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

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? 3 issues haunting Trump

Data: New York Times/Siena poll. Chart: Axios Visuals Less than a third of the country feels it's better off compared with a year ago, Axios' Neal Rothschild writes from New York Times/Siena polling, making clear the daunting task Republicans face in keeping both chambers of Congress in November: ? The Epstein files are Trump's biggest liability with voters at a -44 point net approval. Just 53% of Republicans approve of how he's handled the issue. ? Prices: Trump's -24 point net approval on cost of living highlights the difficulty he's had in getting Americans to feel better about inflation than they did under former President Biden. ? Immigration: Trump rode into office with a mandate to seal the southern border and deport undocumented immigrants. ? The intrigue: Trump slammed the polling in a series of Truth Social posts, saying it "will be added to my lawsuit against The Failing New York Times."

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Murdoch Paper Warns GOP: Trump Chaos Risks 2026 Disaster

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board gave Donald Trump a harsh reality check.

Rupert Murdoch’s flagship newspaper warned that the growing chaos of Donald Trump’s presidency could derail Republican hopes in the November midterm elections.

The Wall Street Journal, which Trump called a “rotten” newspaper in an unhinged attack aboard Air Force One last May, published a fiery editorial on Thursday headlined “Donald Trump, Not Unchained.” Trump backing down from his demand to acquire Greenland “shows the limits of his power,” it said.

The paper’s editorial board handed the president a brutal reality check, pointing out that his approval rating has plummeted, his illegal immigration crackdown and mass deportations are widely seen as “excessive,” his flip-flopping tariff policies are “unpopular,” and even Republican voters aren’t a fan of his desire to forcibly annex Greenland.

Trump, 79, has declared the U.S. needs the semiautonomous island, which is part of Denmark, for “national security and even international security” reasons. But after threatening to impose tariffs on multiple European countries unless the territory was transferred to the U.S., the president backed down this week, announcing that he had reached a framework agreement with NATO regarding Greenland’s future.

“It’s hard to know what Mr. Trump might do next, which feeds public anxiety,” the editorial noted, adding that “as his popularity ebbs, so does his political capital.”

The Journal warned that the GOP could be headed for a midterm disaster if the current trajectory continues.

“Democrats took November’s races in Virginia and New Jersey in a rout. The GOP House majority is in peril, and the Senate is competitive,” the board argued. “Mr. Trump’s attempts to gerrymander a safer House majority have backfired as Democrats have done the same.”

“The ultimate check on power is an election,” the editorial board concluded, warning that Trump’s “bull-dozing governance may be building the opposition that costs his party its majority in November.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

A growing number of prominent voices, including White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair and Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina have warned of trouble for Trump as the midterms approach this November.

Meanwhile, the president has begged Republicans to pull out the stops in the midterms to stop Democrats from attempting to impeach him.

The Journal has criticized Trump throughout his second term in the White House, angering the president, who last May said the newspaper had “gone to hell.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/rupert-murdoch-owned-paper-warns-gop-donald-trump-chaos-risks-2026-midterms-disaster/?

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Territorial issue is key obstacle to Ukraine peace, Kremlin tells Trump envoys Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the peace settlement in Ukraine with U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during marathon overnight talks in Moscow, and the Kremlin insisted that the territorial issue needs to be resolved to reach a deal. Read more.

Why this matters: The territorial issue is a reference to Moscow’s demand that Kyiv withdraw its troops from the areas in the east that Russia illegally annexed but never fully captured.     The meeting, which lasted past 3 a.m. Friday, came hours after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sharply criticized his European allies for what he cast as their slow and fragmented response to Russia’s nearly four-year full-scale invasion. “Europe looks lost,” Zelenskyy said in his speech, urging the continent to become a global force.    The issue of land concessions is expected to be the focus as Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. officials hold talks on security matters related to a prospective peace deal in the United Arab Emirates on Friday.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ WATCH: Trump says he thinks Putin and Zelenskyy both ‘want to make a deal’   WATCH: Trump mulling a ‘tariff-free zone’ for Ukraine, says US envoy Witkoff

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Desperate Trump Turns to Democrats for Help With Key Issue He’s Failing On

The president is on a frantic crusade to turn things around ahead of a projected GOP bloodbath in midterm elections.

President Donald Trump is so desperate for fresh ideas on the economy he’s now turning to the people he’s repeatedly blamed for the nation’s dismal fiscal performance.

MAGA insiders told Politico’s Playbook newsletter Friday that the White House is weighing discussions with the Democratic Party as a way of melding “what might be termed traditional Republican approaches and traditional Democratic approaches.”

“While these proposals are more populist in orientation, it doesn’t mean just taking off the shelf a Democratic proposal and refashioning it,” one official said. “It is trying to figure out the ways in which the free market and Trump-ist populism can be advanced using different paradigms.”

Economists remain divided on whether Trumponomics can be advanced at all.

The president has repeatedly leveraged and threatened astronomical tariffs against trading partners as part of an “America First” policy he says will establish a “level playing field” for the U.S. in international markets.

But financial experts have pointed out those same markets have overwhelmingly favored the U.S. for the better part of a century and warned that trade tariffs almost always end up affecting domestic prices, since businesses move to shift the additional costs onto consumers over time.

At 2.7 percent, inflation remains persistently high, with the increased cost of bare essentials like utilities, energy, and groceries reported to be hitting lower- and middle-income families hardest.

While headline unemployment rates may not have spiked dramatically, job growth has slowed significantly across multiple sectors.

Significant government layoffs, with hundreds of thousands of positions axed amid MAGA’s cost-cutting frenzy last year, have further reduced household income for former federal staffers while dampening consumer demand in local economies dependent on government employment.

A record-breaking government shutdown in October and November of last year is also estimated to have cost the economy tens of billions of dollars, placing a considerable dent in both consumer and business confidence across the country.

A fresh Wall Street Journal poll this week found that voters are more likely by 15 percentage points to rate the overall economy as weak rather than strong.

Just over 50 percent of voters said things have worsened over the past year, compared to 35 who believe the situation has improved.

The White House seems conscious of those numbers ahead of this year’s crucial midterm elections. But any reaching out across the aisle only serves to undermine the narrative Trump has consistently pushed about the nation’s economic woes.

Just this week, the MAGA leader told the World Economic Forum in Davos that “under the Biden administration, America was plagued by the nightmare of stagflation,” and that Democratic economic policies had proven “a recipe for misery, failure and decline.”

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

https://www.thedailybeast.com/desperate-president-donald-trump-turns-to-democratic-party-for-help-with-economy/?

ps:So now he wants democrats to come to his rescue?? Personally I wouldn't believe a word he says!! How many times do they want to be bamboozled by this liar?????

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Young Trump Voters Trash Vance as Too Much of a Loser to Be MAGA Heir

The vice president has little support among Republicans aged 18-24 heading into 2028.

