A right-wing Italian paper went after Trump with a vulgar name amid his spat with the country's prime minister.

"Sorry to say it, but I can't find, and perhaps there isn't, another way to say it," a translation of the Italian article from the Libero Quotidiano reads. "Donald Trump is an a—."

The article uses the Italian term "coglione," even using it in the headline, as it blasted Trump for ruining progress towards a friendly relationship with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni by telling an Italian news network that she "begged" him for a photo during the G7 summit. Meloni denied the account and accused Trump of making it up in a fierce response that tore into him.

"Only an a— could ruin everything with a lie so huge as to become ridiculous," the article read. "Why say such nonsense? The answer can only be found in the definition of the word 'a—' which has entered the popular jargon of the Italian language: an inept, stupid person who acts with little intelligence."

Trump stood by his claim that Meloni was a "big fan" of his in comments to NBC News on Friday. Meanwhile, Meloni was cheered on across the world, even called "fabulous," for firing back at Trump.

Although the article attacks "the inadequacy of the American president," it does strike a sympathetic tone by admitting, "it is not the case to declare war on America," and "we do not deny it, we too had placed many hopes" in Trump.

Just hours after the Strait of Hormuz was closed again as the tentative peace deal between Washington and Tehran crumbles, President Donald Trump asked his followers Saturday to weigh in on what he called a “very important matter”: whether he should insult Democrats with the nickname “Dumocrats” or “Dumbocrats.”

“POLL: Which do you prefer, Dumocrat or Dumbocrat?” Trump asked his followers on his social media platform Truth Social.

“In one case, you simply exchange the ‘e’ for ‘u,’ so simple and precise (Many people don’t know, or assume, that DUMB ends in ‘b’). In the other case, you spell out DUMB, but it seems to lose some of the identity to Democrats when done this way. Which is better?”

Trump’s social media post also included a poll where users could select their preference for how the president should insult Democrats, along with a “thank you” from Trump for helping him address the “very important matter.” As of 9:15 a.m. ET, Trump's followers preferred the name "Dumocrat" by 66%.

Iranian military officials announced that the Strait of Hormuz was closed again Saturday morning citing a violation of the first clause of the 14-point memorandum of understanding agreed to by Washington and Tehran. Within the first clause is a provision that requires Israel to halt its military operations in Lebanon, which to date it’s refused to do.

Veteran journalist Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, whose reporting has exposed a number of previously unknown revelations about Jeffrey Epstein, had her attempt to flee the United States thwarted by the Trump administration, she claimed on Saturday.

In May, Valdes-Rodriguez claimed that her home was targeted in “attacks” by those she believed were “unhappy” about her reporting on Epstein, which included a report suggesting the disgraced financier may have had ties to the CIA. The attacks, she alleged, were potentially “direct energy weapon attacks,” which she claimed had left her "permanently injured.”

After announcing her intention to flee the country, however, she hit a snag that she blamed directly on the Trump administration – namely, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative that was established, in part, to reduce wasteful government spending.

“My departure from the US has been delayed by shocking and unexpected legal matters, including but not limited to the fact that DOGE managed to erase my father's naturalized citizenship status and records from the Social Security database,” Valdes-Rodriguez wrote in a recent statement published on Substack.

“My dad has been a United States citizen since the 1960s. The Trump administration doesn't care about the law. They are illegally erasing people's citizenship. My father is unable to fight this himself due to his Alzheimer's disease.”

Valdes-Rodriguez also argued that her father’s alleged citizenship status challenge was likely systemic, a claim supported by a whistleblower’s allegation that DOGE put millions of Americans’ Social Security data at risk.

“The Trump administration quietly erased the legal United States citizenship of an 81-year-old retired professor emeritus in memory care, who was born in Cuba but came to the US as a child, in an attempt to deny his Social Security benefits and perhaps do worse to him,” she wrote.

“I knew the issues facing us as a family would likely escalate into lawfare, but this is not the route I expected they would take, to try to make my father stateless.”

One of Trump's own cabinet members compared him to his liberal nemesis, according to a new report.

In the book Regime Change, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is revealed to say that Trump is the same as billionaire liberal donor George Soros, according to reporting by The Guardian.

"Trump reminded him...of his old boss, the legendary investor and major Democratic donor George Soros," reads a passage of the book shared by The Guardian in which Bessent speaks to his associates. "'They are the same animal,' Bessent said."

Soros is a constant target of MAGA and Trump, who even threatened to investigate him for racketeering in Truth Social posts. Bessent worked as the chief investment officer at the Soros Fund Management and reportedly played a big role in building the fortune that has fueled Soros’ political and charitable donations, according to previous reporting.

Last year, Bessent reportedly told a room full of billionaires that both Trump and Soros are "impatient," according to reporting by Bloomberg.

The Regime Change passage highlighted in The Guardian reporting details how negotiations between Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy stalled because Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick fought over how a minerals deal should be worded.

Trump reportedly went around Bessent and Lutnick and "asked J.D. Vance's wife, Usha, also a Yale Law School graduate, to review the Ukrainian edits to the minerals deal," according to a passage from the book published by The Guardian. "She declared the document 'awful,' and [took] a heavy pencil to it."

President Donald Trump’s coveted peace deal with Tehran was dealt a devastating blow Saturday after Iranian officials announced they would, again, be closing the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping vessels.

In a message from the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces operational headquarters, Iranian military officials announced that the strait – a critical shipping waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil trade flows – would be closed due to the “flagrant bad faith and breach of covenant by America regarding the failure to implement the first clause of the end-of-war agreement,” according to the Iranian Fars News Agency.

The first clause of the 14-point memorandum of understanding agreed to by Washington and Tehran requires Israel to halt its bombardment of Lebanon, which Israel has refused to abide by since the signing of the tentative agreement.

“The brutal massacre and displacement of hundreds of thousands of the oppressed people of this land, and also in light of the occupying Zionist forces' refusal to withdraw from the lands of southern Lebanon, it declares that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to the passage of vessels,” the Iranian military officials said, according to an English translation of Fars News Agency’s reporting.

