A senior Department of Justice official has suggested former first lady Jill Biden should face criminal charges for “elder abuse” for not revealing what she knew about her husband’s health problems.

Leo Terrell, a senior counselor to the assistant attorney general for civil rights, made the call soon after news broke that former President Joe Biden had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, which many suggested may have been hidden, like his cognitive decline.

Terrell responded to an X post that said Jill Biden “knew about President Biden’s health problems” but “still wanted him to run for President.”

#DOJ #Biden #health

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The Pentagon has submitted small, medium and large options to the White House for developing “Golden Dome,” President Donald Trump’s vision for a cutting-edge missile shield that can protect the US from long-range strikes that will likely cost hundreds of billions of dollars, according to multiple sources familiar with the plans.

Trump is expected to announce his preferred option – and its price point – in the coming days, a decision that will ultimately chart a path forward for funding, developing and implementing the space-based missile defense system over the next several years.

Whatever option Trump opts for, it won’t be cheap; $25 billion has been carved out in next year’s defense budget for the system, but the Congressional Budget Office has estimated the US could have to spend more than $500 billion – over the course of 20 years – to develop a viable Golden Dome.

The project will also present a bonanza for private contractors as the government won’t be able to build it alone, with companies including Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the running for highly lucrative contracts related to the system.

The Department of Defense “has developed a draft architecture and implementation plan for a Golden Dome system that will protect Americans and our homeland from a wide range of global missile threats,” chief Pentagon spokesman and senior adviser Sean Parnell told CNN in a statement.

“The Secretary of Defense and other Department leaders have engaged with the President to present options and look forward to announcing the path forward in the coming days,”

Parnell added.

#Trump #Pentagon #GoldenDome

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President Donald Trump escalated his feud against Bruce Springsteen in a late-night, all-caps rant calling for an investigation into the legendary rocker’s performance at a Kamala Harris campaign rally.

Springsteen kicked off his “Land of Hope & Dreams” tour by saying the U.S. was in the hands of a “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,” leading the president to fire back that Springsteen was a “dried out prune of a rocker [who] ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT.”

#Trump #Harris #elections

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The Trump administration has devised plans to spend up to $250 million earmarked for foreign assistance to fund instead the removal and return of people from active conflict zones, including 700,000 Ukrainian and Haitian migrants who fled to the United States amid extreme, ongoing violence back home, according to draft internal documents reviewed by The Washington Post.

#Immigration #Ukraine

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hilean-born actor Pedro Pascal was questioned at the Cannes Film Festival about the recent policy of deporting immigrants from the United States. Pascal is one of the protagonists of the new film Eddington, by Ari Aster, along with Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix and Austin Butler.

Pedro Pascal was reluctant to answer the question about the deportation situation facing the United States.

Pascal said that it is difficult to answer these questions and that he is even afraid to address this issue.

"Obviously, it's very scary for an actor who has been in the film to talk about issues like this."

The protagonist of The Last Of Us recalled his own family history since his parents were refugees from the Chilean dictatorship.

"My parents and I are refugees from the Chilean dictatorship. I had the privilege of growing up in the U.S. after getting asylum in Denmark and I don't know what would have become of us without all that, so I stand up for those protections. But... I'm so afraid of your question that I don't remember it anymore,"

the actor joked.

#Trump #immigration #Cannes

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Tens of thousands of U.S. government workers have chosen to resign rather than endure what many view as a torturous wait for the Trump administration to carry out its threats to fire them, say unions, governance experts and the employees themselves.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on taking office to dramatically slash the size and cost of government. Four months later, mass layoffs at the largest agencies have yet to materialize and courts have slowed the process.

Instead, most of the roughly 260,000 civil servants who have left or will leave by the end of September have taken buyouts or other incentives to quit. Some told Reuters they could no longer live with the daily stress of waiting to be fired after multiple warnings from Trump administration officials that they could lose their jobs in the next wave of layoffs.

As a result, Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk'sDepartment of Government Efficiency have managed to cut nearly 12% of the 2.3 million-strong federal civilian workforce largely through threats of firings, buyouts and early retirement offers, a Reuters review of agency departures found.

#Trump #government

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President Trump travelled to Capitol Hill Tuesday to personally persuade holdouts within his own party to get behind a massive bill meant to advance much of the GOP agenda.

Trump outwardly ignored the divisions still plaguing efforts to finalize the legislation ahead of a deadline from House Speaker Mike Johnson to vote on the bill before Memorial Day. Instead, Trump declared his party was unified.

"This is really just a pep talk. We have a very unified House, and we have a very unified Senate,"

Trump said as he entered the meeting.

"I don't think the Republican Party has ever been so unified."

