Raw Story

President Donald Trump celebrated the "true character" of former NFL coach Jon Gruden despite his resignation over reports that he used racist, sexist, and anti-gay slurs.

"Great playing Golf with Jon Gruden — A really nice guy, and true character!" Trump wrote on Sunday. The president included a photo of himself shaking hands with Gruden on a golf course.

Gruden resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021 after The New York Times unearthed emails that contained slurs.

In one email, the coach reportedly complained that NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith had "lips the size of michellin tires."

Gruden later told ESPN that the remark meant that Smith was a liar.

"I'm ashamed I insulted De Smith. I never had a racial thought when I used it," he insisted. "I'm embarrassed by what's out there. I certainly never meant for it to sound that bad."

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson made it crystal clear during a press conference on Saturday that Donald Trump and his appointees should not expect any help from the local police and city workers if the president makes good on his threat to send in the National Guard to back up masked-ICE agents snatching immigrants off the streets.

Stating he had “no time to waste,” Johnson signed his own executive order, mirroring Trump’s favorite pastime, instructing city officials on how to deal with the coming militarization of another U.S. city.

With Chicago expected to be the next targeted city, Johnson pointed said the Chicago Police Department will not “collaborate” and will instead protect Chicagoans from “federal overreach.”

According to the mayor, his executive order will “... protect ourselves from the threats and actions of this out-of-control administration. We will protect our Constitution. We will protect our city, and we will protect our people. We do not want to see tanks in our streets. We do not want to see families ripped apart. We do not want grandmothers thrown into the back of unmarked vans. You don't want to see homeless Chicagoans harassed or disappeared by federal agents. We don't want to see Chicagoans arrested for sitting on their porch.”

“That's not who we are as a city, and that's not who we are as a nation,” he continued. “My team and I have spoken with the governor, the county president, and with our federal delegation, and we are in complete alignment. The time for action is now.”

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Ashli Babbitt, the pro-Trump Air Force veteran who was fatally shot by Capitol Police during the Jan. 6 Captal riot, is now set to receive full military funeral honors, a decision that has left one retired general livid, and condemning the move as “obscene.”

“I am infuriated that the Air Force plans to grant military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt,” wrote Retired Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling in an op-ed published Saturday in The Bulwark. “She did not die defending the Constitution. She died trying to overturn it.”

Hertling, whose active duty service spanned from 1975 to 2013, recounted his own history of swearing his oath to defend the Constitution, done many times throughout his career. Babbitt, having served in the Air Force for 12 years, and was deployed at least eight times, would have taken that same oath.

Hertling went on to recall his time serving in Iraq, with one memory in particarly standing out to him: the death of his colleague, a “young soldier,” who died by suicide bomber while standing at his post at a military base entry gate.

“The soldier died at his post, saving lives by giving his own; that is service, that is sacrifice,” Hertling wrote.

“...(Babbitt) was not protecting lives at a gate in Iraq; she was forcing her way through windows in the Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power, one of the most sacred traditions of our Republic. To pretend that her death deserves the same recognition as the young soldier at the gate is obscene. It is a betrayal of the oath she once swore and a desecration of the sacrifice made by so many who kept faith with theirs.”

Babbitt has become something of a martyr for the MAGA movement, including for President Donald Trump himself, who called the Capitol Police officer who shot Babbitt – Lt. Michael Byrd – a “thug.” Other MAGA-aligned figures have also condemned her shooting.

The military funeral honors for Babbitt were previously denied under the Biden administration, a decision that Air Force Secretary Matthew Lohmeier, appointed by Trump and confirmed by the Senate last month, called an “incorrect determination.”

“After reviewing the circumstances of Ashli’s death, and considering the information that has come forward since then, I am persuaded that the previous determination was incorrect,” Lohmeier wrote in a letter to Babbitt’s family, and shared on social media. “Additionally, I would like to invite you and your family to meet me at the Pentagon to personally offer my condolences.”

The decision by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) not to run for reelection despite reported pressure from the White House to remain in the race, has Iowa Republicans on their heels coming right after Democrat Catelin Drey won a key race in the state this past week that altered the balance of power in the state legislature.

According to a report from Politico’s Liz Crampton and Holly Otterbein, Democrats see a chance to make major inroads in the reliably red state where the GOP is faced with not only coming up with a suitable candidate for the Senate seat, but also face a challenge holding onto the governorship.

Earlier in the year, Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) announced she too would not run for reelection in 2026 in order to spend more time with her family and that has Democrats anticipating a challenge with a candidate Rob Sand, Iowa's state auditor, already amassing a substantial warchest.