Political strategist and commentator Keith Edwards claimed Friday that he was paid a visit by the FBI over comments he made online – more specifically, comments about President Donald Trump’s botched $14 million restoration of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which has been plagued with algae and peeling paint just days after completion.

On Friday morning, Edwards issued a plea on social media: he offered to pay anyone willing to send him a piece of the “‘American flag blue’ paint peeling off the reflecting pool,” insisting he “must have it and frame it.” He also offered to pay $86.47, a reference to the term the Justice Department cited in its criminal indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, which some conservatives have interpreted as a threat to Trump's life.

Just hours later, Edwards took to social media again to provide his more than 175,000 followers on X an update.

“The FBI just showed up at my door because I tweeted about people picking up paint debris and sending it to me,” Edwards wrote Friday evening. “I asked them where's Savannah Guthrie's mom.”

Trump’s FBI has been reported to have visited the homes of other critics of the administration, including participants in the No Kings protests. The FBI has also visited Americans’ homes over social media posts critical of Israel’s ongoing siege on Gaza, which countless human rights groups and a United Nations committee have labeled a genocide.

Edwards has amassed nearly 1.3 million subscribers on his political commentary YouTube channel and previously worked on Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) struggled to defend President Donald Trump's Iran agreement during a tense interview on CNN's "First of All with Victor Blackwell" on Saturday, as the host repeatedly pressed her and cut her off on contradictions between the deal and the war's stated goals.

Blackwell played a clip of Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying at the start of the conflict that the U.S. aimed "to eliminate the threat of Iran's short-range ballistic missiles," then a clip of Trump at the G7 saying it was "a little bit unfair" for Iran not to keep some missiles "in relative proportion" to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

"How is it a win at the end for the president to say it's okay to keep the missiles?" Blackwell asked.

Luna called Iran's full denuclearization the "biggest win," and said she didn't think Iran would "need ballistic missiles" if the deal holds. Blackwell cut in, demanding to know, "Why wouldn't they need ballistic missiles?"

When Luna suggested Iran's new leadership would focus on integrating with the world, Blackwell cut in again.

"What's that based on?" he asked.

"If they didn't need them, then why allow them to keep them?" he added.

As Luna insisted Iran would integrate with the world and establish relationships with other countries, she conceded, "I don't think that I'm to the point where I would support them fully having this," calling it her "hopes that they wouldn't need" ballistic missiles.

The conversation then turned to Luna's comment that Trump's deal is "way better" than the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

"How so?" asked Blackwell.

As Luna began claiming Trump's deal makes Iran promise in writing to never possess a nuclear weapon, Blackwell cut her off again.

"That was also in the JCPOA, though," he butt in. Luna insisted this time is different because it's in writing.

Blackwell fact-checked Luna to her face.

"The IAEA conducted the inspections and determined, up until the point that President Trump withdrew the U.S., they were in compliance with the JCPOA," he said.

Luna claimed U.S. intelligence she received showed Iran was not compliant.

"And the IDF," Blackwell interjected, as Luna ignored him.

Luna attacked the Obama-era deal's "pallets of cash," insisting "we're not paying the Iranians to mothball their nuclear program." But Blackwell noted the $1.7 billion returned then "was their money that was returned to them with interest," not taxpayer funds, throwing Trump's own comment in her face that the U.S. froze Iranian money and "I guess we're going to have to give it back."

Luna pivoted to the $300 billion fund she said regional partners would finance. Trump has dismissed that figure as "Fake News," even as critics say the administration's evasiveness signals unease about the deal.

"Congresswoman, I'm not here to defend the JCPOA," Blackwell said. "You just said in your social media post this is way better than the JCPOA. And when I asked how, you talked about the returning of pallets of cash. The Obama-era deal returned their money. President Trump says they would."

The two continued talking over each other as Blackwell continued to point out the similarities between the deals.

President Donald Trump marked his 80th birthday last Sunday with an unprecedented Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event on White House grounds, but by Friday onlookers were stunned when photos emerged showing the damage left behind on the Ellipse, often referred to as President's Park South.

“The UFC event has destroyed the grass on the Ellipse in front of the White House,” bluntly noted John Jackson, a podcaster, writer and U.S. veteran of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in a social media post Friday evening.

Captured by Reuters' Aaron Schwartz on Friday, an aerial photograph shows the once-green Ellipse – a 52-acre park just south of the White House South Lawn – with slivers and patches of green grass amid a sea of brown. The White House’s South Lawn also suffered damage, with a White House spokesperson telling USA Today that $1 million will be spent restoring its grass.

“In the 250th year anniversary of USA the White House and [its] surroundings look so terrible,” wrote José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, the disaster-relief food nonprofit organization, in a social media post on X to his more than 1 million followers. “Is so sad to see.”

And Luis Moreno the former U.S. ambassador to Jamaica, quipped that the damage to the Ellipse perfectly encapsulated the Trump administration.

“Perfect metaphor for what he’s turned our country into,” he wrote Friday in a social media post on X.

Many of us have spent years convincing ourselves that President Donald Trump was one scandal away, one slip of the tongue, one fall on Air Force One, one essential predicate from ouster based on a buffet of underlying reasons, any one of which would take down a normal president.

Fair warning, but here comes another prediction, and this one promises something different, something both new and tangible — actually, a few somethings.

Everyone lumped within a certain Gen-X demographic forever remains conversant in School House Rock and thus knows that 3 Is a Magic Number. But it will be more physics, along with some magic, as we watch three waves conjoin into the long-feared and impossible to predict rogue wave, the type that really does sink ships. Three waves of varying degrees, all meeting at the right time and place, and destined to do so during a long-predicted summer storm.

Your doubts and natural cynicism are noted and well-founded. But let your cool-factor abate momentarily because these three waves approach with elegant timing.

From the left, port side, horizon, comes the most obvious: an economy on the brink. And as much as we may wish that such pain was unnecessary, this column has long noted that a broken economy not only changes everything but has become tragically needed, especially when dealing with someone who assumes a clean getaway after shooting a person on Fifth Ave.

