Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The U.S. border is on red alert.
A report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is revealing concerns about an overwhelming number of migrants from Venezuela flooding the border due to an incorrect understanding of U.S. immigration policy.
According to an internal DHS memo obtained by the Daily Caller, some factors leading to the impending swell at the border could be political changes, new visa requirements, a lack of resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and poor economic conditions in Latin American countries Venezuelans fled to.
The report also noted confusion regarding Temporary Protected Status (TPS) policies for Venezuelans is also another factor leading to the increase in migration.
“Deteriorating opportunities for Venezuelans in Latin America coupled with changing immigration policies will likely increase Venezuelans’ decision to travel to the U.S. southwest border (SWB) via the Darien Gap and Mexico,” the memo stated. “Venezuelans may also be pulled to the United States by the perception that once they reach the border, they have a greater chance of remaining in the United States, based on a misunderstood perception of temporary protected status.”
TPS is currently granted to Venezuelans who were in the U.S. as of March 8, 2021. However, in July the DHS announced an 18-month extension for those already in the program to renew their statuses.
Cato Associate Director of Immigration Studies David Bier previously told the DCNF a primary reason many Venezuelans aren’t sent back under Title 42 is because the U.S. doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Venezuela, which refuses to allow for deportation flights.
“This is true for deportations from Mexico as well,” Bier said. “The Trump administration also put a flight ban in effect for Venezuela, meaning no flights are allowed to go there. Nonetheless, some expulsions are still happening via third countries, but it’s much more difficult.”
Of the more than 5 million Venezuelan refugees in Latin America approximately 3.7 million of them live in Colombia and Peru, where they face “violence, hate, abuse, sexual and labor exploitation, and discrimination,” according to the memo.
“An exodus from these two countries alone would be a major concern as it could potentially signal larger waves of Venezuelan migrants to emigrate to the United States,” the memo said.
Nearly 150,000 Venezuelans are in Panama, however these refugees are close to losing their “pathways to residency” because of legislation that is set to expire, making their best option to come to the U.S. illegally.
“Without access to legal status, migrants cannot apply for work permits and are forced to seek jobs in the informal market, making them vulnerable to exploitation,” the memo said. “For those qualified to renew their regularization status, the 2,600 USD smuggling fee is cheaper than paying regularization costs in Panama.”
According to Customs and Border Patrol, the number of Venezuelan migrants encountered in fiscal year 2022 is over triple the number encountered the previous fiscal year, when 1,270 Venezuelans were expelled under Title 42.
On Friday, Vice President JD Vance took to X to blast what he called “foreign influence” in a Politico report targeting Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special envoy for peace missions and chief negotiator on Ukraine.
“This story from Politico is journalistic malpractice,” Vance wrote, tagging Politico correspondent Felicia Schwartz. “But it’s more than that: it’s a foreign influence operation meant to hurt the administration and one of our most effective members. Notice how all of the people attacking Steve are on background? That means it’s two or three deep staters who are angry that Witkoff has succeeded where they’ve failed.”
Vance made clear that he sees the article as an attempt not just to smear Witkoff, but to undermine Trump’s broader foreign policy success in shifting the conversation toward peace in Ukraine.
What the Politico Story Claimed
Schwartz’s piece, co-authored with Nahal Toosi and Jack Detsch, framed Witkoff as an inexperienced outsider whose “go-it-alone style” frustrates American, Ukrainian, and European officials. According to Schwartz, 13 anonymous sources—none of whom were willing to go on the record—painted Witkoff as someone who views the Ukraine conflict “through a real estate lens” and misses diplomatic details.
Politico’s reporting emphasized that Witkoff has met with Vladimir Putin five times in six months but claimed those meetings haven’t led to tangible breakthroughs. The piece also alleged Witkoff sometimes appeared “uninformed or unprepared,” citing unnamed U.S. and foreign officials.
One anonymous voice was quoted as saying, “His inexperience shines through, he has the president’s ear, which is evident, but there has been some confusion about what has been said and agreed.”
