trump hasn’t spearheaded the fight against health-care credits, he said last month that he’d “rather not” extend them.

If insurance premiums rise, they will do so on Trump’s watch. Although it’s too early to know how that will affect next year’s midterms, come January, the affordability crisis could get even worse—and the GOP will have to confront its choices.

Related:

• The coming Obamacare cliff
• Obamacare changed the politics of health care.

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Monkey Sounds, “White Power” and the N-Word: Racial Harassment Against Black Students Ignored Under Trump

In Colorado, students taunted their Black classmates by playing whipping sounds on their cellphones and saying they should be shot “to make us a better race.”

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-education-department-civil-rights-racial-harassment?

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Pam Bondi Gets Jail Time Warning Over Epstein Files Cover-Up

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna threatened the attorney general directly.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has been threatened with jail time if she doesn’t cough up the full Epstein Files by Friday’s deadline.

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna made the pointed threat on Thursday evening in an X video ahead of the 11:59 PM deadline.

Khanna, whose Epstein Transparency Act spearheaded the charge towards the release, said: “Let me be very clear, we need a full release. Anyone who tampers [with] documents, or conceals documents, or engages in excessive redaction will be prosecuted because of obstruction of justice.”

He then asserted: “We will prosecute individuals regardless of whether they’re the attorney general, or a career or political appointee. We need full transparency and justice for the survivors.”

He added in his written post: “Any person who attempts to conceal or scrub the files will be subject to prosecution under the law.”

Khanna said “rich and powerful men” have “raped underage girls” and they will be held accountable, as will those who helped cover up the abuse.

The text of the law, however, does not specify a penalty if the DOJ fails to meet the deadline. Khanna told NBC News earlier this week that while officials would likely avoid charges during the current administration, “they could be subject to prosecution given the federal law, and the statute of limitations will likely run into a new administration.”

He added that they also “could be hauled in front of Congress, the Oversight Committee,” and “there could be federal lawsuits” over any inaction.

It comes after President Trump was forced to sign a bill ordering Bondi’s DOJ to release the files after a rare show of bipartisanship on the Hill.

A 30-day deadline, which expires Friday night, was imposed.

The law allows for redactions in certain circumstances, but Khanna’s X appeal makes clear that Democrats demand the fullest release possible.

However, it is expected that the Justice Department will obscure some details relating to victims’ identities or related to ongoing investigations. There has been speculation that the investigation was re-opened in order to give the authorities an excuse to limit what is released.

The law expressly prohibits redactions related to “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.”

It comes after a new tranche of Epstein-related files was released by the House Oversight Committee on Thursday.

This included a load of photographs, provided by the late financier’s estate. The trove of roughly 70 images includes heavily-redacted photographs of women’s passports, pictures of prominent men linked to the late sex offender, and “concerning text messages about recruiting women for Jeffrey Epstein,” according to a statement from Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the committee’s ranking Democrat.

The committee released the images without providing any explanation of the circumstances under which the photos were taken, but they caused fresh headaches for the Trump administration ahead of Friday’s deadline.

The White House was also put on the defensive on Thursday by a fresh New York Times investigation. The piece, which carries interviews with more than 30 former Epstein employees and victims, closely links President Trump to the man he sought to distance himself from.

“The two men’s relationship was both far closer and far more complex than the president now admits,” it read.

The article detailed how their relationship started in the 1980s, and said they bonded as they “pursued women in a game of ego and dominance.” It stated, “Female bodies were currency.”

Epstein was “perhaps [Trump’s] most reliable wingman” as he hit up parties in New York and Florida over nearly 20 years.

The DOJ has been contacted for comment on Khanna’s video.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pam-bondi-gets-jail-time-warning-over-epstein-files-cover-up/?

ps:Serously? Threatening this administration is like calling for your execution!!!!!

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Murdoch Paper Gives Trump Brutal Reality Check on His Economy

“Paychecks are barely keeping pace with rising costs,” The Wall Street Journal noted.

