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

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? New overnight: Trump threatens Musk

Screenshot: @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social

At 12:44 a.m. ET, President Trump said on Truth Social, his social media platform, that Elon Musk "may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa." Why it matters: It's a dramatic reignition of the powerful men's feud, which had gone quiet for a few weeks until Musk poked the bear Saturday by attacking Trump's megabill, as you saw in the item above. Trump threatened to sic DOGE, the savings-hunting Department of Government Efficiency that Musk led before leaving the administration at the end of May, on Musk's businesses, including Tesla and SpaceX. On his own platform, Musk retweeted several posts with screenshots of Trump's threat, and replied: "I am literally saying CUT IT ALL. Now." ? Context: Musk's businesses include rocket company and government contractor SpaceX, which has about $22 billion in federal contracts, and its satellite unit Starlink, Reuters notes. Musk's rift with Trump also caused volatility for Tesla, with shares of the electric car company losing about $150 billion in market value on June 5, the largest single-day decline in the company's history, though it has since recovered. ? Musk is amping up his threat to form a new political party to take on Republicans and Democrats. Half an hour before Trump's early-morning attack, Musk tweeted to his 222 million followers that 80% of 6 million respondents to his unscientific online poll had voted in favor of "a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle." Go deeper.

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Young Men Who Elected Trump Just Realized They Screwed Up

“They are turning against him,” Harvard director of polling tells The Daily Beast.

The young men who helped get Donald Trump back into the White House are now realizing they made a massive mistake, according to a Harvard polling expert.

John Della Volpe, director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, told Joanna Coles on Tuesday’s episode of the Daily Beast Podcast that “they are turning against him,” referring specifically to young men aged between 18 and 29 years old.

“More younger people are concerned that Donald Trump is doing more harm to them than good. OK. That’s essentially what the report card looks like,” he told the Beast’s chief content officer.

During the 2024 election, Trump won narrow margins in key battleground states after making an outreach to disaffected young men, using right-wing influencers and anti-woke rhetoric to secure their votes. “I believe younger people were responsible for putting Donald Trump in office to start with, specifically younger men,” Della Volpe said.

However, he also suggested that these voters feel they have seen no return on the campaign promises made by Trump regarding the economy and other domestic concerns.

“Younger people are quickly asking important questions like, ‘I thought this was going to improve my economic standing. What about me?’” said Della Volpe, who advised Joe Biden during his 2020 election campaign and worked with a PAC that tried to rally support for Kamala Harris in 2024.

The economy has gyrated wildly under Trump, and his “Liberation Day” tariffs in April has seen the cost of imports to the U.S. surge, with the price being kicked down to the consumer.

Coles said that she was “amazed” that this group didn’t draw conclusions from Trump’s first term, from 2017 2021. Della Volpe said that the 18-24-year-old subsection of the young voter group only saw Trump as president during the beginning of the pandemic and, therefore, couldn’t make a fully informed call on his abilities—or lack of.

“People in their later twenties and early thirties who do have that memory of Trump 1 were more likely to support Democrats, right? So what they’re concerned about is honestly the same thing all of us are concerned about,” Della Volpe added.

“It is asking for, demanding, some stability in their lives, specifically related to economics and finances. It’s really all about that. But I do think that younger people, just, you know, they have a different lens.”

Younger men specifically were drawn to Trump’s macho persona, Della Volpe later added. “They were looking for Donald Trump as someone who wasn’t defending the institutions, but someone who could use his strength to advocate for people who were economically anxious,” he explained.

“It was really about the strength of his persona, I think, different than some specific policies. That was what was attractive specifically around younger men.”

But after six turbulent months in the hot seat, young people are “clearly overwhelmingly dissatisfied,” the pollster added. “His approval ratings among younger people are in the 30s,” he said.

A report from Della Volpe’s team in late April found that more than four in 10 young Americans under 30 say they’re “barely getting by” financially. Fewer than one-third approved of President Trump.

Trump’s popularity during the 2024 election campaign surged among young Latino men. Harvard’s polling found that 52 percent of young Hispanics are still “struggling to make ends meet or get by with limited financial security,” significantly higher than their white (38 percent) or Black (45 percent) peers.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/young-men-who-elected-trump-just-realized-they-scrwed-up/?

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Musk proposes a new political party, Trump suggests DOGE 'might have to go back and eat Elon'

Elon Musk’s feud with President Donald Trump — and seemingly any congressional Republicans who support the president’s massive tax cuts and spending package — has reignited, with the tech billionaire threatening to launch a new political party, and Trump suggesting Musk could be punished for his opposition. Read More.   Immigration judge grants bond for Spanish-language journalist arrested during protest An immigration judge in Georgia on Tuesday granted bond for well-known Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara arrested while covering a protest last month, meaning he will be free as the government seeks to deport him from the United States. Read More.

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Trump’s big bill

Seniors, students, taxpayers, children, parents, low-income Americans and just about everyone else will be affected by President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending bill that is being hashed out on Capitol Hill. We broke down what you need to know. ➕ The Senate passed the megabill after Vice President JD Vance broke a tie.   ‘Sense of doom’ Morale has plunged among doctors and nurses at Veterans Affairs hospitals across the US amid hiring freezes and fears of layoffs. Workers said they’re running short of supplies — and they’re worried these conditions are drying up the pipeline for future talent.

