the candidate of Romania’s hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) shortly before voting closed in the first round of the country’s presidential election For European Union officials trying to get the measure of the man his words cannot have been reassuring—especially as he swept to victory with 41% of the vote The election was a re-run: last December the country’s constitutional court annulled the initial attempt after another hard-right populist it has been clear for months that Mr Simion would come first; the question was which runner-up would face him in the election’s second round on May 18th There are five luxuries it can no longer feasibly afford Friedrich Merz’s career is one of unforced errors and puzzling missteps. But he is serious about Europe Both Donald Trump and Ukraine’s diplomats will consider it a success Donald Trump’s insults have soured the continent on its cousins  Jason Lemon is a Senior Politics Editor at Newsweek based in Brooklyn, New York politics and international affairs. He joined Newsweek in 2018 and had previously worked as an editor at a Middle Eastern media startup called StepFeed He also worked a year as a contributor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and has bylines in The Christian Science Monitor Al Fanar Media and A Magazine. He is a graduate of the American University of Beirut in Lebanon and Andrews University in Michigan You can get in touch with Jason by emailing j.lemon@newsweek.com either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content Prominent figures from within President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" or "MAGA" movement came out against the bipartisan IGO Anti-Boycott Act House Resolution 867—saying it would criminalize boycotts and free speech against Israel a pending vote slated for Monday was canceled "It's beyond outrageous and offensive that House leadership bowed to extreme-right forces and pulled this commonsense bipartisan bill that makes antisemitic and hate-driven boycotts illegal," a spokesperson for Representative Josh Gottheimer who introduced the legislation told Newsweek Monday morning Newsweek also reached out to Representative Mike Lawler, a New York Republican who introduced the legislation with Gottheimer 867 say the legislation goes against the right to free speech established in the First Amendment of the U.S Its supporters say it targets antisemitic actions The bill has bipartisan support but also faces bipartisan opposition According to the lawmakers who introduced the bill 867 "amends the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 to include international governmental organizations (IGOs) in existing anti-boycott laws." The congressmen said in a January press release that the change "targets harmful and inherently antisemitic" boycott efforts undertaken at IGOs while also "extending protections already in place for boycotts instigated by foreign countries." critics warn the bill threatens the constitutional rights of Americans The penalties under the legislation include civil penalties criminal fines of up to $1 million and imprisonment of up to 20 years for supporting calls to boycott Israel A number of prominent MAGA lawmakers said Sunday they planned to vote against the legislation. After the public backlash, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, who had opposed the bill on X, formerly Twitter I’m told we are no longer voting on this.It’s been pulled.Now let’s vote on the promises we made the American people, the agenda that gave us the historic victory in November 2024, President Trump’s EOs, and make DOGE cuts permanent with recessions!!! https://t.co/1ginzOXx6f The legislation came amid ongoing protests against Israel, with university campuses in the spotlight due to students demonstrating against and criticizing the Middle Eastern ally of the U.S Supporters of the protests say they are standing up for Palestinian rights amid Israel's war in Gaza. Critics of the protests, which often call for boycotting Israel, saying the demonstrators are antisemitic and threaten Jewish students. Meanwhile, some Jewish students and groups also participate in the protests against Israel Israel's current war against Hamas began in the aftermath of the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack that left more than 1,200 people dead in Israel more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 100,000 injured aims to curb antisemitism but threatens First Amendment rights I reject and vehemently condemn antisemitism but I cannot violate the first amendment." It is my job to defend American's rights to buy or boycott whomever they choose without the government harshly fining them or imprisoning them But what I don't understand is why we are voting on a bill on behalf of other countries and not the President's executive orders that are FOR OUR COUNTRY???" on X responding to Greene: "I agree with @RepMTG how many Israeli products do I need in my home to avoid fines or prison If I leave an Israeli-made product outside my home is it the 2025 version of lambs blood that keeps my family safe?" a prominent Trump ally and host of the War Room podcast and demonize the Jewish community and our key democratic ally Lawler in a January statement: "I'm proud to reintroduce the IGO Anti-Boycott Act This bill closes a critical loophole by ensuring that international organizations cannot enable harmful BDS [Boycott This legislation is essential to safeguarding Israel's security and economy from unjust attacks" Gottheimer in a January statement: "International organizations can't get away with targeting our key democratic ally, Israel. That's why we are introducing the bipartisan IGO Anti-Boycott Act to counter the blatant anti-Israel bias in international organizations like the United Nations which has a long history of targeting the Jewish state Democrats and Republicans must continue working together to combat efforts to isolate American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in a January statement: "AIPAC strongly supports the IGO Anti-Boycott Act which makes clear the U.S 867 was slated to come up for a vote in the House of Representatives on Monday Greene said on Sunday that the legislation has now been "pulled" and its fate is unclear ET: Comment from a Gottheimer spokesperson was added ET: This article was updated to include Greene's latest comment that the legislation was pulled Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsweek is committed to journalism that is factual and fair We value your input and encourage you to rate this article Newsletters in your inbox See all Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world ColumnistHow MAGA Tactics Sank Australia’s ConservativesThe landslide win for the progressive Labor party showed Trumpian rhetoric is no substitute for cohesive policies Anthony Albanese’s victory shows Australia’s future less than a week after a similar result in Canada showed Trumpian rhetoric is no substitute for cohesive policies Instead of convincing voters it was the best choice to address worsening domestic concerns and deal with a changing economic order the Liberal-National Coalition’s flirtation with the MAGA brand failed spectacularly and delivered a historic second term in a landslide for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor Party A banjo player and a Black Maga influencer now attend Trump administration press briefings These are just some of the “new media” personalities courted by the White House to take part in a series of alternative briefings championed by Donald Trump’s press secretary An extraordinary gallery of Trump-promoting characters has paraded through the West Wing in recent days answering Leavitt’s call for “independent journalists” and “influencers” to attend her press gatherings Some of their fawning, softball or otherwise baffling questions have provoked derision and concern conspiracy and other extremist talking points Since quitting Mumford & Sons the double Grammy winning folk rock band he co-founded four years ago following his controversial endorsement of a conservative journalist’s book guitarist and banjoist Marshall has found his place in the rightwing ecosystem The 37-year-old British son of GB News co-owner and hedge fund tycoon Sir Paul Marshall now hosts his own podcast in which he discusses politics with like-minded guests for his 14,000 subscribers Photograph: Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesHe showed up in the West Wing on Tuesday in a sharp black suit to first congratulate “Madame Leavitt” for inviting him then try to gauge her position on the “quarter of a million” Britons he insisted had been penalized in the UK for social media posts or perceived speech infractions “Would the Trump administration consider political asylum for British citizens in such a situation?” he asked said the question was “a very good one” and she would “see if it’s something the administration would entertain” The host of several conservative podcasts was linked last year to a US content creation company the justice department said was paid almost $10m by Russian state media operatives to publish videos promoting Moscow’s interests and agenda was another attack on the mainstream media: “I’m wondering if you can comment on their unprofessional behavior as well as elaborate if there’s any plans to expand access to new companies?” “We want to welcome all viewpoints into this room,” Leavitt replied Bleached blond, and with a striking resemblance to the Harry Potter character Draco Malfoy Lauren is a previously unknown musician and content creator who served as a social media adviser to Robert F Kennedy Jr during the new health secretary’s failed presidential campaign last year His recent wild claims include informing his 875,000 TikTok followers that the Biden administration was a “cesspool of topless trans people on the White House lawn” and was responsible for countless suicides Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty ImagesOne of the leading sycophants at Leavitt’s alternative briefing “You’re a very high-profile young mother who seems to juggle and balance it all beautifully What advice do you have to young parents out there who are starting their careers having kids building families and trying to find that balance so desperately?” but was keen to point out that “there are so many new moms and dads on our senior staff but also across the entire administration” Under the pseudonym Dom Lucre, election denier McGee was booted briefly from X (then Twitter) in 2023 for posting a video depicting child sexual abuse but allowed back on at the insistence of the platform’s owner the self-styled Black Maga influencer has disseminated numerous conspiracy theories on social media including amplifying Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election he lost was fraudulent and promoting the QAnon fiction that the so-called deep state was conspiring to usurp the president Photograph: Dom Lucre TwitterHis question during his brief appearance at the new media briefing was thus: “Is there any possibility for names such as Barack Hussein Obama to ever possibly get investigated for … any of the wrongdoings they might have done?” Leavitt said it was “refreshing” to hear McGee’s question “The legacy media would never ask [it],” she said Billing herself as “just a crazy nonlib girl in a crazylib world” Maga newcomer Wexler claims to have grown up “as one of few conservatives on the outskirts of the very blue New York City” “The left doesn’t know what to do with me,” she opines in a self-aggrandizing biography that expresses her fixation on “smashing the status quo and redefining what conservative commentary can be” Photograph: Jason Davis/Getty Images for DailyWire+Her first attempt at “stirring things up in the realm of political commentary” having been granted the honor of the opening question at Leavitt’s alternative briefing was a racially dubious statement praising the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown “I can attest to the deportations in Florida my Uber drivers finally speak English again Her subsequent question demanded to know what action would be taken against “trans men … masquerading as women in girls’ sport” Leavitt replied: “Obey the law or you will be prosecuted.” Photograph: Jason Davis/Getty ImagesWith more than 7 million followers across several social media platforms, O’Handley was warmly welcomed by Leavitt to the new media seat during a briefing that included Trump’s border enforcer, Tom Homan. He used his opportunity to deliver a lengthy monologue endorsing Trump’s policy of deporting scores of migrants without due process, and excoriated judges who had issued orders trying to stop it. “In Trump’s first 99 days, we’ve seen a coordinated assault on the rule of law by radical judges,” he said. “These judges are providing more due process to violent MS-13 and Tren de Aragua illegal aliens than they did for American citizens who peacefully protested on January 6.” Would Trump consider suspending the writ of habeas corpus for such migrants? O’Handley wondered. “The administration is open to all legal and constitutional remedies,” Leavitt said, adding that she “agreed with the premise” of his question. and speaks to leading journalists and newsmakers Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker When Donald Trump was re-elected president, it was an open question where his supporters and officials would hang out in the absence of the DC Trump Hotel, their go-to gathering place during the first administration But now we have an unexpected answer: Butterworth’s a new Capitol Hill cafe and restaurant serving organ meats and organic wines that counts ex-Breitbart editor Raheem Kassam as an investor chef-owner Bart Hutchins shares what business has been like during Trump’s first few months in office: it was just a parade of who’s who in the conservative world—from the establishment conservatives I quite literally didn’t sleep for three days straight towards the end of it One of the most ‘if you were writing a movie script of what this restaurant is’ nights I was visited by like four different Secret Service personnel a handful of other Cabinet members were all coming on the same night hold court at the bar and discuss the new populist movement that’s taking over both of our countries Now we have a pretty significant face book of pretty much every member of Congress it’s like ‘this is the latest photo of [Washington Post restaurant critic] Tom Sietsema.’ Now it’s like this is the deputy treasury secretary.’ I had to do a crash course Identifying the incoming FBI director was not on my radar before this place I try to remember which ones don’t like each other to make sure they don’t sit next to each other Right-wing tastes have changed dramatically from the first administration We’re selling more bone marrow than I’ve ever sold in my entire career We’re going through cases and cases a day Both of our fryers are only filled with beef tallow I’ve always done that one way or the other but they are particularly excited about that We run out of martini glasses every single night Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad As we mark the first 100 days of the second Donald Trump presidency A lawless authoritarian blitz is a good summary Let’s review some of the lowlights by checking in on some predictions and questions I asked after Trump’s election in November unravel legal issues he has faced and begin using the Justice Department to go after political opponents and serve his personal grievances the appointment of a pliable loyalist in Pam Bondi as attorney general and the resulting vacating of legal cases and the ouster of dozens of career U.S Trump is well on his way to doing precisely what he and his followers decried so often That would be weaponizing the Justice Department and legal system Threatening law firms that do business with his perceived enemies openly criticizing and belittling judges who have stopped his often-illegal actions and getting the Justice Department to drop cases that don’t fit his views are but a few of the examples of wholesale weaponization in his name And the vast majority of these actions are blatantly unconstitutional and illegal Will Trump inflame culture wars with his early actions For example: attempts at mass deportation; blackmailing universities considered to be too liberal; shredding anything considered to have a perceived connection to diversity and inclusion; and continuing to attack LGBTQ rights using the trumped-up issue of transgender athletes the vast majority of these actions face valid legal challenges because they are part of a lawless authoritarian blitz Will Trump continue coddling and imitating the world’s worst dictators and drag U.S A constant stream of adoring comments about Russian dictator Vladimir Putin And a series of actions against longtime allies — especially his on-again off-again tariffs — are casting a vast shadow over the global economy did not see coming was the Elon Musk-led incoherent mass firings of government employees and agency takeovers This decidedly and dangerously inefficient exercise is being carried out in the name of government efficiency; it has repeatedly had its actions reversed and has served as a flash point of anger for voters this list of items is but a fraction of the carnage Trump is bringing to the United States and the world through his self-serving Legal challenges are holding up many of these actions and the American people are starting to pay attention According to polls measuring Trump’s approval and disapproval and as shown in well-attended rallies nationwide the general mess that anything Trump does so often becomes is serving as a fragile buffer each day seems to bring another blitz of lawless Glaring incompetence and inexperience among federal-agency leadership are not making America great again Using executive orders and the Justice Department to go after “enemies” is not ending the imaginary political weaponization of government but The TimesTwo years into President Trump’s first term Q Preston posted her grievances on Twitter she was tired of the notion that “black” and “Maga” did not belong in the same sentence Preston shared a picture of herself in a Make America Great Again bucket hat and declared she would hide her views no longer Her 2018 tweet went viral among Trump’s Maga following who sympathised with her stance and later came to her rescue when she said her parents had cut their financial support “After seeing this [my parents] refuse to pay my university tuition,” she wrote of the picture “So if you can find it in your hearts to help this young Registered in England No. 894646. