Trump Corruption

Axios reports: The White House plans to impose its own seating chart for reporters in the briefing room in coming weeks, taking over a function long managed by the reporters themselves through the White House Correspondents’ Association. It’s the latest — but likely not the last — effort by the White House to take a heavier hand in shaping who …

NBC News reports: The president said he “couldn’t care less” if automakers raised prices after he announced he would impose 25% tariffs on all foreign-made automobiles. When pressed if he told CEOs not to raise prices, as reported in the The Wall Street Journal, Trump added, “No, I never said that. I couldn’t care less if they raise prices, because …

The New York Times reports: For much of this week, President Trump was consumed by a single question. What should he do about his national security adviser, Michael Waltz? “Should I fire him?” he asked aides and allies as the fallout continued over the stunning leak of a Signal group chat set up by Mr. Waltz, who had inadvertently added …

NBC News reports: The president on Saturday said he has “absolutely” had real conversations about annexing Greenland, which is currently a semiautonomous Danish territory. “We’ll get Greenland. Yeah, 100%,” Trump said. He added that there’s a “good possibility that we could do it without military force” but that “I don’t take anything off the table.” Asked what message acquiring Greenland …

Axios reports: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said Friday that banks no longer need to get its prior approval before engaging in crypto-related activities, like holding digital currency assets or partnering with companies in the industry. After publishing a general caution against banks participating in the industry just two years ago, the FDIC is the latest Trump administration regulator to …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump defended his pardon of Trevor Milton, the disgraced former CEO of the electric truck manufacturer Nikola. In December 2023, Milton was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of defrauding investors. He had been free pending appeal. “Milton’s scheme targeted individual, non-professional investors — so-called “retail investors” — by making false and misleading …

Madison’s ABC affiliate reports: Attorney General Josh Kaul (D-WI) filed a lawsuit on Friday against Elon Musk and his political action committee America PAC, claiming the billionaire tried to buy votes in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election. The lawsuit states a million dollar cash prize Musk announced he would be giving to two voters who attend a Sunday rally he is …

Deadline reports: The Walt Disney Co. is the latest media conglomerate to be targeted by Donald Trump‘s FCC chairman over its DEI practices. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said today that he sent a letter to Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger announcing that the agency had opened an investigation into whether Disney and ABC “have not been violating FCC equal …

NBC News reports: Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said Friday he would seek a court order to block tech billionaire and White House adviser Elon Musk from awarding million-dollar prizes to people at a weekend event ahead of next week’s pivotal state Supreme Court race. “The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that elections in Wisconsin are safe, …

The Associated Press reports: Billionaire Elon Musk on Friday clarified his reasons for visiting Wisconsin two days ahead of its hotly contested Supreme Court election after deleting a social media post saying he planned to “personally hand over” $2 million to a pair of voters who have already cast their ballots in the race. Musk later posted a clarification, saying …

CBS News reports: Nearly all of the replacement parts on the shelves inside Fred Billeh’s Discount Auto Warehouse in Chicago came from the countries facing new tariffs. He estimates his warehouse carries “millions” of parts. Billeh’s prices increased in 2019 after Mr. Trump imposed tariffs in his first term. He said the added cost gets passed “to the customers, to …

Axios reports: President Trump’s dramatic rug pull of Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-N.Y.) UN ambassador nomination has given House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) a new series of headaches. Johnson has to reassure GOP lawmakers after their president said he’s nervous about a Trump +20 district. He also must reintegrate Stefanik, who was planning to bolt town next week, into a leadership …

Axios reports: If you’re a foreign leader or a CEO about to meet with President Trump — or if you want to avoid his vengeance — come bearing gifts. Government officials and business leaders around the world have gotten the message and are strategizing about how to give Trump real or perceived wins to try to smooth out any relationship …

The Business Standard reports: In a high-stakes call with top US automakers earlier this month, US President Donald Trump issued a warning: Do not raise car prices in response to his new tariffs, reported The Wall Street Journal. According to sources familiar with the conversation, Trump cautioned executives that the White House would not look favourably on price increases. His …

Reuters reports: President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order directing Vice President JD Vance – a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents – to eliminate “improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology” from Smithsonian museums, education and research centers and the National Zoo, the White House said. The order also directs the interior secretary to restore federal monuments and …

Reuters reports: The Danish government on Thursday condemned what it called President Donald Trump’s escalated rhetoric and praised Greenland’s inhabitants for their resilience in the face of US pressure for control over the Arctic island. Trump, while reiterating his desire to take over Greenland, which is a semi-autonomous Danish territory, told journalists on Wednesday that the US needs the strategically …

The Daily Beast reports: Online sleuths believe that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was wearing a gold Rolex watch worth nearly $60,000 when she visited a prison camp in El Salvador on Wednesday. The watch—which appeared on Noem’s wrist while she filmed her latest publicity stunt, this time in front of a cell full of Venezuelan prisoners—looks a whole …

The Associated Press reports: Danish outlet TV2 correspondent Jesper Steinmetz reported that U.S. representatives were knocking on doors in Nuuk, Greenland, to rally support for Vance’s wife ahead of her visit. When residents were asked if they would like to visit with the second lady, the responses were overwhelmingly, “No, thanks”, according to the report. Steinmetz reported that the lackluster …

The Hill reports: Two Federal Trade Commission (FTC) members fired by President Trump sued him Thursday, setting up another major test of his administration’s expansionist view of presidential authority over independent agencies. Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya’s lawsuit seeks backpay and reinstatement under the Supreme Court’s 90-year-old precedent that has enabled for-cause removal protections for independent agency leaders. Like …

Newsweek reports: Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Thursday morning that his department would cut 10,000 jobs and merge sections to create a new “Administration for a Healthy America” (AHA). The cuts will hit the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and …