Alternet.org

'What corruption looks like': How Trump 'went to war' to protect family’s businesses

Apr 9, 2026Left

Critics attacked President Donald Trump's newest move against states as a "war" against betting market regulations meant to help enrich his family's business interests, with one activist stating bluntly, "This is what corruption looks like."According to a Thursday report from the Popular Information substack, Arizona, Connecticut and Illinois have launched lawsuits against "prediction market" platforms Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com and Robinhood, alleging that they have worked to "circumvent state laws" in order to run "illegal gambling sites." As these services have exploded in popularity, critics have accused them of turning a wide range of random circumstances into opportunities for betting, as well as offering betting opportunities on things like sporting events that critics say are indistinguishable from real gambling altogether.In response to these state-level efforts to rein in these platforms, Trump's Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed counter lawsuits, arguing that the services those sites offer "are distinct from traditional gambling." That is the same line of argument the platforms themselves have put forward as they have attempted to avoid being regulated or outright banned under traditional gambling laws.As Popular Information laid out in detail, Trump has extensive connections to these platforms, owning the largest share of the Trump Media & Technology Group, which in turn does significant business with Crypto.com. Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., is also "deeply enmeshed" in the industry, serving as an advisor for both Kalshi and Polymarket. And it does not stop there."Many of Trump’s political allies also have connections to the prediction market industry," the report elaborated. "Trump-supporting billionaire Peter Thiel, for example, has helped raise millions in funding for Polymarket. Paradigm, an investment firm, and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz also participated in a funding round for Kalshi. Paradigm donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. Andreessen Horowitz co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz both donated millions to a super PAC supporting Trump’s 2024 campaign, and Trump recently appointed Andreessen to his 'President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.'"Melanie D'Arrigo is an executive director for the New York Health Campaign, which advocates for universal single-payer healthcare, and has co-founded non-profits involved with the LGBTQ community. Sharing a link to the report on X Thursday, she was unsparing in her appraisal of the corruption at play with the CFTC's lawsuits."Donald Trump Jr. is a paid strategic advisor for Kalshi," D'Arrigo wrote. "Trump Jr. is a major investor and advisor for Polymarket. Trump Media has a $6.5 billion+ investment and partnership with Crypto.com. Robinhood runs the Trump Accounts. The Trump administration is blocking states from suing them. This is what corruption looks like."

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Trump, ballot seizures and a ‘declaration’: Gavin Newsom teases tiresome July 4 address to the state

New York Post

1 hour ago

Trump, ballot seizures and a ‘declaration’: Gavin Newsom teases tiresome July 4 address to the state

"You’re gonna want to tune in tomorrow!" his press office said.

Right

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'Not mentally well': MAGA suspects Trump sabotaged by liberals armed with weather machines

Raw Story

1 hour ago

'Not mentally well': MAGA suspects Trump sabotaged by liberals armed with weather machines

Kylie Jane Kremer, the activist listed as the permit holder for the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the Capitol attack, has floated a new theory about Washington's summer heat: it's sabotage.In a post on X, Kremer claimed someone with an "extreme case" of Trump derangement syndrome "geoengineered" the weather in D.C. She pointed to the cold at Trump's inauguration as proof of the same plot."I’m telling y’all that someone with an extreme case of TDS geoengineered this weather in DC. Same way they geoengineered Trump’s inauguration to be one of the coldest in U.S. history. People with TDS hate Trump more than they love America," she wrote on X.Her post came in response to Washington Post meteorologist and reporter Ben Noll, who noted the nation's capital would be "hotter than 99 percent of the planet on Friday.""Only parts of Africa's Sahara Desert, the Middle East, China's Gobi Desert and a few spots in the Desert Southwest will be hotter," he wrote on X.Forecasters called the inauguration D.C.'s coldest in decades, and the ceremony was moved indoors. But whether progressives with weather machines were responsible is another matter. And the internet didn't spare her. Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger wrote that people pushing the theory are "not mentally well," while internet commentator Damin Toell reminded followers that Kremer was also a key figure in the 2020 "stop the steal" movement. Writer Joe Flood noted that a woman who helped host the Jan. 6 rally now believes liberals control the weather.Julian Andreone of Drop Site News leaned into the joke, sarcastically agreeing that July heat in D.C. is "very suspicious." Climate advocate Benji Backer flagged the contradiction."Climate change can’t be real but this can be. Got it. Trying to catch up," he joked.The claim echoes a pattern among MAGA figures, including Marjorie Taylor Greene's flood conspiracy theory and her bill to ban "weather modification" after the deadly Texas floods. Even fellow Republicans have stepped in to debunk the weather-control claims. Meteorologists have said cloud seeding cannot produce disasters.

