President Donald Trump has communicated to the American people through multiple channels about the objectives of his “Operation Epic Fury” — the large-scale military campaign now underway against Iran — though critics contend those objectives continue to shift.

According to The Economist's Middle East correspondent Gregg Carlstrom, "Trump is basically calling up every journalist in his phone to workshop different timelines and goals for his war."

Overnight, Carlstrom wrote that in the past two days, Trump told several different media outlets about various goals for the war.

He told The Washington Post that the aim is "freedom for the people" of Iran, Carlstrom wrote.

Trump told Axios that maybe we can "end it in two or three days" with a deal.

He told The New York Times that it might be "four to five weeks," and said that he has "three very good choices" for who might take control in Iran.

But then, Carlstrom wrote, Trump told ABC News, "actually, nevermind, we killed those choices."

"He doesn't sound convinced by any of it," said Carlstrom. "He's throwing spaghetti at the wall. Ultimately I suspect he just wants to say he 'solved' a problem that has vexed every American president since Jimmy Carter."

"But there's no clear idea what that looks like and no plan for how to get there. And there are plenty of possible scenarios in which Trump declares victory and leaves the region with an absolute mess," he warned.

Others appeared to agree.

New York Times conservative columnist David French, an Iraq War veteran, responded to Carlstrom, saying: "This is an absolute mess."

Historian Timo R. Stewart wrote: "Throwing spaghetti at the wall is an apt summary of the White House's chaotic messaging related to the war that has just begun."

Journalist Alan Friedman added, "No one ever accused the Trump administration of having a clear strategy on matters of tariffs, trade wars, invasions, kidnappings, threats against Greenland or his new war of choice against Iran. He is making it up as he goes along, folks. Hard to believe, but this is improv."

National security expert Marc Polymeropoulos wrote, "I’m sure someone will say this is deliberate deception, part of his brilliance…."

Legal and voting rights experts are sounding the alarm after a Washington Post bombshell report revealed that President Donald Trump — who has been insisting on federalizing voting and has issued an executive order to pressure states to require proof of citizenship for voter registration — is now being urged by activists to sign an executive order declaring a voting "emergency."

The proposed 17-page order would "unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting,” the Post reported, noting that the proposal "claims China interfered in the 2020 election" which would be the "basis to declare a national emergency."

Former Trump national security official Miles Taylor warned that the "biggest electoral crime in American history might be unfolding."

"The president cannot seize control of state-run elections by declaring a fake 'emergency.' There’s no statute that permits it," wrote Fair Fight Action communications director Max Flugrath. "Reviving debunked conspiracy theories to force changes before a major election is what politicians do when they believe they’re going to lose."

Flugrath added that the Post's reporting follows up on an October New York Times investigation which found "that Trump officials discussed a fake 'national emergency' to force new election rules on states. A DHS official said it could allow Trump to 'go around Congress' and take over elections."

“What a gift such a clearly unconstitutional executive order would be!" election security expert David Becker told CBS News' Scott MacFarlane. "Though divorced from legal and factual reality, it would enable the courts to invalidate this power grab well in advance of the election, and confirm the clear limits to fed'l interference in elections."

Prominent elections attorney Marc Elias wrote, "My team and I have been anticipating this for months. It is unconstitutional and illegal. The media should note: Last time he issued an EO about voting, we sued and won. If Trump issues such an order we will sue again and we will win again."

"Far right voices in Colorado," journalist Kyle Clark noted, "have long called for this step as a prelude to military tribunals and mass executions."

U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) said, that there is "no national emergency exception" to Article 1, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.

"States regulate elections unless Congress passes law," he added, stating that is why Trump "desperately" wants to pass the SAVE Act, "to suppress voting."

The NAACP called the proposed executive order a "dangerous proposal," and "a direct assault on our democracy."

Former WBZ-TV anchor Liam Martin commented, "I tend to think even this SCOTUS would block an attempt to federalize elections. But what Trump and his team are doing is setting the stage to declare the midterms void and refuse to seat the new members. What do we do then?"

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer appears to be changing his tune on Howard Lutnick, now suggesting that it is "very possible" he might subpoena him after the Trump Commerce Secretary allegedly lied before Congress about the extent of his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Just two weeks ago, MS NOW reported that Chairman Comer had dodged questions about subpoenaing Lutnick.

Asked at the time if his committee had any plans to subpoena the Commerce Secretary, Comer instead replied, "Well, we're going to try to get these five [witnesses] nailed down. We've got a lot of very important people we're trying to bring in to answer questions."

On Thursday, the question came up again, and Comer offered reporters a different perspective.

Asked if "in the spirit of bipartisanship" he would request Lutnick testify, Comer replied it was "very possible, and I think it's a good possibility his name will arise on some questioning today" as the Committee deposes former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) said Lutnick was on her list to talk about with Clinton.

According to The Independent, Comer's "suggestion that Lutnick could soon be facing a congressional subpoena comes after weeks of increased scrutiny of his relationship with Epstein, his onetime next-door neighbor in New York, after documents released by the Justice Department showed that he’d lied during an interview with the New York Post in October."

Lutnick had "claimed to have cut off contact with Epstein after a 2005 encounter that he claimed had left him so unsettled that he’d vowed to 'never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.'"

Documents from the Epstein files showed that Lutnick had continued to maintain a relationship with Epstein as recently as 2018 — "long after" Epstein had "spent time in jail for state-level offenses related to his preying on young girls," The Independent reported.

Q: “Would you ask the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, to come testify?”
Rep. Comer: “That’s very possible, I think it’s a good possibility that his name will arise in some questioning today.” pic.twitter.com/BF6YXBo2oa
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) February 26, 2026

The billionaire head of a Berlin-based global mass media behemoth that owns influential outlets including Politico, reportedly met with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles on Wednesday.

Mathias Döpfner serves as chairman and CEO of Axel Springer SE, a publishing group that operates in dozens of countries and counts U.S. private equity firm KKR — co‑founded by Republican donor Henry Kravis — among its principal owners. According to Forbes, Kravis gave one million dollars to Donald Trump's 2017 inauguration committee.

In the U.S., Axel Springer also publishes Business Insider and Morning Brew.

New York Times media reporter Ben Mullin reported that Wiles met with Döpfner in, according to a source, "an introductory, get-to-know-you meeting."

The meeting comes just one day after President Donald Trump delivered his controversial State of the Union address and less than nine months before the midterm elections.

Döpfner sent an email to his top executives before the 2020 election, asking if they would like to join him to pray for the re-election of Donald Trump, according to reports. The email came one year before Axel Springer sealed the deal to purchase Politico.

“Do we all want to get together for an hour in the morning on November 3 and pray that Donald Trump will again become President of the United States of America?” Döpfner wrote in the email, The Daily Beast reported, citing an article in The Washington Post.