What Politico Left Out
Vance accused Politico of cherry-picking information to fit a predetermined narrative. He said the outlet deliberately left out quotes from him, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and senior advisor Jared Kushner—each of whom had praised Witkoff’s diplomatic efforts.
In fact, Vance had told Politico directly: “Witkoff has made more progress towards ending the bloodshed in Ukraine than all his critics combined.” That single line was briefly included, but stripped of context and buried among anonymous complaints.
According to Schwartz herself, the White House sent Politico a list of officials’ supportive quotes about Witkoff. Most were left on the cutting room floor.
The Larger Pattern: Anonymous Sources and Double Standards
The story is the latest example of the corporate media using anonymous leaks from entrenched bureaucrats to undermine Trump officials. Both Trump and Vance have criticized this practice for years, pointing out that it gives cover to partisan “deep state” operatives while denying the American people transparency.
By contrast, those willing to speak openly—Vance, Rubio, Kushner—were ignored or minimized in Politico’s coverage. The result is a slanted article that elevates anonymous gossip over the testimony of elected leaders and senior officials.
Why Witkoff Matters
Steve Witkoff, a successful real estate developer and longtime Trump ally, was tapped for a unique mission: break the stalemate on Ukraine by applying Trump’s outsider approach to diplomacy. Unlike career diplomats who have presided over endless wars and gridlock, Witkoff has leveraged direct relationships, including multiple meetings with Putin, to seek pragmatic solutions.
For Trump’s critics in the establishment, that makes him a threat. For everyday Americans who are weary of endless foreign wars, it makes him a symbol of a possible new path toward peace.
Vance: Media Trying to Derail Peace Efforts
Vance argued that the Politico piece is not just unfair journalism—it’s part of a deliberate effort to derail peace negotiations. “The quotes on Witkoff were meant to complicate and derail peace efforts,” he said, warning that anonymous smears serve the interests of those who profit from prolonging the war.
Republicans have long argued that entrenched Washington interests, including defense contractors and globalist bureaucrats, benefit from keeping conflicts alive rather than resolving them. By attacking Witkoff, Vance suggested, the media is doing their bidding.
The Takeaway
Politico’s story highlights a familiar clash: Trump’s America First agenda—focused on ending foreign wars and prioritizing U.S. interests—versus the entrenched establishment in Washington and its allies in the corporate media.
Vance’s defense of Witkoff signals that the White House isn’t backing down. Despite attacks from the press and anonymous bureaucrats, Trump and his team are determined to keep pursuing peace in Ukraine—an effort the mainstream media seems determined to undermine at every step
By Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - Director Wray Installation Ceremony, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63667603
The election of Donald Trump in November 2016 was, for the entrenched political class, a thunderclap. It was not supposed to happen. The experts, the pollsters, the seasoned operatives had assured the country that Hillary Clinton’s victory was inevitable. Yet by the morning of November 9, the White House was preparing to receive a president unlike any in modern history: a political outsider with no government experience, an instinctive distrust of Washington, and a willingness to discard its conventions. For some in the outgoing administration and the permanent bureaucracy, this was not merely a surprise. It was a crisis to be managed, or better yet, undone.
That undoing began in earnest just four months into Trump’s presidency, when Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, with the approval of FBI Counterintelligence chief Bill Priestap and General Counsel James Baker, authorized a criminal investigation into the sitting president of the United States. This probe did not arise from fresh evidence of presidential misconduct. It rested on the same thin reeds that had underpinned the Russia collusion narrative since mid-2016: opposition research paid for by the Clinton campaign, laundered through the Steele dossier, and presented as intelligence. It was a case study in how partisan disinformation can metastasize into official action when it finds a willing audience inside the government.
To understand how extraordinary this was, one must appreciate the context. Intelligence reports later declassified in the Durham Annex revealed that, as early as March 2016, the Clinton campaign had hatched a plan to tie Trump to Russian operatives, not as a matter of national security, but as an electoral tactic. These plans were known to senior Obama administration officials, including John Brennan, James Comey, and Andrew McCabe, before the election. Yet when Trump won, the machinery they had assembled did not wind down. It shifted purpose: from preventing his election to destabilizing his presidency.