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF. I never understood how anyone could fall for an email scam from a Nigerian. Or a threatening phone call from a fake IRS agent. Until that Friday night when a stranger named Clyde rang my doorbell. The sun was just going down and before saying a word he smiled hopefully while pointing to the walkway beneath my feet. The concrete walkway leading to our front door had a wide crack and was buckled from years of snow, ice, and thaw. It needed repair and was a dangerous liability. It was getting darker, and he left for his car, supposedly to chase down the cement truck. I saw a woman in the driver’s seat before they pulled away, and I started to lose faith that I’d see him again. But less than 10 minutes later, the doorbell rang once more. Clyde was back to report that the truck had returned to the ready-mix plant, but that if I gave him $50 he would purchase a bag of concrete mix and still do the job since, as he told me, he’s a man of his word. In fact, he added, since I had been patient, he'd do it for $40. At that point, I should have realized, as you likely are, that this was a scam. But I liked Clyde: His youth and friendly eye contact reminded me of students in my English classes. And even as I was growing more skeptical of the business with the cement truck, I went along because I wanted to believe him and needed what he was selling. I gave him a twenty, promising the rest when the job was done. I’m embarrassed to disclose the rest of the story: He came back with a $6 bag of cement from Menards, which he dumped into the crevice in the sidewalk, mixed it with water from my hose, and then spread and smoothed the mush with his bare hands! A ridiculous mess, but I paid him, since I had said I would, and he took the money, wiped his hands on the grass, and returned to the car where his wife, girlfriend, or sister drove him away. I have since learned I am just one of countless victims of the classic “unsolicited door-to-door concrete repair sting” perpetrated for years in cold areas Up North and places like Duluth. And though I felt foolish for trusting Clyde, it did help me understand why certain relatives and friends still trust the Fox cable news network after all that has happened. Viewers had been switching to other TV stations when Fox was not saying what its right-wing regulars wanted to hear, especially after the network accurately projected a Trump loss of Arizona on election night. So the anchors were ordered to change direction and lie, and to maintain that the election was stolen, which got them their audience and ratings back, along with Fox’s considerable profits. All of which led me to wonder how five of my highly educated relatives and friends, who have had successful professional careers, could continue to stomach Fox’s sycophancy and partisanship, day in and day out, or take anything seriously that the network reported. Knowing also that they are way too savvy to swallow everything Fox dishes out, I learned through emails with one of them that he watches Fox the same way I watch Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, whose late-night TV bits are exaggerated or fake in order to make fun of the far right: We tune in since they make us smile, say what we like to hear, and provide vindication about our own political views. Discerning MAGA folks succumb to Fox for the same reasons I did to Clyde, and in the same way I currently do to Kimmel and Colbert. The difference, of course, is that the fake news on the late-night shows is done for laughs. Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. The president praised Fox News media critic Joe Concha — whom Sean Hannity has long advocated to get his own show — while simultaneously urging MediaBuzz host Howard Kurtz to ‘retire’ for not defending him strongly enough, writes Justin Baragona I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice With the president’s poll numbers cratering amid a spate of self-imposed crises and accusations of authoritarianism, Trump has increasingly lashed out at Murdoch world for allowing some form of criticism against him to seep through Fox and News Corp’s pages and airwaves it appears that the president is urging one Fox News host to “retire” so he can be replaced with a more servile and sycophantic commentator who recently wrote a book about how Trump had the “greatest comeback ever.” Notably that same MAGA pundit has been pushed by Trump confidant Sean Hannity to take over the network’s weekly media show for years now which has been highly critical of his economic policies and chaotic first 100 days in office.) At the same time, he also took to Truth Social to bash Fox News media host Howard Kurtz claiming that the MediaBuzz anchor had done an insufficient job of coming to the president’s defense during a segment about the ouster of national security advisor Mike Waltz “It is time for Howie Kurtz to retire!” Trump blared on Sunday night with all really negative and fake statements and then I am weakly “defended” by Howie and his group (although Ben Domenech has been strong!) The case Howie makes for me is so pathetic that it would be a lot better if he didn’t say anything Notably, though, the post that preceded the president’s takedown of Kurtz featured Trump highly praising a Fox News media critic who has largely been seen as the heir apparent of the MediaBuzz chair once the 71-year-old Kurtz decides to hang it up – or is forced to do so “Joe Concha has written an incredible new book, ‘THE GREATEST COMEBACK EVER: Inside Trump’s Big Beautiful Campaign.’ Joe has been studying our Movement from the very beginning and understands, far better than the many other so-called ‘experts,’ the Iconic Moments that contributed to our truly Historic Election,” the president wrote on Truth Social and exposed the TRUTH of the many challenges our Nation is facing — and WON BIG The juxtaposition of the two Fox News analysts is likely no accident Hannity – a close friend of the president’s who has been described as the White House shadow chief of staff – has made it clear within the halls of Fox News that he would like to see Concha take over the reins of the network’s Sunday media show “So the ‘inside scoop’ is that Sean Hannity has long wanted Joe Concha to host Fox’s show about media, which is currently hosted by Howard Kurtz,” the Washington Post’s Jeremy Barr reported in late 2021 Indeed, several Fox News insiders told me at the time that the Fox News primetime star had been championing Concha – a right-wing media columnist who has now written multiple pro-Trump books – to supplant Kurtz behind the scenes which is why he finally began making those pleas on air “I think he’d have a great TV show here on Fox on media,” Hannity said while introducing Concha for an October 2021 segment, prompting the two to debate what the name of the show should be “I think Joe Concha: Setting the Record Straight After Concha said the title was a “bit chunky,” Hannity quipped: “OK I’m going to stop advocating for the show.” A Fox News source told The Independent on Monday that “Hannity still wants Concha to replace Howie,” though they hadn’t heard anything about the Fox News star coordinating with the president on his social media posts During the final weeks of the 2024 presidential campaign, for instance, Kurtz scored a wide-ranging interview with Trump that featured the Fox News host repeatedly inserting a number of fact checks – something that infamously gets under the president’s skin. Besides correcting the record on Trump’s comments about the January 6 attack and the 60 Minutes interview of Kamala Harris, Kurtz also contrasted Trump’s campaign with that of the Democratic presidential nominee. Fox News and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies govt and politics"},{"score":0.796062,"label":"/news/national news"},{"score":0.776932,"label":"/law govt and politics/politics/elections/presidential elections"},{"score":0.750646,"label":"/business and industrial/business news"},{"score":0.643249,"label":"/art and entertainment/shows and events"},{"score":0.629668,"label":"/law govt and politics/government"},{"score":0.595105,"label":"/law govt and politics/politics/foreign policy"},{"score":0.550155,"label":"/law You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed politician Nigel Farage speaks during a Trump campaign rally at Phoenix Goodyear Airport on Oct Voters across parts of England headed to the polls on Thursday, May 1, casting ballots in local elections. These were seen as the first significant test for political parties since last year’s U.K but the results so far show significant gains made by the Reform UK party a long-standing supporter and ally of President Donald Trump Most Reform UK gains have been at the expense of the Conservative Party the current opposition to the Labour government Labour has also lost seats across the country including a disappointing defeat in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election whereby a seat in the House of Commons was up for grabs The historically close by-election saw Reform UK candidate Sarah Pochin tip Labour to the post, winning by just six votes Read More: After Much Talk of Seeking a Third Term, Trump Tells Crowd: ‘We Actually Already Served Three’ Responding to the results, Prime Minister Starmer told the BBC on Friday morning that the loss was “disappointing” and vowed to learn from the experience "The message I take out of these elections is that we need to go further and we need to go faster on the change that people want to see,” he said Meanwhile, Farage said of the result: “It sends a message across much of the country that we are now the opposition to the Labour Party in government.” Whilst the Labour and Conservative parties have traditionally been the U.K.’s main political bodies right-wing politician Farage has been driving forward Reform UK in hopes of potentially challenging the usual British political order This first hurdle for Farage offered glimpses of exactly that According to YouGov polls before the elections voting intention on April 28 showed that 26% of voters would choose Reform UK if there was an election to be held the next day This was ahead of the current Labour government at 23% In last year’s general election, Reform UK won five constituencies and received 14.3% of the popular vote. MP Rupert Lowe was suspended from the party in March and now represents his constituency as an Independent but the latest results mean that Reform UK stands at five constituencies once more Trump’s influence was felt heavily in the lead up to England’s local elections with the two expressing similar viewpoints Read More: Trump Publicly Calls Out Putin After Meeting With Zelensky at Pope Francis’ Funeral These talking points were key focuses of the party’s election campaign last year, not too dissimilar to Trump, who has put tackling immigration at the heart of his second term in office It appears Farage has been taking inspiration from the President’s rally style, too. On March 28, Reform UK hosted what they described as their "biggest event yet." The rally drew comparisons to Trump’s MAGA rallies for its bright lights Despite his alignment with Trump’s methods and ideas Farage has clashed with another of the President’s advocates Meanwhile, Trump was also a source of debate amongst MPs leading up to England's local elections. In a cross-party TV debate on Tuesday clashed with Conservative MP and Shadow Housing Secretary Kevin Hollinrake over the U.K.’s approach to trade with Trump Hollinrake said: “The Trump storm will pass… To trade fairly and freely across the developed world that’s in everybody’s interest and President Trump’s interest.” Reed replied: “You can’t just wish President Trump away he is there and we’re going to have to negotiate with him.” who is also a Member of the London Assembly reiterated his party’s stance on the President saying: “If Nigel Farage was Prime Minister we’d have a much stronger chance of getting the deal that we need because he has that relationship Trump’s presence was felt across other branches of the local elections, also. One of the mayoral contests came in Doncaster in the North of England. Conservative candidate Nick Fletcher titled his campaign “Make Doncaster Great Again,” taking inspiration from Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) slogan.  Fletcher was ultimately unsuccessful in his campaign, losing out on the Mayor of Doncaster title to Labour candidate Ros Jones just 1% more than Reform UK candidate Alexander Jones In an online manifesto, Fletcher had listed the values that he shares with Trump, including securing borders and tackling illegal immigration, moving away from DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) policies, and supporting pro-life initiatives. TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website Offers may be subject to change without notice Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times Red and navy hats were strategically placed as Trump’s cabinet gushed over 100 presidential days like no other There were navy blue and red baseball caps up and down the table strategically placed in front of every cabinet member and each bearing the message “Gulf of America” embroidered with Donald Trump’s forced new name for the centuries-old Gulf of Mexico was far from the most bizarre aspect of an extraordinary White House gathering hosted by the president on Wednesday The cabinet meeting to commemorate the first 100 days of Trump’s second term was, in the view of some social media commentators something more akin to a gathering of Kim Jong-un loyalists in North Korea each successive speaker trying to outshine the other in heaping lavish praise on their dear leader There was the sight of Elon Musk, the outgoing head of the unofficial “department of government efficiency” placing one of the red Gulf of America hats on top of the Doge one he was already wearing There was also an outing for a favorite Maga – Make America Great Again – conspiracy theory, with the health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, repeating the debunked claim that 300,000 unaccompanied migrant children were somehow “lost” by the Biden administration causing the president to nod his head as she commended him your first 100 days has far exceeded that of any other presidency in this country ever Recalling her Tuesday visit to the Drug Enforcement Administration she added: “They said to me you have taken the handcuffs off of DEA agents.” some peculiar allegations made by Kennedy concerning the Biden-era health and human services (HHS) department that really raised eyebrows coming soon after “loud quacks” from the health secretary’s duck-themed cellphone ringtone interrupted Trump He went on: “During the Biden administration HHS became a collaborator in child trafficking for sex and for slavery And we have ended that and we are very aggressively going out and trying to find these children 300,000 children that were lost by the Biden administration.” During his campaign for the 2024 election, Trump repeatedly misrepresented government data to falsely claim that 300,000 migrant children who crossed the border unaccompanied had gone missing and said many of them were trafficked or likely to be dead The children were not in fact lost or missing HHS data recorded only the numbers crossing the border and tracking ceased when they were placed in homes and communities with relatives already in the US Kennedy did not expand on the “aggressive” efforts his department was making to try to find children who were actually never missing Much of the rest of the two-hour meeting, and a question-and-answer session with the media, was consumed by Trump talking up the perceived accomplishments of his first 100 days. He attempted to distance himself from Tuesday’s bleak economic data that suggests the US could be heading for a recession on the back of his tariff policies: “I’m not taking a credit or discredit for the stock market,” he said Yet when the stock market was soaring during the final year of Biden’s presidency, Trump frequently insisted it was because investors were buoyant at the prospect of him returning to the White House The president was asked by a reporter on Wednesday if he had spoken with Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, about the tariffs that have sparked a potentially costly trade war between the countries, and have led to predictions of empty shelves before the end of the year as imports dry up and offered his own prediction as to how Christmas might look for American families maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls,” he said “So maybe the two dolls will cost a couple bucks more than they would normally.” The Associated Press contributed to this report Transcribed from Progress Texas’ Daily Dispatch Podcast segment, click here to listen! A strange sensation crept across all of progressive Texas on Sunday, and that was the unfamiliar sensation of victory. Democrats and progressives won elections all over the Lone Star State this weekend who also had been backed by the True Texas Project an anti governmental group flagged by the Southern Poverty Law Center failed in her bid for re-election to the Grapevine Colleyville School Board fell well short of that goal (if you’ll pardon the pun).  