“No American administration in the last 50 years has done more,” Döpfner added.

“When asked about the message,” The Daily Beast reported, “Döpfner initially denied it existed, going so far as to say: ‘It has never been sent and has never been even imagined.’ When confronted with a printout of the email, he explained that he may have sent it ‘as an ironic, provocative statement in the circle of people that hate Donald Trump.’ ‘That is me,’ he added. ‘That could be.'”

In a 2022 analysis titled "The Scandalous History of America’s Newest Media Baron," Foreign Policy reported: “The new owner of Politico, Axel Springer, has a decades-long record of bending journalistic ethics for right-wing causes.”

President Donald Trump was confronted with a sign held by a Democratic congressman that read, "Black People Aren't Apes," as he entered the chamber and began to deliver his State of the Union address.

U.S. Rep. Al Green (D-TX) held up the sign before House Majority Leader Steve Scalise tried to remove it from him. Minutes later, as the president was speaking, Green was reportedly removed from the chamber.

Rep. Al Green brought a sign: “Black people aren’t apes.” #StateOfTheUnion pic.twitter.com/wcDq5cIwl0
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) February 25, 2026

The sign apparently referred to video President Trump posted to his Truth Social account that included a meme of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama depicted as apes. The video received widespread bipartisan condemnation before Trump removed it. He refused to apologize for it.

Here is Rep. Al Green holding up a sign that according to CNN's Manu Raju said "Black people are not apes” before Steve Scalise pulled it down pic.twitter.com/chrxydRYIw
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 25, 2026

Republicans in Congress are so divided they may not be able to pass legislation to further President Donald Trump's and the Republican Party's agenda — namely, a budget reconciliation bill that builds on Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

GOP lawmakers are attempting to stuff a legislative package with a wide variety of goals, including health care reform, tax cuts for the working class, voting legislation, and methods to reduce the deficit.

According to The Hill, "none of those legislative goals has the same support across the Senate and House GOP conferences that tax reform and major defense and homeland security spending initiatives had last year."

A massive budget reconciliation bill does not appear to appeal to the president.

"It’s a tacit recognition that Trump is unlikely to muster the near-unanimous votes he needs to pass major partisan bills through Congress at a time when the federal debt has ballooned to nearly $39 trillion and Republicans up for reelection in swing states are worried about facing Democratic attack ads in the fall," The Hill noted.

“It doesn’t seem to me that there’s a plan for a second reconciliation bill and I don’t know how you could do one in the House,” a Republican senator, referring to the GOP House's razor-thin majority, told The Hill. “The president says it’s not a good idea. At the moment, I don’t see reconciliation as a likely aspect of the remaining months this year.”

Some Republicans in the Senate appear to be ignoring the odds and are pushing forward — they just can't agree on what they want to include in the legislative package.

“I don’t care how we do it but we’ve got to get health care costs down. The best way to do it is get the consumer involved,” said U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), who wants to funnel taxpayer dollars into individual health savings accounts called Trump Health Freedom Accounts.

“I believe that we can do this. We’re going to be up here the rest of the year. We got to get some things done,” Scott added. “The American public demands that we accomplish some things.”

U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) wants to go in a different direction — finding funding to restore the Affordable Care Act premium subsidies that Republicans let lapse in the fall against Democratic support for the programs.

“I do want them addressed. I’m very concerned that people are losing their insurance, they simply can’t afford it. We do need to reform the whole health care system and bring down the costs,” Collins said.

It may all come down to process.

Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune "doesn’t want to risk a protracted negotiation over a budget reconciliation bill only to have it blow up on the Senate floor — an embarrassment that befell the GOP effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act during the first year of Trump’s first term in 2017."

Several top Democrats are sounding the alarm after the Gang of Eight met this afternoon behind closed doors with top administration officials in a meeting rumored to focus on President Donald Trump's intentions for war against Iran — just hours before the State of the Union address.

Trump has been amassing in the Middle East one of the largest collections of military assets since the 2003 Iraq War, and has warned Iran to stop its nuclear program, saying “bad things” or a “very bad day” will follow if Tehran does not agree to a deal.

“I'm very concerned," U.S. Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) said after exiting the Gang of Eight intelligence briefing, according to foreign policy reporter Laura Rozen. The Gang of Eight is a small group of top congressional leaders who are entrusted with some of the nation’s most sensitive classified intelligence briefings.

"Wars in the Middle East don't go well for presidents, for the country, and we have not heard articulated a single good reason for why now is the moment to launch yet another war in the Middle East,” Himes, the Ranking Member on the House Intelligence Committee, added.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed the eight members at the White House, CBS Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Margaret Brennan reported. CIA Director John Ratcliffe was also reportedly in attendance.

Senate Intelligence Democratic Vice Chairman Mark Warner told reporters, "this is an extraordinary serious time, serious moment in the Middle East, serious moment for America," according to News Nation's Kellie Meyer.

He also called on Trump to make the case for "what our country's goals are, what our country's interests are and how we're going to protect American interests in the region."

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer commented, "This is serious, and the administration has to make its case to the American people."

Ominous words from Sen. Schumer after the Gang of 8 briefing on Iran pic.twitter.com/VTiSSBaDK2
— jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) February 24, 2026

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has permanently blocked the release of former Special Counsel Jack Smith's report on President Donald Trump's alleged removal, retention, and refusal to return classified documents.

Politico's Kyle Cheney reported the news.

In a fifteen-page order, Judge Cannon restated that she had found the appointment of Special Counsel Smith was unlawful and therefore any "actions that flowed" from the appointment were "unlawful exercises of executive power."

Cannon wrote that Attorney General Pam Bondi or her successors or any other Department of Justice officials are prohibited from releasing or sharing the report, known as Volume II, anywhere outside the DOJ.

She also wrote that she agrees that releasing the report would be unfair to President Donald Trump and his former co-defendants, Cheney reported.

Cannon wrote that releasing it "would cause irreparable damage to former defendants" and "it would contravene basic notions of fairness and justice in the process, where no adjudication of guilt has been reached following initiation of criminal charges."

Judge Cannon last month had temporarily blocked the release of the report, ABC News reported at the time.

President Donald Trump's Friday got off to a rough start as three critical components of his economic agenda collapsed.

A major economic indicator, gross domestic product (GDP), slowed significantly, dropping to just 1.4% annually as inflation rose. And the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the legal basis for the president’s sweeping global tariffs, ruling that his use of that authority was unlawful.

"U.S. growth slowed more than expected near the end of 2025 as the government shutdown impacted spending and investment, while a key inflation metric showed high prices are still a factor for the economy, according to data released Friday," CNBC reported.

GDP was expected to come in at 2.5%, experts predicted.

For 2025, the president delivered GDP far softer than his predecessor, President Joe Biden, did in 2024.

