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'Give them a little taste': GOP rep demands Trump bully Democrats 'like you've never seen'

U.S. Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) called for President Donald Trump and his senior administration officials to treat House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer in the same manner they treated Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this year when they appeared to gang up on and berate the Ukrainian president.

President Trump has not met with the Democratic leaders since he took office in January, and canceled a meeting with them slated for last week. They will be meeting in the Oval Office on Monday afternoon to discuss ways to avert a federal government shutdown at midnight on Tuesday.

Congressman Alford, a member of the far-right Republican Study Committee, told NewsNation on Monday, “let’s give them a little taste of what we gave Zelenskyy back in the spring.”

President Trump has falsely claimed that Democrats are “threatening” to shut down the government “unless they can have over $1 Trillion Dollars in new spending to continue free healthcare for Illegal Aliens.”

He, also wrongly, has claimed Democrats want to “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.”

Congressman Alford echoed some of those allegations in his Monday remarks.

“So, this is what they wanted, all this crazy spending, going back to the woke policies and giving illegal aliens health care. Trump said, ‘There’s no way, why should I meet with them?'” Alford said.

“I think, over the last couple of days, he’s rethought that. Let’s bring them into the Oval Office. Let’s give them a little taste of what we gave Zelenskyy back in the spring,” the Missouri Republican declared.

“This is going to be live viewing, I believe, in the Oval Office,” Alford said, “like you’ve never seen before, maybe an hour long meeting, and the American people can see for themselves the ridiculous request and demands as the Democrats hold them hostage.”

Leader Jeffries on Monday told reporters, “We’re headed into the meeting [with Trump] to have a good faith negotiation about landing the plane in a way that avoids a government shutdown but does not continue the Republican assault on the healthcare of the American people.”

Democrats are “using one of their few points of leverage to demand Congress take up legislation to extend health care benefits,” PBS News reported. “Trump has shown little interest in entertaining Democrats’ demands on health care, even as he agreed to hold a sit-down meeting Monday with Schumer, along with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. The Republican president has said repeatedly he fully expects the government to enter a shutdown this week.”

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'Choke on it': Trump dismisses outrage at his political prosecutions

Mediaite reports President Donald Trump shared a message from CNN GOP commenter Scott Jennings telling critics to “choke on it” regarding the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey.

Trump posted a clip Jennings shared to X from his Salem Radio Network show where the CNN senior political analyst dismissed critics claiming Comey’s indictment was personally directed Trump in an effort to target his political enemies.

“When ex-FBI Director James Comey was indicted, the weeping and gnashing of teeth from the ‘nobody is above the law crowd’ could be heard around the world,” Jennings wrote on X. “Spare me your outrage about ‘political prosecutions.’”

Comey was indicted — but just barely — on charges of making false statements to Congress and obstruction of a congressional proceeding, all related to whether he authorized a leak about Hillary Clinton and an investigation into the Clinton Foundation. The evidence from Trump loyalist Lindsey Halligan is based on allegedly contradictory claims from Comey’s then-deputy Andrew McCabe. McCabe admitted to leaking the information but told Congress that Comey only approved of the leak after the fact, likely making the prosecution a hard sell to a criminal jury.

But Jennings tried to frame the indictment as tit-for-tat behavior that Democrats had coming.

“… [P]lease, spare me the outrage over political prosecutions. For all of you who ever said no one is above the law or said that institutions of justice are sacred and cannot be questioned or described to Donald Trump as a 34-count convicted felon, you know what I say? Choke on it,” Jennings wrote.

He went on to claim Trump’s own prosecutions were “political prosecutions … that were clearly novel, and made up just for him, just for politics,” despite a New York jury of Trump’s own peers finding him guilty of falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to a sex industry worker.

And earlier Saturday, on CNN’s “Table for Five,” Jennings failed to point to even one example of former President Biden directing an attorney general to indict and prosecute Trump as Trump has seemingly ordered AG Pam Bondi to do.

The most Jennings could claim was “a Politico story” where Biden “was fuming” privately that then AG Merrick Garland wasn’t working fast enough.

“So, he was publicly fuming privately,” chided CNN panelist and Meidas Touch Gen Z writer Adam Mockler.

“Did he tell Merrick Garland to prosecute these specific people?” demanded another panelist of Jennings.

“I don’t know what he did,” Jennings admitted.

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'Give me a break!' Billy Bush explodes when asked why he laughed during Access Hollywood

Mediaite reports former NBC reporter Billy Bush snapped after being ribbed for not calling out Donald Trump for bragging over his power to sexually assault women.

Bush was the interviewer behind the “Grab ‘em by the p——" Access Hollywood tape that made Trump famous for being a handsy lout.

“I’m automatically attracted to beautiful women — I just start kissing them, it’s like a magnet. I don’t even wait,” Trump told Bush in 2016. “And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the p——. You can do any of that,” Trump said.

Podcast host Jim Acosta pointed out that Bush can be heard laughing in response to Trump’s claims.

“When you think about that day and the stuff that is said on this video and, and, you know, you seem to be laughing along with what he's saying and so on. … Obviously you regret that. Um, what goes through your mind?”

“If you want to say that I failed in that regard, you have every right,” Bush said, but he lost his temper after further grilling from Acosta. “... If people want to say that I’m a terrible person for being in that room and not doing more in this situation then good for you, you high and mighty person, you self-righteous warrior. Good for you.”

