Members phkrause Posted September 23, 2025 Author Members Posted September 23, 2025 Pay to Play View in browser One thing we know about President Donald Trump: He loves gold. His hotels, his golf clubs, his private living quarters, his proprietary high-top sneakers and coffee grounds—all of it is to some extent coated in the same opulent shade. Even the Oval Office is now distinctly more golden than it was during the Biden years. Now the president is taking his gold paintbrush to the nation’s immigration policies. Enter the Trump Gold Card—not a credit card but a new pathway to immigration, offering wealthy foreigners a fast track to permanent residency in the United States. Launched on Friday by executive order alongside a restrictive new update to the H-1B program, the Trump Gold Card offers potential immigrants a trade: In exchange for $1 million plus processing fees, the government will give you an EB-1 or EB-2 visa. The administration is hoping to add an even more exclusive tier in the form of the $5 million Trump Platinum Card, which would give recipients 270 days’ residency in the U.S. with no tax on non-U.S. income. The EB-1 and EB-2 are employment-based visas that have historically been reserved for foreigners of “extraordinary” and “exceptional” ability, among other highly qualified professionals; the number following EB denotes a recipient’s importance on the world stage. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services suggests that a Pulitzer Prize or an Olympic medal might be part of a winning EB-1 application (it seems to go to all-purpose celebrities, too, such as former supermodel Melania Trump); professionals with “advanced degrees” could consider applying for an EB-2. That the $1 million Trump Gold Card now qualifies as “sufficient evidence that the individual will substantially benefit the United States” suggests that this administration thinks personal riches are a superpower of their own. The concept of a pay-to-play residency permit isn’t all that new. First instituted during the George H. W. Bush administration, the EB-5 visa is open to applicants who invest upwards of $800,000 into American businesses. It is far from a perfect program, and has been used as a vehicle for fraud, but its focus on investment in the American economy makes it decidedly different from the Trump Gold Card, which asks for an “unrestricted gift to the Department of Commerce” that the government can use as it sees fit. (Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick initially said that a Gold Card would replace the EB-5, but Friday’s executive order makes no mention of the program.) While the vestigial EB-5 asks for a direct injection of capital—Manhattan’s Hudson Yards was developed in part by EB-5 funds—the Department of Commerce will put its Gold Card war chest to work to “promote commerce and American industry,” which is a mandate is broad enough to encompass both new investment in public housing and also just paying off the government’s debt. In fact, Trump said on Friday that the Gold Card windfall will “generally” go to “pay down debt.” Whether or not it intends to, the Trump Gold Card is saying something profound about what and whom the administration values in 2025. A lot fewer people have Olympic medals than have $1 million in their bank accounts. Still, the Trump Gold Card gestures at a world where the ability to generate (or simply inherit) money is enough to justify a shortcut to U.S. residency. Asked back in February about whether a Russian oligarch could apply for the planned Gold Card, Trump replied, “Yeah, possibly. Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people.” The Gold Card’s premium presentation seems to double down on the promise of membership in an elite society. Its website looks almost like a tech start-up’s, with a sleek minimalist aesthetic courtesy of the National Design Studio, a federal initiative created by executive order last month and led by a co-founder of Airbnb, Tesla board member, and DOGE affiliate Joe Gebbia. A far cry from the typical sclerotic government site, trumpcard.gov invites visitors to begin their application for residency much as they might begin their application for a credit card, with just a few short questions; no onerous details required up front. The American dream has always been at least partly financial. Here, you can plant your flag, start your business, and exercise your newfound freedom in a way that’s conducive to economic mobility. But the Trump Gold Card reformulates the dream as a toll. Secretary Lutnick reportedly affirmed that this new paradigm represents some shape of the future for American visas, although he wasn’t very specific. “In less than a month, the other visa green-card categories are likely to be suspended,” he said, per CBS News. “This will be the model” by which “people can come into the country.” So much for “your tired, your poor / Your huddled masses”—this administration is more interested in those who have already hit it big. Related: Americans are buying an escape plan. (From March) Trump’s campaign to scare off foreign students Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 23, 2025 Author Members Posted September 23, 2025 ? Trump's shutdown showdown The details need firming up, but Trump plans to meet with Schumer and Jeffries on Thursday, sources tell us. Why it matters: Eight days and counting until a shutdown. Emboldened Democrats are vowing to let the government shut down if Republicans don't make significant concessions on health care and restraining the White House. Frustrated Republicans don't see why they should negotiate the short-term stopgap they're offering, as it's free from partisan add-ons. Democratic leaders were informed today of Trump's decision, two sources familiar with the matter told us. Punchbowl News first reported on Trump's agreeing to a meeting. Schumer and Jeffries demanded a meeting with Trump in a letter sent on Saturday. "It is now your obligation to meet with us directly to reach an agreement to keep the government open and address the Republican health care crisis," the two Democratic leaders wrote. It's not immediately clear if Senate Majority Leader John Thune or Speaker Mike Johnson will join the meeting. — Stef Kight and Andrew Solender ? Charted: Trump's pain points Data: Silver Bulletin. Chart: Axios Visuals President Trump's net approval rating is underwater on four key issues that he heavily campaigned on: immigration (-3.4), the economy (-15.5), trade (-18.9) and inflation (-30.4), according to data from Nate Silver. Why it matters: Handling of the inflation-battered economy and immigration polled as two of Trump's biggest advantages against Kamala Harris last November. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 23, 2025 Author Members Posted September 23, 2025 ICE Barbie Furiously Ordered Trump’s Border Czar to Stop Going on TV Kristi Noem reportedly tried so hard to “put a comms blackout” on Tom Homan that the president himself called to ask if he needed to intervene in their spat. Two of Donald Trump’s most vicious anti-immigration bulldogs have reportedly been at each other’s throats to such an extent that the president himself wondered if he’d need to step in. In a sweeping exposé on Kristi Noem’s rise from humble Farm Service Agency employee South Dakota governor to homeland security secretary, New York magazine reports that Noem’s bitter spat with border czar Tom Homan ultimately boils down to her seemingly insatiable appetite for publicity. Since assuming her post earlier this year, Noem has indeed embarked on an intense campaign for ever greater public exposure, earning the nickname “ICE Barbie” for cosplaying during TV appearances as an immigration enforcement agent, a firefighter, a pilot, and various other DHS employees. It was her crusade for more airtime, a former DHS official told the magazine, that apparently put her on a collision course with Homan, himself a huge fan of media appearances. Noem reportedly became enraged with the border czar after he appeared on TV to discuss developments in the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration crackdown, accusing him of having “gotten out front” of her on the topic. “She tried to put a comms blackout on him,” another member of the administration told New York. “She ordered that he not go on TV; she ordered that basically no one go on TV in the entire Homeland Lane.” Noem didn’t stop there, telling Homan he worked for her, to which Homan responded by telling her that in fact, he works for the White House, according to the magazine. It was at that stage that Trump himself reportedly asked Homan during a sitdown with the border czar earlier this year whether he “needed to intervene,” though Homan said he needn’t bother as “we can work this out,” according to New York. The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment on the report. A spokesperson for the Trump administration told the magazine that “the President’s entire team—including Border Czar Tom Homan and Secretary Noem—are all in lockstep.” DHS, meanwhile, told the magazine of its report: “This NYMag hit piece reads like a preteen rage-scrolling, then prompting ChatGPT for a screed on misogyny—complete with zero substance and maximum bullshit.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-barbie-kirsti-noem-furiously-ordered-donald-trumps-border-czar-tom-homan-to-stop-going-on-tv/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 23, 2025 Author Members Posted September 23, 2025 Donald Trump Goes on Bizarre Vaccine Rant About Babies and Horses The president got medical ahead of his major autism announcement. President Donald Trump unleashed a surreal rant about children being injected with “massive” vaccines similar to ones “you’d give to a horse.” Trump said vaccines “can be great” unless you “put the wrong stuff in them.” Trump was speaking ahead of a Monday press conference where he suggested vaccine skeptic Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has “found an answer to autism.” Acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, is expected to be blamed. “Children get these massive vaccines like you’d give to a horse… like you’d give to a horse," he added. “And I’ve said for a long time, I mean, this is no secret, spread them out over five years. Get five shots, small ones. You ever see what they get they get? I mean, for a little baby to be injected with that much fluid, even beyond the actual ingredients, they have sometimes 80 different vaccines in them. It’s crazy.” The president, who in 2020 suggested an injection of “disinfectant” could be used to fight COVID, compared the size of needles used on infants with those used for horses. “It’s like you’re shooting up a horse,” he said of children getting vaccines. “You have a little body, a baby, and you’re pumping this big thing that’s a horrible thing, so I’ve always felt that, but we’ll be having a big discussion about autism tomorrow.” He was speaking on Air Force One on his return to the White House from Charlie Kirk’s funeral in Arizona on Sunday. Trump also used his speech at Kirk’s funeral in Arizona to preview an announcement regarding autism from Kennedy Jr., and former TV medic Dr. Mehmet Oz. He claimed it would be “one of the biggest announcements really medically I think in the history of our country.” While Trump did not go into specifics of the new findings from prominent vaccine skeptic RFK Jr., he said the autism announcement would cover “how it happens so we won’t let it happen anymore, and how to get at least somewhat better when you have it so that parents can help their child, their beautiful child.” The president also mentioned that Kirk would have also looked forward to the event. “I told him a little bit about what was going on,” Trump said of the slain right-wing activist. “He would have been front row center. Believe me, we’ll be missing him tomorrow. It was such a big deal for him, too.” In April, RFK Jr. promised, “By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we’ll be able to eliminate those exposures.” Kennedy has previously linked autism to vaccines, but is now expected to suggest a link between one of the most popular painkillers and a higher risk of autism in children. In a new report by The Washington Post, Monday’s announcement is set to see federal health officials flag warnings over pregnant women using acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, and suggest females avoid use of the drug early in their pregnancy. The Post report also suggested health officials will recommend the drug Leucovorin could be used as a possible autism treatment. It is usually prescribed to treat vitamin B9 deficiency. Speaking in May, the health secretary said that parents should “do their own research” when vaccinating their children. “Autism destroys families but more importantly it destroys our greatest resource, which are our children... we have to recognize we are doing this to our children and we need to put an end to it.