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US won’t send some weapons pledged to Ukraine following a Pentagon review of military aid

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is halting some shipments of weapons to Ukraine amid concerns that its own stockpiles have declined too much, officials said Tuesday, a setback for the country as it tries to fend off escalating attacks from Russia.

https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-us-weapons-shipments-halt-review-48229eb7c814419631a16067a38d6a1d?

ps:Of course they wont, they might be able to win, and trump doesn't want his buddy to loose the invasion he started!!!!!

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Local officials fear ICE fallout

A growing number of local law enforcement officials are alarmed about their jails and prisons holding immigration detainees without warrants, saying it exposes their departments to legal risks, Axios' Brittany Gibson writes.

• Why it matters: It's the latest sign of tension between local authorities and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, whose strong-arm tactics in arresting immigrants have shocked communities across the nation.

As part of President Trump's push to deport "millions" of unauthorized immigrants, ICE has leaned on local agencies to help arrest and temporarily detain unauthorized immigrants.

• Over the past decade, most of ICE's arrests involved people who were already in law enforcement custody, according to Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse data.

But with ICE arrests soaring to more than 2,000 a day under Trump, local jail and prison officials are increasingly concerned about being liable for detainees' care.

• The officials note that in the past, lawsuits filed on behalf of ICE detainees wrongly left languishing in local jails have cost local governments enormously — $92.5 million in one New York City case involving 20,000 people who were held in prison for ICE without due process between 1997 and 2012.

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⚡ Trump's Gaza ceasefire push

Via Truth Social

President Trump announced last night that Israel has agreed to an updated proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza that would secure the release of some hostages, Axios' Barak Ravid writes. He urged Hamas to accept the deal, warning on Truth Social that "it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE." Why it matters: Fresh off brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Iran after 12 days of war, Trump is now pressing for a breakthrough in Gaza, where the conflict has dragged on for more than a year and a half. Keep reading.

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? Trump drives defense-tech boom

Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

NATO nations last week agreed to spend at least 5% of GDP on defense by 2035 in a major diplomatic win for the Trump administration. Why it matters: This is a strong tailwind for defense-tech startups, which in the past few years have moved from venture capital's Island of Misfit Toys to Love Island, Axios Pro Rata author Dan Primack writes. And it comes on the heels of Trump's plans for a "Golden Dome" missile shield that could cost $175 billion (including an initial $25 billion earmark in the reconciliation bill). ? By the numbers: More than 400 global defense-tech companies have raised nearly $13 billion so far in 2025, according to PitchBook. Zoom in: As venture capitalists rush into the sector, there are some pretty big questions about how they'll ever exit. One possibility is that Big Tech will expand deeper into defense. But that hasn't yet played out, particularly as those companies dig into the couch cushions for cash to spend on AI. Another is that legacy defense contractors — think Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman — will fear obsolescence and pay up.

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Trump’s First EPA Promised to Crack Down on Forever Chemicals. His Second EPA Is Pulling Back.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin claims to prioritize combatting long-lasting chemicals called PFAS. Despite this, the agency has delayed enforcement of standards and terminated over $15 million in funding for “forever chemicals” research.

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-epa-pfas-drinking-water?

USAID

The dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), as ordered by President Donald Trump and enacted by the Department of Government Efficiency, has seen funding for thousands of foreign assistance programs frozen or slashed. Now, a new study estimates that the loss of that funding could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030. Nearly a third of those deaths — more than 4.5 million — are estimated to be among children younger than 5. The authors of the study said the effects of the cuts would be similar in scale to a global pandemic or a major armed conflict.   Ukraine munitions The Trump administration has paused some shipments of weapons, including air defense missiles, to Ukraine. The decision to halt such shipments comes as Russia has intensified its near-nightly air attacks on Ukraine, often using hundreds of drones and missiles. Since Russia first invaded in 2022, the US has been the single biggest donor of military aid to Ukraine. However, after President Trump returned to power, US support for Kyiv shifted. White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said the decision to pause the weapons shipments was made “to put America’s interests first.”   Trump megabill The Senate passed President Trump’s sweeping domestic agenda bill on Tuesday after Vice President JD Vance broke a 50-50 tie. The controversial legislation will infuse more money into the Pentagon and border security agencies, downsize safety-net programs like Medicaid and add nearly $3.3 trillion to the deficit over a decade, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. As the bill heads back to the House, GOP leaders are racing to get it approved and on the president’s desk by July 4.   Climate change In an effort to eliminate all climate-related research work at NOAA, the Trump administration’s proposed budget will defund the Mauna Loa laboratory in Hawaii. Since the 1950s, scientists at that lab have gathered the most conclusive evidence of human-caused climate change that’s driving sea level rise, supercharging weather and destroying food systems. The budget proposal would also defund many other climate labs, including instrument sites comprising the US government’s greenhouse gas monitoring network, which stretches from northern Alaska to the South Pole.   Paramount settlement CBS News parent company Paramount Global said late Tuesday it has agreed to pay $16 million to resolve a lawsuit filed by President Trump over a “60 Minutes” news report last fall. Although legal experts agreed that the suit was frivolous and dangerous — and CBS defended “60 Minutes” on First Amendment grounds — corporate priorities outweighed journalistic principles. Paramount has been trying for months to complete a lucrative merger with Skydance Media, but the deal required approval from the Trump administration. Paramount said the lawsuit was “completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process." Nevertheless, Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, stands to make hundreds of millions of dollars if the deal goes through.