DFW and North Texas friends, keep the party going and please mark your calendars for Monday June 9, that’s our 15th Anniversary Celebration in Dallas! We look forward to seeing you there, and click here to RSVP early! Meanwhile in the Houston area, Katy School Board Candidate James Cross, a longtime local educator who will soon have a local elementary school named after him, defeated the incumbent, Katy ISD Board President Victor Perez he’s also pushed policies that require teachers and administrators to report students who identify as transgender to their parents—Perez The San Antonio Mayoral race was expected to result in a runoff, and it did—of the 27 candidates in the race (wow!), former Under Secretary of the U.S. Air Force and longtime Democratic notable Gina Ortiz Jones drew a bit over 27 percent of the vote former Texas Secretary of State under Governor Greg Abbott Keep an eye out for a spirited partisan runoff phase in Alamo City over the next few weeks—that runoff is in just over a month on June 7 It wouldn't surprise me to see even bigger interest in the runoff than the initial election which saw historically low turnout of less than 10 percent potentially due to the annual Fiesta celebrations happening at the same time due to the likelihood of a runoff happening anyway.  I attended a picnic yesterday in Lakeway, hosted by the Lake Travis Democrats, where that aforementioned unfamiliar, but highly enjoyable vibe of success was very much in the air, for smaller towns too. The Lake Travis School Board added two Democrats making four on that board for the first time in about a quarter century The signs for the defeated Republican candidates are still littered all over Lakeway and it’s great to see candidates dealing in MAGA ugly take a loss the election is over and your gross signs are now not only trash have a greater impact on our daily lives than anything happening at the state and federal level we must note that all of this is happening as all kinds of ugly is coming out of the Texas Legislature and also as Donald Trump’s ratings on his first 100 days are at historic lows as the sign that the tide is turning - but still this is going to be a long fight—almost permanent in nature progressives and Democrats need to savor and remember these wins and work even harder for the goal of even bigger wins in November of 2026 when we’ll have a chance to put a real check on Donald Trump It’s time to take these local wins and scale them up to new heights Congratulations everybody - to the candidates Join us in Dallas for our Anniversary Party GET TICKETS NOW! (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ammon Bundy at his workshop in Cedar City in March Bundy offered his thoughts to The Salt Lake Tribune on Trump the Book of Mormon and the "White Horse Prophecy." Note to readers • This is the last of a two-part series from an exclusive interview with Ammon Bundy, who is wanted in Idaho and living in Utah. Read the first installment here Cedar City • As a wanted man leading a quieter life in southern Utah anti-federal government zealot Ammon Bundy is no longer bellowing from bullhorns or preaching from protest lines but that hardly means he is silent on a range of hot topics — from Donald Trump to Elon Musk Bundy finds plenty of upside in the president’s effort to downsize the federal government and end the war in Ukraine But he sees frightening downsides in some supporters’ almost idolatrous worship of Trump and frets about perilous parallels between the current administration and 1930s Germany Bundy further praises Elon Musk’s intelligence and budget-cutting ways while scolding the Trump team for crossing the line when it characterizes everyone who crosses the U.S who sometimes defies easy labeling and dispenses surprising views Bundy has been living in Utah for nearly 18 months evading an arrest warrant out of Idaho over a contempt of court charge as well as a $52.5 million judgment for defaming staffers at Boise area hospitals The Salt Lake Tribune recently caught up with Bundy to talk about his life on the lam and issues of the day This conversation has been edited for clarity and length: He is very much for building the power of the United States but that may or may not include what is best for individuals in the nation or in the world he has put in a director who he thinks will bring accountability to the FBI the FBI should be eliminated because federal law enforcement is not authorized by the Constitution I do like … [his] effort to downsize and hold government accountable … because there is no way that we can continue with the growth and expansion … of the federal government and expect it to be anything but what Rome became which is basically a centralized dictatorial power So if Trump is truly minimizing the size of government he has a huge job in front of him [and] I applaud him for it (Will Matsuda | The New York Times) A Donald Trump supporter outside the Capitol in Washington on his Inauguration Day " … function more like kings now." I believe they have done this because liberty has been under such threat that they feel Trump is the way [for them] to preserve that liberty The jury is certainly out on Trump because you see similar things happening now that happened in the 1930s in Germany But you also see Trump … trying to stop a war [in Ukraine] But to give a person that much unchecked power politically almost [to the point] of worshipping [him] and our Constitution never authorized a president to give executive orders outside the executive branch that affected everybody else He’s an extremely intelligent person who basically went from being a liberal Democrat to someone who understands that the ideas that the Democratic Party or the liberals put forth are not going to work He’s also been subject to government regulations and seen how hard it is to invent create and develop when you have the government constantly regulating and trying to control you So if he is trying to deregulate and lower the size of government (Charlie Riedel | AP) A Customs and Border Protection patrol on the U.S side of a razor-wire-covered border wall near Nogales would stop giving "handouts," there would not be "much need for a border wall." I don’t look at people who come into another land or cross some line as criminals if someone comes into this land and commits a crime I think they should be … punished and required to restore the damages back to the victim And if they can’t restore the damage back to that person then that’s where capital punishment comes in … [But] I believe that any person can come into this country contribute and be good people and good neighbors and be beneficial to everybody — as long as they don’t commit crimes I don’t believe that people should come [to] this country and receive handouts What we do is showcase the handouts everyone can get and then wonder why everybody comes across the border … There’s not much need for a border wall or anything else beyond that I align with the idea of being a political conservative But people use conservative in so many different ways that it is hard for me to say that I believe that freedom is the ability to do whatever you want as long as you do not infringe upon another person’s rights That is the same definition Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson had Democrats want to take the fruits of people’s labor and then have it redistributed to whoever they want It destroys nations [and] people’s drive to produce And then you have Republican[s] … and the ultra-nationalists going on where the nation is more important than the individual and the health of a nation somehow trumps the health of individuals — that the purpose of government is not to protect individual rights but to become a powerful entity … I don’t agree with that either (Rick Bowmer | AP) Bundy during a news conference at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters in 2016 Bundy is avoiding public microphones now as he lives in Utah while being wanted in Idaho If you can control the land and the resources you have ultimate control over everybody and everything So for Utah to allow a centralized power to control … almost 70% of its land and resources … it is baffling to me that people are OK with that Then we wonder why we are scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to pay our bills has the right to tell me that I have to wear a mask there was a lockdown order [issued] that I can’t go to church I do not believe any person has the right to restrict those for me or anybody else I would say most people were there just to protest and participate in all that was going on But … did they really think that they were going to take over the government I think there were a lot of emotions and feelings going on and it got out of hand not with my extended family like my brothers and sisters I have to ask the question of what is right and wrong and if I did the best I could (John Locher | Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) Ammon Bundy's father There was a fairly strong base of militias in the United States and we saw that strength and organization in 2014 at the Bundy Ranch [standoff] I have watched the FBI attack and destroy every single militia organization across this country the FBI has done to the militias in this country just like the CIA has done to many governments across the world You have to ask yourself why the [FBI] would attack and try to destroy these organizations And I think the answer is in the Second Amendment of the Constitution the very first part of it [that says] “a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state.” The founders believed that you cannot be free unless you have a militia [members] were peaceful … organizing under a certain religion and we were driven out of the United States … [and the] federal government was not protecting the people Even when [church founder] Joseph Smith went to the president of the United States [and asked] for relief (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Church founder Joseph Smith sought redress from a U.S president for persecution suffered by early Latter-day Saints — to no avail I actually have a copy of the Constitution in my front pocket I hadn’t carried it for a long time — not because I honored or dishonored it any different than I did before but … because I almost feel it is not worth trying to enforce or promote anymore the Fourth Amendment restricts the government from [unlawfully] seizing your property they have [created] over 450 exceptions to the Fourth Amendment … Everything is about people So we are talking about a person with a badge who …might think they have the authority to go raid someone’s home take their property and have all these exceptions I believe that the scriptures are accurate … I believe [the last days] could be a long period of time Moroni said he has been commanded to write about [the last days] … in order that evil may be done away with It almost seems like he is saying that we have a duty to clean things up so the millennium can come… I believe that we have a duty to … clean up our government to try to call each other to repentance … and do our best to uncover the darkness so that light can take its place I’ve had a lot of people ask me about that, and I don’t really know that I have read the White Horse Prophecy. I do hope that there are enough good men and women in the church that if it came time that we needed to defend our families, defend our liberty [and] defend our neighbors, … that we would come to that defense. (Tribune archives) Captain Moroni, in this painting by Arnold Friberg, is seen as a great Book of Mormon warrior by Latter-day Saints. Those men are much better than me. … But I have been through trials before. There was a time [during] my many months in solitary confinement where my family was suffering and barely able to make ends meet, and [we were] wondering if we would ever see each other again. I watched how the Lord took that situation, and the very people who dug that pit [for me and my family], ended up falling into their own mire. When powerful people attack you, it takes a long time … for things to turn around and for you to be somewhat vindicated and restored. My cause [has] never changed. It is to raise my family and help my community. If there is something or someone who needs my help, I’m going to do it. That’s all I have ever done. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) In this scene from the church's "Book of Mormon Videos" series, Moroni, as the only survivor his people, is depicted as a lonely wanderer. Note to readers • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism. For e-edition questions or comments, contact customer support 801-237-2900 or email subscribe@sltrib.com sltrib.com © 1996-2025 The Salt Lake Tribune derived a whole thread of narrative tension from what can only be described as Chekhov’s protein shake “I don’t have a good sense on what’s driving that right now other than if it’s just the usual manosphere—or manomania here in the United States,” says Pieter Cohen an internist at Cambridge Health Alliance and associate professor at Harvard Medical School who leads the center’s Supplement Research Program “Everyone’s letting their testosterone out these days.” One thing he’s noticed: More men than women arrive at his office “interested in protein.” Joe Rogan and Theo Von—both members of the podcast contingent widely seen to have played a major part in turning the election for Trump—laud the powers of red meat while acknowledging that some people do well on a vegetarian diet (“Not for me dude,” Rogan says with grim resolve) before sliding into a tangent about Rogan’s avoidance of pizza that becomes “If I had a couple of cocktails,” Rogan murmurs “A couple of tequilas?” Rogan smiles coyly at his interlocutor I’ll”—Von grits his teeth—“I’ll do whatever after that who called it “the only true nutrient”—and promptly started making and selling his own protein supplement of sorts: Liebig’s Extract of Meat doctors and scientists homed in on protein supplementation as an important tool in treating malnutrition in places like North Africa leading to a substantial decrease in sales deadly concerns about contaminated products aren’t under the purview of the FDA—which hasn’t stopped Robert F from promising to liberate them from government oversight.) But Cohen does worry about the risk to patients (“in particular teenage guys”) who forgo a balanced diet in favor of protein shakes He’s also concerned about the psychological effects of feeding student-athletes the idea that protein supplements are the only way to a healthy body—“a brilliant advertising campaign for the supplement industry,” he says despite that “when we’re talking about anyone who’s not an elite athlete,” meaning the likes of NBA players or professional runners “is there any evidence I know of that getting your protein from whole foods is inadequate or somehow it’s better to get [it] through protein powder I don’t know of any evidence to suggest that.” which contains a measly two grams of protein per serving.) or some lean-meat canary in the proverbial coal mine that it was into this proteinous landscape that Donald Trump—burger loving and all—announced his bid for the presidency played by the son of the ur-celebrity bodybuilder himself we don’t do it for the taste,” he told his beleaguered and un-swole little brother in an early episode of The White Lotus “We do it for the high T and the BDE.” Whether our current protein path leads to an accidental brush with transcendence or face down on the pavement as gunshots ricochet nearby Live Updates From the 2025 Met Gala See All the Fashion, Outfits, and Looks on the Met Gala Red Carpet Plus, Who Made VF’s Best-Dressed List Kim Kardashian Dons Sleek The Met Gala’s Tailored for You Theme Winners: Who Did It Best Diana Ross Returns to the Red Carpet With an 18-Foot Train Everything to Know About the 2025 Met Gala Watch the Met Gala Livestream Designer Prabal Gurung Recalls His First Met Gala Revisit the Most Unforgettable Met Gala Looks of All Time Grab your MAGA hat: Federal employees can once again wear political