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Trump’s ‘revenge’ meltdown plans leak for White House Correspondents’ Dinner: report
President Donald Trump is preparing to throw a scripted tantrum at the White House Correspondents' Dinner this year, reported The Daily Beast on Wednesday.
"Donald Trump will launch a 'revenge' attack on the White House media when he confronts them in person at a Washington dinner on Saturday night — then flee before there can be revenge," said the report. "He is expected to target publications that he has accused of writing negatively about his administration and his war with Iran, in particular, according to sources."
This would track with his recent rants on Truth Social, where he has accused of the media of rigging reports about the Iran war to make it look like it's going worse than it actually is.
After he is done with his speech, said the report, he is skipping on the rest of the ceremony — in large part because he doesn't want to stick around for an award being given to a story that revealed his closeness to deceased financier and accused child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
"Trump will leave the White House Correspondents’ Association event after making his speech, so he will miss the presentation of press awards — one of which would be certain to embarrass him," said the report. "He has told aides he has no intention of still being in the International Ballroom at the Washington Hilton when the Wall Street Journal is honored with the Katherine Graham award for its scoop about a bawdy letter Trump allegedly wrote for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday card."
The president sued WSJ over that reporting, alleging that the birthday letter was not authentic. This month, a federal judge tossed out that suit.
‘Massive cover up’ fears raised as House panel splits on clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell
Ghislaine Maxwell's condition to testify under oath — but only under the condition of clemency — has split House Oversight and Government Reform Committee members over whether President Donald Trump should grant her that pardon, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) told Politico on Wednesday.
Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's co-conspirator, was deposed by the committee and invoked her Fifth Amendment right to decline to answer the group's questions. Trump is the only one with the power to pardon her, something he has not yet ruled out.
Comer told Politico that he did not favor a pardon for Maxwell, a former confidant to the late financier and convicted child sex offender. When asked whether striking a deal with Maxwell could provide useful testimony, Comer did not share who on the panel supported granting her clemency.
"A lot of people do," Comer said.
"My committee’s split on that," Comer said. "I don’t speak for my committee."
"I think it looks bad," he added. "Honestly, other than Epstein, the worst person in this whole investigation is Maxwell."
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) said that Democrats on the committee collectively oppose a pardon for Maxwell.
"That would be a huge step backwards, and, quite frankly, so disrespectful to the survivors," he said in an interview. "She is a known abuser. She is a known liar."
"If the DOJ or Oversight Republicans are out there trying to negotiate some sort of pardon that is... not only a huge slap in the face to this investigation, to anyone, to the American public," Garcia said. "It’s a part of a massive cover up."
‘Wah, wah, wah:’ AOC scoffs at GOP whining over gerrymandering
WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, had strong words for Republicans complaining about the gerrymandering in Virginia that voters approved on Tuesday, with strong support from her party.
"Wah, wah, wah," Ocasio-Cortez told Raw Story on Wednesday, mimicking a whining baby and laughing in response to a question from reporter Matt Laslo. "Democrats have attempted and asked Republicans for 10 years to ban partisan gerrymandering, and for 10 years, Republicans have said, 'no.'"
Laslo was asking Ocasio-Cortez to respond to complaints from the GOP that it would be unconstitutional for Democrats to have a 10-1 congressional majority in Virginia, which the gerrymandering ballot measure would make possible. A Virginia circuit court judge blocked the vote-approved redistricting on Wednesday, however.
Still, Ocasio-Cortez saw no problem with Democrats supporting gerrymandering after years of opposing it when done on the Republican side. For AOC, the GOP "wanted to start this," and the Democrats are just fighting back.
"What they're mad at is they're accustomed to a Democrat Party that rolls over, doesn't fight and takes everything sitting down," Ocasio-Cortez said. "What they're mad at right now is that we are here in a new day."
She mentioned Republican gerrymandering in North Carolina and Texas, where Democrats lost seats. Trump's call for Texas Republicans to gerrymander arguably kicked off what's now seen as a redistricting arms race.
"We have been asking the Democratic Party to stand up and fight, and now they did," AOC continued. "Now the Republican Party doesn't like the fact that they are fighting against someone who actually will stand up for the American people."
Ocasio-Cortez said she would "welcome" working with the Republicans to pass a ban on partisan gerrymandering.
"We have the bill right here to end this all today," she said, smiling. "But they don't want to because they like pursuing and continuing to enact an unfair electoral landscape."
‘Wildly overstated’: Trump’s favorite attacks blown up as he readies to meet Canada’s PM
CNN face-checker Daniel Dale made clear Tuesday morning that President Donald Trump is “wildly overstating” when he bashes Canada.
