Casa Rosada (Argentina Presidency of the Nation), CC BY 2.5 AR via Wikimedia Commons
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday filed an emergency motion to block President Donald Trump’s deployment of Marines and National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to riots over his administration’s immigration enforcement.
“Trump is turning the U.S. military against American citizens. The courts must immediately block these illegal actions,” Newsom wrote on X.
NEW: I just filed an emergency motion to block Trump’s illegal deployment of Marines and National Guard in Los Angeles.
Trump is turning the U.S. military against American citizens.
Newsom and other Democratic officials have accused Trump of inciting violence by deploying troops over the objections of local officials.
The troops were deployed after protests over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operation in Los Angeles turned violent over the weekend. On Monday, California sued the Trump administration after the state’s National Guard was deployed, calling the move an “unprecedented power grab.”
The lawsuit said Trump “unlawfully bypassed” Newsom by putting National Guard troops under federal control without the governor’s permission
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
The New York City Police Department arrested about two dozen protesters at Manhattan’s Trump Tower who were demonstrating against the White House’s position on immigration policy on Monday.
The demonstrators chanted “Bring Them Back,” while they occupied the lobby of the building. They also read the names of the illegal immigrants who were deported to the CECOT maximum security prison in El Salvador.
Video shot by Fox News showed dozens of NYPD officers entering Trump Tower armed with plastic ties hanging from their belts.
Anti-ICE protests began to spread across the country on Monday in response to an eruption of violent protests across Los Angeles, which has now entered its fourth day.
Two dozen protesters went to Trump Tower to protest the illegal kidnappings and deportations of immigrants with due process. We are demanding the Trump regime halt these deportations and bring everyone home who was sent to CECOT. pic.twitter.com/20xnZXyEHi
Liberal protesters screaming in Trump Tower while NYPD quietly lines up the cuffs. Rise and Resist? More like Sit Down and Catch a Charge. 😏 pic.twitter.com/9XZ421LkjY
In another video, protesters sitting in a circle were warned to leave the building or face arrest. Once the officers approached the protesters, they were told they were subject to arrest.
Police then used plastic ties to detain two dozen protesters from the lobby of the building. The protesters were restrained and then escorted outside and placed into police vans.
President Donald Trump warned rioters in Los Angeles that his administration is “not playing around” as U.S. Marines prepare to deploy to the city Tuesday.
Trump made the statement during an exchange with reporters, adding that he had called California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday and criticized his handling of the riots.
“A day ago, I called him up to tell him got to do a better job. He’s done a bad job causing a lot of death and a lot of a lot of potential death,” Trump said of Newsom.
Attorney General Pam Bondi is accused of “serious professional misconduct” in a Florida Bar complaint.
According to a report from The Miami Herald, in the complaint the group alleges Bondi has breached ethical duties in her current role and that “serious professional misconduct that threatens the rule of law and the administration of justice” has been carried out by the attorney general, the Herald reported.
Bondi is from Florida and previously served as the Sunshine State’s first female attorney general. A “Pamela Jo Bondi” is listed as a member of the Florida Bar “in Good Standing.”
A few months ago, Democrats pressed Bondi amid her confirmation hearing over her ability to push back against Trump, who had repeatedly stated he would come for his enemies and that he has the “absolute right” to do what he wants with her department.
Bondi is also stated in the complaint to have “sought to compel Department of Justice lawyers to violate their ethical obligations under the guise of ‘zealous advocacy,’” according to the Herald.
In a statement, Justice Department chief of staff Chad Mizelle told the Herald that “the Florida Bar has twice rejected performative attempts by these out-of-state lawyers to weaponize the bar complaint process against AG Bondi.”
Bondi has faced an onslaught of criticism from Democrat lawmakers and progressive groups since being confirmed as the Trump administration’s Attorney General.
Last month, the Justice Department pointed out the leftist bias of the American Bar Association (ABA) and ordered that it will bo longer have access to non-public information, including bar records.
The ABA uses a ratings process in which their Standing Committee rates each nominee “Well Qualified,” “Qualified” or “Not Qualified.” “Unanimous committee ratings appear as a single rating. In other situations, the rating from the majority or substantial majority (2/3 or more of those voting) of the Committee is recorded first, followed by the rating or ratings of a minority of the Committee. The majority rating is the rating of the committee,” the ABA notes on its website.
“The ABA has a history of taking liberal positions on issues including abortion, the death penalty, same-sex marriage, affirmative action, and the Second Amendment,” National Review stated in 2019. “The organization’s ideological bias has long tainted its ratings of judicial nominees. An entire book on the subject was written as early as 1965, Joel B. Grossman’s Lawyers and Judges: The ABA and the Politics of Judicial Selection.”