A second wave comes from aft and will catch Trump no matter how hard he steams ahead. His increasing age and frailty are now media staples; even the analysts at Fox News no longer try to hide the concerns. Ironically, Trump himself put his age front and center during his UFC fight "national event" on his 80th birthday.

Yes, yes, fine. You have every reason to clap back: "Thanks. Give us something new because those issues have been hanging around for a while now."

Fair enough. We move to issue three, creating the magic number and thus conditions, and the underlying basis for a nation about to go rogue, this one headed from the starboard right, the political right.

The red brigade in Congress has largely had it with Trump as he increasingly transforms into a liability and, even more importantly, they seem less afraid to talk about it. The irony is as delicious as pizza when noting that the man almost solely responsible for MAGA's rise is now weighing them down as an anchor.

The divergence of the hard right political force is real and intensifying. Whereas members in the Senate and Congress once needed Trump at least as much as he needed them, not only is that need gone, but turning into a headwind. Trump surely feels invulnerable, probably having "run" his last election, he dedicates the entirety of his effort toward enriching himself financially and engraving his greatness in our nation's monuments.

Note the reporting on this very site on Congress seeing Trump himself as having gone rogue. A quote from a senior GOP staffer in the Senate:

"People are p— the f— off that prices are too high and things are too expensive. I'm just not sure the president really cares or if he's really in tune with what's going on on Capitol Hill."

So naive it all but hopscotches to adorable. One wants to gently whisper as you would give an eight-year-old bad news, "Hey? He never cared about Capitol Hill or its dynamic; he cared about himself, and to the extent he needed you to further himself, he cared about how you did it."

Trump no longer needs them on Capitol Hill. He no longer needs their legislation, nor their protection. He figures he's untouchable. And it's not like he keeps his priorities a secret: ballrooms, UFC birthdays, insider trading, pardons for rich guys (Wonder why?), getting in and out of wars, he obviously spends precious little worry about his precious red Congress, less about affordability, more about all he can now afford.

They say that Trump has personally made two billion dollars since being elected, likely doubling his previous net worth. It would be hard to overstate just how little he cares about the fact that you can walk out of a grocery store carrying two small bags and one less $100 bill.

But it's just that sort of arrogance coupled with a self-satisfied attitude that will trip him up because — don't doubt, he is not invulnerable, seemingly all-powerful dictators have fallen before, and when it happens, it often happens, it can often come with blinding speed. Oh, and the problems usually start within, and among the loyalists the leader took for granted.

Those loyalists on Capitol Hill appear to be seething:

"Between the Pulte nominations and anti-weaponization fund, the White House has definitely gone rogue and instead pushed priorities without talking to Congressional leadership," ... bringing up that Trump hasn't even seemed to consult Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).

"We're begging the White House to focus on issues to help Republicans in the midterms. But it feels like it's falling on deaf ears."

Right.

Not deaf so much as distracted. If newly minted trillionaire Elon Musk called, Trump would be all ears, discerning everything. The staffer did hit it right in noticing that the priorities have diverged. Yes, yes, Trump was always in it for himself, of course. But there was a time when he needed those in Congress far more, even those red-hatted wonders at rallies, all filling a need.

Now his needs have narrowed to legacy and looting. Anyone who thinks that the $1.776B slush fund wouldn't come with a finder's fee going into his pocket needs their education examined, and the portion that prohibits the IRS or DOJ from prosecuting or even investigating his tax issue is said to be worth $100 million in back taxes avoided.

Looting is working lovely.

And legacy? How about that ballroom? There is likely no issue that bothers the Republican caucus in Congress more than Trump's obsession with his ballroom.

Now, imagine being a purple Republican congress critter on the campaign trail facing a farmer who tills up this question: "What are you doing about a war in Iran that has pushed my fertilizer costs up 60%, diesel for my combine up 50%, groceries up in ways I can't count, and all I hear the president talking about is that the war will end next week and the ballroom?"

Damn.

Next person up mentions that they want to build a data center in what had been reserved parkland just outside the city, guaranteed to dirty the water, be noisy, and drive up electric rates 50%. The Congressman knows he has to defend an inauguration picture with Trump, Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg.

And that's when our Congressman/woman gets pretty angry about the record to defend, enough to start talking about it — out loud, and in public, just as we see above. And that's different, that's the wave that creates the crash over the bow.

Take all three factors, and it's enough to bring him down. But please hold off the bombs in the comments because I'm not talking about impeachment, I'm talking about possible resignation.

No doubt, Trump loves the trappings of being president: that cool helicopter, everyone calls him "Sir," he likes to bomb people, he likes the money, all that. But if and when the GOP starts to turn hard on him, which, set aside the cool-factor momentarily, if the GOP turns, suddenly the presidency is nowhere near as much fun. Picture a new Congress asking tough Epstein questions, with Republicans increasingly wanting to know why they're left to come up with excuses.

Trump — the man always in it for himself— sees real trouble on the horizon with fewer friends to batten down the hatches. Perhaps he uses a convenient medical issue as a graceful exit. "For the good of the country." How big of him, a martyr to the end. Red tears, "He always put the country first."

And that's what it really gets down to, right? Three things are coming together at the perfect time; the presidency isn't fun anymore. An economy nose-diving and all the fury that goes with it, advanced age he can no longer hide, cankles, bruising, a cognitive catastrophe as certainty, and his soldiers on Capitol Hill no longer following orders. Three things, each critical, and three is a magic number.

Magic enough to create a rogue wave of the type that sinks even the unsinkable.

Jason Miciak is a Raw Story Columnist former Editor at Occupy Democrats, a political consultant, attorney, author, and single parent girldad. Follow him on Bluesky, and he can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com.

A report published Friday reveals how President Donald Trump’s policies have jacked up prices for a host of potential Father’s Day gifts this year.

Overall, the analysis by Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive economic think tank and advocacy group, finds that prices for popular Father’s Day gifts have risen by nearly 19% on average over the last year, highlighted by a 30% increase in the price of Remington electric shavers, a 16% jump for Blackstone electric griddles, and barbecue tools up by 11%.

The analysis traces price increases of popular personal care products to Trump’s global trade war, which he began last year with his “Liberation Day” tariffs levied on practically every nation in the world.