The first casualty in this internal campaign was Michael Flynn, Trump’s National Security Adviser and one of the few senior appointees with both loyalty to Trump and an understanding of the intelligence community’s inner workings. In late January 2017, Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, an Obama holdover, warned the White House that Flynn had misled them about conversations with the Russian ambassador. The FBI had already interviewed Flynn, in a meeting arranged by Comey that bypassed standard White House protocol. Even Peter Strzok, one of the interviewing agents, admitted they did not believe Flynn had lied. Nevertheless, the incident was used to force Flynn’s resignation on February 13, with Vice President Pence publicly citing dishonesty over sanctions discussions. In hindsight, it is clear this was less about Flynn’s conduct than about removing a man who might have quickly uncovered the flimsiness of the Russia allegations.
Next came Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a Trump loyalist but a DOJ outsider with no prior experience in its leadership. Under pressure over his own contacts with the same Russian ambassador, Sessions recused himself from any matters related to the 2016 campaign on March 2. This decision, encouraged by DOJ ethics officials from the Obama era and accepted without challenge by Pence and other advisers, effectively ceded control of any Trump-Russia inquiries to deep state officials and Obama holdovers. It was the opening the FBI needed.
By mid-May, after Trump fired Comey at the recommendation of Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the FBI’s leadership was in open revolt. McCabe, Priestap, and Baker, all veterans of the Obama years, debated whether Trump had acted at Moscow’s behest. They even discussed the 25th Amendment and the idea of Rosenstein surreptitiously recording the president. These were not jokes. On May 16, McCabe authorized a full counterintelligence and criminal investigation into Trump himself, premised on the possibility that he was an agent of a foreign power. This was the first such investigation of a sitting president in US history.
Screenshot via X [Credit: @amuse]
The evidentiary basis for this move was paper-thin, much of it drawn from the Steele dossier, a work of partisan fiction that its own author was unwilling to verify. Baker, the FBI’s top lawyer, was a personal friend of Michael Sussmann, the Clinton campaign attorney who had helped funnel the dossier to the Bureau. Priestap, who signed off on the investigation, had overseen its use in obtaining FISA warrants to surveil Trump associates. They knew the source was tainted and the allegations were fiction. They proceeded anyway.
The day after the investigation formally opened, Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller as Special Counsel, locking the inquiry beyond Trump’s reach. Mueller’s team, stocked with Democratic donors and Obama DOJ and FBI veterans, inherited the case and its political overtones. For nearly two years, the president governed under a cloud of suspicion, his every move interpreted through the lens of an unfounded allegation.
The impact on Trump’s presidency was profound. Key legislative initiatives stalled. Allies in Congress, warned privately by Pence and others that the investigation was serious, kept their distance. Figures like John McCain, Paul Ryan, and Jeff Flake acted in ways that hampered Trump’s agenda, from blocking Obamacare repeal to threatening his judicial nominations. Inside the executive branch, FBI Director Christopher Wray, another newcomer with no institutional knowledge of the Bureau’s internal politics, declined to purge the officials who had driven the investigation, allowing them to operate until they were forced out by Inspector General findings.
By the time Mueller submitted his report in March 2019, concluding there was no evidence of collusion, the damage was done. Trump’s first term had been defined in large part by a manufactured scandal. The narrative of foreign compromise, though disproven, had justified a Special Counsel, sustained hostile media coverage, and ultimately greased the skids for an unfounded impeachment over Ukraine.
The Durham Annex, unearthed years later, stripped away any lingering doubt about intent. It documented that the Russia collusion story was conceived as a political hit, that it was known to be false by the time it was weaponized in 2017, and that senior intelligence and law enforcement officials chose to advance it rather than expose it. In Madison’s terms, the accumulation of legislative, executive, and judicial powers in the same hands, here, the unelected leadership of the FBI and DOJ, amounted to tyranny.
That Trump survived this onslaught is remarkable. Few presidents, faced with a hostile bureaucracy, disloyal appointees, and a media eager to amplify every leak, could have done so. That the plot failed to remove him does not make it less a coup. It makes it a failed coup, one whose near-success should alarm anyone who values electoral legitimacy.
