As buzz continues to build around Trump’s looming 2024 announcement some Republicans are already trying to burst his bubble.
Despite the obvious excitement surrounding Trump’s long-awaited presidential campaign announcement the Republican is already facing hurdles on the path to 2024.
Trump, who is already facing various legal challenges, will be effectively cut off from the Republican National Committee if he declares his candidacy committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told The Hill.
Last year, the RNC admitted it was paying for legal fees “that relate to politically motivated legal proceedings waged against President Trump” and in recent months the committee has funded Trump’s defense against probes launched by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. (D) and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D).
“We cannot pay legal bills for any candidate that’s announced. So these are bills that came from the Letitia James lawsuit that started while he was president,” McDaniel said. “It was voted on by our executive committee for our former president, that this was a politically motivated investigation and that’s what it’s been.”
“But we cannot do in kind contributions to any candidate right now. He’s the former president being attacked from every which way with lawsuits, and he’s certainly raised more under the RNC than we’ve spent on these bills,” she added.
Advisers in Trump’s inner circle have indicated the announcement could come as soon as November 14th but some conservatives say it shouldn’t come as any shock.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said on Sunday that Trump’s upcoming announcement doesn’t surprise him, according to The Hill.
“Like, why should anybody be surprised,” Christie said, adding, “When something happens that you anticipated happening, it doesn’t make any difference.”
“He’s going to run. Everyone always knew he was going to run. He can’t miss the attention any more than he does, and he’s going to run,” the former governor added. “Now we’ll see what happens.”
However, reports began to swirl on Monday that Trump couls make his annoucenment during tonight’s rally in Ohio. Axios reporter Jonathan Swan was the first to report that Trump could move up the announcement date.
“Based calls/texts all morning, Trump/Vance rally in Ohio will be v closely watched by Rs. Speculation has reached a point of absurdity at this point but many Rs of varying degrees of closeness to Trump are anticipating accelerated announcement based on his recent private comments,” Swan tweeted.
Based calls/texts all morning, Trump/Vance rally in Ohio will be v closely watched by Rs. Speculation has reached a point of absurdity at this point but many Rs of varying degrees of closeness to Trump are anticipating accelerated announcement based on his recent private comments
A source close to the matter told The Washington Examiner that ultimately the decsion is up to Trump and nobody knows exactly when he will share the news.
“There’s a lot of back-and-forth right now, no one really knows if it’s going to happen tonight or if it’s going to happen in a week or so. Trump himself is the one who wants to do it ASAP. No one knows right now whether it’s happening tonight or not,” the source explained.
Lawmakers are metaphorically shouting their support for Donald Trump from the rooftops.
On Thursday, popular Florida Rep. Byron Donalds announced he’s endorsing the former President’s most recent campaign for the White House.
In a statement circulated by the pro-Trump Make America Great Again PAC, Donalds said Trump is the “one leader” who can get the U.S. “back on track.”
“There is only one leader at this time in our nation’s history who can seize the moment and deliver what we need – to get us back on track, provide strength and resolve, and Make America Great Again. That is why I’m honored to endorse President Donald J. Trump for President in 2024, and I ask my fellow Americans to join me,” Donalds said.
Trump has secured support from two other Florida Republicans: Rep. Matt Gaetz, a close congressional ally, and freshman Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.
Donalds withheld support from Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for some of this year’s protracted Speakership election, opting against voting for him on nine out of 15 ballots. Donalds himself was nominated for the top job on several ballots, accumulating votes from a number of his colleagues. McCarthy ultimately won the gavel on the 15th ballot.
Before the Speakership battle, Donalds challenged Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) for the post of House Republican Conference Chair, which the New Yorker won in a closed-door vote.
From the session "The War at Home: Trump and the Mainstream Media". [Photo Credit: nrkbeta, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons]
What is Brian Stelter’s next move? That question has been circulating since the ex-“Reliable Sources” host got the axe from CNN’s new president.
On Twitter, Stelter announced he’s moving his talents to academia. Stelter will join Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy as a Walter Shorenstein media and democracy fellow and “convene a series of discussions about threats to democracy and the range of potential responses from the news media.”
Personal news: I'm joining the @ShorensteinCtr at Harvard Kennedy School. This fall I'll be the Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellow, convening discussions, some of which will be live-streamed. Grateful to @nancygibbs and her team for the home! https://t.co/cOD0SyeuwE
The 37-year-old former CNN host seemingly fell victim to a major shake-up at the network following parent company WarnerMedia’s recent merger with Discovery. Since taking the reins as CEO to replace Stelter ally Jeff Zucker, Chris Licht has reportedly embarked on a crusade to reorient the company in a less partisan direction.
