22+ min ago (300+ words) Jeffrey Epstein in February 2015 (U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice/Wikimedia Commons) Before he was accused of sex trafficking of minors, disgraced billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein interacted with a long list of prominent figures " from now-President Donald Trump to former President Bill Clinton to economist and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. That isn't to say that all the politicians, bankers and economists who knew Epstein were actually involved in his crimes in any way. Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney and fixer and now a scathing critic of the president, told MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) that when he was working for the Trump Organization, he "never heard Jeffrey Epstein on the phone or even call into the office." But as pressure for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to release its Epstein files rages on, questions remain on who knew what and…...

1+ hour, 43+ min ago (326+ words) Like Fox News' Sean Hannity, CNN's Scott Jennings often draws scathing criticism and mockery from Donald Trump opponents for stridently defending the president at every turn. Much of the criticism comes from Democrats, yet right-wing Never Trumpers have major disagreements with Jennings as well. Some of those Never Trumpers are at CNN, including SE Cupp and Florida-based Ana Navarro (a Nicaraguan immigrant who, in the past, helped former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and other Republicans with their Latino outreach). Jennings recently attacked Never Trumpers, claiming that Trump is quite consistent with traditional GOP conservatism. But The Bulwark's Tim Miller, a former Republican strategist, pushed back against Jennings' pro-Trump "rationalizations" in a biting video posted in late November. Miller told viewers, "(Jennings') core argument for Donald Trump is that he will stand up for America and he will stand up for…...

2+ hour, 6+ min ago (1764+ words) Painted figures haunt an empty building. A boy leaning on a pair of crutches. A father and son wandering a barren railroad track. A nuclear family at a picnic table. These poignant scenes were painted by two of the foremost American artists of the twentieth century, Ben Shahn and Philip Guston. No one is around to see them. They are on the walls of the Wilbur J. Cohen Building in Washington, DC, one of forty-five federal properties currently earmarked for sale. The staff who worked in the building have been mostly fired, furloughed, or relocated. Only the murals remain'and perhaps not for long. The Cohen Building has been called the "Sistine Chapel of the New Deal" for its ambitious mural cycles. Shahn and Guston, as well as Seymour Fogel and Ethel and Jenne Magafan, gave indelible form to New Deal tenets:…...

2+ hour, 43+ min ago (621+ words) During his first term, U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda was often described as "isolationist" " a major departure from the hawkish conservatism of GOP Presidents Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, George HW Bush and George W. Bush and the hawkish liberalism of Democratic Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson and Harry Truman.Yet since his return to the White House, Trump has been highly confrontational with Venezuela " from strikes against Venezuelan boats (which he alleges were smuggling illegal drugs to the United States) to reportedly considering military attacks against President Nicolas Maduro's leftist government.Now, according to The Independent's Lucy Leeson, U.S.-based airlines are making a concerted effort to avoid flying over Venezuelan airspace."Flight Radar shows airlines diverting away from Venezuela after Donald Trump told airlines to consider the airspace closed," Leeson reports in a late November article. "Following dozens of…...

4+ hour, 19+ min ago (371+ words) Official Portrait of President Ronald Reagan This week's shooting of two National Guard members by a gunman identified by the authorities as an Afghan national was horrific. But Trump's response has been disproportionate and bigoted. He vows to "permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries." He intends to deport legal immigrants born in countries the White House deems "high risk." He threatens to strip U.S. citizenship from naturalized migrants "who undermine domestic tranquillity." He plans to deport foreigners deemed to be "non-compatible with Western Civilization." He wants to detain even more migrants in jail " in the U.S. or in other countries " without due process. In addition to the unconstitutionality of such actions, these threats stir up the worst nativist impulses in America " blaming and scapegoating entire groups of people for the act of one gunman. Apart from Native Americans, we are…...

