White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles put out a statement on X on Friday in reaction to reporting from the Daily Mail that she was expected to leave the Trump administration soon.

"After an accomplishment filled week by President Trump, I have the pleasure of reading a piece of Friday fiction, courtesy of the Daily Mail," wrote Wiles. "To be crystal clear, I am not going anywhere. I am honored and proud to serve President Trump, proud of our team and remain fully committed to advancing his agenda on behalf of the American people."

Wiles took an additional swipe at the press in her statement, saying, "Some in the media have spent a decade trying to manufacture drama around President Trump and people who work for him. They were wrong then, and they are wrong now."

"See you Monday," she added.

According to the original reporting, Wiles, who prior to serving in the White House was a notorious campaign strategist for various Republican figures in Florida, was enraged at Trump's decision to give the Director of National Intelligence office to Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Bill Pulte, a scandal-plagued, hardcore partisan with no qualifications for the intelligence community.

A number of Republicans in the Senate have expressed criticism of the decision to hand the role to Pulte, with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) telling NOTUS Senate reporter Igor Bobic he has "serious concerns."

Internal government documents reveal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, plans to distribute a "flawed" facial recognition app called the ICE Task Force Module to over 1,200 local police departments across 32 states.

The technology scans faces against a database of 250 million Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, and State Department records to identify deportation targets, requiring no warrant, consent, or notice, according to reports by 404 Media.

ICE's own privacy analysis acknowledges that U.S. citizens will inevitably be caught in scans, with all photos stored for 15 years.

The app targets 287(g) program agencies, effectively converting local officers into ICE agents.

Civil liberties groups warn the system is flawed — in April 2025, U.S. citizen Juan Carlos López-Gómez was wrongly arrested and detained 30 hours after facial recognition misidentified him.

Jake Laperruque, deputy director of the Center for Democracy & Technology's Security and Surveillance Project, warned that an earlier version of the app briefly surfaced on the Google Play Store, and compared police officers' access to such technology to asking a 16-year-old who just failed their driver's exam to pick a dozen classmates.

ACLU deputy director Nate Wessler called the plan a recipe for disaster, noting it generates false matches, terrorizes communities, and entangles untrained police in immigration decisions.

Electronic Frontier Foundation researcher Cooper Quintin warned the technology also expands "omnipresent surveillance and unjust detainment."

Watch the video below.

A clip from President Donald Trump's Friday agriculture roundtable in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, spread quickly online, with critics saying it showed the president struggling to recall the name of the Washington Monument.

The video, shared by liberal account Acyn, shows Trump holding up a picture of his Reflecting Pool renovation.

"It was going to take four years, $400 million. It took really about a month, ok? Can you imagine? Washington, between Lincoln — think of Washington, D.C. between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington ... think about this," the president said, stammering. "You know that beautiful spire in honor of the great George Washington? And the beautiful Lincoln Memorial. So between there, thousands of feet long. It was built in 1922, and to be honest, it never really worked. It leaked like a sieve."

Trump had traveled to the battleground state to court farmers facing economic strain, but spent much of the event touting his Washington beautification projects — including, per CNN, telling the room about the capital's newly working fountains and reflecting pool renovations.

That disconnect drew sharp reactions. Andrew Bates, a former Biden White House deputy press secretary, wrote that Trump's "message to the farmers paying higher prices is that he's having fun redecorating DC with taxpayer money."

The clip quickly drew a wave of mockery from Trump critics online.

Progressive influencer Harry Sisson wrote on X, "25th Amendment now. This is tough to watch."

The progressive news outlet MeidasTouch wrote, "Looks like he just failed a cognitive exam."

Progressive attorney Aaron Parnas wrote on X, "The President of the United States has serious cognitive decline and it's on full display for the world to see."

Hemant Mehta, a former Jeopardy! champion and YouTuber, wrote on X, "He’s on the verge of not being able to name the son who’s named after him."

Jim Stewartson, who writes about the psychological war on democracy, wrote on X, "This demented old man is hopped up on Adderrall which helps with energy but not cognitive decline. Watching this is deeply embarrassing. He has no idea how to escape from the mess he’s made, so he perseverates on things that give him comfort. He is completely dysfunctional."

Trump cut short an interview with NBC News as the sound of rain on a barn's metal roof kept interrupting, journalists shared.

Gabe Gutierrez, a senior White House correspondent for NBC News, revealed that the interview took place inside a Wisconsin barn "at the request of the White House," Gutierrez noted, but "rain repeatedly was hitting the metal roof of the barn."

Kristen Welker and others from the NBC News' Meet the Press team were conducting the interview with Trump, Gutierrez said.

"Trump ended an interview about fifty minutes after it began," following "multiple interruptions" from the rain. He also "disagreed" with questions during a "back and forth about election integrity" before ending the interview.

Trump reportedly showed up to planned events in Wisconsin in a bad mood.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated he is installing "roadblocks" within the Justice Department to prevent Democrats from prosecuting President Donald Trump after his presidency ends.

In an exclusive NewsNation interview with Katie Pavlich surfaced by journalist Aaron Rupar, Blanche expressed concern about the actions some Democrats might take against Trump once his presidency ends.

This marks the latest in a series of moves critics argue have converted the DOJ into Trump's personal protection service.

Previously, Blanche signed an addendum declaring the federal government "FOREVER BARRED" from pursuing IRS audits or tax claims against Trump, his family, or businesses — part of a settlement over leaked tax records.

Critics dispute whether this protection extends to future audits.

Blanche also defended a nearly $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund before withdrawing support after Senate Republican resistance, reports Axios.

