New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) asked the judge in former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud case to impose a $370 million fine on the former president on Friday.
In Friday’s court filing ahead of closing remarks James accused Trump, his business, and several top executives — including his adult sons — of using “myriad deceptive schemes” to falsely inflate his net worth by billions.
“The conclusion that defendants intended to defraud when preparing and certifying Trump’s (statements of financial condition) is inescapable,” reads the state’s post-trial brief.
In addition to paying the $370 million penalty, James also asked the judge to issue a lifetime ban on the former president and two top executives from doing real estate business in New York.
In their post-trial brief, Trump’s counsel repeated claims they made at trial — that banks wanted to work with the Trump Organization, did their due diligence and found no fraud.
“Errors or misstatements happen all the time in accounting, if there are no indicia of fraud such as concealment, forgery, or deceit, then there is no basis to determine that these SFCs are fraudulent, and any misstatements are just accidental errors,” the defense brief states.
Trump’s adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, also defendants in the case, urged the judge to dismiss the case against them. They claimed the attorney general failed to show they had “anything more than a peripheral knowledge or involvement in the creation, preparation or use” of their father’s financial statements.
“The record evidence and testimony adduced at trial conclusively establishes that the SFCs were prepared, in their entirety, by others at the company working in conjunction with the company’s long time outside accountants,” their lawyer, Clifford Robert, wrote in their joint post-trial brief.
By Ralph Alswang, White House photographer - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/clinton-epstein-maxwell/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=143417695
This isn’t what the media says. He reportedly had Epstein tossed after repeated thefts from the spa…
During an impromptu press conference aboard Air Force One on Tuesday, President Donald Trump accused Jeffrey Epstein of “stealing” Mar-a-Lago spa employees — claiming that abuse survivor Virginia Giuffre, now deceased, may have been among them. Trump added that Epstein was expelled from the club for that reason.
Despite his best efforts, the president’s response to the so-called Epstein files firmly remains in the public consciousness — and threatens to erode his standing with independents and some right-leaning voters.
As the president made his way to Turnberry, Scotland and his “Trump Turnberry” resort, Trump was still being peppered with questions about the scandal. The questions have followed him everywhere he’s gone during the trip, as reporters questioned him about developments like the potential pardoning of Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
While in Scotland, Trump also revealed the reason for his falling out with Epstein, telling reporters that his then-friend was poaching employees from Mar-a-Lago. The White House had previously claimed, in a statement, that “The fact is that the president kicked him out of his club for being a creep.”
The grilling continued when Trump gaggled aboard Air Force One on the way home from Scotland, and the president just casually let slip that one of the employees Epstein allegedly poached from him was Giuffre, who killed herself in April. Below is the full exchange:
Trump: People were taken out of the spa, hired by Epstein… I told him we don’t want you taking our people, whether it’s spa or not spa. He did it again, I said out of here.
Reporter: Was one of the stolen people Virginia Giuffre?
Trump and Epstein knew one another from the late 1980s to the early 2000s, appearing together at Mar‑a‑Lago events in the early 1990s. The two reportedly fell out around 2004.
Legal testimony has indicated that Giuffre, while working at Mar‑a‑Lago as a spa attendant at age 16–17, was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell to serve as Epstein’s masseuse, later testifying to being trafficked to powerful men, including Prince Andrew.
Following a seven-hour meeting with the Department of Justice, Maxwell has offered to testify before the House Oversight Committee — on the condition that she receive full immunity.
More details are coming out following the disturbing explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas.
Local outlets have reportedly identified the suspect in the Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas as 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger, a Colorado native.
KOAA first reported Livelsberger’s name, citing local senior enforcement sources. Livelsberger reportedly lived in Colorado Springs, had multiple addresses tied to his name, and has a U.S. military background.
Police have confirmed that they have identified the driver of the truck, but have not officially confirmed it is Livelsberger.