A group of young Republicans who support Donald Trump have resoundingly balked at the idea of Vice President JD Vance running in 2028.

Nine Republicans aged 18 to 24 who took part in a focus group conducted by Longwell Partners revealed that the Gen Z voters were far from enthused about the prospect of a White House bid from the MAGA heir apparent, according to Politico.

Eight of the nine young voters did not name Vance when asked who they would like to see as the GOP presidential candidate in 2028. The only participant who suggested the vice president later signaled he was not fully convinced, saying that while Vance’s experience in office was a plus, it was not decisive.

“I think because he already is a VP, like he has more experience than most people will, which puts him at an advantage,” said Ruben T., a voter in Georgia.

Vance has long been expected to announce plans to run in 2028, even though a crucial endorsement from Trump has so far been lukewarm at best.

One major roadblock to Vance openly expressing his presidential ambitions is that the 79-year-old Trump has spent months suggesting he might seek an unconstitutional third term in office.

“I don’t think Vance can win, because I think he’s too connected to the current political establishment in Washington, which I think has a very negative approval rating right now,” said Sam Z., a voter in Minnesota. “If you look at what he was about in 2018, 2019, 2020, and you look at what he’s about now, it’s very, very different.“Somebody younger running for office would be awesome. So that’s the one thing I wouldn’t mind for Vance. But overall, I just don’t think he can win. I think he’s kind of flip-flopped on a lot of issues.”Alexandre M., a voter in Maryland, added that it was time for “someone new” to lead the Republican presidential ticket in 2028. He also cited concerns about Trump’s handling of—and backpedaling on—the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, noting that “JD Vance was also pushing that as well.”When the 18- to 24-year-olds were asked who else they would like to see as potential candidates in 2028, they offered some surprising answers.

Among the names mentioned were 2024 hopefuls Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy; another long-touted 2028 contender, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and political newcomer James Fishback, who is running for the Republican Florida gubernatorial nomination to replace the term-limited DeSantis.

The Daily Beast has contacted Vance’s office for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/young-trump-voters-trash-vance-as-too-much-of-a-loser-to-be-maga-heir/?

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?? Trump pulls Canada invite

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios President Trump rescinded Canada's invitation to his "Board of Peace" for Gaza amid a renewed spat with Prime Minister Mark Carney. ? Carney, last night: "Canada and the United States have built a remarkable partnership in the economy, in security and in rich cultural exchange. But Canada doesn't 'live' because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian." (Watch) Trump's reply, on Truth Social: "Dear Prime Minister Carney: Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada's joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time." ?? Their latest spat began at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Carney warned of a "rupture" in the U.S.-led world order. Trump fired back later, saying that Canada should be "grateful" to the U.S. for "freebies" it receives through the countries' relationship. "Canada lives because of the United States," Trump added. Go deeper.

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Philadelphia sues over removal of slavery exhibit at Independence National Historical Park

Outraged critics accused President Donald Trump of “whitewashing history” on Friday after the National Park Service removed an exhibit on slavery at Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park in response to his executive order “restoring truth and sanity to American history” on display at the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Judge rules Trump administration must keep funding child care subsidies in 5 states for now Trump administration tells agencies to compile data on money sent to Democratic states Trump administration halts use of human fetal tissue in NIH-funded research Woman shot by Border Patrol during Oregon immigration stop sentenced for illegally entering US Immigrants often don’t open the door to ICE, but that may no longer stop officers Maine governor questions ‘secret arrests,’ sheriff says ICE targeted one of his recruits Jury finds Chicago man not guilty of circulating $10K bounty on life of top Border Patrol leader FACT FOCUS: White House shares altered image showing arrest of civil rights attorney in Minnesota New York school violated civil rights law by changing name from ‘Thunderbirds’ to ‘T-Birds,’ US says Renée Fleming cancels Kennedy Center appearances Texas leads the nation in supplying new residents to other states Homicide rate declines sharply in dozens of US cities, a new report shows A TV show about the NYPD is now a legal drama starring the city and Dr. Phil’s son

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Bondi Desperately Tries to Keep Damning Trump Files Hidden Forever

The rest of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on Trump’s classified documents should remain in the DOJ, Pam Bondi argued.

Pam Bondi is defending President Donald Trump’s effort to keep the files on his alleged mishandling of classified documents from public scrutiny.

A court filing on Friday stated that the attorney general believes that Volume II of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on Trump’s potentially criminal actions should remain hidden from the American people who elected him.

Bondi, 60, “has determined that Volume II is an internal deliberative communication that is privileged and confidential and should not be released outside the Department of Justice,” government lawyers said in the filing.

Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee who tossed Trump’s classified documents case in 2024 because she ruled Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional, is handling the case.

Earlier this week, Trump, 79, filed a motion claiming that releasing the files would “lead to the public dissemination of sensitive grand jury materials, attorney-client privileged information, and other information derived from protected discovery materials, raising significant statutory, due process, and privacy concerns for President Trump and his former co-defendants.”

Volume I, released on Jan. 7, 2025, less than two weeks before Trump’s second presidential inauguration, dealt with Trump’s alleged 2020 election interference efforts.

Smith, who testified to lawmakers this week, said he and his team had obtained “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump was guilty of trying to overturn the election results and that he hid classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and tried to obstruct the investigation into it.

Trump “engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results and prevent the lawful transfer of power,” Smith told Congress, adding that the president “illegally kept classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago social club and repeatedly tried to obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of those documents.”Trump naturally freaked out by launching personal attacks against Smith, 56, whom he called a “deranged animal.” He also called for Smith to be prosecuted for perjury, but didn’t offer specifics to back up his claim.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pam-bondi-desperately-tries-to-keep-damning-trump-files-hidden-forever/?

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MAGA Civil War Erupts as Loomer Targets Vance

The online brawl underscores the growing tensions in Trump’s fracturing base ahead of the midterms.

A fresh MAGA civil war has erupted ahead of the midterm elections, with one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal allies lashing out at Vice President JD Vance over abortion and accusing him of being “friends with degenerates.”

The scorched-earth tirade by MAGA acolyte Laura Loomer took place shortly after Vance appeared at the annual March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., where he touted Trump as the most pro-life president in history and encouraged anti-abortion activists to “take heart in how far we’ve come.”

But Loomer questioned his presence at the event, asking her 1.8 million followers on X: “Why is the GOP pushing more abortion messaging in a midterm election year? Didn’t they learn their lesson in 2018?”

“Trump doesn’t like when the GOP focuses on abortion,” she added. “How many times does he have to say this? Trump gets it. The GOP will blow the midterms.”

Vance, however, clapped back, noting that the president himself had sent a video message that was played at the event on Friday, and had encouraged him to be there.

“It’s interesting that some ‘conservative influencers’ spend all of their time attacking the administration and sowing division,” he said. “Disgraceful actually.”

