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president donald trump

President Donald Trump has championed his tariff policy as a success despite little data or official accounting that shows the United States is flush with cash as a result. Earlier this month, President Trump said that he wants to pay out tariff dividend or rebate checks of up to $2,000 per person, save for the rich, but won’t do so until next year.

On November 9, Trump took to his Truth Social network to lash out at critics of the tariff policy and to make the promise of “dividend” payments to middle-class and low-income families.

“People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS!” Trump began. “We are taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion. Record Investment in the USA, plants and factories going up all over the place. A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”

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This comes after a debunked post claimed that checks would be going out in phases between November 10 through November 30, just in time for the holiday shopping season. However, it appears that Americans banking on the payment will need to wait until next year.

On Friday (November 14), from Air Force One heading to Mar-a-Lago, Trump clarified that the payouts will happen next year, but a final date wasn’t given.

“It will be next year. The tariffs allow us to give a dividend. We’re going to do a dividend and we’re also going to be reducing debt,” according to the New York Post.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered a dose of reality over the weekend during an appearance on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures program.

“We will see,” Bessent said of the proposed payouts, “We need legislation for that.”

Although a rollback of tariff policies seems highly unlikely, considering Trump’s fondness for the practice, the Supreme Court is currently reviewing whether the president’s emergency powers to enact tariffs are constitutional.

If the Supreme Court does rule the practice unconstitutional, the revenue stream for the so-called dividends would be eliminated. Trump vowed that he would “have to do something else” if the high court made the ruling to strike down the policy.

Photo: Getty

House members on both sides of the aisle unleashed a bombshell set of emails and documents from Jeffrey Epstein, signaling a ramping up of the efforts to investigate the findings for wider wrongdoing. While some observers believe the documents could be damaging to President Donald Trump, the alleged friend of the late Epstein, he shrugged off the moment as a “smear.”

The House Oversight Committee, comprised of members of both major parties, released a small number of emails on Wednesday (November 12) that suggested Trump and Epstein were more aligned with each other opposite of what he had expressed in recent times.

The release of the documents comes as Rep. Adelita Grijalva was finally sworn in after weeks of assumed stalling by House Speaker Mike Johnson to keep the crucial 218th vote to move the petition to unveil the files from going forward.

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On Wednesday morning (November 12), Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a new set of emails from disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, in which he alleges that President Donald Trump had keen knowledge of his activities in abusing young women. The emails, taken from thousands of documents received by the committee, are part of the committee’s investigation into Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, and their ties to the president, who has denied knowing Epstein.

“These latest emails and correspondence raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding and the nature of the relationship between Epstein and the president,” said Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee. The emails were from three conversations, one with Maxwell and two with author Michael Wolff, years after Epstein’s falling out with Trump and his 2008 plea deal in Florida on state charges of soliciting prostitution.

In the email to Maxwell, Epstein wrote, “I want you to realize that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump.” He then wrote that an unnamed victim “spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned.” Maxwell replied, “I have been thinking about that.” Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted of charges related to helping to facilitate Epstein’s abuse. The revelation comes as Democrats, citing a whistleblower, claim that Maxwell intends to ask Trump for a commutation of her sentence this week.

In one of the other email exchanges with Wolff, Epstein wrote of Trump: “Of course he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.” In the third email exchange from 2015, Wolff had asked Epstein if he was prepared for CNN to ask Trump about their relationship, and advised him to not engage. “I think you should let him hang himself,” Wolff wrote, adding that it could “save him, generating a debt.”

The revelations come as the House of Representatives is set to vote on a funding bill passed by the Senate to end the government shutdown. House Majority Leader Mike Johnson is also expected to swear in Democrat Adelita Grijalva, whom he resisted swearing in after she won her election two months ago. It’s believed that once sworn in, she will be the final signature on a bipartisan petition forcing a House vote demanding that the White House release all of its files on Epstein, which it has adamantly refused to do.

Photo: Getty

Nicki Minaj’s most recent social media moves might have landed her back in the hot seat. She recently praised President Trump, and it sent the Barbs flying.