Last November, he urged lawyers at a Federalist Society conference to wage war against rogue activist judges blocking Trump's agenda, drawing rebuke from 50 former federal judges.

Blanche previously served as Trump's personal criminal defense attorney.

Watch the video below.

Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner has endured a brutal week of reporting on his personal history and unsavory interactions with women — issues that have left many people wringing their hands over the state of the race. However, MS NOW's Chris Hayes, who interviewed Platner earlier in the week, noted that Maine voters on the street largely seem unfazed.

Part of the reason, he suggested, is that there is genuine disgust with longtime GOP incumbent Susan Collins — despite their "reservations about his character."

"A lot of them ... really do not want to send Susan Collins back to the Senate," said Hayes. For all her posturing over the years as a dealmaker and moderate, she "is really a party line Republican" and "a rubber stamp for the Trump agenda during both terms."

"I also think Senate Republicans realize she's in trouble, right?" he continued. "I mean, this is a state that Donald Trump has lost three times. She managed to win in 2020, but she's got a real tough road ahead of her."

Because they realize she's in trouble, he continued, they organized a "sham vote" in the reconciliation bill for an amendment to formally restrict President Donald Trump's $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization" slush fund — and while the GOP voted it down, Collins and two other vulnerable Republicans were allowed to vote against it.

"Everyone knew that it was doomed to fail from the beginning," said Hayes, because Republicans would not let such a huge rebuke to Trump pass, even though his Justice Department is now claiming the fund won't go forward anyway. "They don't actually want to bar your money from being stolen from the government to pay off cop-beaters and seditionists. And so what they do is Collins gets to pretend to be independent when the stakes don't actually matter."

When they do, though, said Hayes, Collins reliably joins the party line — most famously being "the key vote to get Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court" while falsely assuring voters he would never restrict abortion rights.

- YouTube youtu.be

A former GOP operative predicted that Todd Blanche should expect a double blow to his career on the horizon.

"I'm going to make a prediction," Steve Schmidt said during an interview with former CNN anchor Jim Acosta. "Todd Blanche will not be confirmed as Attorney General, and I'll even lean into it more."

Blanche faced another uncomfortable hearing earlier this week. However, Schmidt said that Blanche's actions as acting AG will hurt his chances of winning the permanent role.

Trump said this week that he'll nominate Blanche for the AG role. However, Schmidt noted that Blanche still has to go through another confirmation vote, but doubted Blanche's chances.

"There's a much greater likelihood of Todd Blanche being disbarred," Schmidt said. "He's going to be disbarred not this year, but soon enough."

Schmidt said that Blanche's defense of Trump's $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund "has to be addressed in law." He described the move as "unbelievable."

Last week, a New York bar complaint was filed against Blanche by the Campaign for Accountability, a watchdog group, after a judge flagged vindictive prosecution in the case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The complaint called for an investigation into Blanche.

President Donald Trump lashed out at Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Friday, claiming the Democrat had halted a renovation of golf courses at Joint Base Andrews and framing the move as an attack on the U.S. military.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said Moore "has put a halt to all work" on a project to convert the base's two ageing courses into "World Class, Jack Nicklaus Designed Courses," plus nine additional holes he said would be adapted for wounded veterans.

"By doing this, the Governor is attacking the United States Air Force, and our Military, not a smart thing to do," Trump wrote. He demanded to know why "Wounded Warriors" should "be forced to travel long distances to play Golf somewhere else or, worse yet, not play Golf at all," adding: "Our Soldiers and Veterans deserve THE BEST — NO WAITING, NO GAMES!"

Notably, Trump referenced what he called "a long Legal Review process" standing in the way — a detail suggesting the holdup may be procedural. He did not elaborate.

Trump first announced the Nicklaus project in November after an aerial tour of the base, calling the existing courses "in very bad shape." Questions about who would pay for design work on military property have gone unanswered since, even as the White House touted Trump's "champion-level" golf credentials.

The clash adds to a string of legal headaches dogging Trump's construction ambitions.

His $400 million White House ballroom has been repeatedly blocked in court, with a federal judge barring above-ground work absent congressional authorization. The friction also lands as Trump faces broader scrutiny from the legal world — a recent survey found 94% of judges and lawyers believe his second administration poses a greater threat to the rule of law than his first.

The House passed a spending bill Thursday night that included $141 million in cuts to the WIC program, which provides fruit and vegetable assistance to women, infants, and children.

The narrow 213-210 vote would not have passed without support from four House Democrats: Donald Davis (D-NC), Adam Gray (D-CA), Vicente González (D-TX), and Marie Glusenkamp Pérez (D-WA), according to The New Republic. Three of the Democrats, Gray, González, and Pérez, are members of the conservative Blue Dog Coalition.

The Supplemental Food Assistance Program, or SNAP, operates through the Agriculture Department, and a program within SNAP, referred to as WIC, specifically provides fruit and vegetable assistance to women, infants and children.

The cuts are considered puzzling during an economic downturn when WIC enrollment is likely to increase, and food prices remain elevated.

Observers questioned why fruit and vegetable assistance for mothers and children was deemed acceptable to reduce, particularly as the program supports vulnerable populations during financial hardship.

Watch the video below.

An influencer couple who shared a heartbreaking decision to terminate a pregnancy online has revealed they now keep a loaded gun at their bedside because of the death threats they have received.

According to TMZ, Jesse and Ashley Ridgway of New Jersey say that the hate has come thick and fast "since announcing they terminated a pregnancy because their unborn child had Down syndrome."

They also told the site that they have been flooded with anger "from people they know personally to religious critics telling them they're going to hell and that Ashley doesn't deserve to be a mother."

