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Trump White House Hit With Second Top Exit In 48 Hours

By
Madeleine Jackson
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White House image via Wikimedia Commons

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is losing another senior aide — the second high-profile White House official to announce an exit in a matter of days.

Deputy national security adviser Andy Baker will leave the administration in the coming weeks, Axios reported Friday, adding another name to the list of officials heading out as the White House approaches a difficult midterm election season.

Baker was never a household name. Inside the administration, however, he was far from a minor player.

The former Foreign Service officer served as Vice President JD Vance’s national security adviser before moving into a broader White House role. An official White House financial disclosure shows that Baker joined Vance’s Senate staff in 2023, then became the vice president’s national security adviser when Trump returned to office in January 2025.

Axios described Baker as one of the officials most deeply involved in the administration’s foreign-policy and national-security decisions during Trump’s second term. He also took part in negotiations with Iran this year — putting him close to some of the White House’s most sensitive diplomatic work.

Politico reported in February that Baker had become a quiet force in Vance’s orbit, helping shape the vice president’s foreign-policy thinking and the administration’s approach to Europe.

“I’m proud of everything we’ve achieved,” Baker told Axios while thanking Trump, Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The White House presented the move as an orderly transition, not a policy rupture. A source close to Baker told Axios that he wanted to spend more time with his family and had remained in the job longer than planned to help hand responsibilities to Cliff Sims and Mike Needham.

Sims, who succeeded Baker as Vance’s national security adviser earlier this summer, will remain in that position. Needham will continue serving as a White House deputy national security adviser.

Vance called Baker an “indispensable member” of the administration’s national-security team, while Rubio credited him with advancing Trump’s America First agenda. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff also praised Baker’s work on international deals.

But the timing is impossible to ignore.

Baker’s departure surfaced only two days after Trump announced that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will step down at the end of August. Leavitt, who recently returned from maternity leave after giving birth to her second child, said she could no longer give both her family and the demanding job the attention they deserved.

Trump said she would remain a top outside adviser, and no replacement has yet been announced, according to ABC News and CBS News.

The two exits hit different corners of the West Wing — one in national security, the other in communications — but together they create an unwelcome picture for a White House trying to project stability heading into the midterms.

Baker is expected to enter the private sector and work with Robert O’Brien, who served as Trump’s fourth national security adviser during his first term, Axios reported.

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Hegseth Dismisses USS Lincoln Crisis As Sailors’ Families Demand Answers

By
Madeleine Jackson
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By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America - Pete Hegseth, CC BY-SA 2.0

War Secretary Pete Hegseth is pushing back against disturbing reports of mental-health crises and deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, insisting the situation on the aircraft carrier has not been accurately portrayed.

“The conditions on the Lincoln have been completely misrepresented,” Hegseth told Newsmax on Thursday, according to The Hill.

Hegseth praised the roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard the carrier and said military leaders provide ships and crews with everything available to them. He acknowledged that some deployments are longer and more austere than others, but he did not directly answer reports involving attempted jumps overboard, supply shortages, water problems or broken plumbing.

He also offered no date for the Lincoln’s return to San Diego.

The carrier left its home port on Nov. 21, 2025, for what began as a Pacific deployment. It was redirected to the Middle East in January and has supported U.S. combat operations against Iran, including at least 40 days of continuous operations, Stars and Stripes reported.

The ship was initially expected to return in May. Instead, its deployment has stretched beyond 250 days, with no publicly announced end date and more than 200 days passing without a conventional port call.

That uncertainty has become a central source of frustration for sailors and their families.

“All we want is a date home,” one sailor told Stars and Stripes.

Families Describe Sailors Reaching a Breaking Point

The most serious allegations involve sailors reportedly trying to jump from the carrier.

Navy Times reported that Annabelle Loma said her husband attempted to jump overboard after being repeatedly overextended. He was subsequently placed on medical hold, she said.

In a separate incident described to Navy Times, Maria Rodriguez said her husband encountered a sailor preparing to go over the side and pulled the service member away from the edge with help from other crew members.