"For the full year in 2025, the U.S. economy grew at a 2.2% pace, down from the 2.8% increase in 2024," CNBC noted.

Trump and his administration had been aiming for 3% to 4% growth.

"Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in December, "said that it’s been a 'very strong' holiday season for the economy and predicted that the U.S. would end the year at 3% real GDP," CNBC reported at the time.

Meanwhile, inflation "held firm in December, according to a gauge most closely watched by Fed officials that increased 3% from a year ago," CNBC added, meaning that overall prices are three percent higher than they were one year ago.

But for Trump, perhaps the most devastating news came from the Supreme Court, where Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for a 6–3 majority, said Trump had acted outside his authority by unilaterally imposing global tariffs without congressional approval.

Critics were quick to weigh in.

"The 'Trump economy' is a story of lost jobs, and higher prices, caused by greed, corruption and incompetence," noted professor and investor Adam Cochran.

"It's hard to imagine a ruling that cuts more deeply to the heart of Trump's identity in public life," Politico's Kyle Cheney wrote, "he has linked his presidency to the ability to use tariffs as a deal-making cudgel and bend other global powers to his will."

Aaron Fritschner, Deputy Chief of Staff for U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) wrote simply, "He’s gonna be big mad."

A former Bush Justice Department official is warning President Donald Trump against smearing the U.S. Supreme Court after the justices delivered a highly anticipated ruling that struck down the legal foundation of his sweeping global tariffs — a major setback for his economic agenda.

“It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think,” the president said on Friday, as the Guardian reported. Trump said he was "ashamed" of the six justices who sided with the majority opinion. "Absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country.”

“They’re just being fools and lapdogs for the Rinos [Republicans in name only] and the radical left Democrats, and not that they should have anything at all to do with it,” Trump added. “They’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our constitution.”

John Yoo, the prominent Bush administration Deputy Assistant Attorney General known for writing what have been called the "torture memos," appeared on Fox News on Friday and warned the president.

"I think President Trump would be wise to no longer call the justices somehow tools of foreign influence," he said, reminding him that the Roberts Supreme Court has been giving him "a number of wins."

Yoo also noted that, had he been at the DOJ under President Trump, he would have been "shuddering" when he heard him speak about the court as he did, "because President Trump has got a number of other big cases pending at the court, like whether it can fire the heads of independent commissions, whether it can fire a governor of the Federal Reserve Board, whether redistricting can go on."

Even Fox News is telling Trump to pump the brakes on accusing SCOTUS of being controlled by foreign actors, reminding him he has other "big cases" before the court.
John Yoo: "I think President Trump would be wise to no longer call the justices somehow tools of foreign influence."
[image or embed]
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona.bsky.social) February 20, 2026 at 2:31 PM

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent delivered an alternative interpretation of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on Friday that struck down the legal basis for the president’s sweeping global tariffs, which the justices ruled was an unlawful use of executive authority.

“President Trump will always put our national security and Americans first," Bessent told the Economic Club of Dallas, as Mediaite reported.

"Let’s be clear about what today’s ruling was and what it wasn’t. Despite the misplaced gloating from Democrats, ill-informed media outlets, and the very people who gutted our industrial base — the court did not rule against President Trump’s tariffs," Bessent insisted.

Rather, he continued, the six justices "simply ruled that IEEPA authorities cannot be used to raise even $1 of revenue.”

He vowed that the Trump administration would "invoke alternative legal authorities" to replace the vehicle used to collect tariffs, which he said would be "virtually" equal to the level that was previously being collected.

The Secretary, commenting on whether consumers will get refunds from the approximately $175 billion in tariffs already collected, also said, "I got a feeling the American people won't see it."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Political commentator and strategist James Carville says the Epstein files scandal is not ever going to go away.

"It's never gonna go away, and if you think about it, it can't go away," Carville told to Al Hunt on their Politicon podcast.

"What do you have?" he continued. "You have a really rich guy, filthy rich ... with a glamorous woman who's harvesting young women around the world. You got princes, and Ivy League professors, and politicians, and bankers, and sports organizers, and didn't get all of that. And then you got a dead body."

"And then you got secrecy everywhere, and it's not going away 30 years from now. They're gonna still be digging through that stuff. They lied about everything," Carville said.

"There's nothing you can say to make this go away," he continued. "And there's so much s — — we don't know."

"You know, I didn't — I must say, six months ago, I did not think that the Epstein issue would still be with us, and certainly not with us through the 2026 campaign," Hunt said. "I was wrong."

"There are three reasons it's not going away. Number one, the dissembling, by the White House, and its subsidiary, the Justice Department — there clearly is a cover up of some stuff," he added.

"Two, Ro Khanna, a liberal Democrat, and Tom Massey, a conservative Republican, are leading the fight for full exposure. They have proven to be bulldogs, and they won't give up," Hunt said.

He added that the third reason the Epstein files are here to stay "is those victims, the women who have courageously spoken up against the sexual abuse trafficking of Epstein and his accomplice, Maxwell, won't be silenced until the Justice Department ends this limited hangout approach."

Hunt also pointed to "a headline in Wednesday's Washington Post, quote, Epstein fallout rattles the globe. Many powerful people face consequences," which he noted was "true in every place but the Trump administration."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

President Donald Trump expressed frustration with the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, telling steel workers that he has had to wait "many months" for a decision on the tariffs case, even though tariffs are still being collected.

The court hear oral arguments on November 5 — three and a half months ago — and a decision could come as soon as Friday. It is not unusual for the justices to take many months to decide a case.

The court, reports stated, appeared skeptical of Trump's authority to impose sweeping tariffs via executive orders without Congress.

"And to think I have to be, in the United States Supreme Court for many, many months, waiting for a decision on tariffs — without tariffs, this country would be in such trouble right now," Trump said at the Coosa Steel Corporation in Rome, Georgia, in a speech at a GOP-ticketed event.

"Without tariffs, this country would be like your company was two years ago," he told workers. "What a difference it made. And you know who brought the cases against us? People that are China-oriented, people that have business in China that want to rip us off and keep ripping us off."

Trump continued to display his ire.

"I'm waiting for a decision from the Supreme Court. Can you imagine? We have to wait."

"And I have to wait for this decision," he continued. "I've been waiting forever. Forever. And the language is clear that I have the right to do it as president. I have the right to put tariffs on for national security purposes, countries that have been ripping us off."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

A jovial President Donald Trump hosted a Black History Month celebration on Wednesday, ad-libbing many remarks that drew online criticism.

'He's Not a Racist. He's My Friend'

"Talk about a piece of work, but he could fight, couldn't he, huh?" Trump said. "Mike Tyson, boy, I tell you, Mike has been loyal to me. Whenever they come out, they say, 'Trump's a racist.' You know, it's like a saber. 'Trump's a racist.' Mike Tyson goes, 'He's not a racist. He's my friend.' He's been there from the beginning. Good times and bad. But Mike Tyson's a great guy, and he was so loyal, always been loyal."

