Category: Authoritarian

Trump DOJ Creates $1.776B Slush Fund to Settle IRS

Trump’s Department of Justice is finalizing a deal to establish a $1.776 billion “Truth and Justice Commission” compensation fund, contingent on Trump dropping his lawsuit against the IRS and two civil claims totaling $230 million related to the Russia investigation and the Mar-a-Lago search. DOJ lawyers initially attempted to justify Trump suing the government he directly controls by invoking a “rule of necessity,” arguing no alternative existed despite the obvious conflict of interest. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams rejected this framework after raising concerns that Trump possesses “extraordinary” control over the defendants and that the arrangement would allow defendants to “operate at the President’s direction.”

The proposed compensation structure would bypass normal oversight mechanisms: a five-member commission, four appointed by the attorney general with Trump holding removal power without cause, would distribute nearly $2 billion with no obligation to disclose its award process. Trump himself cannot claim payments for the three dropped cases, but entities associated with him are eligible to file claims, creating a mechanism for indirect personal enrichment. Democratic lawmakers condemned the arrangement as corruption and a “slush fund” for Trump’s allies, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stating, “We’re looking at a billion dollars for a ballroom; $1.7 billion for a slush fund for the president’s friends.”

The settlement violates fundamental principles of judicial integrity and separation of powers. Trump sued the IRS in 2023 after a government contractor admitted stealing his tax information in 2019 and 2020, but the underlying legal claim became a vehicle for Trump to extract taxpayer funds while exercising direct authority over the defendants. The commission’s lack of transparency and removal power vested in Trump transforms a compensation mechanism into an instrument for rewarding political loyalty without accountability. Court-appointed attorneys warned that Trump has “significantly expanded” presidential oversight over the DOJ in “ways that blur the line between fidelity to the President’s policy priorities and fidelity to the President himself.”

It remains unclear whether Judge Williams will approve the settlement or whether it will reach the Supreme Court. Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick acknowledged the constitutional dimension of the arrangement, stating “I don’t even know how that’s allowable to happen,” signaling that even GOP lawmakers recognize the proposal exceeds executive authority. Democratic lawmakers have called for congressional legislation to restrict taxpayer funding of the compensation fund, recognizing that the executive branch has unilaterally created a mechanism to distribute federal funds without legislative oversight or judicial review.

(Source: https://abcnews.com/US/trump-administration-create-1776b-truth-justice-commission-compensate/story?id=133005480)

Trump Attacks Cassidy as ‘Disloyal’ Over 2021 Impeachment Vote

President Donald Trump attacked Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana on Saturday, calling him a “disloyal disaster” and “sleazebag” while urging voters to support Cassidy’s primary challengers, Representative Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming. Trump posted on Truth Social that Cassidy campaigned on loyalty to Trump in 2020 but then voted to convict him during the 2021 impeachment trial, accusing the senator of betrayal and claiming Cassidy is “BAD FOR LOUISIANA.”

Cassidy is facing his first primary challenge since the impeachment vote, with Trump endorsing Letlow as “a winner who will NEVER let you down.” In the post, Trump emphasized his electoral dominance in Louisiana, stating he won the state three times and “got the most votes in its history, by far,” framing the primary as a test of loyalty to his political movement.

When CNN’s Manu Raju asked Cassidy last month about Trump’s repeated accusations of disloyalty, the senator deflected multiple times before stating he is “loyal to the United States of America” and committed to working with the president “whenever we’re working for the best of the U.S.” Cassidy’s careful distinction between loyalty to the country and loyalty to Trump reflects the tension between institutional duty and party demands for personal allegiance.

Saturday’s primary election in Louisiana determines whether Cassidy advances or faces a runoff in late June if no candidate secures a majority vote. Trump’s full-throated intervention exemplifies his pattern of targeting Republicans who defy his directives, using inflammatory language and endorsements to remove party members he views as insufficiently loyal to his leadership.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/disloyal-disaster-trump-trashes-sleazebag-republican-senator-battling-primary-challengers/)

Trump Attacks Talarico with False Claims About Gender and Faith

Donald Trump attacked Democratic Texas state Senate nominee James Talarico aboard Air Force One on Friday, calling him “weird” and “pathetic” while making obscure and false claims about his background. Trump’s attack included references to “six genders” and an unclear jab about “Jesus,” alongside attacks on Talarico’s dietary choices, describing him as vegan in contradictory statements.

Talarico won the Democratic primary on March 4, defeating Rep. Jasmine Crockett. Trump’s remarks came as he declined to endorse a Republican candidate in the party’s unresolved primary between Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who will compete in a May 26 runoff. Cornyn has been a reliable Trump ally in the Senate, while Paxton has advanced Trump’s false 2020 election fraud narrative despite facing impeachment by the Republican-controlled Texas House.

