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Disbelief as White House suggests Susie Wiles may not have known she was on record
Despite having about a year's worth of interviews — 11 to be exact — for an in-depth Vanity Fair story, White House insiders scrambled on Tuesday, suggesting to CNN that President Donald Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles may not have known she was on the record.
The bombshell story prompted a White House meltdown and plenty of chatter in Washington, D.C.
"But obviously this has really left the White House and not just the White House, but Trump world as a whole in a state of shock," CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes said. "I cannot tell you how many conspiracy theories I've heard about how this interview got published, whether it was the idea that she thought she was talking off the record, whether it was the idea that she was sitting for some kind of other interview that wasn't going to be published immediately, that it has something to do with the 2028 campaign, because Susie Wiles is a calculated and political figure. Everything she does has meaning."
The interview was an unusual move for Wiles, who generally has stood guard behind the scenes.
"She is not somebody who seeks the limelight," Holmes added. "She doesn't get out there in the press and do interviews. So the fact that she did this to so many people who are close to President Trump say that it must mean something. Now, of course, again, Wiles has said that that's not the case, that it was just taken out of context. There was an omission in much of what she said. But again, this has caused quite a stir here at the White House."
Social media users responded to the story and Wiles' accusations that she might not have known the interviews were to be included in the story.
"Susie Wiles: What’s that recorder for? Reporter: Recording your answers. Susie Wiles: Right, like I’m going to say anything that’ll come back to bite me in the a--. Ha!" Chris Robinson, former referee and manager, wrote on X.
"Why would a chief of staff agree to an interview that she may now be saying she thought was off the record???. Under those circumstances it's not an 'interview,'" Duff Montgomerie, who described himself as a retired public servant, wrote on X.
"If you give multiple interviews to Vanity Fair and don’t know whether or not you are on or off the record - then you are not qualified to be a chief of staff. Speaking as a chief of staff," Dj Omega Mvp wrote on X.
"Translation: CNN can't believe Wiles would be that dumb," college instructor Anthony M. Hopper wrote on X.
"Haha! So now Wiles & the White House want to follow the rules," social worker and gerontologist Dolly Madison wrote on X.
"She’s been around long enough," retired attorney and professor Howell Ellerman wrote on X.
‘It’s not me wearing a MAGA hat!’ Dem scrambles as identical twin leaps into politics
Sometimes, identical twins enter politics together. One of the most famous examples are Julián and Joaquin Castro, who have both held various offices in Texas. But in Indiana, something even more unusual is brewing: a pair of identical twins active in politics — but in opposite parties.
The reveal came on Tuesday, when Indianapolis City Councilor Nick Roberts posted a video statement on X, captioned, "Addressing something you might have heard about. And no, this isn’t a joke."
"My identical twin brother, Nate, has recently decided to get involved in Republican politics," said Roberts. "While this might seem ridiculous for a lot of reasons, it's been very confusing because we look similar, because he's a Republican, and because a lot of people didn't know I was a twin in the first place."
"Like a lot of families, we have a lot of political disagreement in ours, and it's just something that we've had to deal with," said Roberts. "So, just know if you see somebody that looks like me at a Republican event, or definitely if they're wearing a MAGA hat, it is not me. It is him. And while we disagree on a lot of things, he's still my brother and I care about him. We just disagree on basically every single political issue."
Roberts' brother recently gained attention when he spoke at the Indiana legislature in support of President Donald Trump's mid-decade gerrymandering scheme that would have deleted the state's two Democratic congressional districts. That plan, which triggered months of White House pressure and violent threats against Indiana lawmakers, ultimately failed as even a majority of the GOP state Senate caucus voted it down.
This is not the first time a pair of brothers has found themselves on opposite sides in politics. Another such pair is Brad Woodhouse, who heads up the liberal health care group Protect Our Care, and Dallas Woodhouse, who previously headed the North Carolina Republican Party.