clothing to work said that the Office of Special Counsel has returned to its previous policy that "does not prohibit wearing or displaying campaign or election-related items in the workplace after Election Day." The email went on to say that "year-round employees remain prohibited from engaging in activity that shows support for or opposition to political parties or partisan political groups while on duty The previous guidance created "too great a burden on First Amendment interests and must therefore be discarded," the advisory said The change comes after Social Security employees received an email in March that reminded them not to wear or display items of political parties or campaign slogans including "'MAGA/Make American Great Again' or 'When We Fight The rescission reverts the rules back to guidance from November 2020 the Hatch Act "does not prohibit employees from wearing campaign items and displaying candidate photographs while they are on duty" after Election Day The Office of Special Counsel did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI for those attending a campaign-style rally in Michigan the president is delivering “fantastic” and “ecstatic” about his presidency The Trump base, that amorphous group that has long intrigued pollsters remains rock solid in its support for the 78-year-old and quite ingenious in finding new ways to eulogise his leadership Interviews with 10 Trump fans at a campaign-style rally in Warren on Tuesday seemed to occupy a different planet from opinion polls that give him the lowest 100-day job approval rating of any president in the past 80 years Trump is steering the economy to a new golden age making streets safer by expelling illegal immigrants and protecting rather than undermining democracy is a price worth paying for long-term gain “The first 100 days have been fantastic,” said Dave Bono “He’s gotten so much done in that amount of time I know there’s differences on his policy positions but overall Dave Bono at the Donald Trump rally in Warren Photograph: David SmithThe 60-year-old added: “He’s done what he promised he’d do in the campaign which is far and away different from most politicians he’s doing what he said he would do and that’s all anybody can ask for.” was wearing a red “Make America great again” cap and a “Fight fight” T-shirt showing Trump with fist raised after last year’s assassination attempt He said: “A lot of things I don’t think can be accomplished in a hundred days but what I’ve seen the first hundred days is what I voted for.” The US economy shrank in the first three months of the year, according to official data. Despite acknowledging the potential for short-term price increases, Trump’s supporters generally back his use of tariffs as necessary for the return of manufacturing jobs to the US in general and Michigan in particular. Ball commented: “It can’t be any worse than the chaos we lived through with Joe Biden for four years so I’m willing to take a chance.” Suzanne Jennings, 65, wearing a “Trump 2024 The Sequel” cap, agreed. “I trust him and I totally trust his cabinet,” she said. “People just need to have a bit of patience. Our country was ruined over the past four years. I totally believe he loves America. He loves us and he’s doing it.” Read moreJennings described Trump’s first 100 days as “fantastic because he’s delivered everything he said he would and he’s making our country great again” All those interviewed by the Guardian expressed admiration for Trump’s billionaire ally Elon Musk and his “department of government efficiency” which has taken a chainsaw to federal departments I’m not allowed to run my house with money flying out the windows We have to adhere to the budget and let’s run this country efficiently.” Trump’s personality cult endures He is no longer running for office yet Tuesday’s rally came with the familiar paraphernalia A truck parked outside Macomb Community College proclaimed “Trump won” and “Make America great again” and was adorned with a motorbike mini Statue of Liberty and signs such as “Build the wall” and “I’m voting for the convicted felon” Blake Marnell has attended numerous Trump campaign events and wore his distinctive brick suit again at Tuesday’s rally He described himself as “ecstatic” about Trump’s first 100 days “He’s done an excellent job under the limitations that have been placed upon him And by that I mean if you look at an area in which he has had unfettered ability to implement his policy such as reducing the influx across the border the results are night and day versus the Biden administration Trump supporters signal their happiness with the president Photograph: Rena LavertyUPI/Rex/ShutterstockTrump has been widely condemned for a draconian immigration policy that has seen alleged gang members snatched off the streets and sent to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador without due process The president has suffered a series of rebukes and setbacks from judges But followers such as Marnell are willing to accept this as collateral damage He added: “The concerns about due process and deportations are largely coming from the political left and what I would consider to be judicial overreach and unnecessary injunctions We’ve got 10 million people top end and 8 million people low end that probably should be deported who are here illegally there will be people where there are problems To expect absolute 100% perfection in 8 million people leaving United States is probably unrealistic.” More than one interviewee contended that the standard of due process is lower for noncitizens And support for Trump’s approach to border security and immigration was overwhelming an immigrant from Vietnam who works in insurance and was wearing a Maga hat a Trump badge and a Stars and Stripes dress that said: “Big tech fake media are the virus.” The 63-year-old said: “Of course you want to vet those people that come in You want to welcome everyone but then do you want criminals do you want terrorists to be in your country Attenders at the rally scoff at such criticism. RJ Fishman, 26, who works for a property acquisitions and advisory firm and rates Trump’s start as “amazing”, said: “A dictator doesn’t tell you what he’s going to do and then do it. President Trump said everything he planned to do, from using the Alien Enemies Act “What dictators do is lock up their political opponents. One party’s been locking up their political opponents. I don’t see President Trump – as much as they accuse him of wanting to – locking up people other than federal judges and state judges who are harbouring illegal aliens Ball, the commercial driver, concurred. He said: “I know Donald Trump didn’t force anyone to get a vaccine so then I would say he didn’t force me to get a vaccine when he was president And noting the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war Lee recalled her family’s experiences under communism to contend that such comparisons are misplaced If people lived in a communist country then they would know what dictatorship is I escaped communism and I know what communism is like sugar and salt: you are limited to buy so much in a month Here President Trump is wanting to get freedom for the people to live the American dream If we don’t fight to restore it we’re going to lose it and help the clever breedAt the heart of all Trump administration policies is ‘soft eugenics’ thinking – the idea that if you take away life-saving services English polymath Francis Galton formulated the concept of eugenics in 1883 Galton encouraged people with “desirable” traits to procreate while discouraging or preventing those with “undesirable” traits from doing the same As social and intellectual qualities were hereditarily “fixed” he thought some groups were naturally superior Attempted genocides and forced sterilization are first to mind though the 20th century brought about the concept of soft eugenics: non-coercive methods of reducing certain conditions through individual choice and medical advice “soft” eugenics is accomplished by indirect and educational interventions while “hard” eugenics is marked by direct biological interventions (such as sterilization) The term has since been expanded in discussions of genetic technologies Kennedy’s myopic emphasis on personal responsibility as the main driver of health means he’s at best indifferent, and at worst welcoming, of the idea that those that don’t heed his counsel might die. economic status and geographic location – the social determinants that public health experts agree influence health outcomes – Kennedy At the heart of all these policies is soft eugenics thinking – the idea that if you take away life-saving healthcare and services from the vulnerable then you can let nature take its course and only the strong will survive you’re hearing the language of soft eugenics instead let the infirm and weak be culled so that the strong will survive and perpetuate the unwell are the reason we’re in such dire shape – not the system that keeps the unwell from receiving access to healthy food and medical care probably due to receiving misinformation about its effectiveness Then there’s autism, a neurodevelopmental condition that’s been studied for over a century. Experts believe increased prevalence is due to expanded diagnostic criteria, improved awareness, and better case identification. More than 250 genes have been strongly linked to autism spectrum disorder. Yet during a recent press conference Kennedy wrongly called autism a “preventable disease” and accused experts of being in “epidemic denial” He then said: “Genes do not cause epidemics; it can provide a vulnerability Fabricated rhetoric that favored Kennedy in contrarian wellness spaces is falling flat as he heads the nation’s public health apparatus he’s not the only person in the administration pushing soft eugenics Read moreMusk’s strange focus on babymaking ignores the complex socioeconomic, cultural and gender equity factors that contribute to declining fertility. If he truly cared about increasing childbirths, he wouldn’t take a chainsaw to USAID, indiscriminately cutting off essential services in troubled regions. Those cuts have already caused childhood deaths in war-torn Khartoum where over 300 soup kitchens were closed due to the shuttering of Emergency Response Rooms Such carnage only makes sense if you don’t consider those lives worth living This fits the longstanding anti-abortion stance: ensure babies are born then immediately stop caring about them by cutting off all social services Despite relative geographic isolation, the US isn’t immune to global outbreaks. Experts predict the consequences of cuts to international aid will inevitably find us they’re going to impact the most vulnerable Americans people living with chronic diseases and HIV and those relying on public health programs This again makes us wonder whose lives Musk and Kennedy value Public healthcare is too kindKennedy often compares America’s health outcomes with other countries. Yet he never mentions that those countries all offer socialized medicine. When pressed on the topic during his confirmation hearings Kennedy told Bernie Sanders that universal healthcare isn’t fair Kennedy isn’t enthused by these kinds of approaches a core component of Reaganomics propaganda: individual health is a personal responsibility you shouldn’t receive the same benefits as those who can Kennedy adviser and former Heritage Foundation intern claims that giving people more access to healthcare is only fueling a broken system Maha perfectly mimics Maga’s deregulatory ethos: cut social services for vulnerable populations while parroting populist language that further helps consolidate power for the most well-off The 19th-century fantasy of a privileged race is alive and well in Kennedy’s yearning for the America of his youth enabled by the circle of wellness influencers and contrarian doctors similarly hypnotized by a romanticized past that never existed If you find yourself outside of the walled garden Derek Beres is a writer and speaker on science and media literacy. He is the co-host of the Conspirituality podcast and founder of Siris Health This article was amended on 4 May 2025 to correct the spelling of Adam Rutherford’s name Australia’s prime minister claimed a historic victory Saturday in a second-term win fueled by voters’ concerns about President Donald Trump “Our government will choose the Australian way because we are proud of who we are and all that we have built together in this country,” Albanese told supporters after his victory “We do not need to borrow or copy from anywhere else We do not seek our inspiration from overseas We find it right here in our values and in our people.” Anthony Albanese came out on top despite polling at record lows in January and the encroachment of conservative leaders like Peter Dutton who conceded defeat after losing his seat of 24 years He is the first Australian prime minister to win consecutive terms in two decades Albanese’s triumphant comeback came only days after Canada’s liberal party also emerged victorious riding a similar wave of anti-Trump fervor “We have been defined by our opponents in this election which is not the true story of who we are,” Dutton said in a speech conceding the election He apologized to his members of parliament and accepted “full responsibility” for the loss Amid harsh “reciprocal” tariffs and a globally unstable economy voters worldwide have begun to mobilize against Trump Dutton claimed during the election that he would appoint politician Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to a ministry of government efficiency bizarrely similar to Tesla billionaire Elon Musk’s role at the Department of Government Efficiency in the United States who promised that her party would “make Australia great again,” faced the repercussions of her MAGA likeness when her party suffered a record defeat A spokesperson from the conservative party defended the campaign saying the “Trump factor” had unfairly burdened its chances who defied the country’s “incumbency curse” to win in the landslide aspiration and opportunity for all; for the strength to show courage in adversity and kindness to those in need.” Trump also loomed large over the Canadian election after the commander-in-chief threatened to make our northern neighbor the 51st state and bizarre criticisms of the country inadvertently prompted the revival of Canada’s left-wing party and the results of their April 28 election confirmed that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney would remain in office Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here It’s appropriate that Donald Trump will mark the 100th day since his second presidential inauguration with one of his signature MAGA rallies — indeed where he had his last campaign rally of the 2024 presidential election 175 days ago he did win a popular-vote plurality and a battleground-state sweep that put the results beyond question There were also signs of cracks in the Democratic voting coalition they could create their own governing coalition after failing to win a majority of the popular vote for 20 years Trump had a basic choice to make in planning his second administration He could have moved cautiously to consolidate his support extend the public-opinion honeymoon any presidential-election winner invariably enjoys and convince a skeptical and fearful country that Trump 2.0 would represent the sort of return to normalcy that Joe Biden once promised but could not provide This approach might have sent the wounded Democrats into an extended wilderness and made MAGA Republicanism into the greatest political success story of the 21st century to run wild through the federal bureaucracy in search less of budget savings than of making federal agencies as dysfunctional as possible Even as each and every one of these actions has had its own negative impact on Trump’s public support the 47th president has contemptuously pushed aside opportunities to moderate the pace and intensity of his agenda While polls show Trump bleeding support on almost every issue and in particular losing the independents who were so crucial to his 2024 victory, there’s something even worse about how he’s conducted himself during the last 100 days. All the light and heat and noise and fear and chaos he has engendered has put Joe Biden very far in the rear-view window of public perceptions It’s now Trump’s unsatisfactory economy; Trump’s executive power grabs; Trump’s disorderly world; Trump’s despised and privacy-violating federal government; Trump’s arrogant wealthy elites; Trump’s contempt for the struggles of working people — it’s Trump who’s in the news each morning to the point that he can no longer embody the chronic hunger and thirst of the American people for change And that’s very bad news for his party in both 2026 and 2028 and for any hopes he had of leaving office with the mantle of “greatness” he so desires even people who share a lot of the administration’s goals are concluding he’s simply going too far Even if he had enough mental clarity and self-discipline to build an authoritarian regime that used state power to make a temporary majority permanent he’s lost the temporary majority before he rightly possessed it So Trump’s trajectory is right back toward the fever swamps from whence he arose in 2015 and into which he fell back again after January 6 