“But Billy, I mean, is it being high and mighty?” Acosta asked.

Bush responded that Acosta was “just getting p----- off that [Trump] got away with it, so you’re mad at me? Like, come on, give me a break!”

“I mean, but, you know, that you’re gonna have the folks who say, you had your shot in that moment to tell him, stop acting like a piece of s——,” Acosta persisted. “You’re acting like piece of s——. I guess you would have been fired. You would have been thrown out? I don’t know.”

Bush, the nephew of George H.W. Bush, responded that Acosta was saying these things to trigger online commentary.

“I love you. Jim, and I know you’re doing your job because I can see the comments rolling in there and they’re like, ‘Jim you gotta hold him account. You gotta do it.’ But Jim, if you and I were offline right now, I don’t think you’d be going too hard at me because I think you know it was a s—— situation to be in. A very s—— situation to be in.”

“Yeah. But in hindsight, I mean, all of these women who have said that he assaulted them. The allegations—you mentioned that you would work with him on some pageants. There are allegations about fluid behavior at pageants,” Acosta later prodded.

“He's got a long history. I'm sure he's done all kinds of things. I don't know. But I've definitely engaged you long enough on this topic,” Bush said.

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'So disingenuous': CNN panel pounces GOP strategist's denial of Trump's history

CNN’s “Table for Five” panel pressed Republican strategist Scott Jennings to admit President Donald Trump’s contribution to a decade’s worth of inflammatory rhetoric.

“I'm pretty tired of conservatives gaslighting about the current political environment and Donald Trump's rhetoric when all of this escalation can be traced back to his entrance into American politics,” said Meidas Touch Gen Z writer Adam Mockler. “His claim to fame was saying that Obama wasn't born in America. He was the first presidential candidate to have his crowd chant, ‘lock her up’ about a political opponent. … I've spent all of my formative years throughout high school, throughout college, looking to the president — who I'm supposed to be able to look up to — and seeing somebody who's trying to place blame on the left, who's ramping up the rhetoric constantly.”

“Trump first ran ten years ago. And you’re connecting that to a guy, ten years later, shooting up an ICE facility? Can't you just take responsibility for it on the left?” Scott said, also referencing the assassination of MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk and left-leaning protests against Israel genocide in Palestine. “The left has radicalized to the point of saying, ‘we're done talking, and we're going to start shooting.’”

“I said Donald Trump created this environment over the past decade. You sit here and say, ‘I need to take responsibility.’ I'm a 22-year-old YouTuber. You hold me to a higher standard than the president vomiting vitriol out of his mouth about how the other party is weak and evil.” Mockler said. “He just [called us], the party of hate, evil and Satan. You blind yourself to that, and you're focusing on a 22-year-old YouTuber.”

“There is no evidence whatsoever that the Democrats want to cool anything off since Charlie,” Jennings argued. “They don't vote that way. They don't talk that way. We have people tweeting out here that ‘we're going to deport the CEO of Sinclair [Broadcast Group]’ and ‘we're going to put Elon Musk in prison.’ It is honestly wild out there on the left.”

“Scott, that is so disingenuous,” said CNN commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin. “I have received threats from the right and from the left. The president of the United States would do well to echo [Charlie Kirl’s widow] Erika Kirk, who showed a message of grace and of unity in a moment that called for it. You know that [Mockler’s] generation has never even seen normal politics [thanks to Trump].”

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'They create these myths': George Conway slams Trump

On Monday, September 22, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring leftist Antifa to be a "domestic terrorist organization." Many Trump critics, however, were quick to point out that Antifa is a movement, not an actual organization.

One of those critics is attorney George Conway, a Never Trump conservative and a scathing critic of Trump and the MAGA movement.

During a Saturday morning, September 27 appearance on MSNBC's "The Weekend," Conway argued that Trump's fear-mongering over Antifa is designed to crack down on dissent.

Conway told an MSNBC panel, "It's about creating enemies. It's a classic fascist authoritarian thing to do: You create enemies — perceived enemies — even when they don't exist, and you tell people that they are more organized than they are…. And there's are no ways to create a domestic terrorist organization. The fact is there are ways to prosecute that. A domestic terrorist organization — a real one — would be prosecutable under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1968. Because it would be a racketeering organization committing crimes. But the problem is: Antifa's not an organization."

Conway continued, "You have to have some kind of a structure, an enterprise to have that kick into place. And it doesn't exist. We don't know where Antifa is. There's nobody is in charge of it. It's just a label."

MAGA Republicans, Conway warned, "are trying to create the perception that it is something."s

"They create these myths," Conway told the MSNBC pane. "In Germany, they created the stab-in-the-back myth. It's basically, exactly the same thing. It's designed for the same purpose."

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'Let's crush our enemies': Conservative analysis exposes Trump's contradictions

After MAGA activist and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was fatally shot, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox praised him for welcoming debates with those he disagreed with. And Cox wasn't the only one to argue that Kirk had the right idea by pushing vigorous debates as an alternative to violence.

But when President Donald Trump spoke at a memorial for Kirk in Glendale, Arizona, he called for revenge and told the crowd, "I hate my opponents, and I don't want the best for them."