In a lengthy post earlier this week, Jesse announced the decision and explained why they made it.

"When I first confronted this news, I was shocked but optimistic. If they’re a little slow intellectually, then we’ll make it work. I signed on to be a parent, come what may ... but I just didn’t fully understand what Down Syndrome entailed," he said, explaining that 75 percent of people with the condition have impaired hearing, half have impaired vision or heart defects, and half of Down Syndrome pregnancies end in miscarriage. Ultimately, he noted, 90 percent of pregnancies with this diagnosis are terminated.

"To all of my fans who have weighed in on this topic who have Autism, Down Syndrome or any other conditions ... we appreciate you," he wrote. "You matter a lot and we’re glad you’re here. I commend you and your families for having the strength and courage to push forward. As for us, we made a difficult decision that we believe in the long-run will be beneficial for our family. Thankfully, we had a choice."

White House officials have responded to reports that Susie Wiles is planning to ditch her role as Trump's chief of staff.

"Total bull—," wrote the official White House Rapid Response account. "Another fake hatchet job from a wannabe reporter peddling anonymous sources who don't actually know anything."

The Daily Mail reported that Susie Wiles is plotting a post-midterms exit because she was insulted by Trump's appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence.

Similarly, White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair denied the story, writing that it's "both absurd and totally false" in a post on X.

"The self-serving are working overtime today," he blasted, as other MAGA accounts echoed his denial.

President Donald Trump has a reputation for bending Republicans to his will, but a political scientist said Friday there's a quiet trick Republicans use to kill his priorities — without ever casting a vote against him.

In a New York Times conversation, Good Politics/Bad Politics writer Jonathan Bernstein laid out the strategy political scientist Matthew Glassman calls "negative agenda setting." If Republicans simply never bring something to a vote, it vanishes, and no one has to go on record opposing the president.

"As Trump's unpopularity among voters starts to really sink in, Senate Republicans seem to be more willing to go public," Bernstein said. "But there are still lots of things, from nominations to specific budget requests, that just disappear."

Trump has repeatedly demanded the Senate nuke the filibuster to ram through his SAVE Act voter restrictions — and Senate leadership has simply refused to move on it. His proposed $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund was stripped down after Senate Republicans balked, and even outgoing senators have admitted colleagues are deliberately sitting on the sidelines to avoid a public fight.

Bernstein argued that Trump makes it easy by not sweating the details. A more engaged president, he said, would fight for these items — or never propose doomed ones in the first place. Instead, they quietly die without a vote.

"If they never take an action on something, say a vote, poof, it’s gone," said John Guida, a Times Opinion editor.

WASHINGTON — A Louisiana detention center that houses roughly 1,500 immigrants failed to ensure sanitary conditions, properly store perishable food, properly notify use-of-force incidents and maintain medical records of detainees, according to a report published Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog.

The findings stem from an unannounced visit from federal inspectors in March 2025 to the Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana.

The report from the DHS Office of Inspector General comes on the heels of multiple hunger strikes from immigrants at detention centers, protests outside facilities, a rise in deaths in detention and calls from Democratic lawmakers to shut down certain sites due to poor and inhumane conditions.

In a statement, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson characterized the report as showing only “minor infractions” at the facility, but did not address the reports of improper use of force.

“These minor infractions included failing to provide detainees exercise equipment, record keeping errors, and leaking vents,” the DHS spokesperson said. “Another infraction included providing a shared computer for legal research that would allow other detainees to see other detainees’ case information.”

The spokesperson said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is working to address the issues laid out in the report, including “by adding additional training to facility staff.”

Use-of-force reporting

Facility staff did not properly notify the ICE field office of several use-of-force incidents, and videos of the incidents that inspectors tried to review were incomplete, according to the report.

The incidents the OIG reviewed included “applying a choke hold around a detainee’s neck,” and “puncturing a detainee’s skin with a pen to gain compliance.”

In the first video reviewed by inspectors, an officer applied a chokehold to stop an altercation between detainees. OIG investigators noted that the facility agreed “that the officer should receive remedial training.”

In a second video, “an officer could not close and secure a housing unit because a detainee would not remove his hand from the unit’s door. After verbally ordering the detainee to remove his hand, the officer then stabbed the detainee’s right thumb with a pen, puncturing the skin.”

OIG detailed that the “facility investigated the incident and determined that the officer required disciplinary action.”

But because the facility does not have a process to document when staff received extra training or disciplinary actions, inspectors argued they could not tell if staff who used prohibited practices or did not follow standards during use-of-force incidents received the appropriate follow-up training or disciplinary actions.

“This could lead to staff repeating inappropriate use-of-force tactics that could potentially result in property damage, injury, and death,” according to the report.

Sanitation and recreation

The report recommended that detainees be provided some recreational activities or equipment and noted that ICE complied, adding soccer balls, beanbag toss and pull-up bars.

The OIG report also found three leaking vents in the kitchen area, and raised concerns about sanitation.

“Because Winn did not conduct maintenance sufficient to prevent the leaks or repair or remove these leaking items, the facility risks food-safety hazards, such as residue leaking onto food preparation materials or into prepared food,” according to the report.

Inspectors also found the refrigerators and freezers that stored the food were not at proper temperatures.

“Storing perishable food at temperatures above the required ranges could cause food spoilage or rotting and potentially place staff and detainees at risk of food borne illnesses if served and consumed,” according to the report.

OIG made recommendations to ICE to fix the leaks and food temperature, and the agency agreed. OIG could not determine if ICE fixed the leaks, but did find ICE resolved the issue of food being stored at the proper temperature.

