The Atlantic
Why Trump Thinks He Can Walk Away From the Strait of Hormuz
The U.S. is feeling much less pain than its allies are.
Center Left
NYT > U.S. > Politics
Trump Requests $1.5 Trillion for Military Spending
The huge proposed increase would be partly offset by steep cuts to domestic programs, some of which the Trump administration describes as wasteful.
Center Left
NBC News Politics
Trump said Iran was 'decimated.' Then an American F-15E fighter jet was shot down.
WASHINGTON — Less than 48 hours after President Donald Trump told Americans the U.S. military had “beaten and completely decimated Iran,” Tehran shot down an F-15E fighter jet, setting off a high-risk scramble by U.S. forces to rescue two service members from deep inside Iranian territory.
Center Left
Raw Story
Todd Blanche pressured to release Epstein files as acting attorney general
Real America's Voice host Gina Loudon warned acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Friday that he must release the Jeffrey Epstein files, criticizing his statement that there is no evidence Epstein was a spy. Loudon said her audience predicted Pam Bondi's firing and expressed frustration that Blanche chose the day of Bondi's dismissal to make statements about Epstein. She questioned why Blanche highlighted the lack of spy evidence rather than acknowledging the files' mishandling. Loudon declared, "MAGA is just not going to let this issue go away," pointing to ongoing social media discussions. She insisted the Epstein files "have not seen their last day. And nor should they have." Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) warned Blanche could face criminal complaints if he fails to release the files, reinforcing pressure from Trump's base to make the documents public.Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.
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Raw Story
Bondi hit with stark reminder she’s still on the hook for Epstein files
Ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi was hit with a fierce reminder Friday that, despite being fired by President Donald Trump this week, she still had a legal obligation to testify before Congress on the Justice Department’s handling of its release of files on Jeffrey Epstein.Bondi was axed by Trump earlier this week over what reports suggest was the president’s frustration with both her handling of the DOJ’s release of files on Epstein and her inability to secure criminal convictions of his perceived enemies. However, Todd Blanche – who Trump named as Bondi’s temporary successor – has refuted the claim that Trump fired Bondi over matters related to Epstein.On March 17, Bondi was scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee on April 14 regarding her agency’s handling of its release of files on Epstein. While Bondi is now headed to a job in the private sector, Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), who sits on the House Oversight Committee, said Friday that Bondi was not off the hook.“Let us be clear: AG or not – Pam Bondi is still legally required to appear for her deposition under oath in front of the Oversight Committee on April 14th,” Stansbury wrote in a social media post on X. “We will be expecting you. And we will be holding Bondi and Todd Blanche accountable for their handling of the Epstein case.”Stansbury is just the latest lawmaker to call for Bondi to testify in the wake of her firing, and is joined by several Democratic lawmakers and at least one Republican lawmaker, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who noted that the subpoena issued to Bondi was specifically written “by name, not by or not as the sitting attorney general of the U.S.”Let us be clear: AG or not—Pam Bondi is still legally required to appear for her deposition under oath in front of the Oversight Committee on April 14th. We will be expecting you. And we will be holding Bondi and Todd Blanche accountable for their handling of the Epstein…— Rep. Melanie Stansbury (@Rep_Stansbury) April 3, 2026
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US news | The Guardian
Trump accused of running ‘misogynistic administration’ after Bondi dismissal | First Thing
Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem only two cabinet members to be fired despite string of scandals facing male officials. Plus, why New Yorkers are swapping gas for induction stoves• Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.Donald Trump has been accused of running a “misogynistic administration” after Pam Bondi became the second woman to be fired from a cabinet already dominated by men.Who will replace Bondi? Trump said Todd Blanche, her deputy, would serve as acting attorney general. Lee Zeldin, a former New York congressman who now leads the Environmental Protection Agency, is said to be a top contender to replace Bondi.How badly has Iran been affected? At least 1,900 people have been killed and 20,000 injured in Iran since the start of the war, according to a rough estimate by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Continue reading...
