president donald trump
NPR, the longstanding public broadcasting network, is standing up to President Donald Trump’s war on the media after filing a lawsuit this week. On Tuesday (May 27), NPR and three Colorado public radio stations filed a lawsuit stating that President Trump’s executive order to cut funding for the network and PBS is unconstitutional.
In a report from the network, NPR, Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio, and KSUT filed a suit in a District of Columbia court alleging that Trump’s sweeping executive order to end funding to the entities is a violation of their constitutional right to free speech.
“It is not always obvious when the government has acted with a retaliatory purpose in violation of the First Amendment. ‘But this wolf comes as a wolf,’” reads a portion of the lawsuit filing. “The Order targets NPR and PBS expressly because, in the President’s view, their news and other content is not ‘fair, accurate, or unbiased.’”
President Trump, White House budget director Russell Vought, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Maria Rosario Jackson, the chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, are all named as defendants.
“The Executive Order is a clear violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of speech and association, and freedom of the press,” NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher added in a statement.
U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss is overseeing the matter. The same judge is also overseeing a similar case with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) also suing President Trump.
—
Photo: Brooks Kraft / Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
President Donald Trump promised many things on the campaign trail that largely have not manifested in ways that some hoped, including his charge to end the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump aimed at Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the clashes between his nation and Ukraine via his Truth Social network.
On Sunday (May 25), President Donald Trump fired a salvo of words towards President Vladimir Putin, illustrating that the supposed close union between the superpower leaders is not as rock solid as promoted.
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him,” Trump wrote on Sunday. “He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever. I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!”
Much of Trump’s dissatisfaction with Putin carried over to Tuesday (May 27) with the president writing, “What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!”
It isn’t plainly stated as to what bad things President Trump is referencing here, considering that he’s considered Putin a close friend despite the contentious nature of the relationship between the nations.
The Kremlin responded on Monday (May 26) after being asked about Trump’s comments regarding Putin.
“We are really grateful to the Americans and to President Trump personally for their assistance in organising and launching this negotiation process,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “Of course, at the same time, this is a very crucial moment, which is associated, of course, with the emotional overload of everyone absolutely and with emotional reactions.”
On X, President Donald Trump’s jabs towards Russian President Vladimir Putin sparked some reactions. We’ve got them listed below.
—
Photo: Universal History Archive / Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met with President Donald Trump at the White House this week, and there were moments of contention. President Cyril Ramaphosa shot down President Donald Trump‘s claim of so-called white genocide being carried out against white farmers by the country’s Black residents.
President Cyril Ramaphosa was in Washington with members of his nation’s delegation to discuss with President Donald Trump ways to improve their business dealings. South Africa is hoping to encourage other world leaders to work alongside South Africa and help improve its standing in the world.
President Trump had other issues in mind, using the meeting to harshly confront President Ramaphosa and center the rumored white genocide happening in South Africa. At one point, Trump had aides dim the lights and showed his guest a video that purported to show the violence happening against white farmers and supporting a conspiracy theory that has been continually debunked.
Trump repeatedly talked over Ramaphosa, who tried to explain the truth that more Black farmers are being harmed and killed than whites. Ramaphosa was flanked by white South African Johann Rupert, the nation’s richest man, who explained that what Trump was promoting was false. South African agriculture minister, John Steenhuisen, also white, attempted to do the same.
Ramaphosa, a skilled negotiator and longtime politician, never appeared rattled by Trump’s swarming attacks. CNN added in its reporting that the South African press largely pressed Ramaphosa’s showing, which was similar to the moment Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had with Trump at the White House, albeit a lot less contentious.
Watch this video courtesy of CNN below.
—
Photo: The Washington Post / Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Albany Times Union/Hearst Newspapers / Getty
A post by former FBI director James Comey is being spun as a threat against President Donald Trump, with social media disagreeing.
On Thursday (May 15), former FBI director James Comey posed a photo to his Instagram account. It showed shells on the beach arranged into a formation of numbers – “86 47”. The cryptic image was accompanied by the caption, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.” In restaurant culture, to “86” something means to get rid of something or someone. In pairing it with “47”, it drew immediate assumptions that the photo was a call to violence from President Donald Trump and his staff.
Comey would delete the post shortly afterward, writing that he “didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.” In a follow-up post, he continued: “It never occurred to me but l oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that the administration is now investigating Comey, stating that “D.H.S. and Secret Service is investigating this threat and will respond appropriately.”
Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of national intelligence, called Comey out on Fox News’ Jesse Waters Primetime saying that Comey should be “held accountable” and “put behind bars” for allegedly “issuing a call to assassinate [Trump]”. Comey was fired by Trump during his first term. Trump also attacked Comey in another interview on Fox News. “He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant,” Trump said, adding: “If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant? That meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear. Now, he wasn’t very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant.”
