Trump's Latest Attack on Voting Rights
The president is pushing states to create citizenship lists to prevent non-citizens from voting

Donald Trump has handed Iran a stunning victory while simultaneously raising questions about his stability to American allies with a proposal so "divorced from reality" that it exposes the administration's complete lack of strategic planning.So wrote New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, a Middle East expert, who said on Tuesday that Trump's misguided Iran war strategy has already inadvertently given Tehran a far more potent weapon than any nuclear capability: the realization that it can hold the global economy hostage at will with no end in sight.Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gambled that multibillion-dollar weapons systems could bomb Iran into surrendering its nuclear program. They relied entirely on Netanyahu's promise that the Iranian regime would collapse like "a house of cards after a few weeks of heavy bombing," Friedman wrote.Instead, they enabled Iran to discover what Friedman calls a weapon of "mass disruption" — cheap drones capable of closing the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most critical oil chokepoint."Now, and forever, Iranians will know that we know that Tehran can shut off the world's most important oil tap anytime it wants. This new source of leverage for the Iranian regime is priceless," the columnist explained.Trump's latest proposal in a Truth Social Memorial Day post exposed the catastrophic consequences of waging war without scenario planning or expert input with the president writing that he is "mandatorily requesting that all Countries [in the region] immediately sign the Abraham Accords." The columnist pointed out that Trump even claimed allies told him they "would be honored" if Iran itself joined the accords. "If Iran signs 'it will be the most important Deal that any of these Great, but always in Conflict Countries, will ever sign,'" he wrote. "Nothing in the past, or in the future, will surpass it."Friedman posed the question: "On what planet of the Milky Way Galaxy would this regime in Tehran, which is practically founded on hatred of Israel, just up and make peace with it after this war?"The proposal was so unexpected and so divorced from Middle Eastern political reality that Friedman labeled it as "unhinged" and a cause for concern."The whole thing was so ridiculous, juvenile and unvetted by any experts that it had to have left our Israeli and Arab allies deeply worried that their American protector is led by a truly unstable man," Friedman concluded.
The president is pushing states to create citizenship lists to prevent non-citizens from voting
Paxton’s win, despite his history of scandals, signals the president’s enduring grip over the state. Plus, one sex educator on why she doesn’t define sex at all• Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.Ken Paxton, the scandal-ridden Texas attorney general who was backed by Donald Trump, beat the incumbent, John Cornyn, in the Republican primary runoff for senator, signaling how much sway the president still has in the deep red state.And Paxton’s new opponent? As a Democrat, Talarico faces long odds in Texas, but has built a groundswell of popularity through his message of peace and populism. Ahead of the primary, Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, a former Democratic candidate for the Senate and a partner at Ascend Strategy Labs, a social justice consulting firm in Austin, said that “if Ken Paxton becomes the candidate, Talarico has a shot”.How much has funding declined? The WFP’s funding was cut last year by a third, with the US, the largest donor by far, decreasing its contribution by more than half.How does the US-Israel war on Iran affect famine? Most directly, it drives up food prices, mostly because of transport costs, but some aid routes have also been blocked. Continue reading...
President Donald Trump finished off the political career of four-term Texas Republican US Senator John Cornyn, the latest purge in a score-settling revenge tour that burnishes his grip on the GOP base even as it threatens to undercut his near-term agenda for months to come.
President Trump will host the 12th Cabinet meeting of his second term on Wednesday. It’s the second such meeting since the Iran war began, and a deal to end that conflict is in limbo. Texas primary runoff elections are in the rearview mirror, along with candidates Sen. John Cornyn (R), Rep. Al Green (D) and…
Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE) faced a hostile crowd at a Norfolk town hall Tuesday night, where constituents repeatedly battered him over his support for Donald Trump's controversial policies — from the $1.8 billion "weaponization slush fund" to soaring food and gas prices.According to NOTUS, Flood, who was notably shouted down by voters at a Lincoln town hall last August, was forced to justify his party's loyalty to Trump across a range of contentious issues, including the unpopular Iran war, the president's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and multi-million dollar White House renovation projects.When pressed by a constituent about the so-called DOJ slush fund, Flood joined other Republicans critics in denouncing the $1.8 billion compensation scheme."I do not think we should be creating a fund for people that commit physical violence against law enforcement," Flood said. "The Senate is opening an oversight effort. And we in the House have to determine whether we do the same in the Judiciary Committee or in the Oversight Committee. I clearly think Congress needs to have an oversight role in this before I can sign off or support this."Angry voters confronted Flood over the competing fiscal priorities consuming federal resources, CNN is reporting. One constituent demanded: "Iran war, White House ballroom, security for the White House ballroom, immigration enforcement, Trump arch, the reflecting pool renovation, slush fund for crooks and the farm bill. How do we pay for all this?"Another voter expressed exasperation: "We can't afford things here in Norfolk. While you guys are lining your pockets within the presidency within Congress. What are you guys going to do to regulate this and actually follow laws?"According to CNN, Warren Reimer, a man Flood said he has known since high school, directly challenged the congressman. Reimer accused Flood of being bitten by the "Beltway bug" and supporting Trump's stated goal of forcibly taking Greenland if necessary.Flood emphasized he does not support a U.S. invasion of Greenland and said he plans to meet with the country's ambassador on June 4.When pressed on why the Department of Justice had not released all the Epstein files and whether the delay was meant to protect Trump, Flood claimed that if Trump appeared in the files with evidence of wrongdoing, the Biden-era DOJ would have publicized it."If President Trump was in the Epstein files, it would have been released," Flood said over shouts from the audience, according to NOTUS.CNN's Annie Grayer noted that Flood's contentious town hall is likely a precursor for what other Republicans will be facing when they return home for the summer recess. - YouTube www.youtube.com
