Trump Administration

The Washington Post reports: A leader of the Trump administration’s effort to detain and deport millions of immigrants recently earned consulting fees from a detention center company that is expected to benefit financially from the crackdown, according to a federal ethics filing. Before he joined the administration, border czar Tom Homan earned an undisclosed amount in fees consulting for a …

The Guardian reports: The White House has lost confidence in a Pentagon leak investigation that Pete Hegseth used to justify firing three top aides last month, after advisers were told that the aides had supposedly been outed by an illegal warrantless National Security Agency (NSA) wiretap. The extraordinary explanation alarmed the advisers, who also raised it with people close to …

NPR reports: NPR and three Colorado public radio stations filed suit Tuesday morning in federal court against the Trump White House over the president’s executive order purportedly barring the use of Congressionally appropriated funds for NPR and PBS. “It is not always obvious when the government has acted with a retaliatory purpose in violation of the First Amendment. ‘But this wolf …

Florida Politics reports: Denmark’s U.S. Embassy just hired Mercury Public Affairs to lobby on the nation’s behalf in Washington. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles recently worked at the high-stakes public affairs group, serving as Co-Chair of the firm’s Florida and Washington offices. Wiles also ran President Donald Trump’s successful 2024 presidential campaign, and previously headed U.S. Sen. Rick …

The Washington Post reports: An enduring rift among Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s cadre of senior advisers has divided the Pentagon’s front office and fueled internal speculation about his long-term viability in the Cabinet post after several episodes that attracted White House scrutiny, according to numerous people familiar with the matter. The conflict within Hegseth’s inner circle persists even after he …

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration is set to cancel the federal government’s remaining federal contracts with Harvard University — worth an estimated $100 million, according to a letter that is being sent to federal agencies on Tuesday. The letter also instructs agencies to “find alternative vendors” for future services. The additional planned cuts, outlined in a draft …

The Daily Beast reports: Oops! White House adviser David Sacks admitted over the weekend that the GOP’s tax bill will include significant cuts to Medicaid, despite claims from his boss and other MAGA loyalists that it will not. Sacks, who is President Donald Trump‘s AI and crypto czar, said plainly on the All-In podcast: “This bill cuts $880 billion from …

CNN reports: Amid an antitrust battle with the Justice Department, global entertainment company Live Nation is adding one of President Trump’s closest advisors to its board of directors. Richard Grenell, who is both Trump’s presidential envoy for special missions and the newly installed president of the Kennedy Center, was named to the Live Nation board. Live Nation, the parent company …

“Around 10 o’clock last night, I went and met with Bibi – with the Prime Minister-  and had a conversation about President Trump’s negotiations with Iran and had a conversation with him. President Trump specifically sent me here to have a conversation. It was a very candid conversation. I’ve known the prime minister for many years and had many good …

The Hill reports: The FBI’s No. 2 official said Monday the agency had either reopened or shifted resources toward “a number of cases of potential public corruption,” including the leaked Supreme Court draft decision on abortion and an incident involving cocaine found at the White House during former President Biden’s term. “I receive requested briefings on these cases weekly and …

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. military is backing off its usual talk of good governance and countering insurgencies’ underlying causes, instead leaning into a message that its fragile allies in Africa must be ready to stand more on their own. At African Lion, its largest joint training exercise on the continent, that shift was clear: “We need to be …

“We’ve got to talk about environmental toxins that cause cancer, not just the chemo to treat it. And maybe we need to treat more diabetes with cooking classes, not just throwing insulin at people. You know, scientists have been waving the flag for years, saying you’ve got to look at this body of scientific data, and the modern medical establishment …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge ordered the Trump administration late Friday to facilitate the return of a Guatemalan man it deported to Mexico in spite of his fears of being harmed there. The man, who is gay, was protected from being returned to his home country under a U.S. immigration judge’s order at the time. But the U.S. …

Axios reports: The Treasury told WSJ businesses will need to start rounding up or down to the nearest 5 cents when there’s not enough pennies to use in everyday cash transactions. Cashless transactions will still be priced at exact change. State and local governments should provide guidance to retailers so that sales taxes are properly collected, WSJ reports. This is …

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. Justice Department’s new pardon attorney said he is going to take a “hard look” at two men who are serving long prison terms for leading a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “On the pardon front, we can’t leave these guys behind,” Ed Martin Jr. said this week. “In my opinion these are …

Politico reports: In 2021, like many Cubans and Cuban Americans that summer, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was jamming to “Patria y Vida,” the Grammy-winning protest anthem that became a rallying cry for dissidents in Cuba. The hip-hop song, whose title translates to “Homeland and Life,” directly rebuked Fidel Castro’s revolutionary slogan, “Patria o Muerte” — “Homeland or Death.” That was …

The Christian Post reports: The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit accusing the City of Troy in Idaho of religious discrimination after town officials denied an application from the nearby Moscow-based Christ Church for a conditional use permit that would allow the church to hold services in the city of just under 950 people. In a 19-page complaint …

The Jewish Insider reports: Kingsley Wilson, a deputy press secretary at the Department of Defense who has come under fire from Democratic and Republican lawmakers and Jewish communal organizations for promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories, has been promoted to serve as the department’s press secretary, the Pentagon announced on Friday. On two different occasions, she attacked the Anti-Defamation League for sharing …

The Associated Press reports: Bedeviled by leaks to the media during his short tenure, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a series of restrictions on the press late Friday that include banning reporters from entering wide swaths of the Pentagon without a government escort — areas where the press has had access in past administrations as it covers the activities of …

The Washington Post reports: Scores of staffers at the White House National Security Council were abruptly dismissed Friday, as the Trump administration moved to dramatically downsize the coordinating body, according to people familiar with the matter. For decades under both parties, the NSC has been composed “almost entirely of apolitical experts” on every significant issue to help the president manage …