But social media users called Trump and his supporters out for ramping things up too far, and recalled his own rhetoric against former President Joe Biden. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, user Drew Savicki wrote: “Nobody actually believes James Comey was threatening Trump. It’s all performative outrage.” In a segment with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, legal analyst Elie Honig dismissed Gabbard’s claims. “This is not criminal,” he said. “This is not a criminally chargeable threat against the president. It’s political speech. It’s way too broad. It’s stupid, it’s reckless. It’s not criminal. That’s just hyperbole that you’re hearing from the Cabinet members there.”
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Snoop Dogg has enjoyed well over three decades of notoriety and the requisite ups and downs that come along with fame. In a recent sitdown with The Breakfast Club, Snoop Dogg addressed fans who refer to him as a sellout over his assumed alignment with President Donald Trump, and he appeared to clear the record.
The larger part of the conversation centered on Snoop Dogg’s legacy as an artist, learning how to adjust to being a grandfather, praising his wife’s guidance for his family, and promising some new music down the pipeline, including his upcoming 21st studio album, Iz It A Crime? He also spoke on Warren G, a past collaborator of both Snoop and Dr. Dre, who felt like he was left out of the Missionary album sessions with his past partners.
From there, the conversation shifted to Snoop’s appearance at the Crypto Ball around the time of President Trump’s inauguration. The Doggfather was blitzed by fans who felt that he betrayed them for doing the event, considering some of the president’s current political positions. Snoop was clear to draw a line right there.
“Can’t none of you motherf*ckers tell me what I can and can’t do,” Snoop said after explaining he DJ-ed a set at the event for 30 minutes. “But I’m not a politician. I don’t represent the Republican Party. I don’t represent the Democratic Party. I represent the motherf*cking Gangster Party period point blank, and G sh*t we don’t explain sh*t so that’s why I didn’t explain. That’s why I didn’t go into detail when motherf*ckers was trying to counsel me and say he a sellout.”
Snoop went on to say that he would frequently post certain things on his popular Instagram page to see what fans had to say, with some using keyboard courage to call the veteran rapper out his name. Snoop said he hopped into some DMs and addressed the critics head-on, confirming that everyone changed their tune after that.
Check out Snoop Dogg’s full chat with The Breakfast Club in the video below. Hop to the 21:00-minute mark to see the topic mentioned above.
—
Photo: Screenshot / YouTube/The Breakfast Club
HipHopWired Featured Video
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
President Donald Trump and Canada’s newest Prime Minister, Mark Carney, met for the first time this past Tuesday (May 6), setting in motion a larger discussion around Trump’s aims for our northern neighbors and tariffs. In the meeting, many online observers kept an eye on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s demeanor and President Donald Trump’s comments, sparking reactions online.
CNN reports that despite the tensions between America and Canada, largely sparked by President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, the conversation between the leaders was not full of pyrotechnical bombast. Notably, Carney and Trump were civil with the Canadian leader telling Trump point blank that his country “won’t be for sale, ever” after Trump hammered home his desire for Canada to become America’s 51st state.
Carney also fact-checked Trump, who claimed that the United States doesn’t do much trade business with Canada despite the high number of imports that cross the border, a border Trump referred to in the meeting as an “imaginary” line. Canada is currently the largest importer of goods from the United States, with Mexico trailing just behind.
While there were moments in the chat that came across as tense in the meeting, Trump believes that the chat went swimmingly.
“No, I don’t see any tension either, we get along very well with both. They just got to pay a little more money, you know, they just, they’re getting away with things that they shouldn’t be. And they understand. We had a great meeting today, actually, with the new prime minister, who’s a terrific guy,” Trump told CNN.
Online, a different picture has been painted of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit with President Donald Trump. We’ve got reactions from X below.
—
Photo: Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Source: Anna Moneymaker / Getty
President Donald Trump’s “I don’t know” answers concerning upholding the U.S. Constitution alarmed many on social media.
In nearly four months of the second presidential administration of Donald Trump, many of his executive orders have run afoul of what is outlawed by the U.S. Constitution. And in a recent interview with NBC’s Kristin Welker, Trump pointedly avoided
answering questions about upholding the Constitution – which a president is sworn to do.
In the interview on Meet The Press which aired Sunday (May 4), Welker asked President Trump about the recent cases of deportation including that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was sent to a prison in El Salvador along with others without due process. That move is in violation of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. “Do you agree that everyone who is here deserves due process? Citizens and noncitizens?”, Welker asked, to which Trump replied, “I don’t know. I’m not a lawyer.”
“The 5th amendment says as much.. Don’t you need to uphold the constitution?”, Welker responded. “I don’t know,” Trump said, adding: “It might say that, but if you’re talking about that, then we’d have to have a million, or two million, or three million trials. We have thousands of people that are some murderers, and some drug dealers, and some of the worst people on earth…I was elected to get them the hell out of here, and the courts are holding me from doing it.”
He contiued: “I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said. What you said is not what I heard the Supreme Court said. They have a different interpretation.”
Welker asked if he listened to concerns that he’s steering the nation into an authoritarian regime, Trump brushed it aside. “Those people are going to be very happy,” he said. “They’re going to have to see some results.”
