Ex-GOP operative brutally mocks glaring hole in Ivanka's island story

19 Ohio Retailers Face Sanctions in Joint SNAP Fraud Enforcement Operation

Trump attacks GOP judge and Emmy-winning comedian in wild new AI posting spree

President Donald Trump unleashed a flurry of AI-generated images on Truth Social Saturday, targeting a federal judge blocking his White House construction plans, mocking Rosie O'Donnell with a transphobic jab, and taking a shot at Barack Obama's presidential library.The most substantive post concerned U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, who has blocked Trump's proposed White House rooftop drone base — part of the broader $400 million White House renovation project that also includes a ballroom. Trump posted an AI rendering of military drones parked on the White House roof under the label "Drone Port," writing: "This will someday save Washington. Judge Leon has to get out of the way, and FAST. He is putting our Country in danger!"Leon ruled in April that Trump lacked the legal authority to build the ballroom without congressional approval. The Justice Department has pressed him to lift the injunction, invoking national security — an argument Trump amplified Saturday with the AI imagery and a separate post showing military helicopters flying in formation, presumably over Washington.In a separate post, Trump shared an AI-generated collage depicting Rosie O'Donnell daydreaming about him in various domestic settings — doing dishes, reading, driving — with his image appearing in thought bubbles above her head. The caption read: "She (?) is OBSESSED!" The question mark placed after "She" was a transphobic reference to O'Donnell, who has been a Trump antagonist for decades.Trump also posted a black-and-white photo of himself leaning over a desk with the quote: "Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end — It always does!" — an apparent attempt at reassurance directed at his base amid ongoing legal battles and the Iran war.Finally, Trump posted an AI image of what appeared to be a massive garbage can topped with a black trash bag, surrounded by a tent encampment, with a Chicago skyline in the background. The caption: "The Barack Hussein Obama Library, in 10 years, when fully matured!" — using Obama's middle name in the manner Trump has long deployed as a dog whistle.

Trump issues pardon to Indiana’s former GOP Rep. Stephen Buyer

Dozens of members of Congress confirm he was 'victim of lawfare conducted by the Biden administration'

'Who is their press person?' GOP insider stumped by Ivanka Trump interview

An amused Democratic strategist and an appalled Republican Party strategist agreed on MS NOW that Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, hurt both her own image and damaged the Trump administration with a decision to boast about the purchase of an island when Americans can’t fill their gas tanks.In a clip from the David Senora podcast earlier in the week, the woman known as the first daughter expressed her joy at discovering the 1,400-acre luxury Mediterranean island off the coast of Albania where she and her husband Jared Kushner hope to build a resort.“For me, it feels more like a challenge than anything else. The culmination of all of my experience in real estate, all of my travel, a lot of reflection on how I want to live, how I think people increasingly are wanting to live, and trying to really build something that’s a tangible manifestation of that,” she joyously recalled.After watching the clip with MS NOW’s Alex Witt, former House Speaker John Boehner adviser Maura Gillespie has a few critical things to say. “I just don't, I don't understand why she would go out and do an interview about this,” she began. “I mean, it comes across so tone deaf. She's not a, you know, leader or an elected official, but she obviously is the president's daughter.”“And by doing these interviews — I wonder, who's their PR person? Who is their press person?” she asked. “Meghan [Hayes] and I both did columns for officials and people who are in government positions or positions of power, and I just don't understand who advised her to do this or why she thought this was a good idea.” “I don't think she's striking the right balance,” she continued with a laugh. “I think that when people are struggling to pay for their groceries and gas, talking about taking a boat, which I'm assuming is a yacht, to do a nice swim in the Mediterranean Sea, I mean, it's just really tone deaf.”Democratic communications expert Hayes then piled on.“She used words that ‘the opportunity became available for us to do this,’ which I think says to the American people, this is corruption,” she observed. “They worked with the government, they made deals, and it just spells more corruption by the Trump family. I mean, I've been to Albania, it's gorgeous, I understand why you would want to do something, a development there, but not in this way, not in this time. It's just completely tone deaf and it just feels [like] more corruption from the Trump family.” - YouTube youtu.be

GOP senator revolts over Hegseth’s ‘unacceptable’ religious decree

Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) lashed out Saturday at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office over a “significant change” it instituted regarding the classifications of religions, one he argued was “unacceptable” and that he was actively working to correct.This week, the Department of Defense announced that it had significantly reduced the number of recognized religions within the agency, down from more than 200 to 31. The change, according to Sean Parnell, Hegseth’s assistant for public affairs, was to allow “religious support personnel" to better provide "spiritual care to our warfighters.”The issue, Curtis claimed, was that in whittling down the number of recognized religions, Hegseth’s office had declared the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – commonly referred to as the Mormon Church – to not be a Christian religion.“Latter-day Saints are among the most patriotic, service-oriented individuals in our country. They are also unequivocally Christian – just look at who is in the name of the Church,” Curtis said in a statement published on social media Saturday. “It is unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion’s own foundational tenets. I am working now to ensure a correction is made.”LDS Dems, a prominent Democratic Party caucus for “left-of-center members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” urged more conservative members of the church to potentially reconsider support for the Trump administration.“Under new military guidance from Pete Hegseth, the LDS Church is officially classified as a non-Christian religion,” reads a social media post from the LDS Dems account on X. “My fellow Saints, you can love these Christian nationalists all you want, but they will not love you back.”Latter-day Saints are among the most patriotic, service-oriented individuals in our country. They are also unequivocally Christian—just look at who is in the name of the Church.It is unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the… https://t.co/ywqk59ZtRz— Senator John Curtis (@SenJohnCurtis) June 6, 2026