Center Left
Raw Story
Pam Bondi joins long list of Florida appointees who crashed and burned under Trump
Pam Bondi's firing marks another casualty in what's becoming a bloodbath of Trump administration appointees and nominees from his home state of Florida. But unlike her predecessors, Bondi faces an additional humiliation: forced testimony before Congress about the administration's bungled handling of Jeffrey Epstein files.According to Politico's Kimberly Leonard, White House insiders don't believe Bondi will leverage her Trump experience into a political career. There's also no indication that she will return to her job as a lobbyist at Ballard Partners, from which she was plucked to serve at the DOJ.Bondi is far from alone. Trump's second term has become a graveyard for Florida appointees: Former national security adviser Mike Waltz was demoted to the UN in the wake of his being caught up in the "Signalgate" scandal.Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister never made it to his confirmation hearing to be the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).Former Rep. Dave Weldon (R) had his nomination withdrawn by the White House to to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, now an OANN anchor, withdrew his nomination as attorney general amid sexual misconduct allegations and a damning House Ethics Committee which led him to preemptively resign from Congress.In Bondi's case, one place she might find herself busy is in front Congress.Democrats are preparing Bondi's next nightmare: congressional testimony. House Oversight Committee Democrats want her to testify about the administration's handling of Jeffrey Epstein files — a politically toxic subject that has already damaged Trump's second term.Bondi was scheduled to deliver testimony on April 14, and Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost is among those pushing for the hearing to proceed despite her firing."My office has been working to uncover this administration's handling of the Epstein files, reviewing how records were managed, what was withheld and how information was presented to the public," Frost said. "That work has raised serious concerns about transparency and accountability, and it is ongoing."House Oversight Chair James Comer hasn't ruled out forcing Bondi to testify, with his office indicating he would "discuss it with fellow GOP colleagues and the DOJ."
Far Left
Raw Story
Trump seeks ‘mammoth’ amount for even more White House renovations: report
President Donald Trump seeks hundreds of millions of dollars to renovate the White House residence, according to a new budget request. The administration’s fiscal 2026 proposal includes more than $377 million “for repairs and renovations to the executive residence,” with another $174 million projected for 2027, according to budget documents reported by Politico.That represents “a mammoth 866 percent increase over the $39 million estimated to have been spent in fiscal 2025 on sprucing up the area of the White House where the president lives.”An Office of Management and Budget spokesperson told Politico that the totals include not only work on the residence itself, but also security-related costs, adding the funding is for “a number of renovations, not just the executive residence.” The budget does not specify which projects the money would fund, Politico noted Friday. The MAGA leader's proposal also seeks to classify $350 million of the spending as mandatory, a designation reserved for programs Congress is required to fund, such as Social Security and Medicaid. Trump has made upgrading the White House complex a priority in his second term.“At the center of that effort is the proposed new White House ballroom, a roughly $400 million project that would dramatically expand the complex’s capacity for large-scale events,” Politico reported. “The plan envisions a sprawling addition capable of hosting hundreds of guests at once, replacing the current reliance on temporary tents on the South Lawn for state dinners and major receptions.”The project has been plagued by legal and oversight challenges, and was blocked this week as part of a lawsuit brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation of the United States.
Far Left
Alternet.org
Trump fired Bondi because she wasn't corrupt enough: expert
President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi not because she did her job poorly (although she did), but because she was insufficiently corrupt.At least that is the claim made by expert legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who wrote for The New York Times on Thursday that Trump fired Bondi for a “bad” reason, namely her failure to effectively abuse her office to prosecute his political enemies. In September he blasted her publicly for failing to get convictions against former F.B.I. director James Comey, Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James, and The Daily Mail reported that Thursday he was also upset she notified Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), with whom she has a friendly relationship, about an impending investigation into his alleged relationship with an accused Chinese spy.The Daily Mail also reported that Bondi "begged" to keep her job in a "dramatic" scene in the White House.“The fact that Ms. Bondi has failed in these abusive prosecutorial efforts is cause for relief, not dismissal,” Toobin wrote of Trump’s dissatisfaction with Bondi’s efforts in that regard. “It’s the rest of her record that has turned the Justice Department into an oxymoron that will take years, if not decades, to fix.” Toobin pointed out that under Bondi “case loads are down because of her failure to prosecute violent criminals” and she has sent so many transparently political prosecutions to judges that he has destroyed their ability to be presumed to be of good faith before the bar.“With the midterms looming, President Trump may have decided to replace his attorney general while his party still controls the Senate,” Toobin concluded. “But whomever he chooses, the future at the Justice Department looks like more of the same, and probably worse.”According to CNN, the writing was on the wall for Bondi as early as Monday, when the president began making private calls about the wisdom of firing her. While most of his support network said he should do so, experts suspect he will have trouble finding a replacement willing to compromise their credibility on his behalf as Bondi has done. Indeed, Bondi’s performance on the job was so poor that former federal prosecutor and legal analyst Elie Honig called her an “abject failure” while speaking with CNN."I think Pam Bondi's legacy as an attorney general will be as an abject failure. And I think there's broad agreement on that. Start with the Epstein files," Honig said, referring to Bondi’s mismanagement of the release of files pertaining to the late child sex trafficker and Trump friend Jeffrey Epstein."Everyone on both sides of the aisle agrees that she badly mishandled the Epstein files,” Honig said. “As Evan [Pérez] and Jeff [Zeleny] just noted, she was the one who brought this back to the fore by making these grand promises about disclosing the Epstein files that ultimately she could not fulfill.”Honig added, "When Congress passed a law requiring the DOJ to produce the Epstein files, she completely botched it. DOJ acted more than a month late. They over-redacted the names that should not have been taken out. They redacted. They left victim information there. When she testified about this a month or so ago in front of Congress, it was an utter disaster. She embarrassed herself.”