The “six genders” reference appears to distort a 2021 statement by Talarico about biological sexes. Trump’s “hit on Jesus” comment lacks clear meaning, though Talarico has publicly discussed his Christian faith repeatedly. Trump’s incoherent attacks reflect his pattern of making false and contradictory personal attacks on political opponents.

Trump claimed his “record of endorsements is extraordinary” while declining to specify which Republican candidate he would support in the Texas runoff. He stated he knows both candidates “very well” and likes them “a lot,” yet proceeded to attack the Democratic nominee rather than address the Republican primary race directly.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/trump-uncorks-gonzo-attack-on-political-foe-six-genders-a-real-hit-on-jesus/)

Eric Trump Threatens Lawsuit Against Jen Psaki Over Alt5

Eric Trump announced plans to sue MSNBC’s Jen Psaki and the network over a May 15, 2026 segment in which Psaki identified him as a board member of Alt5 Sigma, a Las Vegas-based fintech firm rebranded as AI Financial. Trump denied the claim in a post to X, stating he had “NEVER” served on the company’s board and accused Psaki of spreading “blatant lies.”

Psaki’s segment addressed Eric Trump’s presence during his father’s Beijing trip, citing a Financial Times report that Alt5 Sigma was exploring a deal with a Chinese chipmaker connected to the Chinese Communist Party. The MSNBC host noted Eric Trump appeared in footage ringing the NASDAQ opening bell alongside the Alt5 Sigma logo and questioned potential conflicts of interest given his stated separation from family business operations during his father’s presidency.

Eric Trump was previously listed as a board observer and adviser for Alt5 Sigma following the company’s August 2025 partnership announcement with World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture founded by President Trump and his sons. Bloomberg reported in April 2026 that Eric Trump’s name and affiliation were removed from the company’s public website amid financial losses and executive turnover.

Psaki’s reporting detailed multiple instances of Trump family business dealings during the presidency, including Pentagon contracts worth millions awarded to companies partially or fully owned by Eric and Donald Trump Jr. She questioned whether the family’s financial interests warranted closer scrutiny from agencies like the Internal Revenue Service given apparent conflicts of interest.

President Trump has pursued an aggressive litigation strategy against media outlets, having reached settlements with Paramount and ABC while maintaining ongoing defamation cases against other news organizations including the BBC. Eric Trump’s threatened lawsuit against Psaki and MSNBC continues this pattern of using legal threats to challenge critical media coverage.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/eric-trump-accuses-jen-psaki-of-blatant-lies-as-he-announces-lawsuit-against-her-and-ms-now/)

Trump Attacks BBC Over Iran Bombing Query, Repeats False AI Claims

Trump attacked the BBC as "fake" aboard Air Force One on Friday after being questioned about an Iranian school bombing that killed over 170 civilians, including children. Admiral Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, testified that week that the United States may have caused the bombing, which is under investigation. Trump used the question to rehash his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, falsely claiming the network used artificial intelligence to manipulate his January 6 speech and "put words in my mouth."

Trump attacked the BBC as "fake" after questions about an Iranian school bombing. He cited his lawsuit against BBC, misrepresenting their editing of his January 6 speech. While the BBC admitted to edits that unintentionally misled viewers, Trump's speech indeed indirectly incited violence, urging supporters to march to the Capitol. Despite no direct call for violence, his inaction during the attack and later actions, like pardoning participants and releasing a song with them, emphasize his indirect influence and support for the rioters.

Trump's lawsuit against the BBC follows resignations of BBC Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness in the aftermath of the editing controversy. The departures came as the BBC faced public criticism over the January 6 segment, though the broadcaster maintained the edit was unintentional rather than malicious. Trump weaponized the incident to deflect from questioning about civilian deaths in Iran and to attack press accountability.

Trump's outburst exemplifies his pattern of attacking journalists and news organizations when confronted with uncomfortable questions about military actions and their consequences. By characterizing legitimate editorial scrutiny as "fake" and fabricated, Trump delegitimized the question about the Iranian school bombing itself. His false claims about AI manipulation and invented defenses obscured accountability for the deaths of over 170 civilians, including children.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/trump-lashes-out-at-reporter-and-fake-bbc-over-iran-question-the-ones-who-put-ai-in-my-mouth/)

Trump Slams Reporter Inches From His Face on Air Force One

During the return flight from Beijing on Air Force One, President Donald Trump attacked New York Times White House and National Security Correspondent David Sanger with a sustained barrage of personal insults while positioned inches from the reporter’s face. Trump called Sanger “fake,” “treasonous,” and accused him and The New York Times of writing false accounts of military operations in Iran, falsely claiming Trump achieved a “total military victory” that destroyed Iran’s Navy, Air Force, air defense systems, radar, and leadership across multiple command divisions.