The comments came ahead of Trump’s meeting Tuesday with the new Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney.
Dale took aim at the president's claim that Canada imposes high tariffs on its neighbor.
“The facts are that Canada is a low-tariff country,” Dale said. “The last international data we have from 2022, the World Bank published that Canada was 102nd on a list of 137 countries for average tariffs. It had lower average tariffs than the United States.”
He noted Trump’s claims about Canada's agricultural tariffs are also false. “[Trump] does not mention that those high dairy tariffs only kick in after a certain quantity of tariff-free U.S. exports to Canada, a certain quantity negotiated in his own USMCA are hit, and that the U.S. is not even close to hitting those maximum quantities,” Dale said.
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“[Trump] also does not mention that the U.S. Department of Agriculture itself says on its website that almost all U.S. agricultural exports to Canada are tariff-free and barrier-free. So the milk stuff, the dairy stuff that exists, but again, there are exemptions. And number two, those are the exception, not the rule.”
He later went on to criticize Trump’s claim that the United States has a massive trade deficit with its neighbor to the north. “[Trump] says the number 200 billion, almost every time he talks about Canada, it is wildly overstated,” Dale said. “So the United States' goods and services trade deficit with Canada in 2024 was under 40 billion.”
Dale shortly after corrected himself, “It's almost about 36 billion, I'm sorry. So he's multiplying it several times. Now, if you only talk about trade in goods and ignore the services trade at which the United States excels, he's still grossly exaggerating it.”
Watch the video below or at this link.
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‘It’s your fault!’ MSNBC experts crack up as they listen to Trump passing blame
President Donald Trump spoke for an hour with NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker and claimed that things going wrong in America are the fault of former President Joe Biden — and things that go well are because of him.
The comment prompted an MSNBC economics panel to laugh Monday.
“When does it become the Trump economy?” Welker asked Trump in the extensive interview that aired Sunday.
“It partially is right now,” Trump replied. “I think the good parts are the Trump economy, and the bad parts are the Biden economy.”
Trump alleged the interview was "dishonest."
Speaking Monday, MSNBC host Ana Cabrera asked for a reaction from Jared Bernstein, former chairman of the Board of Economic Advisers.
ALSO READ: ‘Pain. Grief. Anger’: Families heartbroken as Trump backlash smashes adoption dreams
Well, my reaction is that if this interview goes well, it's because of me. And if it goes badly, it's because of the other panelists," Bernstein said, as the other panelists and the host cracked up laughing. "It's as simple as that."
Cabrera quipped, "That's what I tell my producers. It's your fault if I mess up."
"I can't imagine anyone hearing that thinking it's anything other than ridiculous," agreed Bernstein.
NBC News senior business correspondent Christine Romans warned that the big banks anticipate a coming recession due to Trump's trade war.
"Well, I mean, there's a big concern about his tariffs and whether they slow growth, and maybe lead to higher inflation, and the major banks are really struggling with whether this could be something that, instead of just being slower growth and higher inflation, actually is something really terrible: A recession," she said.
"JP Morgan puts it at a 60% chance [of] a recession. Goldman Sachs and Citi about a 40% to 45% chance. But Bank of America says you could avoid one. What does that mean? It means no one knows for sure."
However, the bad news is the U.S. isn't "debating how blockbuster the economy is. We're debating how bad the pain will be," she added.
See the full clip below or at the link here.
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MTG rages at Trump advisers: ‘Anyone that gets in the president’s ear and is lying to him’
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) raged that unnamed advisers to President Donald Trump were "lying to him."
During a Monday interview with MGA influencer Steve Bannon, Greene reflected on complaints she made last week about the Trump administration moving closer to war with Iran — and losing his MAGA base.
"First off, Fox is making a huge deal of this, everybody's making a huge deal of this," Bannon told Greene. "Now you see a wedge coming between the base and President Trump. Nothing would be further from the truth."
"That's a lie," Greene agreed. "The wedge is between Congress and the establishment Republicans that are undermining the president's agenda. And also anyone that gets in the president's ear and is lying to him about what he should be doing, you know, here's the real issue."
ALSO READ: ‘Pain. Grief. Anger’: Families heartbroken as Trump backlash smashes adoption dreams
"We are embracing Make America Great Again, MAGA, America First, MAHA, No More Foreign Wars, this whole populist movement supporting America and American workers and American companies and American interests and solving American problems," she continued. "What we saw is all these Republicans that rejected Trump fought Trump in his first administration."
