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Welcome to ‘the Claw’: the White House fighting cage captures Trump era rot | Sidney Blumenthal

Jun 11, 2026Center Left

The 154ft-tall structure for the UFC Freedom 250 gives Trump a chance to to put the government out to the highest bidder“If the government decides, very quickly, to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty – the people whose ancestors that was the first thing they saw coming to this country, but the government moved too fast – nothing can be done?” asked Judge Patricia Millet of the District of Columbia court of appeals on 5 June to the principal deputy assistant attorney general, Yaakov Roth. “I think that’s right, yes,” he replied.In the case brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation against Donald Trump’s “sudden, unilateral, and unlawful decision” to demolish the East Wing of the White House and to construct a 90,000 sq ft ballroom, “without seeking approval from Congress; without requesting review and approval from the federal commissions charged with oversight of development in the nation’s capital; without conducting the required environmental studies; and without allowing the public any opportunity for input”, Trump’s Department of Justice has countered that he can simply do whatever he wishes, whenever he wishes, however he wishes. Continue reading...

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One of Trump’s biggest reelection promises is still a complete failure

Alternet.org

28 minutes ago

One of Trump’s biggest reelection promises is still a complete failure

President Donald Trump made numerous promises to voters on the 2024 campaign trail, and according to a new report from The Hill, one of his biggest is still a complete flop, over a year and a half into his second term.As the Monday morning report noted, Trump repeatedly pledged to bring down costs during his reelection bid, at a time when the rising cost of living was, as it still is, the top issue on voters' minds. At one point, he claimed that he would be able to make significant cuts to the cost of energy prices, adding that he could accomplish the goal in 18 months at the most."Under my leadership, the United States will commit to the ambitious goal of slashing energy and electricity prices by half, at least,” Trump said at a campaign rally. “We intend to slash prices by half within 12 months, at a maximum, 18 months."Now, a few days past the 18-month mark of his second term, The Hill's report explained that he has not just failed to lower energy prices, but they are now getting worse under his watch."However, average household electricity prices for the first five months of 2026 were about 12 percent higher than the same period in 2024, significantly outpacing inflation," the report detailed. "While gasoline fluctuated during the Biden administration, prices are now about 60 cents higher than they were at this time in 2024, averaging $4.11 per gallon on Friday, according to AAA."Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, spoke to The Hill about these trends and explained that energy costs are having a notable impact on the overall cost of living for Americans. Giving one example, he noted that oil remaining at around $100 per barrel for a year could cost the average family an extra $800 annually. Energy prices are also unique in their ability to raise prices across a number of other critical industries."They have higher costs of gasoline to run their car," Wolfe said. "Food costs will increase on the margin because trucks need to deliver groceries. If you use heating oil to heat your home, the cost will be higher ... On heating oil and gasoline, it’s a direct result of the war. It’s pushing up prices and creating this instability in the market."Rising electricity costs, the outlet noted, are a more "complicated" situation, with Thomas Rowlands-Rees, head of Global Power Markets Analysis at BloombergNEF, saying that “we’re getting to a point where the bill is coming” for power grid upgrades, which cannot be pinned on any presidential administration in particular. Wolfe, meanwhile, was critical of Trump for creating major roadblocks for renewable energy, which could help stabilize electricity prices at a historically volatile time."It’s a problem for any incumbent,” GOP strategist Keith Naughton told The Hill, offering a forecast for the party's fate in the midterms. “Anything that’s raising prices is going to be a challenge for whoever’s in office."

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Live updates: US, Iran back off attacks; Trump heads to Michigan to tout manufacturing

The Hill News

59 minutes ago

Live updates: US, Iran back off attacks; Trump heads to Michigan to tout manufacturing

The U.S. pulled back on its daily strikes on Iran over the weekend to both give more time for negotiations and conserve munitions. President Trump is “giving it a little bit of room,” Mike Waltz, United Nations ambassador, said Sunday. Reports also bubbled up over the weekend that the U.S. campaign in the Strait of Hormuz…

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Trump DHS accused of scanning peaceful protesters' faces, then revoking their Global Entry