4+ hour, 26+ min ago (237+ words) During the United States' 2024 presidential race, Donald Trump aggressively reached out to Silicon Valley and the tech sector. SpaceX/Tesla/X.com leader Elon Musk was a major donor to his campaign, and venture capitalist David Sacks is playing a prominent role in President Trump's artificial intelligence (AI) push. But according to New York Times reporters Cecilia Kang, Tripp Mickle, Ryan Mac, David Yaffe-Bellany and Theodore Schleifer, Trump's bond alliance with Sacks and others in Silicon Valley is fueling some heated debates within the MAGA movement. The Times journalists add, "Mr. Sacks has positioned himself to personally benefit. He has 708 tech investments, including at least 449 stakes in companies with ties to artificial intelligence that could be aided directly or indirectly by his policies, according to a New York Times analysis of his financial disclosures." But Sacks is not universally loved within…...

4+ hour, 40+ min ago (1002+ words) When Tucker Carlson hosted Nick Fuentes on his show last month, the response followed a familiar script. Critics condemned the platforming of a white nationalist. Defenders invoked free speech. Social media erupted. "We've had some great interviews with Tucker Carlson, but you can't tell him who to interview," President Donald Trump said on Nov. 17, 2025. "Ultimately, people have to decide." Fuentes is a 27-year-old livestreamer with openly antisemitic views. He has called Adolf Hitler both "awesome" and "right." But he has become impossible for the Republican Party to banish, despite repeated attempts by some party leaders. This dynamic reveals how fringe ideologies operate differently today compared to the mid-20th century, when institutional gatekeepers " political parties, law enforcement, the media " could more effectively contain extremist movements. And through their 21st-century methods of communication and operation, Nick Fuentes and his followers " the "Groypers" " have…...

5+ hour ago (522+ words) Back in August, a publication written by and for US military members groused about the danger of National Guard troops performing lawn care in the nation's capital. Credibly ranked as having no political bias, The Military Times observed that the real threat to 2,300 troops deployed to D.C. wasn't Trump's imaginary "magnitude of violent crime" in war-torn domestic environs, but domestic assignments that rendered them sitting ducks. Military is legally and functionally different from law enforcement Despite the clarity of federal law, Trump has sent military troops to US cities in the absence of rebellion, insurrection, or widespread rioting, using a revolving door of justifications from "quelling violence in Democratic-controlled cities" and "cracking down on crime" to "supporting deportation initiatives," meaning, to help ICE, which is another form of domestic law enforcement. Whatever excuse he trots out, Trump appears to be doing…...

16+ hour, 52+ min ago (409+ words) U.S. President Donald Trump gestures, while wearing a "Make America Great Again" cap, as he disembarks Air Force One, following his Asia trip, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., October 30, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein Former prosecutor Andrew McCarthy has no love for the "craven video" Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and five Democrats released to the public advising military members to ignore illegal orders. But he said President Donald Trump's executive power abuses in reacting to it represent a whole "new level" of threat. McCarthy tells the National Review that he partially blames Democrats for Trump ordering the Pentagon to demote Kelly and cut his benefits because "Kelly knows, when Democrats poke another hole in another norm, the president's MO is to drive a truck through it." The author and National Review Institute senior fellow also notes Trump is howling "sedition" like he knows…...

19+ hour, 37+ min ago (347+ words) U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he walks to board Air Force One while departing for Florida from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S., November 7, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Hardcore MAGA election deniers, however, promoted the repeatedly debunked claim that the election was stolen from Trump " a group ranging from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to attorney Sidney Powell. Those election deniers and conspiracy theorists drew a lot of criticism from traditional non-MAGA conservatives, especially Never Trumpers who supported Joe Biden. But The Guardian's Rachel Leingang, in an article published on November 29, warns that many of 2020's election deniers are being appointed to prominent positions during Trump's second presidency. "The people who tried to overturn the 2020 election have more power than ever " and they plan to use it," Leingang reports. "Bolstered by the president, they have prominent roles…...