"And here's the issue, Steve, is they think they can manipulate the president, but you can't manipulate the base."
‘Baffling’: Inside the bizarre MAGA entourage given prime White House seats
A new report from The Guardian delves into the "new media" personalities given prime seats in the White House press room that many say are perpetuating propaganda through "fawning, softball, or otherwise baffling questions.”
One example is Podcast host Tim Pool, who joined the press room last week.
A known far-right conspiracy theorist, Pool was paid almost $10 million by Russian state media operatives to publish videos promoting Moscow’s interests and agenda, according to the Guardian.
In his question to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Pool attacked media outlets by asking, “I’m wondering if you can comment on their unprofessional behavior as well as elaborate if there’s any plans to expand access to new companies?”
“We want to welcome all viewpoints into this room,” Leavitt replied.
ALSO READ: ‘Pain. Grief. Anger’: Families heartbroken as Trump backlash smashes adoption dreams
Another pro-Trump ‘influencer’ allowed into the press room is Dominick McGee. Known as Dom Lucre, the Guardian described him as a “self-styled Black Maga influencer.”
He is known to disseminate conspiracy theories on social media, including amplifying Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election he lost was fraudulent, and promoting the QAnon fiction that the so-called deep state was conspiring to usurp the president.
He asked Leavitt, “Is there any possibility for names such as Barack Hussein Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton, to ever possibly get investigated for … any of the wrongdoings they might have done?”
The press secretary called the question “refreshing.”
One softball question Leavitt received came from TikTok creator Link Lauren.
Known as “Maga Malfoy” because of his resemblance to the Harry Potter character Draco Malfoy, he asked, “You’re a very high-profile young mother who seems to juggle and balance it all beautifully. What advice do you have to young parents out there who are starting their careers, having kids, building families, and trying to find that balance so desperately?”
Leavitt had no advice to offer.
‘Not in favor’: GOP chairs slam brakes on major cut in Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’
Two top Republican lawmakers are throwing a wrench into their own party’s budget strategy as they made clear they would reject proposed cuts to food assistance programs that were expected to help fund what President Donald Trump has dubbed the “big, beautiful bill” on taxes, immigration and defense.”
That’s according to the Washington Post, which reported Thursday that the chairs of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees – Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) and Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) – said they won’t support reductions to SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Thompson told the Post he would not support a redesign of the benefit formula that the Trump administration claims would result in billions of dollars in savings, while Boozman said that he is “not in favor of reducing benefits.”
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“Those declarations could scramble Republicans’ bid to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts while slashing trillions of dollars in spending from the federal budget,” the Post noted Thursday. “The GOP is working to pass the legislation through a process called ‘reconciliation’ to allow the Senate to bypass a Democratic filibuster.”
Thompson added in his comments to the publication that his House committee can’t realistically meet the $230 billion in cuts called for in the GOP budget framework passed last month.
“I think it may have to be less than that,” Thompson reportedly said. However, Thompson said his committee is on the verge of capping the president’s ability to broaden food assistance benefits without congressional approval.
“That proposal would save $30 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office, lawmakers’ nonpartisan bookkeeper,” the Post reported.
‘Lies!’ GOP senator lashes out after stinging ad hits airwaves in Trump’s backyard
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is firing back after his 2026 primary opponent slammed his record in a new TV ad that aired not in the Lone Star State, but in President Donald Trump’s backyard.
The ad, funded by Preserving Texas, a group supporting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attacks Cornyn over his role in crafting a bipartisan safety bill in 2022, Axios reported Thursday. The group spent $60,000 to air the TV spot over the weekend on the Trump-approved Fox News, Newsmax and the Golf Channel in Palm Beach, home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf resort, the publication added.
“As usual, President Trump was right,” the narrator says in the ad, which also references Trump’s past criticism of Cornyn as a “RINO,” another name for Republican in Name Only.
But Cornyn isn’t taking the hit lying down in an early preview of what is expected to be one of the nation’s most expensive and hotly contested Senate races of the 2026 midterms.
ALSO READ: Trump's top spy chief blasted as Raw Story exposes 'crazy' cash grab
“Corrupt Ken Paxton ordered up another mediocre campaign video that predictably lies about Senator Cornyn's long career of strongly supporting Second Amendment Rights," a Cornyn spokesperson, according to Axios. "As an avid hunter himself, Senator Cornyn supports the constitutional right to carry and always has."
The ad strategy highlights that the aggressive jockeying for Trump’s coveted MAGA endorsement has already begun, Axios pointed out Thursday. The approach has been tested before.