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-goes-on-bizarre-vaccine-rant-about-babies-and-horses/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 23, 2025 Author Members Posted September 23, 2025 Trump Insider Claims Top Coast Guard Brass Snubbed to Keep ICE Barbie in Rent-Free Home Kristi Noem does not want to move out of home usually reserved for the Coast Guard commandant. ICE Barbie Kristi Noem is reportedly stalling Senate confirmations so she can keep living rent-free in a military base home normally reserved for the Coast Guard’s top officer. Noem, dubbed “ICE Barbie” for her love for cosplaying in uniforms during PR stunts, has been staying in the Coast Guard commandant’s residence at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C.. A top Trump administration official has now told New York Magazine that Noem is thrilled with her current cost-efficient living arrangements, and does not want any senior Coast Guard official coming in and forcing her out of her new abode. “They’ve sent no three- or four-stars in the Coast Guard up for confirmation,” the official told the magazine, “because she doesn’t want to get kicked out of the commandant’s house.” Homeland Security Secretary Noem moved there saying she feared for her safety after the Daily Mail published photos in April of her usual home. In May, Noem announced Admiral Kevin E. Lunday as Trump’s nominee for the next Coast Guard commandant, and the rightful occupant of the D.C. base. But the Senate has yet to confirm him, leaving Lunday serving only in an acting capacity. The base had been empty since February when Admiral Linda Lee Fagan, fired by the Trump administration the previous month, was evicted. Noem’s reluctance to budge is just one detail in juicy feature examining the relationship between Noem and former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who are accused of having an affair for years. Lewandowski works closely alongside Noem and has an oversized role at the DHS, including signing off on work before it lands on her desk, and even carrying out some of her duties. This is despite Lewandowski, who has been described as Noem’s de facto chief of staff, only meant to have been brought in as a temporary “special government employee,” which would have forced him to step down after 130 days.Rumors of their romantic involvement, which they both deny, were fueled in February when the Daily Beast’s The Swamp newsletter reported that Lewandowski was spotted at Noem’s D.C. home taking out the trash. A month later, the Daily Mail reported that Noem and Lewandowski were living across the street from each other in the trendy Navy Yard neighborhood in D.C. The outlet published photos of where Noem lives, adding that Lewandowski was a “regular visitor” to Noem’s swish $3,750 a month condo. “Everybody knows they’re together. Can I prove it? No, but they’re together,” a Trump administration official told New York Magazine. Soon after, Noem moved into the Coast Guard commandant’s home citing fears for her safety after being “doxxed,” and has been living there rent-free ever since. In response, a DHS spokesperson said the New York Magazine article is a “hit piece reads like a preteen rage-scrolling, then prompting ChatGPT for a screed on misogyny—complete with zero substance and maximum bulls--t." “It’s not just lazy—it’s libelous—peddling anonymous gossip as fact while ignoring our exhaustive, on-the-record rebuttals that destroy their narrative,“ a spokesperson told the Daily Beast. ”New York Magazine has sunk to new depths of journalistic cowardice, force-feeding the American public lies less digestible than Kibble dog food." A spokesperson added the claims Noem is staying at the Coast Guard commandant’s residence for free as “nonsensical.” “Secretary Noem is paying fair market value for her temporary use of the U.S. Coast Guard government representation facility,” the spokesperson added. Noem has also insisted her stay in the base is temporary, and that she still pays rent at her Navy Yard apartment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-insider-claims-top-coast-guard-brass-snubbed-to-keep-ice-barbie-kristi-noem-in-rent-free-home/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 23, 2025 Author Members Posted September 23, 2025 Trump Aides Fume After Tulsi Gabbard Goes Totally Rogue With Online Post The director of national intelligence reportedly revoked the security clearances of 37 people without informing the White House Members of Donald Trump’s inner circle have had it with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. The president’s aides are claiming the 44-year-old blindsided them when she publicly stripped 37 current and former officials of their security clearances last month, the Guardian reported. On Aug. 19, Gabbard wrote on X that she was acting under Trump’s direction to revoke the security clearances of the 37 individuals, including those who had supported Trump’s first impeachment trial or concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. “Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right,” Gabbard wrote. “Those in the Intelligence Community who betray their oath to the Constitution and put their own interests ahead of the interests of the American people have broken the sacred trust they promised to uphold.” But Trump’s aides told the Guardian that Gabbard’s deputy chief of staff, Alexa Henning, didn’t disclose how the list was compiled or the underlying evidence that led to pulling the security clearances before sharing it with her 762,000 followers—leaving staffers “deeply frustrated.” Only after Gabbard made the list public did they realize she had stripped deputies to the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, of security clearances. The director’s office also sent the list to the CIA the night before making it public, the Guardian reported—despite publicly naming those deputies and at least one officer who was working undercover at the time. Knowingly revealing the identity of a covert U.S. intelligence officer or agent is a felony, though it is unclear whether the law applies to disclosures made by government officials. A senior intelligence official, however, pushed back on claims that Gabbard acted of her own accord, the Guardian reported. The official said Gabbard told Trump in the Oval Office that she had compiled names of those who worked on the intelligence assessments on Russia’s malign influence operations during the 2016 election. Trump told Gabbard those people should be removed, the intelligence official said. The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for comment. In a statement to the Guardian, a White House spokesperson did not address whether there had been advance notice or when the emails were sent but said Gabbard was doing a “phenomenal job” and that the White House “has worked closely with her on implementing the President’s objectives.”“The entire administration is aligned on ensuring those who have weaponized their clearances to manipulate intelligence, leak classified intelligence without authorization, and many other egregious acts are held to account,” the spokesperson added. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-aides-fume-after-tulsi-gabbard-goes-totally-rogue-with-online-post/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 23, 2025 Author Members Posted September 23, 2025 The most unprecedented presidency Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Not since America's founding 250 years ago has a U.S. president expanded power — and punished critics — in more unprecedented ways than Donald J. Trump, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen write in a "Behind the Curtain" column. Why it matters: Yes, most presidents stretch the power of the White House and, on rare occasions, blatantly target U.S. critics on U.S. soil. But Trump has veered, often suddenly, proudly and loudly, into unprecedented territory in at least 15 different areas. No president in peacetime has done this much in one year of one term. Trump has done this in eight short months, often with the loyal backing of a compliant Republican-led Congress and validated by the conservative majority of the Supreme Court. Trump has 40 more months — four-fifths of his term — left to stretch it further. White House officials tell us they're just getting going. They see chaos as their brand and "consequence culture" taking root. ?️ The big picture: Trump vs. Democrats — and the media, Congress, the courts, law firms, colleges and critics — seems likely to escalate, pushing America deeper into unprecedented territory. Trump advisers know there are few brakes left, particularly if Trump precedents prevail at the Supreme Court, or if Republicans keep control of Congress 14 months from now. The two of us have written extensively in these "Behind the Curtain" columns about the new rules being set, both for this administration and future ones. We've been careful to differentiate threats and hyperbole from actual actions. And we've been clear in reminding Republicans that all these powers could one day soon be used against them just as aggressively. Truth is, we've been writing for 25 years about the ever-expanding imperial presidency. Trump officials tell us they're simply doing or expanding upon what's been before. But that's the point: The founders never envisioned a federal government this big and this powerful, or a president this unchecked. Here are 15 big ways Trump is shattering precedents, synthesized and narrated by Axios' Zachary Basu: ? 1. Executive power: Trump has declared nine national emergencies in his first eight months in office, stretching the definition of "emergency" in creative and aggressive ways. Historical analogy: Since 1980, presidents have declared an average of seven in a four-year term. Trump's 200+ executive orders fall far short of the thousands issued by FDR (a wartime president elected to four terms), but Trump's pace — 142 in his first 100 days — is the highest on record. New precedent: Future presidents can use loosely defined "emergencies" as a routine tool to bypass Congress and unlock extraordinary powers governing trade, immigration, mineral extraction and foreign disputes. ?