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US news | The Guardian
Bondi firing a reminder that even ultra-loyalists get dumped by Trump
Attorney general was key part of effort to go after enemies but even she could not satisfy whims of mercurial presidentPam Bondi’s swift dismissal on Thursday underscores a reality that has met Trump loyalists from Jeff Sessions to Kristi Noem – no amount of loyalty is enough to save oneself from being dumped by Donald Trump.Since the president assumed office last year, there have been few people more important to his effort to remake government than Bondi, his longtime friend. Continue reading...
Center Left
The New Republic
The Supreme Court Might Still Screw Up Birthright Citizenship
The Supreme Court appears likely to strike down President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship. At Wednesday’s oral arguments, the justices showed little interest in letting the president arbitrarily deny citizenship to untold numbers of Americans.But how the justices rule against Trump could matter almost as much as whether they do it. One dangerous possibility is that the court’s conservative members will open the door to future challenges, or otherwise weaken the prevailing interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.Trump v. Barbara is, at its core, a very easy case. The Citizenship Clause states that “[a]ll persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” For the last 137 years, the consensus between Congress, the courts, and the executive branch was that anyone born on U.S. soil is automatically a U.S. citizen. The Supreme Court reached the same conclusion in the 1898 case United States v. Wong Kim Ark.There were narrow exceptions, of course. Children of foreign diplomats did not qualify, because their parents had diplomatic immunity, and were therefore not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. So too were members of Native American tribal nations that retained their own sovereignty, though Congress later extended citizenship to all Native Americans by statute in 1924.Only under the second Trump administration has anyone seriously questioned this consensus or disputed the most natural reading of the text. I will not bother to recite once more the scholarly back-and-forth over the matter. Suffice it to say that the justices seemed largely unpersuaded on Wednesday by the administration’s claims that American citizenship actually derives from one’s innate “allegiance” at birth to their “domicile.”Ideally, the court would issue a 9-0 opinion that reaffirmed the Citizenship Clause’s plain meaning and confirm that the Fourteenth Amendment places questions of American citizenship beyond the scope of ordinary political debate. Unanimity is one of the court’s best tools for legitimizing its own rulings among the American public, as evidenced by the court’s unified front on desegregation in the 1950s and 1960s.That prospect appears unlikely here. At least two justices appear set to dissent from a potential ruling in the plaintiffs’ favor. Justice Samuel Alito, who is arguably the most consistently conservative member of the court, signaled his sympathy with the Trump administration throughout Wednesday’s oral arguments. At one point, he lamented that the nation had a “unusual situation here because our immigration laws have been ineffectively and, in some instances, unenthusiastically enforced by federal officials.”Justice Clarence Thomas also indicated during oral arguments that he could embrace a narrower version of the Citizenship Clause—one that would limit its scope to the historical circumstances in which it was enacted. Before they embraced random nonsense on allegiance and domiciles, the Trump administration initially justified the executive order by claiming that the clause only meant to extend citizenship to formerly enslaved people in the American South during Reconstruction.Overturning Dred Scott v. Sandford and securing African-American citizenship was indeed one of the principal reasons for adopting the Citizenship Clause. As I’ve noted before, the Fourteenth Amendment’s drafters also made clear that they intended the clause’s egalitarian impact to be much more far-reaching than that.Thomas’s questions at oral argument, however, suggested that he would be willing to embrace the narrower view championed by the Trump administration. “How does the Citizenship Clause respond specifically to Dred Scott and answers, or changes, or corrects its answer as to citizenship?” he asked Solicitor General John Sauer, who happily claimed in response that the clause was only meant to address Dred Scott.This approach would not be out of character for Thomas. As always, he is outright hostile to precedent that he himself did not write. And he has hinted at similar views in the past. In the 2010 case McDonald v. Chicago, Thomas noted in passing that the Citizenship Clause “guaranteed the rights of citizenship in the United States and in the several States without regard to race.” That is a much narrower vision of the clause than the longstanding consensus.Even for the remaining seven justices, it is hard to trust that they will get things right even if they vote against the Trump administration. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, for example, has a recurring habit of writing concurring opinions that telegraph how he might decide future cases involving similar issues to the one before him.