Rupert Murdoch’s flagship business newspaper says Donald Trump has his work cut out persuading Americans that a new “golden age” is just around the corner.

In the latest salvo from its editorial board, the Wall Street Journal noted that the latest Labor Department figures showing inflation falling to 2.7 percent in the year to November, down from an estimated 3 percent, offer the president a “glimpse of sunshine” as he tries to convince voters the economy is in good shape.

But tens of millions of Americans struggling with a cost-of-living crisis are still likely to be concerned that real hourly earnings have increased by only 0.8 percent over the past year, which it says “isn’t a golden age.” “Paychecks are barely keeping pace with rising costs,” the board says, and inflation will have to fall “further and faster” if Republicans are to avoid an electoral wipeout in the 2026 midterms.

“Mr. Trump boasted about a decline in egg prices (-13.2 percent), but they had been artificially high because of the bird flu,” the board wrote in its latest opinion page offering.

“Americans are still seeing price increases for items they regularly consume, including electricity (6.9 percent), household furnishings and operations (4.6 percent), medical care services (3.3 percent), and food (2.6 percent). A Fox News poll this week found that 72 percent of Americans rate the economy as fair or poor—essentially unchanged from when Trump entered office.

“Mr. Trump is right that he inherited the inflation mess from Joe Biden, but Americans don’t feel that their situation is improving,” the board added. “Job growth has stalled since the spring, and more important, incomes after inflation haven’t been rising fast enough.”

For months, Trump has been recording dire approval ratings as millions of Americans feel he has failed to follow through on his 2024 campaign promises to immediately lower food prices and improve the economy.The president has even had the audacity to routinely brush aside affordability concerns as a “con job” and a “hoax” orchestrated by Democrats.

The issue became so dire that Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, pushed the president to deliver a primetime address to the nation on Wednesday in a desperate bid to convince Americans his economic plans are working.

Instead, the 18-minute speech amounted to the 79-year-old president frantically stringing together misleading boasts about the economy, while simultaneously insisting that any financial pain Americans feel is entirely Joe Biden’s fault.

The Journal’s editorial board also warned that the administration’s hardline mass deportation plans will do nothing to ease economic pressures during Trump’s second term.

“JD Vance says restricting immigration will raise wages for American workers, but there’s little evidence this is happening,” the board wrote.

“Deporting busboys and hotel workers won’t make Americans feel richer. Nor will Mr. Trump telling voters they’ve never had it so good. Americans will start to feel better when they get a raise that isn’t washed away by inflation.”

The Journal’s editorial board has regularly criticized Trump for his economic policy, especially his obsession with import tariffs. Last week it slammed his decision to allow the export of powerful AI chips to China in return for a cut of the revenue as the worst deal since indigenous Indians gave up Manhattan Island in 1626.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/murdoch-paper-wall-street-journal-gives-donald-trump-brutal-reality-check-on-his-economy/?

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Fox News Host Turns on Trump Over Childish White House Trolling

Even Brian Kilmeade couldn’t accept the president’s bizarre new plaques under images of his predecessors.

A Fox News anchor blasted President Donald Trump’s unhinged White House plaques trolling his predecessors, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton.

As part of the president’s ongoing push to give his official residence a tacky makeover, Trump added gold-lettered commentary written in the style of his Truth Social ramblings underneath presidential portraits on the Colonnade at the White House.

“Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American history,” one sign reads. It also parrots Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

Host Brian Kilmeade, who typically speaks favorably of the president on-air, tore into Trump.

“No, I’m not for this at all,” the anchor said when asked for his thoughts on Trump’s additions to his “Presidential Walk of Fame.”

“So they’ve got to mock President Trump or put something on his plaque,” Kilmeade suggested.

He then went on to criticize Trump for installing an image of an autopen meant to represent Biden, who beat him in the 2020 election.