️ 2. Free-press crackdown: Trump has waged the most aggressive government campaign against mainstream media in modern U.S. history — stripping funding from public outlets, pushing the FCC to revoke broadcast licenses over negative coverage, and personally suing CBS/Paramount, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times while in office. Historical analogy: No modern president has deployed such a mix of lawsuits and regulatory muscle. Even Richard Nixon, who targeted The Washington Post and CBS through the IRS and FCC, never sued multiple networks directly. New precedent: Future presidents can use lawsuits, regulatory threats, and funding pressure to bring independent media to heel. ?️ 3. Seizing congressional purse strings: Trump has tried to freeze or redirect billions in congressionally appropriated funds, from public health to foreign aid to university research. Historical analogy: The closest precedent is Nixon, who tried to "impound" funds in the early 1970s. Congress responded by passing the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 — which the Trump White House claims is unconstitutional — to stop presidents from unilaterally withholding money. No president since has attempted impoundments at this scale, or with such open defiance of Congress and the courts. New precedent: Future presidents can treat Congress's "power of the purse" as optional, withholding or redirecting funds to pressure states, institutions or foreign governments. ? 4. Tariffs: Trump has effectively seized the authority over tariffs that the Constitution gives to Congress, wielding tariffs to reshape global trade and punish countries for political or economic disputes. Historical analogy: The last sweeping tariff shock was Smoot–Hawley, which President Hoover signed in 1930 and wound up worsening the Great Depression. Since then, presidents have used delegated powers narrowly — including President Reagan's selective tariffs on Japanese motorcycles and semiconductors in the 1980s to try to protect American manufacturing. Trump is the first to use emergency authorities to impose broad tariffs without new congressional legislation. New precedent: Future presidents can bypass Congress to unilaterally set tariff policy, erasing one of the legislature's core constitutional powers. ⬇️ Column continues below. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 23, 2025 Author Members Posted September 23, 2025 ⚡ Part 2: Trump's 8-month blitz Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios ? 5. Overriding the Constitution: Trump issued an executive order seeking to eliminate birthright citizenship — a right guaranteed in the 14th Amendment — for the children of unauthorized immigrants. Historical analogy: Past constitutional showdowns have come during war or insurrection: Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus in the Civil War. FDR interned Japanese Americans during World War II. In each case, presidents acted under extraordinary wartime claims of necessity. No president has ever tried to nullify a core constitutional guarantee by executive order in peacetime — not even Nixon at his most imperial. New precedent: Future presidents can attempt to nullify core constitutional rights through executive orders rather than constitutional amendments or legislation. ? 6. Purging watchdogs and civil servants: Trump has fired inspectors general en masse, dismantled independent agencies, and ordered loyalty-driven purges across the federal workforce. Historical analogy: The closest echoes are the spoils system under Andrew Jackson in the 1830s, when partisan loyalty determined federal jobs, and Nixon's "enemies list." But both were constrained — the Pendleton Act of 1883 ended mass patronage hiring, and inspectors general were introduced after Nixon. Trump has revived the spoils system at a scale unseen since the 19th century. New precedent: Future presidents can eliminate internal checks and turn civil servants into political operatives who serve the president rather than the public. ⚖️ 7. Eroding DOJ independence: Trump has declared himself the country's "chief law enforcement officer" — a title typically reserved for the attorney general — claiming the right to personally dictate prosecutions and order investigations of his political opponents. Historical analogy: Other presidents have leaned on the Justice Department — Nixon schemed to use the FBI and Justice Department against enemies until Watergate exposed it. George W. Bush's administration was accused of firing seven U.S. attorneys for political reasons, leading to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other top officials. The difference: Those efforts were usually concealed or denied. Trump has largely made his claims explicit, publicly asserting direct authority over prosecutors in a way no modern president has dared. New precedent: Future presidents can claim direct authority to launch or block investigations, erasing the long-standing norms separating the White House from the Justice Department. ? 8. Eroding Fed independence: Trump tried to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook as part of an extraordinary campaign to pressure the central bank to cut interest rates. Historical analogy: Presidents have leaned on the Fed before — LBJ hauled chair William McChesney Martin to his Texas ranch to berate him over rates, and Nixon privately pressed chairman Arthur Burns to juice the economy before the 1972 election. But neither tried to remove Fed governors mid-term. New precedent: Future presidents can treat the Fed as an arm of the White House, undermining the principle of central bank independence that has anchored U.S. economic stability for decades. ? 9. Wartime powers in peacetime: Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members without hearings, ordered maritime strikes on alleged drug traffickers without congressional authorization, and deployed the National Guard to D.C. and Los Angeles without the consent of local authorities. Historical analogy: Presidents occasionally have stretched security powers in peacetime, but narrowly. Dwight D. Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock, Ark., in 1957, but to enforce court-ordered desegregation, not to override state authority for political aims. Presidents George W. Bush and Obama both justified expansive national-security actions after 9/11, but under explicit congressional authorizations. Trump is the first to wield war powers domestically and abroad in peacetime, without legislative cover. New precedent: Future presidents can stretch wartime authorities to bypass Congress and due process for military operations on both domestic and foreign territory. ? 10. Pay-me capitalism: The Trump administration has secured a "golden share" in U.S. Steel, taken a cut of chipmakers' foreign sales and a stake in Intel, and scored companies on their loyalty to Trump's agenda. Historical analogy: Past presidents intervened in industry only during crises — FDR's War Production Board in WWII, or the TARP bailouts in 2008. In those cases, government stakes were temporary and statutory. Trump's approach is different: during peacetime, permanent and without legal authorization. The Wall Street Journal's Greg Ip describes it as "state capitalism with American characteristics" — closer to China's party-industry nexus or Russia's oligarchy than to traditional U.S. capitalism. New precedent: Future presidents can use the power of the state to extract equity, revenue and political concessions from private companies as the price of doing business. ? 11. Targeting Big Law: Trump punished firms that represented political adversaries by stripping contracts and security clearances, extracting multimillion-dollar pro bono deals. Historical analogy: No president before Trump used federal power to directly coerce private firms into financial penalties for representing political clients. New precedent: Future presidents can weaponize government power to intimidate lawyers, deterring them from representing clients who challenge the administration. ⬇️ Column continues below. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 23, 2025 Author Members Posted September 23, 2025 ? Part 3: Methodical power play Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios ? 12. Punishing universities: Trump withheld billions in federal funding from schools such as Harvard and Columbia — citing their handling of pro-Palestinian protests, campus antisemitism, and DEI policies — and used the leverage to force changes in curricula and leadership. Historical analogy: In the McCarthy era, professors were ousted over alleged communist sympathies. In the Vietnam era, Nixon railed against universities as hotbeds of unrest. But those campaigns relied mainly on rhetoric and blacklists. Trump is the first president to tie federally appropriated money directly to how universities handle political speech and protest on campus. New precedent: Future presidents can use federal dollars to police academic speech and independence, reshaping universities to align with partisan agendas. ? 13. Rewriting health and vaccine policy: Trump fired career health officials, slashed funding for public health research, and gave political allies broad control over FDA and CDC decisions. Historical analogy: Presidents have had major impacts on health policy before — Reagan downplayed the AIDS crisis, George W. Bush launched PEPFAR, Obama built pandemic playbooks after H1N1. But their interventions largely worked within expert systems. Trump is the first to dismantle those systems in peacetime, sidelining scientific expertise to give political appointees direct control over vaccines and public health guidance. New precedent: Future presidents can subordinate public health to partisan agendas, treating life-or-death scientific guidance as another lever of political control. Data: Forbes. Chart: Axios Visuals ? 14. Profiteering: The Trump family is believed to already have made billions of dollars during his second term, including through massive foreign crypto deals, real estate ventures and brazen access plays. Historical analogy: Presidential profiteering has a long shadow — Ulysses S. Grant's administration was mired in scandals involving cronies cashing in. Warren Harding's Teapot Dome involved Cabinet officials taking bribes from oil companies. But in most cases, the enrichment was indirect or hidden. Trump has intertwined policy with family business at a scale and transparency unseen in U.S. history. New precedent: Future presidents can treat the White House as a platform for personal enrichment, including in nascent industries for which the U.S. government is writing the rules. ? 15. Jan. 6 pardons: Trump issued blanket clemency to more than 1,500 people charged in the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, including violent offenders and far-right extremists. Historical analogy: Andrew Johnson pardoned ex-Confederates after the Civil War. Jimmy Carter pardoned Vietnam draft evaders in 1977. But those were framed as acts of reconciliation to heal national wounds. Trump pardoned his own supporters for crimes committed on his behalf, in an attempt to erase accountability for an attack on Congress itself. New precedent: Future presidents can use the pardon power to shield their political movements from the rule of law, granting impunity for crimes against the state. The bottom line: This can seem improvisational, and sometimes is. But step back and you see a very clear, often methodical, march to greater executive power. It often starts with one Truth Social post here or an executive order there. But then the pattern repeats itself. And new precedent is slowly — then suddenly — set. Now it's commonplace to see Trump use U.S. military on U.S. soil, a move once reserved for clear emergencies. Or sue a media company for criticism, or target individual critics, or pressure universities to fire leaders or shift policies, or demand law firms or businesses to pay the government or face its wrath. ? Let us know what you think: jim@axios.com & mike@axios.com. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 24, 2025 Author Members Posted September 24, 2025 Leavitt Busted Telling Untruths About Homan’s $50K Sting Administration officials have given conflicting accounts of whether Trump’s border czar accepted a $50,000 payment. President Donald Trump’s press secretary insisted that border czar Tom Homan did not accept a $50,000 payment from undercover FBI agents—even though Homan himself did not deny taking the money. Additionally, the reporter who broke the story said that internal documents which revealed the sting explicitly said Homan had taken the cash. Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt was asked if the president had instructed the Department of Justice to close the case against Homan. MSNBC reporting by Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian described Homan accepting the money in exchange for “facilitating” contracts in a future Trump administration. “We reviewed internal document saying Homan accepted the cash payment from undercover @FBI agents in September 2024,” Leonnig posted on X. Leavitt was asked if Homan would have to return the money. “Well, Mr. Homan never took the $50,000 that you’re referring to, so you should get your facts straight,” she shot back in a White House press briefing on Monday. Homan, however, did not deny taking the money when allowed to address the MSNBC story during an interview with Fox News. “I did nothing criminal, I did nothing illegal, and there’s hit piece after hit piece after hit piece,” Homan told Laura Ingraham. “And I’m glad the FBI and DOJ came out and said that nothing illegal happened and no criminal activity.” Homan allegedly accepted the cash from undercover FBI agents last summer while promising to secure government contracts during a future Trump administration. He whined to Fox News that he had worked in law enforcement for 34 years and left a “very successful business” to serve in the Trump administration. In response to questions about the discrepancy between Homan and Leavitt’s comments, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told the Daily Beast, “There is no difference, both statements reiterate the truth: Tom Homan did nothing wrong and the Biden Administration weaponized government institutions to target Trump allies. When will the clowns at the Daily Beast cover that?” She declined to say what happened to the $50,000 if Homan didn’t take it. The cash exchange was recorded on tape, according to MSNBC, which broke the story over the weekend. Sources said the FBI and DOJ were waiting to move forward with the investigation until Homan took over as border czar and could make good on his promise. After Trump took office, though, FBI Director Kash Patel requested an update on the case, which was then closed by an unnamed Trump appointee. During Monday’s briefing, Leavitt accused the Biden administration of “weaponizing” the government against one of Trump’s “strongest and most vocal supporters” by having FBI agents go undercover to try to “entrap” someone who they knew would be taking a government position. She also said the White House and the president stood by Homan “100 percent.” “He did absolutely nothing wrong, and he is a brave public servant who has done a phenomenal job in helping the president shut down the border,” she added. https://www.thedailybeast.com/karoline-leavitt-busted-telling-untruths-about-tom-homans-50k-sting/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 24, 2025 Author Members Posted September 24, 2025 What Trump’s Rant About ‘Hate’ Tells Us: Kara Swisher Journalist Kara Swisher unpacks the president’s sordid appearance at Charlie Kirk’s funeral, where campaign politics overshadowed mourning. President Donald Trump told everyone at Charlie Kirk’s memorial that he disagreed with the slain conservative activist’s reluctance to hate his political opponents because “cruelty” has always worked for him, Kara Swisher says. The veteran tech journalist told The Daily Beast Podcast that while the president may have been attempting a joke, there was plenty of truth to what he said. “It’s him. He was describing himself. At least he was truthful, right?” Swisher told host Joanna Coles. “I don’t know. I feel like it was badly timed,” said Swisher. “I think he was trying to make a joke about how Charlie Kirk wasn’t like that—you know, you try to find something funny at a funeral. But I think that was the absolute truth about himself... That’s how he feels about people. He really does.“ “The thing is, he does move on from and then becomes friends with people he hates, or he has friends that... he hates and then he’s friends again,” Swisher continued, citing Rupert Murdoch and Elon Musk as two of the more prominent examples. “So that’s his M.O. But it’s completely on-brand with him. Hate works for this man just the way ‘hope’ worked for Obama. And so he’s really leaning into what works for him, which is cruelty.” Whereas Kirk’s widow, Erika, forgave her husband’s killer and said that “the answer to hate is not hate,” Trump saw it differently. “He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them. I’m sorry, Erika,” Trump said at the Glendale, Arizona, memorial, prompting some laughs. “But now Erika can talk to me and the whole group and maybe they can convince me that that’s not right. But I can’t stand my opponent.” Swisher said Trump’s comments, which included tangents on tariffs, autism, Joe Biden and “radical left maniacs,” resembled a campaign rally. “It was a pretty low bar compared to most of the other speakers,” she said of Trump. “It was a little bit untoward at someone’s funeral of a friend.” It wasn’t just Trump’s comments that drew attention. Afterwards, while standing on stage alongside Erika Kirk as “America the Beautiful” played, he even danced a little. When reached for comment, the White House referred the Daily Beast to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defending the president by telling reporters Monday that Trump “is authentically himself.” “I think that’s why millions of Americans across the country love and support him, including Erika Kirk, who... was leaning on the president for support during that time. And he was there to give it to her, as well as the vice president and many other top-ranking cabinet officials,” Leavitt said. https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-donald-trumps-rant-about-hate-tells-us-kara-swisher/? ps:It's never about the person, but about himself!! Period!!!!! Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 24, 2025 Author Members Posted September 24, 2025 Tulsi Gabbard Breaks With Trump in MAGA Free Speech Rebellion Political observers viewed the comments as an implicit rebuke to the administration’s punitive steps attacking dissent Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has broken ranks with the Trump administration on free speech, urging Americans to protect it at all cost in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Days after Republican Senator Ted Cruz and conservative commentator Ben Shapiro spoke out against the administration’s role in pulling Jimmy Kimmel off the air last week, Gabbard became the latest MAGA figure to champion the importance of free speech at a time when dissent is increasingly being silenced. “Free speech is the foundation of our democratic republic. We must protect it at all costs, because without it, we’ll be lost. Charlie knew this. He lived it,” she told mourners at his memorial in Arizona on Sunday. The comments were viewed by some observers as an implicit rebuke to Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr and other administration officials who have publicly threatened punitive steps to crack down on free speech in the wake of Kirk’s death. Trump himself last week suggested the FCC should revoke the licenses of broadcast TV stations that he said are “against” him, telling reporters: “They give me only bad publicity [and] press. I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away.” But others, like Republican Senator Cruz, warned that using the government to police political content was “dangerous as hell” and could come back to haunt conservatives if Democrats returned to office. “They will silence us,” said the Trump ally, who likened Carr’s actions to a mafia character from Goodfellas. “They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly.” Gabbard’s latest breaking of ranks is part of a broader pattern of occasional friction between her and other administration factions. Over the weekend, The Guardian reported that Trump’s aides were frustrated by the DNI’s recent announcement that dozens of former and current intelligence officials had their security clearances yanked last month, claiming she had blindsided them. Trump has also previously called her out for testifying to Congress in March that Iran wasn’t building a nuclear weapon. “I don’t care what she said,” the president told reporters in June as the administration quietly prepared to launch an unprecedented strike on Iran. “I think they were very close to having one.” But Gabbard, a former Democrat Congresswoman who became part of Trump’s circle ahead of the 2024 election, has long been a staunch defender of free speech, usually taking aim at the left over attempts at censorship. “Free speech is under attack,” she warned last year when the Biden administration was in power. “Our government has proven they will stop at nothing to try to censor and control what we can say, read and hear.” Last week, the First Amendment took center stage yet again, when Kimmel was fired from his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, after making comments about Kirk’s killing. This led to Carr threatening to revoke ABC’s broadcast license, a move that Cruz likened to mafia tactics, while Shapiro warned: “The FCC should not be threatening action against ABC or its affiliates or Disney.” On Sunday, Republican Senator Rand Paul also weighed in, telling NBC’s Meet the Press that companies like ABC had the right to make content choices based on the reactions of their audiences, but stressed that the Trump administration went too far with Carr’s involvement. Speaking at Kirk’s memorial on Sunday, Gabbard paid tribute to the conservative commentator, saying he entered the arena armed with the Constitution, and used his words as weapons to defend free speech, faith, and the nation he loved. “Tulsi Gabbard didn’t get the memo,” anti-Trump group Lincoln Square observed on X after the speech. “The DNI went off script and challenged Brendan Carr and the Trump administration on first amendment principles.