NEW: Video shows Tesla Cybertruck explosion at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. No word yet on the cause pic.twitter.com/tR9UabrsH4
The blast outside of the Trump Hotel occurred on Wednesday, New Year’s Day. A deceased individual was found inside the truck, along with explosives, police revealed.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk credited the design of his vehicle for the blast not having more impact on the building the truck was parked outside of.
“The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards,” he wrote on X. “Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken.”
The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards.
On the same day as the blast outside of the Trump hotel, more than a dozen people were killed in New Orleans after a man drove his car directly into a crowd on Bourbon Street. Dozens more were injured. Police said they have not found a direct connection between the two attacks, but they have yet to officially rule one out.
Federal officials are investigating the incidents as possible acts of domestic terrorism.
Shamsud Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texas man, was identified as the New Orleans suspect. Jabbar was killed by police after firing on officers and an ISIS flag was found in the vehicle.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) said there will be a heightened security presence in Times Square and at Trump Tower following the two deadly attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas on New Year’s Day.
“After the attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas, @NYPDPC and I have been in constant communication,” Adams wrote in a Thursday post on the social media platform X.
“While there are no immediate threats to our city at this time, out of an abundance of caution, we have heightened security and have increased NYPD presence at relevant locations, including at Trump Tower and in Times Square.”
President Donald Trump’s latest appearance on The Ingraham Angle turned out to be anything but routine. In a Monday night interview filmed in the Oval Office, Fox News host Laura Ingraham pressed the president repeatedly—on housing, the economy, foreign policy, and the MAGA movement itself—leading to one of Trump’s most combative televised exchanges in recent memory.
Before the interview even aired, a preview clip posted to Ingraham’s Facebook page hinted at the unusual tone. Filming amid Trump’s famously gold-adorned surroundings, she teased, “So these aren’t from Home Depot?” The moment didn’t make it to air, but it set the stage for what followed: a testy back-and-forth between two of the most influential voices in conservative politics.
Trump on Housing and the Economy
Ingraham began by raising concerns about housing affordability and the average age of first-time homebuyers now hitting 40. Trump interrupted, “We inherited that, you have to understand,” but Ingraham shot back, “Let me get to the question, though.”
She challenged Trump on his proposal for a 50-year mortgage—a concept some in the MAGA base criticized as prolonging debt. “Is that really a good idea?” she asked.
“It’s not even a big deal,” Trump said. “I mean, you go from 40 to 50 years.” Ingraham corrected him: “30 to 50 years.” Trump deflected, blaming “Joe Biden and his lousy Fed person, Jerome Powell,” before asserting, “If we had a normal person, the Fed would have really low interest rates.”
Ingraham pressed further: “Why are people saying they are anxious about the economy?” Trump dismissed the premise. “I don’t know that they are saying [that]. I think polls are fake. We have the greatest economy we ever had.”
Her question came as Republicans are still reeling from setbacks in the New Jersey and Virginia elections. “Do you think voters have the wrong perception?” Ingraham asked. Trump responded, “More than anything else, it’s a con job by the Democrats. Costs are way down.”
The $10,000 Bonus Controversy
Ingraham also questioned Trump’s Truth Social post offering a $10,000 bonus to air traffic controllers working through the government shutdown. “There are a lot of delays now, sir,” she noted.
Trump replied, “I’m not happy when I saw people refusing to do unpaid work during the shutdown. Look, life is not so easy for anybody. Our country has never done better. We should not have had people leaving their jobs. What I basically said—the ones that stayed, there were a lot of them—I’m sending them a $10,000 bonus.”
When Ingraham pressed, “Where is that money coming from?” Trump quipped, “I don’t know. I will get it from some place. I always get the money from some place, regardless. It doesn’t matter.”
Sparring Over China and Foreign Students
The discussion turned global when Ingraham cited a CNN report on China expanding its missile facilities. “China are not our friends, sir,” she said.
“They don’t want to mess around with us,” Trump countered. When Ingraham noted China’s theft of U.S. intellectual property, Trump asked, “Do you think the French are better?” Ingraham said yes. Trump shot back, “I’m not so sure.”