The lesson is clear. The intelligence and law enforcement apparatus of the United States must never again be allowed to become an instrument of partisan warfare. The use of fabricated opposition research to justify surveillance, investigations, and the effective nullification of an election result is a violation not just of political norms but of the constitutional order. It took years for the facts to emerge. It will take far longer to repair the trust that was lost.
Sponsored by the John Milton Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping independent journalists overcome formidable challenges in today’s media landscape and bring crucial stories to you.
Far-right billionaire investor Peter Thiel was revealed as an FBI informant as recently as 2021, according to a new report from Insider.
Insider reports:
In order to be added to this database, multiple layers of approval are typically required, and only those able to provide “valuable information … on a recurring basis” are given CHS status. Once admitted to the CHS database, informants are then given a code name and a serial number to categorize reports.
The source added that Thiel’s status as an FBI informant is meant to be a way for the billionaire to distance himself from the MAGA movement, which has repeatedly assailed both the FBI and the US Department of Justice in response to investigations focused on former President Donald Trump. Johnson told Insider that he believes Thiel is primarily informing on foreign governments’ attempts to cement themselves within Silicon Valley. Johnson added that Thiel was explicitly told to not inform on former President Donald Trump or other US political figures.
Peter Thiel, who was the first outside investor in Facebook, became influential within the Republican Party in 2016, when he pledged $1.25 million to elect Trump and endorsed him at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Thiel then served on then-President-elect Trump’s transition team. And in the 2022 midterm elections, Thiel backed MAGA US Senate candidate and ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author JD Vance with a $10 million super PAC donation. Vance went on to attack the FBI, falsely accusing agents of wiretapping his phone. Thiel also put $15 million toward a super PAC backing Arizona Republican US Senate candidate Blake Masters, who went on to lose the general election to incumbent Senator Mark Kelly (D-Arizona).
Donald Trump is not sad to see the Republican National Committee’s top lawyer go.
“Great news for the Republican Party. RINO lawyer Charlie Spies is out as Chief Counsel of the RNC. I wish him well!” Trump posted late Sunday on Truth Social.
Officials confirmed Saturday that Spies was leaving his post as RNC chief counsel roughly two months after taking the job as part of a broader staffing overhaul once Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee for November.
There were reportedly tensions between Trump and Spies after Spies had criticized Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent and stolen.
“Charlie approached RNC Chief of Staff, Chris Lacivita, about potential time commitment conflicts and it was agreed that, while we appreciate and value Charlie’s expertise and professionalism, he cannot do this role full time and still maintain the obligations to his law firm that he has spent years successfully building,” RNC spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said in a statement to The Hill.
The RNC had announced in March it was hiring Spies, along with former One America News host Christina Bobb and former Trump administration attorney Bill McGinley to lead its legal efforts, with the latter two focusing on election integrity.
Canadian Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is projected to lose the parliamentary seat he has held for more than 20 years in a stunning defeat to Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), a state-owned outlet, projected the loss on Tuesday morning following Monday’s federal election.
However, Elections Canada’s decision to pause the counting of special ballots means it remains unclear whether the Liberals, led by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, will walk away with a minority or majority mandate.
Fanjoy, who is projected to take Poilievre’s seat in Parliament, worked in business and marketing and lives in a carbon-neutral house in Manotick, a suburb of Ottawa, according to CBC.
“We have to look out for ourselves, and we have to take care of each other. Let’s get to work,” Fanjoy wrote in a post on X.
To all the people of Carleton, as your new Member of Parliament, I’ll work to bring us together. We are all Canadian. We have to look out for ourselves, and we have to take care of each other. Let’s get to work.
In his victory speech, Carney appeared to criticize the U.S. for President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, which he called a “betrayal.”
“We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” Carney said in his victory speech. “America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country. These are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so America can own us. That will never … ever happen.”
In late 2024, just before Trudeau’s resignation, Poilievre was up 25 points over the unpopular then-prime minister, according to Politico. However, Trump’s tariffs and comments about making Canada the 51st state took over the Great White North’s election cycle, likely fueling Carney and the Liberals’ victory.