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Trump Faces Furious GOP Revolt as Megabill Hits New Hurdle in House

Marjorie Taylor Greene offered a colorful term for the “dire situation.”

Donald Trump’s mammoth spending bill cleared the Senate by a hair, but now faces a Republican rebellion in the House.

The president wants the legislation on his desk by July 4, sending GOP leaders scrambling to wrangle their fractured caucus before the arbitrary deadline. The House could move to vote on the bill’s final passage as early as Wednesday, however the president faces new hurdles in his quest to get his “big, beautiful bill” approved. The changes made in the Senate aren’t sitting well with a number of their colleagues in the lower chamber.

Even some of his most loyal MAGA allies are pushing back. On Tuesday morning, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she largely supports the bill, but the timeline for House lawmakers was “not realistic.”

“It is really a dire situation. We’re on a time clock that’s been really set on us, so we have a lot of pressure,” the Georgia congresswoman said on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast.

“It’s a s--tshow,” she added.

Meanwhile, members of the House Freedom Caucus threatened to tank the whole thing before debate even begins.

Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, chair of the hard-right group, and Rep. Ralph Norman, a member, said Tuesday they’d vote against a resolution to bring the bill to the floor. Others in their group were considering joining them, according to Harris. Assuming all Democrats vote no, Republicans can only afford to lose three votes to pass the procedural measure.

Norman, meanwhile, called the Senate version of the bill an “abomination.”

“What the Senate did, I’ll vote against it here and I’ll vote against it on the floor,” the South Carolina lawmaker said at a House Rules meeting.

Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee called the Senate bill a “dud.” Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona said it contains some “amazingly bad stuff” and he struggles to see how it could pass as is.

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said Senate Republicans had “failed us.”

“On the text chains, on the phone calls, everyone is complaining” about the Senate version, an unnamed moderate House Republican told The Hill earlier this week.

“How did it get so much f‑‑‑ing worse?” the lawmaker wondered.

Last month, House Republicans passed an earlier draft of the legislation by a single vote. Two broke ranks to vote against it, while several others expressed concerns about the package, which will add trillions to the national debt, slash social safety nets like Medicaid and pour billions into border security and defense.

Three Republican senators joined all Democrats in voting against it on Tuesday, but it passed with a tiebreaker from Vice President JD Vance.

Trump celebrated on Truth Social on Tuesday after the bill’s passage in the Senate, urging House Republicans to unite and ignore the “GRANDSTANDERS” among them to get it over the line.

“We are on schedule — Let’s keep it going, and be done before you and your family go on a July 4th vacation," he wrote.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing to bring the bill to a House floor vote as early as Wednesday, but may face additional logistical hurdles. Many lawmakers had returned to their districts ahead of the July 4 holiday, and severe weather has prompted the cancellation of dozens of flights to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Appearing on Fox News’ Hannity on Tuesday night, Johnson nonetheless projected confidence, insisting “we are going to deliver it by July 4th.”

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Trump’s DOJ Adds Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioter to Its Retribution Team

Jared Wise, accused of inciting Capitol rioters to kill police officers, now has an advisory role in the Weaponization Working Group.

A former FBI agent accused of inciting Donald Trump supporters to kill police officers during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has been given a job in the Department of Justice.

Jared Wise, who was charged but later pardoned by Trump along with more than 1,500 others connected to the 2021 Capitol riot, will serve as a counselor to Ed Martin, director of the “Weaponization Working Group,” The New York Times reported.

The newly formed group, established by Attorney General Pam Bondi in February, was tasked with reviewing “politicized” actions against Trump but has been accused of being another example of the president using federal agencies for retribution against his political enemies.

Martin was put in charge of the weaponization group in May after his nomination for the top U.S. attorney post in Washington, D.C., was pulled because he spent years defending and even raising money for Jan. 6 defendants.

It’s unclear what specific role Wise, who worked as an FBI agent and supervisor between 2004 and 2017, will have while working for Martin. One unnamed source told the Times that if the Weaponization Working Group could “genetically design an adviser” for Martin, that person would look like Wise.

One of the tasks Bondi assigned to the group is examining whether there were any “unethical prosecutions” related to the Jan. 6 attack. The group will also investigate any alleged “weaponization” of prosecutions brought by federal and state prosecutors involving Trump.

The DOJ indicted Wise over his alleged role in the Jan. 6 attack in June 2023. Wise, of Bend, Oregon, was charged with multiple offenses, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding police officers.