Raw Story

1 hour ago

Trump DHS accused of scanning peaceful protesters' faces, then revoking their Global Entry

Three people who observed federal immigration enforcement during the Trump administration’s sometimes-violent surge said in a federal lawsuit filed Friday the Department of Homeland Security illegally recorded them and revoked their status in the department’s trusted traveler programs.The suit, filed in the Southern District of California, says the administration violated a federal privacy law, administrative law and the First Amendment by targeting people who observed and protested aggressive immigration enforcement, including during the deadly operation in Minneapolis in January.The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a legal group that advocates for privacy issues related to technology, is also a plaintiff in the case.Amid a nationwide surge of immigration enforcement that has included federal agents shooting and killing protesters, observers and immigrants, opponents “did what anyone is supposed to do when they disagree with government action: They exercised their First Amendment rights” by assembling, protesting and recording DHS agents’ activity in public, the suit says.“In response, DHS decided to record the Americans who were peacefully observing its agents,” the suit says.Officers with the DHS agencies Immigration and Customs Protection and Border Patrol killed two observers, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis in incidents 17 days apart in January.‘Driven home by ICE’ICE and Border Patrol agents used facial recognition technology, license plate readers and other technology to identify protesters and observers. The agents would then use that information in efforts to intimidate and retaliate against protesters, the suit says.Federal immigration officers addressed many legal observers by name, despite having never spoken to them. In Minnesota, legal observers tailing DHS agents in a car would commonly be led back to their own home addresses, according to the suit.“The experience … is so widespread that Minnesota residents have coined a term for it: being ‘driven home by ICE,’” the suit said.The practice shows that DHS is no longer following its own 2023 policy on facial recognition, the suit says. The department quietly removed the policy from its website — omitting it even from a set of archived pages — during President Donald Trump’s first month back in office, the suit says.The complaint argues that amounted to a policy change, which DHS did not conduct through the process agencies must follow under the Administrative Procedure Act.The department also retaliated against protesters and observers by revoking their status in DHS trusted traveler programs TSA Precheck and Global Entry, the suit says.Nicole Cleland, a Minnesota woman who is one of the individual plaintiffs in the suit, said Global Entry status was revoked three days after an encounter with a Border Patrol agent whom she was following at a safe distance, according to the suit.Chilling rightsThe suit alleges DHS’ actions have had a chilling effect on First Amendment-protected activity.Cleland has stopped observing DHS operations for fear of further retaliation, according to the suit.The two other individuals who brought the suit, Jacquelyn Ivey of South Carolina and Anna Walker of California, said they experienced “fear, anxiety and emotional distress” following their interactions with DHS officers.The suit also mentions activity in Maine, North Carolina and Chicago.DHS responseIn response to a request to DHS for comment, a spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection, which administers Global Entry, said trusted traveler status can be denied for “inability to demonstrate low-risk traveler status.”“Global Entry or other CBP Trusted Traveler Program memberships are not revoked because someone exercises their First Amendment rights,” the spokesperson wrote. “Membership may be denied or revoked for reasons such as criminal activity (including pending charges or warrants), violations of customs or immigration laws, or inability to demonstrate low-risk traveler status.”The spokesperson added that travelers whose Global Entry is denied or revoked can ask for additional review. A Global Entry ombudsman provides “additional oversight” of some cases, the spokesperson said.A denial of Global Entry is not an impediment to travel, they wrote.DHS did not respond to questions about its policies for recording or using facial recognition on observers.

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Inside the dangerous DOJ move that could supercharge Trump’s abuses