As President Donald Trump's Board of Peace – the international body established to oversee Gaza's reconstruction, with Trump as its lifelong chairman – approaches its six-month anniversary, not a single dollar has been deposited into its fund, or spent towards Gaza projects, several insiders told the Financial Times.“Zero dollars have been deposited,” one person familiar with the matter told the Financial Times in its report Tuesday regarding the Board of Peace’s fund, despite there being $17 billion in pledges.The Board of Peace was announced by Trump in late 2025, officially established in January and endorsed by the United Nations to carry out its stated goal of overseeing the Gaza peace plan and aiding in reconstruction efforts. And yet, despite Trump boasting that the board “has the chance to be one of the most consequential bodies ever created,” and despite the billions of dollars in supposed pledges, the organization's fund has “received no money from donors,” four insiders told the Financial Times, and “not one US dollar” has been allocated toward projects to aid Gaza, two other insiders confirmed.The State Department has previously claimed that around $1.25 billion in U.S. aid spending would be redirected toward the Board of Peace to assist in its reconstruction of Gaza. That too, according to a senior congressional aide, remains in limbo.“None of that money [has gone to the board],” the aide told the Financial Times, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “None of that money is being managed by the Board of Peace. And State tells us there’s no intent to have any of that money managed by the Board of Peace.”
When the Republican primary for Texas' 2026 U.S. Senate race was decided in a Tuesday, May 26 runoff, it wasn't even close: Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) lost to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton by roughly 27 percent, the New York Times reported. Bloomberg News' Steven Dennis has a major takeaway on the primary's outcome: extremely low voter turnout.Dennis points to the turnout in Starr County, Texas, which is in the southern part of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, as a prime example. The Bloomberg reporter, on X, noted, "There are 66000 people who live in Starr County. John Cornyn got 24 votes."According to Daniel Nichanian, founder and editor of Bolts Magazine, Starr wasn't the only South Texas county where voter turnout was really low.On X, Nichanian posted, "Truly low turnout in some counties in South Texas. In Starr County, Trump got roughly 9,500 votes in 2024. 90 votes counted in the GOP runoff today. In Webb County, Trump got roughly 33,300 votes in 2024. Roughly 2,300 voters today."According to figures cited by Nichanian, the Webb County turnout in the May 26 runoff was a fraction of the Webb County turnout in the United States' 2024 presidential race.Webb County's largest city is Laredo on the U.S./Mexico border.Democratic strategist and insider Rachel Murphy Azzara had her own takeaway on the May 26 turnout, emphasizing that the most hardcore MAGA voters were the ones who showed up.Azzara, on X, observed, "A couple takeaways: Cornyn's turnout operation fell short and only the most activist MAGA base bothered to vote."Now that Paxton, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, is officially the nominee, he enters the general election and is going up against the Democratic nominee: centrist Texas State Rep. James Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian. And some well-known conservatives, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) and veteran Washington Post columnist George Will, believe the Senate seat is in play for Democrats.Although Democrats perform well in Texas' large urban centers like Houston, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio, they haven't won a statewide race in the Lone Star State since 1994. But Paxton is a very controversial and divisive figure, even among conservatives — and Thune, during the Senate primary, warned fellow Republicans that Talarico would have a much harder time competing against Cornyn than he would against Paxton. Now, Paxton is officially the Republican that Talarico will be competing with in the general election, and GOP strategists are warning that their party will have to spend a lot money trying to defeat Talarico.
Stephen Miller claimed this week that the federal budget could be balanced simply by cutting payments to ineligible recipients — and experts, economists, and legal analysts wasted no time calling it out as fantasy."Based on what I've heard, we could balance the federal budget if the only dollars that went out of the treasury went to individuals who were properly, lawfully, correctly eligible to receive them," Miller said.The response was swift and brutal.New York Times columnist David French called it "wildly false" and warned it "breeds a dangerous level of ignorance and wishful thinking in the American public."Immigration attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick was more blunt: "Stephen Miller thinks Americans are idiots. That's the only explanation for this kind of contemptuous lie."The numbers don't come close to supporting Miller's claim. Trump's own Office of Management and Budget calculated that all potentially erroneous individual payments totaled $186 billion in 2025 — about 10 percent of the current budget deficit, according to budget analyst Jessica Riedl. The deficit itself runs nearly $2 trillion."'Based on what I've heard' means 'according to my baseless fantasies,'" wrote financial journalist James Surowiecki. "The claim that there's $1.8 trillion in fraudulent payments is the same kind of delusion that explains why DOGE was such a failure."Reason magazine's Billy Binion put it simply: "We will never balance the budget if powerful people keep peddling wild falsehoods like this."Our deficit is roughly $2 trillion. The largest share of spending goes to entitlements for American citizens. It really isn't hard to understand. We will never balance the budget if powerful people keep peddling wild falsehoods like this. https://t.co/DeGgvuXzvZ— Billy Binion (@billybinion) May 26, 2026