President Trump has repeated remarks referencing Canada potentially becoming the 51st state.
“What I’d like to see — Canada become our 51st state,” Trump said in February in the Oval Office when asked what concessions Canada could offer to stave off tariffs.
Despite Canada being one of the United States’ top trade partners Trump asserted the U.S. did not need Canada’s lumber or automobile production.
The president suggested it’s unlikely the U.S. will annex Canada, partly because neither side would be willing to put up with the economic pain that would be required for that to happen.
“We don’t need them. As a state, it’s different. As a state it’s much different. And there are no tariffs,” Trump said. “So I’d love to see that. Some people say that would be a longshot. If people wanted to play the game right, it would be 100 percent certain that they’d become a state. But a lot of people don’t like to play the game. Because they don’t have a threshold of pain.”
President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd after delivering remarks at the House GOP Member Retreat, Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at the Donald J. Trump- John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
President Donald Trump is weighing an ambitious new wave of clemency that could see as many as 250 pardons issued either on his own birthday — Flag Day, June 14 — or as part of the nation’s July 4 celebration marking America’s 250th birthday, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.
The proposal, still in what administration officials describe as “preliminary discussions,” would dramatically expand Trump’s already aggressive use of presidential pardon powers during his second term and further cement clemency as one of the defining features of his presidency.
According to the report, White House officials are debating whether the pardons should coincide with Trump’s birthday celebration on June 14 — which also falls on Flag Day — or whether they should instead be tied directly to the nation’s semiquincentennial festivities on the Fourth of July.
Some aides inside the White House are reportedly uneasy about the timing, warning that another major round of pardons ahead of the midterm elections could create political headaches for Republicans. Still, administration officials stressed that no final decision has been made and that Trump remains the ultimate authority on clemency matters.
The possible move would fit neatly into Trump’s broader effort to put his personal stamp on America’s 250th birthday celebration. Since returning to office, Trump has championed a series of patriotic projects tied to the anniversary, including plans for a “National Garden of American Heroes” featuring 250 statues of iconic Americans such as George Washington, Ronald Reagan, and Jackie Robinson. He has also promoted “Patriot Games” athletic competitions for high school students and ordered renovations around national monuments in Washington.
Historically, rulers and political leaders often used “jubilee” celebrations to grant mercy or forgiveness, a tradition Trump allies have increasingly referenced as justification for a broader use of presidential clemency powers.
One of the administration officials helping oversee the current pardon operation is Trump-appointed pardon attorney Ed Martin, who earlier this year argued that pardons are an “essential” part of justice and pointed to historical examples of kings and popes granting mass clemency during anniversary celebrations.
Trump’s second term has already featured some of the most controversial and sweeping pardons in modern presidential history.
Most notably, Trump issued a broad pardon for many supporters charged in connection with the January 6 Capitol riot, a move that sparked outrage from Democrats and some Republicans alike. Critics accused Trump of rewarding political allies, while supporters argued he was correcting what they viewed as politically motivated prosecutions.
Trump has also pardoned several high-profile figures tied to the cryptocurrency world and corporate fraud cases. Those granted clemency include former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, whose case became a rallying point for libertarian activists and parts of the crypto community.
In another controversial case, Trump pardoned former Nikola executive Trevor Milton after Milton was convicted of defrauding investors.
The administration’s willingness to entertain high-profile pardon requests has also fueled a surge in clemency applications nationwide. The Journal reported that more than 16,000 pardon requests were filed last year — the highest number recorded since at least 1937.
Among those publicly seeking relief from Trump is disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, though Trump has publicly mocked the idea of pardoning him.
There has also been speculation surrounding imprisoned Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell after her legal team floated the possibility of cooperation in exchange for clemency. So far, however, there is no indication Trump is considering such a move. Earlier releases tied to the Epstein investigation showed Trump praising Florida investigators for pursuing Jeffrey Epstein and describing Maxwell as “evil.”
The looming possibility of another massive clemency push also revives comparisons to former President Joe Biden, who faced bipartisan criticism after commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 federal inmates during the final stretch of his presidency. Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, and his commutation of dozens of federal death row inmates generated particularly fierce backlash.