By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York surgeon general is taking fire from all sides Nesheiwat, who served as the medical director of a for-profit chain of urgent-care centers in New York, joined Fox News as a medical contributor during the COVID-19 pandemic and has given on-air interviews for other networks Her Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for Thursday “She is now being accused of lying about her credentials.” Later Monday morning, Loomer noted in a follow-up post that Nesheiwat’s social media bio on the site X no longer said “nominee for US surgeon general.” “Interesting,” Loomer wrote. “Perhaps she is out!” The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment. During her TV interviews, Nesheiwat was often introduced as a double board-certified physician in family and emergency medicine. She has often said her father’s tragic death from a freak shooting accident when she was 13 inspired her to go into medicine. After her nomination for surgeon general, she quietly removed her specialization in “ER medicine” from her website, Clark reported, and sometime after CBS reported on her medical degree on April 29 she changed her LinkedIn profile to reflect her real alma mater But it’s the part of her biography that’s true—the fact that she worked on the front lines treating thousands of patients in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic—that Loomer really takes issue with Nesheiwat described vaccine hesitancy as a “global health threat” and encouraged viewers to get vaccinated “She used her access to Fox News to promote the dangerous Covid vaccine which is now killing millions of people,” Loomer wrote A 2022 study of the side effects of the 8 billion COVID-19 jabs administered worldwide found that just 55 people had died after being vaccinated 38 were found to have possibly been related to vaccine side effects more research was needed to determine whether there was a causal relationship according to the National Library of Medicine Loomer then repeated the conspiracy theory that vaccines cause autism and accused Nesheiwat of “not being ideologically aligned with Donald Trump or his admin’s health initiatives.” She wrote: “By her own logic, President Donald Trump and [Health and Human Services Secretary] Robert F. Kennedy Jr are GLOBAL HEALTH THREATS because they are challenging the safety of childhood vaccines,” which yes “I genuinely wish we had a different nominee that was more aligned with personal liberties,” Loomer wrote Janna Brancolini is an American journalist based in Rome She writes about financial policy for Bloomberg and covered the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy for the Los Angeles Times Her articles and essays have also appeared in the Columbia Journalism Review \"Breaking the Surface,\" blending science art and history to tell the story of pioneering underwater archaeologist Honor Frost At least 11 federal judges and their families have been threatened and harassed since they ruled against President Trump on issues of deportations The judges, under anonymity, told Reuters that they had received multiple intimidating calls and emails to their homes and offices Some have been subject to the disturbing “pizza box” method in which antagonists will anonymously send a pizza to the home of a judge or their relatives just to show that they know where they live.  Loomer’s post conveniently omitted that McConnell’s daughter left the department before Trump was even inaugurated a Democrat donor and activist wants Trump to restore funding is because his daughter is currently employed by the same Department of Education that President Trump and @elonmusk want to audit and DEFUND,” Loomer wrote on X “She was appointed by Joe Biden and now her Dad is abusing his power to protect her paycheck.”    Reuters identified more than 600 similar posts on social media and right-leaning message boards since February targeting family members of judges who ruled against the Trump administration The commentators attacked everything from their physical appearance to their patriotism Amplified on X and other platforms by some of Trump’s most prominent allies those posts have been viewed more than 200 million times At least 70 posts explicitly called for judges’ family members to face violence This makes the chilling effect impossible to ignore as judges could potentially begin to rule more and more in favor of Trump out of fear of MAGA retribution “The attacks are not random. They seem designed to intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity,” said U.S Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson at a conference on Thursday “The threats and harassment are attacks on our democracy.” Donald Trump has just sent Republicans in Congress a budget proposal that cuts nearly everything he says he’ll withhold cash that they approve would slash nearly every federal program by $163 billion Many Republicans are already unhappy with it but the White House may not heed their concerns One official in the Office of Management and Budget told Politico that the administration wouldn’t rule out impoundment or overriding Congress’s decision by withholding funding it has already approved “We’re working with Congress to see what they will pass and I believe that they have an interest in passing cuts,” said the official Such a move would violate the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 which Trump and his allies have called unconstitutional The law prevents the president from withholding money allocated by Congress or using it for different purposes Trump attempting to impound funds in this way would be a direct challenge to the Constitution’s separation of powers and could result in a legal fight that ends up in front of the Supreme Court and will Republicans stand up for their own constitutional authority if he does and Democrats have little they can do as the minority in the House and Senate It seems that if Trump tries to seize funds the courts may be the only check on his power White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller may be up next for a new position in Donald Trump’s administration: Axios reported Friday that he’s a top candidate to replace Mike Waltz Trump’s departing national security adviser Miller, the ghoulish white nationalist behind the president’s anti-immigrant crusade is already serving as the president’s adviser on Homeland Security; reportedly he runs the Homeland Security Council “like clockwork.” Miller has already been working with the National Security Council, running what The Atlantic reported was the “most active and well-staffed” section on homeland security which at times operated entirely independently from the leadership office previously run by Waltz expressed concerns about the perceived split between the two factions It’s unlikely that Miller’s work as a homeland security adviser would stop him from taking on an additional role: Right now, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has four The secretary is also serving as the head of what remains of the United States Agency for International Development and the acting archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration—and in doing so has found himself leading both an agency that has violated the Federal Records Act and the one that is meant to ensure that doesn’t happen Two White House sources told Axios that Miller’s work with Rubio made him well suited for the role Another said that the fiery advocate had already expressed his interest in taking on the job and another said that “if Stephen wants the job it’s hard to see why Trump wouldn’t say yes.” In recent weeks, Miller has been a fierce advocate for the Trump administration’s immigration policies—sometimes too fierce—and has set off on unhinged rants during multiple television interviews and addresses a Freedom Flotilla aid ship aiming to break Israel’s two-month siege on Gaza was struck by drones off the coast of Malta in the early hours of Friday There were no casualties as a nearby tugboat helped put out the fire Footage shows smoke “Conscience has been bombed two times [just] a few minutes ago in 14 miles to the Maltese port,” one of the flotilla workers said through coughs as smoke filled his lungs Alarming footage from last night's attack on the Freedom Flotilla carrying aid to Gaza. Between coughs and emergency alarms, humanitarians aboard the Conscience ship show the fire and gaping hole left in the ship's hull by drones. pic.twitter.com/BfqO8rm4hi “Armed drones attacked the front of an unarmed civilian vessel twice, causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull,” the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said in a statement And while the coalition stopped short of directly blaming Israel they demanded that “Israeli ambassadors be summoned and answer to violations of international law including the ongoing blockade and the bombing of our civilian vessel in international waters.” “Our Flotilla is challenging not only that blockade that has kept all of the food and water and everything out of Gaza now for almost a month and a half, on the genocide that the U.S. is complicit [in]. The Israeli genocide of at least 55–60,000 Palestinians in Gaza,” said Ann Wright Army colonel and diplomat who now works for the Freedom Flotilla we are in Malta dealing with a brutal attack on an innocent ship a ship that was anchored or outside of territorial waters the activists to come on board so that we could then head toward Gaza to say to the world ‘Here are some citizens who are willing to take action where our government has failed to act.’ … While we cannot yet identify the source of the drones there is no doubt in my mind that there’s a history of violence that has been directed toward the flotillas from the state of Israel.” In 2010, Israel raided six Freedom Flotilla ships in the Mediterranean Sea who saw an increase in support from rural voters in the 2024 election The poll taken last week found that only 40 percent of rural voters approve of Trump’s job performance, down from 59 percent in February, according to Newsweek Forty-five percent of respondents said they disapproved of Trump’s performance in April which is up from 37 percent who said they disapproved in February Trump has unveiled a slate of policy directives that threaten the livelihoods of rural voters including his sweeping “reciprocal tariff” policy that has undermined essential trade with America’s top trading partners Farmers aren’t the only rural residents hurt by Trump—workers and small businesses have also been impacted by shrinking consumer confidence and fears about an impending economic recession caused by roiling markets. Some believe it’s already begun But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. The president’s massive cuts to disaster preparedness programs threaten vulnerable rural regions that could be hit by the oncoming hurricane season After Trump floated eliminating FEMA altogether the agency stopped paying for temporary housing for more than 1,200 families displaced by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina As recently as Friday, Trump’s directive to slash federal funding at NPR and PBS would also disproportionately impact rural areas which receive the most of the sliver of money granted by the government for educational and cultural programming and rural areas who reported an increase in support for the president with 53 percent approving of his job performance in an increase from 46 percent in February In the 2024 presidential election, a whopping 62 percent of rural voters supported Trump, while only 36 percent backed Kamala Harris, according to AP VoteCast This demonstrated a 4 percent increase in rural support for Trump compared to 2020 President Trump vowed to wield the power of the presidency to go after his perceived enemies,” the listing reads Trump is using executive orders to target some of the biggest law firms in the country that he accuses of ‘weaponizing’ the justice system against him.” The show has had a tumultuous year covering the MAGA leader who has continued to dedicate significant attention to a sit-down interview that aired on 60 Minutes prior to Election Day with former Vice President Kamala Harris Trump has repeatedly argued that a version of Harris’s answer regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the broadcast had essentially “defrauded” the American public since two of the network’s shows—60 Minutes and Face the Nation—cut and aired different portions of her 21-second answer on different days Trump sued CBS for $20 billion after the interview claiming that the different clips amounted to “election interference” and that Harris should drop out of the presidential race over the GOP-baked scandal An independent review by the Federal Communications Commission showed that the two answers were in fact cut from the same longer response Editing answers for time is considered general practice in television news and regularly happens Shari Redstone and others will bow to presidential pressure,” one unidentified 60 Minutes employee told CNN referring to the non-executive chairwoman of CBS’s parent company “60 Minutes is one of the crown jewels of American broadcast journalism and they have no problem crushing it in their race to make a deal and make themselves richer.” But regardless of Trump or executive perspectives, the media industry has continued to recognize the value of 60 Minutes’ programming. On Thursday, the show’s controversial Harris segment was nominated for an Emmy Senator John Fetterman isn’t in good shape—and could be a danger to himself and those around him New York magazine reports that Fetterman who suffered a stroke in 2022 one month before being elected to the Senate is unrecognizable to his past and present staff prone to “conspiratorial thinking” and “megalomania.” His former chief of staff wrote his concerns in a May 2024 letter to Dr the neuropsychiatrist who oversaw Fetterman’s treatment at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington “We do not know if he is taking his meds and his behavior frequently suggests he is not,” Jentleson wrote adding that Fetterman was avoiding the recommended regular checkups with his doctors He also wrote that the senator was driving his car recklessly and reading entire news articles behind the wheel driving home from the airport after an early morning flight well over the 70-mph speed limit on I-70 His wife in the back seat suffered a pulmonary contusion and spinal fractures and Fetterman told one of his staffers that he had fallen asleep while driving In an incident earlier this year, Fetterman was filmed on a flight to Pittsburgh arguing with the pilot about wearing his seat belt correctly “You’re going to have to follow our instructions or be asked to get off the airplane.” one of his staffers reported hearing from a journalist that Fetterman had walked into the street and was nearly hit by a car a Senate doctor called Fetterman’s office to report that the senator walked into a group of people and nearly knocked them over near the underground trolleys running between the Capitol and congressional office buildings drawing a backlash from liberal supporters It seems that Fetterman’s health is raising the question of if he’s fit to continue serving in politics Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has had enough of the Trump administration’s unchecked bullying of the nation’s judicial branch The Supreme Court’s most junior justice condemned Donald Trump’s attacks on the country’s judges Thursday night decrying the hostility from the executive branch as a threat to democracy “Across the nation, judges are facing increased threats of not only physical violence, but also professional retaliation just for doing our jobs,” Jackson said at a judge’s conference in Puerto Rico, according to Politico They seem designed to intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity.” who joined the nation’s highest bench in 2022 after she was appointed by former President Joe Biden did not mention Trump by name but instead referred to the president as the “elephant in the room.” Jackson further noted that Trump’s attacks are “not isolated incidents,” arguing that they “impact more than just individual judges who are being targeted.” “The threats and harassment are attacks on our democracy And they ultimately risk undermining our Constitution and the rule of law,” Jackson said and I do believe that history will vindicate your service.” She added that the judiciary had faced similar challenges during the Civil Rights Movement and the Watergate scandal when the branch of government was again in the public hot seat “Other judges have faced challenges like the ones we face today The sharp rebuke earned her a standing ovation at the conference, reported The Daily Beast It’s the second such instance in which a Supreme Court justice has critiqued Trump’s attempts to coerce America’s courtrooms Chief Justice John Roberts pushed back against the president’s demands to impeach a federal judge who dared to rule against his deportation plans “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said of Trump’s threats against U.S But Baosberg isn’t the only judge Trump has threatened Dozens of judges have ruled against Trump—and faced the wrath of his allies and his base for doing so a formerly progressive Democrat