“Many shavers and trimmers are imported from China, which has faced multiple layers of tariffs,” notes the report, “in addition to containing steel and aluminum components, which are also subject to additional tariffs.”

The report also points out that electric shaver manufacturer Braun “increased the price of its Series 9 All-in-One Beard Trimmer by $50” last year after Trump’s big tariff announcement, and that the price has since gone up by another $10.

Examining the increase in grilling product prices, the report pins the blame not only on Trump’s tariffs, but also his illegal war of choice with Iran.

“The Middle East is a major producer of the petrochemical used to make plastics and synthetic fibers,” the report explains. “Trump’s reckless war on Iran has increased the price of these petroleum-derived products, helping drive up the cost of items like grilling tools, which cost nearly 22% more this year.”

Elizabeth Pancotti, managing director of policy and advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, summarized the report’s findings by warning that “Dads are in for disappointment this Father’s Day” thanks to Trump’s economic policies.

“While dads across the country should be able to relax and enjoy the day with loved ones,” Pancotti added, “they’re instead forced to worry about how they’ll make ends meet in Trump’s economy.”

Trump’s tariffs and the Iran war have sent inflation in the US to its highest levels in three years. As data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) last week showed, overall prices in May posted a yearly increase of 4.2%, highlighted by a 23.5% yearly increase in energy prices.

Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said last week that inflation has now grown “so high that it’s erasing all wage gains” being made by American workers.

For the third time, President Donald Trump reinforced his version of events Saturday as it pertained to his bizarre spat with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who accused the president of fabricating a story about her begging for a photograph.

Trump told an Italian news network that during the Group of Seven summit in France, Meloni had “begged” him for a photograph together and that he “felt sorry for her.” Meloni fiercely denied Trump’s account of their interaction, accusing him of fabricating the story.

Trump stood by his story, however, telling NBC News on Friday that Meloni was “a big fan” of his. And on Saturday, the president pushed his version of events a third time in an explosive social media post on Truth Social.

“Italian Prime Minister Gigiorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France. She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon (But so did NATO, for that matter!),” Trump wrote.

“She wouldn’t even let us use Italy’s landing strips or runways, a great logistical inconvenience, and this despite the fact the U.S. contributes hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year to protect Italy, and other “so-called” NATO Allies. Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her ‘numbers up.’ No thanks!!!”

In public, President Donald Trump has frequently boasted about the tentative peace deal his administration reached with Iran, but behind closed doors, the president has furiously “complained” to officials about fears of the war restarting, an adviser close to Trump told Zeteo for its report Friday.

“He’s swearing a lot about it,” the adviser told Zeteo, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Specifically, Trump fears that Israeli officials are targeting him in an effort to reignite the U.S. war against Iran, three other insiders told the outlet.

“During the past several days, Trump has aggressively complained to administration officials and other confidants that the Israelis are trying to trick him into restarting a full-blown war with Iran, three people with direct knowledge of the matter and another person briefed on it tell Zeteo,” the outlet reported.

In the first point of the 14-point memorandum of understanding agreed to by Washington and Tehran, a provision exists that explicitly calls for Israel to terminate its military operations in Lebanon, with the Israeli military currently occupying around 10% of the country. Israeli officials have remained defiant, however, and vowed not to cease its military campaign.

“At least right now, he’s definitely madder at the Israelis than the Iranians,” the close Trump adviser told Zeteo.

According to those who spoke with Zeteo, however, Israel’s defiance has only “driven Trump in the opposite direction” of restarting the war, the outlet reported.

For the first time in 53 years — and for the first time in many of our lifetimes — the New York Knickerbockers are world champions.

They achieved the ultimate goal in sports and now stand alone atop basketball's Mount Olympus.

This gritty, ridiculously talented, never-say-die bunch won 13 straight playoff games, tying an NBA record before finally stumbling at home against San Antonio in a game remembered almost as much for the chaos outside Madison Square Garden as for what happened on the court. Depending on who you ask, the culprit was poor defense, bad luck — or the appearance of a certain individual whom superstitious fans have since blamed for jinxing the team.

Hexes aside, no sooner had the Knicks hoisted the Larry O'Brien Trophy than speculation began swirling about a visit to the White House.

Within minutes of the buzzer, I posted:

"Congrats @NYKnicks! Please don't ruin it by visiting the White Supremacist House!”

Then I waited.

Because we all knew this moment was coming.

Because our president has to make moments like this about him.

And now it's here. And so is the reckoning. For a team. For a city. For a country.

The Knicks are facing a decision that extends far beyond basketball.

On one side sits tradition: championship teams have long been invited to the White House regardless of who occupies it. On the other sits conscience: the reality that the majority of Americans view the current administration as, to put it mildly, fundamentally at odds with the values they, as well as our founding fathers, hold dear.

Complicating matters further is the fact that the Knicks are owned by a man who has been an outspoken supporter of a president whose behavior seems to embody the opposite of the qualities we associate with champions: humility, character, grace, and dignity.

Which raises the question:

What does a championship team owe tradition when tradition collides with principle? And duty?

Because whether they accept the invitation or decline it, the decision will resonate far beyond Madison Square Garden. Especially when you consider that no NBA championship team has visited the White House during the Trump era. If nothing else, should they go, the Knicks would be breaking a decade-long streak.

For whatever reason, the NBA has been the exception. Across most of the sports world—professional and collegiate alike—teams from The Dodgers to The Panthers to The Hoosiers, and many more, have eagerly accepted invitations to this White House. Whether it's a desire to honor tradition, avoid controversy, or simply enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the result is the same: a photo opportunity that inevitably becomes political.

For those who view this administration as morally bankrupt, those images carry a different message. They signal acceptance. Endorsement. Normalization.

To them, these athletes’ willingness to break bread with this poor excuse for a president also confirms a sad truth: that these role models apparently have no issue with the message they’re sending to the kids who idolize them — “being a bully is not only okay, it can lead to the White House.”