Trump claims not to know fraudster who boosted his crypto venture after pardoning him
President Donald Trump said he pardoned Changpeng Zhao, a billionaire who boosted a crypto company owned by the Trump family, because "a lot of people" said he was innocent.
During a Thursday Oval Office event, a reporter asked whether Zhao's pardon had anything to do with his family's World Liberty Financial crypto venture.
"I do pardon a lot of people," Trump replied. "A lot of people say that he wasn't guilty of anything. He served four months in jail, and they say that he was not guilty of anything."
"That what he did, well, you don't know much about crypto," he told the reporter. "You know nothing about nothing, you know, fake news. But let me just tell you that he was somebody that, as I was told, I don't know him. I don't believe I've ever met him. But I've been told by — a lot of support, he had a lot of support. And they said that what he did is not even a crime."
Trump claimed that Zhao had been "persecuted by the Biden administration," even though he pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering requirements.
"So I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people," Trump concluded.
‘Watched her die a painful death’: Veteran caught in Santos dog scam furious about release
Veteran Rich Osthoff was defrauded by ex-Rep. George Santos who, he claimed, set up a GoFundMe for his dying dog — and then pocketed the cash. Watching President Donald Trump free the disgraced congressman Friday has left him furious.
Speaking to MSNBC on Monday, Osthoff said he was "sick to my stomach" after hearing about Santos' commutation. "For the president of the United States to stick me in the gut with a knife, and every other veteran and every other military member gets a knife to the gut."
Osthoff had hoped that Santos would serve at least half of the sentence before he was released or pardoned.
"His sentence would serve as a warning to federal officials that if you do this, you'll end up in prison. That's what the DOJ wanted the message to be. What message does him walking out of prison after three months send him?" Osthoff asked.
"Walking out of prison after three months is a complete travesty. Same with the the Jan. 6th people. This is the president, a rogue president now just using his pardon power like a cudgel against everything that's decent, good and holy. It's shameful and a disgrace. And I'm almost ashamed that I served my country. Now, this is not the country I raised my hand three times to re-enlist for."
Osthoff's service dog had cancer and he sought help from individuals who could contribute to fund the treatment he couldn't afford. Santos offered to start a GoFundMe for the dog, but, in the end, Osthoff never saw a dime of the money.
After the scam was revealed, individuals stepped up to help him get another service dog, but it meant his dog Sapphire suffered.
"Sapphire still died and I watched her die a painful death," he said.
"And that guy is the one who did that to me. Every time I see him on TV now ... it brings a wound right back into the forefront again," Osthoff lamented.
Santos told CNN over the weekend that he hopes to be a more honest person and express contrition for those he wronged. But Osthoff isn't buying it.
"He's been so rude to me. He's lied about me. He's defamed me on TV dozens of times. He has no remorse," the Navy veteran said.
Santos spent 84 days in prison out of the 87 months in prison.
‘You have your answer’: GOP accused of major revelation with ‘damning’ No Kings response
The Republican response to this weekend's massive No Kings demonstrations showed they're ready to crown President Donald Trump as absolute ruler, an analyst wrote Monday.
The president dismissed the protests, which drew an estimated 7 million people at 2,600 events nationwide, as "very small, very ineffective," posted AI-generated video of himself dumping feces on attendees' heads and threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act.
But Salon's Sophia Tesfaye argued the GOP response was even more revealing.
"The right’s response to No Kings wasn’t just politically telling. It was conceptually damning," Tesfaye wrote. "If a protest warns that someone is behaving like a king, and the accused responds by laughing, wearing a crown and declaring 'You’re just mad I’m winning' — you have your answer."
Vice President JD Vance shared a doctored video of Trump placing a crown on his head while Democratic leaders bowed, and the White House official account shared his post. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) claimed the protesters "hate America" and wanted to "dismantle capitalism" and "erase our founding principles.”