“I am not for the autopen,” Kilmeade continued. “If [Trump] is going to do it outdoors, just put the profiles up there. I am not for dispelling or saying anything bad.

“Plus, a lot of presidents that people think were bad, ended up being looked at as great. I don’t think it’s going to happen with Joe Biden. But I am not for the trolling,” Kilmeade added.

Fox News’ Jessica Tarlov agreed, calling the addition of the new plaques “repulsive behavior.”

“Taking office as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States, Biden oversaw a series of unprecedented disasters that brought our Nation to the brink of destruction,” Biden’s sign reads.

The plaque under Obama’s portrait describes him as “one of the most divisive political figures in American History.”

“Obama also spied on the 2016 Presidential Campaign of Donald J. Trump, and presided over the creation of the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax,” the sign reads, repeating Trump’s unsubstantiated claims.

The addition joins a growing list of dramatic, and controversial, alterations Trump has ordered since returning to the White House for a second term. He has already gilded the Oval Office with Rococo mirrors, gold medallions and eagle figurines, paved over the Rose Garden with a concrete patio, and erected oversized flagpoles on the grounds. He’s also torn down the East Wing to make room for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom that keeps ballooning in cost.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-host-turns-on-trump-over-childish-white-house-trolling/?

ps:That's pretty bad when even Brian speaks out!!!!!

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ICE Still Separating Mom From Her Baby a Month After Dropping Charges

The mother says her U.S.-born baby remains in state custody despite her case being dismissed.

A woman detained by ICE says her baby daughter remains in state custody a month after prosecutors dismissed the charges that led to her own arrest.

Esther Lopez-Sanchez is being held at a South Louisiana processing center while her child remains in the custody of Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services (DCS), according to a report Wednesday by Fox 17 Nashville.

The station reported that the baby girl was born in the U.S. and described her as a citizen. It did not report the baby’s age.

Migrant advocate Zeinab Al-Mathkour told Fox 17 she speaks with Lopez-Sanchez daily from detention and the separation has left her devastated. “This has destroyed her,” Al-Mathkour said.

Al-Mathkour said Lopez-Sanchez was arrested last year while pregnant and taken to the Rutherford County jail, where she went into labor and gave birth at a nearby hospital.

After about two-and-a-half days with her baby, Al-Mathkour said, Lopez-Sanchez was transferred into immigration custody without the child.

Fox 17 said court records show Lopez-Sanchez was arrested on Aug. 15, 2024, alongside her partner, Roberto Nunez-Gomez, on drug and firearm charges.

Her charges were dropped on Nov. 12, 2025, the station said, while Nunez-Gomez was convicted.

Al-Mathkour told the station Nunez-Gomez is the baby’s father and said the pair are no longer together. Despite this, DCS and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, have refused to return the child to Lopez-Sanchez a month after she was told she would face no further action.

Al-Mathkour told FOX 17 News Lopez-Sanchez asked to give the baby to family members. “(DCS) told her those won’t work because one of them is undocumented. The other one lives with someone who is undocumented,” she said.

Asked if Lopez-Sanchez would be prepared to go back to Mexico to be reunited with her child, Al-Mathkour said: “Her whole focus is regaining custody of her daughter, whether that means fighting deportation here, or going back to Mexico.”

Steve Gill, a conservative political analyst, argued the central question is the child’s welfare, including whether the baby should remain in foster care in the U.S. or be sent to live with family outside the country.

Immigration attorney Andrew Rankin told Fox 17 that custody decisions are typically guided by a child’s best interests, but said parents must have a meaningful chance to be heard. “There is an argument that as a matter of due process, parents have the right to parent their child,” Rankin said.

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

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-department-of-homeland-security-separates-mom-from-baby-a-month-after-dropping-charges/?

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Trump Ignores Law and Sticks His Name on Kennedy Center

The name of the president was added to the sign outside the performing arts center.