Left
The New Republic
Trump Is Considering Axing Two of His Most Loyal Stooges
Two more members of Donald Trump’s Cabinet could soon be on their way out.The president is reportedly considering axing Attorney General Pam Bondi and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.Trump has polled his top advisers about the duo’s fate, asking other Cabinet officials in recent weeks whether he should give them the boot.His gripe with Gabbard relates to her decision to shield a former deputy who disagreed with Trump’s war with Iran, people briefed on the discussions told The Guardian. It’s not clear if Gabbard will actually be fired, or who could possibly replace her.Meanwhile, Bondi’s administrative future is apparently on the fritz due to her handling of the Epstein files. Trump has been “frustrated” with her leadership at the Justice Department, and is considering tapping Lee Zeldin—the current administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency—to replace her.Yet Trump is still opting to publicly display his confidence in Bondi. The duo traveled to the Supreme Court together Wednesday for the court’s birthright citizenship case (something that no sitting president has ever done), and Trump chose to heap praise on Bondi’s performance when asked about the situation by The New York Times.“Attorney General Pam Bondi is a wonderful person and she is doing a good job,” Trump said in a statement to the Times.In comparison to his first administration—which was practically a revolving door for the president’s underlings—Trump has been much more sparing with his staffers over the past year. Still, Bondi and Gabbard would not be the first officials from Trump’s second term to receive a pink slip from the Oval Office.Trump axed Kristi Noem from her position atop the Department of Homeland Security last month, immediately following a string of abysmal appearances before Congress. Her position among the higher echelons of the Trump administration had become increasingly tenuous in recent months due to a series of scandals, though most notably after ICE agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, marring Trump’s immigration agenda—a chief MAGA priority—in the process.
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US news | The Guardian
Trump fires Pam Bondi, a loyalist and ally, as attorney general
Bondi earned president’s ire over handling release of Epstein files and failing to prosecute his political enemiesUS politics live – latest updatesSign up for the Breaking News US emailDonald Trump has fired Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, according to multiple reports, dismissing a loyalist who reshaped the justice department, but still failed to please a president fixated on prosecuting political enemies and frustrated with the politically explosive release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.“Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year. Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future.” He added that Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, would serve as acting attorney general. Continue reading...
Center Left
Alternet.org
Trump’s own 'screw ups' backed him into a corner with attorney general: justice reporter
President Donald Trump officially fired Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday after she failed to meet his demands, which were untenable or legally impossible, according to CNN.Bondi has been willing to go after Trump's foes like former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, but each case has fallen through because a grand jury refused to indict. Reports say that Trump wants more of his foes to be targeted. CNN reported that Trump began making calls on Monday about firing her. Senior justice correspondent Evan Pérez noted that these rumors have been circulating since January, even after Bondi's emphatic defense of Trump before the House Judiciary Committee. According to the Daily Mail, Bondi "begged" for her job in a "dramatic" scene in the White House. Pérez said that some of the sources CNN has spoken to say that they're not sure where Trump can find anyone willing to do what Bondi did in her efforts "to do his bidding" and "still [be] credible.""Certainly she was [credible] last year before she has had this past year behind her. So, I don't know where he finds somebody like that because you know, Bondi has really done everything he wanted. Now he's not happy because some of the things that he wants just can't be done. The facts aren't there on these cases. Some of the screw-ups have been because of the White House," he said. He cited the inability to indict people due to grand juries or regular juries, while with others, there simply isn't any evidence. "You know, that's not Pam Bondi's fault. That is the fault of no one's," Pérez said. "The fault of reality," said CNN host Boris Sanchez."That's reality, right?" agreed Pérez. "And the president just can't really sort of come to terms. Right. And the law! The law is a very sticky thing, right?""You're not guilty because someone says you're guilty," added Sanchez.
Left
Axios
Trump to circumvent Congress with order to pay all DHS workers
President Trump said Thursday he would "soon sign an order" to pay all Department of Homeland Security employees. Why it matters: The president's announcement marks the second time in a week he's moved to circumvent Congress to pay federal workers amid the record-long DHS shutdown."I will soon sign an order to pay ALL of the incredible employees at the Department of Homeland Security," Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday. He added: "Help is on the way for our Brave and Patriotic Public Servants who have continued to work hard, and do their part to protect and defend our Country."Trump's announcement comes a day after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) announced a plan to end the shutdown. Zoom out: Trump's move to bypass Congress and pay all DHS workers by fiat comes a week after he announced he would sign a similar order to restore pay for TSA workers.The administration's attempts to keep parts of the government open without congressional approval could run afoul of the Antideficiency Act.The 150-year-old law bars spending without appropriations and underscores Congress' constitutional control of the purse.State of play: The Senate earlier Thursday sent its plan to fund DHS — excluding ICE and CBP — back to the House for consideration.Even with Johnson now on board, arm-twisting still could be needed to get the measure through the House.Johnson had previously opposed the plan amid opposition from hardliners in his conference, calling it a "joke."The speaker hasn't said whether he will call lawmakers back to Washington from a two-week recess that began Monday.