Star anchors and reporters have seemingly been ousted amid the internal shuffling, including former chief legal correspondent Jeffrey Toobin and White House correspondent John Harwood. As Licht tries to steer the company in a new direction, CNN has been dogged by sagging profit projections amid a ratings slump.
“Brian Stelter is a nationally recognized media reporter and expert on the state of journalism and its wide-reaching implications for society and governance,” the institution said in a press release.
Tucker Carlson posted a cryptic video message to his Twitter profile late Wednesday evening in his first public comments since his shocking departure from Fox News.
During the just over two-minute message, Carlson said he had realized after “stepping outside the noise for a few days” how many “genuinely nice people there are in this country.”
“The other thing you notice when you take a little time off is how unbelievably stupid most of the debates on television are,” he continued. “They’re completely irrelevant. They mean nothing. In five years, we won’t even remember we had them. Trust me as someone who has participated in them.”
“Both political parties and their donors have reached consensus on what benefits them and they actively collude to shut down any conversation about it,” Carlson said in his video message. “When honest people say what’s true, calmly and without embarrassment, they become powerful. At the same time, the liars who have been trying to silence them shrink. They become weaker. That’s the iron law of the universe.”
Carlson ended his message by suggesting that his audience, which often topped more than 3 million people each weeknight while at Fox, would soon hear from him again.
Carlson ended his message by suggesting that his audience, which often topped more than 3 million people each weeknight while at Fox, would soon hear from him again.
“Where can you still find Americans saying true things there aren’t many places left but there are some, and that’s enough,” Carlson said. “As long as you can hear the words, there is hope. See you soon.”
President Trump openly confirmed he is considering launching an investigation into former ally and New Jersey governor Chris Christie.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late Sunday that Christie had lied about 2013 lane closures on the George Washington Bridge “in order to stay out of prison, at the same time sacrificing people who worked for him.” The president was referring to a decision by Christie’s associates to close access lanes to the bridge, which links New Jersey and Manhattan, in order to punish the Democratic mayor of a New Jersey town.
“Chris refused to take responsibility for these criminal acts,” Trump wrote. “For the sake of JUSTICE, perhaps we should start looking at that very serious situation again? NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!”
The 2013 “Bridgegate” closures created days of traffic jams, and the scandal tarnished Christie’s reputation and helped to destroy his 2016 presidential candidacy. Christie has long denied any knowledge of the plan. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
It was not immediately clear what aspect of Christie’s Sunday appearance on ABC’s “This Week” had led President Trump to threaten him on social media.
Christie mentioned the president by name after he was asked by the journalist Jonathan Karl whether Vice President JD Vance, who has defended the criminal investigation into Mr. Bolton, is playing a role in it.
Christie responded by mentioning what he called the administration’s disregard for the idea of separation between the president and criminal investigations. He noted that Mr. Trump had recently described himself as the nation’s “chief law enforcement officer.”
“Donald Trump sees himself as the person who gets to decide everything, and he doesn’t care about any separation,” Christie told Karl. “In fact, he absolutely rejects the idea that there should be separation between criminal investigations and the politically elected leader of the United States. This is much different than it’s ever been run before.”
Watch:
Then on Monday, he doubled down after being asked if he plans “to investigate Chris Christie.”
“Look, Chris is a slob, everybody knows it. I know Chris better than anybody in the room. I always felt he was guilty. But what he did is he took the George Washington Bridge, which is very serious, he closed down the George Washington Bridge,” answered Trump. “And you had medical people, You had ambulances caught up. You know, this thing was closed down. And obviously he knew about it. But he blamed the young lady that worked for him, and another person, and they got into a lot of trouble. She ultimately was, I don’t know, exonerated, but she got out of it a little bit. But she went through hell. She was a young mother, nice person, I knew her a little bit. And another man went to jail. And Chris got off.”
“And so when I listen to Chris speak his hate, I say, ‘Oh, what about the George Washington Bridge?’ You know? ‘Tell me about the George Washington Bridge.’ He blamed other people, but he knew all about it. So, no, I don’t know. If they want to look at it — not for me. — if they want look at it, they can. You could ask Pam [Bondi]. I think we have other things to do, but I always thought he got away with murder,” he concluded.
