A commercial airline pilot received a baffling response from the FAA after Trump's UFC lights blinded them while landing, MeidasTouch reported.The pilot spoke anonymously about how powerful lights from the UFC octagon on the White House South Lawn filled the cockpit during a landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. It was "10 times worse than any laser illumination event," the pilot told MeidasTouch.Landing an aircraft relies heavily on visual references, according to MeidasTouch. The pilot filed reports with the Federal Aviation Administration and NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System.FAA personnel told the pilot to contact the White House about the safety concerns. MeidasTouch noted that the pilot's reports "raise questions" about how well the fight's organizers coordinated with aviation authorities, considering the illuminated UFC setup's proximity to the "busiest flight corridors."The FAA recently recommended blinking red lights for Trump's triumphal arch because of how close it is to busy D.C. flight corridors. MeidasTouch also brought up heightened concern ever since an American Airlines flight fatally collided with a U.S. Army helicopter last year.
The Trump Department of Justice approved a major deal that's expected to shake up the entertainment industry, according to reporting by NBC News.Paramount Skydance now has a clearer path to acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery for $110 billion, a person familiar with the deal told NBC News. A formal announcement is expected soon, NBC added. The Trump administration had leverage over Paramount Skydance CEO and MAGA ally David Ellison, who sought to clear the deal through the DOJ. While the deal dangled in uncertainty, Paramount's networks like CBS and CBS News made controversial moves to end The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and fire "60 Minutes" correspondents like Sharyn Alfonsi and Scott Pelley. Paramount+ will also be exclusively streaming the upcoming UFC match on the White House South Lawn.
Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard faces potential contempt of court charges after appearing on Fox News in April to discuss evidence in the high-profile Charlie Kirk shooting case, allegedly violating a judge's gag order. Fourth District Judge Tony Graf Jr. is expected to determine if Ballard's media appearance breached court restrictions on out-of-court statements, according to NBC News. Tyler Robinson's defense attorneys filed a motion characterizing Ballard's appearance as a contemptuous media tour, designed to circumvent judicial limitations. Robinson, 23, is accused of killing Kirk during a September 2025 appearance at Utah Valley University. Robinson faces multiple felony charges, including aggravated murder, discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and commission of a violent offense in a child's presence. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if the defendant is convicted. Robinson has yet to enter a plea.Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.
A Utah prosecutor is facing a potential contempt of court charge after appearing on Fox News to discuss evidence in the high-profile Charlie Kirk shooting case, appearing to violate a judge's strict order limiting public statements about the proceedings.According to NBC News, Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard will appear before Fourth District Judge Tony Graf Jr. in Provo, where the judge is expected to rule on whether Ballard's April Fox News appearance "breached" the court's gag order.Tyler Robinson's defense attorneys filed a motion characterizing Ballard's media appearance as a "contemptuous media tour" designed to circumvent the judge's restrictions on out-of-court statements. Robinson's lawyers have aggressively sought to limit media coverage, arguing that intense public attention threatens their client's right to a fair trial.According to the report, the case itself is extraordinarily high-stakes that could impact the trial of Robinson, 23, who is accused of killing Kirk during an appearance at Utah Valley University in Orem in September 2025.Robinson turned himself in to local authorities a day after the shooting, with NBC reporting that he faces charges including felony aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, two counts of felony obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering, and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child.Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted. Robinson has not yet entered a plea.
According to Fox News Chief Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram, President Donald Trump’s mishandling of vital security legislation has intelligence officials concerned that the U.S. is at greater risk of a terrorist attack. This assertion follows Congress’s failure to pass the extension of a key provision of the Foreign Intelligence Services Act, which security experts have warned could leave the nation’s intelligence services “in the dark” when it comes to monitoring the communications of potential threats. According to Pergram, “The program is considered to be the premier intelligence gathering tool in the intelligence community’s arsenal.”Lawmakers have been fighting over the extension for months as the program faced opposition from privacy hawks who demanded guardrails to prevent the program from being used to monitor American communications, among other concessions. Then, just as it appeared that Congress had struck a deal that would allow for the extension, as Pergram notes, Trump decided to nominate Bill Pulte as Director of National Intelligence, dooming the effort in both chambers as Democrats feared Pulte would weaponize the spy program against the president’s enemies. This was no idle concern, as Pulte had already repeatedly targeted Trump’s opponents from his role at the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The potential for abusing his new position was so likely that even Republicans decried the nomination, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) saying, “We don't need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there. If he's somebody we want in that position permanently, he's got a lengthy road ahead of him.” After lawmakers from both sides of the aisle warned that Pulte's appointment had just doomed the FISA extension — the deadline for which comes on Saturday morning at the stroke of midnight — Trump attempted a last-minute save by nominating a somewhat less controversial Jay Clayton, but it was too late. “Senators fled from the chamber for the weekend,” explained Pergram. “His confirmation hearing is next Wednesday.”Once the program lapses, intelligence agencies will lose legal access to targeted telecommunications. While there is technically a special court overseeing it that will continue probes on a more limited basis through next March, major issues arise because “some Constitutional scholars see this as warrantless surveillance, violating the Fourth Amendment. The telecommunications firms were willing to provide the data –- if they had a blessing from Congress. But no legal extension of the program by lawmakers puts the telecoms on thin ice.”As Pergram notes, this comes at a precarious moment for the country from the vantage of preventing terrorism. Not only is the U.S. engaged in a war, but it is hosting the World Cup and celebrating its 250th birthday. And now, “it’s believed that some companies might refuse to provide data. And if the intelligence services don’t have the data, they can’t track what they need during this very vulnerable period.”
