President Donald Trump has reached a "moment of demarcation" that signals the end of his presidency is near, according to one of the president's biographers. Michael Wolff, who has written four books about Trump, noted during a new episode of "Inside Trump's Head," a podcast he co-hosts with Joanna Coles of The Daily Beast, that Trump has had a "rough couple of weeks" as his losses continue to pile up. Wolff pointed to issues such as Congress curtailing his war powers in Iran, and his seeming inability to escape the Jeffrey Epstein saga. "I've more and more understood this and appreciated this, and I think it's an important moment. It's a moment of demarcation," Wolff said. "It's a 'two things can be true at the same time' moment. Trump is going to continue to be mendacious and dangerous and damaging to all kinds of things, but at the same time, very clearly, as clearly as can possibly be, this Trump enterprise is coming apart. And I think we're right at the center." "And it all sort of brings this together in his falling poll numbers, the fact that he is in trouble on all of the foundational policies of his administration — that he could fix the economy," Wolff said. "Immigration was his issue, the issue that was fueling him instead of the issue that is causing him now so many problems, so many problems with his base, the health care issues also causing him problems. It's one problem after another after another that he cannot surmount."
Trump's pick to temporarily take over as the country's top spy chief had a bizarre past, according to reports that dug up his old antics. Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte used to host an event where people were slapped with sex toys, according to reporting by The Daily Beast. He was also accused of influencing Trump's posting of a Christ-like image of himself earlier this year, The Beast added. Pulte, who's also the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, appeared at an event with internet influencer PP from "ThePPShow" and was awarded a novelty trophy saying "Bill Pulte F—" on one side and "Only the Young" on the other side, according to The Daily Beast, which noted it was in part a reference to a Taylor Swift song.In a resurfaced video of the event, Pulte blurted out “I like only the young,” before exclaiming that the trophy “looks pretty bad—” as it was handed to him. He then dropped it after getting “too excited,” he said in the video.He was pressured off the board of Pulte Homes, his grandfather's company, because of his self-promotion, the New York Times reported.Pulte, who used to hold shares of Bed Bath & Beyond, wore bulletproof vests, saying he was afraid that anti-Bed Bath & Beyond forces might try to kill him, the Beast reported. He tried to claim the company wasn't really bankrupt and could still be saved in 2023, but the company went bankrupt anyway that year, The Bulwark reported.The FHFA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence didn't respond to The Daily Beast's request for comments.
A former top MAGA influencer still blasts the MAGA cult and the operators that drive the movement from the top.“The structure and the architecture of MAGA is very indistinguishable from a cult,” explained Ashley St. Clair, Elon Musk's ex-lover, former MAGA influencer and the mother of one of his children, in a podcast appearance with The Left Hook’s Wajahat Ali. Describing how she dropped out of college to be a full-time MAGA influencer while dating an older man who served MAGA under the name DC Drano, she described how “he was molding me. He was like, ‘Here's what you put on the sign outside of the ICE detention center,’ directing my content. ‘Here's how you monetize Instagram, here's how you do all this.’ So I was very much molded by that.”Described by Ali as a former "dutiful MAGA bot" who once repeated "all the cliché talking points," St. Clair now says leaving the cult is one of the hardest things to do."[O]nce ... you're with this very controversial crowd online, you cannot just change your political views. Changing your political views means you're blowing up your whole life — your social community, the way you provide for your family, the roof over your head. It's not just like, ‘Oh, now I believe in less fiscal conservatism.’ It is really going against people who do not take kindly to people leaving their gang.”St. Clair continued, “You're on the receiving end of a lot of smear campaigns, attacks, and harassment — things that frankly put your family in danger — to speak out and go against the grain. And not that it's an excuse — I don't want anyone to think that the things I'm saying right now are an excuse for the rhetoric I was involved in — but rather I'm trying to understand the pathology of how people get stuck in this, and feel like they don't have a way out.”Later in the conversation, Ali returned to the subject of why so many people in the Trump movement stand by him. He found a potential motive in addition to it being a political cult.“When I was a contributor at CNN — a contributor, rather, I should say — in the green room, this was right before COVID, nearly every single Trump supporter that I went on and debated with on a panel, pretty much across the board — I would say except two at the time, actually: Paris Denard and Geoffrey Lord — everyone in the green room said, ‘I can't stand Trump, he's so annoying, the MAGA movement is so stupid, look at these idiots.’”Once the cameras started rolling, however, Ali said all he heard from them was “MAGA talking point, MAGA talking point, MAGA talking point.” He claimed he responded by telling them “‘You know, no one's putting a gun to your head. You could literally just join me and call them out.’ And they said, ‘Yeah, but this is where my bread is buttered. This is how you stay relevant.’”St. Clair is not the only ex-Trumper to describe the MAGA movement as a cult. In February, former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) made the same point in a Substack post while describing Trump’s militant behavior toward Greenland, Venezuela and Iran.“I thought you wanted him to end wars all over the world,” Walsh said. “You said you wanted him to end American entanglement in conflicts and wars around the world. America shouldn’t be involved in these wars, you said. That’s why you’re voting for Trump, you said.” Then, despite Trump’s actions against Denmark, Venezuela and Iran, they still support him.Walsh continued, “You’ve got no argument against people calling you a cult. And if he takes us to war against Iran, and you clap and applaud and throw him flowers, Trump supporters, I will be at the front of the parade calling you a cult.”