Stars and Stripes also interviewed sailors who described an incident in which watchstanders stopped a crew member from jumping. The outlet reported that the episode was acknowledged in a shipwide announcement, though the Navy did not directly answer its questions about the incident.

The concerns reached senior Navy leaders during meetings with military families in San Diego last week. Approximately 200 relatives attended an in-person town hall with acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao and other officials, Stars and Stripes reported.

One attendee told the outlet that a spouse informed officials she had received a message from her husband saying he did not want to wake up the following day. Officials stressed that counselors, chaplains and medical professionals were available aboard the carrier and said the Navy was working to send additional mental-health personnel, according to the report.

Navy Says Conditions Are Improving

The Navy has said Lincoln commanders continuously monitor sailors’ psychological readiness and that the ship has a network of mental-health support.

It has also disputed the picture of a crew currently without basic necessities.

In a statement reported by Stars and Stripes, the Navy said sailors had continuous access to clean water and working air conditioning and were receiving two protein choices at meals. The service said combat operations had disrupted traditional Middle East supply hubs, forcing leaders to prioritize food before hygiene products and mail.

Sailors and relatives told the outlet that earlier food rationing, water shortages and laundry interruptions had largely been resolved, while mail delivery was improving. Their accounts nevertheless described lingering exhaustion, long workdays and morale damaged by months at sea with no firm homecoming date.

The Navy has denied detecting an increase in suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts aboard the carrier, according to The Hill. However, Navy Times reported that officials did not provide a precise number of self-harm incidents or attempted jumps during the deployment.

Congress Wants More Than Reassurances

The reports have prompted congressional demands for a fuller accounting.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., sent Hegseth and Cao a formal letter citing reported shortages, water contamination, plumbing problems, deck-safety concerns, declining mental health and mail disruptions.

Blumenthal asked who authorized each extension, what corrective action the Navy has taken and which measures commanders use to assess fatigue, morale and psychological readiness. He requested answers by Aug. 27.

The senator also warned that the Lincoln may be part of a broader pattern in which unusually long carrier deployments are becoming routine, raising questions about crew safety, maintenance and the Navy’s ability to sustain its operational tempo.

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., called for a bipartisan congressional visit to the Lincoln, while Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., said he would seek a Pentagon report on the conditions and the military’s response, according to The Hill and Stars and Stripes.

Help could be moving toward the region. The Wall Street Journal reported that the USS George Washington is expected to replace the Lincoln as part of a rotation that officials said was already planned. The Navy has declined to discuss the carriers’ movements or timing because of operational-security concerns.

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CNN Star Emerges as Surprise Favorite to Replace Karoline Leavitt

By
Madeleine Jackson
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By Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America - Karoline Leavitt, CC BY-SA 2.0,

CNN’s most recognizable conservative voice may soon trade the cable-news desk for the White House podium.

Scott Jennings has emerged as the surprise frontrunner to replace outgoing White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, according to The Daily Beast, which cited sources familiar with the discussions.

The report immediately set off speculation across Washington. Jennings has built a national following by defending President Donald Trump and conservative priorities during contentious CNN panel discussions, frequently challenging the network’s liberal guests in exchanges that spread quickly online.

But the race is far from settled. The White House has not announced Leavitt’s successor, and Jennings has not publicly confirmed that he is seeking the job.

Pressed about the opening during Wednesday night’s edition of CNN NewsNight, Jennings did not give a direct answer. Instead, he praised Leavitt’s performance and her decision to return to her family.

“Karoline Leavitt has been maybe the greatest White House press secretary in the last 30 years,” Jennings said, according to The Independent.

When panelists continued to push him, Jennings shook his head before replying, “I don’t know.” Democratic commentator Bakari Sellers then joked that Democrats were afraid of Jennings becoming press secretary, drawing laughter from the panel.

The exchange did little to quiet the speculation—and it highlighted the qualities that could make Jennings attractive to Trump. He is comfortable under pressure, quick on his feet and accustomed to defending the president before an often-hostile audience. Those skills would be tested daily in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.