President Donald Trump is planning to hassle Congress to expunge his impeachments.The president is trying to get Republican lawmakers to remove his impeachments from the record even though legally such a move is impossible, reported The Wall Street Journal’s Annie Linskey, Olivia Beavers and Natalie Andrews on Thursday.“It should be done because I did nothing wrong,” Trump told the Journal. “It was a rigged deal—it was a whole rigged situation.”The Journal noted that this could backfire, saying “Any move to attempt to erase the two impeachments, in 2019 and 2021, would open up a debate about Trump’s past behavior in office, forcing GOP lawmakers to relitigate charges of abuse of power, obstruction of Congress and inciting an insurrection. Facing the prospect of losing their majority in the House, Republicans are trying to shift focus to the economy and high costs, the issues that voters care about most.”Yet even though “the measure likely wouldn’t be considered until after the November election,” the issue could still become a political lightning rod. “Trump has posted news clips about voiding the impeachments on his Truth Social account,” the Journal reported. “But this week, he played down his own role in the effort. ‘If they want to do it, I’m honored by it,’ the president said.”The Journal added that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R—LA) has discussed the resolution with Trump. He has also discussed it with Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz“I think it makes a lot of sense the more the evidence comes out, the more we know they really were sham impeachments,” Johnson told the Journal, later adding that “we were saying it at the time, now we know. And they make a very compelling case that it should be expunged from the record, because it was a hyperpartisan attack job.”Speaking with this journalist for Salon in 2019, Dershowitz — who later defended Trump during one of his impeachment trials — denied that he would ever refuse to step down if he lost an election, which is what prompted the impeachment at which Dershowitz did not represent Trump.“No president will refuse to step down if his opponent is elected in his place,” Dershowitz told Salon. “It just will not happen, and the American public would never tolerate it.”Discussing the Wall Street Journal, CNN’s correspondents agreed that Trump’s attempt to scrub the impeachment is both purely symbolic and likely to resurrect the Ukraine coercion and election denying scandals that prompted those impeachments in the first place. - YouTube youtu.be
The White House quietly installed a "babysitter" to keep Robert F. Kennedy Jr in check amid terror the vaccine-sceptic is about to help tank the GOP's midterm performance, a report claimed Friday.The secretary of health and human services' most powerful aide has been installed to keep Kennedy from going off the rails, several Democrats told Politico.Chris Klomp was elevated to chief HHS counselor in February, effectively becoming Kennedy's second-in-command with authority over both personnel and policy at the Department of Health and Human Services. "Klomp's speaking role at White House events and his presence behind the secretary at every hearing would seem to bear that out," a Democratic Senate aide told Politico about claims that Klomp was actually installed as a minder.The aide added that several senators suspect Klomp was promoted "to babysit RFK because the White House doesn't trust him" and because Kennedy's vaccine policies and other unorthodox beliefs are unpopular.Klomp has directly overseen major personnel decisions — including selecting a pro-vaccination doctor to lead the CDC over Kennedy's preferred anti-vaccine pick. He's the one who told Trump about the CDC nomination. He negotiated 17 drug-pricing deals that earned him a personal shoutout from the president, and he sat behind Kennedy at every one of seven congressional hearings in April.One Kennedy ally didn't mince words, telling Politico that Kennedy "is more of a figurehead," while Klomp functions as the real chief operating officer."Chris Klomp has been unbelievable, a real star," the president said in April. "You don't know his name as much as some of the others, but he's a real star of the group."But not everyone is impressed. A former senior HHS official told Politico that Klomp was undermining Kennedy and making unilateral personnel calls. "He's out of control trying to fire people," the former official said, claiming Kennedy wasn't even aware of some of his moves.Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles is reportedly "mesmerized by Klomp" after Dr. Oz — his first boss at HHS — vouched heavily for him. "Oz would say he's a genius," the former official said.HHS pushed back on the figurehead characterization, calling it "demonstrably false" and insisting Kennedy "is actively engaged in the decisions shaping HHS." An administration official told Politico Klomp "doesn't make decisions without the secretary's sign-off."
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event slated to be held at the White House on Sunday is underwater with a majority of Americans, many of whom have bombarded its promotional posts with references to Jeffrey Epstein, Axios reported Friday.According to a survey of more than 9,200 adults conducted by YouGov, 51% of Americans either “somewhat” or “strongly” disapprove of the event, officially labeled UFC Freedom 250 and scheduled for Trump's 80th birthday.Only 27% approve, and 22% indicated that they were “not sure.” Fans have peppered UFC posts promoting the event with brutal reminders of some of the Trump administration’s biggest controversies.“Even within the UFC's Trump-friendly fan base, the alliance is showing cracks: Fans have flooded promotional posts with complaints about Israel, the Epstein files and other perceived populist betrayals by Trump,” read Axios’ report.The Justice Department's botched handling of its release of Epstein-related files has continued to plague the Trump administration, with the president's favorability reaching historic lows.The event has already sparked waves of controversy, including fresh legal challenges, in which the complainants allege the event is a “volcano of corruption” that Trump and his allies stand to profit from.Norm Eisen, a former White House ethics lawyer, described the event recently as “ludicrous” and emblematic of “the way [Trump] has defaced Washington, D.C.”