His responses regarding the Constitution were met on social media with anger and calls for him to be impeached or removed, citing the 25th Amendment. One user named Jay in a post on X, formerly Twitter, wrote: “I’m 1000% sure Trump has never read the constitution. And if he did he’s too stupid to understand it.”
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Source: Anadolu / Getty
The Liberal Party won Canada’s general election in a stunning turnaround, seen also as a rebuke of the actions of President Donald Trump, celebrated on social media.
On Monday (April 28), Canada held its federal election, which resulted in the Liberal Party pulling off what is considered a surprising victory after trailing in polling by as much as 25 points for months. The victory is also considered a sharp rebuke by the nation towards American President Donald Trump, who has antagonized the nation through erratic tariffs and declaring that it should be America’s “51st state.”
The win gives the center-left party a strong edge to claiming the majority in Canada’s parliament with 168 seats – it needs 172 seats, otherwise it would mean working with rivals to form a coalition government. The Conservative Party, while holding 144 seats in Parliament, was rocked as leader Pierre Poilievre lost his riding seat in Ontario to a Liberal opponent. Poilievre had been seen as someone who would be more conciliatory towards Trump and his MAGA principles. He will still be considered the Conservative Party’s de facto leader.
In a victory speech, Prime Minister Mark Carney delineated the new climate of global affairs, aiming at the United States under Trump as no longer being a trusted ally of Canada. “The system of open global trade anchored by the United States, a system that Canada has relied on since the second World War, a system that, while not perfect, has helped deliver prosperity to our country for decades, is over,” he said, adding: “These are tragedies, but it’s also our new reality. We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons. We have to look out for ourselves and, above all, we have to take care of each other.”
Trump has maintained his stance on Canada, adding more fuel to the fire in an interview with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg and acknowledging his impact on the election: “I don’t even know if it’s a close call. But the conservative, they didn’t like Governor Trudeau too much, and I would call him Governor Trudeau, but he wasn’t fond of that,” he said. Social media also pointed out Trump’s impact as they congratulated Canada on the Liberal Party’s win. “The only thing Trump did in his first 100 days was unite Canada,” wrote Alex Cole in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Amazon was thought to be one of the major companies aligned with the policies and practices of President Donald Trump. However, the major online retailer is now in the crosshairs of the White House after Amazon decided to highlight new pricing plans based on Trump tariffs, which angered White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Punchbowl News first broke the news that Amazon is going ahead with a plan to show tariff pricing on a portion of items sold on its platform, as it was largely expected that prices would rise under Trump’s economic plan. Experts have long warned that tariffs, which are a normal part of global trade, eventually pass on costs to consumers.
Leavitt framed the pricing listing as “a hostile and political act” and then questioned why company leadership never listed the pricing jump in previous years.
“Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?” Leavitt said during a press briefing with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. According to the report, Amazon will share how much the tariffs will add to the cost of the items. However, it isn’t meant to be used across the entire site.
While remaining on the attack, Leavitt cited a Reuters article that said the company Jeff Bezos founded had “partnered with a Chinese propaganda arm,” doing so while holding up a printed page of the article referenced that was first published in December 2021. The Reuters report pointed out that Amazon removed public reviews and ratings from President Xi Jinping’s book of speeches.
On X, many are reacting to Amazon’s tariff price listing announcement, noting that the company is already releasing statements countering the original slate of reports that pricing would be shown on all goods affected by tariffs. Those responses can be viewed below.
—
Photo: MANDEL NGAN / Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
President Donald Trump will mark 100 days in office this Wednesday (April 30), and it is typically a gauge of the performance and actions of the nation’s sitting leader and their administration. A new poll from CNN highlighted that President Donald Trump has the lowest approval numbers of any sitting president over the past 80 years.
CNN released its poll findings on Sunday and revealed that President Trump has a 41% approval rating, which is lower than the first 100 days of his first time in office. Since last month, Trump has lost 4 points and is down 7 points dating back to February.
The poll numbers also show a tumble in approval ratings from both women and Hispanic voters, and show that Trump is down 7 points with both, with women clocking in at 36% and 28% with Hispanics. Across party lines, Trump still sits strong with Republican respondents of the poll at 86%, with 93% of Democrats showing disapproval. Independent voters revealed 31% approval numbers, which matches his lowest numbers with that group dating back to January 2021.
Respondents also gave the president lower marks on how his reduction in force for the federal government has been handled, with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leading efforts that was purported to cut costs and help lower the nation’s debt. Trump has a 42% approval rating on this front.
Regarding foreign affairs, namely Trump’s cozying up to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his posture on the world stage regarding the annexing of Canada and Greenland, showed a 60% disapproval rate.
Trump has called for investigations into The New York Times, ABC News/The Washington Post, and Fox News regarding his polling numbers, connecting the reports to “election fraud.”
The full poll results can be seen here.
—
Photo: ANNABELLE GORDON / Getty