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Raw Story
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[l] at 4/18/26 7:57pm
A former GOP speechwriter was blown away on Saturday as President Donald Trump's "strategy" to win the war in Iran appeared to backfire. Last week, Trump announced that Iran had agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway that accounts for 20% of the world's energy, which had been closed since the war began in late February. Its closure has sent global energy prices skyrocketing, and American allies in Europe have said they may have as much as six weeks of reserve jet fuel. All of that reversed on Saturday as Trump said the strait was closed again. The president added that the administration is having "very productive" talks with the Iranians, but no solution had been reached as of Saturday night. Tim Miller, host of "The Bulwark Podcast," said in a new reaction video that the closure showed Trump's "strategy" isn't working. "That was fast!" Miller said. "You're seeing that Trump's strategy is just making a bunch of claims and hoping that they come to fruition," he added. Miller added that the Strait's closure could compel Trump to make further concessions to the Iranians as negotiations continue. "I think obviously that Trump will continue to offer more and more concessions in the hope that the Strait can get reopened," Miller said. "But the situation is a lot dicier than it was made to seem 24 hours ago or even 12 hours ago."
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[l] at 4/18/26 6:52pm
An author who has written four books about President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the president's "political charm" is starting to backfire on the administration. For years, part of Trump's appeal to voters has been that he does not course-correct when things go sideways, journalist Michael Wolff argued in a new episode of "Inside Trump's Head," a podcast he co-hosts with Joanna Coles of The Daily Beast. However, that strategy appears to be failing him as the administration and the Republican Party limp toward the 2026 midterms. "Course correcting is the absolute opposite of what he does. Trump is strictly a double-down guy," Wolff said. "It's part of his political charm in its way. 'I don't pander, I don't give a s---. I just do what I'm going to do.' And for various points that has been impressive, even charming, to lots of people.""But at various other points, it's calamitous, and I think we're at one of those points," he added. Wolff noted that Trump seems to have stopped discussing issues that matter to the MAGA base in the White House, citing conversations he'd had over the last week. For instance, Wolff said Trump still measures the economy's success by stock market performance, which doesn't resonate with many MAGA voters. He's also been raging about the Federal Reserve and the White House Ballroom, two other issues that don't appeal to MAGA, he said. "Everybody around him, their response is frustration, but I think they have to convert that into patience because you can't tell him, 'Hey, we're really heading for disaster here.' They are heading for disaster. No one can say that."
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[l] at 4/18/26 6:02pm
President Donald Trump's next move appears likely to send his administration into "complete and utter disarray," and sink the GOP in the process, according to one analyst. David Pakman, host of the "David Pakman Show" on YouTube, argued in a new reaction video that Trump appears to be underestimating how damaging his rhetoric about the war in Iran has been. For instance, Pakman pointed to a clip from last week where Trump said the negotiations to end the war "didn't matter" because the U.S. had "already won." Pakman warned Trump that his words could backfire as the November 2026 midterm elections approach. "What we know from tracking Trump historically over the last number of years, [is that] number one, he only really cares about himself," Pakman said. "And so, you paying higher gas prices or JD Vance failing negotiations, he doesn't care as long as it doesn't affect him directly." "He may be miscalculating on that," he added. "I think it will affect him directly in the sense of making Republicans lose in November and throwing his final two years of the presidency into complete and utter disarray, which he's not going to like.But at the end of the day, this is all about how can Trump appear strong and pull out something approximating a victory."
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[l] at 4/18/26 5:40pm
Another one of President Donald Trump's former attorneys has landed a gig investigating the president's political foes, according to a new report. The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing "a senior law enforcement official," that Joseph diGenova has been tapped by the Trump Department of Justice to lead a "sprawling inquiry" into whether federal prosecutors committed crimes while they investigated Trump during his first term. The report added that diGenova is expected to split time between Miami and Fort Pierce, where a grand jury overseen by Trump-friendly judge Aileen Cannon has been convened. DiGenova, a former U.S. Attorney during the Ronald Reagan administration, will hold the title of counselor to the attorney general, the report says, and he was assigned to the Southern District of Florida, where his work will be overseen by another Trump ally, U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones. DiGenova represented Trump during his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He is stepping into a role left vacant after a career prosecutor, Maria Medetis Long, was removed from the case, according to the report. "Together, the moves show how the Justice Department under Mr. Trump’s control has been willing to embrace politically charged tactics and unorthodox personnel decisions in its efforts to satisfy his demands to prosecute his perceived foes — even as other prosecutors loyal to him have encountered forceful pushback from courts against his wide-ranging retribution campaign," the report reads in part.