Take the recent example of the U.S. men's hockey team. Fresh off an incredible Olympic victory, several players found themselves embroiled in controversy after laughing at remarks many viewed as misogynistic and disrespectful toward the women's team. What should have been a moment of pure celebration instantly became something else. Forever.

That's the risk.

A single visit to shake this toxic man’s hand can alter the conversation around an achievement forever. Is it worth it, New York?

Let’s face it, Donald Trump is the kind of guy to whom, if you gave him a plastic replica of the Larry O’Brien trophy, would go around telling everyone he won the NBA championship, too.

Perhaps Knicks owner James Dolan supports a man like Trump because both men have one thing in common: They are the epitome of fragile, petty, power-hungry billionaires.

After all, like Mr. Trump, Mr. Dolan’s desire for total control has been well documented; be it his countless lawsuits against anything and anyone who challenges him, or banning Knick fans from the Garden simply for shouting “Sell the team!” Going as far as to install facial recognition security cameras to keep the undesirables out. Heck, a friend of mine who’s a well-known sports writer told me he can’t write anything ‘bad’ about the Knicks because Dolan keeps a ‘hit list’ of his enemies and will subsequently ban him from all MSG events, permanently. Sound familiar?

Donald Trump is a man whose blatant racism has been on full display going back decades. Whether it was discriminating against Black tenants in the '70s, calling for the execution of the Central Park Five in the '80s — and refusing to apologize when they were acquitted, or the now infamous “Good people on both sides” vitriol. We’re now supposed to believe this man gives a damn about these players? About the city that booed him into oblivion less than two weeks ago?

Looking at it from another angle, should the Knicks have lost, which response do you think would’ve been more likely to come from this president?

“We’ll get ‘em next year, boys! You fought the good fight! Be proud!”

Or

“Just like their weak mayor, the Knicks are losers. They couldn’t handle the pressure and they choked. Pathetic. And have you seen Jalen Brunson’s wife? Is she a man?”

Men like James Dolan and Donald Trump represent the antitheses of what champions are made of. Both were gifted their companies by their fathers, both have demonstrated rancid pettiness and cruelty throughout their lives, and both refuse to lose with grace and dignity. After all, one of them is still trying to redo the 2020 election.

The Knicks' championship belongs to New York. It belongs to the fans who waited more than half a century for this moment. It belongs to the players who sacrificed, bled, and battled to bring a title back to the Garden. It definitely does not belong to either of these men who have a knack for making everything all about them.

Incidentally, you could even say the Knicks won in spite of James Dolan, as he’s had complete control of the team for 27 years, yet only has one title to show for it.

The question now is, not whether a trip to Washington enhances that legacy or distracts from it. It’s how bad will it tarnish this incredible decades-in-the-making victory?

Because once that photograph is taken, it doesn’t just become part of the story. It becomes the story.

Forever.

And the world is watching.

President Donald Trump suffered a severe humiliation this month when the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was finally ordered by a federal court to remove Trump's name from the side of the building, clarifying that Congress only allowed Kennedy's name to be on the facility.

Now, days later, tarps are still covering the spot where Trump's name was, and, according to The New York Times, it's starting to arouse suspicion. Some are even questioning whether the name was in fact fully removed at all.

Matt Floca, the operations chief for the Kennedy Center, "filed a sworn declaration with a federal court later that day saying that Mr. Trump’s name had been removed," noted the report. And at least some letters were taken off, as "a New York Times photographer captured evidence through an opening in the tarp that the letter 'A' came off," as well as a "D" in a separate photograph.

The Kennedy Center will not give a direct explanation for why the tarps aren't coming down, with one spokesperson saying, “The scaffolding and tarp will remain up as crews address maintenance needs of the marble and soffit panels. Best, Public Relations.”

Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), the Kennedy Center board member who sued over Trump-aligned officials' mishandling of the facility in the first place, told The Times, “Donald Trump is embarrassed. He lost in court, his name came down, and now he is trying to hide the result from the public.”

It's the latest episode in a long saga of Trump efforts to assert control over the Kennedy Center, which has seen a collapse of ticket sales and the withdrawal of a number of performers as the facility has grown more explicitly MAGA-aligned.

Trump also attempted to shut down the Kennedy Center for two years of "renovations" in response to the decline, which was also blocked by federal courts.

President Donald Trump is hemorrhaging support from a key business community as they express "buyer's remorse," according to a new report.

NBC News reported on Friday that support for Trump from Latino business owners has seemingly fallen off a cliff during his second term. Latino voters were one group that swung heavily in favor of Trump during the 2024 election, and some business owners interviewed by NBC said they supported Trump because of his economic agenda.

However, Trump's immigration policies and tariffs have changed their minds, according to the report. It cited recent polling data that showed support for Trump among the Latino business community had dropped from 69% to 39%. That could prove costly as the 2026 midterm elections approach.

"The very guy that we thought would fix things for me, and make my life better, these circumstances are even worse now," Javier Palomares, CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Business Council, said in an interview with NBC News.

NBC News' Valerie Castro characterized the sentiment as "buyer's remorse."

"They're really rethinking the choices they made," Palomares added, referring to the business owners the USHBC represents. "We're kind of stuck right now. That's not to say that it's too late."

A Republican town official in New Jersey with a colorful history that includes ties to the mafia and a 14-year prison sentence for murder told constituents he was now on the straight and narrow — but now he's been arrested again.

According to the New Jersey Globe, John Alite, who was appointed to serve on the Englishtown council last year, "made loans that exceeded the maximum legal rate and later threatened to commit violent acts to obtain property and cash," per charges brought by state Attorney General Jennifer Davenport. He faces charges of theft by extortion, corporate misconduct, usury, and terroristic threats — and Davenport "also accused Alite of misusing a business he owns, Straightened-Out Entertainment, as part of the scheme."

“Our office is dedicated to ensuring that all businesses conduct themselves fairly and lawfully," said Davenport in announcing the charges. "The conduct alleged in this case was anything but, and we will work to hold those who cheat and steal accountable.”

Criminal involvement would not be a first time issue for Alite.