It's billed as the hottest ticket in Washington — but the celebrities aren't biting, according to a new report.

President Donald Trump's $60 million birthday event, a UFC cage fight on the White House South Lawn set for June 14, has the capital's power players competing for seats, Vanity Fair reports. Donors, lobbyists, and members of Congress have flooded the White House with requests, the outlet reported, with ringside seats reportedly going to those willing to pay more than $1 million in sponsorships.

But Hollywood appears to be going the other way.

UFC boss Dana White told Time magazine he'd invited a roster of A-listers, including Adam Sandler, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Jared Leto, Mario Lopez, and Tom Brady. According to Vanity Fair, few if any, will actually attend, as representatives for The Rock, Sandler, Leto, and Lopez all said they won't be there.

The reluctance fits a pattern around Trump's 250th anniversary plans, the magazine noted.

A National Mall concert series fell apart this week after most of its lineup — including a Milli Vanilli singer and Bret Michaels — pulled out, with several citing Trump's partisanship. Trump responded by proposing to replace it with a MAGA rally.

The event falls on Trump's 80th birthday, with a guest list curated by Trump himself, as the war in Iran continues.

A Justice Department lawyer told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit the Trump administration could demolish the Statue of Liberty before anyone could sue to stop it.

Judge Patricia Millett pressed the government's lawyer on the implications, asking if there would be legal recourse if the government moved too fast, reports ABC News.

"If the govt decides very quickly to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty, the people whose ancestors — that was the first thing they saw coming to this country, but the govt moved too fast — nothing can be done?" she asked, reports Politico's Kyle Cheney.

The lawyer responded, "I think that's right, yes."

The exchange occurred during oral arguments over President Donald Trump's controversial $400 million White House ballroom project on the demolished East Wing site. The administration argues no one has legal standing to challenge projects once demolition is complete, reports Cheney.

However, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled in March that the president lacks authority to build the ballroom without congressional approval.

The ballroom fight represents one of several Trump efforts to unilaterally remake American landmarks, including painting the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue and planning a 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery.

Trump defends the ballroom as a national security necessity with a "DronePort" roof feature.

Watch the video below.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), a prominent ally of President Donald Trump, has been dogged throughout his campaign for governor of Alabama by claims that he secretly lives in Florida and may have even illegally voted there. So his campaign has released a series of records to prove his residency in Alabama.

However, according to Lagniappe, those documents weren't thoroughly redacted, exposing personal information about Tuberville's taxes and income not previously known to the public.

The report specifically zeroed in on "the 2018, 2019 and 2020 Alabama Form 40 state income tax returns released by the campaign," because "it was clear there was no redaction in the first line for Alabama Income Tax Withheld for any of those years." And what they show is that Tuberville paid no state income tax in Alabama during those periods.

"Tuberville, who earned millions in salary and contract buyouts as a former collegiate football coach, reported no income tax withheld in that box for those three years, but also listed his Alabama Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) as just $37,816 in 2018, $11,806 in 2019 and $137,854 in 2020," noted the report. By contrast, he reported $132,330 for 2018, $85,925 for 2019, and -$92,884 for 2020 on his federal Adjusted Gross Income forms.

Once he was elected to the Senate, those figures shot up to over $600,000 in his first year, "propelled by stock trades and real estate investments."

Real estate made a massive portion of his income, according to the report: "That line item shows $453,375 in gains in 2021, $617,111 in 2023 and $829,129 in 2024." The documents go on to show "substantial interest and dividend income, ranging from about $49,000 to $83,000 annually."

All of this comes as Tuberville has been hit by legal challenges to his residency from other GOP candidates.

Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles will soon quit her high-level White House post, insiders told the Daily Mail.

Wiles is preparing to quit because she was "vehemently" opposed to the promotion of Bill Pulte from the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to the role of acting Director of National Intelligence, three White House insiders told the Daily Mail.

She perceived it as an "insult" when Trump followed through on the Pulte promotion, and Trump had already been starting to "resent" her opposition, the Mail reported.

"She is loyal to Trump, but he is now basically saying, 'Look, Ma, you are not the boss of me,'" an insider told the Mail.

She's plotting an exit strategy as she's also dealing with health problems, according to the Mail.

"She is getting cancer treatment and is completely drained," a White House insider told the Mail. "Now Trump is taking more and more control of the White House."

According to the Mail, Wiles is expected to use the midterms as an off-ramp and could leave the White House soon after the November elections.

Wiles has been working with Trump since his first campaign in 2016 and has held the chief of staff role since his reelection, the Mail noted.

A red state governor declared a disaster in hundreds of counties as the spread of a flesh-eating parasite poses an "imminent threat," according to local reporting.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced "a state of disaster" for all 254 Texas counties as New World Screwworm threatens the state's wildlife and livestock industry, according to Texas political reporter Brandon Waltens.

For the first time in decades, screwworm was found in U.S. cattle livestock earlier this week. The parasite is mostly a threat to cattle and beef prices, not humans, according to national reporting.

However, Gov. Abbott's declaration warned that the parasite could lead to "widespread and severe property damage" across the state.

Critics have pointed to cuts made under the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, which reduced the USDA's workforce by roughly 15 percent — around 15,000 employees — and terminated a USAID screwworm monitoring project.

With the primaries over, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand said Thursday his general election approach will remain focused on bipartisanship and finding “reasonable” solutions for Iowans as he faces off against businessman Zach Lahn in November.