Police camera footage showed Wise yelling at officers, “You’re disgusting. You are the Nazi. You are the Gestapo,” during the chaos at the Capitol.

When rioters began attacking police officers and knocking them to the ground, Wise allegedly incited further violence by repeatedly shouting, “Kill ’em,” according to the indictment.

Wise has denied the charges against him and claimed in July 2024 court filings that he was the victim of “selective prosecution, selective enforcement, and vindictive prosecution.”

Wise was on trial in Washington when Trump returned to the White House in January 2025. One of the president’s first acts of his second term was to pardon or grant commutations to more than 1,500 people convicted or charged in connection with the Capitol riot, including some of the most violent offenders.

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trumps-doj-adds-pardoned-jan-6-rioter-jared-wise-to-its-retribution-team/?

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Trump says he wants other states to build migrant detention centers after Everglades tour

President Donald Trump urged additional states to build immigrant detention centers following his tour Tuesday of the 3,000-capacity tent and trailer Everglades facility the DeSantis administration built in eight days.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/07/01/trump-says-he-wants-other-states-to-build-migrant-detention-centers-after-everglades-tour/?

“Trump and DeSantis are locking up immigrants under inhumane conditions without even granting them due process. A detention camp without due process is a concentration camp. We will not just accept a concentration camp in our backyard.” — Abel Delgado, Miami-Dade Democratic Hispanic Caucus

Florida GOP Sens. Rick Scott, Ashley Moody hail passage of Trump domestic tax and spending bill

Florida’s two Republican U.S. senators — Rick Scott and Ashley Moody — voted in support on Tuesday of President Donald Trump’s signature tax break and spending cuts legislation, which needed Vice President J.D. Vance’s vote to pass, 51-50.

https://floridaphoenix.com/briefs/florida-gop-senators-rick-scott-ashley-moody-hail-passage-of-trump-domestic-tax-and-spending-bill/?

Trump administration tells states it’s freezing $6.8 billion for K-12 school programs

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has put on hold $6.8 billion in federal funds for K-12 schools, according to an Education Department notice obtained by States Newsroom.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/07/01/repub/trump-administration-tells-states-its-freezing-6-8-billion-for-k-12-school-programs/?

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What’s in the latest version of Trump’s big bill that passed the Senate Republicans are getting closer to the finish line in getting their tax and spending cut bill through Congress with a final House vote possible on Wednesday. At some 887 pages, the legislation is a sprawling collection of tax breaks, spending cuts and other Republican priorities. Read more.

What to know: Tax cuts are the priority. Existing tax rates and brackets would become permanent under the bill. It temporarily would add new tax breaks that Trump campaigned on. The wealthiest households would see a $12,000 increase in income from the legislation, which would cost the poorest people $1,600 a year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis of the House’s version. Middle-income taxpayers would see a tax break of $500 to $1,500, the CBO said.   There were some last-minute changes to the bill. The Senate overwhelmingly revolted against a proposal meant to deter states from regulating artificial intelligence. Republican governors across the country asked for the moratorium to be removed and the Senate voted to do so with a resounding 99-1 vote. A provision was thrown in at the final hours that will provide $10 billion annually to rural hospitals for five years, or $50 billion in total. The amended bill also stripped out a new tax on wind and solar projects that use a certain percentage of components from China.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Paramount to pay $16 million in settlement with Trump over ’60 Minutes’ interview    ‘Agonizing': How Alaska’s pivotal Republican senator decided to vote for Donald Trump’s bill   Trump keeps saying the GOP mega bill will eliminate taxes on Social Security. It does not   FACT FOCUS: Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ does not let him delay or cancel elections   Trump administration withholds over $6 billion for after-school, summer programs and more   Analysis shows Trump’s tariffs would cost US employers $82.3 billion   Ukraine looks to jointly produce weapons with allies, while US halts some shipments   Federal judge halts the Trump administration from dismantling the US African Development Foundation   20 states sue after the Trump administration releases private Medicaid data to deportation officials   Mayors, doctor groups sue over Trump’s efforts to restrict Obamacare enrollment   FBI says it plans to move headquarters to different location in Washington   Trump nominates 4 to Tennessee Valley Authority board after firing Biden picks   Ex-FBI agent charged in Capitol riot now works on Justice Department’s ‘weaponization’ task force   Major reports about how climate change affects the US are removed from websites   UPenn updates swimming records set by Lia Thomas, settling with feds on transgender athletes case   Gov. Newsom signs housing bill overhauling California’s landmark environmental law   Wisconsin budget deal cuts taxes and boosts university funding   Michigan attorney general says she is investigating a company promoting ‘twin flame’ romance   Lindsey Graham gets GOP primary challenge from South Carolina’s former lieutenant gov

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What the Justice Department’s push to bring denaturalization cases means  The Justice Department is ramping up its plans to revoke the citizenship of immigrants who’ve committed crimes or pose a national security risk, according to a recent memo underscoring the Trump administration’s hardline immigration agenda. Read more.