Trump went on to mention his "great friend," former NFL player Lawrence Taylor, "the greatest defensive player, probably, in the history of football, he's a great friend of mine."

Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Trump called Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon "Harmeet Diller," then asked her about suing "extremely discriminatory" Harvard University. "You keep suing them, the h — — with them," he said, to laughter.

"I like the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, which I saved," he claimed — crediting himself for signing bipartisan legislation that secured funding for them in 2019. "They had no funding," he said.

"We took care of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and it was a great thing to do," he added.

'Sometimes, We Have to Force Ourselves Upon Them'

Apparently referring to deploying federal forces into U.S. cities, Trump told the audience, "We're doing it, in a lot of cities. Sometimes we have to force ourselves upon them because they're so bad. And I don't even think they know what's happening to their cities and their towns."

Confusion between The Bahamas and Bermuda

Speaking of former football great and failed Republican senatorial candidate Herschel Walker, whom Trump endorsed, the president said, "Herschel Walker — speaking about loyal — how good a football player was Herschel? Herschel Walker, now he's Ambassador to The Bahamas — I don't know, Bahamas, Bermuda, is he Bahamas? Whatever. It's a nice place."

Nicki Minaj

"Jazz, the blues, from rock and roll to rap, Black artists like Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters — How about Nicki Minaj? Do we love Nicki Minaj? Right? I love Nicki Minaj," Trump said.

"She was here a couple of weeks ago. So beautiful. Her skin's so beautiful. I said, 'Nikki, you're so pure.' Her nails, her nails, they're, like, that long."

"I said, I said, 'Nicki, are they real?' And she said — she didn't want to get into that."

"But she was so beautiful and so great, and she. And she gets it, you know, more importantly, frankly, she gets it."

Trump: Mike Tyson. He has been loyal to me. Whenever they come out and they say Trump is a racist, Mike Tyson goes he's not a racist… Lawrence Taylor is a great friend. pic.twitter.com/TmW1jg0Rtj
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 18, 2026

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared stunned when a reporter asked her for examples of President Donald Trump falsely being called a racist.

The president this week used his statement on the death of Reverend Jesse Jackson to argue that he is not a racist.

“Despite the fact that I am falsely and consistently called a Racist by the Scoundrels and Lunatics on the Radical Left, Democrats ALL, it was always my pleasure to help Jesse along the way,” he wrote.

On Wednesday, a reporter asked, "Where or when does the president believe he's been falsely called racist?"

Leavitt replied, "You're kidding, right?"

"I will pull you plethora of examples," she said, vowing to get her team "going through the internet of radical Democrats throughout the years ... who have accused this president falsely of being a racist, and I'm sure there's many people in this room and on network television, across the country, who have accused him of the same."

"In fact, I know that because I've seen it with my own eyes," she said, before noting that Trump is hosting a Black History Month celebration later on Wednesday.

Trump, she said, will "talk about how his policies are advancing opportunity and prosperity for all Americans through record tax cuts, through the Trump accounts that all Americans can access regardless of race."

"These are a great thing," she continued, before noting that the president "has also awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding to strengthen educational outcomes at historically Black colleges and universities, across the country."

She also said that Trump is "protecting the hard-earned benefits of the 2.4 million Black veterans who honorably served in our nation's armed forces by reducing the Black backlog of veterans waiting for their VA benefits, and for their home loans through the Department of Veterans Affairs."

"So, there is a lot this president has done for all Americans, regardless of race, and he has, absolutely, been falsely called and smeared as a racist, and I'm happy to provide you those receipts," she added.

Reporter: The president said despite the fact that I am falsely consistently called a racist… Where or when does the president believe that he has been falsely called a racist?
Leavitt: You are kidding, right? pic.twitter.com/gcyrS3rV11
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 18, 2026

President Donald Trump said that Americans would see a de-escalation in Minnesota, and a “more relaxed” approach on the ground in Minneapolis after federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in under three weeks. But Attorney General Pam Bondi’s messaging on Wednesday pointed in a different direction.

In a social media post Wednesday afternoon, the attorney general wrote:

"MINNESOTA ARRESTS — I am on the ground in Minneapolis today. Federal agents have arrested 16 Minnesota rioters for allegedly assaulting federal law enforcement — people who have been resisting and impeding our federal law enforcement agents."

"We expect more arrests to come," she added, appearing to suggest the arrests would target Americans who are protesting, rather than undocumented immigrants accused of crimes.

"I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: NOTHING will stop President Trump and this Department of Justice from enforcing the law."

Bondi then posted the names of the people who were arrested, and, in many cases, photos of them standing next to federal officers, who had their backs to the camera. It was unclear why they were identified as "rioters."

Critics slammed the attorney general.

"They’re not arresting the people responsible for the murders of Renée Nicole Good or Alex Pretti," wrote author and activist Lev Parnas. "No — they’re arresting Minnesota citizens and using them as props for a headline. Enough is enough. We need accountability. We need justice. And we are not backing down."

"No deal on ICE," political commentator Keith Olbermann wrote to U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI). "Bondi is boasting that they're rounding up protestors there now."

"It will be interesting to see if these actually hold up in court — DOJ track record under Bondi has not been good," noted The Independent's Andrew Feinberg.

CNN's Aaron Blake appeared to concur, writing, "the Trump admin has repeatedly accused people of assaulting law enforcement -- but then either not actually brought charges or seen the cases crumble."

"There ain’t no walk back," declared The Bulwark's Bill Kristol, appearing to invoke the president's call for de-escalation."They’re still all in on mass deportation and mass intimidation."

"Could we see some video of the 'assaults' you allege?" asked U.S. Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY). "Nobody believes you or your partisan DOJ — which is focused on protestors not ICE murderers."

Just two days after federal agents shot and killed a Minnesota VA ICU nurse, Alex Pretti, setting off massive protests and cementing Democrats to vote against funding for the Department of Homeland Security later this week, President Donald Trump appeared to double down on the administration's efforts, declaring he is now sending his border czar, Tom Homan, to Minneapolis — a move some suggest signals trouble for Secretary Kristi Noem.

Trump's announcement came barely hours after Fox News co-host Brian Kilmeade suggested it on "Fox & Friends."

"What I would do is just bring Tom Homan in," Kilmeade told his colleagues. "Tom Homan's been marginalized. Go in there, Tom Homan's got credibility on the left. He was Barack Obama and Jeh Johnson's main guy. He's got credibility, obviously, on the right."

Homan, Kilmeade suggested, "should go in there, meet with the mayor and governor, and go in there and take charge. He knows this stuff backwards and forwards. There's no more experienced person. He's got the president's trust, but for some reason, it's been marginalized in the Minneapolis operation."