From there, things escalated even further. In a series of posts, Loomer suggested that “this isn’t about abortion. It’s about @marcorubio. We all know”—an apparent reference to the rumored rivalry between the vice president and the secretary of state, both of whom are likely contenders for the top of the GOP presidential ticket in 2028.

“We can pretend it’s about abortion though, lose the midterms & then the Democrats are going to impeach President Trump. It’s sad to see. I’ll keep fighting for Trump and calling out the REAL source of division,” she added.

She then hit out at Vance for failing to call out former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, “who called Trump a pedophile protector.”

“Since the Vice President is so focused on ‘conservative influencers’ causing division, I look forward to seeing him condemn the conservatives who called his wife a ‘dirty jeet’ and his buddy Tucker Carlson, who has attacked every single policy of the Trump administration,“ Loomer wrote.

“Being aligned with the President is more important than being friends with degenerates,” she continued.

The scathing back-and-forth between one of Trump’s most outspoken MAGA acolytes and his vice president underscores the growing tensions that exist within his fracturing base.

It also highlights the strategic dilemma the GOP faces as the midterms approach, with polls suggesting a tight race ahead.

More than three years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022, abortion remains a galvanizing issue for conservatives, but poses risks among swing voters in competitive general elections.

Indeed, some Republican strategists argue that overemphasis on abortion in past cycles contributed to setbacks—a lesson echoed by Democrats’ successful framing of abortion rights as a central issue in the 2022 midterms.

Trump has also warned his party against radical reform, backing away from calls for a national abortion ban during the 2024 election.

Since then, leaders of the pro-life movement have been concerned by what they see as a lack of urgency from the administration on further curbing abortion access.

Vance sought to address this at Friday’s rally by highlighting efforts such as the expansion of the ‘Mexico City’ policy, which bars foreign assistance from directly or indirectly subsidizing abortion programs, and ending the use of fetal tissue from aborted babies in federally-funded research.

“We believe that every country in the world has the duty to protect life,” Vance told a sea of supporters waving signs reading “Choose Life” and “Make More Babies.”

He also touted his own baby news: that he and Second Lady Usha Vance are expecting their fourth child, a son, in July.

“Let the record show, you have a vice president who practices what he preaches,” Vance said.

Trump’s video message also sought to assuage concerns among pro-lifers, who defied frigid conditions to gather at the National Mall before marching to the U.S Supreme Court.

“Six years ago, I was proud to be the first president in history to attend this march in person,” Trump told the crowd through a big screen.

“Since then, we have made unprecedented strides to protect innocent life and support the institution of the family like never before. There’s never been anything like it.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-civil-war-erupts-as-laura-loomer-targets-jd-vance/?

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Trump, 79, Revives Greenland Fantasy With Absurd AI Post

An official White House post rekindled Trump’s Greenland obsession just as the crisis appeared to be cooling.

After a week of geopolitical chaos that appeared to put Greenland to rest, the White House revived President Donald Trump’s fixation with an AI-generated colonial fantasy.

The image, posted to the White House’s official X account, shows Trump marching across a frozen landscape toward Greenland, accompanied by a penguin inexplicably carrying an American flag.

The image’s execution appears as confused as the message. The penguin—a creature not found anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, let alone Greenland—seems to leave identical footprints as the president, despite only one of them presumably having webbed feet.

While the image is ridiculous, it is also revealing.

The post landed just days after Trump dramatically escalated his renewed push to acquire Greenland—complete with threats of using military force—before abruptly retreating under pressure from markets and allies.

Trump has talked about acquiring Greenland for years, but the fixation seemed to snowball in the lead-up to the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he framed the acquisition of the Arctic territory as a U.S. national security imperative.

“You can say ‘yes,’ and we will be very appreciative,” Trump said at Davos. “Or you can say ‘no,’ and we will remember.”

In another moment that left little room for subtlety, Trump boiled the argument down even further, declaring: “We want a piece of ice for world protection.”

The escalation stunned U.S. allies and injected fresh tension into an already strained transatlantic relationship, as leaders warned that openly floating territorial acquisition crossed a line.

“Every day we’re reminded that we live in an era of great-power rivalry,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said at Davos.

“That the rules-based order is fading. That the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must.”

The sequence followed a now-familiar pattern. Trump opened with a maximalist demand before abruptly walking it back once markets, allies, and diplomatic reality pushed back.

Talk of ownership quietly gave way to vague talk of expanded military access and undefined “frameworks,” leaving allies to absorb the fallout.

Markets ultimately proved to be a more effective constraint than diplomacy. After tariff threats tied to Greenland negotiations rattled investors and sent stocks sliding, Trump announced progress toward an unspecified deal, prompting a rebound. This pattern has become so familiar that analysts have named it TACO, or “Trump Always Chickens Out.”

Seen in that light, the AI image reads less like a communications misfire than an accidental metaphor. It depicts a confident march into Greenland—a colonial fantasy untethered from geographic or diplomatic reality.

The penguin may be the most honest detail in the frame. It doesn’t belong in Greenland, and neither does the United States.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-79-doubles-back-on-greenland-fantasy-with-absurd-ai-post/?

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Six ways the Trump administration tried to erase MLK’s legacy in 2025

More than 60 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement helped generate the moral impetus and political will for U.S. lawmakers to pass sweeping legislation to combat the oppressive legacies of slavery, Jim Crow laws, and the many expressions of racial discrimination in the United States. Through landmark legislation, the U.S. outlawed racial segregation, prohibited employment and housing discrimination, and dismantled legal barriers to voter registration—challenging a centuries-long denial of basic human and civil rights for people of color.

https://www.epi.org/blog/six-ways-the-trump-administration-tried-to-erase-mlks-legacy-in-2025/?

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Signs of Wavering

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Earlier this month, Representative Blake Moore of Utah, a Republican, signed a bipartisan statement about Donald Trump’s aggressive pursuit of Greenland that, by the standards of the Trump-loving GOP, amounted to a rare and sharp rebuke of the president. “Sabre-rattling about annexing Greenland is needlessly dangerous,” Moore and Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, a Democrat, said in the statement.

The 45-year-old Moore is in just his third House term, but he’s no rank-and-file member of Congress. For the past two years, he has served as the vice chair of the Republican Conference—the same leadership perch from which Mike Johnson leapt to the House speakership after the mid-session ouster of Kevin McCarthy. Moore also happens to be, with Hoyer, the co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Denmark Caucus, and it was in that capacity that he delivered his warning to Trump. “The last thing America needs,” Moore and Hoyer said, “is a civil war among NATO that endangers our security and our way of life.”

When I spoke with him yesterday, Moore seemed relieved to see that, at least for the moment, the president’s sabers had calmed down. “I think we’ve landed in a really good spot relatively quickly,” Moore told me by phone the morning after Trump announced that he had reached “the framework of a future deal” with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. Moore had yet to be briefed on the developments in Davos, but he said he was happy that the administration had backed off its threat of slapping tariffs on European allies that had opposed Trump’s Greenland endeavor.