Center Left
Raw Story
'Less to lose': Epstein accusers' lawyer warns fired Bondi may finally now tell the truth
An attorney representing 11 accusers of late financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein said now ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi would still have to testify before lawmakers — and that it would be up to her to speak openly. Bondi was still slated for a sworn deposition on April 14, and Arick Fudali told CNN that he wasn't sure what Bondi would say. "She still has to testify," Fudali said. "I guess the question is now she has less to lose. Right now she is no longer under the force and the pressure of the Donald Trump administration for every breath she takes to be in praise and to be pro-Donald Trump and perhaps even anti-survivor, anti-transparency."Bondi, who testified in a combative hearing on Capitol Hill in February, would be under a different role this time. "Apparently, from what we're hearing, she's going to be a lay citizen," Fudali said. "She's going to be in the private sector. So one would think a reasonable person would expect that. Maybe she'll be more honest. Maybe she'll be more forthcoming."But Fudali wasn't convinced Bondi would have a different approach to the Epstein survivors or congressional leaders. During her hearing weeks ago, Bondi refused to acknowledge the accusers or even look at them during her testimony. "Unfortunately, given the way she's handled this, this entire Epstein saga and the way everyone in this administration, whether actually part of the administration or just someone else who sort of, you know, falls in line with Donald Trump, I don't expect it to change much," Fudali added. "It certainly could, as she now has less to lose. She's already lost her job. But again, I don't have enough faith in Pam Bondi's character to think that she will actually speak with conviction and be honest and really show any type of empathy for the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein at that hearing."
Far Left
Raw Story
Pam Bondi reportedly found out she was fired before Trump's prime-time address
President Donald Trump reportedly told Attorney General Pam Bondi she was fired on Wednesday night, according to Fox News correspondent Katelyn Caralle. The dismissal occurred during a meeting before Trump's national address on the Iran war. According to sources cited in the report, Bondi had lost her job and was en route back to Florida by the time the President took the podium for his speech. The abrupt termination marks the end of Bondi's tenure overseeing the Department of Justice during Trump's second term. Trump is reportedly considering EPA Chief Lee Zeldin as Bondi's replacement, according to various reports.Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.
Far Left
Truthout
Trump Ousts Pam Bondi, Who Leaves Legacy of Epstein Cover Up
Trump said Bondi is “transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector.”
Far Left
NYT > U.S. > Politics
In the Birthright Citizenship Hearing, a Story of Asians Fighting for Rights
Supreme Court justices and lawyers cited a litany of historic cases that reflect the many times Asians turned to the courts, trying to shape immigration law.
Center Left
Raw Story
'Fidgeting' Trump had to be moved during Supreme Court hearing: ACLU attorney
Donald Trump’s unprecedented appearance at the Supreme Court encompassed both a request that his seat be moved and the reported inability of the president to hold still while lawyers made their case before the nation’s highest court.Appearing on MS NOW with host Jonathan Lemire, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero stated the president sat right in front of him, so he had a ringside seat to watch the president react to arguments over his attempt to override the 14th Amendment on birthright citizenship.Romero, who was beaming over how well it went for the ACLU after conservative justices battered Solicitor General John Sauer with questions about Trump’s executive order, pointed out that he would not be overly surprised if the court comes down 9-0 (”if we’re really lucky”) against Trump.That led him to report on what he saw from Trump in the crowded courtroom.“Could you see him from your vantage point? If so, what was he like?” MS NOW’s Lemire asked.“He was six feet in front of me... he was literally right in front of me,” he recalled. “I was one row behind him, the Secret Service and then the president, so I could watch him entirely throughout the argument. Some of the press reports also got it wrong. Some of the press reports said that he left after the government had its case; the president sat through at least 10 to 15 minutes of our argument.”“I could see him fidgeting in the chair. I literally could see him, he was literally in my line of vision,” he added. “And when our legal director, Cecillia Wang, made her opening statements, and then when she began to answer questions from the justices, you could see he started getting restless. His shoulders slumped a little bit.”“I think he was there, clearly to intimidate the justices,” he added. “When they first had him, they sat him on the very end of the front row. And then the Commerce Secretary, Mr. [Howard] Lutnick got up and told the security guards that Mr. Trump would like to be seated more centrally in the courtroom. So they moved him literally right in front of us.”“And then it was clear that he was endeavoring to put his thumb on the scale. He was endeavoring to glower at the justices to kind of intimidate them, almost defy them to rule against him,” he continued. “And what was remarkable, and this really is a testament that our system of checks and balances is working, that it's a coequal branch of government. Donald Trump is a guest in the Supreme Court. This is Chief Justice Roberts’ house. And there was not a mention, they did not miss a beat when he walked in, the courtroom got quiet. When he walked out, no one missed a beat.” - YouTube youtu.be
Far Left
Raw Story
'Bondi is not the last one': Insiders reveal Trump eyeing cabinet purge amid war fallout