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Business Leader Calls on New York City to Resist Mamdani

The Gateway Pundit

1 hour ago

Business Leader Calls on New York City to Resist Mamdani

Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of hedge fund Citadel, urged business leaders to resist the socialism of New York City Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani, warning that the Big Apple's business environment will otherwise be destroyed. The post Business Leader Calls on New York City to Resist Mamdani appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Far Right

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Critics mangle MAGA’s crusade to make the nation 'sad and pathetic' like itself

Alternet.org

2 hours ago

Critics mangle MAGA’s crusade to make the nation 'sad and pathetic' like itself

Racism is an act of self-destruction, warns podcaster Wajahat Ali and independent reporter Joy Ann-Reid. But that destruction extends to everything around them when they manage to grab the levers of power.“I mean there's a big hole in the White House. The lawn where they built that ugly UFC ring is now brown. They've destroyed the Jackie Kennedy garden. [President] Donald Trump is supposed to be a builder but he physically destroyed D.C.,” said Reid. “And then that the poor pathetic little fair that he had, his little world's fair with the fake arch made of plastic. And they painted it. America right now is a laughingstock. I think we created 57,000 jobs last month. That is sad. It's a sad birthday.”But this is the mess that comes of a nation that “refused to acknowledge and uproot its dark sin of white supremacy,” said Ali. “We whitewashed our history books, made heroes of racist traitors, and decided to elect the most incompetent, corrupt vulgarian after electing the first Black president.”“Refusing to learn our lesson, we re-elected Trump, even though we could have had a competent Black woman as President. Now? America is turning into a s——hole,” Ali lamented. “Just look at the Reflecting Pool as a tragic example of our downfall. Take a trip to Washington, D.C., and see the absolute mess that is the White House. Our infrastructure is collapsing, our economy is ailing, and our public health is deteriorating. Measles, death, gun violence, and suicide are on the rise. But it doesn’t matter. White supremacy will destroy everything, including itself, instead of sharing power. It will burn everything down.”“The right wing is not satisfied with just having physically destroyed the country,” said Reid. “[They] destroyed the morale of the country on our birthday where we're sad and pathetic and can't even pull off a world's fair.”The Supreme Court, meanwhile, barely protected birthright citizenship with a six-to-three vote when all the justices had to do was read the Constitution and see that if you're born here, you're a citizen, said Ali.With the war on birthright citizenship and MAGA cries to sterilize brown immigrants, Reid said MAGA and Trump are laboring for a very specific kind of America.“If they were successful at removing everyone who looks like you and me — all the Blacks, all the browns, all the Muslims all the AAPI, all the Latinos — if they got their way, you know what America would look like? It would look like Trump’s pathetic American state fair,” said Reid. “That was a place where there were no Blacks. There were no gays. There were no brown people. It was just MAGA white folks. The one’s who weren’t broken by [Trump’s] economy, who could afford to get on a plane or drive to DC with these gas prices. It was an estimate that the first day was like a 1,000 people — only tens of MAGA could even afford to go there. … [because] they are the poor. They are broke. They're bored. And they're boring.”“There was no musical entertainment,” Reid raged. “That cultural anti-phenomenon that we saw at that pathetic Trump celebration supposedly of America’s birthday and Donald Trump — that is what's left when you get rid of all of us. If you really get rid of people of color then American culture is like sad Europe.”“Like a crusty, crusty mayo sandwich that has been left in the sun for two days,” added Ali.“One-hundred percent,” confirmed Reid. “You'd get no Janet Jackson, no Michael Jackson, no Prince, no Whitney Houston, no Aretha Franklin, no jazz, no gospel, no hip-hop. What do you actually have? What is your culture? What is this white culture that you're trying to preserve at all costs, at the cost of your own economy?”Ali added that even MAGA doesn’t like MAGA America.“When they move to the Southern states where do they move to when they move to Texas? Austin! When they move to Tennessee, they move to Nashville,” said Ali. “Even MAGA influencer] Nick Fuentes was like ‘yeah, I don't want to really move to a red state. So, they know that their mayo sandwich is s——. They know their potato salad sucks. They know their chicken is dry and has no spice. They know that they're bland and pasty and that they have no culture and no rhythm.”

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‘The second-most good-looking president’: Trump entertains on Usha Vance’s program

WorldNetDaily

2 hours ago

‘The second-most good-looking president’: Trump entertains on Usha Vance’s program

Videotaped Oval Office interview delves into children's books about former commanders in chief

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The Last Refuge

2 hours ago

President Trump Reads “Presidents Play”

President Donald Trump welcomes Second Lady Usha Vance into the Oval Office for a reading of Presidents Play, a storybook of Presidents’ activities while serving in the office. . Posted in Big Government, Celebrations, Education, Freedom 250, President Trump The post President Trump Reads “Presidents Play” appeared first on The Last Refuge.

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Melania gives Congress private deadline as she works around Trump's team: report

Raw Story

3 hours ago

Melania gives Congress private deadline as she works around Trump's team: report

First lady Melania Trump gave Congress a private deadline to pass her signature foster care bill, and she is pursuing it largely outside the usual White House channels, according to a new report in Politico. At a bipartisan roundtable with the House Ways and Means Committee in April, the first lady publicly called foster care legislation a "moral imperative." Then, behind closed doors, she set a target, Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) told the outlet: "I want this on Donald's desk by the August recess." The Fostering the Future Act, which expands housing, education and workforce help for young people aging out of foster care, passed the House unanimously.The Senate has not moved it out of committee, and lawmakers are set to leave Washington around Aug. 10. At a White House picnic the day the House passed the bill, both Trumps urged the Senate to hurry. "Hopefully, it will quickly pass in the Senate," the president said. He has not publicly pressed senators since.The deadline reflects a first lady who increasingly operates on her own track. Her office, not the State Department, has led her effort to reunite children displaced by the Russia-Ukraine war, negotiating directly with Moscow and Kyiv, the White House said. She has also shown a willingness to diverge from the administration's message. She broke with the White House on Epstein, calling for survivors to testify as the president's team tried to move past the scandal, and last week put her own spin on a Supreme Court ruling her husband celebrated, voicing support for the LGBTQIA+ community.A recent book recounted how she resisted Trump's overhaul of the White House grounds and lost.

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