Lutnick donated $5M to House GOP super PAC ahead of Epstein deposition 

Terrifying Report: Iranian Backed Terrorist Planned to Target Ivanka Trump, Had Blueprint of Her House

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.

Rubio Invites India’s Modi to Visit White House as Ties Improve

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday and invited him to visit the White House, as the two sides work to improve ties.

Ex-Gov. Kasich pours cold water on GOP senator keeping Ohio seat and withholds endorsement

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

Trump admin’s ‘political miscalculation’ baffles GOP strategist: ‘The message is wrong’

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.”

'A freaking disaster is coming': GOP lawmakers rushing to bail on Trump

A combination of bad Donald Trump polling and highly controversial proposals like his so-called “slush fund” to compensate allies who feel they were victimized by President Joe Biden’s DOJ for their criminality has finally given GOP lawmakers the nudge they needed to abandon him and save their own careers.According to MS NOW, a single week of Republican defiance saw GOP lawmakers strip $1 billion in security upgrades — including $220 million for Trump's new East Wing ballroom — from their reconciliation package, move closer to backing a resolution forcing Trump to end the Iran war without congressional authorization, and abruptly cancel a vote on $72 billion in additional funding for the administration's immigration and deportation agenda.The week coincided with Trump's approval rating falling to 37% in a New York Times/Siena poll — the lowest of his two terms combined. Gas prices averaging roughly $4.50 per gallon nationwide have become a constant reminder to voters of the economic pain inflicted by his Iran war.Republicans are increasingly bleak about the party's electoral prospects. "A freaking disaster [is] coming," one House Republican told MS NOW, speaking anonymously to discuss the election frankly.A former Trump administration official was more direct: "If the election were held today, we'd lose the Senate and the House."Republicans have finally reached a breaking point over Trump's controversial $1.8 billion "slush fund" designed to compensate allies who claim victimization by the Biden administration's DOJ — despite their criminality."Republicans have realized they are being scammed and this is the week where they said enough. I can't imagine any Republican ever allowing money to be paid to anyone who harmed law enforcement," a former Trump administration official admitted to MS NOW.GOP lawmakers cited Trump's erratic governance as justification for their rebellion. One House Republican criticized what the lawmaker described as "flip-flopping" on Iran negotiations from one Truth Social post to the next, and treating Taiwan like a "bargaining chip.""He's pushing it too far. The list goes on and on," the House Republican said.A second House Republican told MS NOW that Republicans "feel more confident in criticizing [him] because the poll numbers aren't as high as they were," adding that if Republicans had a "Memorial Day wish," it would be to exit the Iran war entirely.A source close to the White House revealed the fundamental shift in Republican calculations, telling MS NOW's Laura Barrón-López and Mychael Schnell, "In many ways I don't think they [GOP lawmakers] fear the president anymore. Many have realized you can outlive Trump, politically speaking."

Trump’s support on key issue finally starting to ‘crack’ among GOP voters

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.”

White House pauses removal of detainees to the DRC as Ebola outbreak widens

But Trump administration will not return detainees deported to third countries in disease-struck regionThe Trump administration will temporarily pause the removal of refugees to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during a spiraling Ebola outbreak, according to reporting by Politico, but experts say the move won’t help prevent the spread of the disease.At least one woman is now in limbo after officials moved her to Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC, and now say they won’t bring her back because of the Ebola travel ban – despite a judge’s order for her return. Continue reading...