During a conversation for The Bulwark's vodcast posted on September 27, host Sarah Longwell (a Never Trump conservative and political strategist) and journalist Will Sommer noted the blatant contradictions between praising Kirk as a champion of debate on one hand and calling for retribution on the other.

"At the Charlie Kirk memorial," Sommer told Longwell, "there's this message of forgiveness and having an open heart and welcoming people and then having Donald Trump say: And now, let's crush our enemies."

The message of Trump and his ally Stephen Miller, Sommer added, is "We're going to crush liberals."

Sommer noted that when he was growing up in Texas, he was around a lot of Mitt Romney-type "business Republicans." But with the rise of Trump and the MAGA movement, he lamented, the GOP went "nuts" and took a decidedly mean-spirited turn.

Longwell noted that Kirk was much younger than her and that the media she consumed in the past included the Weekly Standard, the National Review and conservative journalist Jonah Goldberg as well as "heterodox thinkers" like feminist Camille Paglia and the late Christopher Hitchins.

Longwell told Sommer, "Those tended to be sort of my formative people. And I've been thinking, since Kirk's murder, what it would have been like had I grown up with not this sort of intellectual, heady conservatism, but with Charlie Kirk."

Sommer explained, "(Charlie Kirk) was not really this universally loved figure, but he was obviously a very big deal on the right. I think there's a lot of polls suggesting that it was not like he turned all young people into Republicans, but he became very ubiquitous on social media in a way that made being a young Republican seem more reasonable than it once had…. Charlie Kirk was everywhere on social media."

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'Breathtakingly corrupt': George Conway rips Trump's 'revenge tour' after new target named

President Donald Trump may be preparing to send the Department of Justice after another one of his political opponents. Conservative attorney George Conway is arguing that Americans shouldn't see it as anything legitimate, but rather simply one more example of the president carrying out his campaign promise of retribution against his enemies.

During a Friday segment on MSNBC's "The Briefing," host Jen Psaki noted that the New York Times published a new report showing that the Trump administration had subpoenaed records pertaining to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' official travel. According to the Times, it's not clear whether Willis herself is the target of the subpoena, or if she'll end up facing any criminal charges. Conway said the details are less important than Willis being named in the subpoena.

"It's the revenge tour. She's on the list, obviously, and so they're looking for things to find on her. And I guess maybe they think she did something wrong with her reporting of expenses, I don't know," Conway said. "I mean, who knows what this is? And who knows whether it's going to make any sense?"

Willis is best known for her prosecution of Trump for alleged election interference in Georgia in 2020 before the case was put on hold after his reelection last year. She recently lost her appeal to remain on the case after she was removed for having a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. The new federal subpoena into Willis' travel records comes on the heels of Trump's DOJ announcing the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey on two felony counts.

Conway pointed out that interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan just barely managed to secure the indictment against Comey, and no other federal prosecutors in her office helped her argue the case before the grand jury. While one of the three charges she brought to the grand jury was thrown out, she also nearly failed to charge Comey on the other two counts, with jurors almost even split on the decision.

"Now somebody's got to go into that courtroom before a federal judge and prove in front of a jury beyond a reasonable doubt something she couldn't ... show probable cause for," Conway said. "Which is just a very, very low standard."

"This indictment is just quintessentially Trumpian," he added. "It is both breathtakingly corrupt and mind-blowingly stupid."

Watch the segment below:

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'He wanted to see this happen': Haberman reveals Trump's key motive for Comey indictment

President Donald Trump has been repeatedly calling for former FBI Director James Comey to be jailed. However, New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman said that isn't the only reason the president wanted his former FBI director to be indicted.

Comey's indictment on two federal charges — of making false statements and obstruction of justice — is only two pages long, and few details have emerged about the details of those charges. Comey is expected to file a motion to dismiss arguing that he is the victim of vindictive and malicious prosecution. But in a Friday interview with CNN host Anderson Cooper, Haberman suggested the Trump White House primarily sought an indictment against Comey because of how it would complicate his life.

"The first step here. Anderson, is getting the indictment," Haberman said. "And that is something President Trump wanted, and I think that its really important to remember that President Trump is aware that there can be a reputational cost and an actual financial cost to people who are on the receiving end of the criminal indictment. And that is part of the reason why he wanted to see this happen."

"Part of it is also that he believes he was wronged," she continued. "I don't know how far down the road they have thought about whether there would be a conviction, but as I've said, that is the step that they wanted to see first. And I think the bigger question is one, whether this case goes to trial and how a judge views this indictment in light of the circumstances around it, but the other is going to be how many other potential indictments might follow, because his other retribution targets are clearly at risk."

Cooper asked Haberman whether she believed Trump's initial Truth Social post that called on Comey and other political opponents — particularly New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — to be prosecuted was meant to be a private message to Attorney General Pam Bondi, given that he began it by addressing "Pam." Haberman said it was, though Trump later reposted it after taking it down as he "never acknowledges a mistake and always doubles down."

"I don't think that was meant to be a rallying cry that the entire general public heard, but once it was he leaned into it and he told reporters at the White House they have to act, and they have to act fast," she said. "It's a little hard to un-ring that bell, Anderson. We have no idea how this case will play out, but his various statements have given fodder, almost certainly, to Comey's lawyers to argue against this case."