As per Newsweek, Nicki Minaj showed some support to President Donald Trump last week, and it was met with both praise and side eyes. On Friday (October 31), the reality television star turned politician took to Truth Social and deemed the circumstances for Christian believers in Nigeria as an “existential threat.”

He also went on to say that thousands are being killed by Radical Islamists and made Nigeria a “COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN.” His stance must have aligned with Nicki Minaj’s values because she reposted his message and thanked him for voicing his concern publicly.

“Reading this made me feel a deep sense of gratitude. We live in a country where we can freely worship God. No group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion,” the “Bang Bang” rapper wrote. “We don’t have to share the same beliefs in order for us to respect each other. Numerous countries all around the world are being affected by this horror & it’s dangerous to pretend we don’t notice. Thank you to The President & his team for taking this seriously. God bless every persecuted Christian. Let’s remember to lift them up in prayer.”

As expected, aligning with President Trump wasn’t well received by her loyal fanbase, causing some Barbs to call out the obvious.

“Girl trump is threatening to start war with Venezuela and putting Trinidad in the middle of it. And your goofy dumbass is endorsing him? They should’ve kept ya stupid ass in Trinidad omg,” one user wrote. Another account on X, formerly Twitter, added that given her recent actions on social media, he isn’t surprised one bit.

“Nicki’s metamorphosis into Azalea Banks was not on my bingo . . . actually, nevermind, this tracks,” the user wrote.

While Nicki Minaj has never confirmed whether she claims a specific political party, she has a long history of supporting presidential hopefuls. She once rapped “I’m a Republican voting for Mitt Romney” on a mixtape freestyle, but also has shouted out Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in separate songs. Politics aside, Nicki knows exactly how to keep the timeline talking.

Photo: Getty

With growing resistance to the current administration’s political stances, many are finding ways to use their constitutional right to free speech despite the backlash it can inspire. In Virginia, an owner of a popular dive bar has a direct message to President Donald Trump and his policies, riling up some of the former business mogul’s MAGA base.

William McCormack, the owner of McCormack’s Irish Pub in Richmond, Va., was profiled in local outlet RVA Mag, highlighting his line of t-shirts that take direct aim at Trump, ICE, and fascism overall. As a result, McCormack has attracted detractors who used Yelp to review bomb his establishment from thousands of miles away. The shirts, which feature the words “F*ck ICE, F*ck Nazis, F*ck Trump” in a circular setup with an “Antifascist AF” stamp in the middle of a shamrock.

From RVA Mag:

The conversation, which started on Facebook and quickly spilled into Google and Yelp reviews, has spread nationally with a predictable mix of support and outrage from commenters in California, New Jersey, North Carolina, and elsewhere. A debate McCormack has welcomed, “I’m protesting our government,” he told me. “It’s literally the very definition of the First Amendment.”

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For those not familiar with McCormack, his Irish Pub is something of an institution in Shockoe Bottom. It’s one of the city’s last original dive bars with a deep punk history stretching back to the 1990s. But over the years, he’s successfully branched out as a restaurateur, with his two whisky bars earning recognition both nationally and internationally.

“I’ve never hidden my politics there,” said McCormack, referring to his Irish pub. “It’s bigger than just the bar, it’s what you believe. And it’s what I believe one hundred percent.”

Naturally, the MAGA faithful and other so-called “patriots” are flooding McCormack’s social media feeds with insults and threats to not support his establishment. Sticking to his guns, McCormack didn’t seem necessarily concerned about the potential loss in business and is instead focused on serving those who share his values.

See the shirt and the chatter here.

Photo: Getty

Stephen A. Smith used his massive platform to lash out at Rep. Jasmine Crockett, urging the Texas congresswoman to put aside her grievances with President Donald Trump. With the smoke clearing and after getting blasted online and in the media, Stephen A. Smith walked back his critiques of Crockett and took a shot at Trump as well.