Trump’s obsession with acquiring the territory of a long-standing NATO ally has posed yet another test for Republican leaders who have allowed him to largely ignore Congress on both foreign and domestic policy. “I have no intention of getting in the way of President Trump and his administration,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday. He was speaking about the president’s tariff authority, but he could have been referring to any number of issues on which the administration has stretched or entirely obliterated the normal bounds of executive power—including unilaterally dismantling congressionally authorized federal agencies and capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a military raid without even notifying lawmakers. Johnson might still be in lockstep with Trump, but some congressional Republicans have shown signs of wavering. GOP lawmakers joined Democrats to force a vote first on releasing the Epstein files and then on extending expiring health-insurance subsidies.

A few Republicans on Capitol Hill, such as Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, had taken a much stronger stand in opposition to Trump’s move on Greenland than their colleagues usually would have. One House Republican, Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, had suggested that an unauthorized military attack on the island could lead to the president’s impeachment—with GOP support. (Whether Bacon’s prediction is correct is another matter.)

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Tillis and Bacon are planning on leaving Congress at the end of this year, unlike Moore. The most recent member of the Republican leadership to openly defy Trump, former Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, lost her job as House Republican Conference chair and then her seat in relatively quick succession.

Yet Moore’s close ties to Denmark—his family has roots there dating back to the 16th century, a spokesperson told me—and his leadership post make this a tricky moment for him. “Folks don’t recognize how long-standing our ally relation with Denmark is. It’s one of our longest ever,” Moore said. During our conversation, he mixed in praise for the administration’s renewed focus on Arctic security while making clear that, unlike Trump, he does not think that the United States needs to possess Greenland. “There is already so much we can accomplish without having to purchase, acquire, own that land to achieve the outcome that we want,” Moore said.

Moore told me that Congress would need to approve any “sustained military presence” or “trillion-dollar acquisition of Greenland.” And breaking with Johnson, he said that Congress should take a more active role in tariff policy. “I believe we need to be far more involved in all trade discussions,” Moore said.

In his and Hoyer’s statement, they warn that “an attack on Greenland” would “tragically be an attack on NATO.” But when I asked Moore if he agreed with Bacon that a military incursion could lead to Trump’s impeachment, he dismissed the possibility altogether. “There was no potential of an attack on Greenland or military operation there,” he said. “It’s not even in the realm of possibility.”

So, I asked Moore, did Trump back down on Greenland, or did his heavy-handed pressure successfully force NATO to make concessions they would not otherwise have made? Despite his earlier condemnation of “sabre-rattling,” Moore adopted the more charitable view of Trump’s approach. He compared Trump’s pursuit of Greenland to the president’s aggressive first-term push for NATO countries to boost their contributions to the alliance. “President Trump’s a tough negotiator, and people know that,” Moore said. “Denmark is going to stand firm, too, and they should be able to because” they bring a lot to this table, Moore continued. He noted that “if we come to an agreement, I only think it’s going to be a net positive for everybody.”

Moore’s optimistic response struck a familiar note. His brief break with the president was more a hairline fracture than a full rupture. And it still doesn’t take much—in this case, the barest outlines of a diplomatic agreement—for Trump to bring a jittery congressional Republican back into the fold. But as global crises mount and the midterm elections near, the president is discovering that his party is not quite as sanguine as it once was.

Related:

• Does Congress even exist anymore?
• Trump wants to be the new Polk.

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Trump to headline summit on kid accounts

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

President Trump will join Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and philanthropist Michael Dell at a day-long summit in Washington on Wednesday to encourage parents to sign up for Trump Accounts, the new investment vehicle for kids. Why it matters: Trump is highlighting the accounts as part of his push on affordability, with polls showing Americans are critical of his priorities. Trump also plans to tackle affordability during remarks Tuesday in Iowa. The Trump Accounts summit will have a Main Street focus, including families who'll participate in panel discussions — "not just CEOs and celebs," an administration official tells me. Trump will deliver the keynote in the ornate Mellon Auditorium, dedicated by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935. ? Zoom out: Michael Dell of Dell Technologies and his wife, Susan, ignited excitement about the accounts among philanthropists in December when they announced a $6.25 billion commitment that the N.Y. Times called "one of the largest philanthropic gifts ever to go directly to Americans." Two weeks later, Bessent unveiled a "50-State Challenge" to encourage investment in Trump Accounts. Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio committed $75 million for Connecticut children. Expected participants on Wednesday include rapper Nicki Minaj, Kevin O'Leary of "Shark Tank" (and "Marty Supreme"), actress Cheryl Hines (who is married to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.), multiple GOP members of Congress and several Fortune 500 CEOs. Go deeper: What to know about Trump Accounts.

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Trump’s Goons Are the Terrorists. This Is What We Must Do Now

In the wake of a CBP agent’s killing of VA nurse Alex Petti, it’s clear that halfway measures, aggrieved speeches, and strongly worded letters are no longer adequate.

Alex Pretti was a 37-year-old ICU nurse who devoted his life to caring for veterans.

He was murdered in cold blood by the U.S. government.

His crime was daring to observe and record the actions of the masked, armed thugs whom Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Tom Homan, and Greg Bovino have sent to menace the people of Minneapolis.

He was wrestled to the pavement, beaten, and repeatedly shot. His last terrifying moments were captured on video. They conclusively show him to be peacefully, lawfully, and fearlessly bearing witness to protect his community.

The footage is hard to watch. Nauseating. Repugnant. And it clearly shows Pretti to be an innocent victim.

Stephen Miller, architect of the brutal campaign the Trump Administration is waging against the American people, called Pretti a terrorist. But Pretti was a hero.

It is Miller who is the terrorist.

Two decent, law-abiding American citizens have been gunned down in the streets of Minneapolis by Trump’s DHS criminals with badges. First, Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother. Now Pretti. They are, however, far from the only victims. Others have died nationwide in ICE custody, at the hands of ICE and CBP agents. Thousands more have been tormented, arrested without cause or due process, rounded up and sent to inhumane, ill-equipped facilities—or illegally deported.

Trump and his lackeys lie shamelessly about their actions. But thanks to the work of people like Pretti, our rogue government’s lies are undone. That is why he and others like him are now being targeted.

In the wake of Saturday’s shooting, more and more people in Minneapolis have taken to the streets. With each abuse, the people are mobilizing more. Trump wanted to make an example of the city; perhaps in that he is succeeding, although not as he intended.

People now see Minneapolis as the front line in a war between the citizens of the United States and the monsters who currently control our government. But they also recognize ICE watchers and the law-abiding demonstrators as the most effective resistance movement America has seen since Trump returned to office and initiated his campaign to strip away the fundamental rights of Americans and to trample the law in pursuit of his perceived political enemies.

Trump and his high command have sought to make criticizing them a crime punishable by death. They regularly seek to suggest that those who condemn their efforts are “insurrectionists.” It is a transparent ploy to set the stage for them to send troops into American cities. They want to make it illegal to oppose Trump. They want to fully transform America into a police state.