"He may not be a king by law," Tesfaye wrote. "But in posture, and in the eyes of his defenders, Donald Trump already wears the crown. So he wants to define criticism as disloyalty. Mike Johnson wants to define protest as hate. Fox News wants to define mass mobilization as marginal. And yet none of it is working."
Millions protested Saturday against the president and his policies, but Tesfaye said the Republican reaction shows why those demonstrations are necessary to preserve democracy.
"The important questions now aren’t whether Trump will continue to act like a king," Tesfaye wrote. "They are whether the right can continue to pretend he isn’t — and if the press will let Republicans claim they haven’t seen Trump’s absurd reaction before he abuses his power to exact revenge."
GOP senator of poverty-stricken state walloped with $8M IRS tax lien: report
The junior U.S. senator representing a state with one of the highest rates of childhood poverty in the country has been slapped with an $8 million IRS tax lien, Politico reported Monday.
Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV), the former governor who assumed former Sen. Joe Manchin's seat, is tardy on making good on assessments dating back to 2009 -- debt that has followed him long before he was elected as governor in 2016.
Justice’s fortune comes from farming, resorts and ownership of coal mines that he sold to Russian interests for $568 million in cash and stock, also in 2009. He later repurchased them at a discount.
According to Politico, information about the lien came out over the weekend when the press was consumed with the nationwide “No Kings” rally against Donald Trump.
The report noted, “It wasn’t immediately clear why the IRS decided to move forward with the lien at this time. The IRS filed two documents. Both indicate they were prepared and signed Sept. 30, and stamped Oct. 2 by a clerk for Greenbrier County,” adding, “One of the assessments from the IRS is dated Nov. 25, 2015, appearing to put the agency near the end of its 10-year window for taking action.”
While running for the Senate seat he now inhabits, the 74-year old Justice pushed back at reports of his tax woes, telling reporters, “I’ve told everyone that if you’ll tend to the business of the state of West Virginia as I’m tending to the business of the state and you’ll just stay out of my family’s personal stuff, you’ll find the final outcomes will be exactly what I’ve told you they’ll be. They’ll be worked out.”
‘I don’t like you!’ Trump state meeting goes off rails as he attacks Australian ambassador
President Donald Trump insulted Australian Ambassador to the U.S. Kevin Rudd to his face during a meeting with the country's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
During a Monday appearance with Albanese at the White House, a reporter asked Trump if he was concerned with "things the ambassador said about you in the past."
"I don't know anything about him," Trump said of Rudd, who was sitting across the table from him. "I mean, if you said bad, then maybe he'll like to apologize. I really don't know."
"Did an ambassador say something bad of me?" the U.S. president asked Albanese. "Don't tell me. Where is he? Is he still working for you?"
"Yeah, yeah," Rudd volunteered.
"You said bad?" Trump asked.
"Before I took this position, Mr. President," the ambassador replied.
"I don't like you either," Trump fumed. "I don't, and I probably never will."
Rudd, himself a former Australian Prime Minister, has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump, describing him as a threat to democratic institutions.
‘Not allowed to break that!’ Trump freaks as camera bangs priceless White House mirror
While meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Monday at the White House, President Donald Trump chided a reporter for apparently bumping into a mirror with a camera.
“You gotta watch that! You're not allowed to break that, that mirror is 400 years old!” Trump said as the White House reporters crammed into the room ahead of the president’s meeting with Albanese.
“The camera just hit the mirror... Ay ay ay! I just moved it up here from the vaults and the first thing that happens, a camera hits it. Hard to believe, isn't it? But these are the problems in life.”
It’s unknown what mirror the reporter had bumped into, though it could possibly be a gilded English pier mirror made in the late 18th century and donated to the White House in 1946, which the White House Historical Association made reference to in a past social media post.