Watch the segment below:

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'Vindictive prosecution': Former DOJ official reveals how Comey can get charges thrown out

For the first time in U.S. history, a former FBI director is now a federal criminal defendant, after President Donald Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted James Comey — who led the bureau during Trump's first administration — on two felony counts Thursday evening. But according to one former federal prosecutor, Comey may end up getting his charges dismissed almost as quickly as they were brought.

During a Thursday appearance on former CNN host Jim Acosta's Substack show, Glenn Kirschner — who was an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia under both Democratic and Republican presidents — declared that September 25, 2025 will one day be remembered as the day that Attorney General Pam Bondi's DOJ permanently lost its legitimacy. He further noted that Comey's legal team has multiple tools at their disposal to get the charges dismissed.

"If you look at the Richter scale on a scale of one to 10 on the prosecutorial misconduct, on the vindictive prosecution front, this is not even on the charts," Kirschner said. "It's a 28 on a scale of one to 10. And I think what we're about to see, Jim, is the most robust motion to dismiss that we have ever seen in the history of our courts."

"We're going to have to go to that old saying that a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich," he continued. "And that is only true if the prosecutor that presents the case to the grand jury is not loyal to the facts, to the law, or to the ethical obligations that he or she has to make a full and accurate presentation of the evidence to the grand jury."

The actual indictment – which is only two pages long — charged Comey on one count of making false statements to Congress, and one count for obstruction of justice. Kirschner said those charges are "not small potatoes" and come with significant maximum sentences if a defendant is convicted. He doubted the ability of acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan — who assumed the role only after her predecessor was ousted for refusing to charge Comey — to be able to secure a conviction. He noted that Halligan was a "repeat beauty pageant contestant" and one-time insurance lawyer with no prior experience as a prosecutor.

"She was also in charge of scrubbing facts from Smithsonian museums," Kirschner observed. "She has zero experience or expertise [and] has never prosecuted so much as a traffic ticket."

The former DOJ prosecutor also opined that Comey has a significant "amount of evidence in support of a vindictive motion to dismiss with prejudice," meaning that the charges would be thrown out without the ability to later be refiled.

"I just can't overstate how powerful that motion is going to be," he added.

Watch the segment below:

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GOP congressman behind Epstein petition impersonates Trump and RFK Jr at campaign rally

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — who President Donald Trump is already trying to defeat in next year's Republican primary — recently tried out his impression of the president in front of a crowd of constituents.

On Thursday, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported that Massie impersonated both Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. while on a campaign stop in Kentucky's 4th Congressional District. The Kentucky Republican did his impersonations of the two men while describing a phone call in which Trump asked Massie his opinion on whether Kennedy could handle being the nation's top health official, given his record of vaccine skepticism.

"He asked me about Bobby Kennedy, he said 'what about Bobby? Is he too much? Is he too much for HHS?'" Massie said, mimicking Trump's speech patterns and facial expressions. "And I said, 'what do you mean, is he too much?' And he said, 'don't you think we need some vaccines?'"

The Kentucky congressman said that even if Trump put "the wildest horse" at the top of every federal agency, they would only change those agencies "one to three percent" because "the bureaucrats are so entrenched." He recalled that Trump then asked him, "are you friends with Bobby," to which Massie said yes, prompting Trump to respond: "Call him up, tell him to get ready."

Massie said he then called Kennedy and told him that he had both good news and bad news. When Kennedy asked him what the bad news was, Massie said, "Trump thinks you want to ban all the vaccines." He then lapsed into his impression of the HHS secretary.

"I never said that," Massie said in a strained voice similar to RFK Jr.'s voice (which is caused by a neurological disorder).

Massie appeared alongside Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) at the Jeptha Creed Distillery in Shelbyville, Kentucky, where Paul doubled down on his support for the embattled congressman.

"[Massie] represents people in Congress who are independent [and] vote for limited constitutional government, regardless of what either party says," Paul said.

The Kentucky congressman has been a thorn in Trump's side throughout his second term, having voted against his signature domestic policy legislation. He's also behind a bipartisan push to force a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives to compel the Department of Justice to release all of its remaining evidence on convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. His discharge petition (which bypasses House leadership to put a bill directly on the floor) is expected to reach the necessary 218 signatures required after Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz) is formally sworn in, after she won a special election earlier this week.

Watch the video of Massie's impersonation below:

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Trump says he hopes new version of TikTok will be '100 percent MAGA'

President Donald Trump on Thursday afternoon signed an executive order declaring that the agreement to reduce China’s stake in TikTok to the level mandated by Congress now satisfies congressional requirements — months after the deadline lawmakers had set. The agreement is reportedly a framework that could still face legal and congressional challenges.

The deal will allow TikTok, one of the most popular social media apps in the world, which serves 170 million Americans, to continue to operate in the U.S.

“Much is still unknown about the actual arrangement, but Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping ‘gave us the go-ahead’ to proceed with the deal. Any major change to the popular video platform could have a huge impact on how Americans — particularly young adults and teenagers — consume information online,” according to the Associated Press. “About 43% of U.S. adults under the age of 30 say they regularly get news from TikTok, higher than any other social media app including YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, according to a Pew Research Center report published Thursday.”

The Washington Post reported that the deal “would create an American version of the popular video app owned by some of the president’s wealthiest supporters.”

“Under the proposed deal, some of the new TikTok U.S. will be owned by corporate interests linked to men known for their longtime support of Trump and the Republican Party, such as Jeff Yass, a co-founder of Susquehanna International Group, and Larry Ellison, a co-founder of Oracle, according to two people familiar with the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal negotiations.”