Sanger had questioned Trump about the utility of repeating bombing campaigns in Iran after 38 days of strikes failed to produce the stated political changes. Trump responded by denying the basic facts reported by the Times and other outlets, insisting that New York Times coverage constituted “treason” because journalists described Iran as maintaining military capability when Trump asserted they had been completely dismantled. Trump threatened additional destruction, stating “Within two days, we can knock out the whole thing” and claimed he could destroy Iran’s bridges and electrical infrastructure at will.

Trump attributed the New York Times’ declining subscriber numbers to what he characterized as fake news coverage, weaponizing the encounter to attack press credibility while simultaneously making grandiose and unverified claims about military achievements. The confrontation exemplifies Trump’s documented pattern of threatening media outlets for unfavorable coverage and using presidential power to intimidate journalists who contradict his statements.

Sanger’s colleagues at the Times subsequently published a report documenting Iran’s capability restoration and the Trump administration’s exaggeration of military success, directly contradicting Trump’s claims aboard Air Force One. The incident occurred following Trump’s high-security visit to Beijing, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping under conditions of secrecy and pageantry that limited independent press access.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trump-attacks-reporter-inches-from-his-face-on-air-force-one-treasonous-fake-guy/)

Trump Claims $400M TikTok Settlement for DC Arch

The Trump administration is negotiating a $400 million settlement with TikTok to resolve a 2024 Department of Justice lawsuit alleging the social media company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting extensive data from millions of children under 13 without parental consent. Rather than compensating victims of the alleged privacy violations, Trump’s administration intends to direct the settlement funds toward “beautification” projects in Washington, D.C., including a 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery that Trump has personally promoted.

The settlement, which does not require TikTok to admit wrongdoing, still requires approval by TikTok’s board. The original lawsuit detailed how TikTok allegedly allowed children to create accounts without parental notification, collected their personal information, exposed them to adult content, served them advertisements, and enabled adults to contact them directly. TikTok has disputed the claims, arguing it exceeds federal requirements and blamed children for circumventing company policies.

Trump personally intervened to save TikTok in January 2025 after the company faced a ban. He signed an executive order allowing TikTok to continue operating and later praised a $14 billion deal creating an American venture partially owned by Trump ally Larry Ellison’s Oracle, Silver Lake, and other investors including the Abu Dhabi firm MGX. ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, retains a minority stake in the U.S. version. Trump stated he was “so happy to have helped in saving TikTok” and thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for approving the deal.

This settlement contradicts Trump administration policy established under former Attorney General Pam Bondi in 2025, which requires settlements to compensate victims or redress harm rather than fund third-party projects unrelated to the alleged wrongdoing. The Justice Department regularly reaches settlements with companies, but using settlement funds to directly finance the president’s personal capital improvement projects departs sharply from standard practice. White House officials discussed whether using the money for Trump’s triumphal arch could be done legally.

The $400 million settlement complements Trump’s proposed 2027 budget allocation of $10 billion for a “Presidential Capital Stewardship Program” while the administration simultaneously cuts the National Park Service budget by more than $1 billion and eliminates approximately 3,000 positions from the agency that manages over 400 sites.

(Source: https://abcnews.com/US/trump-administration-eyeing-400m-settlement-tiktok-dc-beautification/story?id=132707914)

Trump Calls Iran Strikes ‘Love Tap’, Claims Ceasefire

President Donald Trump characterized U.S. military strikes on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz as a “love tap” on Thursday, insisting that an existing ceasefire between the two countries remains active despite the exchange of fire. Trump told ABC News the ceasefire that began a month prior is “in effect,” contradicting the functional reality of active military engagement occurring simultaneously.

U.S. Central Command reported conducting “self-defense” strikes after Iran fired missiles, drones, and small boats at three American Navy destroyers, the USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta, and USS Mason, transiting the strait. CENTCOM stated no U.S. assets sustained damage and that American forces targeted Iranian military facilities including missile and drone launch sites, command centers, and surveillance nodes in response to the unprovoked Iranian attack.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps provided a conflicting account, claiming it had targeted the U.S. warships in retaliation for American strikes on an Iranian oil tanker and civilian coastal areas, and asserting its forces inflicted substantial damage on the warships, a claim CENTCOM disputed. Trump has previously threatened escalated bombing if Iran does not accept his proposed peace terms, framing military action as leverage for negotiations.