Trump’s meeting with Albanese was arranged, in part, to “talk about trade” and “submarines,” Trump said, along with a rare earths minerals deal between the two nations as the Trump administration seeks an off ramp to its dependence on China.Popular articles
Disbelief as White House suggests Susie Wiles may not have known she was on record
Despite having about a year's worth of interviews — 11 to be exact — for an in-depth Vanity Fair story, White House insiders scrambled on Tuesday, suggesting to CNN that President Donald Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles may not have known she was on the record.
The bombshell story prompted a White House meltdown and plenty of chatter in Washington, D.C.
"But obviously this has really left the White House and not just the White House, but Trump world as a whole in a state of shock," CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes said. "I cannot tell you how many conspiracy theories I've heard about how this interview got published, whether it was the idea that she thought she was talking off the record, whether it was the idea that she was sitting for some kind of other interview that wasn't going to be published immediately, that it has something to do with the 2028 campaign, because Susie Wiles is a calculated and political figure. Everything she does has meaning."
The interview was an unusual move for Wiles, who generally has stood guard behind the scenes.
"She is not somebody who seeks the limelight," Holmes added. "She doesn't get out there in the press and do interviews. So the fact that she did this to so many people who are close to President Trump say that it must mean something. Now, of course, again, Wiles has said that that's not the case, that it was just taken out of context. There was an omission in much of what she said. But again, this has caused quite a stir here at the White House."
Social media users responded to the story and Wiles' accusations that she might not have known the interviews were to be included in the story.
"Susie Wiles: What’s that recorder for? Reporter: Recording your answers. Susie Wiles: Right, like I’m going to say anything that’ll come back to bite me in the a--. Ha!" Chris Robinson, former referee and manager, wrote on X.
"Why would a chief of staff agree to an interview that she may now be saying she thought was off the record???. Under those circumstances it's not an 'interview,'" Duff Montgomerie, who described himself as a retired public servant, wrote on X.
"If you give multiple interviews to Vanity Fair and don’t know whether or not you are on or off the record - then you are not qualified to be a chief of staff. Speaking as a chief of staff," Dj Omega Mvp wrote on X.
"Translation: CNN can't believe Wiles would be that dumb," college instructor Anthony M. Hopper wrote on X.
"Haha! So now Wiles & the White House want to follow the rules," social worker and gerontologist Dolly Madison wrote on X.
"She’s been around long enough," retired attorney and professor Howell Ellerman wrote on X.
‘It’s not me wearing a MAGA hat!’ Dem scrambles as identical twin leaps into politics
Sometimes, identical twins enter politics together. One of the most famous examples are Julián and Joaquin Castro, who have both held various offices in Texas. But in Indiana, something even more unusual is brewing: a pair of identical twins active in politics — but in opposite parties.
The reveal came on Tuesday, when Indianapolis City Councilor Nick Roberts posted a video statement on X, captioned, "Addressing something you might have heard about. And no, this isn’t a joke."
"My identical twin brother, Nate, has recently decided to get involved in Republican politics," said Roberts. "While this might seem ridiculous for a lot of reasons, it's been very confusing because we look similar, because he's a Republican, and because a lot of people didn't know I was a twin in the first place."
"Like a lot of families, we have a lot of political disagreement in ours, and it's just something that we've had to deal with," said Roberts. "So, just know if you see somebody that looks like me at a Republican event, or definitely if they're wearing a MAGA hat, it is not me. It is him. And while we disagree on a lot of things, he's still my brother and I care about him. We just disagree on basically every single political issue."
Roberts' brother recently gained attention when he spoke at the Indiana legislature in support of President Donald Trump's mid-decade gerrymandering scheme that would have deleted the state's two Democratic congressional districts. That plan, which triggered months of White House pressure and violent threats against Indiana lawmakers, ultimately failed as even a majority of the GOP state Senate caucus voted it down.
This is not the first time a pair of brothers has found themselves on opposite sides in politics. Another such pair is Brad Woodhouse, who heads up the liberal health care group Protect Our Care, and Dallas Woodhouse, who previously headed the North Carolina Republican Party.