The President was asked if he has plans to make TikTok “MAGA,” or Make America Great Again, his political slogan and ideology.

“Now that Americans will have operational control” over TikTok, a reporter asked, “do you want to see the algorithm suggest more MAGA related content prioritized?”

“I always like MAGA-related,” Trump said jovially. “If I could, I’d make it 100 percent MAGA-related.”

“It’s actually a good question, but I would, yeah, if I could make it 100 percent MAGA, I would, but it’s not gonna work out that way, unfortunately,” he said.

“No, everyone’s gonna be treated fairly. Every group, every, every philosophy, every policy will be treated very fairly.”

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'Destructive': Legal expert says DOJ staff could 'lose their law license' over Comey case

Former Department of Justice (DOJ) pardon attorney Liz Oyer said Thursday the current DOJ prosecutors "are in a very hard situation where they have to choose between fulfilling their duties to uphold the constitution and follow the rules" when it comes to the potential indictment of former FBI Director James Comey.

During an appearance on MSNBC, Oyer said, "I hope that they choose to lead with integrity and not to let their principles and duties be compromised to achieve a political objective. Essentially, what's happening now is the longstanding practices of the Department of Justice are being turned on their head."

She continued: "Prosecutors are required to start with facts and evidence and pursue cases from there. It is quite the opposite to start with a target and then try to build a case around them, which is what they're being asked to do here."

Oyer called on lawyers to defy the administration's controversial moves.

"This is the type of thing that a lawyer could lose their law license over," she said. "So I hope that people are taking a long view of this within the Justice Department and intend to stand up for what's right."

Oyer maintained that DOJ staff should "allow themselves to be fired or to quit, if that's what it takes to avoid doing something that would be very destructive to our justice system."

Trump's DOJ is expected to indict Comey for allegedly lying to Congress in 2020. The indictment is expected to come from the Eastern District of Virginia, whose new U.S. Attorney, Lindsey Halligan, is an insurance attorney with no prior prosecutorial experience. Halligan replaced former U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert, who was forced to resign after telling Trump he wasn't comfortable bringing charges against Comey or other Trump rivals like New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)

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'They never change': Trump says 'Democrats' to blame for his own proposal

President Donald Trump is blaming Democrats for his administration’s plan not to furlough federal workers if the government shuts down on October 1, but to instead conduct mass firings.

Trump has ordered House and Senate Republicans to not negotiate with Democrats on legislation to fund the federal government, keeping it open after funds run out at midnight on September 30. He canceled a meeting with Democratic House and Senate Minority Leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer on ways to fund the government. And he has repeatedly made false and extreme accusations of what Democrats are asking for in exchange for their votes, calling them “unserious and ridiculous demands.”

The President earlier this week wrongly claimed that Democrats are “threatening” to shut down the government “unless they can have over $1 Trillion Dollars in new spending to continue free healthcare for Illegal Aliens.”

He also, wrongly, claimed Democrats want to “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.”

On Thursday in the Oval Office, Trump was asked why he would fire or lay off federal workers, rather than furlough them, as is the norm during government shutdowns.

“Well, this is all caused by the Democrats,” was the President’s response. “They asked us to do something that’s totally unreasonable. They never change. They want to give money away to illegals, illegally, people that entered our country illegally. They want to give them massive federal money. And we don’t want to do that.”

Trump continued to talk about borders, declaring, “we have absolutely perfect borders, like you haven’t seen in many years,” Democrats, he insisted “want to open up the borders,” “this is what [Chuck] Schumer wants, this is what the Democrats want. They want to have, and they want to take our money,” he added, referring to tariffs.

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Trump energy secretary blames Biden for Trump-era energy hikes

President Donald Trump’s Energy Secretary Chris Wright made a point to blame former President Joe Biden for the nation’s recent uptick in energy costs Thursday on CNN.

“Electricity prices are on the rise in the U.S., in part due to the push and the needs of AI,” CNN anchor Kate Bolduan told Wright. “At the end of July, electricity prices surged to 5.5 percent. That's over twice the pace of overall inflation. What do you say to the American consumer? The direction is not the right direction.”

“I agree,” said Wright, “entirely because everything that's coming on the grid today was permitted during the Biden administration. They permitted wind, solar and batteries.”

But Bolduan pointed out the inconsistency of Trump’s own anti-renewable, pro-oil industry incentives.

“How is the idea of ‘drill, baby drill’ [working]? I don't understand that as being the actual answer, because … you also have the oil and gas companies telling the Dallas Fed [Energy Survey] just recently … [that] Trump's push to lower fuel prices lessens the economic incentive for producers to drill, and that’s incompatible with his stated desire to increase production,” Bolduan said. “The president's decision to impose tariffs on foreign products has driven up drilling costs at a time when producers are struggling in an oversupplied market. Drill, baby drill does not sound like a good investment under the conditions that have been set.”

Wright insisted that Trump's “focus is consumers,” saying: “He wants low oil, gas, oil prices, gas prices, heating prices, electricity prices. He wants all of those.”

“Doesn't sound like you can have both in this scenario,” Bolduan said. “Again, you've got electricity going up. It's becoming more expensive for people in the United States. And you have oil and gas producers saying, ‘we're not going to produce more.’”