The House of Representatives passed a bill approving an additional $9 billion in aid to Ukraine and placing harsh sanctions on Russia. Meanwhile, Trump is pushing for both Russia and Ukraine to make compromises, and Zelensky calls for face-to-face negotiations with Putin in a letter sent to the Russian President.
The post BETRAYAL: House Bucks Trump, Passes Ukraine Aid Package with $9 BILLION to Ukraine and Sanctions on Russia – Here Are the 18 Republicans Who Voted Yes appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
One of President Donald Trump's staunch allies on the Georgia State Election Board resigned on Thursday, according to a new report. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Janice Johnston, who helped push Trump's election conspiracies in an effort to change state voting laws, resigned because of "family and personal responsibilities.” Johnston was a key ally as Trump spread the narrative that he had won the 2020 general election, speaking out against employees at the Fulton County Election Board. “While I may be leaving the board, I’m not leaving the cause,” Johnston said. “My commitment to election integrity remains as strong as ever, and I’ll continue supporting efforts that strengthen confidence, transparency and trust in our elections.”Her resignation happened at a time when Trump and the GOP are gearing up for a significant battle in the midterms. The GOP has redrawn several state maps in an effort to blunt Democratic gains. But recently, some experts have started warning the GOP that it may be on track to lose both the House of Representatives and the Senate after the election results are tallied. "During her tenure on the five-person state board, Johnston and a new majority voting bloc tested the limits of its rulemaking authority ahead of the 2024 presidential election, including required hand counts of ballots and election inquiries," the report reads in part. "The Georgia Supreme Court rejected those and other changes pushed by the majority, ruling that the appointed board cannot create rules that conflict with or go beyond laws passed by legislators," it added.
President Donald Trump's Department of Justice may be staring down another loss in a high-profile case against one of his political foes, according to one expert. On Thursday, CNN reported that John Bolton, the first Trump administration's national security advisor, had entered into a plea agreement with federal prosecutors over a case stemming from classified information that was contained in his memoir. Tom Dupree, a former deputy assistant attorney general, told CNN's Kaitlan Collins that the Trump DOJ will likely see the case as a loss because Bolton will likely avoid serving time and may only be punished with probation. Collins noted that recent cases involving former government officials similar to Bolton's ended with the officials paying a fine and receiving one or two years of probation. "That is something that will not escape the attention of the district judge," Dupree said. "When judges make these sorts of sentences, they look at comparable cases. They try to see how the Justice Department prosecuted similar cases in the past. And so the fact that people who did at least arguably the same type of stuff got suspended sentences or probation, that sort of thing, that will be very significant to the judge." "At the same time, you can see the Trump Justice Department pushing hard for at least some sentence of incarceration on John Bolton," he added. "My suspicion is that, from the Justice Department's perspective, if all Bolton gets is probation, they will view that as a loss."
President Donald Trump's grip over the House of Representatives continued to loosen on Thursday, as 18 Republicans broke ranks to pass a foreign military aid measure his administration doesn't support, a new report revealed. According to Politico, the measure, which was also opposed by House GOP leadership, is a "strong show of support for Kyiv and the first time a standalone aid package has passed either chamber during Trump’s second term."The measure also includes a new round of sanctions on Russia.Trump has been opposed to standalone Ukraine assistance, as he wants to diplomatically negotiate an end to the war — although so far Russia has categorically defied every attempt to broker a withdrawal from its invasion.It's the second major rebuke of the president's foreign policy in the House this week. On Wednesday, the chamber voted to restrict Trump's war powers in Iran, with four Republicans crossing over to vote with the Democratic side.The Ukraine resolution passed with a stirring endorsement from retiring Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who proclaimed on the House floor, “This is our Churchill moment or our Chamberlain moment, and by God I’m going to choose Churchill.”Despite the measure sending a significant message, said the report, it "faces long odds of making it to Trump’s desk. The Senate has sidestepped efforts to vote on its own package of Russia sanctions, despite more than 80 senators signing on as cosponsors."
