May 26, 2025 at 6:59 PM EDT
Top Trump ally publicly contradicts him on one of his biggest campaign promises

White House adviser David Sacks acknowledged during his "All-In" podcast over the weekend that the GOP's "Big, Beautiful Bill" will involve major reductions to Medicaid. His statement contradicts repeated assurances from President Donald Trump and other Make America Great Again (MAGA) allies that no such cuts would be made.

May 26, 2025 at 6:49 PM EDT
Pentagon expert says Hegseth's 'macho nonsense' will be what 'gets people killed'

One Pentagon expert is arguing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's focus on "warfighting" and a "lethal" U.S. military is actually making military service less safe for service members. In a Monday column for Politico, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Thomas Ricks -- who specializes in military and national security matters -- broke down why he found Hegseth's promises to focus on combat so alarming. He opined that while the defense secretary's rhetoric "plays well on Fox News," it has a darker meaning to enlisted men and women.

May 26, 2025 at 6:02 PM EDT
'Pathetic': Trump slammed for pardoning Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery charges

President Donald Trump granted a pardon to Scott Jenkins, a former sheriff from Culpeper County, Virginia, who had been convicted on federal bribery charges and sentenced to a decade in prison. Jenkins had been scheduled to begin serving his sentence on Tuesday.

May 26, 2025 at 5:00 PM EDT
'Lot of Republican discomfort': Analyst says more GOP senators may soon stand up to Trump

The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate may be about to take a sledgehammer to President Donald Trump's so-called "Big Beautiful Bill Act," according to one political analyst. During a Monday segment on MSNBC, host Katy Tur asked journalist John Nichols of The Nation magazine about whether Sen. Ron Johnson's (R-Wisc.) concern about the projected multitrillion-dollar increase in the federal deficit that would come about if the pill was signed into law was genuine. Nichols responded that not only was Johnson serious about his plans to oppose it.

May 26, 2025 at 4:56 PM EDT
'They can't afford to live here': Deep red Montana town faces DOGE fallout

Harsh DOGE-related cuts are endangering a research facility serving as a huge economic driver for in Montana's town of Hamilton. Built in the middle of a conservative, blue-collar community of 5,000, Rocky Mountain Laboratories generates hundreds of millions of dollars for the local economy through spillover to other industries and retail. But NPR reports Hamilton is "a prime example of how the Trump administration's mass federal layoffs and cancellation of research grants are being felt in communities far from Washington, D.C."

May 26, 2025 at 4:42 PM EDT
'Cathartic defiance': Singer 'rages against' Trump in expletive-laden festival performance

"Rage Against the Machine" guitarist and singer-songwriter Tom Morello issued a loud challenge to President Donald Trump during his performance at Boston Calling 2025 on Sunday, giving a shout-out to individuals and institutions recently targeted by the president. Boston.com reported that Morello expressed solidarity with his alma mater, Harvard University -- which was recently blocked by the administration from accepting foreign students -- as well as with musician Bruce Springsteen.

May 26, 2025 at 3:25 PM EDT
'Money grab': How Trump administration's 'greed' galvanized 'aspiring oligarchs'

In an article in The New Yorker published Monday, journalist Evan Osnos argued that the Trump administration's "greed" has motivated the United States' "aspiring oligarchs" -- as well as their opponents -- into action. "Even seasoned practitioners of Washington pay-to-play have been startled by the new rules for buying influence. In December, a seat at a group dinner at Mar-a-Lago could be had for a million-dollar contribution to MAGA Inc., a super PAC that serves as a war chest for the midterms," Osnos wrote.

May 26, 2025 at 12:12 PM EDT
Here are 6 unexpected traits protecting US Democracy from Trump's assault

Atlantic authors Kevin Cope and Mila Versteeg say Americans don't generally brag about America's ponderous, glacier government and its stubborn, recalcitrant court system. However, these "trade-offs " offer a clear advantage when democracy is under threat." U.S. courts are legion, and they form a formidable army a would-be autocrat must fight past. Judicial review in much of Europe and Latin America is often centralized in a single constitutional court, so despots "need only capture a single court to effectively remove judicial constraints," by adjusting age limits or creating additional seats.

May 26, 2025 at 11:31 AM EDT
Political scientist warns Trump's 'vendetta' against Harvard 'will not stop' there

On Friday, May 23, Judge Allison Burroughs temporarily blocked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's efforts revoke Harvard University's ability to enroll foreign students. Harvard, in its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), attacked the revocation as a "blatant violation of the First Amendment." Burroughs' ruling was applauded by civil libertarians, who argue that President Donald Trump's vendetta against Harvard has implications that go way beyond that Ivy League university.

May 26, 2025 at 11:06 AM EDT
'Slap in the face': Veterans group shreds Trump VA cuts on Memorial Day

Political action committee VoteVets spent Memorial Day targeting the administration of President Donald Trump over significant cuts it imposed at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). "Gutting VA will result in delayed appointments and substandard care, leading directly to more veteran deaths. In fact, as reports and internal documents now prove, Elon Musk's wrecking ball is causing systems to fail, putting veterans at risk," said Kayla Williams, Iraq Veteran and senior policy advisor at VoteVets, in a post on X. "It's a slap in the face to all who have worn the uniform in defense of our nation."

May 26, 2025 at 9:45 AM EDT
Fed chair calls out Trump's Harvard attacks during bombshell Princeton speech

In a decision handed down on Thursday, May 22, the U.S. Supreme Court indicated that President Donald Trump does not have the power to fire U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The High Court upheld Trump's power to fire members of two independent labor relations boards but signaled that a president's relationship with the Fed is different.

May 26, 2025 at 8:25 AM EDT
'This is a disgrace': Trump ripped for 'outrageous' and 'divisive' Memorial Day diatribe

Early Memorial Day 2025, President Donald Trump used his Truth Social platform to post a rambling diatribe. Trump, writing in all caps, posted, "HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY THROUGH WARPED RADICAL LEFT MINDS, WHO ALLOWED 21,000,000 MILLION PEOPLE TO ILLEGALLY ENTER OUR COUNTRY, MANY OF THE BEING CRIMINALS AND THE MENTAO INSANE,THROUGH AN OPEN BORDER THAT ONLY AN INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT WOULD APPROVE, AND THROUGH JUDGES WHO ARE ON A MISSION TO KEEP MURDERERS, DRUG DEALERS, RAPISTS, GANG MEMBERS, AND RELEASED PRISONERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, IN OUR COUNTRY SO THEY CAN ROB, MURDERERS, AND RAPE AGAIN, PROTECTED BY THESE USA HATING JUDGES WHO SUFFER FROM AN IDEOLOGY THAT IS SICK, AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY. HOPEFULLY THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, AND OTHER GOOD AND COMPASSIONATE JUDGES THROUGHOUT THE LAND, WILL SAVE US FROM THE DECISIONS OF THE MONSTERS WHO WANT OUR COUNTRY TO GO TO HELL."