President Donald Trump is actively considering a “broader cabinet shake-up” following his high-profile firing this week of Attorney General Pam Bondi, White House insiders revealed to Reuters in its report Saturday."Let's just say, based on what I have heard, Bondi is not the last one,” one White House official told the outlet, speaking on the condition of anonymity.Trump fired Bondi this week after growing frustrated over her inability to secure criminal convictions of his perceived enemies, as well as her handling of the Justice Department’s release of Jeffrey Epstein files, reports have suggested. Bondi’s firing came just weeks after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was ousted by Trump, the first high-profile cabinet-level shake-up of Trump’s second term.Since Bondi's removal, Trump has continued to grow "increasingly frustrated with the political fallout from the war with Iran,” Reuters reported, and is actively considering firing more of his top administration officials.“A shake-up to show action is not a bad thing, is it?" another White House official told Reuters, also speaking on the condition of anonymity.While sources told Reuters that Trump has yet to commit to firing a specific cabinet member, “several of the sources” said that the president has been asking allies their thoughts on “potential replacements” for National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard. The sources told Reuters that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was also potentially “on the chopping block,” the outlet reported.Trump’s alleged frustrations with the political fallout from the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran was exacerbated, Reuters reported, by the president’s addresses to the nation this week, which one White House official said did not go well.“The speech did not accomplish what it was supposed to,” an official told Reuters, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Voters tolerate ideological messaging, but they feel fuel prices immediately.”
Far Left
Axios
Second crew member from F-15 downed in Iran rescued by U.S. forces: Officials
U.S. special forces rescued the second crew member of the F-15 fighter jet that was shot down over Iran, three U.S. officials tell Axios. Why it matters: The shootdown was a nightmare scenario for the U.S. military, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also racing to locate the missing U.S. officer in southwest Iran over the past 36 hours. Both crew members have now been rescued.One of the U.S. officials said the operation was conducted by a specialized commando unit with a high volume of air cover, and that all of the forces are now out of Iran.Behind the scenes: According to two sources, the F-15 pilot and weapons systems officer both made contact via their comms systems after ejecting.The pilot was rescued several hours after the plane was shot down. It took more than a day to locate and rescue the second crew member.U.S. special forces were deployed on the ground in Iran on Friday and again on Saturday as part of the search and rescue mission.Zoom in: On Saturday, the second crew member was located and a rescue operation began — with the IRGC also sending forces to the region to prevent it.U.S. Air Force jets conducted strikes against Iranian forces to prevent them from reaching the area, the sources said.President Trump and senior members of his team followed the rescue operation from the White House Situation Room.During Friday's rescue of the pilot, Iran struck a U.S. Blackhawk helicopter participating in the operation. Crew members were wounded but the helicopter was able to fly on.Go deeper: Trump threatens Iran with "hell" if Hormuz strait isn't open in 48 hours
Center Left
Axios
Trump threatens to break NATO's promise over Iran war
NATO is a promise, and now it's broken.The big picture: The alliance was built on the premise that an attack on one member is an attack on all. President Trump has made that conditional: if you won't help me in my war, I might not show up for yours.NATO's mutual defensive framework doesn't actually apply in the case of Iran, a war taking place far from the alliance's territory. But it could be the death knell for the most powerful and consequential alliance of the past eight decades.Driving the news: Trump and his team have fumed at several NATO allies for denying the U.S. logistical help or access to their airspace or military bases to carry out attacks against Iran. He's called them "cowards" for refusing to join the war to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration would now "have to reexamine the value of NATO." Trump said he might withdraw altogether.The flip side: For their part, allies have noted that Trump launched the war without their input or any international legal framework — and created the Hormuz crisis he's now demanding they resolve. Flashback: This all comes months after Trump threatened to seize Greenland, a territory of ally Denmark, and impose tariffs on any other allies who stood in his way.That was one of several increasingly existential crises for NATO that have erupted, then died down, over Trump's two terms.Until now, allies have managed to "muddle through," in part by pursuing personal relationships with Trump and via various accommodations, like agreeing to buy U.S. weapons for Ukraine when Trump refused to provide them, notes Thomas Wright of the Brookings Institution.NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will surely try to patch things up over Iran when he visits D.C. next week.Friction point: Taken together, Greenland and now Iran have forced European leaders to confront the need for a security architecture that could stand without the American pillar.Even if they stick to their newly robust spending commitments, though, it would take several years to be able to "defend and thereby deter Russia," and perhaps a decade to fully replace the U.S., says Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO.He says NATO remains operational and stands ready to respond to any urgent threats, such as a drone incursion."The big question is, let's say there is an actual armed attack on NATO. Would there be a political decision [by Trump] to come to the aid of that ally?" wonders Daalder.Trump has given ample reason in the past, and even just this week, to suspect the answer might be no.For the allies who share a border with an expansionist Russia, that's a very worrying prospect.Zoom in: The Iran war is shaping up as a strategic windfall for Moscow, boosting oil revenues and diverting Western attention — all while straining NATO.Russian officials and state media are openly reveling in Trump's attacks on the alliance, casting them as validation of Europe's weakness and self-sabotage.Surging oil prices — coupled with Trump's "temporary" easing of sanctions — are pumping billions into Russia's war chest while highlighting the depths of Europe's energy fragility.A furious Trump reportedly threatened to stop selling weapons to Ukraine via NATO if European allies refused to help open the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Financial Times.What to watch: While Trump is once again dangling a NATO departure, a 2023 law co-sponsored by Rubio states that no president can withdraw without Congress. However, the courts could well side with Trump if he decided to test it, Daalder says.Regardless, without unyielding U.S. commitment to the Article 5 mutual defense clause, NATO has already been significantly undermined.The bottom line: When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked this week if the U.S. still stood by Article 5, he deferred to Trump, but added "you don't have much of an alliance if you have countries that are not willing to stand with you."
