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.

Ohio Senator Jon Husted (R-OH) can’t be too thrilled with John Kasich’s appearance on MS NOW on Saturday morning after the popular former Republican governor refused to say if he would vote for him and questioned if he will be re-elected.Brought on to talk about the Republican infighting over, among other things, Donald Trump’s angering GOP lawmakers for pushing for a $1.8 billion “weaponization” slush fund, Kasich was asked by “The Weekend” co-host Jackie Alemany about voting for Husted.“I want to put you on the spot about the Ohio Senate race,” she began. “Obviously, you have Senator Jon Husted, who was appointed to fill JD Vance's position, who's running against Sherrod Brown. Can we get a little bit more into sort of your prognostications of how the state of Ohio — you know, whether or not it's a still a MAGA stronghold? If you think Husted is going to be able to keep the seat and who you're going to be voting for?”“I mean, you haven't endorsed Husted. Are you going to be voting for Sherrod Brown?” she pressed.“Well, I guess, unless you're a voting machine, you're not going to know what I'm going to do,” he demurred. “I don't go telling people how I vote.”“But look, here's the situation with this,” he added. “This is going to be extremely close. Jon Husted has the difficulty of being an incumbent, you know, at a time where he doesn't have any of the benefits of being incumbent, which is the statewide name ID. Sherrod Brown ran, he's older. I think you're going to hear a lot more about that and, you know, he lost the last time. Is he going to try again? But here's what we do know: There's going to be an unbelievable amount of money spent here.”“A real interesting question is with the race in Texas, where they're going to have to pour a lot of money and the Republicans will need to hold that Senate seat. What does that do for all these other races where they need lots of money? Let me also say one thing -- in other words, I don't know who's going to win. I think it's going to be extremely close.” - YouTube youtu.be
Rep. Gimenez says Castro's indictment sparks regime paranoia, adding that Trump is letting pressure percolate while drawing up contingency plans.
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.”
While American voters have increasingly soured on President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy, Republican voters have largely remained consistent in giving the president passing marks on the issue – that is, until a new survey revealed the first cracks among GOP voters, Axios reported Saturday.“Trump's approval rating has been dropping for months, but the University of Michigan's May consumer sentiment survey released Friday revealed something more striking: Republicans are beginning to lose confidence in the economy, too,” wrote Axios’ Mike Zapler in the outlet’s report.According to the survey, GOP and independent voters’ view of the economy hit an all-time low of Trump’s second term, with overall sentiment hitting a historic all-time low. In February, about 8 in 10 Republicans approved of Trump’s handling of the economy, but as of this week per another poll, that figure dropped to around 6 in 10.Megan Brenan, a senior editor with Gallup, noted that the drop in GOP voters’ support on Trump’s handling of the economy was “a crack we’re seeing,” with a Gallup poll released Friday also finding Republicans’ view on the economy had dipped in the past four months to its lowest level of Trump’s second stint in the White House.With Democrats already projected to take back control of the House in the upcoming midterm elections – and possibly the Senate – Zapler noted how “even small cracks in Republican confidence,” such as the aforementioned drop in support on Trump’s handling of the economy, only “add to the litany of warning signs for the GOP this year.”
A Republican strategist says that Trump is hurting politically right now and warned a GOP lawmaker who appeared with the president."This is a really terrible week for this Trump administration," Rina Shah said during an appearance on CNN. She added that Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) "should not have trumped" the president at a campaign event on Friday."Lawler has been confusing in the past many months," Shah explained. "By continuing to seem like he wants to be close to the White House," despite "his colleagues in the Senate...they're reading the room."She brought up the fiery meeting between GOP senators and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, where they "really stood up" and chewed into him regarding the "anti-weaponization" fund, Shah said.The midterm elections are six months away, and "it's time to get tough about what matters." The senators who ripped into Blanche "aren't in full revolt. They're just in midterm savior mode," Shah added."So Lawler, if he knew better, he would be doing that too," she explained. "He's employing a throw-it-all-at-the-wall strategy. He thinks that maybe Trump's charisma might win out with some folks, but again, the pocketbook issues."She tried to send the message to Lawler that "your constituents hate endless war," but Trump is "making it all about himself."
The Trump administration official made the donation to the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) on April 1.
New Mexico Democrat Gabe Vasquez is accused of hypocrisy after 2020 defund the police posts resurface amid his new pro-law enforcement messaging.
President Donald Trump's move to push out a longtime Republican ally could backfire — because he now needs his help, according to reports on Friday.Burgess Everett, Semafor congressional bureau chief, pointed out that as Tulsi Gabbard announced her resignation as director of national intelligence, it has left three openings for the Trump administration to fill all while he navigates a more tense relationship with GOP lawmakers in the economic fallout over the Iran war, the White House ballroom funding and his controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund."Upshot from Gabbard resigning: Trump now has three Cabinet vacancies (Labor, AG) while he's basically at war with Senate Republicans," Everett wrote in a post on X."And confirming a new DNI will require the votes of Sens. Collins and ... Cornyn in Senate Intelligence Committee, whom Trump just snubbed," Everett added.Interim leaders have been tapped to run the Labor Department and Justice Department until Trump names new nominees to the roles."Acting attorney general Todd Blanche faces a tough road to confirmation if Trump nominates him to a permanent role," according to a Semafor report."Any Gabbard replacement would have to get approval from the Senate Intelligence Committee, whose members include moderate Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who has voted against several Trump nominees and priorities, as well as Texas Sen. John Cornyn, recently snubbed by Trump in his primary. Gabbard’s successor would need both of their votes — and confirming her was a challenge to begin with at the peak of Trump’s power," Semafor reported.
Republican New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis resigned as vice chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus Friday after Democrats in the group voted against a bill advocating for […]