May 28, 2025 at 5:24 PM EDT
Trump using a new 'dirty tool' to reward his friends and supporters: CNN host

CNN host Kasie Hunt said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's pardons of his supporters feel "like a dirty tool," noting that he has pardoned several allies since returning to office in January. During a segment on CNN Tuesday, Hunt asked the panel what message these pardons send. Former Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) said they "tell a story of a very transactional president."

May 28, 2025 at 4:49 PM EDT
'Shocking and striking': Here's who MAGA wants Trump to include in his next pardon spree

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump officially pardoned reality TV stars Julie and Todd Chrisley, who were convicted of fraud by his first administration's Department of Justice. But the MAGA faithful wants him to go even further. The Guardian reported recently that Trump's loyal base of supporters is pushing for him to grant full clemency to far-right political allies, and pressure for governors to pardon others who have been convicted of state-level crimes. And Ed Martin -- the pardon attorney for Trump's second-term DOJ -- is reportedly driven by a "no MAGA left behind" policy that's focused on freeing far-right activists.

May 28, 2025 at 4:07 PM EDT
Deep-red Trump-loving Missouri town 'tested' as a 'beloved local' is detained

A report published Wednesday in The New York Times describes how an immigrant from Hong Kong, employed at a Waffle House in a small Missouri town, was detained by immigration authorities -- and how her arrest impacted the tight-knit, conservative community. "The first sign of trouble came early this month when Carol didn't show up for her shift at John's Waffle and Pancake House," the report notes.

May 28, 2025 at 4:00 PM EDT
'530 asterisks': Trump accused of deliberately hiding how he's spending taxpayer dollars

Top Trump administration officials have spoken at length about alleged irresponsible government use of taxpayer dollars and a lack of transparency at federal agencies, with President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally, Elon Musk, focusing heavily during their first months in the White House on promoting what they claimed was "government efficiency." But in a letter to the head of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Trump appointee Russell Vought, two top Democrats in Congress said Tuesday that the office in charge of producing and managing the president's budget is "intentionally" misleading Congress""and the American people""and refusing to provide transparency about how public funds are being used.

May 28, 2025 at 11:26 AM EDT
'Threat to glory of the dictator': Fascism expert explains why Trump wants to 'smash' US 'crown jewel'

Back in March, Jason Stanley -- a university professor/author known for his expertise on the history of fascism -- made a major announcement: He was leaving the United States and moving to Canada. Stanley was a professor at Yale University in Connecticut at the time, but he accepted a job offer from the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and no longer lives in the U.S. Stanley, author of the 2018 book, "How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them," wasn't shy about discussing his reasons for moving to Canada: He believes the U.S. is "tilting towards a fascist dictatorship" during President Donald Trump's second term.

May 28, 2025 at 11:16 AM EDT
Why does Congress 'even exist?': Nebraska GOP representative blasted at 'hostile' town hall

In one of the first town halls since House Republicans narrowly passed President Donald Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" that would gut Medicaid and SNAP, force cuts to Medicare, and provide tax cuts that largely benefit the wealthy, U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, a Republican of Nebraska, was showered with criticism. Constituents in the auditorium expressed anger over cuts to the social safety net and incursions against America's system of checks and balances, as KMTV reported. The local Nebraska outlet called the event "hostile." Rep. Flood was repeatedly asked why he and the GOP Congress are not standing up to President Trump.

May 28, 2025 at 11:11 AM EDT
States left 'holding the bag' as White House terminates grants

Axios reports the White House is terminating federal grants intended to update states' aging unemployment systems, claiming the money was being spent on equity projects. The Trump Labor Department told Axios the grants were "squandered" on "bureaucratic and wasteful projects that focused on equitable access rather than advancing access for all Americans in need."

May 28, 2025 at 10:18 AM EDT
'Soft underbelly': Investigative reporterd detail 'biggest area of corruption for the Trump family'

New York Times reporter Ezra Klein spoke with Bloomberg reporter Zeke Faux about the "shocking" potential for corruption surrounding the Trump family's involvement in the world of crypto. "It's like muzzle velocity for political corruption here," said Klein. "There are so many stories that, on their own, seem like they should be era-defining political scandals. But the big picture-- from Trump trading cards, where he looks like a firefighter or whatever, all the way to the Trump stablecoin, Trump media launching (exchange-traded funds) -- is that the Trump family has been groping its way, evolving, learning how to open up a lot of avenues to let people invest in various crypto schemes of theirs."

May 28, 2025 at 9:57 AM EDT
'Shouldn't be political': Alarm raised as patients left 'out of options' after Trump cuts

The mass layoffs of federal government workers being carried out by the Trump Administration with the help of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) -- formerly headed by Tesla/SpaceX/X.com head Elon Musk -- are affecting a variety of agencies, from the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) to the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Another is the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

May 28, 2025 at 6:10 AM EDT
'Nothing beautiful' about it: Outrage as 35 wealthy Republicans set to cash in on GOP bill

As U.S. President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans' so-called "Big Beautiful Bill" heads to the Senate, a watchdog group on Tuesday released a report highlighting that dozens of GOP members of Congress worth a total of $2.5 billion are set to benefit from the package, which would cut food and healthcare benefits for millions of working-class Americans. The group, Accountable.US, found that the top 10 richest Republican senators and top 25 richest GOP members of the House of Representatives have a collective net worth of over $1.1 billion and over $1.4 billion, respectively, "allowing them to take advantage of tax breaks granted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that they are currently seeking to extend."

May 28, 2025 at 5:43 AM EDT
Trump gives up the game and tells half of America what he really thinks of them

Donald Trump opened Memorial Day in the most disgusting way possible, not by praising our fallen heroes but by attacking Democrats. He wrote on his Nazi-infested social media site on Monday morning: "Happy Memorial Day to all, including the scum that spent the last four years trying to destroy our country through warped radical left minds"" When the president of the United States calls members of the oldest political party in the world and a former president "scum," it's not just another ugly outburst that embarrasses America before the rest of the world: It's a warning sign. A bright red flag.

May 28, 2025 at 5:31 AM EDT
The next ringleader of Trump's snake pit

I've had the privilege of working in and around four White Houses, and I can tell you they're nothing like "The West Wing" television series, where everyone loves everyone else. In the White Houses I have known, everyone competes for power and influence. The Trump White House is even more of a snake pit. And it's at an especially interesting point right now. Ever since his spectacular flame-out in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, Elon Musk has been on the way out. Meanwhile, Trump seems to be losing interest in the job -- other than getting revenge and making money.