Jennings would also bring previous White House experience to the role. An archived George W. Bush White House announcement confirms that he served as special assistant to the president and deputy director of political affairs. He later became a longtime adviser to then-Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and worked on several of the Kentucky senator’s campaigns.

That résumé gives Jennings a combination rarely found in a television commentator: years of live-media combat paired with firsthand knowledge of how a White House operates.

The potential shake-up comes after Leavitt announced that she will step down at the end of August. Leavitt, who became the youngest White House press secretary in history when she took the job at age 27, returned from maternity leave in July after giving birth to her second child in May.

In her departure statement, Leavitt said she could not give both her young children and the demanding position the time and attention they deserved. Trump said he understood and respected the decision, praising her as one of the best to hold the job.

He also announced that she would remain a top outside adviser and an influential Republican voice, according to ABC News.

Leavitt’s departure lands less than three months before the midterm elections, giving the choice of her successor added political weight. The next press secretary will be responsible not only for handling daily clashes with the White House press corps but also for communicating Trump’s agenda during a decisive stretch for Republicans.

Jennings is not the only name reportedly under consideration.

The New York Post identified former Trump attorney Alina Habba and Breitbart Washington bureau chief Matthew Boyle among the early possibilities. The outlet also named White House communications director Steven Cheung, former deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich, deputy press secretary Anna Kelly, Katie Miller and Monica Crowley as potential contenders.

Prediction markets have offered a different and rapidly changing lineup, another sign that no consensus has formed outside the administration.

For Trump, the decision may come down to what kind of messenger he wants at the podium. An internal communications veteran could provide continuity, while a nationally known defender such as Jennings would arrive with a built-in audience and a record of taking the fight directly to the media.

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White House Press Secretary Announces Resignation

By
Madeleine Jackson
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By The White House - https://www.flickr.com/photos/202101414@N05/54325633746/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=159707159

On Wednesday, President Trump announced that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is stepping down from her position at the end of August to focus on her family.

Leavitt, 28, a mother of two and the youngest-ever White House press secretary, gave birth to her second child in May.

Trump shared the news on Truth Social:

“Our wonderful White House Press Secretary, and one of my most trusted aides, Karoline Leavitt, will be departing her role at the end of the month so she can spend more time with her beautiful young children and family, a decision I totally understand and respect!”

“Karoline will now be one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party, as we work to defy History, and conclusively win the Midterm Elections.”

“Karoline has been a real leader in the White House, and has done a phenomenal job fighting for Justice, Liberty, and Freedom, since 2018, including our Historic Re-Election Campaign of 2024. Karoline has been one of the best White House Press Secretaries in the History of the Office. Thank you, Karoline, for a job well done! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

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Trump Brushes Off 2028 Question With Five-Word Reality Check

By
Madeleine Jackson
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0

President Donald Trump brushed off another question about seeking a third White House term Tuesday night, repeatedly pointing to the legal barrier standing between him and a 2028 campaign.

Speaking with reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Trump was asked whether he was serious about running again.

“Everybody asks me that question, and you know that the law is very strong on that,” Trump responded. “I’d love to run, but the law is very strong.”

Trump said supporters had been chanting “2028” earlier that day while he attended the Patriot Games in Ohio.

“Everybody wants me to do it,” he said, once again adding that “the law is very strong.”

When a reporter pressed Trump on whether that amounted to a definitive no, the president moved on without answering directly.

The exchange captured the balancing act Trump has maintained throughout his second term. He has repeatedly welcomed speculation about another campaign—occasionally treating it as a joke and at other times suggesting he had seriously considered potential “methods” for returning to office.

His latest answer, however, placed noticeably greater emphasis on the constitutional restriction.

The Constitutional Roadblock

The 22nd Amendment states that no person may be elected president more than twice. Trump won the presidency in 2016 and again in 2024, preventing him from being elected to another term under the Constitution’s current language.

The amendment was ratified in 1951 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt broke with the two-term tradition established by George Washington and won four presidential elections.