As The Guardian noted last year, Alite "once served as a top 'earner' for John 'the Teflon Don' Gotti, and later for his son John Gotti Jr.," some of the most infamous American mafia bosses, and he was "nicknamed 'the Calculator' because of his financial acumen in helping to move 8kg of cocaine a month."

However, after being caught in Brazil, "Alite turned cooperating government witness against the younger Gotti, and pleaded guilty to racketeering charges, including two murders."

After serving his time, Alite insisted he wanted simply to put his experience in organized crime to do honest work in politics.

"People ask me why? I tell them I have more experience than all these politicians," he said when he was first appointed. “Plus I’m not a criminal any more – I’m on a mission to do things the right way.”

The recently released Broadview Six transcripts revealed a stunning pattern of behavior by President Donald Trump's Department of Justice, raising multiple red flags for a legal expert.

Andrew Weissmann, a former federal prosecutor, said during a new interview on "All Rise News" with Adam Klasfeld on Friday that the federal prosecutors who brought the Broadview Six case broke some verboten rules in the legal profession. They include trying to sway a grand jury, trying to cover up prosecutorial misdeeds, and bringing weak evidence to support their case.

One of the most flagrant abuses, according to Weissmann, was the prosecutors' own admission that they chose a specific grand jury because they "trusted them."

"Choosing the grand jury because you trust them and they trust you and you like them and they like you ... this is like blatantly saying I engaged in grand jury shopping," Weissman said. "But then the second thing is you cannot ever say whether the grand jury stage or the trial stage, 'Trust me, I'm telling you there's probable cause. I would never present something without probable cause.'It is verboten. Everybody knows that."

Weissmann said the prosecutors' misconduct was so egregious that it made him question whether it was intentional.

"This is so fundamental that you have to know that it's wrong," he said.

Republican strategist Doug Heye is alarmed by the rift between President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a right-wing leader who was initially close with Trump but is now on the outs with him.

Tensions came to a head on Friday as Meloni posted a public video raging about Trump's false claim that she had "begged" to get a photo with him at the G7 summit.

"Doug, you say that this dispute between Trump and Meloni is an embarrassment," said CNN's Boris Sanchez on Friday's edition of CNN's "OutFront."

"It's an embarrassment, and it comes at the very worst time, I think, possible that it could for the president and frankly, for the global coalition that the U.S. has put together over decades," said Heye, who has often fretted about the drama Trump creates in his party.

Notably, he said, when Meloni was first put in office, "she was viewed as sort of like an Italian MAGA candidate. So she and Trump were going to get along famously." However, he continued, Meloni is now learning what "so many other people learn about Donald Trump if they get close to him," which is that "Donald Trump doesn't give points. He only takes them away one at a time."

The consequences of the rift could be far-reaching, Heye warned.

"Whether you're talking about Europe — and by the way, things aren't terribly stable in England right now either — and what that means for Iran and thus the whole world are really important right now, I would want to keep our allies as close as possible," said Heye, but Trump appears totally unconcerned with this. "It's a huge gamble."

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President Donald Trump has talked a lot about the strength of the stock market recently, and a new analysis suggests that his recent surge in trading activity may be a motivating factor.

The New York Times published an analysis of Trump's stock trading activity on Friday that found the president's brokerage account has placed about 3,600 trades in thousands of stocks and bonds worth roughly $100 million during his second term. The activity largely stems from an appellate court ruling that threw out the $500 million judgment secured against Trump arising from a civil fraud lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. That ruling freed up more than $175 million in liquid assets for the president, and most of it has gone into the stock market, according to the analysis.

"Mr. Trump’s brokerage firms have authority over the accounts, the documents show, and are prohibited from accepting trade requests from him and his family. The firms also cannot provide the family notice of trades ahead of time, and The Times found no indication that the president had directed the firms to trade for him, or that he had used inside information to trade," according to the report, noting that the president seems to be abiding by the same rules as everyone else when it comes to trading.

But there is some evidence that Trump may be trying to boost stocks he already owns, according to the analysis. For instance, the NYT noted that Trump touted Intel's stock shortly before it was awarded a big government contract. Some of Trump's announcements about the war with Iran have raised red flags among market watchers as well.

"Regardless, even if Mr. Trump took official action to support any of those companies, federal law does not prohibit it. The president is exempt from a conflict-of-interest law that prohibits federal employees from taking actions in their official roles that benefit their own financial interests," the report added.

Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, told the NYT that Trump “only acts in the best interests of the American public,” and that “there are no conflicts of interest.”

Vice President J.D. Vance's comments about Israel have sparked an ugly, public brawl of words among two of the Florida GOP's most controversial figures.

This comes after Vance lashed out at Israel for publicly opposing President Donald Trump's memorandum of understanding with Iran to end the war that has been raging over the last three months.

“If I was in the Cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” Vance said, according to The Hill.

This infuriated Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL), a far-right Jewish lawmaker who has repeatedly called for Israel to attack its neighbors and even commit war crimes.

“I thought JD’s comments yesterday were absolutely inappropriate and frankly disgusting,” said Fine, during an interview on Real America's Voice.

Fine's attack on Vance was soon countered by a furious retort on social media from Lake County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini, a former member of the Florida legislature known for alienating his colleagues.

"Sweaty Randy Fine is a morbidly obese & very disgusting piece of [expletive] who should be deported ASAP," said Sabatini on X.

This comes shortly after Sabatini played with a congressional run under the new, more aggressively gerrymandered maps passed by the legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis, but decided against it as state law would have required him to resign from his county office first.

A former U.S. ambassador to Russia was shocked to read some of the proposals included in President Donald Trump's recent deal with the Iranian regime, according to a new essay.

Michael McFaul, who was the ambassador to Russia during the Obama administration, wrote in a new Substack essay that Trump's 14-point memorandum of understanding, signed this week at the Palace of Versailles in France, included language that precludes the U.S. from meddling in Iran's internal affairs. McFaul argued that the clause could allow Iran to continue funding terrorist groups in the region, and continue to suppress democracy activists in the country, which were two issues the Trump administration claimed as the war's raison d'être.

"As for the goal of stopping Iran’s funding of terrorists, Trump and team have said nothing of late. The MOU ending the war does not even mention this issue. It looks like Trump is just giving up," McFaul wrote.