Sand spoke at the Iowa Association of Business and Industry conference in Coralville. The nonpartisan gubernatorial candidate forum, which took place two days after the June 2 primary, had also issued an invitation to the GOP gubernatorial nominee to speak before the winner of the nomination was known. ABI staff said they had reached out individually to Zach Lahn after his Tuesday victory in the Iowa GOP gubernatorial primary and asked him to speak the Thursday event, but the Republican was not able to attend because of the short turnaround.

Sand told the crowd many of Iowa’s challenges in economic growth and healthcare stem from Republicans holding a trifecta in Iowa for more than 10 years — but said he did not believe this was a “partisan problem.”

“I like to tell people, ‘If you think that the answer to that is to give the other party 10 years of one-party control, I invite you to please visit California, visit New York,'” Sand said. “The other party having all the power isn’t the answer, because it leads you to the same problem. … Part of how we have gotten to this position is because we have had too few people in, with too much power, for too long. They have fallen into temptation, looking out for themselves and their friends. This is not good for Iowa, it is not good for our business environment, it is not good for recruiting and retaining talented people in the state of Iowa.”

Sand said what he offers as a gubernatorial candidate is not Democratic control, but a mandate for Democrats and Republicans to work together.

“If I win this race, I’m going to be working with the Republican Legislature, right?” Sand said. “If that is news to you, good morning. You slept in. It’s 2026. There is a super majority of Republicans in the Iowa House by one seat, there is not a supermajority in the Iowa Senate, also by one seat. That means everything that we do is going to be supported by people in both parties. I think that that is what most people actually want. They will not be able to just do whatever they want, they’re gonna have to come talk to me and explain it in a way that gets somebody like me to say, ‘yeah, seems reasonable.’ Which means that when a budget gets passed, everybody in this room is probably going to be able to say, ‘yeah, seems reasonable.'”

There was not a contested primary race for the Democratic nomination — and Sand, who currently serves as the state auditor, has led in fundraising so far in 2026 compared to the Republican field. Though the Iowa governor’s seat has been held by a Republican for more than a decade, political forecasters rate the seat as a “toss-up” heading into the midterms, both because the seat is open as Gov. Kim Reynolds is not seeking reelection and because election watchers believe Sand is a candidate who could gather bipartisan appeal.

Republican leaders have said Sand is falsely claiming he is a moderate on his gubernatorial campaign trail. After the gubernatorial primary, Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann called for Republicans to rally behind Lahn as the candidate who will “work to keep Iowa the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”

“Now it is time to unite behind our nominee and stop Democrat Rob Sand who would take our state down the same failed path as Illinois, Minnesota, and California with higher taxes, bigger government, and less freedom,” Kaufmann said in a statement. “Iowa’s future is on the ballot, and Republicans must stand together to keep our state moving in the right direction.”

Though Sand shared policy positions and stances that he said differed from many Democrats, he also spoke in opposition to several measures instituted by Republicans in the past 10 years, like Medicaid privatization. As he spoke before the group of Iowa business owners and leaders, he fielded questions from members of the audience who were in support of actions taken to lower taxes in the state.

Sand fields tax question

David Bywater, with the Economy Advertising Company in Iowa City, said “Iowa’s gone from one of the highest tax states in which to do business to a more competitive state, allowing Iowa employers to reinvest in their operations and their people, and to provide individuals with more take-home pay” under recent state tax law changes, and asked Sand to share his views on the state’s tax climate and potential changes.

Sand responded, “I think that some of the tax reforms that we have done in Iowa over the last few years have been necessary.” However, he also said he wants “to know where I am before I decide what direction I am going,” in appraising the impacts recent tax cuts — and said he was concerned about the state’s ongoing budget deficit, which he said was a “fiscal time bomb.”

“There’s a principle that I have spoken about — and that all of my predecessors as state auditor have spoken about — which is you do not use one-time money for ongoing expenses,” Sand said. “And yet, that’s what we have been doing, and we have been doing it year after year after year. I think that that is a problem, and anyone who wants to tell you that that isn’t a problem, they’re either trying to deceive you or they themselves aren’t tuned in to what this looks like in the long term. This surplus is there because both of the last two presidents have showered money on every state, and now different states have used it different ways. Iowa decided to stockpile it, and they’re using that stockpile to pay and cover those deficits. I am not telling you that that is the wrong thing to do. I am telling you that will end.”

Sand said his top priority is figuring out how to address the ongoing budget deficit “right before the bomb explodes,” which he said could be done by finding new sources of revenue for the state. He pointed to his proposal to legalize and tax recreational cannabis products as one way the state could generate funding.

While Lahn did not appear at the ABI event, Sand told reporters he is prepared to face Lahn as the GOP nominee, and aims to continue on the campaign’s current path of speaking with Democrats, Republicans and independents at events across the state. He has announced campaign stops from June 17 through Sept. 30 as part of his 2026 100 Town Hall Tour, paired with a policy proposal to require elected officials hold public town halls to qualify for the ballot.

Sand said there are currently no debates or forums scheduled where he will face off against Lahn.

With California continuing to count the results in major races, Republicans continue to cling to second place in the gubernatorial primary and the mayor of Los Angeles, but the gap is narrowing as disproportionately Democratic late mail ballots continue to be processed, raising the possibility that Republicans could eventually slip to third and be locked out of one or both races.

The development has led to an explosion of conspiracy theories from MAGA activists on social media — but more strangely, reported Semafor's Max Tani, the prominent gambling platforms Kalshi and Polymarket appear to be sponsoring some of those conspiracy theory posts.

For instance, she noted, right-wing influencer account "Gunther Eagleman" posted "They're stealing it, aren't they?" in response to a Kalshi post flagging current third-place progressive Democrat Nithya Raman trading at 60 percent odds to overtake right-wing reality TV star Spencer Pratt in the Los Angeles mayoral race — and it was flagged as a "paid partnership" post with Kalshi.