Trump allies argue that Biden normalized expansive uses of executive clemency, opening the door for Trump to exercise the same authority even more aggressively during his second term.
For now, administration officials say discussions remain fluid. But if Trump ultimately moves forward, the pardons would likely become one of the most politically explosive moments of the country’s 250th anniversary celebration — while simultaneously reinforcing Trump’s longstanding view that the presidency’s pardon power should be used far more aggressively than previous administrations were willing to do.
A new federal lawsuit may reveal proof two CIA employees discussed a plot to “get rid of” and “take out” President Donald Trump.
The non-profit public interest law firm Judicial Watch announced they filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Defense Department for “reports submitted by a military officer to his superiors regarding an alleged conversation around January 2017 between CIA analysts Eric Ciaramella and Sean Misko about trying to ‘get rid’ of then-President Trump.”
“The intelligence community targeted Trump for removal for daring to question Biden family corruption and election interference tied to Ukraine and Burisma,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “The Biden Defense Department’s sitting for over a year on a simple FOIA request on the Deep State targeting of Trump is a cover-up plain and simple.”
In 2022 Real Clear Investigations reported:
Barely two weeks after Donald Trump took office, Eric Ciaramella – the CIA analyst whose name was recently linked in a tweet by the president and mentioned by lawmakers as the anonymous “whistleblower” who touched off Trump’s impeachment – was overheard in the White House discussing with another staffer how to remove the newly elected president from office, according to former colleagues.
Sources told RealClearInvestigations the staffer with whom Ciaramella was speaking was Sean Misko. Both were Obama administration holdovers working in the Trump White House on foreign policy and national security issues…
At a meeting of National Security Council employees two weeks into the Trump administration, the unidentified military staffer, who was seated directly in front of Ciaramella and Misko, confirmed hearing them talk about toppling Trump.
“After Flynn briefed [the staff] about what ‘America First’ foreign policy means, Ciaramella turned to Misko and commented, ‘We need to take him out,’ ” the staffer recalled. “And Misko replied, ‘Yeah, we need to do everything we can to take out the president.’”
Added the military detailee, who spoke on condition of anonymity: “By ‘taking him out,’ they meant removing him from office by any means necessary…”
Alarmed by their conversation, the military staffer immediately reported what he heard to his superiors.
“It was so shocking that they were so blatant and outspoken about their opinion,” he recalled. “They weren’t shouting it, but they didn’t seem to feel the need to hide it.”
In response, Judicial Watch file the suit after the Defense Department failed to respond to a January 14, 2022, FOIA request for:
Any and all reports submitted by a US military officer assigned to the National Security Council to his superiors relating to a conversation he overheard circa January 2017 at an “all-hands” NSC staff meeting between CIA analysts Eric Ciaramella and Sean Misko regarding trying to “get rid” of then-President Trump, as discussed in a January 22, 2020 Real Clear Investigations article available at this link.
Any and all records relating to any investigations conducted by the Department of Defense and/or its sub-agencies and departments into the alleged conversation between Misko and Ciaramella referenced above, including but not limited to investigative reports and witness statements.
All emails and communications sent to and from members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff regarding the alleged conversation between Misko and Ciaramella and any related investigations.
Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.
Marine One lifts-off after returning President Donald J. Trump to Mar-a-Lago Friday, March 29, 2019, following his visit to the 143-mile Herbert Hoover Dike near Canal Point, Fla., that surrounds Lake Okeechobee. The visit was part of an infrastructure inspection of the dike, which is part of the Kissimmee-Okeechobee Everglades system, and reduces impacts of flooding for areas of south Florida. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian) [Photo Credit: The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons]
Presumed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has reportedly gotten tired of Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake spending so much time at Mar-a-lago.
According to a recent Washington Post report, Trump is concerned Lake has focused too much on networking with the Republican elite and not enough on campaigning for a crucial win in the contentious state.
“At one point last year, after grumbling for months that she was at his Mar-a-Lago Club too often, Trump gently suggested to Lake that she should leave the club and hit the campaign trail in Arizona, according to a person with direct knowledge of his comments,” the Post reporters wrote. “Trump has also asked others if she can really win in Arizona and if she might drag down his own poll numbers as he seeks the presidency again in 2024, advisers said.”