The sentence that committed the U.S. “to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs," also shocked McFaul.

"I was shocked to see this sentence in the agreement. This is the language championed by dictators all over the world," he wrote. "Other American presidents have refrained from interfering in the domestic affairs of dictatorships. But to the best of my knowledge, no president signed an agreement that codifies an American commitment not to support human rights or democratic values in an autocracy, let alone in a brutal dictatorship that holds power in the Islamic Republic of Iran. That was a major concession to the Iranian theocrats for which the United States got nothing in return."

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo admitted some bad news on Friday — his pet referendum will not make it onto the ballot.

According to The Nevada Independent, Lombardo stated on social media that his ballot question restricting participation of transgender athletes in school sports will not go to voters this year, because "legal delays and uncertainty surrounding this case have made it impossible to complete the initiative process in time for the 2026 ballot."

He is likely to push for the next legislative session to take up the issue, which is likely not to go anywhere unless Republicans can break the Democratic majorities in both chambers. If that fails, he has signaled his intent to try to get it onto the 2028 ballot instead, since the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled it is a legal ballot measure.

"Female athletes deserve a permanent solution that protects female athletics," he said.

The ballot question "would have limited transgender athletes to sports based on their assigned sex at birth and required entities overseeing school sports to categorize them as male, female or coeducational," noted the report — a policy that polls in recent years show is strongly popular with voters, but that Republicans have had mixed to unclear results translating into wins at the ballot box.

Lombardo, a Republican who has on-again, off-again tried to keep President Donald Trump at arm's length in a key swing state where the president is deeply unpopular, is facing a tough re-election battle in November, and likely wanted the transgender athletics question on the ballot as a way to encourage Republican voters to turn out.

It's a common tactic used by both parties to try to push their voters to the ballot box. One of the most infamous cases was the GOP's extensive promotion of ballot questions prohibiting same-sex marriage in 2004 to drive evangelical turnout for then-President George W. Bush's re-election. Although Bush won, some experts have argued the ballot questions weren't much of a factor in the end.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sparked mockery on Friday after he uncorked what some analysts described as an "absolutely insane" claim about what Kennedy referred to as the "most consequential crime" in American history.

On Thursday, former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard posted a video on her professional X account that claimed to expose evidence that Anthony Fauci, the former chief medical advisor to the President, had committed crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kennedy retweeted the video and thanked Gabbard for "documenting Dr. Fauci's central role in causing the COVID-19 pandemic — among the most consequential crimes in human history."

Kennedy's claims garnered swift mockery online.

"An insane accusation from an insane man," Mehdi Hasan, founder of Zeteo News, posted on X.

"If this was true (it's not), shouldn't we hold Trump responsible?" Steven Bonnel II, a political commentator who goes by the name "Destiny" online, posted on X.

"My god. Bats--- f------ lunatics," Jeff Timmer, a senior advisor to Project Lincoln, posted on X.

Reporters received exclusive tours of the new Air Force One, a former Qatari jet reported to have "gold plating throughout" to match the design requests of President Donald Trump.

The tours offered the public their first look inside the plane.

The aircraft, designated the VC-25B Bridge, arrived Friday at Joint Base Andrews after a $400 million military overhaul that added secure communications and anti-missile defenses to the Boeing 747-8 once owned by the Qatari royal family.

The U.S. Air Force kept the interior largely intact.

"This feels more like a house than a plane," Daily Caller White House correspondent Reagan Reese wrote on X.

She counted solid wood tables, lounge couches, photos of the National Mall in the conference room, and a presidential seal on every seatbelt buckle. The press cabin is two to three times the size of the old plane's.

Center Square Washington bureau chief Sarah Roderick-Fitch saw white leather, wooden paneling, cream carpet, and silver accents. The decor was "simple, but elegant," she wrote.

GB News Chief U.S. Correspondent Ben Leo called it "INSANE."

Trump's office and meeting rooms, he said, were "better than five star hotels." He counted 24 press seats reclining fully flat and four Rolls-Royce engines.

"This plane was transformed into a flying White House at a level of luxury that nobody has ever seen before," Trump said as "God Bless the USA" played.

"Nobody tops this one," Trump said of landing at foreign airports, "and that's the way we have to have it for our country."

The New York Times reported Trump's personal plane has "gold plating throughout, including on the seatbelt buckles," and that he wanted "gold trim" on the new jet.

The Qatari interior, by French firm Alberto Pinto Cabinet, featured gold-colored walls and gold furnishings. The Air Force said the layout was kept "minimally changed."

Qatar gifted the 747-8 amid ethics objections. Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, called it a "brazen" violation of the Constitution's Emoluments Clause. Trump dismissed the criticism as "stupid."

The plane will complete commissioning flights before entering presidential service. Trump has promised it will lead a flyover of Washington on July 4.

It's a "precarious day for our country," MS NOW's Nicolle Wallace said in her opening of "Deadline: White House" — because President Donald Trump got his chosen partisan loyalist in charge of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

"Donald Trump's personal political attack dog, Bill Pulte, officially assum[es] the role of acting Director of National Intelligence today," said Wallace. "It's a job for which Pulte has zero qualifications except for his unwavering loyalty to Donald Trump."

And already there are huge red flags showing, she noted, as Pulte — whom experts already warned was likely to try to use the office to interfere in the midterm elections on Trump's behalf — is planning a top-to-bottom housecleaning to install people who will help him do it.

"Pulte showed up at his new job a day early on Thursday after asking for a list of every employee in the office so he could assess whether to fire them," said Wallace, relying on new CNN reports. Specifically, he "is eyeing to cut hundreds of jobs ... and his appearance at the headquarters "caught staff off guard, including the outgoing director, Tulsi Gabbard, who was given a brief heads up on the visit," since Trump had previously said Friday would be his first day.

So far, Wallace said, Pulte's experience "includes serving as the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where he drummed up mortgage fraud cases against Trump's perceived enemies." Meanwhile, even Republican lawmakers were so outraged over the appointment that Trump had to nominate federal prosecutor Jay Clayton for the permanent role instead. However, Trump delayed the hearing last minute to ensure Pulte would get at least some time in charge.