But just as watcher videos reveal what is really happening at the hands of Trump’s goons, so too do Americans remember the videos of Jan. 6, 2021. We know—and were reminded this past week by former Special Counsel Jack Smith—that it was Trump who incited the one real insurrection this country has seen in its modern history.

We know that Trump’s MAGA insurrection has continued as the Jan. 6 attackers were pardoned. We know that today some of the Proud Boys and other mouth-breathing hate-mongers who participated in that attack are now part of the DHS army—a paramilitary force with a budget greater than that of the militaries of all but a tiny handful of countries on Earth. We know that they are the ones who have twisted our top federal law enforcement agencies into mechanisms of retribution, of obstruction and abuse.

We know that, today, our government is the most dangerous enemy the American people face.

We know that is true around the world as Trump insults our allies and embraces our enemies. We know that is true as he and those close to him illegally and immorally profit from their positions of power. (Just this week, The New York Times reported that Trump has already made $1.4 billion by profiting—in violation of the Constitution—from the presidency.)

Try as they might, they cannot hide these facts from us. There are people like Alex Pretti out there, people like Renee Nicole Good, decent Americans who are standing up and saying, “We are here. We will reveal the truth. We will not be intimidated. We are not afraid.”

Elected officials are starting to recognize that they must stop the abuses and hold Trump’s Gestapo to account. We heard that today from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. While their stances should be stronger and contain more urgency and resolve, they are recognizing that the status quo cannot be maintained. Other governors, mayors, members of Congress and law enforcement officials must stand with them. So too must the courts.

There are, thanks to the courage of the people of Minneapolis and the serial abuses of federal authorities, signs that may happen–more and more people are speaking out, and Senate Democrats are now saying, as they should, that they will not vote to fund DHS. But what next? What happens when states start prosecuting federal officers? What pushback will we get from our wannabe dictator and his enforcers? How will they react as more people take to the streets as Americans realize that this is what is called for now?

Tragically, more bloodshed is almost certain to follow. 2026 is likely to be a year of dangerous unrest in America. But make no mistake, the danger would be greater if there were fewer or smaller examples of the public’s commitment to save our country. Make no mistake, the fear of future violence from Trump’s agents must not be allowed to produce silence or even hesitation from those who recognize the threat we are facing.

Some will say that demonstrations play into the hands of Trump, Miller & Company because they will use them to justify their use of new strongarm tactics and perhaps to block or disrupt the midterm elections in November. Rest assured, demonstrations or none, they will seek to do that anyway.

As the world demonstrated in its rejection of Trump’s threats against Greenland earlier this week, there is only one way to stop Trump. He must face unified, courageous, unwavering resistance.

This will be hard for some in America’s opposition party who are more inclined to practice the politics of yesterday. They do not understand the different requirements that come with being in the minority in a functioning government and actively having to mobilize to stop the existential threat to their country. The seven Democrats who voted this week to fund DHS clearly fall into this category of misguided non-leaders. So too do some of their colleagues with fancy titles.

But they must see that this is a country in profound crisis. They must recognize that halfway measures, aggrieved speeches, and strongly worded letters are no longer adequate. They must accept that the president of the United States and those close to him are no longer good-faith actors. They must show that the American people will not accept murderers and agents of pain roaming our cities.

In short, the future of this country depends on the fact that more people at every level of our society appreciate, respect, and emulate the courage and resolve of genuine heroes like Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good. We must demonstrate that they did not die in vain by showing we understand why they showed up and stood up when they did. These people died seeking to aid their neighbors and to defend not only their communities, but the idea of an America that is now more at risk than at any time in living memory.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-goons-are-the-terrorists-this-is-what-we-must-do-now/?

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ICE Barbie Spews Vile Accusations Against Slain VA Nurse

As Kristi Noem brands Alex Pretti a “terrorist,” video and family accounts tell a different story.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has wasted no time labeling a Minneapolis nurse killed by federal agents a violent extremist, insisting he intended to kill law enforcement officers without providing evidence to support her claim.

Speaking publicly after Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, during a federal immigration operation on Saturday, Noem repeatedly branded him a “domestic terrorist.”

“This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers committed an act of domestic terrorism. That’s the facts,” she said at a news conference.

“This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”

Noem also blamed Minnesota officials, singling out Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, accusing them of enabling “lawlessness.”

Noem’s language closely tracked rhetoric pushed earlier in the day by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who wrote on X: “A would-be assassin tried to murder federal law enforcement and the official Democrat account sides with the terrorists.”

Federal officials have characterized Pretti as armed and combative, saying agents fired “defensive shots” after he approached them with a weapon and resisted attempts to disarm him.

But multiple bystander videos appear to tell a different story, appearing to show Pretti holding a phone—not a weapon—in the moments before he was tackled and shot multiple times.

What’s missing is who Pretti was.

Pretti was a U.S. citizen and an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Relatives and police said he had no criminal record and legally owned a firearm under Minnesota law.

His family told the Associated Press that he cared deeply about people, had been troubled by President Trump’s immigration crackdown in the city, and had joined protests following the death of Renee Good, another 37-year-old Minneapolis resident killed by a federal immigration officer earlier this month.

“[H]e was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset,” his father, Michael Pretti, told AP.

“He thought it was terrible... kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests.”

As federal officials hardened their public narrative, scrutiny has mounted elsewhere.

Within hours of the shooting, Rep. Andrew Garbarino, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, formally requested a full committee hearing with top immigration officials, according to The New York Times. It’s a rare oversight move from a party that has largely backed the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

The shooting has also fueled legal and political fallout. The New York Times reported that several Twin Cities suburbs filed a brief asking a federal judge to rein in how immigration agents conduct enforcement actions, aligning themselves with a broader lawsuit brought by the state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul challenging the legality of the ICE surge. The case is set to return to court on Monday.

Protests have continued despite subzero temperatures, with demonstrators in Minneapolis, and in other cities, calling the shooting a turning point.

For now, Noem and other administration officials have declared the facts settled. Investigators, lawmakers, judges—and Pretti’s family—are still waiting to see the evidence.

The Daily Beast has contacted DHS for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-barbie-kristi-noem-spews-vile-accusations-against-slain-va-nurse-alex-pretti/?

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Multiple Videos Undercut DHS Account of VA Nurse’s Killing in Minneapolis

Kristi Noem called him a “domestic terrorist.” The footage tells a different story.

Multiple videos from different angles are blowing holes in the Department of Homeland Security’s account of a fatal Border Patrol shooting in Minneapolis. Footage reviewed by multiple news organizations—and synchronized by open-source investigators—shows a sequence of events that contradict DHS claims that the man killed posed an immediate armed threat.

Even so, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem insisted when speaking to the press that the shooting was justified, declaring that the shooting victim “arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage and kill law enforcement,” and branding him a “domestic terrorist” before any independent investigation had been completed.