Trump also privately thinks Lake’s 2022 election fraud claims are full of hot air, according to the report.
“She didn’t win,” Trump bluntly told a political ally at a Mar-a-Lago dinner earlier this year, according to the Post.
One other notable Lake moment got the attention of Trump and his inner circle: the incident in which a Lake ally released a tape of former Arizona GOP chair Jeff DeWit appearing to show Lake being offered a bribe to not run for Senate in 2024. The Post reporters described Trump’s reaction to the incident as “more surprised than angry” when he learned about it on the night of the New Hampshire primary in January.
“She tapes everything?” Trump reportedly asked. “That’s good to know.”
In a statement sent to the Post defended the MAGA Republican “Kari Lake is a Smart and Fearless Leader who will WIN in Arizona, and help us flip the Senate to Republican control. Kari’s Opponent, Ruben Gallego, is an Open Borders RADICAL, who is BAD on Inflation and SOFT on Terrorists and Crime.”
President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attend the Dignified Transfer of remains of six U.S. soldiers killed in an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait, Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
President Donald Trump is heading to Dover Air Force Base to welcome home two young American soldiers killed by Iran—and he is promising Iran that their deaths will not go unanswered.
Trump will attend the dignified transfer of fallen U.S. service members Tuesday evening following one of the deadliest weekends for American forces during the renewed conflict.
“President Trump will attend the dignified transfer of our fallen heroes tomorrow evening at Dover Air Force Base,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote Monday on X. “The President and the entire White House are praying for their families.”
President Trump will attend the dignified transfer of our fallen heroes tomorrow evening at Dover Air Force Base.
The President and the entire White House are praying for their families. https://t.co/zNRGlgQztR
The solemn military ceremony will return the remains of the fallen to American soil. Flag-draped transfer cases will be carried from a military aircraft to vehicles bound for Dover’s mortuary facility as grieving families, military leaders and the commander in chief look on.
The Department of War identified two of the fallen soldiers Monday as 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas.
Gonzales was killed in action July 17 when Iran unleashed ballistic missiles and drones against Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. Feehan was killed in action the following day as a result of the same attack, according to the Pentagon.
Both soldiers were supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the American-led mission against the Islamic State.
Feehan served with the 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Gonzales was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment in Ansbach, Germany.
“U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command mourns the loss of 1st Lt. Tyler Feehan, whose service and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” Lt. Gen. John L. Rafferty said in an Army statement.
“Losing him to enemy fire will inspire our Soldiers and strengthen their resolve to continue the mission,” Rafferty added.
The Army said Feehan will be posthumously promoted to captain and awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
Four other American service members were medically evacuated after the Jordan attack, according to U.S. Central Command. They have since been discharged.
Another service member was initially declared missing. American personnel later recovered unidentified remains at the base, but military officials said the examination process was still underway.
A third American service member was killed in northern Iraq on July 18 during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian attack drone. Another service member suffered minor injuries.
As the fallen return home, Trump has issued a chilling warning to the regime responsible.
“Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!” Trump declared on Truth Social.
The president said his directive had already been delivered to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and military leaders throughout the chain of command.
Trump previously told reporters that the latest American attacks on Iran were carried out in honor of the troops lost over the weekend.
“We hit them very hard again tonight, and we did that in honor of the probably three, as opposed to two, great patriots,” Trump said Sunday after arriving at Joint Base Andrews.
American forces responded to the attack in Jordan by striking Iranian coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime capabilities, and missile and drone storage sites.
CENTCOM said the military also directly targeted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces accused of launching the deadly assault against the Americans.
That retaliatory operation was followed by a ninth consecutive evening of strikes on Iranian command centers, communications networks, air defenses and missile and drone launch sites.
Tuesday’s ceremony will be another somber visit to Dover for Trump during the conflict. The president and first lady Melania Trump attended the dignified transfer of six American soldiers killed in an Iranian drone attack in Kuwait in March.