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/tulsi-gabbard-breaks-with-trump-in-maga-free-speech-rebellion/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 24, 2025 Author Members Posted September 24, 2025 Trump makes unfounded claims about Tylenol and repeats discredited link between vaccines and autism President Donald Trump on Monday used the platform of the presidency to promote unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism as his administration announced a wide-ranging effort to study the causes of the complex brain disorder. Read more. What to know: “Don’t take Tylenol,” Trump instructed pregnant women around a dozen times during the White House news conference. He also urged mothers not to give their infants the drug, known by the generic name acetaminophen in the U.S. or paracetamol in most other countries. Medical experts said Trump’s remarks were irresponsible. New York University bioethicist Art Caplan said it was “the saddest display of a lack of evidence, rumors, recycling old myths, lousy advice, outright lies, and dangerous advice I have ever witnessed by anyone in authority.” Autism is not a disease but a complex developmental condition that affects different people in different ways. The disorder affects 1 in 31 U.S. children today, a sharp rise from just a few years ago, according to the CDC. Experts say the increase is mainly due to a new definition for the disorder that now includes mild cases on a “spectrum” and better diagnoses. They say there is no single cause to the disorder and say the rhetoric appears to ignore and undermine decades of science into the genetic and environmental factors that can play a role. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Supreme Court will weigh expanding Trump’s power to shape agencies by overturning 90-year-old ruling Trump signs order designating decentralized antifa movement as a domestic terror organization Judge orders Trump administration to restore $500 million in federal grant funding to UCLA Trump administration wants to hand out $2.4 billion it took from California’s high-speed railroad The White House says it blocked US Steel’s decision to stop processing steel at Illinois plant Trump to meet with Schumer and Jeffries as government shutdown risk looms More Americans think US companies benefit from legal immigration, a new AP-NORC poll finds What to know about the H-1B visa Trump has targeted with $100,000 fees Trump to take aim at ‘globalist institutions’ in UN speech US bars Iran’s diplomats from shopping at Costco without permission A Jamaican man deported by the US to Eswatini has been repatriated, authorities say Trump administration sanctions wife of Brazilian judge who sentenced Bolsonaro Rubio meets Syria’s leader in New York as the country’s isolation eases further Putin says Russia is willing to abide by nuclear arms deal with the US for 1 year after it expires White House backs ‘border czar’ after reports he accepted cash during undercover FBI probe Former Trump lawyer becomes top federal prosecutor for Eastern District of Virginia Kamala Harris says she ‘had a certain responsibility’ to argue against Biden running again Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 24, 2025 Author Members Posted September 24, 2025 Trump's middle finger to the UN President Trump had a harsh message for fellow world leaders at the UN General Assembly today: "Your countries are going to hell!" Why it matters: In Trump's depiction, the U.S. is in a "golden age" — but every other country, particularly Western European allies, are collapsing due to immigration, unreliable green energy sources and weak leadership," Axios' Dave Lawler and Barak Ravid write. ? Trump said he's demonstrated how to end wars, build the world's "hottest" economy — and shut down immigration, which he told fellow leaders was "destroying your country." They'd be wise to take his MAGA agenda back home with them, he advised. ? Zoom in: After rolling through his usual talking points on his "sleepy," "weak" predecessor and the prosperity he'd unleashed, Trump trained his fire on the UN itself. Trump said the UN hasn't made any headway in ending any conflict anywhere in the world. "What is the purpose of the United Nations?" he asked. "All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter." He said UN officials "didn't know what they were doing when it came to construction either," because they picked another bid over his to rebuild the UN complex years ago. Trump drew laughter after taking the stage by saying whoever was running the faulty teleprompter was "in big trouble." Later in the speech, he ad-libbed: "These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter." ? Trump's tone grew darker. "Not only is the UN not solving the problems it should. Too often, it's actually creating new problems for us to solve. The best example is the No. 1 political issue of our time, the crisis of uncontrolled migration," he said. Trump zoomed in on Europe, saying the continent is being "invaded by a force of illegal aliens like no one has seen before," claiming that societies are being ripped apart and that London is moving toward Sharia Law. "It's time to end the failed experiment of open borders. You have to end it now. I can tell you, I'm really good at this stuff: Your countries are going to hell." ?️ By the end of the 57-minute speech, nearly quadruple his official time slot, Trump was drifting farther from his prepared remarks and often from factual reality. Trump called climate change "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world," claimed the Biden administration had "lost more than 300,000 children" to human trafficking, and said many countries were "on the brink of destruction" due to their reliance on green energy. With a few exceptions, Trump garnered very little applause from the leaders and diplomats in the room. But that hardly seemed to be his aim. ?️State of play: On the biggest global flashpoints, Trump stuck to the same script. He called for an end to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine while criticizing European countries for buying Russian oil and recognizing a Palestinian state. Trump did announce one new initiative: He said he'll lead an international effort to end the development of biological weapons. ?? What's next: Trump said he'd bumped into Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for "39 seconds" as he was making his way to the stage, and they'd agreed to meet next week. The two have clashed over the prosecution of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro. Later today, he'll meet with the leaders of Ukraine, Argentina and the EU and will convene a group of Arab and Muslim leaders for a conference on Gaza. This evening, he'll host a reception of world leaders before departing for Washington after just 24 hours at the weeklong General Assembly. Go deeper: The unprecedented presidency. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 24, 2025 Author Members Posted September 24, 2025 Trump, 79, Whines About UN’s Escalator and Teleprompter in Bonkers Rant The president also told UN leaders their countries were going to hell. Donald Trump has used one of the most important foreign policy speeches of his presidency to complain at the United Nations about a broken teleprompter, a faulty escalator and his failed bid to renovate the group’s headquarters. In a landmark address at the UN General Assembly in New York, the president also took aim at the global organization for not playing a role in helping him “end” seven wars. “I never even received a phone call from the United Nations offering to help,” he told the world leaders who gathered on Tuesday morning to watch the president speak. “These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter.” The speech was the first time Trump had addressed the UN General Assembly in six years, and took place against the backdrop of wars raging in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan. But things got off to a tense start the moment the president took the stage to learn he had to read from prepared notes. “I can only say whoever is operating this teleprompter is in big trouble,” he said, drawing awkward laughs from the audience. Within minutes, Trump also lamented that the escalator he and First Lady Melania Trump used en route to the general assembly hall had stopped while they were on it. “If the First Lady wasn’t in great shape, she would have fallen, but she’s in great shape,” he said. “We’re both in good shape.” He then meandered into a bizarre rant about his failed bid to renovate the UN headquarters when he was a real estate developer years before he became president. “I said at the time that I would do it for $500 million, rebuilding everything beautiful,” he told the room. “I used to talk about: I’m going to give you marble floors; they’re going to give you terrazzo… You’re going to have mahogany walls; they’re going to give you plastic. But they decided to go in another direction, which was much more expensive at the time, and which actually produced a far more inferior product.” Trump has long been skeptical of the UN, portraying it as ineffective, biased and wasteful. Throughout his presidency, he has argued that the body spends too much money with little to show for it, and has pulled out of UN-backed frameworks like the Paris Climate Agreement and the Global Compact of Migration. Tuesday’s address was a further tilt away from the global agency and a chance to tout his America First agenda. Speaking for about an hour, Trump talked up America as “the hottest country in the world”, claiming that grocery prices were “down”, that inflation had been “defeated” and that manufacturing “was booming”. This comes despite the latest reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Federal Reserve showing that manufacturing jobs have slowed, with grocery prices rising and inflation remaining elevated. Trump also talked up his role in “ending seven un-endable wars”, although some of the nations he mentioned, such as the Congo, remain in conflict, while other countries such as India and Pakistan, have played down Trump’s involvement. “Everyone says I should get the Nobel Peace Prize for each one of these achievements, but for me the real prize will be the sons and daughters who live to grow up with their fathers and mothers,” he said. The president also slammed the UN for funding what he said was the biggest political problem of our time: uncontrolled migration. “Your countries are going to hell,″ Trump told them. With the war in Gaza front and center over the next few days at the UN, Trump also took aim at several of America’s allies for backing a two-state solution, arguing that it serves as a “reward” to Hamas. “This could have been solved so long ago, but instead of giving into Hamas ransom demands, those who want peace should be united with one message, release the hostages now," he said. After his speech, Trump posted on Truth Social that it was a “great honor to speak before the United Nations.” “I believe the speech was very well received… I hope everybody gets to watch it!,” he wrote. “The teleprompter was broken and the escalator came to a sudden hault (sic) as we were ridding (sic) up to the podium, but both of these events probably made the speech more interesting than it otherwise would have been.