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[l] at 4/18/26 5:02pm
A MAGA lawmaker berated a Minnesota state prosecutor during a Fox News interview on Saturday for bringing charges against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer regarding his actions during "Operation Metro Surge" earlier this year. Fox News reported on Friday that Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty filed felony charges against ICE agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. for allegedly pulling a gun on someone driving a car after he had driven on the highway shoulder to avoid congestion. The agent faces two counts of second-degree felony assault and up to 14 years in prison, if convicted. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) sounded off against Moriarty for bringing the charges against Morgan Jr. during Fox News's "The Big Weekend Show.""Moriarty should not have a law license," Emmer said. "She actually prosecuted a Minnesota state trooper ... in the last two years ... and purposefully refused to disclose evidence that would have proven his innocence to the court. This woman should've been disbarred already. It's a crime she is still in the office!" Operation Metro Surge deployed more than 3,000 federal agents to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to counter anti-ICE protests. Two American citizens were killed during the surge, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and several others were injured.
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[l] at 4/18/26 4:47pm
Some of the Trump administration’s controversial new warehouse immigration detention centers are getting scaled back and postponed as states and cities fight back and new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin reviews actions taken by his ousted predecessor, Kristi Noem.Some states and cities have seen more communication and compromise as Mullin takes over and the Department of Homeland Security faces a continued funding shutdown that has reached 60 days.That includes discussions about a proposed Arizona detention center where DHS agreed to scale back the number of prisoners by two-thirds and pay a city for lost taxes, and a proposed center in Maryland with a similar offer from the department. A lawsuit also is holding up work on that detention center. And in Georgia, a small city cut off the water supply to a proposed immigrant holding site.A plan to house up to 1,500 immigrants in Surprise, Arizona, starting as soon as May was scaled back to 542 detainees starting in October at the earliest, and DHS agreed to pay the city $300,000 a year for lost property taxes. The department also may offer more to help with any police costs, after negotiations with DHS under Mullin.“With the new leadership there’s been a lot of communication,” Surprise Mayor Kevin Sartor told a local radio show April 15, a contrast to the “very frustrating” experience of how the city learned from news reports in January that DHS had purchased a 418,000-square-foot distribution center for $70 million.“We do have a different leadership style,” Mullin said in a CNBC interview April 16, comparing himself to Noem. “We want to make sure people understand that we’re here working for the people, not against you.”In Maryland, the new DHS administration has also offered a scale-back from 1,500 detainees to 542, in a Williamsport warehouse bought for $102 million in January. An April 15 court order keeps most work on the center paused as the state continues a lawsuit claiming “impacts on the environmental, economic, and public health and safety interests of the state.”In Arizona, dozens of Democratic state lawmakers sent a letter in April asking the city of Surprise to “stop the facility from opening at all costs,” but Mayor Sartor has said he doesn’t see a legal basis for a lawsuit. The mayor’s office is nonpartisan, but Republicans predominate among registered voters in the city by almost 2-1 over Democrats.Communities across the country are facing the results of a massive detention expansion fueled in large part by the record $45 billion approved for increased immigration detention by Congress last summer.Other state and local action on the plan to repurpose warehouses for detention centers include a Kansas City, Missouri, ban on nonmunicipal detention facilities passed in January, Developers halted the sale of a south Kansas City warehouse in February.Owners of an Indiana warehouse sent a letter saying they weren’t in active negotiations with for the site, which had been reported as a potential detention center and drew local opposition from the town of Merrillville. Democratic lawmakers in Florida opposed plans for a warehouse detention center near Orlando in February, while some Republican lawmakers supported it.In Georgia, the city of Social Circle cut off water and sewer service for a $128.6 million warehouse proposed to hold 10,000 detainees, saying the town of 5,000 people did not have the capacity to serve it.“The city’s infrastructure cannot accommodate this level of demand,” according to a February statement from the city, despite a “certainly creative” solution suggested by DHS to fill a water-supply cistern at times of low demand.Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at thenderson@stateline.org.This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Missouri Independent, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.