who has decidedly shifted right in recent years delivered a hard-line—and honestly bloodthirsty—stance in opposition to a ceasefire in Gaza during a meeting with pro-Israel group J Street’s president Jeremy Ben-Ami in February “Let’s get back to killing,” Fetterman said, referring to Israel’s mass slaughter of Palestinians. A person who heard the conversation told New York magazine that Fetterman a staunch supporter of Israel’s military campaign Fetterman denied this account and insisted that if he’d advocated for slaughter he was speaking solely about members of Hamas “I do support the destruction of that organization These statements and others are part of what current and former staffers believe is a trend of troubling, erratic behavior from Fetterman, detailed in the sweeping report that was published Friday The senator’s unsettling behavior and “I’m not progressive” flip has driven out multiple staffers including three of his top spokespeople and his legislative director was so concerned by Fetterman’s erratic behavior that he stepped down from his position in April 2024 Jentleson wrote a lengthy email to David Williamson the medical director of the traumatic brain injury and neuropsychiatry unit at Walter Reed Medical Center detailing the radical changes he’d seen in his boss believing that he may be severely struggling with his mental health following a stroke in 2022 like doubts that his boss was taking his medications Jentleson said that Fetterman was demonstrating “conspiratorial thinking” and “megalomania.” Fetterman “claims to be the most knowledgeable source on Israel and Gaza around but his sources are just what he reads in the news—he declines most briefings and never reads memos,” Jentleson wrote Fetterman had claimed that he had never met an Arab person who would condemn Hamas but the notes from the meeting stated that only a “single Arab he has met with that staff was present for wouldn’t outright condemn Hamas.” After Israel set off on its genocidal campaign in Gaza Fetterman’s controversial social media posts alarmed staff members and constituents alike Fetterman’s increasingly callous rhetoric about Palestine has manifested a sharp rift between him and the progressive staffers who saw him elected to the Senate in 2022 it’s not clear if he’ll be able to continue in the Senate–let alone run for reelection in 2028 Fetterman was also the first Democratic senator to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in January earning him praise from the far-right president “I couldn’t be more impressed,” Trump said at the time It’s not clear how much of Fetterman’s turn to the right is related to his health issues and Jentleson was more concerned for his former boss’s well-being than his political transformation “I believed in John’s ability to work through struggles that lots of Americans share,” he said “He’s not locked into a downward trajectory; he could get back in treatment at any time and for a long time I held out hope that he would “Part of the tragedy here is that this is a man who could be leading Democrats out of the wilderness,” Jentleson said “But I also think he’s struggling in a way that shouldn’t be hidden from the public.” The Department of Health and Human Services plans to end research into how to improve child welfare programs like Head Start, according to an email mistakenly sent by an HHS employee to grant recipients.  The email contained a spreadsheet listing 150 research projects on HHS’s chopping block including grants funded by the Office of Planning The office’s mission is to build “evidence to improve lives” by helping to examine programs helping low-income children and families.  Other research grants under consideration for termination are related to childcare policy and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program Over 50 universities were listed as having their grants terminated in the document with state agencies and nonprofits also at risk of losing funding.  The possible cancellation of these grants comes after HHS already made heavy cuts to its Administration for Children and Families which is closing five regional offices and fired hundreds of employees last month Now, the news that research examining and supporting Head Start could be cut is an ominous sign. The Trump administration seems intent on cutting the program and everything connected to it, even though it has widespread support from the public Head Start offices have closed around the country.  What will fill the void for low-income families in America Marni Rose McFall is a Newsweek reporter based in London Marni joined Newsweek in 2024 from Frasers Group and had previously written for Cosmopolitan She is a graduate of The University of Edinburgh You can get in touch with Marni by emailing m.mcfall@newsweek.com Neil Young has taken aim at Elon Musk in a new song who in turn branded him a "bitter old liberal." Newsweek has reached out to a representative for Young outside of regular working hours via email for comment Musk is a "special government employee," and is set to leave his role at DOGE at the end of May In clips from the Light Up the Blue benefit concert at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, Young performed the song with lyrics that included, "If you're a fascist, get a Tesla / It's electric taste your freedom / Get whatever you want "Come on Ford "Build something special that people need / Build us a safe way for us to meet / Build something that won't kill our kids / Runs real clean." The Daily Beast reported that the song is titled "Let's Roll Again," but the title has not been officially confirmed yet describing the backlash against Tesla as "shocking." Young recently shared concerns on his website that he could face a U.S I may be one of those returning to America who is barred or put in jail to sleep on a cement floor with an aluminum blanket," Young wrote And while Trump himself has not responded to these remarks or Young's latest song Young has drawn the ire of his supporters online Many of whom have quoted the Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Sweet Home Alabama" (1974) which was written in response to Young's song a southern man don't need him around anyhow." on X: "Neil Young sings bizarre song attacking Elon Musk." who self-describes as an "American conservative and proud PATRIOT Supporter of Donald Trump," on X: "This hippy NEVER grew up." Another user who states they are a Trump and MAGA supporter on X: "Just another bitter old liberal crying for attention." Young is set to tour in Europe in June and July this summer and will headline Glastonbury festival Newsweek is committed to journalism that's factual and fair Hold us accountable and submit your rating of this article on the meter. Donie O’Sullivan has heard all sorts of conspiracy theories as a senior correspondent for CNN In an interview promoting his Persuadable podcast the misinformation reporter said the “craziest thing” anyone has ever said to him had to do with former President Joe Biden he was actually dead,” O’Sullivan said with a chuckle “Now that I’m hearing this back—kernel of truth in there,” he added jokingly Why it’s time we change how we talk about conspiracy theorieshttps://t.co/LGgmLMWDQ3 The conspiracy theory, O’Sullivan said, was that the White House was actually empty and everything from the Oval Office to the media briefing room was just a green screen. “That one was definitely out there,” he said. Despite having to deal with people who push wild theories, O’Sullivan said he finds it “really annoying” when he gets asked: “Why are you humanizing this person?” Part of covering misinformation, he said, is accepting that his interviewees don’t believe facts like the 2020 election was fair and the COVID-19 vaccine doesn’t contain a microchip that tracks people. “If I get hung up on that, like if I say, ‘Well no, you’re wrong, and here’s why. And I’m going to convince you now. I’m going to change your mind.’ Then that’s the end of the conversation.” O’Sullivan spoke with three MAGA journalists who were granted access to the White House’s media briefing room as part of the administration’s push to promote “new media.” O’Sullivan spoke with Brian Glenn of Real America’s Voice and Natalie Winters of Bannon’s War Room for a CNN segment “Do you consider yourself a journalist?” he asked the three bluntly Winters said yes: “I’m pretty sure the group of people in there spent covering for someone who was essentially dead—and that’s being charitable in my description of him—a president by the name of Joe Biden So to all those people who are apoplectic over having new media voices Why it’s time we change how we talk about conspiracy theorieshttps://t.co/LGgmLMWDQ3 with much of the world heavily reliant on its wares Last year it accounted for little over a tenth and imported $1.2trn more in merchandise than it exported—to the displeasure of its current president This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Factory fantasies” Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents Paramount’s dilemma exemplifies a broader problem The coffee chain’s new boss is struggling to fix its problems Registered in England and Wales. No. 236383 | Registered office: The Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam Street, London, WC2N 6HT | VAT Reg No: GB 340 436 876 TrendingIn the News·Posted 7 hours agoSubscribe to BuzzFeed Daily NewsletterCaret DownMAGA Supporters Are Going Viral For Trying To Justify Their Vote...And It's Going Exactly How You Would Expect"There will be studies about this for decades..." "Nobody likes to pay more for anything, I don't, but in the long run, I think it's gonna be good."  "People are saying, 'Oh, well, prices are gonna go way up. We won't be able to do anything.' Well, how was the last four years? My grocery bills were ridiculous. [And] that was for no reason — this is for good reason."   However, when it comes to immigration, "It's just one of those things where you put yourself and you feel the empathy aspect of it... When you see a kid being pulled away and you're like, 'Man, is there another way we could have did that?' ... Some of the family stuff, I was wondering some ways we could handle that a little bit differently."  Robby Soave delivers radar on President Trump receiving backlash for posting an AI-generated image of himself as Pope. THE HILL 400 N CAPITOL STREET NW, SUITE 650 WASHINGTON DC 20002 © 1998 - 2025 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Anna Moneymaker / GettyMay 1, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:008:19Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (Noa) using AI narration inadvertently included The Atlantic’s editor in chief in a group chat about military attack plans on the Signal messaging app he found himself on very thin ice with his boss But President Donald Trump and his advisers were loath to take a political hit by firing Waltz especially within the first 100 days of the new administration Trump acted against his national security adviser removing Waltz along with his principal deputy Hours after the news of Waltz’s removal broke, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would nominate the former Florida congressman as ambassador to the United Nations the added responsibilities of the national security adviser—at least on an interim basis The dual roles were last held by Henry Kissinger from 1973 to 1975 Waltz is the first top aide to be replaced in Trump’s second term The overhaul echoes the dismissal of Michael Flynn who was fired in February 2017 for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about discussions he held with the Russian ambassador Trump ultimately had four national security advisers in his first term according to people familiar with Trump’s thinking He didn’t work well with other senior members of Trump’s team and couldn’t prove to the president that he was able to manage his own staff This account of Trump’s decision to shake up his national-security team is based on interviews with 14 current and former White House officials and outside advisers all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations Read: Inside the fiasco at the National Security Council endeared himself to Trump by assiduously defending him on Fox News Waltz was frequently spotted at Mar-a-Lago Despite shifting his views to align with “America First” dogma Waltz never found his way into the president’s inner circle and was never trusted as a loyal foot soldier And despite Waltz’s efforts to banish career officials whose service at the National Security Council began under Joe Biden his staff remained a target for the powerful White House personnel office which viewed the NSC as fertile ground for rooting out officials not fully committed to Trump’s agenda distance remained between Waltz and other influential voices in Trump’s inner circle He was one of the few advisers consistently pushing for escalating sanctions against Russia if Moscow didn’t cooperate in peace talks The personnel overhaul followed months of chaos at the National Security Council government that provides a forum for the president to consider pressing national-security and foreign-policy issues with senior advisers and the Cabinet when Waltz’s team moved in the first week of the new administration to dismiss scores of career officials detailed to the NSC—a priority for Trump who believes that NSC staff thwarted his agenda in his first term The dismissals hindered core functions of the council new hiring was delayed by the White House personnel office which is typically uninvolved in internal NSC hiring The dysfunction burst into public view in March and April and proceeded to undermine Waltz’s grip on his staff Waltz accidentally added The Atlantic’s editor in chief to a group chat on Signal about a forthcoming military attack on Houthi militants in Yemen at one point describing why he had Goldberg’s number saved in his phone by saying “It gets sucked in.” The problems for Waltz began in earnest after the Signal controversy “There wasn’t a sense of a cloud of suspicion hanging over him,” the former official said “It was Signalgate that made him vulnerable.” Trump ordered the dismissal of numerous NSC officials based on the advice of Laura Loomer the far-right activist who rose to prominence by making incendiary anti-Muslim claims and who last year shared a video that labeled 9/11 an “inside job.” In an Oval Office meeting with Trump Loomer accused senior members of Waltz’s staff of disloyalty wasn’t even present for the beginning of the meeting the national security adviser protested that he had carefully vetted the members of his team From the June 2025 issue: ‘I run the country and the world’ made clear that Waltz had lost control of his own staff Waltz was originally slated to attend Trump’s Michigan rally this week to mark his first 100 days but was ultimately directed not to go “He was hired primarily to look good on TV while defending the president's decisions,” an official from Trump’s first term who remains in contact with the White House “He failed at that; he was a bad messenger The national security adviser’s dismissal elevated the anxiety of key U.S who saw him as a stabilizing force in the administration because of his pro-NATO views and the support for Ukraine he had voiced as a member of Congress Western officials were already alarmed by the dismissals of NSC staff following Loomer’s appearance in the Oval Office as well as by the White House’s move to block a retired CIA officer for a key position at the agency because he was deemed too supportive of Ukraine Some officials from allied nations told us recently they were concerned that loyalty tests were driving personnel decisions particularly at lower levels of the national-security apparatus which are normally staffed by career personnel and are not subject to such overt political influence Michael Scherer contributed to this report. National security adviser’s reassignment is just as much a victory for some Trump loyalists as it is an acknowledgment of his mistakes, writes John Bowden There was zero doubt as to which faction of the modern-day Republican Party felt like it came out ahead on Thursday after the announcement that Mike Waltz, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, was out of his job. “SCALP,” declared conspiracy theory-lover and right-wing activist Laura Loomer in a tweet posted after reports of his removal as NSA and shortly before news that he would be moved to the now-vacant position of ambassador to the United Nations The writing was on the wall for Waltz long before news of his imminent ouster from his security role broke on Thursday His new position puts him out of the White House and out of Trump’s inner circle of advisers The late-March revelation that he had nearly singlehandedly caused the second Trump administration’s first real scandal of 2025 by accidentally adding the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic to a group chat about an imminent military attack in Yemen was always seen as a greater unforced error for the administration than any of the damaging headlines in the days following which conveniently surrounded a top Waltz rival in the administration And that’s likely the key to understanding the national security adviser’s move. More than anyone else in the White House or broader administration Waltz suffered under the image of