Feds investigate Hasan Piker, Medea Benjamin over Cuba aid convoys: report

Feds subpoena Hasan Piker, Medea Benjamin over Cuba trips

Hasan Piker and CodePink cofounder Medea Benjamin face Treasury subpoenas in a federal probe into whether activists violated U.S. Cuba sanctions.

Hassett Says Ending Iran War May Create Room for Fed Rate Cut

Kevin Hassett, President Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser at the White House, signaled he’s confident that an eventual drop in oil prices will create space for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.

Hasan Piker, Medea Benjamin Subpoenaed by Trump Administration

Trump doesn't care if you're angry: report

President Donald Trump seems indifferent to public opinion, according to one political analyst — and that poses a grave threat to the future of democracy.“His approval rating has plunged into the 30s, and he doesn’t seem to care,” MS NOW’s Paul Waldman wrote on Sunday. “Americans think the economy is terrible, and Trump seems indifferent. Instead, he’s putting his time and attention into a series of projects that could not be better designed to make him look corrupt and out of touch.”Waldman proceeded to list Trump’s various actions that Republicans believe are counterproductive to their goal of retaining control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. These include his proposed gold-plated ballroom, his proposed Virginia arch, his $1.8 billion slush fund for supporters including Jan. 6 rioters and his revenge campaign against Republicans who do not always vote as he wishes. He also has vocally expressed indifference to problems that Americans are concerned about including the Iran war and rising gas prices.“Indeed, if Trump were trying to engineer a defeat in November for his party, it’s hard to imagine what he would be doing differently,” Waldman argued. “Where does this indifference to both his own standing and the political fortunes of his party come from? He may have a version of senioritis, the way students stop caring about classes as the end of high school approaches. Trump does care about his legacy, but as far as he’s concerned, that legacy isn’t written in legislation or policy victories; it’s physical and tangible. If he’s loathed by two-thirds of the public when he departs the White House, it may not matter to Trump so long as there are gigantic buildings with his name on them.”He added, “Even more, Trump may see this indifference to the public’s judgment as a kind of liberation. He spent a lifetime attempting to free himself of any and all constraints, so he can do whatever he wants. Before he was president, it was the constraints of the law, ethics, convention and civility that vexed him; in politics it’s the law and ethics (again), political norms, international alliances and agreements, the bureaucracy, Congress and the courts. The political interest of his own party, and even his own popularity? That’s just one more thing tying him down. And he’s going to cut those cords.”Indeed, Washington Post reporter Luke Boradwater recently noted regarding last week in the president’s career that Trump’s political standing continues to deteriorate week-by-week basis.Life finally man-handled President Donald Trump like it typically abuses Democratic presidents: with pushback and disappointment. But don’t expect to see this brand of ego acknowledge it, says Washington Post writer Luke Broadwater.“By pretty much any estimation, President Trump has had a very bad week,” said Broadwater. “New poll numbers show his approval rating has hit a second-term low. He is weighing whether to restart a bombing campaign in an unpopular war against Iran. Gas prices are high and inching higher heading into Memorial Day weekend. And his grip over Republican lawmakers is beginning to slip after he proposed a pair of deeply unpopular spending items, prompting an unusual revolt from the Senate.”He added that Trump is acting like a man who does not need to concern himself whatsoever with public approval in order to retain his power.“But Mr. Trump has decided to double down, presenting himself as politically all-powerful even in the face of indications that he is not,” Broadwater wrote.

'Jilted' Trump aide stirs outrage by telling ex-Cabinet member to 'shut his stupid mouth'

White House communications director Steven Cheung unleashed a profanity-laced broadside against former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after Pompeo criticized the Trump administration's emerging deal with Iran — setting off a wave of condemnation from commentators across the political spectrum.Pompeo had posted that the deal "being floated with Iran seems straight out of the Wendy Sherman-Robert Malley-Ben Rhodes playbook," warning it would "pay the IRGC to build a WMD program and terrorize the world." He called it "not remotely America First" and demanded the administration simply "open the damned strait."Cheung, a former UFC communications director, fired back with language rarely seen from an official White House spokesman. "Mike Pompeo has no idea what the f--- he's talking about," Cheung wrote. "He should shut his stupid mouth and leave the real work to the professionals. He's not read into anything that's happening, so how would he know."The statement triggered immediate blowback."I will never get used to this kind of obscenity being used in an official statement by the White House Communication Director," wrote attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. "The White House no longer aspires to lead from a higher moral vantage point, it seeks to fight in the mud with the pigs."Journalist Brett Meiselas appealed directly to the administration's sense of decorum. "Can you all grow up? You work in the White House. Act like it for once. This shouldn't be a political thing. Just have some decency, man."The spectacle of a Trump aide attacking the man Trump himself chose as his top diplomat drew particular mockery. "Pompeo is so dumb that Cheung's boss made him Secretary of State for nearly 3 years," wrote National Review senior editor Ramesh Ponnuru.The Weekly Standard's Stephen Hayes was more pointed about the credibility gap on display: "Yeah, take it from a 1980s-born political hatchetman and ex-UFC comms director, Mike Pompeo — top of his class at West Point, Harvard Law grad, House Intel, ex-CIA director, ex-SecState — is clueless about Iran."Independent journalist Aaron Rupar summed up the broader reaction in blunt terms: "Is it a sign that things are going well when your spokesperson is posting like a jilted incel 8th grader?"Mehdi Hasan simply noted the absurdity for the record: "White House comms director to former Trump Secretary of State," he wrote, quoting Cheung's statement without further comment.Tom Nichols of The Atlantic added dryly: "This sounds totally calm."

REPORT: Trump’s Iran Deal Could be Announced Today – Here’s What’s Inside

President Trump's newly announced peace agreement, which he said is "largely negotiated" and awaits final approval from all parties, includes a 60-day ceasefire, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and continued negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, according to US officials familiar with the discussions.  The White House hopes that the deal could be finalized and officially announced today. The post REPORT: Trump’s Iran Deal Could be Announced Today – Here’s What’s Inside appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Special Report: Secret Service kill man who opened fire outside of White House

The U.S. Secret Service shot amd killed a person who opened fire at a security checkpoint in an exchange of gunfire that briefly locked down the White House, officials said. NBC News correspondents have the latest on the shooting. 

Iran agrees to give up ‘nuclear dust’ stockpile in deal with Trump: report

Iran has reportedly agreed to give up its stockpile of enriched uranium as part of the deal announced by President Trump Saturday