Alternet.org

1 hour ago

Inside the dangerous DOJ move that could supercharge Trump’s abuses

Warning in a new piece for The Hill about the potential to supercharge President Donald Trump's abuses and fraud, a former federal director urged Congress to oppose the nomination of Todd Blanche, due to his aiding of "the most corrupt president in the nation’s history."Previously serving as Trump's personal attorney prior to his White House return, Blanche was first appointed to serve as Deputy Attorney General before being elevated to acting Attorney General after the exit of Pam Bondi. His time in the administration has been marked by scandal and controversy, from his involvement in the botched release of the Epstein files to his support of Trump's "slush fund" lawsuit settlement, but he has managed to impress the president, who nominated him to lead the Department of Justice as the proper Attorney General.William S. Becker is a climate action activist who previously served for over a decade as the Department of Energy's central regional director, as well as a special assistant to the department’s assistant secretary of energy efficiency and renewable energy. On Monday morning, he published a new piece for The Hill sounding the alarm about Blanche, warning that he has aided in corruption by Trump that would make Richard Nixon's misdeeds look like "child's play" and strongly urged Congress to reject his nomination."As deputy attorney general, Blanche proved that he will not only tolerate Trump’s lawlessness but also participate in it," Becker wrote. "He has openly violated Congress’s bipartisan law requiring the release of all Epstein files. He has collaborated with Trump’s scheme to reward Jan. 6 rioters with millions of dollars in compensation for their prosecution and convictions related to Trump’s effort to steal the 2020 election."He continued: "Blanche has collaborated to make the department Trump’s personal weapon of retribution with specious and malicious charges against the president’s perceived enemies. The Brennan Center for Justice says grand juries have refused to indict Trump’s targets at least 18 times. Courts or prosecutors have aborted 16 grand jury subpoenas, along with nearly half the cases against protesters and immigrants for alleged assaults of law enforcement officers. Courts have dismissed 16 lawsuits that sought state voter data and thousands of misdemeanor charges against migrants, quashed nine subpoenas that tried to force hospitals to turn over records on gender-affirming care, and dropped at least 79 cases related to ICE protests."Becker also noted that Blanche has had a hand, alongside Bondi, in the massive purge of talent from the DOJ, with around 5,000 staffers being fired or pushed out under their watch, creating a "toxic and ethically challenged" environment. Blanche's push for the charges against former FBI Director James Comey, which accuse him of threatening Trump's life by sharing the "86 47" seashell photo on social media, has also been criticized as an effort to chill dissent that is right out of "the authoritarian playbook.""Those who most covet the job of attorney general may not be worthy to have it," Becker concluded. "The best candidates are willing to resign from the department in its defense. The best outcome would be for Blanche’s nomination to die in committee."

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Trump tells Thune to cancel August recess unless SAVE America Act passes

Washington Examiner

1 hour ago

Trump tells Thune to cancel August recess unless SAVE America Act passes

President Donald Trump is joining the growing chorus of Republicans calling on Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to forgo an August recess to pass the SAVE America Act in a recent social media post. “John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes The Save America Act or, […]

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'Disaster': Insiders explain how Trump's policies are backfiring nationwide