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[l] at 4/18/26 4:27pm
A lawyer was astounded on Saturday after President Donald Trump's Department of Justice suffered "another big loss" in court last week. Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian discussed the Trump DOJ's attempt to prosecute a philosophy professor in California for allegedly assaulting a federal officer during a protest on a new episode of their podcast, "Civil Action." Last week, a jury threw out the Trump DOJ's case after just two hours of deliberations, which stunned Karnikian. "The LA Times is reporting that, you know, they've filed more than 100 protest-related assault or interference cases," Karnikian said. "Zero convictions so far on the ones that they've brought to trial. They've lost every single one they've brought to trial.Add this to the list. It's another big Trump loss." Kabateck noted that the professor was accused of throwing tear gas at federal officers during an ICE-related protest. He added that the facts in the case suggest the professor was defending himself when ICE officers used tear gas on the crowd he was in. "I do wonder if this guy has filed the predicate to suing the federal government for using excessive force because he probably has a civil rights violation there," Karnikian said.
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[l] at 4/18/26 3:59pm
A GOP Senator scolded his colleagues during a Fox News interview on Saturday over the way they've handled President Donald Trump's signature election legislation. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told hosts on "The Big Weekend Show" that his colleagues don't seem interested in passing the SAVE Act, which Trump has been pushing them to do for several months. The legislation would overhaul America's election system and give federal agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, more authority over election security. Kennedy complained that his colleagues are not trying to pass the bill through reconciliation, which would bypass the need for Democratic votes. He suggested that the party move on from trying to recruit Democrats for the effort and instead pass the bill with only Republican votes. "Some of my colleagues think that if we talk about the SAVE Act long enough, Democrats will give in," Kennedy said. "If you believe that, then you are proof that human evolution is a slow process! Your cocker spaniel knows better. Democrats are not going to vote for the SAVE Act. We are going to have to do it with Republican votes."
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[l] at 4/18/26 3:13pm
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, ripped "feeble-minded" President Donald Trump during a speech at the Global Progressive Mobilization conference in Barcelona, Spain, on Saturday.Walz's comments came at a time when the Trump administration's negotiations to end the war in Iran had fizzled out. Last week, Vice President JD Vance traveled to Pakistan to negotiate an end to the war and reportedly left empty-handed. During a rally in Nevada last Thursday, Trump said he may travel to the country next time to negotiate an end to the war. “Back in the United States, we’re seeing an alarming consolidation of power,” Walz said, according to a report by The Hill. “A massive paramilitary force terrorizing our communities … a methodical weakening of our free press, of the independent judiciary, of fair elections and all other institutions of accountability.""We’ve got a feeble-minded, trigger-happy president who plunged us into a war where no threat was present, with no clear objectives and no exit plan,” Walz added, referring to the war in Iran. “We need to call that what it is: that’s fascism. Or at least it’s fascist-curious, as they would be."
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[l] at 4/18/26 2:40pm
One of President Donald Trump's cabinet members baffled political analysts and observers on Saturday after reportedly bragging about a new "secret" initiative at a recent event. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum predicted during an event at the National Portrait Gallery on Thursday that he expects the Trump administration to be successful in its efforts to get former president Theodore Roosevelt inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, according to a report by the Washington Post. “I’d say keep it a secret. Keep your fingers crossed. But I think we’re going to see Theodore Roosevelt inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” Burgum said. Burgum's comments caught political analysts and observers off guard, and they shared their reactions on social media."Roosevelt would have driven Trump and his gang out of Washington on horseback," journalist Walter Bragman posted on Bluesky. "Wtf," Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist, posted on Bluesky. "After destroying Teddy Roosevelt’s legacy of conserving and protecting public lands - including dismantling the U.S. Forest Service - Trump and Republicans will now try to pimp out Roosevelt’s name for their corrupt purposes," journalist Desi Doyen posted on Bluesky. "All other problems having been solved...." Don Linn, a publishing consultant, posted on Bluesky.