According to Politico, “The idea that Democrats are going to reclaim any ground in Iowa two years after they lost complete control in Washington — and while they piece their party together amid record-low approval ratings — is difficult to imagine,” adding, “But Democrats in Iowa think Republicans are vulnerable because they have fumbled both hyper-local and national issues in the state, and believe that anti-Trump sentiment will drag down the GOP.”

The report notes, “a GOP strategist, granted anonymity in order to speak freely, said Republicans are more worried about Sand’s gubernatorial campaign, which raised $2.25 million in the first 24 hours after its launch, breaking a state record."

Politico is reporting, one local Republican thinks the state party establishment needs to do some soul-searching after Drey’s win.

“I don’t think it was about Donald Trump at all,” Republican Woodbury County Supervisor Mark Nelson wrote on Facebook . “I think it was about Kim Reynolds and I think it’s about what the Republicans have done in the Iowa legislature for several years now.”

You can read more here.

While the Trump administration has rationalized its escalating hostilities with Venezuela as an effort to combat drug trafficking, several officials within the Trump administration are suggesting there to be an ulterior motive behind the escalation.

President Donald Trump ordered eight warships carrying 4,500 troops this week to sit off the coast of Venezuela in what the administration described as an “enhanced counter narcotics operation.” Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro has seen a $50 million bounty placed on him by Trump for what his administration says is his involvement in drug trafficking.

Three Trump officials, however, say there’s more to the operation than meets the eye, speaking with Axios under the condition of anonymity and reported by the outlet on Friday.

“Leaving Maduro in power in Venezuela is like making Jeffrey Epstein the head of a daycare,” said a Trump official, suggesting regime change may be an unofficial goal of the increased hostilities.

Another Trump official likened the operation to the United States’ operation to capture Panama President Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno, who in 1989 was captured after the United States invaded the Central American nation.

“This could be Noriega part 2,” a second Trump official told Axios. “The president has asked for a menu of options, and ultimately, this is the president's decision about what to do next, but Maduro should be s------- bricks.”

The United States has a long history of enacting regime change in South America, sometimes through direct military intervention, and others, through more covert operations. Perhaps the most prominent example is the United States-backed coup in 1973 that overthrew the democratically-elected president of Chile, Salvador Allende, done so largely at the behest of American mining and communications companies that were stripped of their control of Chile’s labor and resources under Allende’s leadership.

A third Trump official told Axios that, while the operation was still largely about combatting drug trafficking, ousting Maduro would also be a favorable outcome.

“This is 105% about narco-terrorism,” the official said. “But if Maduro winds up no longer in power, no one will be crying.”

FBI Director Kash Patel's girlfriend is suing a former agent who is claiming whistleblower protections after he alleged she was a spy and part of a "honeypot" operation.

CNBC reported Friday that Alexis Wilkins filed a lawsuit against Kyle Seraphin, claiming he "has maliciously lied" about her by “falsely asserting that she—an American-born country singer—is an agent of a foreign government, assigned to manipulate and compromise the Director of the FBI,” the lawsuit alleges.

Seraphin, a conservative podcaster, refers to himself as a "recovering FBI agent," the report noted. Wilkins claims that he is using the accusations against her as "self-enriching clickbait."

Seraphin, in response, claimed on his show that he never directly accused Wilkins of being a spy, adding that similar rumors have circulated widely online. However, the lawsuit contends that, as a former counterintelligence FBI agent, Seraphin’s comments carry serious weight and can’t be dismissed as exaggeration or internet gossip. Indeed, Seraphin never says Wilkins' name when speaking about it.

Through her attorney, Wilkins flatly denies any ties to Israel, intelligence agencies, or covert activity.

The complaint continues, noting, “Ms. Wilkins is not even Jewish, let alone Israeli, and has never set foot in Israel,” calling Seraphin’s claims both baseless and insulting.

The suit also emphasizes that labeling her a “honeypot” essentially accuses her of being an agent of a foreign government attempting to undermine U.S. national security and law enforcement, which amounts to an accusation of treason.

Patel “has had his own little ‘honeypot’ issue that’s been going on of late, so we’re just going to acknowledge it real publicly,” Seraphin said on the podcast episode cited in the lawsuit.

“He’s got a girlfriend that is half his age, who is apparently is both a country music singer, a political commentator on Rumble, a friend of John Rich through [FBI deputy Director Dan] Bongino, who also now owns a big chunk of Rumble, and she’s also a former Mossad agent in what is like the equivalent of their NSA," he continued.

“But I’m sure that’s totally because, like, she’s really looking for like a cross-eyed, you know, kind of thickish built, super cool bro who’s almost 50 years old who’s Indian in America,” Seraphin said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Like it has nothing to do with the fact that uh we’re really close to the Trump administration,” he added. “Anyway, I’m sure that’s totally just like love. That’s what real love looks like.”

The suit asks for $5 million in damages.

Read the full report here.