Monday morning, around 8:30 AM, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "I am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight."

"He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there," the president wrote. "Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me."

He continued, declaring that "a major investigation is going on with respect to the massive 20 Billion Dollar, Plus, Welfare Fraud that has taken place in Minnesota, and is at least partially responsible for the violent organized protests going on in the streets."

"Additionally," Trump added, "the DOJ and Congress are looking at 'Congresswoman' Illhan Omar, who left Somalia with NOTHING, and is now reportedly worth more than 44 Million Dollars. Time will tell all. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman reported that Trump sending in Tom Homan will be highly controversial for Senate Democrats, who are already preparing to fight DHS funding.

"As the Senate begins to consider how it may fund the government this week, the president is sending Tom Homan to Minnesota -- something that will not give any comfort to Senate Democrats," Sherman observed.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to suggest Homan will have an outsized role, extending past his "border czar" responsibilities.

"Homan will be managing ICE Operations on the ground in Minnesota to continue arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens," she wrote. "In addition, Tom will coordinate with those leading investigations into the massive, widespread fraud that has resulted in billions of taxpayer dollars being stolen from law-abiding citizens in Minnesota."

Some critics are suggesting that the Alex Pretti deadly shooting may signal the end of Secretary Kristi Noem's tenure at DHS.

"The thing for the W.H. to know here is that Senate Democrats are going to want/insist on significant policy changes on how the Trump administration conducts interior enforcement. Whether it's Homan or Noem at the wheel. Whether they are in Minneapolis or not," Sherman wrote.

Others added more insight.

Axios Trump White House reporter Marc Caputo wrote, "Homan & DHS Secretary Kristi Noem have been at odds."

Vox senior editor Benjy Sarlin noted, "Trump distancing Homan from everything that’s happened so far seems pretty relevant. Some on right have been trying to argue he’s the more competent person to empower over Noem/Bovino/Miller."

Journalist Ahmed Baba wrote, "Prepare for the Trump Admin to blame all this on Kristi Noem and oust her, while Stephen Miller and Trump try to insulate themselves in spite of the fact they’re the driving force behind ICE’s authoritarian escalation. Already seeing leaks from DHS showing anger at Noem."

The top conservative think tank in the United States has released a new policy paper, “Saving America by Saving the Family,” that a New York Times columnist has panned.

Opinion writer Jessica Grose wrote that the Heritage Foundation authors went all the way back to 1776 for their "inspiration." They are calling their report "A Foundation for the Next 250 Years."

“In understanding their crowning achievement, Americans must recognize that the founding fathers were, quite literally, fathers," the report stated. "Fifty-four of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence married and had a total of 337 children among them — an average of six each.”

She commented, "I wondered: Are they counting the six children Thomas Jefferson had with Sally Hemings — whom he enslaved and who could not legally refuse unwanted sex — or not? What kind of example is that supposed to set?"

Grose continued, explaining, "That’s just the opening salvo of this confused, retrograde report, which leaves out a lot of important details from its rose-colored history of marriage and family in the United States."

She called the report "a curious set of guidelines for the future, since it seems mired in culture war battles from the 20th century, unable to face the past 60 years of change."

The Heritage Foundation is the right-wing think tank behind Project 2025, which, it could be argued, is focused on returning America to far more conservative and traditional social, cultural, and institutional beliefs.

Grose noted that Heritage "seems to want to take a time machine back to when women were financially dependent on men and gay marriage was not legal."

She also noted the discrepancies in Heritage's thesis.

"The report’s authors know they can’t tell all women to be stay-at-home mothers (returning the country to 1960s employment levels for women) because that would contradict their other goal, to dismantle the welfare state and put even more work conditions on parents receiving government aid," she wrote, noting that "the bulk of the paper is about ways to whittle down government support for anybody who isn’t part of a traditional married family, ideally with a male breadwinner."

Grose says that on the one hand, "I always marvel at how we agree on some of the problems American families face," yet on the other, can "have completely different solutions."

Other discrepancies Grose pointed to include a poll showing that young male Trump voters see having children as their top measure of success, and marriage as their fourth.

"Instead of looking at these stats and thinking that maybe there’s a deeper problem if only conservative men are bullish about having children," she wrote, "the authors look at the stats and think: If our government only pushed religion and traditional marriage harder legally and culturally, everyone else would fall in line."

Democratic strategist and pundit James Carville, responding to the international outcry and condemnation over President Donald Trump's failed efforts to acquire Greenland, predicted that he will likely lose big in the November midterm elections.

"I think the world wants to return, with the United States as being part of the world," Carville said on his podcast. "And I think the way that that happens is Trump has to be humiliated."

"He has to be electorally humiliated, and I think there's a good, good chance that's gonna happen this November in our elections," he said. "It's not enough that he just walk away, and the Democrats take over the presidency."

There has to be "a well laid plan and strategy to utterly humiliate him, to the point that everybody around the world says, 'This m — —, or no one like this m — —, is gonna ever come back and lead the United States,'" Carville declared.

"I think that's the possibility, and I think if that happens, I think we can renormalize the world a lot faster than most."

"And he's completely crazy," Carville also remarked. "He's going downhill."

According to the New York Post, Trump will be campaigning during the midterm elections as if he were on the ballot.

"President Trump will treat the November midterm election like a presidential campaign, his senior leadership team tells The Post — traveling like he’s on the ballot, flooding key races with cash and hammering home how his policies will help Americans with affordability," the Post reported.

Susie Wiles, Trump's White House Chief of Staff and his former campaign co-chair, told The Post, “He’s going to campaign like it’s 2024.”

President Donald Trump "miscalculated" his level of support — especially on the issues that won him re-election in 2024, and it has "backfired," according to an opinion columnist.

In "Why Trump is failing," Steven Roberts in the Columbia Missourian writes: "Trump has called 2025 'the greatest first year' of any president, but a majority of Americans strongly disagree."

"To hardcore MAGA loyalists, the president can do no wrong. But rabid Red Hats account for only about 35% of Americans," observes Roberts.

He identifies where the president is losing support: "since Trump received almost 50% of the popular vote, that means about 15% of his backers were not true believers, and they are the ones who are slipping away."

Roberts identifies why.

"The single biggest reason Trump won a second term was economic discontent with the Biden administration, and it's the single biggest reason so many voters are now disillusioned," he says, pointing to a CNN poll that, he writes, finds "55% say Trump's policies have actually made things worse and almost two-thirds say he has not done enough to reduce their cost of living."

But Roberts offers more.

He explains that Americans supported Trump's policies on immigration when it was about immigrants at the border.

"They were 'others': easy to demonize and dehumanize. They had no voice and no identity, and Trump and his media managers could control what voters knew and felt about them."