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[l] at 4/18/26 1:46pm
Political analysts and observers mocked President Donald Trump's FBI Director, Kash Patel, on Saturday after he issued a new raving "memo to the fake news" on social media. Patel's memo was released a day after The Atlantic reported that Patel is a problem drinker, is frequently absent from his job, and has become a threat to national security because of his paranoid outbursts. The FBI threatened to sue the outlet over the story on Friday. Patel took matters into his own hands on Saturday by telling the "fake news" that he isn't "concerned" about the negative stories written about him. "Memo to the fake news - the only time I’ll ever actually be concerned about the hit piece lies you write about me will be when you stop," Patel wrote on X. "Keep talking, it means I’m doing exactly what I should be doing. And no amount of BS you write will ever deter this FBI from making America safe again and taking down the criminals you love."Analysts and observers mocked Patel's memo on social media. "Yeah, whatever you say, bro," political commentary account "Wu Tang is for the Children" posted on X. "He’s been at the Strait of Vermouth," political commentator Rupert Myers posted on X. "We saw the video of you in Milan chug-a-luggin! So..." opinion columnist Sophia Nelson posted on X. "If you’re not concerned, why are you threatening to sue them?" Mehdi Hasan, founder of Zeteo News, posted on X. "Yeah, this a------ needs to resign," clandestine hacking group Anonymous posted on X.
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[l] at 4/18/26 1:29pm
Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) avoided an arrest for an alleged assault after one of President Donald Trump's staunch allies in the Department of Justice intervened, according to a new report. The Washington Post reported on Saturday that Washington, D.C. police sought to arrest Mills after a woman accused him of assaulting her last year. However, body camera footage and documents obtained by the outlet show that officers did not arrest Mills, who has been a close ally of Trump's in Congress, after D.C. prosecutor Ed Martin refused to sign the warrant. In turn, the senior officer on-scene classified the incident as a "family disturbance," which the officer who sought to arrest Mills "disagreed with," the report added. "The alleged assault is also the focal point of a House Ethics Committee investigation against the lawmaker, according to the report.“Unfortunately, I have bosses that are making this into a family disturbance — a domestic disturbance — instead of an actual domestic assault,” Richard Mazloom, the officer who wanted to arrest Mills, told the alleged victim, as reported by the Post. Mills has denied the allegations against him, calling them "patently false."
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[l] at 4/18/26 1:15pm
Beyond the widely derided “Mar-a-Lago face” that is a staple among women in Donald Trump’s orbit, the New York Times is reporting that men working in the administration are also being scrutinized by the president who has strict appearance standards that he expects them to satisfy.According to Zac Seidler, a clinical psychologist, beneath the Trump Cabinet tough guy exterior “all you see is fragility.”"It's constant attempts at trying to cultivate a persona that in their eyes seems strong and powerful and dominant and stoic," explained Seidler.Trump's obsession with appearance extends to his own image, the Times' Jesse McKinley wrote, noting that last fall, the president publicly groused about a Time magazine photo he claimed made him look bald — a moment that exposed the very insecurity his male staff members are forced to perform against.Political scientist Dan Cassino explained how this dynamic plays out across the administration: "Men in the Trump administration are performing a very specific type of masculinity in order to try and appeal to Trump."Trump uses appearance-based criticism as a tool of power. Rose Hackman, author of "Emotional Labor," explained the psychological mechanism: "Commenting on someone's look or looks is one of the most basic forms of power play we have."The system weaponizes insecurity against loyalty, with Hackman pointing out that what Trump has said about men in his inner circle "effectively reduces them to assets," which can "make them feel like they have to be jumping around him, or else their status in his eyes could change at any time."The psychological toll is severe McKinley elaborated. "That sort of presidential evaluation can trigger men's insecurities, part of 'this overarching belief that you must look and appear a certain way or you have failed.'" When appearance-based status can shift instantly, "the whole edifice shakes."Trump has extended this image control beyond his staff. His surrogates frequently tout his vitality, and the president often connects himself with men who evince masculine traits, including musclebound influencers — reinforcing a narrow, performative version of acceptable manhood.Northwestern University professor Maryam Kouchaki, who studies workplace dynamics, described the underlying vulnerability, telling the Times: "It's fragile. And it's easily lost." Masculinity, she notes, is constantly "earned" and constantly under threat when it depends on external validation rather than internal substance.