In another instance, right-wing streamer Kangmin Lee quote-posted Polymarket odds trading for Raman at 71 percent, saying, "Notice how the mail-in ballots that come in last second always end up voting Democrat; Totally a coincidence, nothing to see here." This, too, was flagged on X as a "paid partnership" post.

According to Semafor, Polymarket did not respond to questions about the story; Kalshi's spokesperson said that “we’ve asked these to be taken down, as they violate our affiliate marketing policies.”

Kalshi and Polymarket style themselves as "prediction markets," where users can trade on the probability of real-world events as futures investments. Critics argue that this is essentially just a gambling market that bypasses the rules imposed by states that regulate online betting. The Trump administration sides with the market platforms and advocates for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to preempt all state gambling laws on these companies.

DISCLAIMER: The author of this article works for a gaming company.

An ex-MAGA insider named which top Trump aide is involved in coordinating media campaigns with right-wing influencers through group chats.

Ashley St. Clair said in an interview with California Gov. Gavin Newsom that deputy White House chief of staff James Blair is working with MAGA influencers on "incredibly coordinated and sophisticated" media campaigns.

Newsom explained, "There are folks on group chats consistently trying to help weaponize grievance" through media campaigns, and "they've got the president's right-hand person, potentially, James Blair."

St. Clair corrected the Democratic governor, saying, "No 'potentially.' James Blair is in these group chats. Members of the administration are in these group chats."

She explained that Blair communicates with MAGA influencers on group chats, over phone calls, and via the Signal app. She added that the group chats have given MAGA influencers access not just to the current administration but to Trump's 2024 campaign.

"They operate through group chats and have for many years," St. Clair said. "They coordinate these messaging campaigns on what they're going to respond to, how they're going to respond to it, or not respond to it."

She said the coordinated messaging mostly goes out via X, an app owned by Elon Musk, her ex-boyfriend and the father of her child.

Newsom worried that it gives Musk the power to use algorithms for "dialing up rage, to determining what we see, what we hear, how we think, who we vote for. That seems disproportionate," he said.

"The power of James Blair to connect and coordinate with all these influencers, to have the daily messages, you see it weaponized," Newsom said. "We're not overstating this."

"You're not being hyperbolic," St. Clair agreed. "They have the power to influence what you think, who you think about, but they also have the data on what's going to be the most useful and the best way to exploit it."

Idaho health officials are investigating how nearly 60 people got sick after drinking raw milk in the past two weeks.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare announced in a news release on Wednesday that most of the people reported being sick after drinking raw milk from two different milking operations in North Idaho and southern Idaho. The infections were reported starting May 19.

The state health agency didn’t disclose the names of the dairies, but said they are collaborating with health officials “to identify and fix any potential sources of contamination.”

In a statement, Department of Health and Welfare spokesperson AJ McWhorter said the agency didn’t name the milking operations “because this is a potential risk for any raw milk producer.”

“The milking operations are working with public health officials to figure out which patches of milk might be affected and to take steps to remedy the situation,” McWhorter said.

Raw milk isn’t pasteurized, a process that involves heating the milk to kill bacteria — like Campylobacter, E. coli, Listeria and Salmonella — that can be present in raw milk.

So far, 45 of the people who got sick tested positive for campylobacteriosis, a bacterial infection. But officials say not everyone who got sick has been tested, and that more illnesses could be found.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare says its public health division is working with local health officials across six of Idaho’s seven regional public health districts to investigate the source of the outbreaks, including Central District Health, Southwest District Health, Eastern Idaho Public Health, Southeastern Idaho Public Health, Panhandle District Health, and South Central Public Health. Officials are investigating to find batches that are potentially concerning and test milk samples.

What are the symptoms of infections linked to raw milk?

Symptoms of infections from bacteria that can be in raw milk include vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever and dehydration. Complications can be severe, especially in people at higher risk such as young children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems.

Health officials encourage people who are feeling symptoms after recently drinking raw milk to seek medical care promptly. To report an illness or get more information, officials encourage people to contact their local public health district.

A new White House webpage starts like a horror movie trailer, according to New York Times columnist M. Gessen — glowing green letters against a dark backdrop, the words "aliens" and "declassified," and the promise of a 60-year government secret about to be revealed.

Then comes the twist, Gessen wrote: the "aliens" aren't extraterrestrial. They're immigrants — "the kind hunted by ICE."

The page announces that "aliens have been walking among us, living in our neighborhoods," shopping in the same stores and attending the same classes as American children. "That's the joke," Gessen wrote. "Human beings are described as nonhuman invaders. Fascism, but make it a troll."

Gessen wrote that the page, which invites users to look up immigrants supposedly arrested on criminal charges in American cities and towns, belongs to "a subgenre of Trumpian gestures that are menacing and sophomoric at the same time." Ernesto Verdeja, a genocide-prevention expert at the University of Notre Dame, described it to the columnist as "grotesque and terrifying and juvenile."

With phrases like "They do not belong here" and "Deport them all," Gessen wrote, the page struck the columnist as "an incitement for Americans to commit acts of violence against immigrants."

Benjamin Valentino, a professor of government at Dartmouth College, offered a different read, that the purpose is to get Americans to do nothing.

"They want a majority of the population to turn their backs," Valentino told Gessen. "That's all that's necessary."