Several members of Christie’s administration were ultimately convicted for their role in helping shut down multiple lanes of the George Washington Bridge back in 2013, though those convictions were later thrown out by the Supreme Court.
It has been a rough few days for former Republican National Committee (RNC) chair…
NBC News cut ties with the Republican after 5 days following swift backlash from a number of MSNBC hosts.
Donald Trump quickly piled on after the news broke.
“Wow! Ronna McDaniel got fired by Fake News NBC. She only lasted two days, and this after McDaniel went out of her way to say what they wanted to hear,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website on Tuesday. “It leaves her in a very strange place, it’s called NEVER NEVERLAND, and it’s not a place you want to be.”
“These Radical Left Lunatics are CRAZY, and the top people at NBC ARE WEAK,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post on Tuesday. “They were BROKEN and EMBARRASSED by LOW RATINGS, HIGHLY OVERPAID, ‘TALENT.’ BRING BACK FREE AND FAIR PRESS.”
In a note to NBC staff on Tuesday, NBCUniversal News Group Chair Cesar Conde apologized for bringing McDaniel on board as a paid contributor and explained the decision “was made because of our deep commitment to presenting our audiences with a widely diverse set of viewpoints and experiences, particularly during these consequential times.”
McDaniel on Tuesday was reportedly exploring legal options in the event the network terminated its agreement with her, which was announced late last week and was slated to pay her more than six figures annually.
McDaniel stepped down as head of the Republican National Committee earlier this year.
Air Force One and other presidential aircraft are expected to receive a new paint design featuring red, white, gold, and dark blue — colors long associated with President Trump’s preferred aesthetic — according to confirmation from NewsNation.
An Air Force spokesperson told NewsNation that both the luxury jet donated by Qatar and the new VC-25B Boeing aircraft currently under development will adopt the updated color scheme. The title “Air Force One” refers to any aircraft carrying the president.
In addition to the presidential aircraft, four smaller C-32 planes are also slated for repainting. These aircraft are designated as “Air Force Two” when the vice president is aboard and are frequently used by the first lady and Cabinet secretaries for official travel.
A Break from the Kennedy-Era Design
The current light blue and white design has been in place since the Kennedy administration in the early 1960s. The iconic look was created by famed industrial designer Raymond Loewy at the request of President John F. Kennedy and has remained largely unchanged for more than six decades.
The shift to a darker blue with bold red and gold accents marks the most significant visual update to the presidential fleet in generations.
According to NewsNation, the first C-32 aircraft has already been repainted and is expected to be delivered to the Air Force within the next few months.
Work Underway in Texas
CBS News first reported on the repainting efforts. Contractor L3Harris is overseeing upgrades to the Air Force Two planes at its facility in Greenville, Texas. The broader VC-25B program — the long-delayed replacement effort for the current 747-based Air Force One aircraft — remains under development through Boeing.
The new VC-25B jets are designed to replace the aging presidential aircraft that have been in service since 1990. The modernization program includes upgraded communications systems, enhanced security features, and defensive capabilities intended to ensure continuity of government under any circumstances.
A Longstanding Proposal
The idea of changing Air Force One’s paint scheme is not new. During his first term, President Trump proposed replacing the light blue design with a darker navy base and bold red striping. At the time, he described the existing color scheme as outdated and expressed interest in a look that he said better reflected American strength and tradition.
The updated red, white, and dark blue palette aligns more closely with the American flag and mirrors the aesthetic often seen in Trump-branded properties and campaign materials.
While the aircraft’s mission capabilities and security features remain the primary focus of the modernization effort, the visual redesign ensures that the presidential fleet will look noticeably different when the new planes enter service.
The repainting of the C-32 fleet is expected to be completed first, with the new VC-25B aircraft anticipated to enter service later this decade, pending continued testing and production milestones.
The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Former President Barack Obama responded to President Donald Trump‘s call to prosecute himself and others in a rare public statement on Tuesday.
Trump, earlier on Tuesday, claimed that former President Barack Obama was the “ringleader” of Russiagate, calling for him to be criminally investigated amid new claims that members of his administration allegedly “manufactured” intelligence that prompted the Trump–Russia collusion narrative.
“Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response,” Obama spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said in a statement. “But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one.”
“These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,” Obama’s spokesman continued. “Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes.”
He added: “These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio.”