Later in the interview, Bolduan took Wright to task on the president’s hypocrisy in calling for Europe to cut energy ties with Russia while ramping up its own uranium purchases.

“Why does the president think Europe needs to act to cut their ties when I have not heard anyone talking about the move to cut U.S. ties in buying uranium?” Bolduan repeated, and added that U.S. purchases of Russian uranium has actually been on the increase under the Trump administration.

“Because we've stopped closing nuclear power plants,” said Wright, who explained the U.S. currently does not have the capacity to enrich uranium and promised the nation was on its way to building more processing factories.

“Setting an example is definitely one thing,” Bolduan said.

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'Yes or no?' CNN host backs GOP lawmaker into a corner on Trump’s permanent layoffs

CNN anchor John Berman on Thursday pushed U.S. Rep Mike Lawler (R-N.Y) to admit he opposes President Donald Trump’s Office of Budget Management permanently firing federal employees as a tactic to dissuade Democrats from triggering a government shutdown.

The White House budget office is instructing federal agencies to prepare reduction-in-force plans for mass firings during a possible government shutdown, with OMB Director Russ Vought using the threat of permanent job cuts as leverage to bring Democrats back to the table.

Shutdowns in the past have mostly resulted in temporary furloughs with employees back on the job once Congress votes to reopen government and restore funding.

But Lawler told the New York Post in an op-ed that he rejects political gamesmanship “that hurts the very people we were elected to serve,” referring to Democrats. This prompted Berman to ask if Lawler similarly opposes Vought’s own gamesmanship.

“So, what do you think of this new letter from OMB? Does that constitute gamesmanship?” Berman asked.

“Well, let's be clear about where we are,” said Lawler. “House Republicans passed a continuing resolution last week to keep the government funded and open. Senate Democrats … refused to actually do that. … No one wins in a government shutdown. The American people are the ones that lose. The economy loses. It is wrong.”

“So back to my question, congressman: Do you support the OMB letter if there is a shutdown? Do you support the idea of using it for mass firings at the agencies?” Berman repeated.

“Well, what happens every time we've had a shutdown is that the executive branch has to make determinations as to what is essential and what is not," Lawler continued. "Barack Obama did that in 2013, shut down numerous committees—.”

“But this is a call for permanent firings,” said Berman, trying to interrupt Lawler several times as the congressman spoke for more than a minute. “... I'm not sure the audio is working here, Congressman, because I'm trying to ask you. I'm just trying to ask you about the OMB letter."

"... I'll try one more time. I think you can hear me,” Berman said. “If there is a shutdown, do you support permanent layoffs at federal agencies? Do you support this move? Yes or no?”

“No, I don't. … Again, John. No, I don't support permanent layoffs at these agencies. But that is not the issue here. The issue here is we should be asking Chuck Schumer—.”

“I was asking about your view of the OMB letter and I appreciate you answering the question,” Berman said.

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VP insists FCC chief's threat to revoke ABC licenses for airing Kimmel's show was a 'joke'

Vice President JD Vance is claiming that threats made by Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr toward ABC and its parent company, Disney — threats that were supported by President Donald Trump’s remarks — were merely a “joke.”

Carr has control over broadcasters’ licenses, a fact obviously clear to Disney/ABC when he suggested to right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel should be taken off the air.

Johnson posted video of his interview with Carr, and wrote:

“Chairman Brendan Carr calls Kimmel’s malicious lies … ‘truly sick’ and says they should result in Kimmel’s immediate suspension and may lead to ABC losing its broadcast license.”

“Chairman Carr confirms the agency has a ‘strong case’ to hold Kimmel, ABC, and Disney accountable for spreading dangerous, politically motivated misinformation.”

He quoted Carr as saying: “This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

“They have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest.”

“The FCC could make a strong argument that this is sort of an intentional effort to mislead the American people about a very core fundamental fact, a very important matter.”

According to the Vice President, however, Carr made his remarks in a tweet as a “joke.”

On Wednesday, asked if he can square his “fervent belief in free speech with what’s going on now with Jimmy Kimmel and the FCC pressure,” the Vice President responded: “Well, look, on the free speech conversation, I’m pretty sure that Jimmy Kimmel was back on the air last night, and to the extent that he’s not back on the air, it’s because he’s not funny and has terrible ratings.”

“This is not a federal government problem,” Vance said. “Well, people will say is, ‘well, you know, didn’t the FCC commissioner put a tweet out that said something bad?'”

“Well, compare that,” Vance insisted, “the FCC commissioner making a joke on social media — what is the government action that the Trump administration has engaged in to kick Jimmy Kimmel or anybody else off the air?”

“Zero,” Vance insisted, despite what has been described as a threat to ABC.

“What government pressure have we brought to bear to tell people that they’re not allowed to speak their mind? Zero.”

“We believe in free speech in the Trump administration. We are fighting every single day to protect it,” Vance insisted, less than 24 hours after President Trump appeared to threaten legal or other action against ABC for putting Kimmel back on the air Tuesday night.

— (@)

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'Biden portrait was Trump's idea': New White House exhibit slammed as 'tacky and stupid'

President Donald Trump's White House recently introduced a new exhibit on the West Wing Colonnade, and it includes a not-so-subtle dig at former President Joe Biden. The jab at Biden has some journalists and political commentators groaning.