Changing the restriction would require another constitutional amendment, demanding approval from two-thirds of both chambers of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states.

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) introduced a resolution in January 2025 that would permit a president to be elected as many as three times under specific circumstances. The proposal was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, but the official congressional record lists no additional action.

Another proposed workaround would involve Vice President JD Vance running for president with Trump as his running mate, winning the election and then resigning—allowing Trump to return to the presidency through succession.

Trump acknowledged that theory during a March 2025 interview with NBC News, when he insisted he was “not joking” about a third term and said there were “methods” that could potentially make it happen.

Most constitutional scholars argue the plan would fail because the 12th Amendment states that anyone constitutionally ineligible to serve as president is also ineligible to become vice president. Trump later dismissed the proposal himself as “too cute.”

In October 2025, Trump offered an even more direct assessment.

“If you read it, it’s pretty clear,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “I’m not allowed to run. It’s too bad.”

Attention Turns to Trump’s Successor

Trump’s latest remarks arrive as the Republican Party’s 2028 succession contest slowly moves into view.

The president reportedly told Republican donors during a recent Oval Office meeting that “we need to elect JD,” appearing to boost Vance as his preferred successor. Trump later said it was “way too early” to issue an endorsement and continued praising both Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Trump has publicly suggested that Vance and Rubio could form an “unstoppable” ticket without saying which man should lead it.

For now, the third-term speculation allows Trump to keep supporters energized while ensuring that potential Republican successors continue competing for his approval.

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Trump’s Tuesday Scorecard: Two Wins, A Runoff—And Lindell’s Defiance

By
Madeleine Jackson
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0
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

President Donald Trump’s endorsement machine delivered a sharply divided verdict Tuesday night.

His favored candidates scored decisive victories in Wisconsin and Alabama. His pick in South Carolina advanced but failed to put away a crowded Republican field. And in Minnesota, one of Trump’s most recognizable allies suffered a clear defeat—then refused to concede.

The result was neither a full rejection nor an unqualified show of strength. It was a reminder that Trump’s endorsement remains powerful when it reinforces an already-strong candidate, but it cannot always overcome local concerns about electability, organization and political baggage.

Lindell loses—and questions the count

Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth defeated MyPillow founder Mike Lindell in the Republican primary for governor despite Trump’s full endorsement and a last-minute appeal urging supporters to vote for Lindell.

With all 4,105 precincts reporting, unofficial results from the Minnesota secretary of state showed Demuth winning 43.44% of the vote to Lindell’s 32.47%. Demuth’s margin was 45,348 votes. State GOP-endorsed businessman Kendall Qualls finished third with 21.37%.

Lindell did not concede Tuesday night. During the count, he argued that a large pool of Election Day votes remained outstanding.

“I’m down by 20,000 votes with 277,000 votes left to count,” Lindell said in a video cited by The Daily Beast.

KSTP-TV reporter Kirsten Swanson later reported that Lindell was claiming “anomalies in the numbers” and that his team planned to review them overnight. As of this writing, Lindell had not publicly conceded.

Minnesota’s results page, however, showed every precinct reporting, and Lindell had not presented public evidence of an irregularity capable of changing the outcome.

The defeat is especially striking because Trump made election integrity the centerpiece of his endorsement. In a Tuesday post, the president said no one had worked harder than Lindell in that fight and called on Minnesotans to deliver him a “BIG WIN.”

Republican voters went another way. Demuth had argued that her legislative experience and broader appeal gave the party its best chance to end a two-decade losing streak in Minnesota gubernatorial races.

Demuth immediately turned toward Democratic nominee Amy Klobuchar.

“We can’t afford more of the same,” she said in a statement reported by the Minnesota Reformer, portraying Klobuchar as a longtime Washington insider who could not deliver change.

Trump’s Wisconsin pick cruises

In Wisconsin, Trump-backed Rep. Tom Tiffany had a far easier night. Tiffany captured roughly 96% of the Republican gubernatorial vote against token opposition, according to Wisconsin primary results.