Construction workers on Friday added Donald Trump’s name to the sign on the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The board of the cultural institution voted to change the name of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to the Trump-Kennedy Center, despite any formal change requiring congressional action.

However, that did not stop the center from slapping the president’s name on the signage one day later.

The Kennedy Center also immediately changed its website Thursday to reflect the the board’s action.

The move came after Trump had repeatedly suggested that the Kennedy Center become the Trump-Kennedy Center for months, both in public remarks and on social media.

The board of trustees consists of mostly Trump loyalists after he fired multiple members shortly after returning to office and named himself chairman.

The White House claimed the board voted unanimously to change the name on Thursday afternoon. “I was honored by it,” Trump told reporters at the White House shortly after. “The board is a very distinguished board, most distinguished people in the country, and I was surprised by it. I was honored by it.”

However, the performing arts center is by law designated the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It is largely understood that the power to rename it lies with Congress.

Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, who is an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board of trustees, was on the call for the vote on Thursday.

She said that when she tried to push her button to object to the renaming of the Kennedy Center, she was muted.

“Participants were not allowed to voice their concerns who were online, yet it was said at the end it was a unanimous vote,” she said. “Clearly, the Congress has a say in this. This center, the Kennedy Center was created by the Congress.”

Democratic Senator Andy Kim posted photos of the construction workers changing the sign and wrote on X: “this needs to stop as it’s illegal to change without Congress.”

The Kennedy Center is less than a mile from the headquarters of the U.S. Institute of Peace, which the Trump administration also put the president’s name on earlier this month.

It happened despite ongoing litigation over the institute’s control after the administration fired most of the staff.

The Kennedy Center was named by Congress as a living memorial to the 35th president after he was assassinated.

Members of his family expressed fierce opposition to the name change after it was announced on Thursday.

Maria Shriver wrote that the Kennedy Center was named for her uncle as a man “who was interested in the arts, interested in culture, interested in education, language, history.”

“It is beyond comprehension that this sitting president has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy,” she wrote. “It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable. It is not.”

“The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law. It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says,” wrote former Rep. Joe Kennedy III.

Trump-appointed Kennedy Center President Rick Grenell claimed the president “saved” the center.

The 79-year-old president has taken a personal interest in redecorating the center. He often talks about the new columns on the building and replacing seating.

A series of updates at the center are underway, thanks to funds allocated by Congress. The grand foyer and other areas also received major updates in 2024 before Trump took office.

However, there have been numerous reports that ticket sales have plummeted and audiences for shows have been largely down since Trump’s takeover.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-ignores-law-and-sticks-his-name-on-kennedy-center/?

ps:He acts as if they had a chose as how to vote!!!!! What a vain person!!!!!!!!!!

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Legal immigration crackdown

Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios President Trump's overnight crackdown on diversity visas is the latest example of his administration targeting legal immigration after high-profile incidents, Axios' Brittany Gibson reports. The administration is using events like the recent Brown University/MIT shootings for "undoing so many aspects of the immigration system," says Doris Meissner, who once led the Immigration and Naturalization Service and is now at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. ?? The alleged Brown/MIT shooter entered the U.S. from Portugal through the diversity lottery immigrant visa program, which allows entry for about 50,000 people a year. ⏸️ The Trump administration paused the program quickly after the suspect's identity and background became public. Trump called to end the program several times in his first term. ?? DHS last month paused all asylum decisions after an Afghan national — who entered the U.S. legally and was granted asylum — attacked National Guard members in Washington, D.C. The agency also suspended all immigration decisions for Afghan passport holders and nationals on the travel ban list, which has grown to 39 countries. ?? And Trump ended Temporary Protected Status for Somalis over reports of widespread fraud in Minnesota. That decision will impact fewer than 1,000 people, but it's created justification for stronger immigration enforcement in the state — particularly in Minneapolis. ? The White House's broader travel ban has halted the legal immigration process for about 20% of people in the system, the CATO Institute says. The pause has stopped citizenship ceremonies and green card interviews, and prevents affected people from renewing their visas. DHS didn't respond to Axios' questions about its broad crackdown on legal immigration in reaction to acts of violence or alleged fraud. In a statement to Axios, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin blamed President Biden for restarting the diversity visa lottery after Trump's first term. "President Trump has repeatedly tried to end the Diversity Visa," McLaughlin told us, providing a timeline going back to 2017. Go deeper ... Diversity visas, explained.