Valentino co-founded the Early Warning Project, which assesses the risk of mass atrocities worldwide. While anti-immigrant violence in the U.S. doesn't approach the scale of what he usually studies, Gessen wrote, Valentino said the kind of dehumanizing language the Trump administration uses is "a pretty standard indicator" of risk — a necessary if insufficient condition of mass violence against a group.

"It's not that it turns normal people into murderers," Valentino said. "It's that it turns them into bystanders."

According to Gessen, the page appeared as resistance to ICE operations was gaining momentum — in the courts and in the streets, from protests over conditions at Newark's Delaney Hall detention facility to a New York coalition that has trained thousands of volunteers to peacefully resist ICE. Valentino believes the webpage is intended to discourage exactly that kind of activity.

Gessen wrote that the gestures are hard to write about because the ugliness is undisguised. "And yet," the columnist wrote, "these statements, step by preposterous step, change the world we live in."

A CNN reporter pointed out that President Donald Trump seemed displeased ahead of his event Friday night in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN's chief national affairs correspondent, was traveling with the president and other reporters and commented that Trump was not too thrilled as he headed to the Midwest battleground state to discuss his economic agenda among struggling farmers and the agriculture community.

Trump was slated to speak at a roundtable at 4 p.m. ET, but was late to take the stage, Zeleny explained.

"There is no doubt the president is a bit delayed here," Zeleny said. "He's been doing an interview, we're told, with NBC News on "Meet the Press." He came out and delivered some familiar criticism of the press. We will see what else he says during this. He does not seem to be in a very good mood, but at this point, we should point out so much criticism is coming from Republicans about the qualifications of Bill Pulte."

Both Republicans and Democrats had expressed concern over Trump's naming of Pulte as the new acting head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Pulte, who does not have any known national security experience, was reportedly planning to execute sweeping personnel cuts across the nation's 18 federal intelligence agencies and units before a permanent successor is confirmed.

Jeremiah Schofield, a 25-year Social Security Administration veteran, disclosed that the Trump administration planned to classify 2.7 million living people — including U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, and teenagers — as dead using the agency's Death Master File.

The database, used by banks and government agencies to verify living status, would effectively erase targets from the financial system, cutting off access to wages, bank accounts, credit, housing, and insurance.

Schofield refused to implement the plan after agency lawyers warned it violated federal law and then filed a 49-page whistleblower disclosure with Senate committees.

After examining a sample of 25 people — all confirmed alive — Schofield learned from Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, official Jon Koval that the goal was forcing self-deportation or arrest when people sought help at Social Security offices.

The administration had already added 6,100 immigrants to the Death Master File.

When officials questioned the terminology, the agency simply renamed it to "ineligible."

Schofield remained silent for months due to retaliation fears before coming forward.

"I don't think that it's right that they do this to us," he said.

"I think that we need to stand up for each other in this time."

Watch the video below.

Right-wing influencer Nick Fuentes mocked his followers after they were interviewed for a CNN segment, the network reported on Friday.

CNN senior correspondent Donie O'Sullivan interviewed two men in Miami named Rich and John, who are Groypers — young, white men who are followers of white supremacist Fuentes.

"These men have come to see themselves in Nick Fuentes," O'Sullivan said. "His cancellation across social media platforms for his spreading of hate they view as part of a broader attack on men like them."

John, a 25-year-old Groyper, described what drew him to Fuentes.

"And you look at his audience, they feel like they can relate to him because they're young men," John told O'Sullivan. "A lot of them can't get girlfriends. A lot of them are struggling financially. They're not going to have the life their parents had. Their grandparents had."

But after the interview, things changed.

"Soon after I left Miami pictures, John posted of our interview on social media, got Fuentes' attention and he wasn't happy. His followers had spoken to CNN," O'Sullivan said.

Fuentes talked about it.

"How about that CNN thing? Oh my gosh, these like two absolute chuds who look at us. 'We're in our Nick Fuentes t-shirt and hat,'" Fuentes said about his followers featured in the interview.

Then Rich and John started getting attacked online.

"In online audio chats, Groypers began to turn on Rich and John," O'Sullivan said.

And John tried to defend his "Groypers honor" in a 30-minute social media interview.

"I consider myself a Groyper, and I know everyone's saying I'm not a Groyper and giving me death threats and telling me to kill myself and that they're going to rape me. And that's fine. I don't really care," John said.

A CNN anchor was shocked by a senator's description of the lewd antics of an embattled candidate.

"Glad my children aren't old enough to watch this show," CNN host Kasie Hunt said as Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) described his understanding of the scandal surrounding Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner.

Platner is in hot water ahead of the Maine primaries as bombshell reporting by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times revealed allegations of him sending sexually explicit texts while married and acting aggressively in previous relationships.

Fetterman didn't censor himself as he accused Platner of sending "d— pics," even though Hunt was quick to clarify that recent reports about Platner's sexting scandal only mention sexually explicit texts, not nude images.

Hunt repeated the words "d— pics" when making it clear that Fetterman assumed Platner sent those kinds of messages. But the follow-up question triggered a cascade of even more raunchy remarks from Fetterman.

"A guy that he talked about and described, d—, he's already done that in his writings," Fetterman said, trying to explain his assumption. "When he would used to sit in the port-a-potties, you know, he would say that he would want to m— to them."

A tense confrontation outside Newark's Delaney Hall immigration detention facility escalated Friday when a red sedan slowly drove into a line of protesters blocking a facility exit, pushing them backward until someone hurled an object that left two large shatter marks in the vehicle's front windshield.

Video shared on X by @Patrick_Nealis showed the car sitting for several minutes as protesters blocked the exit, then creeping forward, making contact with demonstrators and forcing them back. As the car advanced, protesters could be heard shouting, "That's blood money! You will reap what you sow!" Protesters appeared to presume the driver was a facility employee, though that has not been confirmed.

