Trump Corruption

Democracy Docket reports: A federal judge today ordered the Trump administration to resume payments for federal programs after the White House violated a previous order blocking a federal funding freeze. In a blistering opinion, District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island warned that not complying with a court order could lead to contempt of court, which is a crime. …

Reuters reports: Former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon plans to plead guilty in a deal with New York state prosecutors to resolve fraud charges connected to fundraising for a U.S. southern border wall and allow him to avoid any prison time, legal trade publication Law360 reported. The report cited a defense attorney for Bannon, John F. Carman. “It is anticipated …

Axios reports: President Donald Trump is expected to pardon former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, according to a person familiar with the plans. Blagojevich served eight years in prison on charges stemming from his effort to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat after Obama won the 2008 presidential election, until Trump commuted his 14-year sentence in 2020. Trump and Blagojevich have a …

The Washington Post reports: Candidates for top national security positions in the Trump administration have faced questions that appear designed to determine whether they have embraced the president’s false claims about the outcome of the 2020 election and its aftermath, according to people familiar with cases of such screening. The questions asked of several current and former officials up for …

The Hill reports: A federal judge in Rhode Island on Monday ordered the Trump administration to comply with his order to unfreeze federal grants, after attorneys general for several Democratic states claimed the directive was not being fulfilled. In a short order, U.S. District Judge John McConnell directed the Trump administration to “immediately” end any federal funding pause until he …

Bloomberg News reports: In another weekend takeover of a federal agency’s operations, staffers from an efficiency initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk helped to effectively shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — as they gained access to an array of the bureau’s protected information. The actions began last Thursday, when four young staffers working under Musk for DOGE, showed …

Politico reports: Trump on Monday said he had ordered the firings of the boards of visitors for all of the U.S. military’s service academies, the outside advisory panels that help oversee academic programs and student life, saying that the government’s training grounds for military officers had been invaded by so-called “woke” ideology. Trump campaigned on a promise to purge the …

A new excerpt from last night’s Fox interview… TRUMP: We’ll build beautiful communities for the 1.9 million people. We’ll build beautiful communities, safe communities. Could be five, six, could be two. But we’ll build safe communities, a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is. In the meantime, I would own this. Think of it …

REPORTER: You said you said you’re going to honor first responders today, but you pardoned hundreds of people who assaulted first responders. Why did you do that? TRUMP: Who? REPORTER: You are going to meet with first responders today, but you pardoned people who assaulted first responders–. TRUMP: I pardoned people who were assaulted themselves! They were assaulted by our …

BRET BAIER: You said that tariff is a beautiful word. There are some signs in the market, consumer confidence that they’re a little jittery. So, if all goes to plan, when do you think families would be able to feel prices going down, groceries, energy? Or are you kind of saying to them, hang on, inflation may get worse until …

So this happened yesterday on Air Force One: Today, I am very honored to recognize February 9, 2025, as the first ever Gulf of America Day. On January 20, 2025, I signed Executive Order 14172 (“Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness”). Among other actions, that Executive Order required the Secretary of the Interior, acting pursuant to 43 U.S.C. 364 through …

The Washington Post reports: Trump says he has ordered the U.S. Treasury to stop minting new pennies, calling their production “wasteful.” No other official announcement on penny production has been made, and Treasury did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment. But the debate over whether to continue making lower-denomination coins has gone on for years, particularly as …

“I’m committed to buying and owning Gaza. As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it, other people may do it, through our auspices. But we’re committed to owning it, taking it, and making sure that Hamas doesn’t move back. There’s nothing to move back into. The …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he will announce on Monday 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S., another major escalation in his trade policy overhaul. Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One, also said he will announce reciprocal tariffs on Tuesday or Wednesday, to take effect almost immediately. Trump during …

“So, as you’re aware, a radical left judge said that the Secretary of the Treasury cannot access the Treasury computer system! [JMG: This is a lie.] This isn’t just unconstitutional! That ruling is an assault on the very idea of democracy itself! “Whether it be with the Treasury bureaucrats or the FBI bureaucrats or the CIA bureaucrats or the USAID …

Forbes reports: Vice President JD Vance suggested Sunday courts “aren’t allowed” to overrule President Donald Trump and his executive orders after judges across the country have issued orders blocking Trump policies. Vance also shared a post from legal scholar Adrian Vermeule, who claimed, “Judicial interference with legitimate acts of state, especially the internal functioning of a co-equal branch, is a …

“In a few weeks, the Republicans are going to try to figure out how they move forward, and they have, for the last two years, needed Democratic votes for every single continuing resolution, and they should not count on that this time. They are simply trying to dismantle the government. So yes, look, if we have to take steps to …

The Associated Press reports: Trump has spent 20 days in office, and on nearly every one of them, he has signed executive orders — often several. Trump issued Day 1 orders to pardon most members of the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord and keep TikTok functioning. He hasn’t …

The New York Times reports: The curious trade came a little past 9 p.m. on Jan. 17 — a $1,096,109 bet less than two minutes after the soon-to-be president of the United States posted on his social media account that his family had issued a cryptocurrency called $Trump. In those first minutes, a crypto wallet with a unique identification code …

The New York Post reports: President Trump has ordered security clearances stripped from a new hit list of antagonists. Trump said his new top target is ex-Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “Bad guy. Take away his passes,” he said of Blinken. “This is to take away every right they have [revoking security clearances] including they can’t go into [federal] buildings.” …