Center Left
NBC News Politics
As Trump rails against NATO, secretary general heads to Washington
NATO’s secretary general is heading to the White House next week as President Donald Trump lashes out over European allies’ refusal to join the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran.
Center Left
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Raw Story
Bondi's portrait discovered in DOJ trash can hours after Trump dumped her: MS NOW
The speed at which the Department of Justice employees literally threw away Pam Bondi tells you everything you need to know about how despised she was by career officials.According to reporting from Ken Dilanian and Carol Leonnig obtained by MS NOW, "Within hours of the news that President Donald Trump had fired Pam Bondi as attorney general, images began circulating of her framed portrait, unceremoniously removed from its place of honor near the president and vice president on the walls of Justice Department offices."One photo showed Bondi's portrait directly in a trash bin.The swift disposal isn't coincidental. Current and former DOJ officials confirmed it reflects how deeply unpopular Bondi had become — so much so that thousands of career employees left the department rather than follow her orders, with dozens more forced out.The animosity stems from an incident early in her tenure that crystallized her contempt for DOJ's professional workforce. Bondi entered a secure area of the national security division and discovered that portraits of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former Attorney General Merrick Garland were still hanging on the walls after Trump's inauguration.She demoted a respected career veteran over the pictures.Bondi later recounted the episode on Fox News, painting it as evidence of Democratic disloyalty among DOJ employees."I went up on the seventh floor, which is the national security division. The entire floor is a SCIF, so no one can get in there. So I was able to get the code, open the door, and I look on the wall and see President Biden, Kamala Harris, and Merrick Garland's paintings still hanging.""I personally took all three photos down," she boasted. "I put them in front of someone who said to me, 'Oh well, maintenance is really slow here.' I said, 'Well it took me about 30 seconds to get them off the wall.'"The irony is searing: nearly all of the senior career officials Bondi suspected of disloyalty had served loyally and ably throughout Trump's first term without incident. They viewed her power play over portraits as petty vindictiveness masquerading as loyalty testing.Now that Bondi has been shown the door, many DOJ veterans are quietly celebrating — and literally throwing away the evidence of her tenure.Portraits of Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly tossed into trash bins at Justice Department after Donald Trump fired her. - MS NOW[image or embed]— AZ Intel (@azintel.bsky.social) April 3, 2026 at 9:36 AM
Far Left
Alternet.org
Trump’s solicitor general 'just lying' to the Supreme Court: legal experts
President Donald Trump is facing off against the U.S. Supreme Court as part of his ongoing effort to bully his way into remaking the country in his image. It could also be only the first example. Speaking about his trip to the Court this week, Emily Bazelon, a staff writer for The Times Magazine, chatted with opinion columnist David French about the proceedings that legal analysts agree did not go well, with Trump looming in the audience.Bazelon called Trump's flex a provocative political stunt, doubting its legal merit against the 14th Amendment, the Wong Kim Ark case (1898) and longstanding statutes. "To me, this is the headline: Trump Trolls America. Because I don’t think the administration is making a serious legal argument," she said. Criticizing Solicitor General D. John Sauer's "revisionist" history, Bazelon pointed to a moment in which the Trump lawyer outright misrepresented a 1921 law review article. Normally, lawyers trying to make a case before the Supreme Court cite the law itself, or conversations around making the law. "Evan Bernick, a law professor, posted excerpts from that article to show that the solicitor general got it wrong," said Bazelon. While Sauer cited part of the review to justify those who thought the 14th Amendment to have a "domicile requirement." Meaning, if a family has a child in the U.S. they have to be established in the U.S. They can't simply come to the U.S. as part of "birth tourism," he called it. "Too easy," Evan Bernick said, chipping away at Sauer's argument. "He literally goes on to say that WKA follows the common law and the common law has no domicile requirement.""Here’s the transcript. Sauer is just… lying," he added. At one point, responding to Sauer's claim that it was a "new world," Chief Justice Roberts retorted, "It's a new world, but it's the same Constitution." It indicated skepticism on his part, but it was only the beginning of a very "bad" legal argument, CNN analysts agreed. French focused on MAGA's outcome-driven approach with the textualists crowd, who believe the law applies to exactly what the text says and