The man killed was Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, registered nurse, and licensed gun owner. He was shot and killed Saturday morning by Border Patrol agents during a federal immigration operation.

According to DHS, Pretti approached agents “with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun” and resisted when officers attempted to disarm him, a characterization federal spokespeople have used to justify the shooting.

But multiple videos uploaded to social media and verified by outlets including The New York Times, the Minnesota Star Tribune, and The Guardian, show Pretti holding what appears to be a cellphone, not a weapon, in the moments before he is tackled and shot.

At least 10 shots can be heard after he is already pinned to the ground.DHS’s narrative is further eroded by independent video analysis. Open-source investigators at Bellingcat placed the available footage into a single, synchronized timeline, writing on Bluesky: “Footage taken moments before a struggle shows that [Pretti] was filming, holding a phone in his right hand, backing up. His left hand is up, visible, palm facing out, as he backs away from the area. An agent uses his right hand, on the torso of the victim, pushing him back, while the man complies.”

In another post on the same Bluesky thread, Bellingcat added: “Two different agents are visibly firing their guns, with at least 10 shots being heard in total. Most of them are fired after a brief delay, when the man is already lying motionless on the ground. The current videos of the shooting only show these two agents with guns drawn.”

The killing has further inflamed tensions in Minneapolis, where federal immigration operations have already drawn sustained protests.

State officials said federal agents blocked Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators from accessing the shooting scene, forcing the agency to obtain a search warrant to examine a public sidewalk.

Federal officials say DHS will lead the investigation with assistance from the FBI—a move Minnesota leaders have criticized, calling for an independent inquiry instead.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey accused the Trump administration of escalating violence without transparency.

“How many more residents, how many more Americans, need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?” he said.

The shooting comes less than three weeks after another Minneapolis resident, Renee Good, was fatally shot by an ICE officer and similarly labeled a “domestic terrorist” before video evidence raised questions about that account.

DHS has been contacted for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/multiple-videos-undercut-dhs-account-of-va-nurses-killing-in-minneapolis/?

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MAGA Star Turns on Trump Over Killing of VA Nurse

Tim Pool said the second fatal shooting in Minneapolis in less than three weeks makes Trump look “weak.”

MAGA podcaster Tim Pool has called out President Donald Trump in the fallout of the second fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by Department of Homeland Security federal officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in less than three weeks.

The Culture War podcast host and longtime Trump suck-up has questioned the Trump administration’s narrative surrounding the killing of ICU nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, arguing that Trump is “weak” in the face of the ensuing chaos that is gripping the Twin Cities.

“Empty hand, then gun in hand,” Pool wrote, commenting on slowed footage in the seconds surrounding Pretti’s shooting. “Appears the man may have been disarmed before being shot.”

“This is a chain of events in a greater conflict. Neither side cares at this point what justifies it or doesn’t.

“I don’t see Trump winning this one,” Pool concluded.

Pool, 39, heads his own independent media group, Timcast, and has some 2.5 million followers on X. His podcast covers right-wing talking points and conspiracy theories, and has hosted white supremacist Nick Fuentes and alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos.

DHS has said that the agents involved in the shooting acted in self-defence after the “armed suspect violently resisted.”

“Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots,” the department wrote in an official statement.

“The suspect also had 2 magazines and no ID—this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement."

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a press conference that she agrees with the White House’s statement that Pretti was a “domestic terrorist.”

“This individual... committed an act of domestic terrorism. That’s the facts,” Noem argued.

Similar statements have been made by Trump’s closest political allies—including Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who branded Pretti an “assassin”—as the administration closes ranks to unify on its messaging.

Pool appears not to be buying any of it, although he has not entirely flipped sides. In a separate tweet, the commentator argued that those impeding the work of “federal agents dispatched by a duly elected government” are “fascists.”

“Trump should personally go to Minneapolis and force the whole thing to shut down, no more fighting, no more partisan conflict,” Pool argued.

“Trump isn’t Lincoln, he’s Buchanan.”

President James Buchanan is frequently cited as the worst leader in U.S. history. The 15th president, serving from 1857 to 1861, failed to stop the country from tearing itself apart, leading to the Civil War.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has also spurned the official White House narrative surrounding the events in his state’s capital, branding them “nonsense” and “lies.”

Pretti’s own parents have said that the Trump administration is spreading “sickening lies” about their deceased son that are “reprehensible and disgusting.”

Video analysis from news networks, including CNN and Bellingcat, has concluded that federal officers took the gun from the licensed firearm holder Pretti before shooting him at least 10 times while he was on the ground.

Protests have engulfed Minnesota since the fatal shooting of 37-year-old mother of three, Renee Good, who was also killed by federal agents, not far from where today’s shooting took place.

The National Guard of Minnesota has been activated in Minneapolis as authorities work to ensure the ongoing protests remain peaceful.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-star-turns-on-trump-over-killing-of-va-nurse/?

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American Freedom (Stephen Maturen / Getty)

