May 22, 2025 at 12:12 PM EDT
South African leader delivers a new 'playbook' on how to deal with Trump: analysis

ABC News reports South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa may have taken to heart two surprise White House "maulings" of Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and King Abdullah of Jordan when he visited the Oval Office this week. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy for getting invaded by his bigger Russian neighbor. And Trump's February 11 meeting with King Abdullah II likewise startled members of the of the Arab community, who were alarmed as Trump "ramble[d] on about how the United States will grab and develop the Gaza Strip and send its two million Palestinians to Egypt, Jordan, and other lands."

May 22, 2025 at 11:57 AM EDT
Extremism expert busts Trump AG for defunding 'hate crime training' as domestic crimes rise

Wednesday night, May 21, two young employees of the Israeli Embassy, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, were fatally shot after leaving the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC. The suspect, identified by police as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, allegedly shouted "Free Palestine" as he was being detained. The next morning, on May 22, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi gave an update during a news conference. And after Bondi was done addressing reporters, she received a scathing response from Brian Levin, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and chairman of the California Commission on the State Of Hate.

May 22, 2025 at 11:36 AM EDT
'Cut, rip, gut, kill, cruel': Top Republican lashes out over Dems using these words

During the House's marathon markup of President Donald Trump's historic budget bill, the Chairwoman of the powerful Rules Committee lashed out at Democrats for plainly describing the legislation's sweeping consequences. Officially dubbed the "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act," the measure narrowly passed in the early hours of Thursday by a 215-214 vote. It removes $800 billion in funding from Medicaid, would lead to $535 billion in cuts to Medicare, and is projected to cause an estimated 8.6 to 13.7 million Americans to lose their health care. It will also add $3 trillion to the federal deficit""fueled by tax breaks heavily tilted toward the wealthy and the nation's first-ever $1 trillion defense budget.

May 22, 2025 at 11:31 AM EDT
Revealed: More than a dozen US officials sold stocks before Trump's tariffs sent market plunging

The week before President Donald Trump unveiled bruising new tariffs that sent the stock market plummeting, a key official in the agency that shapes his administration's trade policy sold off as much as $30,000 of stock. Two days before that so-called "Liberation Day" announcement on April 2, a State Department official sold as much as $50,000 in stock, then bought a similar investment as prices fell.

May 22, 2025 at 11:07 AM EDT
'Knew it was bad': Why a 'terrible idea' from Trump's first admin is being blamed for air traffic woes

During President Donald Trump's second term, Newark Liberty International Airport in northern New Jersey near New York City has been suffering delays and outages. The airport's system completely failed on April 28, and thousands of passengers have been inconvenienced by flight cancellations. The problems at Newark Airport come at a time when the Trump Administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are drawing scathing criticism from Democrats for mass layoffs of federal workers that are affecting the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and many other agencies as well.

May 22, 2025 at 6:07 AM EDT
A church called its vision for housing a 'Beacon of Hope -- but the mayor had concerns

CENTRAL CITY -- Pastor Jennifer Banks and other leaders of Abundant Life Church were not sure what to expect when the mayor of this Western Kentucky town called a meeting to talk about their plans for helping people who are experiencing homelessness. They had briefed the mayor and a few city officials once before. This time they were surprised to see downtown business owners and other city officials also gathered in the room.

May 22, 2025 at 5:42 AM EDT
Is every nationalist a potential fascist? A historian weighs in

Nationalism is typically seen as the preserve of right-wing politics, and it has long been a cornerstone of authoritarian and fascist governments around the world. In democratic countries the term "nationalism" is linked to national chauvinism - a belief in the inherent superiority of one's own nation and its citizens - but the picture is more complex than it first seems. For starters, there is little to differentiate patriotism from nationalism except for degree of intensity. Most of us, however, can recognise the difference between love for one's own homeland and the harsher, often exclusive or xenophobic tenets of extreme nationalism. Patriotism is a low degree nationalism, but radical nationalism often turns into xenophobia.

May 22, 2025 at 5:35 AM EDT
This sneak move is poised to hand Trump even scarier 'secret' power

At its deepest level, government is a moral force grounded in a moral view of the world. It may not comport with morality as most of us view it. The Saudi oppression of women, the Russian violence against the queer community, and the Iranian brutal suppression of that nation's democracy movement are all examples of things most Americans consider immoral.

May 22, 2025 at 5:20 AM EDT
Republican demands Biden cancer 'cover-up' investigation

WASHINGTON -- News that former President Joe Biden has advanced prostate cancer has Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) demanding answers from what he calls a "cabal of radical leftists" that supposedly ran the U.S. government in Biden's stead. "They were running the government," Johnson claimed to Raw Story at the Capitol Wednesday. "What's worrisome is that he was incapacitated."

May 22, 2025 at 5:14 AM EDT
There's a hidden provision in that big ugly bill that makes Trump king

I've been following with a mixture of dismay and disgust Trump's One Big Ugly Bill, soon to emerge from the House. I'll report back to you on it. But I want to alert you to one detail inside it that's especially alarming. With one stroke, it would allow Trump to crown himself king.

May 21, 2025 at 9:49 PM EDT
'Gonna look kind of bad': ABC News head told 'The View' hosts to tone down Trump criticism

Hosts for one of the most-watched daytime news shows were recently asked to back off from criticizing President Donald Trump, according to a new report. The Daily Beast reported Wednesday that both ABC News president Almin Karamehmedovic and Disney CEO Bob Iger communicated to the hosts of "The View" that their political coverage should be toned down in favor of softer, more celebrity-focused segments. The Beast cited unnamed sources who confided that the hosts didn't take kindly to the suggestion, with co-host Ana Navarro pointing out that a major sector of their audience watches them for political analysis.

May 21, 2025 at 9:27 PM EDT
'Speak up': Dem lawmaker urges Republicans to stop Trump from kneecapping courts

Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.) stated Wednesday Congress is making it easier for the Trump administration to defy court orders -- something the lawmaker said "they are increasingly doing with more aggression and more brazenness." During an appearance on CNN Wednesday, Goldman told host Anderson Cooper that President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" has a section that will hamstring the federal judiciary.