Of the 15 members on the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary in 2019, five donated to Barack Obama’s campaign, three to that of Hillary Clinton, and none to the three Republican nominees between 2008-2016. Incredibly, the ABA gave a minority “Not Qualified” rating to iconic Judge Robert Bork and other conservative legal scholars, including Richard A. Posner, Edith H. Jones, and William H. Pryor, among others.
“For several decades, the American Bar Association has received special treatment and enjoyed special access to judicial nominees,” Bondi wrote in a letter to ABA President William Bay. “In some administrations, the ABA received notice of nominees before a nomination was announced to the public. Some administrations would even decide whether to nominate an individual based on a rating assigned by the ABA.”
Illegal Immigration in the United State via Wikimedia Commons
According to new reports, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller delivered a blunt ultimatum to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) leadership in mid-May: ramp up arrests to 3,000 per day or face personnel changes.
During a tense meeting at ICE headquarters in Washington, D.C., Miller reportedly warned that regional offices failing to meet the target would see their leadership replaced. Sources familiar with the meeting said Miller left no room for interpretation — improved numbers weren’t encouraged, they were mandatory. (RELATED: Legal Battle May Reveal Big Payouts Tied To Biden’s Border Policies)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, also in attendance, struck a more measured tone. Still, the message was clear, according to NBC News: immigration enforcement efforts must intensify and take precedence:
Misdemeanor cases for border crossings are regularly appearing in federal court, a rarity in recent years. Justice Department teams focused on other issues are being disbanded, with members being dispersed to teams focused on immigration and other administration priorities.
And prosecutors say cases without immigration components have stalled or are moving more slowly, according to documents seen by NBC News and conversations with six current and former prosecutors and a senior FBI official, who described how immigration is now a central part of discussions around whether to pursue cases.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
“Immigration status is now question No. 1 in terms of charging decisions,” an assistant U.S. attorney said. “Is this person a documented immigrant? Is this person an undocumented immigrant? Is this person a citizen? Are they somehow deportable? What is their immigration status? And the answer to that question is now largely driving our charging decisions.”
At least one U.S. attorney’s office abandoned a potential federal prosecution of someone who prosecutors felt was dangerous because the case against the person lacked an immigration component, an email obtained by NBC News showed. The office instead left the case to state prosecutors.
Mobilizing National Resources
Following the confrontation, ICE launched “Operation At Large,” a coast-to-coast initiative designed to supercharge apprehensions. The scale is unprecedented. Over 21,000 National Guard troops and 250 IRS agents have been folded into the effort, alongside thousands of ICE and federal law enforcement personnel. (RELATED: Police Case That Fueled 2020 Protests Returns To Supreme Court)
The operation’s reach has required coordination across agencies, pulling FBI and DOJ resources away from their usual focus areas and toward immigration-related priorities.
The Daily Mailhas more on Miller’s dramatic call to action:
He then reportedly gave them an open challenge and asked: ‘Why aren’t you at Home Depot? Why aren’t you at 7-Eleven?’
Miller further pushed, getting into what an official called a ‘p***ing contest,’ saying: ‘What do you mean you’re going after criminals?’
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
In a statement to the Examiner, ICE deputy assistant director of media affairs Laszlo Baksay said the descriptions were ‘inaccurate.’
However, the conservative-leaning outlet cited sources within ICE and DHS who claimed Miller’s remarks further eroded morale among rank-and-file agents, which was already low.
“He had nothing positive to say about anybody,” one official told the paper, describing the mood following Miller’s visit.
Another source painted a darker picture of the internal climate confronting ICE agents:
“They’ve been threatened, told they’re watching their emails and texts and Signals. That’s what is horrible about things right now. It’s a fearful environment. Everybody in leadership is afraid. There’s no morale. Everybody is demoralized.”
Despite the backlash, Miller defended the administration’s approach during an appearance with Sean Hannity, insisting the 3,000-arrest-per-day quota is only a temporary benchmark — and warning that agents should be prepared for that figure to rise.
Localized operations have revealed just how expansive the crackdown has become since Miller and Noem appeared at Potomac Center Plaza in Southwest D.C. Across the nation, agents have ramped up early-morning sweeps and workplace raids, often coordinated with minimal local notification. In Florida, a weeklong action labeled “Operation Tidal Wave” resulted in 1,120 arrests — the largest ICE enforcement action ever recorded in a single state.