being a suspected leaker — something Trump and his lackeys hate more than just about anything News of his fate on Thursday came just one day after a piece critical of a man floated as his replacement was published in the New York Post citing unnamed administration sources decrying his effectiveness in negotiations with Iran and Russia The paper quoted a member of Trump’s first administration saying of Witkoff: “Nice guy including several under Waltz’s direction at the national security council Loomer has been publicly calling for Alex Wong Waltz’s top deputy also reported to be getting the boot In a lengthy tweet two days after The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief published a story detailing the contents of the Signal chain involving Waltz and other top administration officials Loomer released a lengthy statement identifying Wong’s wife Candace Chiu Wong as a former US attorney invovled in prosecuting January 6 rioters New York Magazine reported that Loomer pushed directly for Wong and Waltz to be fired during her meeting with Trump And in a recent interview with journalist Tara Pamieri Loomer explained that she had nearly shown Trump a video of Waltz denouncing the president’s comments about servicemembers following the then-Republican candidate’s 2015 attack on Senator John McCain who had survived years in a Vietnamese prison camp: “He’s not a war hero,” said Trump “He was a war hero because he was captured Loomer said she was only prevented from showing the video to the president because Waltz himself happened to walk into the room The reasoning for trying to ditch Waltz seems clear: MAGA loyalists partly out of their own long-held disdain for “establishment” Republican figures and partly out of a desire to protect Hegseth and others seen as their allies turned fire on him as soon as Signalgate erupted And the combination of Waltz’s own role in that scandal and his reputation as a possible leaker meant he had no support from the president or his closest circle including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles is making a true final pivot away from that GOP establishment Some of his outside observers and allies seem to think so “The Waltz ejection was nigh inevitable — Signalgate was open opera bouffe incompetence (and then he baldly lied about it) an arch-hawk former Cotton and Romney staffer executive director of The American Conservative magazine That conversation pitted Waltz against the faction of the GOP more closely aligned with Trumpworld that views foreign military intervention with skepticism And many indirectly accused him of weaponizing the press against his ideological foes within the administration “Just days after media reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth discouraged President Trump from attacking Iran multiple media stories have dropped claiming incompetence and worse on his part,” wrote Ron Paul long an icon of libertarian-ish Republicans adding: “Is Hegseth about to learn what happens when you cross the neocons?” Waltz’s departure from the White House, along with Wong’s, is likely to be a further blow for supporters of Ukraine and US involvement in Europe going forward. The national security adviser was one of the most vocal supporters of Ukraine among Trump’s senior foreign policy staffers, having called for the Biden administration to take an even tougher stance against Russia during his time in the House. His demotion also marks the second time a Trump administration has begun with the purging of its own national security adviser within the first few months of being in office. Michael Flynn, who served during Trump’s first term, resigned after just 23 days on the job after it was revealed that he’d lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the US. He went on to become a QAnon conspiracist and called on Trump to institute martial law during his attempts to overturn the 2020 election based on falsehoods. Illustration by Ben Kothe / The Atlantic. Sources: baona / Getty; Ayvan / Getty.May 2, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:0014:10Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (Noa) using AI narration What if you took the least appealing aspects of traditional broadcast journalism—the self-absorption the grandstanding—and sucked out any sense of conflict and challenge White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has invited MAGA-friendly influencers to ask her questions during a dedicated press briefing The results should be deeply embarrassing for everyone involved We all enjoy getting together with like-minded people to kvetch about petty grievances in our professional lives—that’s what keeps bars open—but most of us would have the sense not to do so in the White House The first rule of the new-media briefing is that your question should include either personal thanks to her for inviting you or a pro forma denunciation of the legacy media The second rule of the new-media briefing is that your question should be in the five words that conference organizers most dread Yesterday, Jack Posobiec, perhaps best-known for promoting the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, asked a minute-long question about how violent the far left was and received a two-minute-long answer from Leavitt about how violent the far left was Viewers also heard from Dom Lucre (who describes himself to his 1.5 million X followers as a “breaker of narratives”) asking if the White House would investigate “Barack Hussein Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton” for election-integrity offenses “It’s refreshing to actually hear a question on election integrity, because the legacy media would never ask such a question,” Leavitt replied, ignoring the fact that the media asked quite a lot of questions about her boss’s well-documented efforts to pressure officials in Georgia to declare him the winner there in 2020 “They’re so out of touch with where the American people are on this issue.” although the barrage of safe questions and safe answers made it feel much longer The obvious knock is that this is not journalism but entertainment The trouble is that it’s not even particularly entertaining who understands that jeopardy and drama equal ratings would never be involved in something so dull Read: Why MAGA likes Andrew Tate Pool’s question to Leavitt was just culture-war content in a different form “Many of the news organizations that are represented in this room have marched in lockstep on false narratives such as the ‘very fine people’ hoax and now what’s being called the ‘Maryland man’ hoax where an MS-13 gang member—adjudicated by two different judges I believe—is just simply being referred to as a ‘Maryland man’ over and over again,” Pool said wearing what looked like a hoodie with lapels He was talking about Trump’s explanation of the white-supremacist violence in Charlottesville and an incident two years later where students from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky were wrongly accused of racism based on an out-of-context viral video The most recent incident is the Trump administration’s decision to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia As well as relitigating press coverage of these incidents Pool wanted Leavitt to issue a wider condemnation of the traditional media “In an effort from the White House to expand access to new companies you’ve created this new-media seat,” Pool went on adding that “you’ve had numerous outlets disparage the companies that you’ve had sit here I’m wondering if you could comment on that unprofessional behavior as well as elaborate if there’s any plans to expand access to new companies.” Read: The global populist right has a MAGA problem The MAGA-friendly influencers are happy to collude with the White House because it flatters them portraying them as the only independent-minded bringers of truth At the White House, Marshall wanted to talk about the state of free speech in Britain Vance recently delivered a short homily to European leaders there are people in prison for quite literally reposting memes,” Marshall told the press secretary “We have extensive prison sentences for tweets Nick Miroff: An ‘administrative error’ sends a Maryland father to a Salvadoran prison This is a legitimate point—in Britain we have far fewer speech protections than America, and the police here have arrested citizens for their social-media posts But the alleged topic at hand was merely a setup for Marshall’s zinger: “Would the Trump administration consider political asylum for British citizens in such a situation?” “I have not heard that proposed to the president nor have I spoken to him about that idea and talk to our national-security team and see if it’s something the administration would entertain,” she replied Let me decode that: Thank you for your absolute nonquestion which you and I both understand was asked purely to be clipped and posted on social media The reaction over here in Britain to Marshall’s showboating was rather less warm “Why stop with free speech martyrs?” one friend texted me “I think we should encourage all banjo players to seek asylum in the States.” Jeffrey Goldberg: Read The Atlantic’s interview with Donald Trump Other observations from the first day included: “It’s so refreshing to have a press secretary after the last few years who’s both intelligent and articulate” and “Great job this morning and as always; you’re really crushing it.” Anytime someone crept close to a real question—asking when the promised border wall would be completed or when Trump’s pledge of eliminating the federal income tax would be enacted—Leavitt simply brushed it aside “This is something the secretary of commerce and the secretary of Treasury are both equally as excited about as is the president,” Leavitt replied to the second inquiry it’ll happen on about the seventh of never “You’re a very high-profile young mother who seems to juggle and balance it all beautifully,” Lauren said “What advice do you have to young parents out there who are starting their careers and trying to find that balance so desperately?” the White House has claimed that it had 10,000 applications from new media but the second and third briefings had empty seats I suspect that the MAGA crowd wants to be in the main briefing where they can lord it over the traditional reporters—not in the kiddie pool plenty of people find the chance to take a selfie in the Rose Garden irresistible Almost everything about the Trump presidency can be understood as a quid pro quo they are offered access to all the awesome scenery of the White House—the perfect backdrop for any viral video—and the heady sense of being insiders all they have to do is ask questions that would make a Soviet propagandist blush Mandy Taheri is a Newsweek reporter based in Brooklyn You can get in touch with Mandy via email: m.taheri@newsweek.com "Providential," a word with connotations of divinity and timeliness, is how former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin described the results of Saturday's Kentucky Derby where the racehorse Sovereignty beat favorite Journalism Across social media, similar sentiment was echoed by several Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters, many have long criticized mainstream media, particularly its coverage of President Donald Trump In another battle with the press, Trump has sued CBS News, alleging that 60 Minutes unfairly edited an October interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris—his opponent in the 2024 presidential election—to her advantage Various top MAGA leaders have called out legacy media for propagating what it calls "fake news." Trump has frequently used the phrase to dismiss unfavorable coverage and has been outspoken in his support for and criticism of specific outlets upset favored Journalism to win the 151st Kentucky Derby on Saturday The horse was bred and is raced by Godolphin the global stable owned by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum On Saturday, many reacted to the results, including Palin, who wrote in an X, formerly Twitter post "Providential🙏'Sovereignty' defeats 'Journalism.'" She included a video of the race as well as a screenshot of a religious understanding of sovereignty sovereignty refers to God's ultimate authority Providential🙏"Sovereignty" defeats "Journalism" #KentuckyDerby151 pic.twitter.com/nz9Pbhi76O Sovereignty refers to supreme power or authority, often without interference, and is often used to describe control over a defined territory. The term carries symbolic and political weight, especially as Trump has, at times, referred to himself as a "king," aligning with that imagery Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News co-host writing on X shortly after the race: "Sovereignty > Journalism Hegseth has been across headlines as the center of controversy over two Signal app chats that shared information about a then-forthcoming U.S. attack on Yemen. Notably, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was added to one of the chats As MAGA supporters took to X to celebrate what they saw as a symbolic victory over journalism some warned the metaphor could be foreboding Journalist and political analyst Jeff Greenfield wrote on X: "Let me be the first of thousands to over-interpret the Kentucky Derby by noting that the victory of Sovereignty over Journalism is an obvious metaphor for the power of the Executive Branch (Trump) over the press CNN anchor Jim Sciutto offered a different take on Sovereignty's victory writing on X that he placed a bet on the horse in honor of Ukraine whose sovereignty has been under attack by Russia several times including the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the ongoing Russian full-scale invasion since February 2022 "I am not a bettor but in honor of my mom I always make one bet on the Derby," he wrote "For the first time in my life I followed my grandfather's advice and bet an exacta box On: Journalism (for my field) and Sovereignty (for Ukraine) a host of The Dilley Show and MAGA supporter wrote on X Saturday: "How many more signs from God do you need to realize what his desire is for the United States of America and her people How about a horse named 'Sovereignty' winning the Kentucky Derby over a horse named 'Journalism?'" the conservative founder and president of Turning Point USA wrote on X Saturday: "Sovereignty just beat Journalism to win the Kentucky Derby Conservative journalist Nick Sortor wrote in a Saturday X post: "Sovereignty has won the Kentucky Derby over Journalism Very telling for our country." wrote in a post following the Derby results: "Sovereignty wins the Kentucky Derby over 'Journalism' and 'Publisher.' The good guys are winning Sovereignty's victory was worth $3.1 million from the $5 million purse It is not yet known if Sovereignty will go on to try and win the Triple Crown with trainer Bill Mott telling the Louisville Courier Journal on Sunday "Of course you always think about a Triple Crown and that's not something we're not going to think about." "We have to come to a conclusion probably in the next few days but it's not going to be this morning," he said ET: This article has been updated with additional information A CNN guest began pounding the table as she passionately argued that “gang bangers” should be thrown out of the U.S NewsNight‘s token MAGA pundit Scott Jennings instigated the madness when he asked his fellow panelists whether they would seek the same rights for another group, were they to land on U.S. shores in an attempt “to invade.” The ensuing back-and-forth ended with journalist Batya Ungar-Sargon slapping the studio table and voicing her desire to have all suspected MS-13 and Tren de Aragua members deported. “They’re not citizens. We do not owe them the same thing. It has to mean something to be an American!” she raged. Host Abby Phillip attempted to calm Ungar-Sargon and also had to remind her of the law more than once. “You understand that that is not how the law works, that it is not true, that just because your citizen status, citizenship status, does not mean that you do not get the same rights to legal processes as everybody else in this country,” Phillip said at one point. At the top of the segment, prior to Ungar-Sargon’s meltdown, former DNC spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa said the immigrants who are being deported to El Salvador by Trump’s administration deserve to be shipped off if they are indeed “killing and raping women,” as the government claims. She argued, however, that “there should be a process to deport them.” Hinojosa accused Jennings of making it seem as if all undocumented immigrants are violent criminals. He disagreed, saying they’re not all violent—but claimed that all are criminals, mainly for coming to the U.S. illegally. “Everybody, whether they are 2 years old or whether they are 90 years old, and have been in our country the entire time, deserve a process,” Hinojosa added. “There are laws in order and their deportation proceedings to get these people out of our country. The 99-year-old who was here did not invade.” Self-described “MAGA leftist” journalist Ungar-Sargon then set upon Hinojosa, claiming that she was supporting alleged gang members from groups like MS-13 and Tren de Aragua. “To me, like the energy in defense of these gang bangers…” she began, before the former DNC spokesperson shot