Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker says Iran deal negotiates away U.S. victories, warning the $300 billion fund dwarfs Obama's 2015 agreement.
The director of national intelligence’s office was created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Now some lawmakers want to shrink it.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) said he “literally started tearing up” when he toured former President Barack Obama‘s library in Chicago as part of its exclusive grand opening ceremony on Thursday. Newsom attended the invite-only ceremony with his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Together, they extolled the Obama Presidential Center. “Everybody feels that spirit and that pride […]
Drivers feel some relief but prices still a dollar more per gallon overall since before US-Israel attack on IranSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The average price of US gasoline fell to just under $4 a gallon on Thursday for the first time since March, following the announcement of a preliminary agreement between the US and Iran to end the war and reopen the strait of Hormuz.The development has provided some relief to drivers who have seen soaring costs amid Washington’s war with Iran. But filling up still remains more expensive than it was before the conflict began. Continue reading...
Federal workers for the U.S. Department of the Interior are being directed to wear pins promoting the president’s public-private partnership created to celebrate America’s 250th birthday — instead of the congressionally mandated group that was created to organize the events.According to Mother Jones, National Park Service employees have been ordered to wear the pins, under threat of “professional reprimands.”“When I asked if I would receive any disciplinary action if I chose not to wear the pin, I was told, ‘Yes,’” one person told Mother Jones. “I chose not to continue the conversation after that.” Mother Jones reports that the “establishment of Freedom 250 has allowed Trump to more easily plan events that double as campaign rallies, to privately raise funds from corporations seeking influence with the administration, and to avoid disclosing exactly how much all this is costing US taxpayers.”“Consequently,” says Mother Jones, “NPS employees say that wearing Freedom 250 pins amounts to a partisan declaration, akin to donning a MAGA hat, or worse.”Democrats have called the Trump-created Freedom 250 organization a dark money group, Mother Jones noted, warning that it has no congressional oversight and has been accused of being used to buy access to the president.Trump has announced that Freedom 250’s July 4 celebration on the National Mall would feature a “Trump rally.” Sunday’s White House UFC cage fight, which also celebrated President Trump’s 80th birthday, was organized by the president’s Freedom 250 group.In a February statement, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Democrats “called out Republicans for allowing Trump to hijack America’s 250th Birthday celebration to sell access, hide his donors, and rewrite history — turning the country’s founding anniversary into a party exclusively for billionaires and a platform for Christian Nationalism.”Federal workers for the U.S. Department of the Interior are being directed to wear pins promoting the president’s public-private partnership created to celebrate America’s 250th birthday — instead of the congressionally mandated group that was created to organize the events.According to Mother Jones, National Park Service employees have been ordered to wear the pins, under threat of “professional reprimands.” “When I asked if I would receive any disciplinary action if I chose not to wear the pin, I was told, ‘Yes,’” one person told Mother Jones. “I chose not to continue the conversation after that.” Mother Jones reports that the “establishment of Freedom 250 has allowed Trump to more easily plan events that double as campaign rallies, to privately raise funds from corporations seeking influence with the administration, and to avoid disclosing exactly how much all this is costing US taxpayers.”“Consequently,” says Mother Jones, “NPS employees say that wearing Freedom 250 pins amounts to a partisan declaration, akin to donning a MAGA hat, or worse.” Democrats have called the Trump-created Freedom 250 organization a dark money group, Mother Jones noted, warning that it has no congressional oversight and has been accused of being used to buy access to the president.Trump has announced that Freedom 250’s July 4 celebration on the National Mall would feature a “Trump rally.” Sunday’s White House UFC cage fight, which also celebrated President Trump’s 80th birthday, was organized by the president’s Freedom 250 group.In a February statement, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Democrats “called out Republicans for allowing Trump to hijack America’s 250th Birthday celebration to sell access, hide his donors, and rewrite history — turning the country’s founding anniversary into a party exclusively for billionaires and a platform for Christian Nationalism.” NBC News reports that the bipartisan America250 “is the nonprofit supporting the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which was established 10 years ago through an act of Congress and is led by a bipartisan group of lawmakers and private citizens,” while Freedom 250 “was established by the Trump administration as a public-private partnership by which to fund and plan events celebrating this summer’s historic anniversary.”President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance serve as chair and vice chair for the Freedom 250 group.America250 lists its corporate sponsors while Freedom 250 only indicates certain “strategic partners.”“Knowing the difference between the congressionally-mandated group and Trump/Project 2025’s personal, political grift-machine, the little lapel pin takes on the historical weight of a collaborator’s badge,” one NPS employee told Mother Jones. “Some within my division have taken to calling it the ‘Vichy Pin.’”
California Gov. Newsom and his wife were attending the opening of Barack Obama's presidential library when a reporter asked them a question.
Vice President JD Vance tried defending President Donald Trump's tone by describing it as in line with the working class, and it backfired.The New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat asked Vance about the tone of Trump and the administration, saying that it "is not consistently a Christian tone. There is a tone of aggressive uncharity."Vance responded that "tonal arguments are ways of, frankly, policing working-class ways of communication and covering them in elite preferences."However, online commentators expressed offense at hearing Vance equate the Trump administration's tone with the way the working class speaks.Tim Miller, the host of The Bulwark podcast, summarized Vance's defense as "Working class people are all a— who don't care about their neighbor's feelings" in a post on X."It seems like he thinks that regular people are all sociopaths like him," Miller wrote. "Classic"MS NOW host and former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough said, "How insulting to suggest that hateful rhetoric that runs counter to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is just the way working class people talk—and that elites don’t get that.""What an absurd response," Reason reporter Billy Binion sounded off. "Donald Trump is not 'working class.' And this is very condescending toward people who actually *are* working class because it implies they're all mean and uncharitable by default. Is that all the respect JD Vance has for working people?"Journalist Jane Coaston, the host of What A Day, agreed, "I really think some people think that working class Americans are the worst human beings to ever live."Christian broadcaster Erick Erickson simply said, "Bad answer."
President Donald Trump joked Vice President JD Vance would bear blame if the Iran peace deal fails, but Republicans are already privately criticizing the agreement while publicly remaining silent. Oil industry insiders and GOP lawmakers object to economic support for Iran and Trump's defense of Iran's ballistic missile rights, with one Republican calling it total surrender, reported Politico's Playbook. "Plenty of Republican lawmakers are also uncomfortable, in private at least," Playbook wrote. Vance's team welcomes the deal being framed as the "Vance Peace Deal," given the war's broad unpopularity, reports Dasha [Burns] on the Playbook Podcast. White House officials view ending the conflict as politically necessary, and Vance's willingness to front the agreement reflects this. A White House insider noted that GOP attacks inadvertently inoculate Vance from the war's unpopularity while positioning him to defend Trump from criticism. The dynamic paradoxically strengthens Vance's political standing as he defends the president against his own party's complaints.Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday gifted President Donald Trump a custom German national team soccer jersey with “Trump 47” printed on it during the G7 summit of world leaders in Evian, France, as the 2026 World Cup is underway. The Trump jersey is one of many gifts bestowed upon the president while in office. […]