Why this matters: The public push is raising concerns from advocates, who have accused the administration of trying to use immigration enforcement for political purposes. It’s receiving increased scrutiny after a Republican member of Congress suggested that Zohran Mamdani, the New York City Democratic mayoral candidate, should be subject to denaturalization proceedings.   The push was announced in a memo from the recently confirmed head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate. Shumate said the cases the department will prioritize include people who “pose a potential danger to national security,” people who commit violent crimes, members of gangs and drug cartels and people who commit Medicaid fraud and other types of fraud.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Every legal route to US residency, explained   Federal judge blocks Trump administration from ending temporary legal status for many Haitians   Trump tours Florida immigration lockup and jokes about escapees having to run from alligators

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How millions of people could lose health insurance if Trump's tax bill becomes law

Roughly 11.8 million adults and children will be at risk for losing health insurance if Republicans’ domestic policy package becomes a law. The losses won’t come all at once. Read More.   Air defense missiles among weaponry US is withholding from Ukraine, AP sources say The Trump administration will hold back delivering to Ukraine some air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons as part of its announced pause to some arms shipments amid U.S. concerns that its own stockpiles have declined too much, officials said. Read More.

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✂️ Media's death by a thousand cuts

Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios

Press freedom advocates are sounding the alarm following Paramount's $16 million settlement with President Trump, arguing the deal sets a dangerous new precedent — particularly for smaller outlets with fewer legal resources. Why it matters: A steady decline in media trust, coupled with enormous financial challenges, has made the press more vulnerable to political pressure campaigns than ever before, Axios' Sara Fischer writes. Between the lines: The deal has drawn outrage from critics who believe Paramount, which owns CBS, could have won what they believe is a frivolous lawsuit. The size of the agreement is nearly identical to ABC's settlement with Trump last year. But Paramount is under fire because its deal comes as the company seeks regulatory approval for its $8 billion merger with Skydance Media. A Wall Street Journal editorial said yesterday that this moment feels like a turning point for press freedom: "The President is using government to intimidate news outlets that publish stories he doesn't like. It's a low move in a free country with a free press."

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?️ Hitch in "drill baby drill"

Data: Dallas Fed. Chart: Axios Visuals President Trump wants to "drill baby drill." But some producers in the heart of the oil patch say Trump's trade policies are discouraging drilling, Axios Generate author Ben Geman writes. Why it matters: Reluctance to ramp up drilling could limit how much prices might fall at the pump. Zoom in: The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas yesterday released its quarterly survey of execs in its region, which includes the prolific Permian Basin. "The Liberation Day chaos and tariff antics have harmed the domestic energy industry," one executive told the Fed. "Drill, baby, drill will not happen with this level of volatility." Keep reading ...

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Trump megabill

A group of House Republican holdouts fell in line behind President Donald Trump overnight and agreed to advance his sweeping domestic agenda bill to a full House vote. The legislation will lower federal taxes and infuse more money into the Pentagon and border security agencies. It will also downsize safety-net programs like Medicaid and SNAP, and add nearly $3.3 trillion to the deficit over a decade, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. A final vote is expected later this morning, though timing remains fluid.

Medicaid data

Twenty states are suing the Trump administration for allegedly violating federal privacy laws by turning over Medicaid data on millions of enrollees to deportation officials. Some of the private health files revealed names, addresses, Social Security numbers, immigration status and claims for enrollees. The information, which was sent to the Department of Homeland Security, included people who live in California, Illinois, Washington state and Washington, DC, which allow non-US citizens to enroll in Medicaid programs that pay for their expenses using only state taxpayer dollars. Experts said such information could be used to locate migrants for President Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

Immigration

A federal judge has blocked President Trump’s proclamation that barred migrants who crossed the US-Mexico border from seeking asylum. Immigrant rights advocates sued over the proclamation, claiming it endangered thousands of lives by preventing people from seeking refuge. US District Judge Randolph Moss ruled that the administration had overstepped its authority by bypassing immigration law. “The President cannot adopt an alternative immigration system, which supplants the statutes that Congress has enacted,” Judge Moss wrote. However, the judge stayed his decision for 14 days and the administration is expected to appeal.   Accessibility The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is suing to require the Trump administration to provide American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters at all White House press briefings. Although the Biden administration staffed its press briefings with qualified ASL interpreters, that policy was discontinued by the Trump White House on the first day of his second administration. Without live interpretations, Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing have been “deprived of their ability to participate in the democratic process,” NAD attorney Ian Hoffman argued in a hearing on Wednesday. The Justice Department said that live closed captions and written transcripts were sufficient in providing the deaf community with “meaningful access” to White House information. US District Judge Amir Ali has not yet issued a ruling.

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Republican Rebels Fold After Trump Yells ‘MAGA IS NOT HAPPY’

The president’s signature bill cleared a key hurdle after hours of deadlock from conservative holdouts.

House Republicans fell in line behind Donald Trump to let his “Big Beautiful Bill” advance to a floor vote early Thursday after the president spent the night raging against holdouts threatening to tank his agenda.

After hours of deadlock, all but one House Republican voted to pass the “rule,” a procedural measure which sets up the debate before a final vote on passing Trump’s bill, expected to take place later Thursday morning. House Speaker Mike Johnson has expressed confidence that he will be able to get Trump’s agenda to his desk by the president’s July 4 deadline after the 219-213 vote, which saw almost all of the Republican holdouts flip to let the bill advance.