In a Wednesday post to her official X account, Trump communications advisor Margo Martin posted a video of the exhibit, which shows a line of 47 presidential portraits in sequential order. As the camera approached the portrait meant for Biden, an image of the autopen is shown, rather than Biden's face. Trump has repeatedly suggested that some of Biden's pardons weren't legitimate due to his use of the autopen, though Trump himself admitted to using the autopen himself earlier this year.

Wall Street Journal White House correspondent Annie Linskey further reported that an unnamed White House source confided to her that "the Biden portrait was Trump's idea." The reception on social media was mixed, with Trump supporters finding the display humorous while others lamented that Trump's stunt cheapened the office of the presidency. Progressive influencer JoJoFromJerz tweeted: "Grow the f--- up," while another X user described the exhibit as "nursery school behavior."

"[The display] has the distinction of being both tacky and dumb," tweeted Deadline executive editor Dominic Patten.

"This whole thing is tacky and stupid and you are all children running the most powerful government in the world," tweeted production professional Jordan Teller. "Get a f------ grip."

"This is from an official White House employee. Do you think this is funny? Do you think this is presidential? Do you think this is how our taxpayer dollars should be spent?" Former New York Democratic congressional candidate Josh Lafazan posted. "I don’t know what more people need to see from this administration to understand that the occupant of the White House does not deserve the honor of calling it home."

Watch the White House's video showing the exhibit below:

— (@)

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5 things the Senate GOP leader said — and didn't say – about Trump's latest controversies

During a wide‑ranging CNN interview Wednesday with host Dana Bash, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R‑S.D.) struck a cautious tone on controversial topics, including a potential Trump 2028 run as well as media coercion, health policy and expiring health insurance subsidies.

Here are five things Thune said — and didn’t say — on key issues.

1. Trump’s 2028 ambition — constitutional guardrail in focus

On whether President Donald Trump should run for a third term, Thune leaned on the Constitution: “Well, I think the Constitution speaks to that issue, and I think it's pretty plain.”

When Bash pressed, “So, no Trump 2028?” Thune responded:

“Well, ah, I know Lindsey [Graham] has said that before, and um, I think he generally expects a pretty lighthearted response when he says it.”

He declined to flatly rule it out politically, but anchored his view in legal constraint.

2. Media coercion & the FCC — free speech over intervention

While commenting on the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) apparent attempt to silence late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, Thune declared: “I am a big believer in the First Amendment and free speech,” and warned:

“Coercive use of government shouldn't be something that is used.”

However, when pressed on whether ABC or the FCC were in the wrong, the South Dakota Republican didn't say they made a mistake by targeting Kimmel over his comments.

“They were making statements … This isn’t an area where the FCC ought to be wandering into."

3. Tylenol — science over certainty

Responding to Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claim that the use of acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol) during pregnancy may be linked to autism in children, Thune acknowledged that medical experts have disputed that idea,

“I think science ought to guide these discussions and our decision‑making around our health. There are studies out there that they reference, but I think there are an awful lot of people in the medical community who come to a different conclusion about Tylenol," Thune said.

He positioned policy as needing to rest on evolving evidence rather than rigid assertions.

4. Expiring health insurance assistance — stick to process

Bash asked about assistance programs helping people afford health coverage that expire at year’s end. Thune replied:

“It ought to be done in regular order. This is not the time or place to do this.”

He indicated that even in the face of a looming deadline, he prefers the standard legislative path rather than special fixes.

5- Political violence

Thune also addressed Wednesday's shooting at a Dallas ICE facility, which left two detainees dead and a third critically wounded, before the gunman died by suicide.

He characterized it as: “Another example of tragic loss of life, and that is something that, as we've observed lately in multiple circumstances, every American ought to be concerned about, and every American, no matter what your political views are, ought to be trying to prevent. And that's to keep our discourse civil and discuss these issues in a way that's respectful but doesn't resort to political violence.”

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Trump 'ratings boost': CNN data guru says MAGA’s Kimmel miscalculation backfired

CNN News Central host Sara Sidner said late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel thanked President Donald Trump for “the ratings boost,” and data analyst Harry Enten revealed Trump really did deliver for Kimmel.

“This is huge. Absolutely huge,” said Enten. “… Let's take a look at YouTube views of Jimmy Kimmel live video views. The six-month median only gets 240,000. But Tuesday night's monologue already has 6.7 million. That's over 25 times as large as the median Jimmy Kimmel video normally gets. … So if Donald Trump's idea was to give Jimmy Kimmel more press and more viewership, he absolutely did — but I don't think that is what Donald Trump intended to do.”

Real world ratings on viewership were not available to CNN reporters by Wednesday morning, but Enten was able to get a grasp of the number of new viewers likely tuning in to Kimmel after Trump officials pressured Disney to remove Kimmel for making light of Trump’s sincerity over the assassination of MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk.

“Take a look here at record high Google searches last night for ‘What time is Jimmy Kimmel on?’ You wouldn't have to check what time Kimmel was on if you were a regular viewer. The reason that people were checking what time Kimmel was on is because he was potentially pulling in a lot of viewers who normally don’t watch — and get this, it was up over 10,000 percent,” said Enten. “My goodness gracious.”

The numbers were high all the way back since 2004, since Kimmel was first on the air, said Enten.