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The Name Game (Heather Diehl / Getty)

View in browser When President Donald Trump visited George Washington’s Mount Vernon in 2018, he reportedly showed little interest in the estate or in the first president. But Trump did have a critique of his predecessor. “If he was smart, he would’ve put his name on it,” he reportedly said. “You’ve got to put your name on stuff, or no one remembers you.” The advice might seem “truly bizarre,” as Mount Vernon’s CEO described the visit to others, but Trump practices what he preaches. Yesterday, the Trump White House announced that the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts—which is chaired by Donald J. Trump, who was appointed to that role by Donald J. Trump, who also filled the board with fellow Trump appointees—would rename the venue the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. This was, the Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt opined, a tribute to “the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year” at the center, “not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction but also financially, and its reputation.” This is a challenging claim from a factual standpoint. As The Washington Post found, ticket sales at the Kennedy Center have tanked since Trump’s hostile takeover of the institution in February. Patrons booed Trump and Vice President J. D. Vance at concerts this year. Events there have taken on an uncanny sheen of decay and mediocrity, my colleague Alexandra Petri reported after attending the Kennedy Center Honors last week. The announcement is also challenging from a statutory perspective. The Kennedy Center’s name was bestowed by a law passed by Congress and can’t be changed by the board on its own. Tim Shriver, John F. Kennedy’s nephew, wrote on X, “Would they rename the Lincoln memorial? The Jefferson?” Who’s to stop Trump, though? Workers began changing the signage this morning, and Congress seems unlikely to act; anyway, even if the name isn’t formally changed, nothing will prevent the president from calling it what he wants. Consider the Department of Defense, which the administration insists on calling the Department of War, despite the former name being established by law. Or more apropos, take the U.S. Institute of Peace, which was also established and named by Congress but which recently got a (rather premature) rebrand, with the facade now reading “Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace.” The gesture here is blunt. The president placing his own name before the nation’s is redolent of dictators in isolated countries—North Korea’s Kim family and Turkmenistan’s Saparmurat Niyazov, who even renamed January after himself—and long-ago absolute monarchs such as Louis XIV, who is said to have declared, “L’état, c’est moi.” In line with his view of himself not merely as an elected representative but as father of the nation (or perhaps “daddy” of the nation?), Trump has put his name and image in places large and small. His scowling visage is next to George Washington’s portrait on National Parks passes; for good measure, citizens can now enter parks for free on Trump’s birthday, which happens to be Flag Day, but no longer on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. A new pay-for-play visa for the very rich is called the Trump Gold Card. The Treasury has proposed 250th-anniversary $1 coins with Trump’s face on them, a serious deviation from precedent. (The law bars printing money with images of living people on it but does not apply to minting coins.) Does anyone have any doubt what name he’ll put on his boondoggle ballroom at the White House? This tendency is not new. Throughout his career, Trump has plastered his name on whatever he can, including many buildings, a hideous pair of sneakers, a bottle-water brand, a short-lived airline, a short-lived magazine, and a short-lived steak line. (At a 2016 primary-victory party, Trump displayed steaks bought at a local butcher but claimed that they were Trump Steaks.) The apotheosis came late in his real-estate career, when Trump had mostly stopped developing properties but continued to license his name to other builders. (Some Trump-branded buildings have removed his name in recent years, as his scandals and growing unpopularity have made it a liability.) The difference is that those things belonged to Trump. The assets of the United States of America do not—they belong to the people. His change to the facade of the U.S. Institute of Peace is just graffiti. Putting his name on the Kennedy Center and parks passes are acts of vandalism of public property, in the most original sense of the word. Many things in this country are named for former presidents, of course. The performing-arts center was established not by John F. Kennedy but as a memorial to him after his assassination. Trump, by contrast, is rechristening things for himself and then pretending it’s an honor rather than an ego trip. He asks not what he can do for his country, but what his country can name for him. Related: Trump’s very weird night at the Kennedy Center Honors Trump takes over the Kennedy Center. (From February)