GOP leadership's hopes dashed as RFK Jr's MAHA 'juggernaut' ducks key races

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement is facing criticism for strategic incompetence and playing it safe by concentrating its political resources on Republican primary races already destined for victory while ignoring endangered GOP candidates in crucial battleground contests.According to a Politico analysis by Amanda Chu, the movement's political organizations—MAHA Action and MAHA Institute—have largely ducked the races that will determine congressional control, despite Kennedy's fervent supporters representing a boost in turnout that endangered Republicans desperately need.The report singles out Tony Lyons, publisher of Kennedy's books and a lead organizer for the movement's political groups, for having failed to make use of Kennedy's appeal and turn it into the "electoral juggernaut" Republicans had hoped for. "The majority of those candidates that got that endorsement were going to win anyway," John McCarthy, founder of McCarthy Strategic Solutions, a Republican political strategy firm in Kentucky, told Politico.The numbers tell the story of missed opportunity. MAHA groups have endorsed just one Republican—freshman Michigan Rep. Tom Barrett—in a competitive House district, while ignoring the rest of the battleground races that will determine chamber control.In the Senate, where Republicans must defend vulnerable seats in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas, MAHA has backed no one, with no financial support or grassroots mobilization in these critical races.Of the 20 candidates MAHA endorsed in primary races this spring, most were establishment figures in state races already aligned with MAHA's messaging on vaccine optionality and food regulation. Few received any financial backing from the movement's organizations.According to Politico, Kennedy's actual impact has been limited to state-level politics. He has traveled extensively to state capitals promoting his agenda, and a Politico analysis found that state lawmakers introduced hundreds of bills with bipartisan support echoing his priorities—some of which have passed.But the movement's impact on electoral politics remains an open question. State primary races have been dominated by economic concerns, with MAHA-backed candidates who won primaries focusing overwhelmingly on issues that defined the 2024 presidential election rather than Kennedy's signature health and food policy priorities.More than two-thirds of MAHA-endorsed candidates emphasized affordability and tax cuts on their campaign websites, while nearly half focused on immigration. Less than one-third mentioned vaccine safety or food system policies central to Kennedy and his supporters, Chu elaborated.

Feeble GOP rebellion won't save them in November: analysis

Guardian writer Chris Stein says do not expect the lock-step Republican Party to find it’s spine and wholly disown it’s MAGA king in time for the November midterms — but you can expect a smattering of GOP adherents to break away as a matter of political survival.“The wrath of Donald Trump has kept congressional Republicans in line for much of his second term thus far,” said Stein. “But as the November midterm elections draw closer, the president’s allies in the Senate and House of Representatives appear increasingly willing to defy a president who appears to have asked lawmakers for too much in some areas and too little in others, all while the public sours on his administration.”Stein points out that in both chambers, tiny enclaves of Republicans have joined with Democrats to advance resolutions requiring that Trump receive Congress’s permission before continuing hostilities against Iran. Republican dissidents in the House, he said, have helped Democrats pass another round of aid for U.S. ally Ukraine in its effort to repel an invasion by Trump’s friend Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Other joined Democrats in an effort to protect Haitians from deportation. In the Senate, a host of Republican senators stepped up to give Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, “a cold reception.”Republicans do not disagree with Trump unless they want the tiny MAGA turnout in Republican primaries to replace them with Trump’s chosen puppet, but Stein says Republicans “appear bedeviled by the complications of their three-seat majority in the Senate, and historically slim hold on the House.”“While they managed to enact a major domestic policy bill less than six months after Trump’s inauguration, the president has made few serious asks of Congress in the months since, leaving lawmakers to navigate shutdowns instigated by Democrats in protest of his policies and the brouhaha over the government’s investigation into convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein,” said Stein.And Trump “has made no apologies for his apparent disengagement with the concerns of congressional Republicans,” said Stein, reminding readers that the president announced at a recent cabinet meeting that: “I don’t care about the midterms.”However, the GOP does. Trump’s approval ratings are historically low and Democrats are leading Republicans on the generic ballot. Gas prices are high and polls show voters believe Trump’s entirely voluntary war on Iran is afflicting them with inflation.Those trends may indeed have been motivating defections by some lawmakers, particularly Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Reps. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) But if Republicans are looking for a sudden rash of independence to save their reputation with voters in the midterms, they should temper their enthusiasm, said Doug Heye, a former House Republican leadership aide. Instances of Republicans standing up to the president “may be less significant than they appear,” and thus unlikely to convince voters the party can act as any sort of mediating influence over the president.“What does it say about Trump’s hold on the party that 1.8 percent of the House Republican conference voted against him? I’d submit nothing,” he said.

Tensions grow between Trump and Senate GOP: Five takeaways

Tensions are rising between President Trump and Senate Republicans, and their disagreements spilled into public view this week when GOP senators repeatedly used amendment votes on a $70 billion budget reconciliation bill to create distance from the president. Three Republican senators facing tough races in November — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), John Husted (Ohio) and…