The final vote comes after Trump spent the evening variously attacking and attempting to woo the rebels who initially stalled the megabill from advancing through the House.

“Largest Tax Cuts in History and a Booming Economy vs. Biggest Tax Increase in History, and a Failed Economy. What are the Republicans waiting for??? What are you trying to prove??? MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT’S COSTING YOU VOTES!!!” Trump fumed on Truth Social. “FOR REPUBLICANS, THIS SHOULD BE AN EASY YES VOTE. RIDICULOUS!!!”

A total of five GOP lawmakers initially voted “no” on approving a rule required to kick off final debate and a vote on the megabill. Eight more Republicans withheld their votes, triggering hours of tense negotiations and pressure from Trump, Johnson, and other top GOP figures.

Several Republicans were outraged by changes to the bill made in the Senate, including revisions that would raise the national deficit to an estimated $3.3 trillion and major changes to Medicaid. Trump personally stepped in, calling some of the holdouts in the early hours of Thursday, including Indiana’s Victoria Spartz, Tennessee’s Tim Burchett, and Kentucky’s Thomas Massie, urging them to flip their votes.

Massie, one of just two House Republicans who originally opposed Trump’s spending bill in the lower chamber, told the president he’d back the bill if Trump stopped attacking him, according to The Hill.

In the end, all but one of the potential GOP spoilers changed course. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania remained the lone Republican to side with Democrats in voting against the rule allowing the bill to proceed to floor consideration. Just before the vote, Johnson huddled with the GOP holdouts on the House floor and led them in prayer, according to The Hill. The group then appeared friends again as they all posed for a selfie taken by Johnson.

The House will now proceed to debate the “Big Beautiful Bill,” with a final vote expected as early as Thursday morning. Trump and Johnson can afford only three Republican defections for the bill to clear the lower chamber and head to the president’s desk.

In a post on X, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the Democrats will “keep pressure on” those seeking to pass Trump’s bill and “continue to do all we can to stop these extremists from gutting your healthcare.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/republican-rebels-fold-after-trump-yells-maga-is-not-happy/?

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Dan Rather on ‘60 Minutes’ Settlement: ‘A Sellout to Extortion by the President’

CBS News legend says hefty payout is “a sad day for journalism.”

Dan Rather has slammed Paramount Global’s $16 million legal settlement with the Trump administration as “extortion by the president” and a “kneeling-down and saying, ‘Yes, Sir,’ by billionaire corporate owners.”

The legendary CBS News anchor told Variety on Wednesday he was “disappointed” but “not surprised” at the decision to settle the lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris.

Trump had demanded $20 billion, claiming the network had distorted the Harris interview by editing a garbled sentence of her talking about Israel’s war in Gaza. 60 Minutes claimed the editing was standard journalistic practice and done purely for timing reasons.

The settlement means Paramount will pay $16 million to Trump’s presidential library, but the media company does not need to apologize.

The fee matches the sum Disney paid Trump’s library last year to settle his defamation suit over an interview with GOP Rep. Nancy Mace by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.

Rather, 93, told Variety of the situation involving his former network, “It’s a sad day for journalism. It’s a sad day for 60 Minutes and CBS News. I hope people will read the details of this and understand what it was. It was distortion by the president and a kneeling-down and saying, ‘Yes, Sir,’ by billionaire corporate owners.”

The famed journalist also insisted Paramount did not have to settle the case. “You settle a lawsuit when you’ve done something wrong,” Rather said. “60 Minutes did nothing wrong. It followed accepted journalistic practices. Lawyers almost unanimously said the case wouldn’t stand up in court.”

The settlement came as David Ellison’s Skydance Media are negotiating an $8 billion acquisition of Paramount, which needs approval from the Trump-controlled Federal Communications Commission. Paramount has insisted the lawsuit is separate to the Skydance merger.

“Big billionaire business people make decisions about money,” Rather said. “We could always hope that they will make an exception when it comes to freedom of the press, but it wasn’t to be.

Rather, who anchored CBS News for 24 years, said, “Trump knew if he put the pressure on and threatened, and just held, that they would fold, because there’s too much money on the table.”

He added, “Trump is now forcing a whole news organization to pay millions of dollars for doing something protected by the Constitution — which is, of course, free and independent reporting. Now, you take today’s sellout. And that’s what it was: It was a sellout to extortion by the president. Who can now say where all this ends?”

The White House has been contacted for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/dan-rather-on-60-minutes-settlement-a-sellout-to-extortion-by-the-president/?

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Trump Is Bragging That He Planted the Elon Musk Drug Abuse Story in the New York Times: Author

Trump biographer Michael Wolff says the feud is in “blood score” territory now.

Donald Trump is getting personal in his war on Elon Musk, according to author Michael Wolff.

The president has been beefing about his former pal on phone calls with associates, claiming that he tipped off The New York Times about the billionaire’s alleged drug use, Wolff told The Daily Beast Podcast on Wednesday.

