‘He really sold me out’: Trump admits to getting bamboozled by French president
Donald Trump admitted to making agreements he didn't quite understand with French President Emmanuel Macron.
The U.S. president met with his French counterpart Monday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, which Macron says must come with security guarantees for the war-torn nation. Trump told a light anecdote about a previous dinner meeting the two had in Paris.
"I just want to tell you a little story," Trump said during a joint news conference at the White House. "So we were at the Eiffel Tower having dinner with your wonderful wife and with my wonderful wife, and we came out and he started speaking the French deal, and we didn't have an interpreter, and he was going on and on and on, and I was just nodding, 'Yes, yes, yes,' and he really sold me out.
"Because I got back the next day and I read the papers [and] I said, 'That's not what we said,'" Trump said, as he and Macron clasped hands and laughed. "He's a smart customer, I will tell you that. Do you remember? That wasn't exactly what we agreed to."
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After Monday's meeting, a reporter asked if Trump would still call Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator, as he did last week, and Trump indicated that he would.
"I don't use those words lightly," Trump said. "I think that we're going to see how it all works out. Let's see what happens. I think we have a chance of a really good settlement between various countries, and, you know, you're talking about Europe and you're talking about Ukraine as part of that whole situation.
"The other side has a lot of a lot of support also, so let's see how it all works out. It might work out. Look, you can never make up lives, the one thing you can't – you can make up the money, but you can't make up the lives. A lot of lives lost, I think probably a lot more lives than people are talking about. It's been a rough war, but I think we're close to getting it solved."
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‘The battle’s coming’: Republicans reportedly sweating as Trump admin eyes next move
Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk has made no secret of his desire to take a hatchet to Medicaid, and now Congress is planning to vote on a huge domestic policy agenda that has even die-hard MAGA Republicans nervous.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is hoping to push the vote through this week, even though the enormous proposed cut to Medicaid — totaling more than $800 billion over the next 10 years — hasn't been endorsed by President Donald Trump, who has "expressed reservations" about the cuts.
That's because at last count, more than 72 million people were enrolled in Medicaid, and voters have been vowing to fight the cuts at all costs.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) told reporter Rachel Bade with Politico that he's "all in on DOGE" and that cutting the federal workforce is "wildly popular" with Republicans in his district.
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When news broke in the Wall Street Journal that "Representatives of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have been working at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS], where they have gotten access to key payment and contracting systems," Musk posted to X that CMS "is where the big money fraud is happening."
“That’s where the battle’s coming,” Gonzales told Bade. “There’s no doubt that there’s waste, fraud and abuse in every program in the government, including Medicaid — but at what point do you stop cutting into the fat and start cutting into the bone? You can’t pull the rug out from millions of people.”
Bade wrote that Gonzales has co-authored a letter with seven other House Republicans representing large Hispanic communities "asking Johnson to rethink where the GOP is headed on Medicaid. And he said he plans to personally confront the speaker about the issue at a scheduled meeting" Monday night.
‘Deliver results’: DeSantis slams wife’s possible opponent Byron Donalds for missing votes
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) defended his wife Casey's possible run for governor and slammed Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), a potential challenger, for missing votes in Congress.
During a Monday press conference in Tampa, DeSantis was asked about Donalds' recent hints that he might run for governor. President Donald Trump has suggested that he would back the lawmaker.
"You know, my view is, is Donald Trump just got into office," DeSantis said. "I want these congressmen focused on enacting his agenda. They haven't done very much yet. They're not putting his executive orders into place... We have such a narrow majority that to be trying to campaign other places and missing these votes, I think, is not something that's advisable at all."
"So I think people look at it and say, you know, you got a guy like Byron," he added, "he just hasn't been a part of any of the victories that we've had here over the left over these last years."
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"He's just not been a part of it. He's been in other states campaigning, doing that. And that's fine. But okay, well, then deliver results up there."
During his time in office, Donalds has missed crucial votes on government funding.
Shock as GOP leader moans that history’s ‘oppressors’ don’t get celebrated
A House Republican berated Smithsonian history director Anthea Hartig, suggesting that historical 'oppressors' should receive more celebration.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), chair of the House Oversight subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, called the hearing Tuesday to challenge how the National Museum of American History tells the nation's story.
It marked the first time a top Smithsonian leader had been publicly grilled by Congress since President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing officials to "remove improper ideology" from the institution's museums.
Burchett opened Tuesday's session by accusing the museum of having "become infected by a woke ideology that has seeped into public displays, educational materials, and planning documents."
"But in the museum's current telling, history is just an ongoing power struggle between oppressors and the oppressed," Burchett said. "Only the oppressed are celebrated, especially illegal immigrants."
Burchett then challenged Hartig over exhibits on "race, identity, gender, and sexuality."
"Yes, sir," Hartig replied. "We strive to create a museum where our visitors will be inspired by the collections, programs, and exhibitions, and they will choose what they each will do to keep our American democracy strong and vibrant, and they'll play that chosen part with passion. That is our hope."
Burchett pointed to images he had posted on a display board behind him, describing what he called sexually explicit content in museum exhibits.
"You have pictures of bondage," the lawmaker complained. "You have some overtly sexual things up there. You have transgender folks...?"
"The exhibition and project you're referring to is Girlhood: It's Complicated, which was a temporary exhibit in our museum that closed —" Hartig began.
"Ma'am, I didn't ask you that," Burchett cut her off. "I asked you: do you think it is appropriate?"
Hartig said the exhibit had featured, with the author's permission, a 13-year-old's diary that covered sleepovers, Latin class, and math exams. She said the exhibit carried a parental advisory label at its entrance.
"Do you think that is appropriate for a child to see? Yes or no?" Burchett pressed.
"I understand your question, sir," Hartig said.
"No — don't. You're not answering. You're just running on, ma'am," Burchett shot back.
In his closing moments, Burchett cited three statements he attributed to Hartig — that America was founded on "the supremacy of white men," that loving America is "very complicated," and that the nation's 250th anniversary is worth "problematizing."
"It is the honor of my career to serve as the Elizabeth MacMillan Director of the National Museum of American History," Hartig replied when asked if she should continue leading the museum.