Rodenbush’s statement on behalf of Obama comes after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard recently declassified documents revealing “overwhelming evidence” that claimed that after Trump won the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, then-President Obama and his national security team allegedly laid the groundwork for what would be the yearslong Trump–Russia collusion probe. (RELATED:Tulsi Gabbard Declassifies Treasonous Conspiracy By Obama Officials in Trump-Russia Probe)
The new documents name Obama, top officials on his National Security Council, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan, national security advisor Susan Rice, Secretary of State John Kerry, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, among others.
John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, delivers one of several briefings that President Barack Obama received on the attempted Times Square car bombing, in the Oval Office, May 3, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) [Photo Credit: The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons]
This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.
Gabbard, on Monday, sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department related to those findings. Department of Justice officials did not share further details on whom the criminal referral was for.
In the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump called for “severe consequences” for Obama.
Trump said:
The witch hunt that you should be talking about is they caught President Obama. What they did to this country in 2016, starting in 2016 but going up to 2020 of the election, they tried to rig the election and they got caught. There should be very severe consequences for that. When we caught Hillary Clinton, I said, you know what, let’s not go too far here. It’s the ex-wife of a president and I thought it was sort of terrible. I let her off the hook and I’m very happy I did. But it’s time to start — after what they did to me and whether it’s the right or wrong — it’s time to go after people. Obama has been caught directly.
As for Gabbard’s criminal referral, Trump was asked which specific figures should be under criminal investigation, to which he replied: “President Obama. He started it.”
“And Biden was there with him, and Comey was there, and Clapper, the whole group was there. Brennan. They were all there in the room right here. This is the room,” Trump said from the Oval Office Tuesday during a meeting with the president of the Philippines. “It was President Obama. It was lots of people all over the place.”
On Friday, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance revealed Donald Trump would more than likely appoint a Democrat to his Cabinet if he’s elected to the White House this November.
“We actually got a lot of great Democratic support, we just got RFK [Jr.], of course, Tulsi Gabbard, who endorsed the president in just the last couple of days,” Vance said Friday during an interview on “Fox and Friends,” referring to recent endorsements from Kennedy and Gabbard, the former House member from Hawaii who left the Democratic Party in 2022.
Vance’s comments came shortly after Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, said during her first sit-down interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Thursday that she would look to appoint a Republican to a Cabinet position if she wins the election.
“I think it’s important to have people at the table — when some of the most important decisions are being made — that have different views, different experiences,” Harris said, while not naming a specific individual. “And I think it would be to the benefit of the American public to have a member of my Cabinet who was a Republican.”
Vance, who Trump tapped to be his running mate in mid-July, argued Trump appeals to a variety of voters, even if they do not agree on all of his policy proposals.
“If you look at the Trump movement in 2024, it’s actually the common sense big tent movement in American politics,” Vance said. “We don’t agree on everything. Of course, not everybody who votes for Donald Trump is going to agree with every policy issue, but we agree on the basics.”
“We agree that American energy prices should be lower. We agree that we should be making more of our own stuff in the United States of America,” he continued. “We agree that we should close down the border and stop the flow of illegal drugs and trafficking into our country. It’s just the basic common sense stuff.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) introduced a bill Tuesday seeking to add President Trump’s face to the Mount Rushmore monument.
“His remarkable accomplishments for our country and the success he will continue to deliver deserve the highest recognition and honor on this iconic national monument,” Luna wrote in a Tuesday post on the social platform X.
“Let’s get carving!”
I've officially introduced legislation to put President Trump's face on Mount Rushmore.
His remarkable accomplishments for our country and the success he will continue to deliver deserve the highest recognition and honor on this iconic national monument. Let's get carving! pic.twitter.com/vfFuebuS7F
The Interior Department would be in charge of undertaking Trump’s addition to the South Dakota landmark if approved by Congress.
“Mount Rushmore, a timeless symbol of our nation’s freedom and strength, deserves to reflect his towering legacy—a legacy further solidified by the powerful start to his second term,” Luna shared in a separate statement.
“He will be forever remembered among the great like Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.”
Luna is not the first person to float the idea. Fox News contributors this week suggested adding Trump’s face to Mount Rushmore to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding, which is set for 2026.
“If you did, like, the 250th anniversary of the country at Mount Rushmore with President Trump’s face, it would be epic,” Kayleigh McEnany, Trump’s former press secretary, said this week on Fox News Channel’s “Outnumbered.”