“So no, it was not just on YouTube,” Enen said. “There was a ton of interest. What we're talking about is nationwide, worldwide interest in terms of what time was Kimmel is on, because I don't normally watch him, but maybe I want to take a gander because maybe I'm interested to hear what he has to say.’”

Sidner asked Enten if Disney got anything good out of its decision to return Kimmel to the air, and Enten revealed the numbers improved immediately for subscription services.

“There were a lot of people, especially on the left, who are upset at Disney for suspending Jimmy Kimmel, and we saw Google searches for boycotting Disney and canceling Disney Plus go way up last week," Enten said. "But … Google searches versus last week's peak on ‘Boycott Disney’ were down about 75 percent as of last night.”

A similar 75 percent drop applied to people searching Google for how to cancel Disney Plus.

“So, the bottom line is this was great for Jimmy Kimmel in terms of what we see so far in YouTube and it's probably going to translate to the ratings," Enten said. "And also Jimmy Kimmel's return is good for Disney because all of a sudden people aren't so interested in boycotting them or canceling their subscription.”

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'Well that backfired bigly!' Kimmel tears into Trump in first episode after suspension

Tuesday marked the return of late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, after his show was suspended last week following threats from President Donald Trump's administration. And Kimmel didn't hold back in his criticism of the administration — or in his defense of the Constitutional right to free speech.

Kimmel began his show with an opening monologue mentioning Disney (which owns ABC) pulling his show off the air following remarks he made about "the MAGA gang" trying to "score political points" off of the fatal shooting of far-right activist Charlie Kirk. He thanked everyone for supporting him while he was off the air, including both his fellow late-night comics and even conservative voices like Ben Shapiro and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for defending his right to speak regardless of their personal political views. He maintained that his comments were not about Kirk — adding that he abhorred Kirk's murder and empathized for his family — but about attempts to exploit his death for political gain.

"If you like me, you do, and if you don't, you don't ... It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man," Kimmel said through tears. "Nor was it my intention to blame a specific group ... that was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make."

"This show is not important, he continued. "What's important is that we live in a country that allows us to have a show like this."

Kimmel, who has consistently been one of Trump's most prominent critics on late-night TV, also mocked the president's appointed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman, Brendan Carr, who he called "un-American" for committing what he called "a direct violation of the First Amendment."

"Brendan Carr is the most embarrassing car the Republicans have embraced since this one," Kimmel said, before cutting to an image of a Tesla cybertruck decked out in pro-Trump decals.

Kimmel then pivoted to Trump, playing a clip of the president saying in 2022: "If we don't have free speech, then we just don't have a free country. It's as simple as that." He then showed a clip of Trump on Air Force One telling a reporter that he was glad Kimmel was "fired" because he "had no talent" and "no ratings."

"Well, I do tonight!" Kimmel said to cheers and applause.

"You almost have to feel sorry for him. He tried his best to cancel me, then he forced millions of people to watch the show!" He added. "Well, that backfired bigly! He might have to release the Epstein files to distract from this now!"

Trump issued an ominous threat against ABC ahead of Kimmel's broadcast, saying that he was "told by ABC that his Show was cancelled!"

"Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE. He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution," Trump wrote in his signature style of oddly placed capital letters. "I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative."

Watch Kimmel's opening monologue below.

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'Are they qualified or not?' CNN host corners ex-Trump staffer who defended racist comment

One exchange on CNN grew heated when one of the Republican panelists on Abby Phillip's "Newsnight" defended controversial remarks from slain far-right activist Charlie Kirk.

On Tuesday's episode, Phillip hosted Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), Democratic strategist Xochitl Hinojosa, Republican strategist Brad Reed and Hogan Gidley, who was deputy White House press secretary during President Donald Trump's first administration. At one point, Reed confronted Clyburn and asked him why he didn't add his name to a resolution honoring Kirk. Clyburn responded that while he was happy to honor anyone's life, he wouldn't sign onto a resolution honoring the legacy of someone who had a history of denigrating civil rights leaders and making racist statements.

"When I turn on my TV and I see someone telling me what an awful person Martin Luther King Jr. was, when I see somebody telling me, 'if I get on an airplane and there's a Black pilot I begin to wonder, is he qualified?' What does that mean?" Clyburn said. "Those are the words that came out of his mouth."

Gidley pushed back, insisting that Kirk's comments about Black pilots were being taken out of context and that he was making a larger point about affirmative action.

"Charlie Kirk was very clear: If these companies openly say that they have to somehow fill a quota of people, whether it be a race or gender — not based on merit, but based on their race or gender — the obvious should be clear to everyone, which is, is that person then qualified?" Gidley said.

Phillip didn't let Gidley's argument go unchallenged, turning the former Trump staffer's argument back against him. She reminded Gidley that after the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September of 2020, Trump promised that he would nominate a woman to replace her. And she pointed out that the full context of Kirk's central argument was that women and people of color were inherently less qualified to do certain jobs than white people.

"You're suggesting that the standard for people of color filling these roles is lower," she said, as Gidley protested. "You said that they are only getting these jobs because of their race and gender, and not because they are qualified. Are they qualified or not? ... Is a pilot sitting on an airplane, flying a plane — whether he's Black or white or a woman or gay or lesbian — if they are sitting in that seat and they meet the FAA requirements to be in that seat, are they qualified?"

"If they are qualified, I sure hope so," Gidley said.

Watch the exchange below:

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