View in browser Last week, as rumors swirled about an impending ICE surge that would target the Somali population in Maine, where I live, I called my barbershop to schedule a last-minute appointment. I didn’t want a haircut, but I worried that I needed one. I am a light-skinned Black American: My hair and beard are thick and curly. On Thursday, I had both cut extra short in an effort to look less like someone ICE might find interesting. That is to say, for the first time in my life, I tried to look a little whiter. I had seen video after video of federal agents occupying Minneapolis, flagrantly racially profiling innocent people on the street—demanding that American citizens, including police officers and Native Americans, show their papers, and even detaining some—and it seemed that the same chaos was coming to southern Maine.   I also made another change in advance of ICE’s arrival: I stopped carrying the 9-mm compact handgun—a Glock 19 equipped with a Holosun red dot—that I keep underneath my shirt most days, in full compliance with Maine’s concealed-carry laws. Although it is completely within my rights to carry concealed in my state (a practice I began a little over a year ago, after having gotten several death threats for my political writing), the past few weeks have made it apparent that ICE and Border Patrol don’t put much store in the law or Constitution. When I heard news that Maine was about to get the Minneapolis treatment, a fear gnawed at me: What happens if I’m harassed or grabbed by an ICE agent for walking down the street without my passport, and an agent feels the pistol beneath my sweatshirt? What happens, God forbid, if my Glock dislodges from my appendix holster while I’m being roughly detained? I worried that, in such an event, ICE officers—poorly trained, trigger-happy—might panic and shoot me out of fear, even if I was doing nothing illegal or threatening. I worried, too, that they might not even bother to learn Maine’s gun laws before descending on my state. Today, Border Patrol’s killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti—a 37-year-old ICU nurse who the Minneapolis Police Department believes possessed a legal-carry permit, and was armed in the lead-up to his death—made it clear that my paranoia was justified. It also made it clear that it is not only minorities who are having their First, Fourth, and now Second Amendment rights trampled by the federal government: Pretti, like Renee Nicole Good before him, was white. And while new facts could certainly emerge that complicate what we know so far, existing videos of the incident seem to show that he never reached for his weapon in his fatal encounter with the feds. It appears to have been removed by agents before they shot him dead, after first pepper-spraying him in the face as he tried to help a woman who had been knocked to the ground. Apparently, the federal bootheel is now colorblind, one of the Trump administration’s more notable anti-DEI achievements. Although the administration claims that its immigration-enforcement operations are meant to protect Americans from an “invasion” of foreign-born gang members, federal officials have now killed two American citizens—specifically, white American citizens, the kind Donald Trump and Stephen Miller tacitly signal they care the most about—in less than a month. It is plain that Operation Metro Surge and Operation Catch of the Day—yes, that’s what ICE actually calls its Maine operation—are not about protecting the good citizens of Minnesota and Maine. And they are certainly not about protecting our rights guaranteed by the Constitution. I’ve spent nearly my entire life in American gun culture: My father was a combat veteran turned state-police officer; I come from a hunting family; my first job was at a gun club; I regularly invest hours at the range, and burn through 1,000 or more rounds of pistol and rifle ammo every month. I admit that by the standards of some readers, I no doubt qualify as a “gun nut.” And I have had innumerable arguments with liberal friends about the Second Amendment. My views are unfashionable in some of the circles in which I travel. I believe, and have always believed, that despite the National Rifle Association’s faults, the organization is correct about the core purpose of the Second Amendment: to prevent government tyranny. And because tyrannical governments can be either liberal or conservative, the Constitution protects those on the left and right equally. Some time before he was shot dead in Utah, Charlie Kirk said, now infamously, that it was worth accepting “some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.” Many of his critics dredged up that quote following his assassination, noting the irony and suggesting that his manner of death disproved his argument. I agreed with Kirk about very little, but about this he was right: The blight of gun violence is a uniquely American tragedy. But the Second Amendment is a uniquely American freedom, and in fact is the very thing that makes possible all the others. Some pro-gun organizations are already taking a stand: “Every peaceable Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms—including while attending protests, acting as observers, or exercising their First Amendment rights,” Minnesota’s Gun Owners Caucus wrote in response to today’s killing. “These rights do not disappear when someone is lawfully armed, and they must be respected and protected at all times.” Gun Owners of America, meanwhile, observed that the “Second Amendment protects American’s right to bear arms while protesting—a right the federal government must not infringe upon.” Despite touting itself as a staunch defender of American gun rights, however, the Trump administration appears to be taking a rather different tone. “Thank God for the patriots of @ICEgov,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth posted on X, showing no concern that a federal agent emptied his magazine into the back of an apparently law-abiding, gun-owning American who seemed to have been safely disarmed. “You are SAVING the country.” Whether they lean right or left, are pro-immigration or have more restrictionist views, my fellow gun owners should understand the message that is being sent by this administration: If you exercise your constitutionally protected right to bear arms, masked federal agents can murder you in cold blood, simply because an American citizen exercising their Second Amendment rights scares them. This isn’t about politics; it is about the rights that make our politics possible in the first place. It is not yet clear what exactly Pretti’s own views were, or what motivated him to be on that Minneapolis street. But he knew what the Second Amendment is for: to affirm that Americans are a free people, and free people will not be cowed by masked federal agents. As this country’s gun enthusiasts have long known, freedom means little if you lack the means to keep it. Without the Second Amendment, the Constitution is a bit of parchment. With the Second Amendment, the Constitution is a demand. These rights shall not be infringed. Related: The truth about ICE’s recruiting push Police and ICE agents are on a collision course.

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America's split-screen realities

Screenshot via X Within hours of the shooting, the Trump administration and Minnesota authorities provided wildly divergent narratives of the shooting. Why it matters: Americans' understanding of this month's killings in Minnesota depends on which government they believe. DHS posted this account on X at 12:31 p.m. ET. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller both accused Pretti of being a domestic terrorist and suggested he intended to harm agents with a gun. Greg Bovino, the official in charge of Border Patrol agents deployed to Minnesota, said: "This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement." Videos from the scene appear to show that Pretti's gun wasn't drawn during the confrontation. Crowd-control munitions are deployed on protesters in Minneapolis, near the intersection of 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue, after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti yesterday. Photo: David Guttenfelder/The New York Times ? What we know: Video recordings appear to show Pretti filming the scene with a cell phone before attempting to help a woman who was shoved and pepper-sprayed by agents. Several agents then wrestle him to the ground. As they're pinning him on the ground, at least one shot rings out. At least one agent then appears to fire multiple shots toward the man as he lies on the ground. More photos.

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? Exclusive: Cruz trashes Trump, Vance in secret recordings

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Peng Ziyang/Xinhua and Heather Diehl via Getty Images

Sen. Ted Cruz torched Vice President Vance and ridiculed President Trump's tariff policy during private meetings with donors, according to recordings obtained by Axios' Alex Isenstadt. Why it matters: In these meetings, Cruz — who is eyeing a 2028 White House run — leveled some of the harshest criticisms of Trump and Vance by a fellow Republican since they took office a year ago. The recordings — nearly 10 minutes in total — provide an unvarnished look at how Cruz is positioning himself as a traditional free trade, pro-interventionist Republican ahead of a possible 2028 primary campaign against the less-hawkish Vance. The recordings of Cruz were provided to Axios by a Republican source. They were made last year, after Trump announced his plan for sweeping tariffs. In one recording, Cruz warns donors that Trump's tariffs could decimate the economy and lead to his impeachment. He tells them that after Trump introduced the tariffs in early April 2025, Cruz and a few other senators had a call with Trump in which they urged him to stand down. Cruz says the lengthy call, which stretched past midnight, "did not go well," and that Trump was "yelling" and "cursing." "Trump was in a bad mood," Cruz tells the donors. "I've been in conversations where he was very happy. This was not one of them." Cruz says he told Trump: "Mr. President, if we get to November of [2026] and people's 401(k)s are down 30% and prices are up 10-20% at the supermarket, we're going to go into Election Day, face a bloodbath." "You're going to lose the House, you're going to lose the Senate, you're going to spend the next two years being impeached every single week." Trump's response, according to Cruz: "F**k you, Ted." ♟️ During his talks, Cruz cast Vance as a pawn of conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson. Cruz repeatedly brings up Vance in the recordings, tying him to Carlson and accusing him of advancing the podcaster's anti-interventionist foreign policy. A Cruz spokesperson said the senator is "the president's greatest ally in the Senate and battles every day in the trenches to advance his agenda."