It's rare for one single bill to contain the bulk of a president's legislative agenda, but Trump has pushed Republicans in Congress to pass tax cuts, spending cuts, deregulation and a boost in border security funding in what he calls "one big, beautiful bill."

Writing legislation that meets those demands has exposed rifts within the GOP-led House and Senate that threaten to derail the bill entirely.

Trump and GOP leaders are working to convince two main groups to support the bill:

Hardline fiscal hawks who are demanding deficit reduction
Blue state Republicans who are pushing to lift the cap on the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT)
There's also ongoing frustration from a number of GOP lawmakers who want to protect access to Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for people with disabilities and low-income adults.

Members leaving the meeting said Trump was enjoying himself, making jokes, speaking off the cuff and taking questions while stressing that he wants holdouts to get in line and get the bill passed.

"The president made an incredibly convincing case. He was as passionate on those policy issues as I've seen him. He was emphatic — we need to quit screwing around,"

said South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson, who chairs the Main Street Caucus.

"That was the clear message: 'Ya'll have tinkered enough. It is time to land the plane.'"

Johnson added that "98%" of the conference is on board with the bill as written.

"I think with the holdouts, [Trump] did move them. I don't know that we are there yet, but that was a hugely impactful meeting,"

he said.

Multiple members said Trump told them not to touch the cap on the deduction of SALT, one of the major points of opposition within the conference.

#Trump #GOP #Congress #bill

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday mounted a vociferous defense of the Trump administration’s foreign policy, as he clashed with Senate Democrats who accused him of abandoning his principles, trampling on the Constitution and allowing children in Africa to starve — all in service to President Donald Trump, whom Rubio himself once called “a serious threat” to the nation’s future.

It was a bitter reunion for the former senator from Florida and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, whose members had voted unanimously just four months ago to confirm Rubio to lead the State Department. Now, as Rubio faced the committee for the first time since then, several former colleagues berated him, barely able to contain their rage.

💬“You and I served together in Congress for 15 years,”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) told Rubio at a hearing intended to provide the secretary a podium to explain the State Department’s 2026 budget request.

“We didn’t always agree, but I believe we shared some common values: a belief in defending democracy and human rights abroad and honoring the Constitution at home. That’s why I voted to confirm you. I believed you would stand up for those principles. You haven’t. You’ve done the opposite.”

💬“I wonder if you’re proud of yourself in this moment, when you go home to your family,”

said Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada) at another point.

“I don’t recognize [you].”

#Rubio #Congress

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New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan asked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem yesterday about what habeas corpus is. 

Let me remind you that this is a legal concept that gives a detainee the right to personally appear before a court to challenge the deprivation of liberty. But according to the secretary of habeas corpus, it is the president's constitutional right to remove people from the country.

#Noem #immigration

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The political novel is over. Trump and Musk are No Longer positioning Themselves as a team 😰

The close relationship between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who were considered the most influential pair of friends in the world of politics and technology, seems to have come to an end. So, the publication Politico quotes one of the sources in the Republican Party of the United States. 

"Musk is done, it's over, it's over"! Its ratings are terrible." People hate it!",

he said. 

At the same time, the British edition of The Independent notes that now the Mask is "literally wiped off the face of the earth." If earlier Trump regularly mentioned the billionaire in his social networks, now he stopped writing about him. 

Against this background, Musk himself, who invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the Trump campaign, announced that he would no longer make large political donations. 

"I think I've already donated enough,"

he said at a business forum in Qatar. 

The gap turned out to be beneficial for both companies. Musk has become a toxic ally for Trump because of his unpopularity and massive government layoffs. Musk himself also suffered — sales of Tesla collapsed, including in Germany, and his companies were subjected to boycotts and attacks.

#Trump #Musk

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Vice President JD Vance finally got a sit-down with Pope Leo XIV a day after the pontiff met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky instead.

Vance was in Rome on Sunday for Leo’s inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square. Although Leo offered the vice president a quick greeting afterward and shook the vice president’s hand, he only held private meetings with Zelensky and Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment Sunday on whether Vance had sought a longer meeting with the new pope after their initial exchange lasted about 17 seconds.

But on Monday, Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Leo for “cordial talks” about bilateral relations, religious freedom, and international affairs, the Vatican’s press office said in a statement.

#Vance #Pope

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🏛White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said today that the controversial Qatari plane that President Donald Trump said he plans to accept is “the Air Force’s project” and that Trump “has nothing to do with it.”

Leavitt pushed back on reports that the Qatari royal family will gift the Trump administration the luxury plane, which would be retrofitted and used as Air Force One during Trump’s second term. She criticized the media for what she called “a lot of misinformation” around the gift.

“Let’s be very clear, the government of Qatar, the Qatari family, has offered to donate this plane to the United States Air Force, where that donation will be accepted according to all legal and ethical obligations,”

Leavitt said.