“This fight is about Wisconsin,” Tiffany said after the race was called, according to WSAU.

Tiffany pledged to focus on property taxes, utility costs and returning the state budget surplus to taxpayers.

He will face Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who narrowly defeated progressive state Rep. Francesca Hong in the Democratic primary.

That matchup gives Trump’s candidate a clear general-election contrast: a conservative congressman against a Democrat who sold himself as the more electable alternative to his party’s socialist wing.

Graham advances, but Trump’s backing does not end the race

In South Carolina, Trump-endorsed Sen. Darline Graham finished first in the special Republican primary for the seat held by her late brother, Lindsey Graham. But her roughly 33% share fell well short of the majority required to win outright.

Graham will face Rep. Ralph Norman, who received about 24%, in an August 25 runoff. The winner will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews in November. South Carolina election officials posted the race as headed to a runoff.

Trump had urged Graham to seek the full term and held a tele-rally for her before the primary. Her first-place finish showed the endorsement’s reach in a 10-candidate field, but the result also exposed its limit: Roughly two-thirds of Republican voters chose someone else.

Graham honored her brother in her election-night remarks and promised to keep working for voters before the runoff.

Earlier Tuesday, she pointed to her record running a state agency and her first weeks in the Senate as evidence that she was ready for the job, according to The Guardian.

Marques wins a pivotal Alabama nomination

Trump’s other clear victory came in Alabama’s redrawn 2nd Congressional District.

State Rep. Rhett Marques won the Republican nomination with 50.03% of the vote, according to preliminary totals published from the Alabama secretary of state’s results.

Marques thanked Trump, Sen. Katie Britt, his campaign and voters during his victory speech.

He said the contest was “not just about flipping a district” and framed the general election as a choice between conservative common sense and the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, according to the Alabama Reflector.

Marques will face Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures in November in a district whose new boundaries are expected to give Republicans an advantage.

That makes Marques’ victory more than a routine endorsement win: It could help determine control of the House.

The bottom line

Trump’s Tuesday scorecard stands at two outright wins, one runoff berth and one conspicuous loss.

Tiffany’s landslide showed the power of a Trump endorsement behind a candidate who already had a united party and little opposition. Marques translated Trump’s support into a nomination in a potentially decisive House race. Graham led her field but still faces a serious conservative challenger.

Then there is Lindell.

His defeat—followed by his refusal to concede and unsupported claims of anomalies—turned Minnesota into the night’s defining story.

Trump’s endorsement remains one of the most valuable assets in a Republican primary.

Tuesday proved it is not a guarantee.

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Trump White House Bristles as MAGA Voices Attack AOC’s Path to Motherhood

By
Madeleine Jackson
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2

The Trump White House is reportedly losing patience with conservative influencers attacking Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over her decision to freeze her eggs, viewing the backlash as both politically damaging and at odds with the administration’s push to help more Americans start families.

Axios reported Tuesday that the online attacks have made some Republicans — including figures inside the White House — nervous with the midterm elections less than three months away.

“We most certainly want to encourage more women and families to have children, period,” a senior White House official told Axios. The official added that Matt Walsh’s criticism was “not helpful.” An unnamed Trump adviser separately warned that the issue was not a political winner for Republicans.

The tension began after Ocasio-Cortez, 36, posted videos over the weekend documenting the start of the egg-freezing process, including an injection she administered before appearing on ABC’s “This Week.”

“Don’t be weird about this, even though I know all of you will be,” the New York Democrat told followers.

Ocasio-Cortez said she had been considering the procedure for years and wanted to make the experience less mysterious for other working women. She described the decision as a way to feel more in control of her life.

During her ABC interview, however, she also used the deeply personal announcement to criticize the Trump administration. Ocasio-Cortez accused the administration of denying reproductive care and said political leaders should normalize conversations about women’s fertility and health.

The disclosure quickly became a target for several prominent voices on the right.

Walsh questioned why Ocasio-Cortez would delay motherhood, calling the decision “completely baffling.” Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet argued that egg freezing was being promoted as an alternative to forming a family earlier in life and called Ocasio-Cortez’s situation a “cautionary tale.”