But, he continues, "Trump miscalculated, and his show backfired," because his targets are no longer "faceless hordes but real people with jobs and families, friends and neighbors."

Then came the shooting of a Minneapolis mother of three, Renee Good.

"The administration tried to brand her as a domestic terrorist who had caused her own demise by driving at the agent. But the videos — seen by more than 80% of Americans — told a different story," he writes. "Good simply did not look like a terrorist. Plus, independent news organizations analyzed the cellphone footage and concluded that it 'contradicted' the official line."

Trump "lost control of the narrative, and public opinion turned against him."

The president's other miscalculation: his stance on the affordability issue, an issue that arguably got him re-elected.

With just 36 percent of Americans saying Trump has the right priorities, Roberts surmises that is simply his "loyal MAGA base."

And he warns that if this trend continues, voters at the polls in November will "take it out on his party."

President Donald Trump on Thursday unleashed dozens of rapid-fire social media posts after what critics described as a difficult few days at Davos. His speech there reportedly further strained relations with U.S. allies, following his Greenland gambit, which produced few if any clear gains and drew criticism over its diplomatic costs. The rollout of Trump’s Board of Peace also struggled to gain traction, with a handful of European allies participating in the inaugural signing ceremony.

In spoke of the more recent posts, Trump went off on "Fake Polls," while admitting that they have his approval rating "in the low 40s," although The Economist shows his net approval rating currently at 37%.

"We have the Greatest Economy in the History of our Country, we have the Strongest Border in History, nobody has ever done a job like I have done, and they have me in the low 40s," he complained. "The Democrats destroyed Healthcare, I’m trying to fix it, and they give me FAKE low numbers. Fake Polls on the Economy, on the Border, on just about everything, are ridiculous and dangerous. The REAL Polls have been GREAT, but they refuse to print them.

"The Times Siena Poll, which is always tremendously negative to me, especially just before the Election of 2024, where I won in a Landslide, will be added to my lawsuit against The Failing New York Times," he wrote. "Our lawyers have demanded that they keep all Records, and how they 'computed' these fake results — Not just the fact that it was heavily skewed toward Democrats. They will be held fully responsible for all of their Radical Left lies and wrongdoing!"

Some posts promoted questionable claims, including suggesting that annualized U.S. GDP grew to more than 5 percent — while most expectations and Congressional Budget Office predictions are currently about half that number.

He promoted a claim that he "helped create 'The Martin Luther King Jr International Freedom Games' in 1966," when he would have been about 20 years old.

Other posts he promoted talked about the U.S. trade deficit, alleged illegal voting in the 2020 election, immigration, tariffs, globalism, Don Lemon, Supreme Court oral arguments for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and one declaring Trump the "greatest President in the world."

Another post offered the transcript and video of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller allegedly claiming, and without evidence, that James Comey, Jim Clapper, John Brennan, Lisa Monaco, and President Barack Obama "all conspired and worked together to sabotage, undermine, unravel, and overthrow the United States government and the democratic institutions and structures of this country."

That post, as Raw Story reported, appeared to be in response to former Special Counsel Jack Smith's currently ongoing congressional public testimony.

Another post included video of Argentinian President Javier Milei attacking "wokeism" while praising the "Americas."

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney drew a standing ovation at the World Economic Forum in Davos after warning that the global order has ruptured.

“Let me be direct: We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Carney said, as The New York Times reported.

“I will talk today about the breaking of the world order, the end of a pleasant fiction and the beginning of a brutal reality where the geopolitics of the great powers is not subject to any constraint,” he explained.

“Every day we are reminded that we live in an era of great power rivalry,” he said. “That the rules-based order is fading. That the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.”

Carney did not say President Donald Trump's name, but he did tell his audience, "recently, great powers began using economic integration as weapons. Tariffs as leverage. Financial infrastructure as coercion. Supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited."

"You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration, when integration becomes the source of your subordination."

He also said that "there is a strong tendency for countries to go along to get along. To accommodate. To avoid trouble. To hope that compliance will buy safety."

"It won’t," he warned.

Carney said that "intermediate powers like Canada, are not powerless. They have the capacity to build a new order that encompasses our values, such as respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the various states."

And he warned that those powers "must act together, because if we're not at the table, we're on the menu."

The Times noted that Carney's speech came "not long after" President Donald Trump "posted an A.I. image on social media that included a map of American flags superimposed over both Canada and the United States," along with the U.S. flag on Greenland, Venezuela, and Cuba.

Very important and very well put remarks by 🇨🇦 PM Mark Carney. It’s time to take down the sign and speak up. pic.twitter.com/Ky00CNMYVM
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) January 20, 2026

The success of the TV show "Heated Rivalry," about two closeted hockey players who fall in love, may be masking the fact that anti-gay bias has "surged particularly sharply" since 2020, say two research psychologists in a New York Times opinion piece.

Five years after the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 decision that found same-sex couples have the same rights and responsibilities to marriage as their different-sex peers, support for gay people began to "sharply reverse," according to Dr. Tessa E.S. Charlesworth and Dr. Eli J. Finkel.

Perhaps most "surprising" are the groups where anti-gay bias is surging.

Charlesworth and Finkel noted that anti-gay bias trends "were distinctly robust among the youngest American adults — those under 25. This group increased its animus against marginalized groups in general and gay people in particular at a faster rate than older Americans did."

"Also surprising is that although anti-gay bias has risen faster among conservatives, it has also risen among liberals," they noted.

A 2024 Gallup poll found that support for same-sex marriage was dropping, especially among Republicans.

When asked if marriage equality should be legal, Republicans’ support fell to 46% from a high of 55% in 2021 and 2022. But support also fell among Democratic and independent voters who were asked the same question.

The percentage of Americans who think homosexuality is morally acceptable had also fallen since 2022’s record high. In that year, 71% thought it was morally OK to be gay, but that fell to 64% in 2023.

Charlesworth and Finkel acknowledge that they are unsure of why support for gay people has reversed.

They speculate that social instability and anti-establishment sentiment could be to blame.

"Gay and lesbian people, newly woven into the fabric of mainstream society, may have been collateral damage in a broader revolt against a system that felt broken, especially among younger generations grappling most intensely with uncertainty about their future," the researchers wrote.

And they issued a warning.

"At a time when social advances can coexist with backlash, watching queer stories on television can feel comforting. But comfort on the couch is not the same thing as progress."

The December jobs report brought unwelcome news for many American households: the job market is cooling, and health care remains one of the few sectors still hiring — as medical costs continue to strain budgets.

“The US economy added just 50,000 jobs in December, capping off one of the weakest years of job gains in decades,” CNN explained.

New York Times economics reporter Ben Casselman noted it was “the slowest pace of growth since 2020.”

“This is pretty wild,” Casselman continued. “Health care & social assistance accounted for essentially ALL of private-sector job growth in 2025.”

Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal, reacted similarly.

“Wow,” she exclaimed. “2025 would have been a year of job LOSS without healthcare and social assistance.”

Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health care policy at KFF, suggested the report landed hard for American households, revealing that in the numbers Long cited is a “double whammy.”

Seeing almost all job growth was in the health care sector, Levitt wrote: “This is, in a sense, a double whammy for affordability.”

“Jobs are hard to come by for many,” he noted, “while job growth in health care is a sign of increasing health care costs.”

In other words, Americans are getting squeezed from two directions.

With fewer jobs, and Americans struggling to find jobs — or good-paying jobs — they may have less income, effectively making goods and services less affordable.

On top of that, there are increasingly higher health care costs to contend with, in part thanks to the increased funds flowing through the health care system, and the increased premiums many using the Obamacare exchanges are seeing.

President Donald Trump faces devastation and humiliation if former Special Counsel Jack Smith is successful with his bid to testify in public before Congress, says a prominent Democrat, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD).

Despite requesting a public hearing, Smith delivered a closed-doors deposition this week before the House Judiciary Committee. As Special Counsel, Smith oversaw two major indictments of Donald Trump, one involving alleged election interference and the other involving his alleged removal, retention, and refusal to return classified documents.

Smith's attorneys are petitioning Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan to allow their client to testify in an open forum, according to Politico.

“[We] reiterate our request for an open and public hearing,” Smith’s lawyers wrote to Jordan. “During the investigation of President Trump, Mr. Smith steadfastly followed Justice Department policies, observed all legal requirements, and took actions based on the facts and the law. He stands by his decisions.”

The attorneys also requested the full eight-hour video of Smith's sworn deposition be released to the public in full.

"According to portions of his statement shared with POLITICO, Smith argued the evidence in his office’s possession would have provided proof of the President’s criminal behavior 'beyond a reasonable doubt.'"

In his opening statement, Politico had reported, Smith "maintained that this team found evidence to prove 'beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power.'”

Democrats opposed holding Smith's deposition in private, and "have argued the decision to hold the private deposition deprived the American public of important information about the president and amounted to an effort to distort the record of Smith’s testimony."

Congressman Raskin, the Ranking Member on the House Judiciary Committee, remains hopeful Chairman Jordan will allow Smith to testify in public.

Speaking to Politico on Thursday, Raskin said, “I think somebody should prepare Donald Trump for it, because he will be devastated and humiliated by what he hears.”

Two top Trump advisers expect rulings from the conservative majority U.S. Supreme Court to help Republicans during next year's midterms — and for years to come.

Chris LaCivita and Tony Fabrizio, who are in charge of President Donald Trump's political operation, "told donors at a Republican National Committee retreat over the weekend that rulings on political contribution limits and congressional redistricting could be transformational for Republicans — if they go the GOP's way," Axios reported.

Despite President Trump's low approval rating and reports numerous House Republicans may be "running for the exits" after the new year, the two Trump advisers "told donors the decisions by the conservative-led high court 'have the ability to upend the political map,' a person in the session told Axios."

One of the two Supreme Court cases involves gutting the Voting Rights Act, which Chief Justice John Roberts's court has been slowly weakening.

The second involves Trump's efforts to push redistricting in red states, an effort to increase the GOP majority in the House of Representatives.

"Court watchers say a majority of the justices appeared poised to weaken the Voting Rights Act based on oral arguments in October," Axios noted. "For years, Republicans have sought to weaken the law, arguing that it's federal overreach and unfairly creates Democrat-friendly districts," while "Democrats say the law prevents discrimination and ensures that minority voters are represented in Congress."

In the redistricting case, oral arguments will be held Tuesday.

Calling it "the most consequential campaign finance-related dispute" since Citizens United, Axios explained that "the justices will decide whether to eliminate a federal law that limits the amount of money big-money party committees can spend in direct coordination with favored candidates."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested that Americans will receive tax "rebates" next year, and promised they will see "bigger paychecks and lower prices" in 2026, while attacking Democrats as "con artists."

"This is going to be President Trump's bread and butter issue: focused on the economy," Leavitt told "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday. "Nobody knows it better than him."

A recent poll found 77% of Americans say the president is not focused enough on the economy. The White House has been claiming Americans will see greater tax refunds next year, and Trump has been talking about tariff dividend checks but not tax rebates.

Previewing the speech on the economy President Trump will make Tuesday evening in Pennsylvania, Leavitt promised the president "is going to give a positive economic, a focused speech, where he talks about all that he and his team has done to provide bigger paychecks and lower prices for the American people."

Polls show Trump's approval rating is the lowest it's been this term, and voters disapprove of his handling of several key issues, including the economy.

Leavitt claimed that Trump "inherited the worst inflation crisis in modern American history from the Biden administration."

Inflation during President Joe Biden's last full month was 2.9%. It rose to 3% in January, about where it stands today.

"Within six months, President Trump signed the largest middle class tax cut in American history, no tax on tips. Overtime. Social Security. And you'll hear stories of everyday Americans tonight who will benefit directly from those tax rebates next year."

While Leavitt repeatedly used the term tax "rebates," it does not appear any such program currently exists.

Leavitt also told Fox News that "the Democrats are the greatest con artists in American politics. They are pretending to champion the issue of affordability when they themselves created the worst inflation crisis in a generation. You can't create a problem and then turn around and say, I'm the best person to fix it."

During President Biden's term, inflation rose to about 9%, largely due to issues surrounding the COVID pandemic, but inflation also fell faster in the U.S. than in many of the world's wealthiest countries.

Leavitt also had sharp criticism for congressional Republicans.

"So, as President Trump has been screaming from the rooftops, Republicans need to remain tough and smart, and they need to be more vocal about touting the accomplishments of this administration."

Leavitt: "As President Trump has been screaming from the rooftops, Republicans need to remain tough and smart, and they need to be more vocal about touting the accomplishments of this administration." pic.twitter.com/i5Ar3oR0fT
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 9, 2025

Several senior members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet began the week Monday morning by denouncing the upcoming nationwide “No Kings” protests scheduled for Saturday. The demonstrations, first held in June to oppose authoritarianism and government corruption, drew millions of participants across the country and are expected to do so again.

As other Republicans last week, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy implied on Monday that congressional Democrats are waiting until after the protests to try to reopen the government. Democrats have put forth multiple pieces of legislation to end the shutdown but Republicans have blocked them.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who last week alleged the rallies are "hate America" protests, has stated repeatedly that he will not bring to the floor for a vote any bill from the Senate to end the shutdown that is not the continuing resolution the House passed weeks ago. Prior to the shutdown, President Trump told congressional Republicans to not negotiate with Democrats.

READ MORE: ‘Cornerstone of American Freedom’: National Security Group Blasts Johnson Attack

"The No Kings protests, Maria, really frustrating," Secretary Duffy told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.