The tension deepened when Ingraham raised the issue of foreign students. “A lot of MAGA folks are not thrilled about this idea of hundreds of thousands of foreign students in the United States,” she said. “Why, sir, is that a pro-MAGA position?”
Trump defended the policy: “Without foreign students, you would have half the colleges in the United States go out of business.”
“So what?” Ingraham said bluntly. Trump replied, “I think that’s a big deal.”
The MAGA Movement—and Media Dynamics
Ingraham repeatedly framed questions around the “MAGA folks” critical of Trump’s ideas. Trump pushed back: “MAGA was my idea. It was nobody else’s idea. I know better than anybody else MAGA wants to see our country thrive.”
That line captured Trump’s increasingly defensive posture—not just toward Democrats, but toward members of the conservative media who now challenge him more openly. While The Ingraham Angle once provided friendly ground, Monday’s interview underscored the shifting balance between Trump and right-leaning outlets seeking to assert independence ahead of the 2024 election.
Observers note that Trump’s prickly demeanor may reflect deeper frustrations: inflationary pressures remain despite his attacks on Biden’s policies; conservative pundits are fracturing over strategy; and Trump’s own polling among independent voters has shown volatility. Within this context, even mild criticism from longtime allies can provoke his ire.
A Tense Exchange Symbolizing a Larger Rift
The Oval Office encounter stood in stark contrast to Ingraham’s earlier visit in March, when Trump jovially showed off his “Coke button” and griped about paving over the Rose Garden. This time, there were no laughs—just sharp exchanges between two seasoned figures who have long shaped Republican discourse.
Popular actor Robert De Niro attacked Donald Trump during a press conference for the Biden-Harris campaign as closing arguments in the hush money trial are underway nearby.
De Niro, a vocal Trump critic, accused the former President of “sowing chaos.”
“I love this city. I love this city. I don’t want to destroy it. Donald Trump wants to destroy not only the city, but the country. And eventually he could destroy the world,” De Niro said.
Robert De Niro: Donald Trump doesn’t belong in my city. We New Yorkers used to tolerate him when he was just another grubby real estate hustler masquerading as a big shot. A two-bit playboy lying his way into the tabloids. He’s a clown. But this person can’t run the country. That… pic.twitter.com/5LYzPnjVlL
“I mean, this is really…even these people over here have you know…it’s kind of crazy. It’s really crazy. And this this thing, Donald Trump has created this. He should be telling them not to do this,” De Niro said.
“He want he wants to sow total chaos, which he’s succeeding in some areas and places to do, he said.
De Niro was flanked by two police officers Michael Fanone and Harry Dunn, who defended the Capitol against January 6 rioters in 2021.
This is a breaking news story. Click refresh for the latest updates.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) notably diverged from former President Donald Trump’s harsh rhetoric toward President Joe Biden on Tuesday, calling the incumbent commander-in-chief a “good guy.”
The Kentucky Republican’s remarks stand in contrast to Trump’s persistent portrayal of Biden as a corrupt figure intent on manipulating elections and targeting political adversaries.
“I know Joe Biden pretty well. He’s a good guy; I like him personally,” McConnell shared with an audience in Louisville on Tuesday.
Despite stylistic differences with Trump, McConnell maintains there are significant policy-driven arguments for opposing Biden. Other Republicans are encouraging Trump to focus on Biden’s job performance rather than personal attacks tonight.
Moreover, McConnell remains critical of Biden’s policies. “I never thought he was moderate in the Senate, but he ran as a moderate,” he stated. “But as soon as the president got elected, he pretty much signed up with the far left of the Democratic Party, which has created another set of problems for all of you who are in business. This has been a regulatory nightmare by this administration.”
A Tactical Endorsement
On March 6, 2024, McConnell endorsed Trump for the upcoming presidential race. This endorsement followed Trump’s decisive victories on Super Tuesday, which solidified his position as the GOP front-runner. McConnell acknowledged the substantial support Trump had garnered from Republican voters, expressing his backing for Trump’s nomination in a strategic move to unite the party.