“It will be retrofitted to the highest of standards by the Department of Defense and the United States Air Force – this plane is not a personal donation or gift to the president of the United States, and everyone who wrote that last week should go and correct their stories, because this is a donation to our country and to the United States Air Force.”

CNN has reported that the Department of Defense plans to accept the luxury Boeing 747-8 jet, which would be retrofitted for the president’s use with security features and modifications before being donated to Trump’s presidential library after he leaves office. Trump has denied that he would use the plane after his term concludes.

Trump suggested in an interview that aired last week that the Qataris approached him directly with the possibility of gifting a luxury jet replacement for Air Force One, claiming that one Qatari official said:

“If I can help you, let me do that.”

Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress have raised concerns about the plane. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said Tuesday that the plane “poses significant espionage and surveillance problems.” And Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, said accepting it would pose “immense counterintelligence risks by granting a foreign nation potential access to sensitive systems and communications.”

#Trump #Qatar #Scandal

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🛒 President Donald Trump and American retail giant Walmart are trading stern words this week over the impact of the administration’s tariffs, after the company’s announcement of impending price hikes drew ire from the Republican leader.

📱 Trump blasted the company on social media last weekend, accusing Walmart of unfairly blaming his tariffs for their expected price increases and ordering the world’s largest retailer to “eat the tariffs” and not pass the import costs on to consumers.

💬 “I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”

Trump said on May 17 in a Truth Social post.

#Trump #Walmart #prices

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After Bruce Springsteen made a harsh statement at one of his recent concerts in Europe, as expected, Donald Trump did not remain silent. But this time he went beyond his classic counterattack on social media and called for a formal investigation against Springsteen, Beyoncé and other celebrities.

"The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to invoke the power of art, music and rock and roll in perilous times. In my home, the America I love, the America I have written about, which has been a beacon of hope and freedom for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treacherous administration,"

he said from the stage, before an audience that gave him a standing ovation.

A few days later, from his Truth Social network, Trump responded with a series of accusations that combine politics and some conspiracy theory. In his post, he not only accused Springsteen of having received money from Kamala Harris for supporting his presidential campaign, but also mentioned other celebrities such as Beyoncé, Oprah and Bono, suggesting that they would all have been paid to endorse the then-candidate.

"How much did Kamala Harris pay Bruce Springsteen for his poor performance during his presidential campaign? Why did he accept that money if he is such a fan of hers? Isn't that an important and illegal campaign contribution? And what about Beyoncé? And how much did they give Oprah and Bono? I am going to ask for a thorough investigation into this matter,"

the president wrote.

What Trump raises in his post is that the performances of these artists during Harris' campaign could have been a covert way to make illegal contributions. Calling it a corrupt and illegal way to profit from a failed system.

#Trump #Harris #celebrities

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FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said today that the bureau is now handling threats against public figures that mimic former FBI Director James Comey’s Instagram post of seashells spelling out “86 47” — a popular social media code for removing Donald Trump from the presidency.

“We are now dealing with copycats, sending cryptic threats to public figures, using the ‘86’ reference,”

Bongino posted on X.

“Whether they turn out to be legitimate threats or not, taxpayer-funded public safety agents are going to have to run these all out and investigate them.”

CNN has reached out to the Justice Department and the FBI for more details.

Comey quickly took down his post after members from Trump’s Cabinet said he was calling for the president’s assassination. The number 86 can often refer to getting rid of or tossing something out, while 47 corresponds to Trump’s term as the 47th president.

Trump allies were outraged by Comey’s use of the number “86.” Some of those same allies, however, have previously used the term, and there is no indication those posts were, or are now, being investigated as potential threats.

What Comey says: The former FBI director, who was interviewed by US Secret Service agents Friday, has said he thought the post was a political message and had nothing to do with violence.

“It’s hard to have regret about something that even in hindsight looks to me to be totally innocent,”

Comey said in an interview with MSNBC today.

Comey said he had been living a calm life, “then I went for a walk on the beach and posted a silly picture of shells I thought was a clever way to express a political viewpoint. And actually, I still think it is.”

#Trump #FBI #Comey

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🇺🇸 President Donald Trump was characteristically blunt on Monday night while riffing about why he decided to run for president again after leaving office in 2021.

🏛 Trump held a dinner at the White House with the Kennedy Center Board, which he recently restaffed with loyalists in an effort to reinvigorate the arts. He began riffing during his speech at the dinner, recalling how during his first term, he bemoaned the fact that the Olympics and World Cup would be hosted in the United States in 2028 and 2026, respectively, which he wouldn’t be able to preside over due to his being termed out in 2024.

💬 “And then they rigged the election, and then I said, ‘You know what I’ll do? I’ll run again, and I’ll shove it up their a,’”

he said, triggering laughter and applause from the audience.