Via his Straight Shooter With Stephen A program, Stephen A. Smith, apparently inspired by President Trump and his administration’s targeted attacks against Rep. Crockett, gave an apology that wasn’t as full-throated as his earlier digs against the Texas congresswoman.

“I can look Jasmine Crockett in the face and say I’m sorry for any kind of noise I caused in your direction, because she is accomplished, and she is smart, and she does have an incredible, incredible challenge working in this political climate on Capitol Hill,” Smith said.

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Smith also said, “I saw something disturbing in regards to President Donald Trump and how he came at Representative Jasmine Crockett. I get it now with Trump feeding into that nonsense, giving him ammunition to continue to go out there and talk about our Black women that way, I got it.”

President Trump referred to Congresswoman Crockett as a “low IQ person” this past June, a shot she didn’t take without returning fire of her own.

Smith also hit back at his critics, who felt that his words were meant to attack or harm Crockett because she’s a woman.

“When somebody tries to take that to accuse me of being disrespectful or in any way misogynistic, I’m going to push back on that because that’s emphatically false. There’s no truth to that whatsoever, and I’m not accepting that, and I’m not owning that,” Smith added.

Smith also took a dig at the Democratic Party, suggesting that its leaders figure out better strategies to appeal to voters, stating that Trump won the past election due to frustrations with the party at large.

Photo: Getty

As Russell Vought attains more of the limelight in the Trump administration as the Office of Management, a new report sheds some light on his relationship with the president. Particularly, Trump’s desire to get female companionship for Vought.

In a report for Zeteo, Swin Suebsaeng wrote of how the two regularly spoke to each other, and in some of those conversations, Trump was adamant about lending his services to get Vought laid.

“Trump spoke to Vought, a self-described Christian nationalist who’s now one of the president’s most hardline enforcers, about the ‘gorgeous’ and ‘beautiful ladies’ who roam Trump’s club, Mar-a-Lago, so often that it ‘weirded out’ some of his advisers,’ sources told Suebsaeng, adding: “And Trump spoke crudely of all the ‘p—y’ that Vought would surely get as the president’s favorite ‘bachelor.’”

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Vought and his ex-wife, Mary (who, by the way, oversees the communications and public relations for the Heritage Foundation), divorced in 2023. The alleged conversations took place throughout Trump’s election campaign last year. Vought has been one of Trump’s biggest allies, urging him to lay off even more federal workers during the current government shutdown, now in its 22nd day. The 49-year-old, referred to as “Darth Vader,” has been a major architect of Project 2025, which has led to the rollback of thousands of jobs as well as nutrition benefits for those with lower income, in addition to other crippling consequences.

The report comes as Trump and the administration are under heavy public pressure to release the entirety of the files related to convicted sex trafficker and former Trump pal Jeffrey Epstein. Trump has denied any longstanding association with him, despite a bombshell report by the Wall Street Journal showing him in a birthday book for Epstein.

An OMB spokesperson called the reporting false, adding personally, “Exactly what you’d expect from a deranged hack who couldn’t even hold a job at Rolling Stone and is now writing for a Greta Thunberg blog.”

Photo: Getty

Sean “Diddy” Combs was recently sentenced in his prostitution case and was hit with 50 months, which equates to four years and two months. Sources close to Diddy informed TMZ that President Donald Trump is considering commuting Diddy’s sentence, a claim the White House denies, but the outlet stood firmly by its earlier report in an update.

TMZ first reported Monday night (October 20) that a high-ranking White House official revealed to them that Trump mulled over commuting Combs’ sentence this week. Some of Trump’s aides are pushing for him not to commute the sentence, but conceded that the president “will do what he wants” in regards to the matter.

The White House Communications Office refuted TMZ’s report, prompting the outlet to immediately issue an update to its story.

From TMZ:

The White House Communications Office is saying our story is not true. We stand by our story. Our story is accurate.

So far, Diddy has been jailed for 13 months, and that time served could reduce his sentence to just two years. A commutation is not a pardon, just a reduction in sentencing.