Laura Loomer went further, suggesting that the announcement was a “political stunt” designed to help Ocasio-Cortez connect with women if she runs for president in 2028.

But the criticism also triggered pushback from inside the conservative movement.

Katie Miller, a conservative podcaster and the wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, said Ocasio-Cortez’s effort to preserve the possibility of motherhood should be celebrated.

“If one woman wants to preserve her right to have children … we should celebrate that,” Miller wrote on X. While she argued that more women should marry and have children younger, she added that every woman’s journey to motherhood is different.

Alexa Henning, a Republican consultant and former State Department official, also warned that conservative men attacking Ocasio-Cortez over the decision would not play well with women voters. She noted that many conservative women have frozen their eggs and later started families.

That divide helps explain why the White House appears eager to shut down the fight. Whatever Republicans think of Ocasio-Cortez’s politics — or her possible ambitions in 2028 — attacking a woman for taking steps that could help her have children clashes with the message Trump has spent much of his second term promoting.

Trump signed an executive order in February 2025 directing his administration to recommend ways to expand access to in-vitro fertilization and reduce its cost. Later that year, the White House announced discounted fertility medications and a new pathway for employers to offer stand-alone fertility benefits, including IVF coverage.

When TrumpRx.gov launched in February, the administration said patients paying out of pocket could save more than $2,000 per fertility-treatment cycle on commonly used medications. In May, the White House unveiled additional initiatives intended to expand fertility benefits, lower childcare costs and support new and expectant mothers.

The connection is not merely rhetorical. Frozen eggs must generally be fertilized through IVF if a patient later decides to use them. Ocasio-Cortez has said she saved for years to afford the procedure, which she estimated would cost between $8,000 and $9,000 and was not covered by her insurance.

There are legitimate debates about the limits and success rates of egg freezing, particularly as a woman gets older. The procedure preserves an option; it does not guarantee a future pregnancy. But that is a different argument from ridiculing a woman for trying to keep motherhood possible.

Republican pollster Adam Geller told Axios that Ocasio-Cortez knows how to command attention and advised Republicans not to take the bait. The political math is straightforward: Her announcement gave Democrats an opening to accuse conservatives of hostility toward women while dividing Republicans over a goal the Trump administration says it shares — helping more Americans have children.

For the White House, that makes the attacks more than an online distraction. They risk turning a pro-family agenda into an argument over whether one of Trump’s most prominent political opponents deserves the chance to become a mother.

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Russia Releases American Marine After Four Years in Prison

By
Madeleine Jackson
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1
The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

WASHINGTON — Russia released American citizen and former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman on Tuesday after more than four years of imprisonment on disputed charges.

The State Department said Gilman, 32, was released on humanitarian grounds and had recently been designated as wrongfully detained. His release “was not part of an exchange, and no other concessions were provided,” the department said.

U.S. officials told reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a humanitarian pardon following negotiations between the two governments.

Gilman departed Russia aboard a State Department aircraft accompanied by his mother. Four doctors were evaluating him during the flight, according to Reuters, and an official who spoke with him said he was walking and talking. He is expected to receive medical and psychological treatment at a military facility in Texas.

Russian authorities arrested Gilman in Voronezh in January 2022 after accusing him of kicking a police officer while being removed from a train. His family disputes Russia’s account, saying Gilman was ill and made accidental contact with the officer.

Russian courts later convicted him of additional alleged assaults on prison and law-enforcement officials, eventually extending his sentence to 10 years.

Gilman’s family and advocates said his health deteriorated sharply during his imprisonment. They reported that he spent approximately 47 days in a “dissociative stupor,” suffered severe pneumonia and required a feeding tube while handcuffed to a hospital bed.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) welcomed Gilman’s release but said it was long overdue, alleging that he had endured physical torture, forced medication and deliberate provocations in Russian custody.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

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Trump Smuggled Off Air Force One Amid Reported Iranian Missile Plot

By
Madeleine Jackson
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President Donald Trump answers questions from members of the media aboard Air Force One en route to Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, for a rally on the economy, Tuesday, December 9, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

President Donald Trump appeared to board Air Force One in Ankara and prepare for an ordinary flight home.