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[l] at 4/18/26 12:52pm
President Donald Trump has lost the war with Iran but is refusing to accept it, according to a Nobel Prize winner. Paul Krugman believes that Trump is flat out unable to deal with the fallout of the war in Iran, and that it has not yet set in that the United States' intervention in the Middle East has failed. Writing in his Substack earlier Saturday, Krugman claimed, "It’s been clear for a while that the United States has basically lost this war. "The goal was to achieve regime change, possibly to take Iran’s uranium. Neither of those is going to happen. The Iranian regime is a harder line than it was before. Iran has ended up strengthened because it’s demonstrated its ability to shut off traffic through the Strait of Hormuz."Well, as best I can tell, and this is all speculation now, I don’t think that Trump has taken on board, maybe he’s emotionally incapable of taking on board the reality that he screwed up, that he took us to war and lost, that he, in his mind, still thinks that America has the upper hand and that the Iranians are cowering in fear over the might of the U.S. military, and that he doesn’t need to make any concessions."The Strait of Hormuz had briefly been opened by Iran but was again closed over a US blockade. A new closure of the Strait of Hormuz was confirmed by Iranian military operational command, Khatam Al Anbiya, with a statement accusing the US of "maritime piracy and theft".The statement reads, "For this reason, control of the Strait of Hormuz has reverted to its previous state, and this strategic waterway is under the strict management and control of the armed forces.""Until the US restores the complete freedom of navigation for vessels from an Iranian origin to a destination, and from a destination back to Iran, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz will remain strictly controlled and in its previous state."President Trump previously imposed a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as part of his escalating Iran war strategy, declaring he would "immediately eliminate" Iranian Navy vessels attempting to breach it.

[Category: Paul krugman, Donald trump]

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[l] at 4/18/26 12:11pm
President Donald Trump will continue to cause havoc in the Oval Office even if the Republican Party suffers massive losses at the midterm elections as expected, an expert has warned. Dr. John Gartner believes that Trump is more like an animal at this point in his presidency, and will lash out at anything and everyone. He told The Daily Beast, "A cornered, wounded animal is the most vicious and dangerous kind of animal there is, and that’s where he is right now."So what I’m worried about is, even if we win both houses of Congress, he’s still the commander in chief, and he’s still getting off on the omnipotent destructiveness and power of blowing things up."Gartner went on to suggest that any thought Trump now has is what he believes, even if it is completely false. He said, "It’s kind of the most primitive type of thinking, where if you imagine it, it must be true. But this is just magical thinking. Anything that occurs to him—any stray, crazy thought—is true."His grandiosity is so extreme that not only does he want to be the Pope and Jesus and the president of Venezuela and the Mullah of Iran—he wants to be all of these things at once. He wants the world to worship him, and he wants to erect massive monuments to praise himself."Trump posted an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ to Truth Social, triggering immediate backlash from religious leaders and political figures across the spectrum. The image showed Trump in white robes with celestial light emanating from his hands as he healed a sick man. Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called it "an Antichrist spirit," while conservative journalist Megan Basham demanded he "ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God." After swift criticism, Trump deleted the post and claimed he thought it made him look like a doctor.

[Category: Midterms, Donald trump]

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[l] at 4/18/26 11:55am
The developing schism within Turning Point USA after the death of founder Charlie Kirk and the ascension of his wife, Erika Kirk as the new CEO is making life much more difficult for Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance as they try to keep their agenda alive.According to a report from the New York Times' Richard Fausset, TPUSA is undergoing a massive fracturing as chapters strike out on their own under new names, and the remaining members balk at the president’s war on Iran.The attendance collapse at recent TPUSA rallies is stark and a warning to the Trump administration.When Vice President JD Vance headlined a Turning Point event at the University of Georgia in Athens earlier this week, the numbers told a story of organizational decay: "In an arena that accommodates 6,500 people, roughly 1,300 attended, according to city officials," the Times reported.Conservative Never-Trump commentator Charlie Sykes captured the humiliation as "empty-hall embarrassment." Photos of the nearly empty stands circulated online, accompanied by biting criticism.Trump suffered similar humiliation at his own TPUSA event in a Phoenix church on Friday night — only two-thirds full despite the much smaller venue.Kirk's absence has exposed organizational chaos beneath the surface, with the Times noting: "Mr. Kirk's engaging personality and rhetorical skill helped to hold it all together. But in his absence, the cracks have begun to show."The internal divisions are multiplying. In December, "disagreements within the movement — over support for Israel, the showcasing of conspiracy theorists and who is rightfully American" erupted during AmericaFest in Phoenix. Now the conservative split over Trump's Iran war is amplifying deeper questions about the organization's direction and purpose.Chapter leadership is fragmenting according to the Times. At the University of Arkansas, the turmoil has consumed leadership discussions. Ava Lacey, a student from Mississippi on the executive board, said the chapter wanted to be more political than its nonprofit status allowed — a sign of frustration with organizational constraints.Young members are abandoning Trump entirely. Tyler Cox, 24, a former member of the Arkansas Turning Point chapter, expressed his disillusionment starkly: "I used to be a big Trump fan, like in 2016, because he spoke his mind. I think there's a lot of things with this administration now that I don't agree with."Cox said he's "not very interested in joining the new group" — an ominous indictment coming from a longtime activist in the organization.