🎯 “And that’s what I did. And all of a sudden, I then realized, I said, you know what? I got the Olympics. I got the World Cup, and I got the 250th. Look at the way this works out,”

Trump added.

🗳 “So if they would have left us alone and wouldn’t have cheated on the election and wouldn’t have rigged it, I would have been retired right now. I would have been happily doing something else, and instead, they have me for four more years,”

the president continued.

#Trump #WorldCup #elections

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Americans are more optimistic about the direction of the country and believe the economy has been stronger since President Trump eased his sweeping tariff policy, which most voters see as the biggest failure of his second term.

A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released Monday found 42% of respondents believe the country is on the right track – an increase of 3 percentage points from last month.

Over half of voters (51%) also rated the US economy as being “strong,” up 5 points from April.

Most voters (57%) view Trump’s tariffs as “harming the economy” and believe it’s the worst mistake of his presidency.

“Trump’s tariffs and disturbing the economy are viewed as his biggest failures to date,”

the May 14-15 survey of 1,903 registered voters determined.

The president’s tariff policy is viewed as his biggest blunder by 26% of voters, which is 9 percentage points more than those who said “making executive orders beyond his authority” was Trump’s top mistake – which came in No. 2 in the ranking.

Thirty-one percent believe Trump has yet to make a mistake in office.

When asked if Trump would be able to make a deal with China to end the trade war, 60% of voters were confident a long-term agreement would be reached.

#Trump #Tariffs #Poll

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Trump accused the South African president of "genocide of whites" and showed him videos of cemeteries from another country.

At a reception at the White House, US President Donald Trump publicly accused South African President Cyril Ramaphosa of persecuting the white population. He said that in South Africa, white farmers are being "executed" and their land is being confiscated. To back up the accusations, Trump even showed videos of cemeteries and handed Ramaphosa a stack of printed articles.

"Did they tell you where it was filmed? I'd like to know because I've never seen anything like this,"

Ramaphosa asked Trump.

Later, AFP journalists established that the video shown by Trump was actually filmed in the city of Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo — and had nothing to do with South Africa.

Trump's accusations date back to a popular conspiracy theory in far—right circles about "white genocide" - that is, genocide against the descendants of white colonialists who immigrated to South Africa from the 17th century.

#Trump #SouthAfrica #scandal

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House Democrats were left aghast when their GOP colleagues made an 11th-hour push to rename their newborn baby investment savings initiative in honor of President Donald Trump.😱

The proposed idea—first revealed in the Daily Beast’s D.C. newsletter, The Swamp—is for the federal government to open so-called “MAGA accounts” to provide $1,000 of seed investment for every American baby born in the next four years.

Republicans say the MAGA in the bill’s name stands for “money account for growth and advancement” rather than the president’s “Make America Great Again” slogan. Fawning House Republicans have now made a last-minute change to make clear who they believe should take credit for the scheme, stating that the money will be invested into a “Trump Trust.”

#Trump #GOP #MAGA

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“Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!”🖕

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was shouting at Elon Musk in the halls of the West Wing last month, loud enough for Donald Trump to hear and in a language that he could certainly understand. Bessent and Musk were fighting over which of them should choose the next IRS leader—and, implicitly, over Musk’s bureaucracy-be-damned crusade. Without securing the Treasury chief’s sign-off, Musk had pushed through his own pick for the job. Bessent was, quite obviously, not having it.

The fight had started outside the Oval Office; it continued past the Roosevelt Room and toward the chief of staff’s office, and then barreled around the corner to the national security adviser’s warren. Musk accused Bessent of having run two failed hedge funds.

“I can’t hear you,”

he told Bessent as they argued, their faces just inches apart.

“Say it louder.”

#Musk #Bessent #DOGE

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Billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE team is expanding use of his artificial intelligence chatbot Grok in the U.S. federal government to analyze data, said three people familiar with the matter, potentially violating conflict-of-interest laws and putting at risk sensitive information on millions of Americans.

Such use of Grok could reinforce concerns among privacy advocates and others that Musk's Department of Government Efficiency team appears to be casting aside long-established protections over the handling of sensitive data as President Donald Trump shakes up the U.S. bureaucracy.

One of the three people familiar with the matter, who has knowledge of DOGE’s activities, said Musk's team was using a customized version of the Grok chatbot. The apparent aim was for DOGE to sift through data more efficiently, this person said.

“They ask questions, get it to prepare reports, give data analysis.”

The second and third person said DOGE staff also told Department of Homeland Security officials to use it even though Grok had not been approved within the department.

Reuters could not determine the specific data that had been fed into the generative AI tool or how the custom system was set up. Grok was developed by xAI, a tech operation that Musk launched in 2023 on his social media platform, X.

#Musk #bureaucracy #DOGE

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