Then he vanished.

Shortly before the presidential jet departed Turkey on July 8, Trump was secretly moved from the aircraft with the help of an airport catering truck and taken to a smaller military plane, according to explosive new reporting.

The covert switch followed intelligence about a reported Iranian plot to target the president’s aircraft as it left the Turkish capital.

CBS News reported that U.S. intelligence had detected a credible plan involving Iran and its allied proxies to fire a missile at the plane carrying Trump.

Trump had already acknowledged the danger during the NATO summit, describing himself as Iran’s “number one target.”

A Presidential-Scale Decoy

Television cameras captured Trump climbing the stairs of the older, blue-and-white Air Force One at Ankara Esenboğa Airport. A catering truck could be seen parked against the opposite side of the aircraft.

Minutes later, the truck pulled away and drove toward another U.S. government plane—an Air Force C-32A, according to The Washington Post, which first revealed the deception operation.

Trump flew to a refueling stop in the United Kingdom aboard the smaller plane. Meanwhile, reporters and some members of the president’s staff traveled the same route on the older presidential aircraft, apparently believing Trump was with them.

They had unknowingly become part of the decoy.

Reporters aboard the plane were instructed to keep the window shades in the press cabin closed. When later asked about that order, Trump said they were “probably on a dangerous flight” because of the adversaries the United States was confronting.

The operation was so tightly controlled that the administration never publicly disclosed that the president had traveled separately.

The Iran Threat Behind the Ruse

The unusual security measures unfolded during a dangerous moment in the conflict with Iran. The United States had launched fresh strikes against Iranian targets shortly before Trump’s departure, further raising fears that Tehran or one of its proxies could retaliate against the president.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had warned Washington about a possible Iranian plot to kill Trump. Some U.S. officials reportedly questioned how fully credible that intelligence was, but the warning was serious enough to help trigger extraordinary precautions.

CBS later reported that U.S. intelligence had identified a specific missile threat against Trump’s aircraft.

The differing assessments underline the uncertainty security officials faced: They could not know whether an attack was imminent, but they could not afford to assume it was a bluff.

The Disappearing Act Continued

The deception apparently did not end when Trump landed in Britain.

According to reporting cited by The Guardian, Trump was driven from the C-32A back to the older presidential aircraft at RAF Mildenhall. He boarded through a separate entrance before emerging from the familiar upper door, creating the appearance that he had traveled aboard the jet alongside the press.

Trump then boarded the newer, Qatari-donated presidential plane for the flight across the Atlantic. He spoke with reporters during that leg of the trip without revealing that they had spent the first flight aboard a decoy.

The maneuver was extraordinary, but not unprecedented. President Bill Clinton used a similar operation during a 2000 trip to Pakistan, flying aboard an unmarked executive jet while the official presidential aircraft served as a decoy.

The C-32A used in Trump’s operation is a specially configured Boeing 757 normally employed to transport the vice president, Cabinet officials and other senior government leaders. The Air Force describes it as a secure, long-range aircraft equipped with advanced communications and avionics.

Questions Surround Trump’s New Jet

Hours before leaving Ankara, Trump announced that he would use the older Air Force One “for old time’s sake” instead of the newly retrofitted Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar.

He said the move would also allow American service members at the British refueling stop to tour the new plane.

Behind the scenes, however, CBS reported that the Secret Service had recommended using the older aircraft for security reasons. At the time, questions were already being raised about whether the Qatari-donated jet possessed the same visible missile-detection and countermeasure equipment found on the legacy presidential planes.

The Air Force has maintained that the newer aircraft is safe and properly equipped for presidential travel. The White House has similarly insisted that it contains high-level security systems.

Yet for the most dangerous leg of Trump’s journey, neither of the large presidential jets carried him. One served as a decoy while the other flew separately.