Tennessee saw similar efforts, with 196 arrests in the Nashville area. The local response was sharply critical. Nashville’s mayor denounced the operation as out of step with the city’s values and implemented policies limiting cooperation with ICE. Republicans in Congress are now investigating whether the mayor’s office leaked information about ICE agents — a serious charge with national implications.
Focus on Career Criminals — But Collateral Arrests Are Rising
Officially, the crackdown targets individuals with criminal records or prior deportation orders. But internal ICE guidance reportedly encourages officers to make “collateral arrests” — detaining illegal immigrants encountered in the field, even if they weren’t the original target and have no criminal history.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/us_icegov/54295293536/in/photostream/, Creative Commons Attribution-Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal (CC BY-NC-SA 1.0)
The broader approach has raised legal and logistical concerns, as well as fears of potential overreach, according to immigrant advocacy groups.
Leadership Purge Signals Internal Pressure
It also hasn’t come without fallout inside ICE. Two senior officials — Kenneth Genalo and Robert Hammer — have been removed from their posts in recent weeks. Sources say the firings reflect internal friction over how aggressively to pursue the administration’s ambitious targets. They also serve as a warning to others who might be perceived as resistant to the push.
White House: Fulfilling the Mandate, Critics Question the Cost
The administration stands by the operation. Officials say it delivers on President Trump’s second-term promise: to secure the border and remove criminal illegal aliens.
Still, questions remain. Legal scholars are raising red flags over the breadth of federal involvement, and local-federal cooperation is growing more strained. As the operation continues, so does the debate — over strategy, law, and the real-world impact on communities nationwide.
White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre holds a press briefing on Friday, July 30, 2021, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Erin Scott)
A number of Biden-era officials were stunned that former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre revealed she has decided to abandon the Democrat Party despite serving under two administrations.
KJP’s revelation has been met with immense criticism from party insiders, including ex-Biden policy advisor Tim Wu who called the former press secretary “kinda dumb.”
In a blistering post that has now been deleted on X on Thursday, Wu wrote: “From WH policy staff perspective, the real problem with Karine Jean-Pierre was that she was kinda dumb. No interest in understanding harder topics. Just gave random incoherent answers on policy.”
Jean-Pierre, who served as former President Joe Biden’s press secretary for more than two years, revealed this week she is leaving the Democratic Party and releasing a memoir titled Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines. The book promises a scathing assessment of Biden’s final years in office, detailing what she calls “the betrayal by the Democratic Party” that led to his aborted re-election bid. (RELATED:Ex-Biden Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Announces Switch To Independent)
Jean-Pierre’s pivot, according to Axios, drew immediate backlash from those she previously worked with.
“One of the most ineffectual and unprepared people I’ve ever worked with,” one former colleague told the outlet. “She had meltdowns after any interview that asked about a topic not sent over by producers.”
One ex-official put it bluntly in conversation with Axios: “Today Karine lost the only constituency that ever supported her – party line Democrats.”
One White House reporter sarcastically called the project “amazing,” and suggested Jean-Pierre’s book won’t carry much weight.
“Did she find the manuscript somewhere in that fat binder she toted around? If I were a historian writing about the Biden White House, I wouldn’t ignore what Karine has to say, but it’s not an account in which much weight will be invested — just like her briefings,” the White House reporter told Fox News Digital.
A second White House reporter said they wouldn’t have even realized Jean-Pierre was in the news if Fox News Digital didn’t ask about it.
“She left the Democratic Party? I honestly didn’t see that story and probably wouldn’t have even noticed. I turned off my KJP Google Alert on Inauguration Day,” the reporter reacted, before joking, “Has anyone circled back with Jen Psaki?”
A third White House reporter was “shocked” that Jean-Pierre had left the Democratic Party.
“I have to pick my jaw up from the floor. It is unbelievable that she, of all people, would choose this path,” the reporter told Fox News Digital.
“Just take a look at her entire career and identity,” they said. “You can’t change who you are just because you check a different box on a registration form. It’s also disappointing to see that she would turn her back on her party just because it’s hit a really rough patch… it speaks to character.”
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
The world’s richest man just grounded his spacecraft assisting the International Space Station…
On Thursday afternoon, Elon Musk publicly endorsed a call for President Donald Trump’s impeachment. Responding to a post on his social media platform X by conservative commentator Ian Miles Cheong — who suggested Trump should be impeached and replaced by Vice President JD Vance — Musk replied with a succinct “yes,” signaling his agreement with the sentiment.