Trump threatened renewed and intensified strikes via social media, stating that if Iran fails to sign a deal “FAST,” American forces will “knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future.” Trump has escalated rhetoric toward Iran despite minimal strategic gains from the conflict, conditioning any cessation of military operations on Iranian compliance with his negotiating demands.

The characterization of active military strikes as compatible with an ongoing ceasefire reflects Trump’s rhetorical framing of continued warfare as a negotiating tactic rather than a break in existing agreements. His demand for rapid Iranian acceptance of terms, coupled with explicit threats of heightened violence, positions further conflict as conditional upon Iranian submission to U.S. demands rather than genuine diplomatic resolution.

(Source: https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-calls-iran-strikes-love-tap-ceasefire-effect/story?id=132762926)

Trump administration mulls payments to sway Greenlanders to join US | Reuters

The Trump administration is actively exploring direct cash payments to Greenland’s 57,000 residents, ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 per person, totaling nearly $6 billion, to induce them to secede from Denmark and potentially join the United States, according to four sources familiar with internal White House deliberations. White House officials, including national security aides, have intensified these discussions following Trump’s recent capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, with staff seeking to carry momentum from that operation toward Trump’s stated geopolitical objectives. Trump has publicly insisted the U.S. needs Greenland for national security and mineral resources critical to military applications.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen explicitly rejected the scheme in a Facebook post, stating “Enough is enough … No more fantasies about annexation,” after Trump again told reporters the acquisition was necessary. A joint statement from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Britain, and Denmark asserted that only Greenland and Denmark can decide matters concerning their relationship, directly rebuking Trump’s territorial ambitions. The statements reflect the alliance’s disapproval despite NATO’s mutual defense obligations binding the U.S. and Denmark.

The White House is considering multiple mechanisms to acquire the island, including military intervention, though officials claim to prefer purchase or diplomatic acquisition. One option under discussion is a Compact of Free Association (COFA), a governance model previously extended only to Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau, which would require Greenland’s independence from Denmark and grant the U.S. military operational freedom in exchange for essential services and duty-free trade. Payments could theoretically be deployed to manipulate Greenlanders into voting for independence or accepting a COFA agreement post-separation.

While surveys indicate overwhelming Greenlandic support for independence, most residents oppose U.S. affiliation, and economic concerns about severing ties with Denmark have prevented legislative calls for an independence referendum. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt acknowledged that Trump and national security officials were “looking at what a potential purchase would look like,” and Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced plans to meet Denmark’s foreign minister in Washington. The proposal exposes Trump’s willingness to treat sovereign populations and their self-determina(Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/trump-administration-mulls-payments-sway-greenlanders-join-us-2026-01-08/)tion as commodities available for purchase.

Trump Strategy Targets Left-Wing Groups Transgender

The Trump administration released its 2026 counterterrorism strategy on Wednesday, identifying “violent left-wing extremists” and “extremist transgender ideology” among the nation’s top three terror threats alongside narcoterrorists and Islamist terrorists. This marks a sharp reversal from the Biden administration’s focus on right-wing extremism, which former President Joe Biden designated white supremacy as the most dangerous terrorist threat in 2023. The strategy follows recent political violence including multiple attempted assassinations of Trump and the killing of conservative figure Charlie Kirk.

Senior Director for Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka stated the administration will target groups described as inciting violence online, emphasizing the focus extends to ideologies “against Western Civilization, America, the U.S. Constitution, our friends, our allies, peace in general.” Gorka claimed the strategy applies equally to “both sides of the aisle,” though the document explicitly prioritizes left-wing groups. The administration formally designated antifa, described as an umbrella term for far-left militant groups that oppose neo-Nazis and white supremacists, as a terror organization in September.

The strategy commits to using “all the tools constitutionally available” to identify and neutralize what it defines as violent secular political groups with “anti-American” or “anarchist” ideologies. Gorka framed targets as those whose ideology opposes American values and constitutional principles, language that remains vague and open to broad interpretation. The document makes no mention of right-wing violence or extremism despite documented instances of far-right attacks and organized militia activity in recent years.

The approach represents a significant policy shift toward preemptive identification and targeting of groups based on ideological classification rather than proven criminal activity. Critics of similar frameworks have raised concerns that undefined terms like “anti-American ideology” and “radically pro-gender” positions could criminalize protected speech and association. The emphasis on preventing crimes before they occur, combined with expansive definitions of extremism, creates potential for overreach in law enforcement operations.

(Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/06/trump-counterterrorism-strategy-vows-to-counter-violent-left-wing-extremists-with-transgender-ideology-00909284)

1 2 3 4 5 … 174