The Path Forward?
As the debate rapidly approaches, McConnell’s tempered tone towards Biden could offer Trump a blueprint for a more policy-focused campaign. By addressing Biden’s track record and regulatory policies, Trump might find a path to appeal to undecided voters and moderate Republicans, who McConnell seemed to be addressing.
Article Published With The Permission of American Liberty News.
The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) sued the federal government Tuesday, arguing that a new Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) policy unlawfully ties major federal funding streams to compliance with the Trump administration’s new restrictions on gender-related medical care for minors.
The lawsuit challenges an HHS policy that, according to the attorneys general, conditions billions of dollars in health, education and research funding on compliance with a presidential executive order addressing sex and gender-related treatments.
“The federal government is trying to force states to choose between their values and the vital funding their residents depend on,” James said in a statement. “This policy threatens healthcare for families, life-saving research, and education programs that help young people thrive in favor of denying the dignity and existence of transgender people.”
The dispute stems from President Donald Trump’s January 2025 executive order directing HHS to take steps to curb what the administration calls “chemical and surgical mutilation” of children. President Trump has made limits on transgender-related medical care for minors a central part of his second-term domestic agenda.
NYC Public Advocate Tish James via Wikimedia Commons
Last month, HHS announced a sweeping package of proposed regulatory actions aimed at ending what it described as “sex-rejecting procedures” for minors. In guidance accompanying the announcement, the department warned that doctors and health systems could be excluded from federal health programs — including Medicare and Medicaid — if they provide treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and gender surgeries to minors.
James’ lawsuit argues that the federal government is using funding leverage to pressure states, hospitals, universities, and other institutions to change policies on transgender care.
The attorneys general also claim HHS lacks legal authority to impose the conditions and is attempting to rewrite federal law through executive action. They argue the policy is vague and fails to spell out what recipients must do to remain compliant, creating uncertainty for states and institutions that rely on federal dollars.
Failure to comply with the policy could lead to termination of grants, repayment of funds already spent, or potential civil or criminal penalties, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit asks a federal court to declare the policy unlawful and block HHS from enforcing it, allowing states and institutions to continue receiving federal funding without changing existing policies.
The legal fight also adds to the long-running political and courtroom clash between Trump and James. James has positioned herself as one of the country’s most aggressive state-level opponents of Trump, repeatedly using New York’s legal powers to pursue high-profile cases involving his businesses and allies. Trump has frequently accused James of pursuing politically motivated investigations.
Trump officials have defended the executive order as a child-protection measure and a pushback against what they say is ideological medicine being imposed through federal agencies and school systems.
The case is expected to intensify a national debate already playing out in Congress and state legislatures, where Republican-led states have moved to restrict or ban gender-related treatments for minors, while Democrat-led states have expanded protections and access.
A recent study by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) has revealed a concerning trend: a significant portion of left-leaning Americans believe that political violence, including assassination, is justifiable against figures such as President Donald Trump and the de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk. The study surveyed over 1,200 U.S. adults and found that 38% of respondents felt that assassinating Trump would be at least “somewhat justified,” with this figure rising to 55% among those identifying as left-leaning. Similarly, 31% of overall participants, and 48% of left-leaning individuals, expressed some level of justification for assassinating Musk.
This data suggests a troubling normalization of violent political rhetoric within certain segments of the population. The NCRI report highlights that this shift has been particularly pronounced following the December 2024 assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, allegedly by Luigi Mangione. Mangione’s actions have been glamorized in various online communities, leading to a proliferation of memes and discussions that endorse political violence.
“What was formerly taboo culturally has become acceptable,” Joel Finkelstein, lead author of the report, said, as reported by the New York Post. “We are seeing a clear shift — glorification, increased attempts and changing norms — all converging into what we define as ‘assassination culture.’”
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The NCRI study traces the cultural shift back to the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, allegedly by Luigi Mangione, in December 2024. What followed, researchers say, was a viral wave of memes that turned Mangione into a folk hero.