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Alaska’s governor said he texts Trump. I asked for copies.

A couple of months ago, I was reporting on the typhoon that hit Western Alaska and stopped by a news conference convened by Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/alaskas-governor-said-he-texts-trump-i-asked-copies?

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Why false claim Trump was flown to hospital spread online

Posts claimed the White House "live cameras" had been turned off while Trump's helicopter headed to the hospital.

Claim:

On Dec. 18 and 19, 2025, the White House's live cameras were turned off as U.S. President Donald Trump's helicopter flew him to a hospital.

Rating:

False

A rumor circulating online on Dec. 18 and 19, 2025 claimed the White House "live cameras" had been turned off and suggested U.S. President Donald Trump was transported by helicopter to a hospital.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-hospital-helicopter/?

 

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?? Maduro tests Trump

Photo illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios. Photos: Getty Images

Venezuela is testing President Trump's blockade of sanctioned oil tankers by letting two crude-laden vessels motor out from the South American nation's ports — including one with a military escort. Neither tanker has been sanctioned by the U.S., so technically they're not running Trump's blockade. Why it matters: This newest cat-and-mouse game between Trump and Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro is heightening the tension in the Caribbean. Millions of barrels of oil are at stake — a military conflict seems likelier than ever, Axios' Marc Caputo reports. "Maduro just does not know who he's messing with," a Trump adviser told Axios yesterday. A day earlier, Trump told NBC he wouldn't rule out going to war. Read on.

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US forces stop oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as Trump follows up on promise to seize tankers

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces on Saturday stopped an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela for the second time in less than two weeks as President Donald Trump continues to ramp up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-vessel-merchant-international-waters-e87bf43475ae27e5ec22239dd8150e06?

US forces stop oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as Trump follows up on promise to seize tankers

U.S. forces on Saturday stopped an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela for the second time in less than two weeks as President Donald Trump continues to ramp up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The pre-dawn operation comes days after Trump announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of the South American country and follows the Dec. 10 seizure by American forces of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast. Read more.

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Behind the Curtain: Universal Basic Investment

Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios

America faces an aging crisis: We have too few young people supporting too many older people — just as Social Security, our national retirement program, nears insolvency, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen write in a "Behind the Curtain" column. To make matters worse, young people are increasingly scared to have kids — in part because they fear AI will make finding and keeping jobs harder. The data: The U.S. fertility rate has hit a record low of about 1.6 births per woman — far below the replacement rate needed to keep our safety nets stable. Why it matters: Billionaires Michael and Susan Dell, quickly followed by Ray and Barbara Dalio, are running with the Trump Accounts for kids championed by President Trump — which in turn built on ideas from Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas). It's a potentially scalable, bipartisan partial solution. Think of it as Universal Basic Investment. ?️ How Trump Accounts work: Under the Invest America Act, part of this year's "big beautiful bill," every U.S. citizen born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, automatically gets a $1,000 seed deposit from the federal government. The mechanism: The money sits in a tax-deferred investment account (tracking the S&P 500) and cannot be touched until the child turns 18. The growth: Family and friends can contribute up to $5,000 annually. By age 18, that money could grow enough to fund college, a business or a down payment. On Giving Tuesday earlier this month, Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies, and his wife, Susan Dell, pledged $6.25 billion — roughly 4.5% of their $135 billion fortune — to seed Trump Accounts for millions of kids who missed the federal cutoff. The goal: To give the next generation a financial leg up, plus a living lesson in compound interest and investment. The Dell twist: Government funding covers only newborns. The Dells are stepping in to give $250 each to 25 million existing kids (ages 10 and under) in specific income-qualified ZIP codes. The Dells hope others will follow: They point to "the power of collective action ... what becomes possible when families, employers, philanthropists, and communities all join together to create something transformative." ? A mini-movement has begun. Billionaire hedge fund founder Ray Dalio and his wife, Barbara, announced Wednesday they're donating about $75 million to fund $250 in Trump Accounts for approximately 300,000 Connecticut children. "Following the Dell model," the couple said, "the funds are initially targeted for children [ages 2-10] who live in a Connecticut ZIP Code where the median income is less than $150,000." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the Dalios are part of a "50 State Challenge" aimed at enlisting philanthropists in every state. Column continues below.