means at the time it was written. Both note Trump's courtroom attendance was outright bullying, akin to his attacks on "rogue judges."French added that Trump has started to treat the Supreme Court the same way he does with Republicans in Congress."He’s trying to insult, mock and bully them into compliance, but it’s not going to work. With precious few exceptions, the judiciary from top to bottom is unmoved. Judges are not so easily intimidated," said French. Bazelon has another concern, however. Another piece of "law as politics maneuvering that is eating at me," she said," is Stephen Miller. He "has been suggesting that Texas end public school funding for undocumented kids. A 1982 Supreme Court decision, Plyler v. Doe, requires states to pay for the education of all students, no matter their immigration status. But Miller and his allies would like nothing better than to set up a court challenge that could lead to the reversal of Plyler. It’s all in the service of immiserating immigrants to induce them to leave. I hope this is obvious, but taking away school from children — that is a real betrayal."It's only one of the many cases that Republicans have their eyes on. French said that it's time that Congress take the next steps to clarify the vague laws.
Left
US news | The Guardian
Bondi out, Blanche in: what will a new justice department head mean for the Epstein investigation?
Bondi, reportedly ousted due to her botched handling of Epstein files, is still set to testify before Congress on 14 AprilSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxAs news emerged this week presaging Donald Trump’s dismissal of Pam Bondi, one of his motivations reportedly related to her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigative files.While the new acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, insisted he had “never” heard the president say “that anything that happened to her had anything to do with the Epstein files”, it’s clear the issue has dogged Bondi throughout her tumultuous tenure. Continue reading...
Center Left
Raw Story
Bondi firing forces top Republican to scramble ahead of high-stakes Epstein testimony
Top House Republicans were reportedly scrambling after Attorney General Pam Bondi's firing threw a wrench into her possible testimony on files related to Jeffrey Epstein."Since Pam Bondi is no longer Attorney General, Chairman Comer will speak with Republican members and the Department of Justice about the status of the deposition subpoena and confer on next steps," a spokesperson for the GOP-controlled House Oversight Committee told NBC News correspondent Ryan Nobles."I don't think Democrats are going to give up on that conversation easily," Fox News host Shannon Bream noted on Thursday.One Fox Business anchor pointed out that the Trump administration had fallen short after promising transparency on the Epstein files."Wasn't she subpoenaed by a House committee on the Epstein files?" he asked. "I think, so I don't know if that's, maybe that doesn't happen now.... There were these big promises... big promises of information. And then it always seemed like it. It was a thud, a dud. Nothing happened. And people were like, wait a second. We thought we were going to get transparency. It feels like we're just getting obfuscation."
Far Left
Raw Story
Pam Bondi breaks silence after firing with carefully worded post
Shortly after news broke that President Donald Trump fired her, Attorney General Pam Bondi took to X to announce the departure on as close to her terms as she could manage."Over the next month I will be working tirelessly to transition the office of Attorney General to the amazing Todd Blanche before moving to an important private sector role I am thrilled about, and where I will continue fighting for President Trump and this Administration," wrote Bondi."Leading President Trump’s historic and highly successful efforts to make America safer and more secure has been the honor of a lifetime, and easily the most consequential first year of the Department of Justice in American history," she continued. "Since February 2025, we have secured the lowest murder rate in 125 years, secured first-ever terrorism convictions against members of Antifa, shattered domestic and transnational gangs across the country, taken custody of more than 90 key cartel figures, and won 24 favorable rulings at the Supreme Court.""I remain eternally grateful for the trust that President Trump placed in me to Make America Safe Again," Bondi concluded.Trump has reportedly been frustrated with Bondi for months, ever since her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case review began dominating the news and tore a rift among his supporters. However, some reports also suggest Trump's inner circle suspected her of tipping off Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) that the Justice Department planned to release embarrassing files on him.
Far Left
Truthout
Trump Slashed Medicaid. Now He Says US Can’t Fund It Because of His War on Iran.
The president's comments come as the Pentagon seeks $200 billion to continue funding the unpopular, destructive war.
Far Left
Trigger