The world’s richest man and SpaceX CEO said his space exploration company will ground the spacecraft used to shuttle astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station.
In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately pic.twitter.com/NG9sijjkgW
This development marks a dramatic escalation in the rapidly intensifying conflict between Musk and Trump. The feud erupted after Musk criticized Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a $1.6 trillion spending package projected to add $3 trillion to the national deficit as a “disgusting abomination.” Musk also condemned the bill for slashing electric vehicle and solar incentives while preserving subsidies for oil and gas.
“This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” Musk added in a Tuesday afternoon post on X. “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk traded barbs and insults for hours Thursday, rupturing a relationship that had been one of the most consequential in modern American politics.
Trump suggested Musk was suffering from “Trump derangement syndrome” and that his opposition to Trump’s legislative agenda was because of the rollback of electric-vehicle tax credits in the measure. Musk, who spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help get Trump elected, said that Trump was ungrateful and wouldn’t be sitting in the Oval Office without his support.
The dispute sent Musk’s car maker Tesla to a market-value decline of around $152.4 billion, its biggest one-day slide on record.
The trigger for the public falling out has been Musk’s aggressive criticism of Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill,” which extends and expands tax cuts while also adding money for border enforcement and the military—partially offset by reductions in spending on Medicaid, food aid and clean-energy tax credits.
In retaliation, Trump labeled Musk as “crazy,” prompting Musk to accuse the president of suppressing the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related files, alleging that Trump’s name appears in the sealed documents.
As the situation continues to unfold, the political and economic ramifications of this high-profile feud remain to be seen.
On Friday morning, Fox News reported that Musk may speak with some of the President’s aides in an apparent effort to calm the growing feud between the two powerhouses.
A senior White House official told Fox News that Trump does not expect to speak to Musk today. However, White House aides told Doocy that Trump administration staffers might try to talk to Musk.
“No call scheduled or had. Musk wants a call. POTUS hasn’t made a decision,” a source familiar with the matter also told Fox News regarding a possible conversation between Trump and Musk.
Doocy also reported that a red Tesla vehicle that Trump bought during a Tesla demonstration on the South Lawn of the White House grounds earlier this year is now expected to be given away or sold off.
The vehicle with Florida tags, as of Friday, remains parked near the White House on West Executive Drive.
President Donald Trump took a victory lap, celebrating what he called a “major WIN” in his lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board over its 2018 award to The New York Times and The Washington Post for their coverage of the Russia probe.
The president declared the board’s defense was “viciously rejected” by a Florida appellate court, which denied its motion to pause proceedings until Trump leaves office.
Trump took to Truth Social to praise the decision and slam the reporting as “fake” and “malicious”:
BREAKING! In a major WIN in our powerful lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board regarding the illegal and defamatory “Award” of their once highly respected “Prize,” to fake, malicious stories on the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, by the Failing New York Times and the Washington Compost, the Florida Appellate Court viciously rejected the Defendants’ corrupt attempt to halt the case. They won a Pulitzer Prize for totally incorrect reporting about the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax. Now they admit it was a SCAM, never happened, and their reporting was totally wrong, in fact, the exact opposite of the TRUTH. They’ll have to give back their “Award.” They were awarded for false reporting, and we can’t let that happen in the United States of America. We are holding the Fake News Media responsible for their LIES to the American People, so we can, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
At the heart of the case is the board’s public defense of its Pulitzer-winning coverage. Trump sued for defamation in 2022, arguing that the board’s statements supporting the reporting – despite the Mueller probe finding no evidence of collusion – amounted to “malicious” and “false” claims.
Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled against the board’s attempt to delay the suit on constitutional grounds. Judges dismissed arguments that continuing the case would unconstitutionally interfere with a sitting president’s official duties, a line of attack the court called “misplaced.”
“Such privileges are afforded to the President alone, not to his litigation adversaries,” the opinion reads, adding that only the person entitled to immunity may assert it, and that Trump had made no such attempt.
The board had argued that allowing the case to proceed would violate due process, particularly since Trump himself has previously invoked presidential privilege to pause lawsuits against him.
The decision clears the way for the case to continue, allowing Trump to maintain pressure on the Pulitzer Board.
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell said he considered bringing one of his pillows to federal court to rebut a claim made by a Dominion Voting Systems attorney during his deposition.
Lindell is set to appear in Denver federal court this week as part of a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion. The company alleges Lindell defamed it by promoting false claims that Dominion machines helped rig the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump.