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? Part 2: Super-donors shortlist

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

But who could actually afford what the Dells and Dalios did without blinking? We crunched the numbers. If we define "easily afford" as giving $1 billion without selling control of your company or dipping below 90% of your net worth, the list is short but powerful, Jim and Mike write: 1. The "Extremely Easy" Tier (centibillionaires) 14 Americans worth over $100 billion (think Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Ellison, Gates), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The math: For them, a $1 billion donation is less than 1% of their total wealth. It is the financial equivalent of the average family donating $1,000. The potential: If just this small group matched the Dells' $6.25 billion pledge, they could fully seed accounts for nearly every child born in the U.S. over the next decade. 2. The "Very Feasible" Tier 30-ish Americans worth $20 billion to $100 billion (heirs to Walmart/Mars fortunes, founders of Nike, etc.). The math: A $1 billion check represents roughly 1% to 5% of their fortune, a major philanthropic decision, but financially safe. 3. The "Significant but Possible" Tier Nearly 250 Americans worth $5 billion to $20 billion, per the Forbes Billionaires Index. The math: This is where it gets harder. Matching the Dells would require liquidating a double-digit percentage of their assets. But a smaller, targeted pledge (say, $100 million to $500 million) is well within reach. The foundation unlock: While individual billionaires get the headlines, the real sleeping giant is the $1.6 trillion sitting in U.S. private foundations. The unlock: Under new rules, qualifying charitable foundations are exempt from the $5,000 annual contribution cap. They can give as much as they want to these accounts. The scale: A mere 1% shift in total foundation assets toward these accounts would generate $16 billion. That's enough to give 16 million kids a $1,000 nest egg overnight. The hurdle: Historically, foundations prefer grants they can "control" or measure immediately. Handing cash to a 5-year-old, with vesting in 13 years, requires a philanthropic mindset shift — trusting the market over the program manager. That could turn into something bigger — the Alternative UBI: Universal Basic Income (government cash) can be politically toxic and expensive. Elon Musk and others have championed this as a possibility if AI erases too many jobs and requires the biggest AI beneficiaries to help the general population. So we're talking Universal Basic Investment — giving capital that'll grow. ⚙️ Why it works: It bypasses the argument about "handouts." You aren't giving someone money to buy groceries today; you're giving them equity in America that vests when they become adults. ? The education twist: This is the ultimate "lab class" for the AI generation. Gamifying wealth: Imagine an app where a 15-year-old can log in, see their "UBI Fund," watch the line go up, and learn the magic of compound interest. Nonprofits could match contributions for kids who complete financial literacy modules, get good grades, or learn a trade. The bottom line: The Dells just showed that the private sector doesn't have to wait for Congress to tackle the wealth gap or the retirement crisis. They just handed the keys to the engine of American prosperity to 25 million kids. Who will follow? Go deeper: How to opt in to Trump Accounts.