The confrontation took an uglier turn as the car pressed forward. "You're f—ing Spanish!" demonstrators screamed at the driver. "You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Friday's incident is the latest in a weeks-long standoff at Delaney Hall, a privately run facility with 1,000 beds operated by GEO Group under a $1 billion ICE contract. Protests erupted on May 22 after roughly 300 detainees launched a hunger and labor strike over alleged inhumane conditions — claims federal officials deny.

The demonstrations have grown increasingly volatile. ICE agents have fired pepper balls and tear gas at crowds, and state police moved in after Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill declared the situation "completely unacceptable." The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented at least 42 assaults on journalists covering the protests. Just Wednesday night, two more protesters were arrested after blocking vehicles at the facility entrance.

New Jersey filed suit against GEO Group, demanding that state health inspectors be granted access to the facility, with Newark threatening to expand its own separate lawsuit to push for closure.

President Donald Trump's Justice Department made a claim in court this week that left CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams stupefied.

During a hearing about the validity of the White House ballroom project, DOJ lawyers explained that the work had been done so quickly that there was nothing courts could have done to reverse it — and when the judge asked if, by that logic, it would be legal for the Trump administration to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty if they did it too quickly for there to be a legal challenge, they agreed.

None of that is how the law actually works, said Williams.

"That's ludicrous," Williams told anchor Kasie Hunt. "I don't know what the question was, but I will tell you the answer is that is ludicrous. That is incorrect."

The idea of there being a White House ballroom isn't inherently a bad one, Williams said, and there could be a good case made for it. But, he continued, "the courts have the power to enjoin actions by Congress and the president. That's how our courts have worked from the beginning."

To claim that a president can exercise "unilateral authority" with no oversight from courts if they just do it in a certain way, he said, is "just incorrect."

"I'm not stating an opinion here," added Williams, who has been a frequent critic of the Trump administration's legal strategies. "This is not a feeling or a vibe that is simply how the separation of powers work in the country. That is incorrect."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

One of the most decorated preparatory schools in the nation, which has seen future Hollywood stars, professional athletes, and notable politicians walk through its doors, was rocked this week by new allegations that it allowed a star student to create a climate of intimidation.

And he has not been the only one.

Harvard-Westlake School, a $50,000-per-year private institution in Studio City, California, has become the center of litigation involving star water polo player Lucca van der Woude, who has been accused of sexual assault and racial harassment by teammate Aidan Romain, who is Black.

According to Vanity Fair reporting by Deanna Kizis, the updated lawsuit alleges that between August 2022 and February 2024, Romain was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Van der Woude during practices and on campus. The suit also alleges that Romain and other minority students faced racial harassment and discrimination, including being subjected to racial slurs.

A revised complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Thursday escalates the allegations significantly. An unnamed witness told Romain's attorney, Daniel Watkins, that Van der Woude "had a history of making antisemitic remarks while interacting with peers online and in person" and that he "referred to a Jewish peer using antisemitic slurs and stated words to the effect of: 'You stupid Jew, die in the oven,'" Vanity Fair reported.

According to the witness, Van der Woude "frequently glorified sexual violence against women, made repeated comments referencing rape, regularly used racial slurs, and made offensive comments concerning slavery and racial domination." The lawsuit characterizes van der Woude as someone who "harbored and expressed racist, antisemitic, and white-nationalist beliefs during the period in which he sexually and physically abused Plaintiff and other students."

Romain's attorney explained the revised complaint's focus on ideology and violence. "White nationalism and sexual violence come from the same belief: that some people exist to be dominated by others. That is what makes these accounts so troubling," Watkins said.

In interviews, Black parents at Harvard-Westlake describe an institutional pattern of avoidance and inaction.

"It appears to me that they're just kind of treading water and hoping this moment will pass," one parent said. Another suggested deliberate evasion: "It's almost like the school is trying to shut down the questions and conversations before they even happen."

One parent described witnessing racism firsthand on school water polo teams. "Not everybody's experience at Harvard-Westlake is the same. The lack of support, the lack of action, of intervention, letting things get so far out of hand until kids are harmed and families are impacted. Well, that was exactly my experience."

Parents also cited the school's response to students wearing Make America Great Again (MAGA) hats following the 2024 presidential election as emblematic of the institution's approach to accountability.

"We called the administration at the school, and they basically said, 'Look, we don't like it. But there's nothing specifically in our rule book about political attire,'" one parent recounted.

His wife described escalating concerns about how the hats were perceived by Black students. "It was kind of a gloating victory lap thing that they were doing. I told the powers-that-be that MAGA hats read as a threat to some Black students. So, the question was, 'Well, are you going to change the rule?'"

While the hats eventually stopped appearing, parents remain unclear how the school accomplished this.

"I don't know how they got them to stop wearing them. There was no follow-up with us," one parent said.

Vanity Fair reported that the school's official response dismissed the allegations.

"Many of these outlandish claims bear little-to-no relation to the reality of life at Harvard-Westlake for our students or their families," a spokesperson said, characterizing the accounts as "a false and sensationalistic narrative" while reaffirming the school's "unyielding commitment to fostering an environment where all can feel safe and welcome."

According to the report, for Black families, the institution's reputation has suffered irreparable damage. One parent who withdrew their child in fall 2024 explained the sentiment bluntly. "The shine is off. I was talking to our education consultant, and she suggested a different school. I said, 'It's not a Harvard-Westlake.' And she was like, 'Listen, Harvard-Westlake isn't a Harvard-Westlake anymore.'"