Officials Furious Over Security Leak

Several Trump administration officials reportedly expressed anger after details of the operation became public, warning that exposing classified protective procedures could make similar tactics harder to use in the future.

White House communications director Steven Cheung did not directly confirm the plane switch when questioned about it. He said the administration uses “every tool at our disposal” to protect the president from America’s enemies.

In Ankara, that meant hiding Trump’s movements from the press, much of his own staff and anyone who might have been watching the presidential aircraft.

For several tense hours, the plane presented to the world as Air Force One carried nearly everyone—except the one man the entire operation was designed to protect.

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Trump’s Visa Crackdown Tops 175,000 as State Department Targets Crime, Fraud and Security Threats

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admin
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By United States Government - https://x.com/PressSec/status/1882759560613527770, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=159931598

WASHINGTON — The State Department has revoked more than 175,000 U.S. visas since President Donald Trump returned to office, according to a new government tally that underscores the rapid expansion of his administration’s immigration-enforcement campaign.

The department said Monday that the visas belonged to foreign nationals who violated visa terms, committed crimes, called for violence against Americans, engaged in fraud, abused the immigration system or posed national-security concerns.

“A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right,” the department said in its Aug. 10 fact sheet, adding that officials would continue to identify and investigate foreign nationals believed to threaten public safety.

According to the State Department, most of the revocations followed encounters with law enforcement. The leading categories involved assault, driving under the influence, theft and drug offenses. Officials also cited reckless driving, sexual assault, child abuse, fraud and embezzlement among the reasons visas were canceled.

The department highlighted several serious cases, including one foreign national charged with felony rape and sexual battery involving a mentally disabled victim, and another charged with felony kidnapping, human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of a minor. The government did not identify the individuals or say how those criminal cases were ultimately resolved.

The new tally also includes more than 100 visas revoked by a U.S. embassy in North Africa from parents accused of using so-called birth tourism to obtain American citizenship for children born in the United States, according to the department.

Fox News, which first reported the new figure, said the effort is being carried out under Secretary of State Marco Rubio as part of the administration’s broader “America First” approach to immigration and public safety.

Revocations climbed by at least 75,000 in seven months

The latest number marks a sharp increase from the more than 100,000 revocations the department reported in January. At that point, the total included roughly 8,000 student visas and 2,500 specialized visas involving people who had encounters with U.S. law enforcement, according to Reuters reporting published by Al-Monitor.

That means the administration says it revoked at least 75,000 additional visas in roughly seven months.

In January, State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the first 100,000 revocations represented a 150% increase over 2024. He attributed the leading causes at that stage to visa overstays, DUI offenses, assault and theft. Pigott also said the department had created a Continuous Vetting Center to flag visa holders who may no longer qualify to remain in good standing.

Monday’s announcement did not provide a new breakdown by visa category or nationality. It also did not specify how many cases involved arrests or charges rather than convictions—a distinction that earlier reporting raised when the administration disclosed thousands of canceled student visas.

Trump: Foreign visitors who cause trouble are not welcome

Trump has consistently cast tougher visa screening as a public-safety and national-security measure.

“We want to have great students here. We just don’t want students that are causing trouble,” Trump said in 2025 remarks later included in a White House fact sheet on foreign student visas.

In a December 2025 proclamation, Trump wrote that the United States must use “extreme vigilance” during visa and immigration screening to stop foreign nationals who intend to harm Americans or threaten the country’s interests.

The push traces back to a Jan. 20, 2025 executive order directing federal agencies to strengthen screening for people seeking admission to the United States and to continue vetting certain foreign nationals already in the country.

The State Department’s own guidance notes that a visa allows a foreign citizen to travel to a U.S. port of entry and request admission; it does not guarantee entry. Revoking one therefore removes the person’s ability to use that visa for future travel, although any separate question involving immigration status or removal from the country can require additional government action.

With the administration now claiming more than 175,000 revocations, Monday’s announcement makes clear that Trump and Rubio intend to keep visa enforcement at the center of the president’s second-term immigration agenda.

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© Great America News Desk 2022