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-79-whines-about-uns-escalator-and-teleprompter-in-bonkers-rant/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 24, 2025 Author Members Posted September 24, 2025 Trump Appoints 35-Year-Old Insurance Lawyer as Top Virginia Prosecutor Selecting his former personal attorney fits with a wider pattern of inexperienced young ideologues assuming high-level posts. President Donald Trump just appointed one of his former personal attorneys to lead a desperate last-ditch legal charge against two of his longest-detested enemies. Lindsey Halligan, 35, assumed her new role as interim U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia on Monday, where she’ll be taking over the office’s investigations into former FBI chief James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. A former insurance lawyer, Halligan has zero prosecutorial experience. She has, however, twice competed in the Miss Colorado USA pageant and has represented Trump since 2022, most notably in a lawsuit against CNN for allegedly comparing the president to Adolf Hitler, as well as in his defense against federal charges of concealing classified documents. She’s also the latest of Trump’s former lawyers to enter public office, with other notable examples including Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch and Interim Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba. Her appointment also fits in with a wider pattern of less experienced young ideologues assuming top posts in the MAGA administration, like DHS terror prevention chief Thomas Fugate, or Office of Special Counsel lead Paul Ingrassia. Trump is reported to have forced out Hailligan’s predecessor, Erik S. Siebert, over his dissatisfaction at Siebert’s failure to secure indictments against Comey and James. The president fired Comey in 2017 after the former FBI director led an investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. James, meanwhile, sued Trump in 2022 over allegations he and his family had overvalued their assets. The statute of limitations on prospective charges against Comey apparently runs out in less than eight days. Siebert is understood to have received word from a senior official at the Justice Department last Thursday that the White House’s patience had run out. On Friday, he was fired. Halligan has previously spoken of how she first met the president in November 2021 at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. “She had come from court and was in a suit, which probably made her stand out from other female attendees,” as the encounter was described in an April interview with Halligan in the Washington Post. “Trump noticed her, asked what she did, and made her part of his legal team in early 2022.” Before her appointment Monday, she had spearheaded MAGA’s efforts to purge the Smithsonian Institution of “improper ideology” under Trump’s March executive order “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” in line with the president’s arguments the museums’ exhibits focus too much on “how bad slavery was” and not enough on the nation’s historic “success.” In that capacity, she’d also become an increasingly visible part of the president’s new team, putting in an appearance with Trump at the U.S. Open this month alongside White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. https://www.thedailybeast.com/president-donald-trump-appoints-35-year-old-insurance-lawyer-lindsey-halligan-as-top-virginia-prosecutor/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 24, 2025 Author Members Posted September 24, 2025 Rubio Cornered on Trump’s Failed Keystone Campaign Promise The president repeatedly claimed that he would end the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the very first day of his second term. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was put on defense Tuesday over his boss Donald Trump’s claim he would end the Ukraine war on “day one.” He was confronted with the reality that the war is raging months into Trump’s second term as he appeared on NBC News’ Today show, where he had intended to hype the president’s address to the United Nations in New York. Trump campaigned on a promise to stop hostilities between the two nations after Russian President Vladimir Putin green-lit a full-scale invasion in February 2022. And Trump, who is forcefully stuffing his hat into the ring for a Nobel Peace Prize following his dubious peace-keeping efforts, took it upon himself to act as the peace-maker. However, Putin has led him on a merry dance, and the bloody conflict has continued unabated. On the Today show, anchor Craig Melvin bluntly told Rubio that, nearly 250 days into Trump’s second term, his promise remains unfulfilled. “The president repeatedly, though, did say that he would end the war on day one, and we are some 250 days into the administration,” the host said. A cornered Rubio snapped, “Yeah, but that’s not up to us to end the war; the Russians have to stop the war, and the Ukrainians have to agree to a peace deal. “What the president expressed is that it would be a priority of his, and it has been. I don’t think anyone could argue that it hasn’t been a priority.” “Yeah, but again, repeatedly on the campaign trail, he said he would end it on day one; we’re 246 days into the administration,” Melvin pushed back at Rubio’s defense of his boss. Rubio replied, “Which is an indication that he repeatedly said that he would make it a priority.” Then, reaching for a move straight from the MAGA playbook, he took a pot shot at former president, Joe Biden. “He certainly has done more than Biden ever did to end the war, Biden didn’t even have a plan for the war.” As he was ranting, Melvin decided to move the segment on. “Let’s talk about the U.S. and China and the TikTok deal,” he said. Trump had, on many occasions, literally declared that he could halt the conflict within hours of taking office—the opposite of what Rubio told NBC viewers. On one of those occasions, in May 2023 during a CNN town hall event, he boasted: “They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done—I’ll have that done in 24 hours.” He said that would happen after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has since met both men, infamously melting down at Zelensky in the Oval Office in February this year before rolling out the red carpet for the Kremlin dictator in August. https://www.thedailybeast.com/rubio-cornered-on-trumps-failed-keystone-campaign-promise/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 24, 2025 Author Members Posted September 24, 2025 Trump Accuses Dems of Blackmail in Wild Government Shutdown Tirade The president said a meeting with Sen. Schumer and Minority Leader Jeffries would not be productive. President Donald Trump blasted Democrats’ demands on Tuesday as “unserious and ridiculous” and rejected meeting with them as the government careens toward a shutdown at the end of the month. The president, 79, posted a wild rant on Truth Social in which he accused Democrats of demanding money to fund health care for undocumented immigrants, transgender surgeries for minors, opening the borders, and more. He wrote that there are “consequences to losing Elections, but, based on their letter to me, the Democrats haven’t figured that out yet,” and claimed he would only meet with them if they “get serious about the future of our Nation.” The government will shut down on October 1 if Congress does not pass a funding bill. A so-called continuing resolution, which would keep the government funded at previous levels through mid-November was passed in the House last week, almost entirely along party lines, before members skipped town. However, the bill needs sixty votes in the Senate, so Republicans need at least seven Democrats to support the bill to get it passed. But Democrats have slammed Republicans for not including their input and have remained united against it. On Saturday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sent a letter to the president demanding a meeting. They accused Republicans of wanting to continue gutting health care and wrote that congressional Republicans refused to engage in bipartisan negotiations to keep the government open at Trump’s direction. “We are ready to work toward a bipartisan spending agreement that improves the lives of American families and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis,” Democratic leaders wrote. They’ve been warning about the looming spike in health care premiums when enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies end and have demanded that it be addressed as part of the government funding negotiations. If enhanced tax credits are not extended, enrollees on average could see their premiums increase 75 percent, according to an analysis by nonpartisan KFF. On Tuesday morning, Jeffries and Schumer released a joint statement that Trump had agreed to a meeting just hours before Trump pulled the plug. “After weeks of Republican stonewalling in Congress, President Trump has agreed to meet this week in the Oval Office. In the meeting, we will emphasize the importance of addressing rising costs, including the Republican healthcare crisis,” they said. In his post, Trump repeated some of his favorite accusations against Democrats. “All Congressional Democrats want to do is enact Radical Left Policies that nobody voted for — High Taxes, Open Borders, No Consequences for Violent Criminals, Men in Women’s Sports, Taxpayer funded “TRANSGENDER” surgery, and much more," the president wrote. “Few people voted for what they represent, which would lead to the destruction of America,” he continued. The president wrote that they must keep the government open and “legislate like true Patriots rather than hold American Citizens hostage, knowing that they want our now thriving Country closed.” Trump indicated that he would meet with Democrats only if they agreed to the principles of his post, which he referred to as a letter. Jeffries clapped back in a post on X after the president rejected their meeting. “Trump Always Chickens Out,” he wrote. “Donald Trump just cancelled a high stakes meeting in the Oval Office with myself and Leader Schumer. The extremists want to shut down the government because they are unwilling to address the Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating America.” “When you’re finished ranting, we can sit down and discuss health care,” wrote Schumer as Congress is out this week to celebrate the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah. But Senate Republicans praised Trump’s move as “right” in a post in which they agreed that Democrats’ demands were “totally unserious.” “They’re holding government funding hostage and demanding a far-Left radical wish list as ransom,” they wrote. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-wild-tirade-accusing-dems-of-blackmailing-him-over-government-shutdown/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 24, 2025 Author Members Posted September 24, 2025 Trump’s Bonkers Autism Claims Rejected by Major Health Organizations One expert told the Daily Beast people should not “get caught up in a political misinformation agenda.” Donald Trump’s bombshell claims that over-the-counter painkillers such as Tylenol can cause autism in newborn babies have been immediately debunked by nearly every major government and health organization. From the World Health Organization to national governments far and near, the message was clear. “Don’t pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine,” U.K. Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced on Tuesday. “There is no evidence to link the use of [Tylenol] by pregnant women to autism in their children. None. In fact, a major study was done back in 2024 in Sweden, involving 2.4 million children, and it did not uphold those claims.” His words were echoed by the European Medicines Agency, which said that following “rigorous assessment of the available scientific data, we have found no evidence that taking paracetamol during pregnancy causes autism in children.” Trump’s claims, made on Monday, were some of the most astonishing of his presidency so far. After previously claiming to have “found an answer to autism” and promising not to “let it happen anymore,” the president announced that acetaminophen, the active ingredient found in Tylenol, was responsible for an increase in autism amongst young children, and instructed pregnant women to “tough it out” and refuse to take the painkilling drug. He also said, in comments which risk exposing children to fatal diseases, that women should not vaccinate their newborn babies. “Don’t let them pump your baby up with the largest pile of stuff you’ve ever seen in your life,” he told stunned reporters at the White House. “There’s no downside.” “Is that a correct statement by the way?” he asked, moments after making the announcement. So far, the world is not following the lead of Trump and his vaccine-skeptic Health Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. In Ottawa, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada(SOGC) reaffirmed that “acetaminophen remains a safe and appropriate first-line option for managing fever and pain during pregnancy. Paul Walsh, Executive Director of the Autism Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, added, “As a Canadian, I rely on the research that’s done here in Canada, which is very scientifically-based and not politically influenced.” The World Health Organization stated that it would not update its vaccination guidelines in response to Donald Trump’s announcement. “We know that vaccines do not cause autism,” said WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic. “Vaccines, as I said, save countless lives. So this is something that science has proven, and these things should not be really questioned.” Joining the chorus of professionals decrying Trump’s announcement is Professor Laurie Tomlinson, Research Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She told the Daily Beast in a statement, “I have assessed the risks to health from numerous medications over the past 15 years, and I am confident that the best available evidence shows us paracetamol is safe to take during pregnancy within the recommended limits and does not increase the risk of children being born with autism. “These claims seem to ignore numerous factors, including why paracetamol was taken in the first place. For example, women with hypermobility are more likely to have autistic children (since the two conditions are linked), and so may have needed to take paracetamol for joint pain during pregnancy, but it is the shared genetic causes rather than the drug that means that the child is more likely to be autistic.” She added, “Alongside my research experience, I am also the mother of two autistic children, and I know that this announcement will cause distress and guilt to many parents, who often ask themselves whether they are to blame. I urge those parents to focus on the countless number of reputable sources of evidence published to date that do not show a link between paracetamol and autism, and to seek medical advice from their own GP or health practitioner. I urge you not to get caught up in a political misinformation agenda that is trying to hunt for an ”easy" answer as to how autism develops, and does not serve to help our children.” Australia’s health regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, also rejected the link between Tylenol and neurodevelopmental conditions and said it would join with other global medicines regulators, leading clinicians and scientists worldwide in rejecting claims regarding the use of paracetamol in pregnancy, and the subsequent risk of development of ADHD or autism in children,” The Guardian reports. Autism diagnoses have been on the rise throughout the past decade, with one in 31 children aged eight or below being diagnosed with the condition in 2022, according to the CDC. However, experts have attributed the rise in cases to a broadening of the definition of autism and increased knowledge of the subject, leading more parents to get their children examined and diagnosed. Health experts cited a landmark study published in 2024, which tracked 2.4 million births and found no link between prenatal exposure to Tylenol and autism. https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trumps-bonkers-autism-claims-rejected-by-nearly-every-major-health-organizations/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 24, 2025 Author Members Posted September 24, 2025 Trump says he now believes Ukraine can win back all territory lost to Russia with NATO’s help UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he believed Ukraine could win back all territory lost to Russia, a dramatic shift from the U.S. leader’s repeated calls for Kyiv to make concessions to end the war. https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-un-zelenskyy-trump-f28942b3915e40226654548bb3ee7919? ps:Well if you'll give them the weapons they need they just might!! Trump in speech to UN says world body ‘not even coming close to living up’ to its potential President Donald Trump has returned to the United Nations to boast of his second-term foreign policy achievements and lash out at the world body as a feckless institution. The address was also just the latest reminder for U.S. allies and foes that the United States has returned to the unapologetically “America First” posture under Trump. Read more. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Live updates: Trump says he now believes Ukraine can take back all of its land after meeting with Zelenskyy Stopped on the street by NYC police, France’s Macron calls ... Trump Man who represented himself is found guilty of trying to assassinate Trump at Florida golf course Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 25, 2025 Author Members Posted September 25, 2025 MAGA Podcaster Tears Into DHS for Using Him to Promote Trump’s Deportations Von told the Department of Homeland Security, “Keep me out of your ‘banger’ deportation videos.” Conservative podcaster Theo Von slammed Homeland Security chiefs for using his videos to promote the administration’s deportation drive. Von, one of the podcasters credited with helping boost President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, denied giving permission for the video to be used by the Department of Homeland Security as it tried to evict millions of immigrants. He raged at DHS after it shared a video of Von saying, “Heard you got deported dude. Bye!” edited to promote the Trump administration’s contentious mass immigration plan. Von, who was particularly important in Trump winning young voters, said he recorded the original video in January after a fan gave him their phone and asked him to send a message to their friend who had been deported. In addition to Von’s video, the edited video also includes footage of people being detained and brags about the number of deportations that have occurred since Trump took office. The department claims it has deported 400,000 people and that a further 1.6 million people have voluntarily self-deported. “Yooo DHS i didnt approve to be used in this. I know you know my address so send a check. And please take this down and please keep me out of your ‘banger’ deportation videos,” Von wrote. “When it comes to immigration my thoughts and heart are alot more nuanced than this video allows. Bye!” The edited video of Von, whose real name is Theodor Capitani von Kurnatowski III, comes just one day after the DHS sparked a backlash for using Pokemon imagery in another video in an attempt to mimic the opening sequence of the popular children’s TV show. Von, who hosts one of the most popular podcasts in the world, was widely credited as helping Trump tap into the youth vote after hosting him on his podcast during the 2024 presidential campaign, with the president going so far as to thank Von by name in his victory speech. Since Trump took office, however, Von has broken ranks several times, criticizing the administration for its handling of the Epstein files and asking Vice President JD Vance what had changed after a video of Vance calling for the release of the full Epstein list on Von’s podcast in 2024 resurfaced. He has also been outspoken on the issue of Gaza, referring to Israel’s actions in the region as “one of the sickest things that’s ever happened”. Von did not elaborate on his thoughts regarding immigration. He has previously joked about praying to be reincarnated as a Mexican person and expressed skepticism about the legitimacy of videos of ICE raids in Los Angeles, while ultimately arguing that while Trump’s actions are uncomfortable, they’re a response to a broken system. “Obviously, there’s a lot of deportations going on... It’s sick when you see children crying and people being taken from their parents, it’s heartbreaking. Anybody thinks that that’s heartbreaking,” he told one caller who asked for his thoughts. “There’s also, in the country you have rules, you have laws. Some people are here, they’re illegal by the letter of the law... We’re just coming off a huge influx of people that were just let into the country during the last political administration. We’ve had no border patrol agents on. It’s undeniable.” “You know Trump, he’s heavy handed. That’s who he is, right? We’ve also had a broken system for a long time. So when the hammer starts to come down, or the guillotine as this is, it’s not going to be comfortable. And at first it’s going to be messy. It’s not going to be smooth,” Von continued. “If a Mexican person needs to hide at my house, man, I’d be willing to discuss it,” he later joked. “I don’t know if I should say that out loud or not.” The Daily Beast has contacted Theo Von and the Department of Homeland Security for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-podcaster-tears-into-dhs-for-using-him-to-promote-trumps-deportations/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 25, 2025 Author Members Posted September 25, 2025 Trump’s UN Address Was a Tragedy of Shakespearian Proportions Of course, the president’s main messages today were ones of irrationality and instability, so who knows what the plot points and soliloquies will be tomorrow or next week. Instead of a traditional public address from a world leader, U.S. President Donald Trump tilted back his badly-dyed hair-sprayed coif and howled at the moon for the better part of an hour during his speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday morning. Well, not the better part. Definitely not the better part. To describe the speech as insane, while accurate, would distract from just how extraordinarily packed with lies it was. How profoundly ignorant it was. How much damage it did to the United States’ standing in the world—it clearly marked a low point in America’s relationship with the United Nations and the international order we helped create in the wake of World War II. From a purely U.S. political perspective, emphasizing how haggard and low-energy our rapidly declining president was is key. He made a point to note that an apparent mechanical issue with a UN escalator was an insurmountable problem, for example—most of the rest of us who are in fairly reasonable shape might have noted a stalled escalator is actually just a stairway that we could have walked right up. But it would nonetheless, be a mistake, to ignore just how crazed the speech was. It was apparent from Trump’s opening moments when he railed about the UN’s broken teleprompter to the point later when he brought it up again in his broader condemnation of the UN as also broken, highlighting what he saw as its uselessness in not coming to his assistance in solving the famous seven global conflicts that we all know he did not solve. It was apparent in the fact that he argued