"I mean, this is part of Antifa, paid protesters," he alleged.

President Donald Trump has attempted to designate "Antifa" as a domestic terrorist organization. Antifa is not an organized group.

"It begs the question, who's funding it, but, yeah, Democrats want to wait for a big rally of a No Kings protest, when the bottom line is, who's running the show in the Senate?" Duffy asked, attempting to pin the blame on Democrats.

"Chuck Schumer's not running the show," he said of the Democratic minority leader. "The No Kings protesters, or organizers, are running the show.

"Is AOC threatening a primary against Chuck Schumer. Is she running the show?" he said of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

Duffy insisted, "You need a strong leader in the Senate to take control and make decisions, and Chuck Schumer's blowing in the breeze, he has no power, no authority, because he's given it up to his primary opponent, potentially an AOC, or to the No Kings protest organizers, and it's shameful."

Duffy was not alone.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also blasted Democrats over the No Kings protests.

READ MORE: ‘I Know People. They Don’t Believe That’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Scorches Johnson

"If in fact, they are waiting for this 'No Kings' protest, you know, No Kings means no paychecks. No paychecks, and no government," Bessent also told Bartiromo. "And, Maria, I think the dirty secret here for why this has dragged on for so long is the Democratic friends in the mainstream media have been downplaying the shutdown."

"This is getting serious," Bessent warned, "it's starting to affect the real economy. It is starting to affect people's lives."

Critics blasted the White House.

The Bulwark's founder and publisher, Sarah Longwell, observed: "These guys seem very nervous about the upcoming No Kings protest."

Media Matters senior fellow Matthew Gertz added, "The administration’s target isn’t 'antifa,' it is dissent."

"Nobody is paying us, Sean," wrote Fred Wellman, a pro-democracy podcaster, Army veteran of 22 years who served four combat tours, and a candidate for the U.S. House from Missouri. "We are angry. Welcome to freedom of speech. You must have missed that part of the Constitution when you were partying on MTV."

Sean Duffy: "The No Kings protest, Maria, really frustrating. This is part of antifa, paid protesters. It begs the question who's funding it." pic.twitter.com/UJHsMKBzVM
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 13, 2025

READ MORE: ‘Unfolding Rapidly’: Trump Wants to ‘Stoke Violence’ to Invoke Insurrection Act Says Expert

Shortly after concluding his widely panned 57-minute speech to the United Nations, President Donald Trump declared it was "very well received," but members of the foreign diplomatic corps and others appeared to disagree.

Calling his address to the UN "meandering," The New York Times wrote: "Boasting about his record and assailing the U.N. as ineffective in a nearly hourlong address, he sought to portray himself as the only leader who could solve the world’s problems."

The headline at Axios tells the tale: "Trump's middle finger to the UN: 'Your countries are going to hell'."

"With a few exceptions, Trump garnered very little applause from the leaders and diplomats in the room," the news outlet reported.

READ MORE: ‘Delusional’: Trump Mocked for Nixing Dem Talks Over Bizarre ‘Transgender Operations’ Claim

Indeed, some diplomats reportedly were angered by the American President's remarks.

Washington Post global affairs columnist Ishaan Tharoor reported: "A senior foreign diplomat posted at the UN texts me: 'This man is stark, raving mad. Do Americans not see how embarrassing this is?'"

Former U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica, Luis Moreno, responded, writing: "I speak to a lot of foreign diplomats, journalists, officials and just plain folks. They are simply astounded and speechless on how one man has turned us into a punchline. A very dangerous and reckless one. Americans need to wake up."

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia and professor of political science Michael McFaul remarked: "Trumps UN speech will appeal to his MAGA base, but no one else. Missed opportunity."

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, observed: "Trump just embarrassed our country in front of the entire world at the UN. We heard America in Retreat. For all our partners who still believe in the rule of law, freedom, human rights, and democracy, we need you to step up and lead. It will demand all our collective action."

The Atlantic's Tom Nichols, a retired U.S. Naval War College professor and Russia expert, added: "I would say that it's a dangerous thing to show the world that the American president is clearly suffering from some kind of disordered emotional issue, but by this point, there's not a country on the planet that didn't already know it."

READ MORE: ‘Red Flag’: Stephen Miller Accused of ‘Reviving Fascist Rhetoric’ at Kirk Memorial

President Donald Trump was to meet with Democratic Minority Leaders from the House and Senate ahead of the impending September 30 deadline to avert a federal government shutdown, but minutes before his speech to the United Nations he announced he was putting those talks on hold based on what he claimed are the Democrats' "unserious and ridiculous" demands.

Despite the Republicans having majority control over the House and Senate, Trump claimed Democrats "are threatening to shut down the Government of the United States."

In a lengthy and rambling social media post, he falsely alleged their demands for votes to keep the government open include: "over $1 Trillion Dollars in new spending to continue free healthcare for Illegal Aliens," "force Taxpayers to fund Transgender surgery for minors," "have dead people on the Medicaid roles," "allow Illegal Alien Criminals to steal Billions of Dollars in American Taxpayer Benefits," "try to force our Country to again open our Borders to Criminals and to the World," "allow men to play in women’s sports," and, "essentially create Transgender operations for everybody."

READ MORE: Rubio: Trump to Berate ‘Feckless’ UN for Not Allowing Him to Redevelop Its Headquarters

Trump also claimed Democrats are trying to eliminate the $50 Billion Dollar Rural and Vulnerable Hospital Fund, a concession Republicans agreed to when the ramifications of their $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and Medicare became public.

After repeating his claims and making multiple attacks on them left, Trump concluded, "I’ll be happy to meet with them if they agree to the Principles in this Letter. They must do their job! Otherwise, it will just be another long and brutal slog through their radicalized quicksand."

Democrats are attempting to negotiate with their congressional Republican colleagues and President Trump to re-add healthcare subsidies back into the federal government funding legislation that had been stripped out by the GOP.

Earlier this month, CNBC reported that the enhanced subsidies for the Affordable Care Act's insurance premiums "are set to expire at the end of 2025 if Congress doesn’t intervene."

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"The disappearance of these enhanced premium tax credits — a so-called 'subsidy cliff' — would cause average premiums to rise by about 75%, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group."

Critics blasted the President's remarks.

"This is delusional but you don’t have to read the whole thing," wrote U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT). "Boils down to: he’s shutting down the government because he thinks he’s a king."

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries responded to Trump's message, writing: "Trump Always Chickens Out. Donald Trump just cancelled a high stakes meeting in the Oval Office with myself and Leader Schumer. The extremists want to shut down the government because they are unwilling to address the Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating America."

READ MORE: ‘Red Flag’: Stephen Miller Accused of ‘Reviving Fascist Rhetoric’ at Kirk Memorial