back. “I’m not defending them. I just said they should leave!” she said as the panel went into full meltdown mode. Amid the melee, Ungar-Sargon began reciting a bizarre version of Pastor Martin Niemöller’s 1946 poem “First They Came.” The original poem is about complicity through inaction during the Nazi era. “I feel that poem where it’s like, you know, first they came for the guy who beats his wife,” she said. “And I said nothing because I don’t beat my wife. “And then they came for the guy who said, I love killing Jews. And I said nothing because I don’t love killing Jews. And now they came for the gang bangers and I said nothing.” She grew more passionate as she went on, waving her arms and shouting. Toward the end of her recital, podcaster Van Lathan jumped in. “Can I say something real quick? Do you know why that triggers me?” Lathan, who co-hosts The Ringer’s Higher Learning podcast, said. “That triggers me because I come from a place where a whole bunch of people, they’re American citizens, but they are thrown away. They’re thrown away because they might have committed crimes, because they got in trouble when they were young.” “You should be the angriest that they care about the gang members and not those people!” Ungar-Sargon shouted in response. “What I care about is that there is a system of laws that is supposed to protect the due process of those people, and that has to matter more than what society thinks about whatever they have done,” Lathan continued. “I am angry about that!” Ungar-Sargon squealed “I am angry that there are Black people in prison who didn’t get due process!” Host Abby Phillip tried to step in but Ungar-Sargon continued to shout: “I don’t know why the Democrats are not angry about that!” “So why do you not want that for anybody else?” another person is heard saying It has to mean something to be an American!” Phillip again tried to calm the author down but I really think it’s important to really scrutinize what you just said,” Phillip said “The idea that people do not have the right to the processes of the law just because they are not citizens is your opinion Ungar-Sargon began to retort: “The president has the right to—” Constitution protects everyone’s right to due process Ungar-Sargon said the country is split 50-50 on how much we “owe” people who “committed a felony as their first act on U.S Phillip stated that while her opinion is “fine and valid,” it is the law that ultimately matters and that has to mean something,” she added President Donald Trump played some of his greatest hits Tuesday evening at a rally in Macomb County His diehard supporters followed most every word The president was in Michigan to celebrate the first 100 days of his second term which he described to supporters at Macomb Community College in Warren as "the most successful 100 days in the history of our nation." Trump took aim at some of his biggest Democratic rivals, including former President Joe Biden and ex-Vice President Kamala Harris He listed grievances, alleging that Democrats attempted to "steal" the 2024 election while adding it never came to fruition. The second-term president railed on "fake" polls and the "fake news media" who publicize them as his approval rating sits at its lowest point since he took office again in January Trump supporters in the audience—who were amid numerous empty seats when the president entered—stuck with him during and after the event ET and some lingered to purchase Trump memorabilia or take photos outside of large vehicles decked with the president's image and likeness Patty Collica, a local, told Newsweek outside the venue that she "loved it." It was the lifelong Republican's third Trump rally "It was very celebratory and appreciating President Trump and all his hard work," Collica said She said she "couldn't ask for anything better" in Trump's first 100 days mentioning how "he beat the Democrats" and "saved the U.S." she said "everything is going smoothly and the best it could go since China Joe sold us out." was near a rolling stand of Trump memorabilia He told Newsweek that he's from Connecticut and has followed Trump at rallies around the country adding that he makes enough money from sales of his items to be able to afford to trail the president aside from about a handful of people being escorted out by security asking if they liked the Constitution and James Madison He was largely ignored while holding a makeshift paper sign reading "He cheats on his wife like he cheats the country." you have to do it through our system of checks and balances," Andridge said He lied about the [2020] election; that's what really made me upset enough to take action and tell these people how our system works." Andridge has attended multiple Trump rallies saying that the counterprotest he witnessed outside the venue hours before it began was the biggest he's ever seen He referred to Trump as a "demagogue," said he was thrown out after he yelled so loud and he did stop talking for a few seconds as security intervened Our Constitution is the foundational agreement of how we operate and what we respect As Trump's first rally during his second term concluded morale within the venue was seemingly similar to the campaign trail: high among his MAGA base Trump's overall approval rating and Americans' support of his handling of the economy and other policies are sliding In a poll by CNN and SSRS the president's approval rating is 41 percent versus a 59 percent disapproval rating The poll was taken from April 17 to April 24 Other national polls by the Associated Press and ABC News paint a similar picture of the president's faltering approval rating DNC Chair Ken Martin in a statement to Newsweek in part: "While Donald Trump lives in his delusions Michigan families – along with millions of working families across this country – are forced to live with the consequences of his dangerous during his speech: "We cannot allow a handful of communist radical left judges to obstruct the enforcement of our laws and assume the duties that belong solely to the president of the United States." to continue addressing his major campaign issues including border security and getting the "big which he reiterated Tuesday in metro Detroit Dan Gooding is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City His focus is reporting on immigration and border security He has covered immigration issues extensively including the root causes of migration to the U.S. its impact on border communities and responses around the country Dan joined Newsweek in 2024 from The Independent and previously worked at The Messenger He is a graduate of De Montfort University in Leicester You can get in touch with Dan by emailing d.gooding@newsweek.com Far-right activist Laura Loomer was among those to praise President Donald Trump's plan to fire National Security Advisor Mike Waltz Thursday morning Loomer was vocal in her disapproval of Waltz and others on the National Security Council (NSC) in which Waltz used the encrypted messaging app to discuss a military operation "Hopefully, the rest of the people who were set to be fired but were given promotions at the NSC under Waltz also depart," Loomer said on X, formerly Twitter MAGA supporters like Loomer have continued to be influential during the second Trump administration. Trump fired several senior NSC officials shortly after she visited the White House in early April when she reportedly told him that they were not loyal enough to his "Make America Great Again" agenda It was reported Thursday morning that Trump was planning to fire Waltz The move comes more than a month after an incident in which Waltz added The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat on Signal where he and other senior Cabinet members discussed an attack on the Houthis There was heavy criticism of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over his discussion of military plans in the group chat such as adding Goldberg to the conversation in the first place Waltz accepted responsibility for the mistake a visible figure during Trump's 2024 campaign met with the president in early April to discuss her concerns around the NSC and its staff She said she was going to continue her independent vetting of his administration Trump praised Loomer as a "very good patriot" following her visit in early April and said she had made recommendations on appointments and firings but later stated that she had nothing to do with the NSC aides who were ousted at the time The president previously insisted that Waltz had learned his lesson and would remain in his post She was said to believe Waltz relied too heavily on "neocons"—a term often used to describe hawkish Republicans—and officials she saw as not sufficiently aligned with MAGA ideology in response to Loomer: "Seems like the White House should probably hire you for this purpose You were the one who sounded the alarm on Alex Wong a month ago." Paul A. Szypula, who has more than 300,000 followers on X: "Unlike Joe Biden President Trump actually fires people who don't get the job done Mike Waltz is the first notable firing of the Trump administration in a video on X: "They tried to get Hegseth's scalp and it didn't work this is an excellent decision by Donald Trump." Trump had not yet officially commented on Waltz's departure as of 12:30 p.m But another interesting byproduct has been the windfall for MAGA figures peddling advice — and access — on the problems plaguing Biglaw HoLove was one of the 20 Biglaw firms that the EEOC targeted at the behest of Trump on account of their DEI practices. In a response to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton related to the probe, it was revealed that HoLove tapped the law firm Continental PLLC to quarterback their response to the diversity investigation: Florida-based firm that lists 14 attorneys on its website according to a letter the firm sent to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) on April 15 Bloomberg Law obtained the letter Thursday through a public records request Continental’s roster includes Christopher Kise a former Foley & Lardner attorney who has defended Trump in government prosecutions the president has referred to as “weaponization” of the legal system Other attorneys at the firm with Trump ties include Lazaro Fields Kise left his Biglaw roots when he represented Trump in the classified documents case Trump’s second term in office has seemingly brought a new revenue stream to that boutique AM Update for 5/5/25: Donald Trump sat down with NBC News’ Meet the Press for a wide-ranging interview to mark his first 100 days A scathing New York Magazine profile reveals former staffers’ explosive claims about Sen and fitness for office – but could politics be at play Prince Harry says he wants reconciliation with the royal family but blames them for his loss of security and portrays himself as a victim of institutional abandonment in new interview Get all the news you need in 60 seconds or less with the American News Minute The weekly email delivers the top stories and must-see moments from the Megyn Kelly Show straight to your inbox every Friday AM Update for 4/30/25: President Donald Trump celebrates his first 100 days in office with a rally in Michigan The White House pushes back its tax bill deadline to July 4 amid Republican negotiations over $2 trillion in spending cuts Josh Hawley (R-MO) reintroduces the PELOSI Act aiming to ban members of Congress and … to discuss Michelle Obama’s shocking comments about fears over Donald Trump’s immigration policy on Jay Shetty’s podcast her hostility and resentment towards her husband her disdain for America, who could be the future … AM Update for 4/25/25: Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D Vance express growing impatience with stalled Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations as President Donald Trump pushes for a deal before his 100-day deadline DNC Vice Chair David Hogg sparks a power struggle by launching a campaign to unseat fellow Democrats a licensing framework for the lower 37-gigahertz spectrum and newly proposed rules that could help block robocalls In the practiced government kabuki of these events An observer might conclude that despite the new administration This is an essay from the latest edition of Steven Levy's Plaintext newsletter SIGN UP for Plaintext to read the whole thing and tap Steven's unique insights and unmatched contacts for the long view on tech the beat journalists probed Carr about recent moves he’d made—like using the power of his role to investigate news organizations for airing stories that just happen to make Donald Trump unhappy Carr has launched a probe into how CBS edited a 60 Minutes interview of then candidate Kamala Harris Despite no evidence of journalistic malpractice Trump demanded that the network should “lose its license” over the story He also recommended other networks lose their affiliates “because they are just as corrupt as CBS—maybe even WORSE!” or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.” Carr’s response to questions about CBS at the open meeting was: “All options remain on the table,” even the “death penalty” of the network’s broadcast license He also indicated that NBC and the other networks that have covered the case of the legal immigrant mistakenly deported to an El Salvadorian prison might be in similar trouble His justification was that since broadcast outlets have exclusive access to their slice of public airwaves their content must be in the public interest The trouble with this—well there are a lot of troubles with this—is that it’s obvious that “the public interest” here is being interpreted as “stuff Donald Trump likes.” While the FCC can issue sanctions about “news distortion,” that term refers to egregious and consciously fraudulent reporting The CBS case and the network coverage of deportations aren’t even in the same universe as that kind of malfeasance “This is one of the tools that the administration is using to censor and control the news media and to punish anyone that dares to speak against our government,” the remaining Democrat on the commission It’s not only Democrats who are alarmed by this. In March, far-right crusader Grover Norquist—the guy who once said he wanted to drown government in a bathtub—was among the ultra-conservatives who signed a letter begging Carr to dismiss the case saying it would “constitute regulatory overreach and advance precedent that can be weaponized by future FCCs.” Dude it’s the current FCC we have to worry about When Carr tried to explain his complaints about news coverage he said they were all about empowering local news as opposed to big networks But Gomez told me that the stations themselves are spooked “I've spoken to local broadcasters throughout the country and they're nervous that they're going to get dragged before the FCC based on the content of their coverage,” she says “A newsroom’s decision about what stories to cover and how to frame them should be beyond the reach of any government official But even before Trump elevated him to the chairmanship in January always trying to make all kinds of weird MAGA moves,” says Tim Wu who was Biden’s special assistant in tech policy “We refused to have anything to do with him because he was playing by a different rule book He was less like a commissioner and more a random podcaster.” One of those MAGA moves was writing the communications chapter in the notorious Project 2025 playbook that turned out to be the road map the White House is using to dismantle the government though the chapter said nothing about regulating “news distortion.” As chair especially as he veers into the censorship lane Carr is using his powers of intimidation and coercion,” says Thomas Wheeler who was FCC chair during Obama’s second term because there's no final decision you can take to court And point two is that it’s not necessarily healthy to poke your regulator in the eye.” enjoy great discretion to kneecap any disobedient company down the road in unrelated contexts ranging from merger-approval proceedings to litigation settlements to the award of government benefits.” he specifically cited the Paramount merger as a motivator for the oversight The assumed endgame: a settlement in Trump’s favor whereupon the president would order an end to the FCC investigation Carr ducked a question about whether he would drop the issue if Trump ordered it People expect presidents to rail about their press critics. Using regulatory bodies to engage in government censorship—didn’t I hear about an executive order banning that?— is something quite different. It’s straight out of the authoritarian handbook, and must be called out strongly. That’s what led a bipartisan group of former FCC commissioners to file a letter on March 26 “would suggest that the Commission has been transformed into a tool of White House-driven speech suppression.” the call to sign the letter went out to all the former commissioners since the Bush years and only two chairmen—because of the fear of retribution,” he says Carr’s blustery censorship may be less alarming than the silence of those who stand by as our rights erode It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation The WIRED conversation illuminates how technology is changing every aspect of our lives—from culture to business The breakthroughs and innovations that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking