Blanche 'looks miserable' because he 'refuses to say no to Donald Trump': NYT reporter

Trump trashes Colbert’s high-rated finale as “no ratings”

Late Show finale surged in viewership, Trump attacks with AI clip showing him throwing Colbert into dumpster

Todd Blanche brutally mocked as major DOJ case collapses: 'Hoisted on your own petard'

A legal expert relished how Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche got a high-profile case thrown out because of his own words.Glenn Kirschner spoke on Friday about the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case that was thrown out earlier in the day by U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw because it was deemed a "vindictive" prosecution. "The judge made a special point talking about how Todd Blanche, this is going to be my characterization, said the vindictive part out loud," Kirschner said. "The phrase, 'hoisted on your own petard,' is what comes to mind." Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran immigrant deported by the Trump administration despite a court order blocking his removal. He successfully challenged his deportation in court multiple times. Kirschner found it "delicious" that Blanche made that easier. "Todd Blanche seems to open his mouth only to change feet these days. He's always putting a foot in his mouth," Kirschner said. "Todd Blanche running his mouth is part of the downfall of the Trump administration's attempt to unlawfully and unconstitutionally go after Trump's perceived enemies."Kirschner brought up a line from the judge's ruling, saying, "The evidence before this court sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power." For Kirschner, "that will be sort of Todd Blanche's tagline: an abuse of prosecutorial power." Judge Dismisses Abrego Garcia's criminal case: a conversation with Adam Klasfeld by Glenn KirschnerA recording from Glenn Kirschner's live videoRead on Substack

Havana regime in suspense after Castro indictment with Trump pressure on, says Cuban-born GOP Rep.

Rep. Gimenez says Castro's indictment sparks regime paranoia, adding that Trump is letting pressure percolate while drawing up contingency plans.

What Iranian Leaders Are Saying — or Threatening — as Trump Administration Seeks War’s End

‘Likely decide by Sunday’: Trump gives ‘50/50’ odds that he blows Iran ‘to kingdom come’

Amid growing speculation that the Trump administration is preparing to resume hostilities with Iran this weekend, President Donald Trump revealed Saturday that a final decision would likely be made by Sunday, with there being a “solid” chance that the United States would “blow [Iran] to kingdom come,” according to Axios.Axios reporter Barak Ravid revealed Trump’s remarks after claiming to have had a phone call with the president Saturday morning, the details of which he expanded on in the outlet’s exclusive report.“Trump said it was a ‘solid 50/50’ as to whether he would be able to make a ‘good’ deal or else ‘blow them to kingdom come,’” Ravid wrote in Axios’ report.According to Axios, Trump is expected to meet with his son-in-law Jared Kushner, U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance later on Saturday to discuss Iran’s latest peace proposal, which included a proposal to fully re-open the Strait of Hormuz, Drop Site News reported.Iran’s proposal, however, would “defer nuclear enrichment talks,” per a senior Iranian official speaking with Drop Site News on the condition of anonymity, a potentially fatal inclusion given Trump’s past claim that he would not accept a deal that omitted the matter of Iran’s enriched uranium.

New Report Reveals CIA Director John Ratcliffe Dropped One Heck of a Boss Move on Cuban Regime

WSJ warns Republicans are whispering something about Trump they won't say publicly

President Donald Trump is dragging the Republican Party down at a moment when it could cost them everything, the conservative-leaning Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote in an analysis published on Friday evening."Republicans don’t want to say this publicly, but privately they do," wrote the board, an increasingly frequent critic of the president's policies despite sharing many of his political beliefs. "President Trump’s personal political obsessions are hurting his Presidency, harming the chances for further policy gains the rest of this year, and putting control of the House and Senate in jeopardy."GOP lawmakers' inability to pass Trump's Homeland Security funding bill, while also turning up the heat against his "Anti-Weaponization Fund" to pay out $1.776 billion to his political allies, is beginning to make the cracks show, the board wrote. Trump's other fixation on getting White House ballroom funding passed has similarly ground the DHS budget bill process to a halt, and the ongoing war powers votes Democrats are forcing against his action in Iran are starting to divide the party as well.But the real catalyst, the board wrote, is Trump working to unseat two Republican incumbent senators."First he helped defeat Lousiana's (sic) Bill Cassidy in a primary, and this week he endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn," wrote the board. "Mr. Trump’s motives in both cases were largely personal — he wanted revenge against Mr. Cassidy for thinking his behavior on Jan. 6, 2001 (sic), was an impeachable offense, and Mr. Cornyn didn’t endorse him for President with enough alacrity to suit his loyalty test."Through all of this, the board wrote, Trump "seems incapable of rising above, even as voters care much more about the economy and prices and his job approval falls to new lows.""Mr. Trump’s Presidency will be all but over — except for impeachment 3.0 — if the GOP loses control of Congress in November," the board concluded. "If he wants to accomplish more legislatively, he has only a few months to do it. Does he want his remaining legacy to be a ballroom, an Arc de Trump, and payoffs for his friends from a fund that Republicans would denounce if a Democratic President tried it?"

Trump admin’s ‘political miscalculation’ baffles GOP strategist: ‘The message is wrong’

When asked about the Trump administration’s new $1.7 billion taxpayer-funded settlement for those alleging unfair targeting by Biden's Justice Department – including violent Jan. 6 Capitol rioters – a GOP strategist told CNN Saturday that not only was it a “political miscalculation,” but that the fund could be politically toxic in the midterm elections.Named by the Trump administration as the “anti-weaponization fund,” the settlement agreement was reached after President Donald Trump agreed to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his tax returns leaking in 2019. Among those eligible for payouts from the taxpayer-funded settlement are those who violently stormed the U.S. Capitol in 2021 and Trump’s donors, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was forced to admit this week.When asked about the fund during an appearance on CNN Saturday, GOP strategist Jeanette Hoffman gave a less-than-charitable reading of what she characterized as the Trump administration’s misplaced priorities.“I think it was a political miscalculation. You saw what happened: half the Senate caucus was extremely frustrated, you had people like Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) saying it's disgusting, morally bankrupt, stupid; you had [Sen.] Thom Tillis (R-NC) saying this is 'stupidity on stilts,' [Sen.] Susan Collins (R-ME) asked a lot of questions about it,” Hoffman said. “So I don't think they're going to get their way on this. The message is wrong, this is not something that Republicans want to be talking about – Jan. 6 when we're coming back into midterms – and I think the administration has other priorities they need to focus on to really accomplish things for the American people in the next several months.”