During an appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast over the weekend, Lindell recounted a previous exchange with Dominion’s legal team in which one of its attorneys allegedly called his pillows “lumpy.”
“I told my lawyers, maybe I should bring him one inside,” Lindell told Bannon, who made a pitch for his listeners to buy Lindell’s products to fund the legal defense.
Lindell told Bannon when he floated bringing a pillow to trial, his attorney said, “Mike, let’s not go there.”
The lawsuit against Lindell and MyPillow was filed in 2021. Dominion is seeking more than $1.3 billion in damages, alleging Lindell used his platform to spread baseless election conspiracy theories, which he also used to boost MyPillow sales.
The case is one of several filed by Dominion following the 2020 election, including a $787 million settlement reached with Fox News in 2023.
In court filings, Lindell has denied wrongdoing and argued that his statements were protected by the First Amendment. He has framed the case as a political attack and a fight for election integrity.
The CEO said the trial, which kicked off on Monday, is a rare instance of a defendant refusing to settle with Dominion.
“This is the first trial — everyone else has taken deals and they’re afraid,” he told Bannon.
An explosive new report from The New York Times revealed the disturbing frequency billionaire Elon Musk consumed illicit drugs while on the presidential campaign trail with Donald Trump.
The article comes as Musk is exiting the Trump administration after a whirlwind several months in which he led efforts to cut down on the government’s size.
Musk told people he was using ketamine so often that it was impacting his bladder, along with utilizing psychedelic mushrooms and taking ecstasy, the Times reported. The Times reporting included interviews with dozens of individuals Musk worked with or knew, along with obtaining private messages.
The tech executive, who was advising the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) panel on federal government cost-cutting measures, would travel every day with a box containing 20 pills, the Times said, citing individuals who have seen the box and the photo of it. Some of the pills were marked as Adderall.
Musk has publicly spoken about his mental health before, describing “great highs, terrible lows and unrelenting stress.” The tech billionaire has also refused the use of traditional antidepressants and said he was prescribed ketamine for depression, taking it “about every two weeks.”
According to the Times, some of Musk’s friends have severed ties with the tech billionaire over his public behavior.
“Elon has pushed the boundaries of his bad behavior more and more,” Philip Low, a neuroscientist, told The Times.
The Times also reports Musk received advance warning of employee drug tests at SpaceX, despite the company’s obligations as a federal contractor to maintain a drug-free workplace.
The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2024 that Musk has used cocaine, LSD, psychedelic mushrooms and ecstasy at private parties, prompting concerns from board members and executives at SpaceX and Tesla.
“After that one puff with Rogan, I agreed, at NASA’s request, to do 3 years of random drug testing,” Musk wrote in a social media post shortly after that article was published. “Not even trace quantities were found of any drugs or alcohol. @WSJ is not fit to line a parrot cage for bird.”
After that one puff with Rogan, I agreed, at NASA’s request, to do 3 years of random drug testing.
Not even trace quantities were found of any drugs or alcohol. @WSJ is not fit to line a parrot cage for bird 💩
The report comes after Musk announced Wednesday that he would be departing the White House as his 130-day period as a special government employee expires.
As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending.
The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.
A spokesperson for first lady Melania Trump shut down a “completely false” theory that her husband, the president, is warring with Harvard University because her son, Barron, was supposedly not accepted to the school.
The Palm Beach Post first reported that first lady spokesperson Nicholas Clemens said, “Barron did not apply to Harvard, and any assertion that he, or that anyone on his behalf, applied is completely false.”
This comes amid online rumors that President Donald Trump is targeting Harvard with federal funding cuts because Barron, who just finished his freshman year at New York University, was supposedly rejected by the school.
The Trump administration is asking all federal agencies to find ways to terminate all federal contracts with Harvard amid an ongoing standoff over foreign students’ records at the Ivy League school. Harvard has already sued in federal court seeking the restoration of about $3.2 billion in federal grant funding frozen by the administration since last month.
In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump accused Harvard of being “very antisemitic” and said he was considering giving the school’s federal funding to trade schools “all across our land.”
“What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!” he wrote.
In a letter Thursday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem informed Harvard’s leadership that the university had lost its “privilege” of enrolling foreign students as a result of the institution’s “refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security with pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ policies.”
Trump said this week that Harvard is being “very slow” to turn over information on foreign students.
“We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country,” Trump wrote.
“Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents, and probably for good reason!” he wrote. “The best thing Harvard has going for it is that they have shopped around and found the absolute best Judge (for them!) – But have no fear, the Government will, in the end, WIN!”