Photo: Getty

Source: JOAQUIN SARMIENTO / Getty

On Sunday (October 19), President Donald Trump ramped up the tensions between himself and Colombian President Gustavo Petro in response to Petro’s accusing the U.S. military of murdering a fisherman during an attack on a boat they claimed was involved in drug trafficking. Trump declared that the U.S. would end all subsidies to Colombia on social media.

In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed that Petro “does nothing to stop” the production of illicit drugs in Colombia, despite large scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long term rip off of America.” He continued to attack Petro in personal terms, claiming he was an “illegal drug dealer” who had a “fresh mouth towards America.” 

Petro fired back later that evening, referring to his country’s Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez.

“You are rude and ignorant toward Colombia. Read, as your chargé d’affaires in Colombia did, ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude,’ and I assure you, you will learn something about solitude,” he wrote in a post on Instagram, adding:” I don’t do business like you do — I am a socialist. I believe in solidarity, the common good, and the shared resources of humanity, the greatest of all: life, now endangered by your oil.”

The threat of suspending financial payments to Colombia is not a light one. According to data from the State Department, the U.S. has allotted $210 million in aid to Colombia, including $31 million going towards its agricultural infrastructure. The Andean nation has been an ally of the United States in the fight against drug trafficking for decades, with billions of U.S. subsidies going towards bolstering Colombia’s military and police security forces as it deals with the ravages of drug cartels in the country. 

The exchange comes as U.S. military forces are being steadily deployed throughout the Caribbean, primarily targeting Colombia’s neighbor, Venezuela. According to The New York Times, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced another strike against an alleged drug boat, which had taken place on the previous Friday (October 19). Currently, there are 10,000 military members deployed along with dozens of ships and aircraft. Critics have noted that the U.S. military attacks (which have killed 32 so far) are extrajudicial and illegal, considering that they’re being carried out without congressional approval.

Photo: Getty

Source: HAYI / Getty
After initially stating to mull the decision for a time, President Donald Trump ordered the bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran on Saturday (June 21), which has escalated the conflict to unprecedented levels. Top Democratic Party officials say that they were not briefed on President Trump’s actions, and a national address from the former business mogul claimed a total annihilation of Iran’s nuclear weapons production capabilities.

As seen in an NBC News report, President Trump boasted of the bombing of three sites in Iran, Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan, which the administration framed as the epicenter of Iran’s nuclear weapons production. This comes as the two countries are locked in a long-distance skirmish that has left over 400 dead in Iran and over 24 dead in Israel.

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after the attack. The move garnered praise from several GOP officials, including Speaker Mike Johnson, who stated that Congress would have taken too long to give its approval to Trump.
Democratic Party Sen. John Fetterman praised Trump’s actions, writing on X, “Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. I’m grateful for and salute the finest military in the world.”
Fetterman’s stance differs from those of his party, many of whom said that they were left out of briefing talks ahead of the strikes.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman out of Kentucky, called Trump’s actions “unconstitutional” via social media.
Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia wrote on X of the bombing, “The American public is overwhelmingly opposed to the U.S. waging war on Iran. And the Israeli Foreign Minister admitted yesterday that Israeli bombing had set the Iranian nuclear program back ‘at least 2 or 3 years’. So what made Trump recklessly decide to rush and bomb today? Horrible judgment. I will push for all Senators to vote on whether they are for this third idiotic Middle East war.”
House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York shared in a statement, “President Trump misled the country about his intentions, failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East.”
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also took to X to give a statement regarding the strikes:
I am gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran today. This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge – and a direct threat to international peace and security.
There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world.
I call on Member States to de-escalate and to uphold their obligations under the @UN
Charter and other rules of international law.
At this perilous hour, it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos.
Source: Pool / Getty

Late Saturday night, Trump was flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Jim Hegseth, and State Secretary Marco Rubio, praising the efforts of the military strike.
“I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they’ve done, and most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades,” President Trump said.
On X, the reaction to the Iran bombing and the fear of retaliation cast gloom across the social media network. We’ve got reactions below.

Photo: Getty

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