Alternet.org

1 hour ago

'Disaster': Insiders explain how Trump's policies are backfiring nationwide

A long-time political strategist is detailing two main issues that are connecting most with voters as candidates are now less than 100 days away from the 2026 midterm elections. Speaking to The New Republic's Greg Sargent for the Monday podcast, Democratic strategist Andrew Bates explained that one consistency is how different the economy is in 2026 compared with 2024. During the 2024 election, Trump was promising lower inflation, lower grocery prices and lower gas prices. He claimed that increasing tariffs would help pay down the national debt because other countries would be paying the tariffs. Americans now understand that none of that was true. "Trump was promising that immediately, quote-unquote, he would lower costs, and tariffs were a critical way he said he would do this. Then people lived through them," said Bates. "And now, like you were talking about, because prices went up across the board, they’re extremely unpopular, and more tariffs are the opposite of what voters want, including a lot of Republican voters.""So it’s something that Democrats, wherever they fall within the ideological spectrum of the party, have been unified in calling out as something that is going to hurt everyday people. It’s also powerful that the tariff revenue goes to fund the tax breaks for billionaires and monopolies, which are also very unpopular," he added. Trump also claimed to be "pro-worker" and "pro-Made in America," but under his leadership, manufacturing jobs have declined due to his tariffs."And in 2024, Republicans were saying, this is how we bring manufacturing back. But now people have lived through the opposite. It’s also been very painful for people in rural areas," Bates explained. Farms are taking a big hit as tariffs are hurting the costs of farming equipment, and Trump's trade war has alienated international buyers of American products and crops. "And that’s a huge hit to farming communities, because over a fifth of American crops are usually exported," said Bates. Sargent said that the president may not be aware of it, but top White House allies made it very clear that there's no winning message on tariffs. He cited two such allies who explained the disaster to Politico. “If it’s not focused on affordability, it’s not helpful.” Tariffs will be reflexively seen as a “bad thing” by voters. The other Republican commented, “Any conversation about tariffs, unless it’s reducing them, is a bad conversation for Republicans.”It all comes while a second problem from Republicans is in the background, and that's "people have had to live through seeing this crowd abuse their power in ways that make all the problems they voted to end worse," said Bates. "And you can’t get away from it. You’re reminded every single time you go to the grocery store, or every time you need to put gas in your car."It isn't merely the tariffs, but the war in Iran, which has raised gas prices, abuse by ICE agents and Trump's lavish spending on rebuilding parts of Washington, historic landmarks and hundreds of millions of dollars on a "maxed out" private presidential plane that only Trump will use and leave the White House with."And you’re offended when you see folks in Washington making billions of dollars personally off of you, talking about how one of their highest priorities is building a ballroom, and that they don’t think about everyday people’s finances—that’s a direct quote. And especially when your representative, who’s supposed to fight for your community’s interests and for your interests, is instead selling out to those people and becoming a more corrupt establishment than anything that has existed before in our lifetimes—that’s the sort of thing that can bring about a sea change in public opinion. And it’s why you are seeing the most anti-incumbent mood since at least 2006," Bates closed.

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INSIDER: Trump and Thune now on a collision course

BizPac Review

1 hour ago

INSIDER: Trump and Thune now on a collision course

Views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author. President Donald J. Trump and the top Senate Republican are on a collision course that could deepen […]

Far Right

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CNN anchor 'tongue-tied' by surprising new polls on Trump's war

Raw Story

1 hour ago

CNN anchor 'tongue-tied' by surprising new polls on Trump's war

CNN's John Berman was left momentarily speechless by new polling data on President Donald Trump's war in Iran.New polling data presented by the network's Harry Enten suggests Democrats have failed to capitalize on public unease over the 80-year-old president's handling of the Iran conflict, and Berman expressed surprise by the findings."The president's approval rating is sagging, the war in Iran is widely unpopular, so you'd think that Democrats, you might think that Democrats in Congress could see some kind of boost in the polls on this subject," Berman said. "You might think that, but you'd be wrong ... Man, I'm tongue-tied because actually these numbers surprise me. I was looking at them, and I am surprised that they are like this."Two separate polls released this month found Republicans holding a narrow edge over Democrats on the question of who is more trusted to handle Iran policy, Enten said. A CNBC poll found Republicans ahead by two points, and a CBS News poll released just a day later showed the identical two-point advantage."Now, one poll is one thing, but you put the two of them together, and you can see that the American people, simply put, are not buying what Democrats are selling on Iran," Enten said. "They still trust Republicans more. Even if you look at President Trump's approval ratings on the subject, and they're negative, too, but yet Republicans and Trump still more trusted than Democrats are."More striking, Enten said, is the direction of movement over time. A Washington Post-Ipsos poll from April had shown Democrats slightly ahead on Iran trust, by two points. Since then, the numbers have flipped in Republicans' favor — suggesting that as the war has dragged on, public trust has shifted toward the GOP rather than eroded, defying expectations that prolonged conflict would benefit the opposition party."The Democratic Party in the minds of the American public are weak, weak, weak," Enten said.Net approval ratings for Democrats in Congress hovered around negative 40 points in late February, among the lowest levels ever recorded for the party. That unpopularity, Enten suggested, may be undercutting Democrats' ability to convert dissatisfaction with Trump into political trust for themselves, even among some Democratic-leaning voters who remain unhappy with their own party's direction heading into the fall elections. - YouTube youtu.be

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Welcome to ‘the Claw’: the White House fighting cage captures Trump era rot | Sidney Blumenthal

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Welcome to ‘the Claw’: the White House fighting cage captures Trump era rot | Sidney Blumenthal

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