that he deserves the Nobel Peace prize while noting he also takes great pride in discussing the attack he authorized on Iran, and those he has ordered against boats he claims without evidence were trafficking in drugs on the high seas. The speech contained the most extensive condemnation of green energy and what Trump considers the climate change hoax that we have ever heard from a public official since possibly the invention of the steam engine. Science be damned. Oligarchs love fossil fuels or what Trump noted that he demands White House staffers refer to as “beautiful, clean coal.” Windmills, windmills on the other hand, are the pinwheels of Satan. (Someday we will get to the bottom of Trump’s anemomenophobia. Clearly, he had a bad experience with something that blew him the wrong way as a child. Or more recently.) He defended his irrational, lose-lose global trading system destroying tariffs which in and of itself will soon be listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as an extreme symptom of economic psychosis. He downplayed civilian casualties in Ukraine and explained this war wouldn’t have happened if there had been good leadership in the country—in front of President Volodymyr Zelensky, no less. He continued to argue that he could have solved the conflict were it not that Vladimir Putin had, inexplicably, let him down—so now it’s the Europeans who should take the lead in stopping the Russians, or else the US would have to take strong action…sometime…in the near future…or maybe never…who knows. (It should be noted that, underscoring the degree to which Trump was making up foreign policy on the fly, later on Tuesday he posted on social media a statement seeming to reverse his prior positions: “I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” it read. He also said NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft approaching their airspace. All of which sounds good. And if that is his new position, well done.) One of his most detailed perorations was devoted to the perils of immigration. Trump told his audience that immigration was destroying their countries. “It’s time to end the failed experiment of open borders. You have to end it now,” he asserted. He exclaimed, in an epic soundbite that will be replayed around the world tonight in its embodiment of the entire speech, Trump’s narcissism, delusions of competence and contempt for his audience, that “I’m really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell.” Name an area and Trump lied about it. Name a global issue and he laid out a US position that was at odds with reason and most of the world. (With the exception to his welcome if totally out-of-character call for an end to the development of biological weapons. He also appeared to call for ending work on new nuclear weapons but that riff is almost certain to be walked back soon given Trump’s regular calls for modernizing our nuclear arsenal.) He personally attacked the mayor of London, asserting erroneously that he wanted to impose sharia law in the English capital. He attacked the green movement in Europe even as one of its leaders was presiding over the meeting. He attacked Joe Biden. Did I mention the aside about how once upon a time when Trump was, in his own words, “a very successful real estate developer in New York,” he offered to remodel the UN? He did not get the gig and, as a result, the UN now has terrazzo floors instead of the marble ones he would have installed. Yuge scandal! He said, “I am a man more sinned against than sinning” likening the UN to a “great stage of fools.” He warned that people should fear his wrath saying, “And thou, all-shaking thunder, Smite flat the thick rotundity o’ the world!” Oh, wait. That was King Lear. But face it, listening to Trump today, the one clear message was that Shakespeare got it exactly right when it comes to the lunacy of aging rulers. Of course, “King Lear” was fiction. But sadly, today’s performance by Trump out on the heath of the international community was not. Instead, it was a low point for American diplomacy, a moment at which the world realized the nation that had been a cornerstone of its stability for eighty years has slipped its moorings. You could see the shock of those in the great plenary hall as they took it in. And we all had to worry when we saw them from time to time nervously applaud Trump remarks. Would any among them be strong enough to offset the reality of an America gone rogue, led by a man like Trump? As Shakespeare also wrote in Lear, “Tis the times plague, when madmen lead the blind.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-un-address-was-a-tragedy-of-shakespearian-proportions/? ps:Oy Vey God help us!!!!! Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 25, 2025 Author Members Posted September 25, 2025 White House Begs Hundreds of Workers Fired by DOGE to Come Back Former staffers must make a decision by the end of the week. The White House is begging hundreds of federal employees laid off by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency to come back to work. Under Musk’s leadership, DOGE fired tens of thousands of federal workers as part of sweeping government cost-cutting efforts. The SpaceX and Tesla CEO, who is no longer associated with DOGE, said he wanted to reduce the deficit by $1 trillion. But the strategy apparently backfired at the General Services Administration (GSA), as hundreds of employees who managed government workspaces are being offered their jobs back. They have until Sunday to make up their minds, according to the Associated Press, which cited an internal memo. GSA slashed staff at its headquarters by 79 percent, its portfolio managers by 65 percent, and facilities managers by 35 percent, according to a federal official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The understaffed GSA was left in a mess, according to another former employee who said the downsizing happened too quickly. Too many people were given the boot and GSA has been in a “triage mode” for months, he said. “Ultimately, the outcome was the agency was left broken and understaffed,” former GSA real estate official Chad Becker told the news agency. “They didn’t have the people they needed to carry out basic functions.” Employees who choose to accept reinstatement will be back to work on Oct. 6, after what AP said amounted to “a seven-month paid vacation.” During that time, it added, GSA has incurred significant expenses to maintain office space. The federal agency continued paying for dozens of properties it had intended to vacate or whose leases had expired, with the costs ultimately borne by taxpayers. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and GSA for comment. GSA is just one of several federal agencies targeted by DOGE as part of brutal efforts to slash costs across the board. DOGE claims to have slashed $206 billion in wasteful spending since Jan. 20 through a combination of asset sales, contract/lease cancellations and renegotiations, fraud and improper payment deletion, grant cancellations, interest savings, programmatic changes, regulatory savings, and workforce reductions. https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-house-begs-hundreds-of-workers-fired-by-doge-to-come-back/? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 25, 2025 Author Members Posted September 25, 2025 Dr. Oz Splits from Trump on Tylenol After Autism Tirade The celebrity doctor joins GOP allies scrambling to clarify Trump’s wild remarks. Dr. Mehmet Oz is backpedaling on Donald Trump’s explosive declaration that pregnant women should never use Tylenol. The president brazenly claimed Monday that acetaminophen—the active ingredient in Tylenol—was responsible for an increase in autism among young children, and instructed pregnant women to “tough it out” and avoid the painkilling drug altogether. But Oz, who stood behind the president while he made such stunning claims, offered a more cautious stance when asked directly. In a Tuesday interview with TMZ, the Trump-appointed administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said pregnant women with high fevers should take Tylenol to lower their body temperature. “If you have a high fever….the doctor’s almost certainly going to prescribe you something, Tylenol might be one of the things they give,” the celebrity doctor assured TMZ Live hosts Harvey Levin and Charles Latibeaudiere, adding: “That’s not the problem.” He told the hosts that it “might be true” taking acetaminophen for low-grade fevers during pregnancy is safe. “We don’t know,” he said. “Take it when it’s appropriate,” he said. “Acetaminophen’s probably your best option, but take it when you really need it.” Meanwhile, Trump insisted on Monday: “With Tylenol, don’t take it. Don’t take it.” He also went wildly off-script and made several spurious claims about Cubans and the Amish. The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services. Oz isn’t the only Republican scrambling to walk back some of Trump’s dangerous claims. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, whose support was pivotal to Robert F Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as Secretary of Health and Human Services, has also contradicted the president—urging him and Kennedy to show their work. Writing on X, the licensed physician said: “I understand and applaud President Trump’s desire to address this issue and to support HHS. HHS should release the new data that it has to support this claim. The preponderance of evidence shows that this is not the case.” Cassidy added, “The concern is that women will be left with no options to manage pain in pregnancy. We must be compassionate to this problem.” Acetaminophen has been the most commonly recommended pain reliever for pregnant women for decades. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has said that the drug, used to treat fever and mild to moderate pain, is one of the only safe pain relievers for pregnant women. Trump’s bombshell claims were immediately debunked on Monday by nearly every major government and health organization. https://www.thedailybeast.com/dr-oz-splits-from-trump-on-tylenol-after-autism-tirade/? ps:I wouldn't just lay that at trumps feet, that comes directly from his genius HHS man!!!!!!!!!! Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 25, 2025 Author Members Posted September 25, 2025 Trump says he now believes Ukraine can win back all territory lost to Russia with NATO’s help President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he believed Ukraine could win back all territory lost to Russia, a dramatic shift from the U.S. leader’s repeated calls for Kyiv to make concessions to end the war. Read more. Why this matters: Trump posted on social media soon after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. “I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump wrote. The strengthened support from Trump, if it sticks, is a huge win for Zelenskyy, who has urged the American president to keep up the pressure on Putin to end his war. It was a departure from Trump’s previous suggestions that Ukraine would never be able to reclaim all the territory that Russia has occupied since seizing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Trump says NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft in their airspace Ukraine faces a new test as Russia steps up its drive to seize Donetsk’s fortress belt Europe urgently needs to solve its Russian drone problem, Baltic officials say Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
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