Trump, after all, has proven himself "if nothing else erratic," Wallace noted. And now Pulte is free to pursue his "plans to purge the office."

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President Donald Trump seemed mildly taken aback when a pair of Air Force officers got a bigger round of applause than he did, while speaking about the unveiling of the new Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews on Friday.

"That's pretty good. That's the best hand. You got a bigger hand than I did," said Trump. "That's the end of your job. I don't like that. I'm not happy about it."

Trump then seemed to find himself again. "Nah, these are great pilots. These are great, very talented people."

The president's new plane was a gift from the government of Qatar, which has made it controversial from the start as observers believe it was intended to curry favor with the U.S. government and shape American foreign policy.

Previous reporting indicated that the interior of the plane will be far more luxurious than prior aircraft used to transport the president — and have limitations compared to previous aircraft, including an inability to fly so-called "Golden Eagle" missions carrying the remains of former presidents.

Fox News's seemingly lone liberal host, Jessica Tarlov, stunned a political analyst after she humiliated Vice President JD Vance during a recent appearance on "The Five."

David Pakman, host of the "David Pakman Show" on YouTube, described Vance's recent appearance on Fox News during a new episode as an "unfortunate stop" on his book tour because Tarlov "had the facts" to counter Vance's narratives about the Iran deal the Trump administration agreed to.

Tarlov pointed out that the administration had done a U-turn on key policy proposals, like giving Iran sanctions relief up front in exchange for future talks about its nuclear program. The memorandum of understanding also does not address Iran's enriched uranium, unlike former President Obama's Iran deal that Trump tore up, Pakman noted.

"Jessica Tarlov humiliated JD Vance," Pakman said.

"She does a very good job here of pointing to JD Vance all the ways in which this Iran deal is pathetic, and Vance really doesn't seem able to counteract any of the substance," he added.

Vance has been defending the Trump administration's deal with Iran all week, including going on "The View," which some political analysts deemed disastrous for the Vice President.

Pakman noted that Vance seemed unwilling to address many of the issues Tarlov raised substantively.

"This is going to be a major problem for Republicans, especially if the deal ends up looking like the letter," he said.

Following his 2024 win, President Donald Trump required help from aides because he couldn't remember the names of the people he promised to retaliate against.

That's the scene described in "Regime Change," a new book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan.

One of the targets was Chris Krebs, the former head of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — fired by Trump in November 2020 after he publicly declared that year's election "the most secure in American history."

But in a meeting with senior staff, including deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and longtime aide Boris Epshteyn, Trump outright forgot his name.

"I remember there was this lawyer who was in the administration who said the election was fair and there's no fraud. Who was he?" Trump asked, according to the book.

"Oh the DHS — I think you're talking about the DHS guy," Miller replied. "I forget his name."

Epshteyn then Googled it.

"Yeah, Chris Krebs," Trump said. "Whatever happened to him? He was a bad one. Take a look at him."

Haberman and Swan write that Miller then had a presidential memo drawn up, "unleashing the resources of the federal government on a man whose sole offense against Trump had been to attest to the security and validity of his 2020 election."

The anecdote lands as questions about Trump's memory mount. Earlier this year, during a New York Magazine interview, Trump blanked on the word "Alzheimer's" while discussing his father's decline — turning to press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who supplied it.

"Well, I don't have it," Trump said.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wasted no time swiping back at President Donald Trump on Friday after he said that she "begged' him to take a photograph together, a spat that left one GOP strategist completely flabbergasted.

Brad Todd, a veteran GOP operative, discussed Meloni's sharp rebuke of Trump during a segment on CNN's "The Arena." Meloni released a video statement in which she said Trump's comments were "completely made up." She also canceled an upcoming trip to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Miami, Florida.

"I am frankly astonished," Meloni said. "I don't know why ⁠the President of the United States behaves like this towards his allies. It is not the first time, moreover."

Meloni's response earned her cheers across the globe.

Todd reacted to the back-and-forth during the CNN segment.

"I'm equally flabbergasted by this because Giorgia Meloni is Donald Trump's best ally in Western Europe," Todd said. "And furthermore, they share many of the same populist viewpoints and perspectives. And so, to the extent he's always said he wishes Europe would conform more to his view of how things should operate, she's the poster child for that. She's exactly the person for it. So it is odd to me."

"But partnership does not always come easy to President Trump. And in order to continue to have that relationship with her, it would require being an equal partner, much like he has to be an equal partner with John Thune. And that's just not his favorite paradigm," he added.

With Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche refusing to commit to a federal court in writing that the Trump "Anti-Weaponization Fund" will be canceled, he has a new problem, analyst Scott MacFarlane told MS NOW's Katy Tur on Friday: backlash from the Senate Republicans reviewing his nomination to serve as attorney general permanently.

"So the question I had earlier ... is how Republicans are going to react to this," asked Tur. "Are they still going to be content to take Todd Blanche's word for it?"

"Oh, boy, Todd Blanche has got a problem on his hands here," said MacFarlane — specifically, he said, that Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), a prominent Judiciary Committee Republican with no real loyalty to Trump, "says he's got a slush fund issue with Todd Blanche right now. He doesn't want the slush fund moving forward." With Blanche engaging in a "sleight of hand" with the courts, MacFarlane continued, Tillis is likely to be suspicious.

"Blanche and Tillis meet early next week, so they're going to be able to hash this out," noted MacFarlane. However, he continued, "Judge Leonie Brinkema ... wanted this thing in writing for a reason. I'm not sure she's going to accept this five-page argument from the Trump administration that it's unnecessary and has a separation-of-powers issue. I don't think the judge agrees."

Beyond that, MacFarlane said Blanche's repeated insistence that the slush fund is "not moving forward" is "all kinds of sus."

"You could have used different phrases. You could have used different terms," said MacFarlane. "You could have said you're halting it. You could have said, it's never going to happen. You could have said, it's over, not moving forward. It's just the type of passive voice that gives them room for error and room to maneuver, I should say. And I think the court filing does the same today."

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