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Getting to 'no': Europe's leaders find a way to speak with one voice against Trump

No more fawning praise. No more polite workarounds and old-style diplomacy. And no one is calling Donald Trump “daddy” now. European leaders who scrambled for a year to figure out how to deal with an emboldened American president in his second term edged closer to saying “no,” or something diplomatically like it, to his disregard for international law and his demands for their territory. Trump’s vow to take over Greenland and punish any country that resists, seems to have been the crucible. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Trump’s Greenland ambitions strain MAGA ties with Europe’s far-right Trump threatens Canada with a 100% tariff over its China trade deal and escalates feud with Carney Trump stirs talk of 'new world order' as leaders signal shifting global alliances How Macron's Davos sunglasses spoke to the politics of friction with Trump Trump heaps praise on UK troops following furor over Afghanistan comments

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Trump Is Making an Enemy of the Gun Lobby

Border Patrol agents on Saturday shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident and U.S. citizen. Pretti was an ICU nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital and legally carrying a Sig Sauer pistol. Bystander video shows him filming agents with a phone before being tackled and pinned facedown on the pavement as more than six officers swarm him. According to video of the shooting, at least one officer can be heard shouting “he’s got a gun,” and an agent appears to take Pretti’s weapon and begin to walk away before at least 10 shots ring out. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in a press conference that Pretti was “a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.” Federal officials initially defended the shooting as self-defense, insisting Pretti had resisted disarmament and threatened agents. But open-source analysis by Bellingcat concluded the gun had already been taken from Pretti by the time the shots were fired. 

https://theintercept.com/2026/01/25/alex-pretti-minneapolis-trump-guns-second-amendment/?

White House Doctored Photo With AI to Make It Look Like an Activist Was Sobbing During Perp Walk

The White House used a photo that was digitally altered in its PR campaign against resistance to the federal agents’ assault on Minnesota.

https://theintercept.com/2026/01/22/white-house-google-ai-photo-arrest-ice-minnesota/?

Google’s AI Detection Tool Can’t Decide if Its Own AI Made Doctored Photo of Crying Activist

When the official White House X account posted an image depicting activist Nekima Levy Armstrong in tears during her arrest, there were telltale signs that the image had been altered.

https://theintercept.com/2026/01/24/googles-ai-detection-white-house-synthid-gemini/?

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Judge set to hear arguments on Minnesota’s immigration crackdown after fatal shootings   Trump, unbowed by backlash to Minneapolis shooting, blames Democrats for ‘chaos’   Minnesota CEOs issue joint letter urging de-escalation in Minnesota after shooting   Federal and state officials both claim moral high ground in immigration crackdown after shooting   Moderate Sen. Jacky Rosen urges Noem’s impeachment as Dem fury grows over Minneapolis shooting   From frigid quiet to outraged sorrow, a few hours on a Minneapolis street where agents killed a man   Collins, Mills take different tacks on ICE’s sweeping enforcement action in Maine   WATCH: Hundreds gather at memorial for man fatally shot by a federal officer in Minneapolis   He left the US for an internship. Trump’s travel ban made it impossible to return   Trump says US used secret weapon to disable Venezuelan equipment in Maduro raid   Carney says Canada has no plans to pursue free trade agreement with China as Trump threatens tariffs   Longtime DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is ending her reelection campaign for Congress   Texas sheriff Martin Cuellar, brother of Rep. Henry Cuellar, indicted on fraud charges   Could a president deploy wartime law against the Beatles? Trump administration says “Yes”

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Trump-NATO

President Donald Trump praised British troops on Saturday after sustained outrage over comments he recently made downplaying the sacrifices of NATO forces in Afghanistan. “The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The NATO alliance has already been strained by the president's threats to seize control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, another NATO member.

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Even Trump Refuses to Back ICE Barbie’s Shooting Claims as Fury Boils Over

The president ducked questions on Alex Pretti’s killing as DHS insiders savaged Kristi Noem.

President Donald Trump has refused to back Kristi Noem’s claim that the shooting of nurse Alex Pretti was justified, as DHS officials reportedly turn on the Homeland Security secretary.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump, 79, repeatedly declined to say whether the Border Patrol agent who killed Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday had “done the right thing.”

Instead, he said his administration was “reviewing everything and will come out with a determination.”

The president’s caution is in stark contrast to Noem’s hardline rhetoric.

In a press conference in the hours after Pretti’s death, Noem, 54—nicknamed ICE Barbie for her love of cosplaying on immigration operations—claimed Pretti, who had a concealed-carry gun permit, turned up “with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation” and had committed “an act of domestic terrorism.”

This was despite multiple videos appearing to contradict her version of events.

The administration’s divided response is also markedly different from its reaction to the death of Renee Nicole Good three weeks ago.

After Good, 37, was shot dead by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, 43, during a Jan. 7 immigration protest, the administration was quick to unite in branding her a “domestic terrorist.”

Internal dissent over the Pretti narrative is reportedly boiling over. Fox News reporter Bill Melugin said he had spoken to more than half a dozen federal immigration officials who saw DHS’s messaging as “a case study on how not to do crisis PR” and accused the department’s leaders of rushing out talk of a planned “massacre” and “maximum damage” despite videos undercutting those claims.

Melugin, the network’s main congressional correspondent, posted on X: “One said they are so ‘fed up’ that they wish they could retire, another said ‘DHS is making the situation worse,’ and another added that ‘DHS is wrong’ and ‘we are losing this war, we are losing the base and the narrative.’”

He added that the approach had “been catastrophic from a PR and morale perspective, as it is eroding trust and credibility.”

According to CNN, multiple DHS insiders were “furious” after watching bystander footage of the shooting, saying Noem’s public statements no longer match what Americans can see themselves. One official told the network: “The department needs a law enforcement leader, not a sycophant.”

In the Journal interview, Trump stressed that he “doesn’t like any shooting” but fixated on the fact that Pretti arrived at the protest with what he called a “very powerful, fully loaded gun” and spare magazines.

While this is true, multiple bystander videos appear to show an officer already holding Pretti’s handgun a split second before another agent fires several rounds, contradicting Noem and DHS’s initial claim that Pretti was “violently” resisting disarmament.

Inside the White House, aides are reportedly concerned that the Minneapolis crackdown has become a political liability, with internal discussions focused on how to keep deportations going while avoiding fresh clashes with protesters.

Trump said in the Journal interview that immigration agents would “at some point” withdraw from Minneapolis, while hinting a different federal team would stay behind to chase what he again described as a huge welfare fraud scandal.

Hardline Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller is said to be urging Trump not to back down, the outlet reported.

When reached for comment, the White House directed the Daily Beast to a statement White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made to reporters on Monday: “Secretary Noem still has the utmost confidence and trust of the President of the United States, and she’s continuing to oversee the entire Department of Homeland Security and all of the immigration enforcement that’s taking place across the whole entire country.”

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

https://www.thedailybeast.com/even-donald-trump-refuses-to-back-ice-barbies-shooting-claims-as-dhs-fury-boils-over/?

ps:She's doing what he wants, but as usual if people do to much complaining, he throws them under the bus! And yet they continue bow down to him!!!!!