Screenshot via X [Credit: @MrAndyNgo]
According to the study, these memes have sparked copycat behavior targeting other figures associated with wealth and conservative politics.
“It’s not just Luigi anymore,” Finkelstein said. “We’re seeing an expansion: Trump, Musk and others are now being openly discussed as legitimate targets, often cloaked in meme culture and gamified online dialogue.”
A ballot measure in California, darkly named the Luigi Mangione Access to Health Care Act, is just one real-world outgrowth of this online movement.
Screenshot via X [Credit: Elon Musk]
The study also points to platforms like BlueSky, favored by progressive users, as amplifiers of extremist ideation. These platforms have become hubs for content that glorifies political violence, contributing to the spread of what researchers term “assassination culture.”
Researchers warn that the increasing acceptance of such rhetoric is not confined to fringe groups but is becoming more mainstream, leading to real-world consequences. They emphasize the need for strong leadership to reassert moral norms and curb the escalation of violent political discourse.
They underscore the urgent need for a societal dialogue on the implications of normalizing political violence and the importance of fostering a political environment where disagreements are addressed through democratic means rather than through threats or acts of violence.
Sections of the U.S. border wall that had been auctioned off by the Biden administration will reportedly be returned to the Trump administration to support Trump’s “border protection plans.”
The Daily Wire previously reported that the Biden administration sold off portions of the border wall in Arizona for pennies on the dollar in December, just one month before Trump reentered office in a move that critics called an attempt to hamstring the new administration. Now, those materials will be handed back over to the federal government.
GovPlanet, the government supply auctioning site that listed the border wall materials, says that it will expedite the return of the materials to the federal government, citing its support for the Trump administration’s border security plans.
“GovPlanet has reached an agreement, working with the Office of the Border Czar, to return border wall materials that were previously deemed surplus and sourced by the federal government to GovPlanet via existing contracts,” the company explained. “We are expediting the transfer of these materials to support the administration’s border protection plans.”
Construction continues on new border wall system project near Yuma, AZ. Recently constructed border wall near Yuma, Arizona on June 3, 2020. CBP photo by Jerry Glaser.
The sale of the border wall materials, Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) told The Daily Wire, was an attempt by the Biden administration to hamstring the Trump administration.
“The Biden Administration is well aware they shouldn’t have reversed the construction of the border wall. If it’s true, they’re purposefully hamstringing an incoming president, it wouldn’t be shocking,” Crane charged. “Why would they want to see President Trump succeed with policies they aggressively sabotaged?”
The Republican Congressman from Arizona called the sale “a direct affront to the will of the people,” who had given President Trump a mandate to secure the border just a month before The Daily Wire broke the news of the auctions.
The materials will now be handed over to a firm that has been contracted by the government to build the wall, GovPlanet says. “We value our longstanding partnership with the U.S. government and look forward to continuing to support America’s federal agencies,” GovPlanet added. “A third-party firm that has been contracted for construction of the border wall will take receipt of the materials over the next 90 days.”
GovPlanet also said that the supplies will be returned to the federal government “at-cost” in order to “protect the millions of dollars that U.S. taxpayers had already invested in this initiative.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ popularity is waning…
The popular governor slipped to its lowest level this year, according to a new Quinnipiac University national poll released Wednesday.
Eighteen percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters said they supported the Florida governor, which is his lowest level of support in Quinnipiac’s polling of the GOP primary this year. Former President Trump, on the other hand, clocked in at a whopping 57 percent support among Republican and Republican-leaning voters. Quinnipiac noted that DeSantis was only 6 points behind the former president in February, but now he finds himself trailing Trump by 39 points.
Meanwhile, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy came in third place at 5 percent support, followed by former Vice President Mike Pence at 4 percent. Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie each received 3 percent support.
The poll comes as DeSantis continues to struggle to gain traction in the polls. An Emerson College survey released earlier this week showed Christie surpassing DeSantis by 1 point in New Hampshire.