“Trump is a cable news junkie, and Republican candidates and interest groups are known to run ads in South Florida with an eye toward influencing him,” Axios reported. “In 2020, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie aired a commercial in Palm Beach in which he called his primary opponent a "Trump hater."
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Trump’s ‘revenge’ meltdown plans leak for White House Correspondents’ Dinner: report
President Donald Trump is preparing to throw a scripted tantrum at the White House Correspondents' Dinner this year, reported The Daily Beast on Wednesday.
"Donald Trump will launch a 'revenge' attack on the White House media when he confronts them in person at a Washington dinner on Saturday night — then flee before there can be revenge," said the report. "He is expected to target publications that he has accused of writing negatively about his administration and his war with Iran, in particular, according to sources."
This would track with his recent rants on Truth Social, where he has accused of the media of rigging reports about the Iran war to make it look like it's going worse than it actually is.
After he is done with his speech, said the report, he is skipping on the rest of the ceremony — in large part because he doesn't want to stick around for an award being given to a story that revealed his closeness to deceased financier and accused child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
"Trump will leave the White House Correspondents’ Association event after making his speech, so he will miss the presentation of press awards — one of which would be certain to embarrass him," said the report. "He has told aides he has no intention of still being in the International Ballroom at the Washington Hilton when the Wall Street Journal is honored with the Katherine Graham award for its scoop about a bawdy letter Trump allegedly wrote for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday card."
The president sued WSJ over that reporting, alleging that the birthday letter was not authentic. This month, a federal judge tossed out that suit.
‘Massive cover up’ fears raised as House panel splits on clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell
Ghislaine Maxwell's condition to testify under oath — but only under the condition of clemency — has split House Oversight and Government Reform Committee members over whether President Donald Trump should grant her that pardon, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) told Politico on Wednesday.
Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's co-conspirator, was deposed by the committee and invoked her Fifth Amendment right to decline to answer the group's questions. Trump is the only one with the power to pardon her, something he has not yet ruled out.
Comer told Politico that he did not favor a pardon for Maxwell, a former confidant to the late financier and convicted child sex offender. When asked whether striking a deal with Maxwell could provide useful testimony, Comer did not share who on the panel supported granting her clemency.
"A lot of people do," Comer said.
"My committee’s split on that," Comer said. "I don’t speak for my committee."
"I think it looks bad," he added. "Honestly, other than Epstein, the worst person in this whole investigation is Maxwell."
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) said that Democrats on the committee collectively oppose a pardon for Maxwell.
"That would be a huge step backwards, and, quite frankly, so disrespectful to the survivors," he said in an interview. "She is a known abuser. She is a known liar."
"If the DOJ or Oversight Republicans are out there trying to negotiate some sort of pardon that is... not only a huge slap in the face to this investigation, to anyone, to the American public," Garcia said. "It’s a part of a massive cover up."
‘Wah, wah, wah:’ AOC scoffs at GOP whining over gerrymandering
WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, had strong words for Republicans complaining about the gerrymandering in Virginia that voters approved on Tuesday, with strong support from her party.
"Wah, wah, wah," Ocasio-Cortez told Raw Story on Wednesday, mimicking a whining baby and laughing in response to a question from reporter Matt Laslo. "Democrats have attempted and asked Republicans for 10 years to ban partisan gerrymandering, and for 10 years, Republicans have said, 'no.'"
Laslo was asking Ocasio-Cortez to respond to complaints from the GOP that it would be unconstitutional for Democrats to have a 10-1 congressional majority in Virginia, which the gerrymandering ballot measure would make possible. A Virginia circuit court judge blocked the vote-approved redistricting on Wednesday, however.
Still, Ocasio-Cortez saw no problem with Democrats supporting gerrymandering after years of opposing it when done on the Republican side. For AOC, the GOP "wanted to start this," and the Democrats are just fighting back.
"What they're mad at is they're accustomed to a Democrat Party that rolls over, doesn't fight and takes everything sitting down," Ocasio-Cortez said. "What they're mad at right now is that we are here in a new day."
She mentioned Republican gerrymandering in North Carolina and Texas, where Democrats lost seats. Trump's call for Texas Republicans to gerrymander arguably kicked off what's now seen as a redistricting arms race.
"We have been asking the Democratic Party to stand up and fight, and now they did," AOC continued. "Now the Republican Party doesn't like the fact that they are fighting against someone who actually will stand up for the American people."
Ocasio-Cortez said she would "welcome" working with the Republicans to pass a ban on partisan gerrymandering.
"We have the bill right here to end this all today," she said, smiling. "But they don't want to because they like pursuing and continuing to enact an unfair electoral landscape."