The Times reported in May that the 53-year-old was using ketamine, as well as Adderall, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, during Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign—which he spent hundreds of millions to support. Musk denies that he was taking drugs.

“I was tracking some Trump phone calls on Monday night. And it’s sort of worth explaining here that over a long period of time, I’ve gotten to know and cultivated a lot of people who Trump regularly speaks to,” Wolff told host Joanna Coles.

“Trump speaks to them, and then they speak to other people,” he said, adding, “whoever he calls, he says the same thing to everybody. So you know exactly what is on his mind.”

Apparently, Musk was on his mind on Monday.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has reignited his feud with Trump this week, rage-posting against the behemoth spending bill that Trump is trying to push through Congress. By Tuesday, it had irked Trump enough to provoke a public threat, in which the president suggested Musk’s government subsidies could dry up and send him packing “back home to South Africa.”

“He’s like, calling people to say, ‘do you think Elon is crazy?’” Wolff said of Trump.

“In one of these phone calls—many of them—he was on about, you know, how many drugs he takes," he continued. “‘He takes drugs all the time. You know that, don’t you? You know, The New York Times wrote about it. They said, he takes drugs.’”

According to Wolff, Trump said, “‘actually, we dropped a dime to The New York Times ... on Elon’s drug taking.”

Wolff said he has no idea if someone in Trump’s team was actually the source of that story, but “he is just claiming credit for that now.”

The Times said its account of Musk’s behavior was based on interviews with more than a dozen people who have known or worked with him, as well as private messages reporters had obtained.

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment. Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, has previously told the Daily Beast that Wolff is a “lying sack of s--t” who “fabricates stories.”

Earlier in the conversation, Wolff, author of Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House and several other titles about the president, said Musk and Trump’s fallout has entered “blood score” territory.

Even if the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” fails in the House, “Elon is pi--ed” now, Wolff said, predicting that the richest man in the world might actually create a new political party if that transpires.

Musk has threatened to form an “America Party” if the “insane spending bill passes,” and said he would fund primary opponents to any lawmaker who “campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history.”

Trump wants the bill passed by July 4 and has been calling for GOP unity as House Republicans struggle to coalesce around the controversial legislation.

New episodes of The Daily Beast Podcast are released every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Follow our new feed on your favorite podcast platform at beast.pub/dailybeastpod and subscribe on YouTube to watch full episodes.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-brags-about-insane-plot-to-screw-musk-wolff/?

ps:Not sure what is going to happen with these two, but it's another case of trump throwing a supposed friend under the bus!!

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Trump dealt loss as judge rejects executive order claiming ‘invasion’ at the border

WASHINGTON — A federal judge Wednesday ruled as unlawful an executive order by President Donald Trump that barred asylum by claiming an “invasion” at the southern border and the need to protect states.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/07/02/repub/trump-dealt-loss-as-judge-rejects-executive-order-claiming-invasion-at-the-border/?

Protesters outside the US House make a last stand against the GOP megabill

WASHINGTON — Protesters demonstrated against the “big beautiful bill” outside the U.S. Capitol Wednesday as House Republicans whipped votes to get the bill across the finish line and to President Donald Trump’s desk by a self-imposed July Fourth deadline.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/07/02/repub/protesters-outside-the-us-house-make-a-last-stand-against-the-gop-megabill/?

Trump’s Budget Just Passed the Senate. Brace for a Massive Increase in ICE Raids.

The budget gives $175 billion to immigration enforcement. “The orders of magnitude are going to be multiplied,” immigration experts say.

https://theintercept.com/2025/07/01/trump-big-beautiful-bill-passes-ice-budget/?

ps:Of course we'd rather spend money on this instead of using it for helping people!!!!!

Senate Passes Trump’s Big, Beautiful Boon for Police

The Senate GOP passed its “megabill” on Tuesday — handing police billions in grants to fuel Trump’s deportation regime and tax write-offs.

https://theintercept.com/2025/07/01/big-beautiful-bill-senate-police-funding/?

The Whiff of Corruption: Trump’s New Perfume Has Strong Notes of Graft

Trump’s wealth grew by over $1 billion in the past year, but the White House insists he isn’t profiting off of the presidency.

https://theintercept.com/2025/07/01/trump-fragrance-crypto/?

Trump administration freezes funding for after-school, childcare programs

A Trump administration budget freeze means a $2.4 million loss for the Boys & Girls Club of Central Florida, a “no warning” cut the club fears will leave it scrambling to keep its summertime program for low-income children running.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/07/03/trump-administration-freezes-funding-for-after-school-childcare-programs/?

ps:Lets spend the money on bull manure instead of helping low income children!!!!!

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218-214

Only two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) — ended up voting against President Trump's "One Big, Beautiful Bill," which passed the House 218-214 today.

• Speaker Mike Johnson and the White House were able to quell a rebellion from the hard right without making any changes to the Senate-passed bill — a major tactical victory for Johnson and the first big legislative achievement of Trump's second term.

⏱️ By the numbers: Johnson left a procedural vote on the bill open for seven hours and 24 minutes — a new record for the longest House vote.

• Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries also set a House record for the longest speech — at 8 hours and 44 minutes.
• "The base wants to see certain things and we have to show them those things, otherwise they don't believe we're fighting hard enough," one House Democrat told Axios' Andrew Solender, referring to Jeffries' speech.

? What it does: The bill makes the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent, reduces taxes on tips, and temporarily raises the cap on deducting state and local taxes.

• It makes significant changes to Medicaid, including imposing work requirements and reducing federal cost-sharing with states.

✍️ What's next: Trump is expected to sign the bill tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET, and Republicans will quickly launch a messaging blitz to build support for the bill, Axios' Kate Santaliz scoops.

• Several recent polls have shown anemic public support for the measure.

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A look at Trump’s big bill that passed Congress and will soon become law Republicans muscled President Donald Trump’s 900-page tax and spending cut bill through the House on Thursday, the final step necessary to get it to his desk by the GOP’s self-imposed deadline of July 4th. Read more.

What to know: The legislation contains about $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, with scores of them being business-related. This includes allowing businesses to immediately write off 100% of the cost of equipment and research. Proponents say this will boost economic growth. The bill also would temporarily add new tax deductions on tip, overtime and auto loans.   Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program face deep cuts to fund the bill’s tax breaks and spending. To help partly offset the lost tax revenue and new spending, The Congressional Budget Office estimates 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 and 3 million more would not qualify for SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps.   A number of extra provisions reflect other GOP priorities. The bill creates a new children’s savings program, called Trump Accounts, with a potential $1,000 deposit from the Treasury. The Senate also provided $40 million to establish Trump’s long-sought “National Garden of American Heroes.”

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Medicaid, food aid recipients worry about safety net cuts in bill sent to Trump   Democrats see Trump’s big bill as key to their comeback. It may not be so easy   What will happen to food assistance under Trump’s big tax cut bill, by the numbers   Rural hospitals brace for financial hits or even closure under Republicans’ $1 trillion Medicaid cut   What to know about buying electric vehicles after the federal tax incentives end   Hakeem Jeffries took his ‘sweet time’ holding the floor to delay Trump’s tax bill   EPA puts on leave 139 employees who spoke out against policies under Trump   North Carolina governor vetoes anti-DEI and transgender rights bills, calling them ‘mean-spirited’   US recalls top diplomat in Colombia as tensions with President Petro escalate   Confederacy group sues Georgia park for planning an exhibit on slavery and segregation   Missouri judge again blocks many of the state’s anti-abortion laws   Man charged with killing former Minnesota House speaker says he looks forward to ‘truth’ coming out   Trump wants to celebrate 250 years of independence with a UFC fight at the White House   How people are celebrating, protesting and traveling for July Fourth

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Putin Humiliates Trump With Unprecedented Attack Right After Their Phone Call

The Russian president launched 550 drones and missiles against Ukraine hours after a short chat with Trump.

Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s heaviest bombardment yet of Ukraine only hours after leaving President Donald Trump “disappointed” by a phone call over the prospect of peace negotiations.

“I didn’t make any progress with him at all,” Trump admitted to reporters on Thursday, before a barrage of missiles and drones that left much of the Ukrainian capital in flames.

The attack on Kyiv was the largest aerial bombardment since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The seven-hour onslaught lasted from Thursday into Friday and injured 23 people. Buildings were wrecked and rail infrastructure was affected, too.

Some 550 drones and missiles were launched across the country, in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called a “harsh, sleepless night.”

Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko described the scenes on X, telling of “families running into metro stations, basements, underground parking garages, mass destruction in the heart of our capital.”

“What Kyiv endured last night, cannot be called anything but a deliberate act of terror,” she added.

“I’m not happy about that. I’m not happy about that,” Trump said of Putin’s continued aggression.

“I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don’t think he’s there, and I’m very disappointed,” Trump said.

“I’m just saying I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad,” he added, managing to squeeze in a shot at his predecessor. “This is Biden’s war. It wouldn’t have happened if I were president.”

Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, agreed with the assertion that the war is far from over, trotting out the Kremlin line that it will only renege on its bombing campaign if its demands are met.

“Russia will not back down from these goals,” Ushakov told reporters, adding that the “root causes” of the conflict must be addressed.

Putin has long wanted Ukraine to abandon its push to join NATO. He is also determined not to give up Ukrainian territory captured since his “special military operation” began in 2022.

Trump is due to speak to Zelensky later on Friday. It is likely that Zelensky will renew his appeal for more military support from Trump, after shipments of military aid to Ukraine were paused after a Pentagon review of U.S. munitions stockpiles.

Before jetting off to Iowa for American independence celebrations on Thursday, Trump claimed former President Joe Biden had sent too many weapons. He said he hadn’t completely blocked shipments, merely stemmed the flow.

“We’re giving weapons, but we’ve given so many weapons. But we are giving weapons,” he said.

“And we’re working with them and trying to help them, but we haven’t (completely stopped). You know, Biden emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/putin-humiliates-trump-with-unprecedented-attack-right-after-their-phone-call/?

ps:These guys remind me of Abbot and Costello!!!!!