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[l] at 4/18/26 11:10am
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel could be next to be ousted from his Donald Trump Cabinet post, according to a Democratic Party lawmaker.Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) took to Bluesky and suggested an exclusive from The Atlantic would be enough to see Patel removed from his post. He wrote, "Stooge Patel getting sloshed at the 'Poodle Room' in Vegas? You simply cannot make this up!! Too good. Start the clock."Former Trump administration staffer Olivia Troye, who is running for a Democratic Party House seat nomination in Virginia, added, "Remember when I warned this would happen if Kash Patel became FBI Director? I said he was unfit. He threatened to sue me. Now he is the Director—and it’s happening."Patel has exhibited erratic behavior, including unexplained absences and what witnesses described as "bouts of excessive drinking" that have alarmed FBI staff, according to Sarah Fitzpatrick's investigation in The Atlantic. Most alarming was Patel's "freak-out" when temporarily locked out of the FBI computer system due to an IT error. "He panicked, frantically calling aides and allies to announce that he had been fired by the White House, according to nine people familiar with his outreach," a source said.The ensuing chaos forced the White House to field emergency calls from Congress and FBI leadership asking who was now in charge of the nation's premier law enforcement agency."Patel, according to multiple current officials, as well as former officials who have stayed close to him, is deeply concerned that his job is in jeopardy," wrote Fitzpatrick. "He has good reasons to think so — including some having to do with what witnesses described to me as bouts of excessive drinking."The White House has reportedly already begun talks about who could replace Patel if he is let go."Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information and private conversations, they described Patel’s tenure as a management failure and his personal behavior as a national-security vulnerability," said the report.

[Category: White house, Fbi, Kash patel]

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[l] at 4/18/26 10:33am
Pope Leo XIV has made clear he has no interest in continuing his public feud with Donald Trump. During his 11-day African tour, the pontiff firmly rejected the notion that he's been debating the American president, insisting his peace message transcends partisan politics.According to Politico, Leo addressed the spiraling controversy that has dominated headlines all week. "There's been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects, but because of the political situation created when, on the first day of the trip, the president of the United States made some comments about myself," Leo said."Much of what has been written since then has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said."The Pope was defending his remarks at a peace meeting in Bamenda, Cameroon — a city at the epicenter of a separatist conflict ravaging the country's Anglophone region for nearly a decade. In those remarks, Leo had blasted the "handful of tyrants" who were ravaging Earth with war and exploitation, Politico is reporting.Leo emphasized the remarks predated Trump's attacks. "My remarks were written two weeks ago, long before Trump's criticisms began," he explained, undercutting Trump's narrative that the Pope was specifically targeting him."And yet as it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate again the president, which is not in my interest at all," Leo said, making clear he views the controversy as a distraction.Looking forward, the Pope signaled his priorities lie elsewhere. "I primarily come to Africa as a pastor, as the head of the Catholic Church to be with, to celebrate with, to encourage and accompany all the Catholics throughout Africa."
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[l] at 4/18/26 10:14am
The National Rifle Association has issued a statement attempting to explain why President Donald Trump will not attend the latest convention organized by the group. NRA Director of Public Affairs Justin Davis said Trump's absence at the convention this weekend does not reflect a decline in the group's influence, despite some political analysts reading the snub as such. Davis said, "The president is obviously incredibly busy with worldwide affairs right now, and we’re incredibly close to the administration. We work hand-in-glove with them on all kinds of two-way issues."He’s incredibly helpful in everything we’re trying to do here, but we understand that he has very important things to do as well." Davis went on to say that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, would be at the convention. Davis said this meant the "administration will be here with us."But gun control organization GIFFORDS Executive Director Emma Brown, speaking to The Hill, believes that Trump's "embarrassing" snub highlights the collapse of the NRA's influence on the Republican Party and its politics. She said, "It really represents the radical decline in influence that we’ve seen from the NRA in the last five to 10 years. They are hemorrhaging money. They are certainly hemorrhaging political support."It is very unusual for a sitting Republican president to skip the NRA convention, and Trump is now skipping it for the second time in two years. So the NRA doing their very best to cozy up to this administration is certainly not doing them any favors."Davis argued that current CEO Doug Hamlin is "laser-focused on making sure the NRA gets back on track" after The Hill highlighted the massive decrease in political spending between Trump's two presidential campaigns. The NRA issued a $54 million spend on Trump's 2016 campaign and a mere $10 million in 2024. "So it's going to take time," Davis said. "It’s our job to prove it to members and our folks who were upset with the wrongdoings of certain individuals, to show them those folks are gone and that there’s good actors taking care of their beloved organization now."

[Category: Nra, Donald trump]

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[l] at 4/18/26 9:43am
President Donald Trump has put even more pressure on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in an escalation of tensions, a political analyst has claimed. Trump has been attempting to remove Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for months, primarily over monetary policy disagreements. Trump has repeatedly called for Powell to lower interest rates significantly, but Powell has insisted that rates remain elevated to combat inflation. When unable to remove Powell directly by law, Trump pressed for a criminal investigation into Powell through U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office, alleging mismanagement of Federal Reserve headquarters renovation costs.MSNow analyst Duncan Levin wrote, "Many American presidents have wanted a more compliant Federal Reserve. And President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign against Fed Chair Jerome Powell has taken tactics to a disturbing level — further eroding the Justice Department’s traditional independence."Simply put, prosecutors were never meant to be part of a president’s plan to break the Fed. A criminal investigation is supposed to determine whether a crime occurred. It is not supposed to become a cloud kept in place because the cloud itself is useful."The investigation has backfired spectacularly for Trump as it blocks confirmation of Trump's replacement nominee, Kevin Warsh, effectively prolonging Powell's tenure rather than ending it.Levin added, "And the criminal investigation is hanging over more than Powell. Trump has named Kevin Warsh as his choice for the next Fed chair. "But Powell has said he intends to remain on the Fed board until the investigation is over, and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., a member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, has said he will not vote to confirm Warsh until the DOJ’s probe of Powell is closed. The unresolved criminal probe has become entangled with the leadership transition."Prosecutors wield extraordinary authority. That authority is justified by the expectation that it will be used for law-enforcement purposes, not as a political instrument against independent actors the president wants removed. "This situation has all the problems that accompany selective prosecution as well as the more subtle but equally corrosive use of unresolved criminal process to wear down resistance, damage credibility and make institutional independence more difficult to sustain."

[Category: Federal reserve, Jerome powell, Donald trump]

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[l] at 4/18/26 9:23am
Doubling down on a recent podcast where she excoriated MAGA influencers who are reveling in the attention given to them for turning on Donald Trump, longtime conservative commentator S.E. Cupp pointed out that she got death threats for opposing the president after he took office in 2016 so they get no grace from her.During an appearance on CNN's “Table for Five,“ Cupp launched into an extensive rant aimed at newly minted Trump critics like Megyn Kelly and ex-Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), accusing them of “buyer's remorse.”“I have been out in these streets since 2015 opposing this un-American, anti-democratic, fascistic garbage,” she began. “And while at the same time, these people that they're mentioning, the Marjorie Taylor Greene’s, that name them, the long list have been defending it [MAGA] for fun, for money, for clicks, for fame.”Adding “Not all converts are the same,” she continued, “It's not just for Democrats to decide [acceptance]. It's for never-Trumpers who are conservative as well, to decide we should not be aligning with people who are losers, liars and grifters who have only come to see the light, because either it's politically expedient or it's profitable or whatever.”“For the professional liars, losers and grifters? No, we don't want you!” she exclaimed. “And just because you've come to where we have been for ten years, doesn't mean you get to use us to launder your reputations — not happening on my watch. And I don't like this conversation where it's like, ‘well, shouldn't we give them credit?’ No, no, no credit, no credit. It's the 11th hour. It's the 11th hour of this and he is a lame duck. He has gone in two years, what took you so long?”“This is personal,” she admitted. “I've gotten death threats. I have lived this life at the expense of my profession, the expense of friendships, at the expense of money. I've done it. It's been hard, but it's my conscience telling me to do it. You don't get to flip a switch and say I don't like him anymore.” - YouTubeyoutu.be

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