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    Trump Backs Former Federal Prosecutor in Bid to Topple Letitia James

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    Alec Perkins from Hoboken, USA, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

    President Donald Trump is throwing his political weight behind Republican Saritha Komatireddy as she tries to unseat New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of his most persistent political and legal adversaries.

    In a Truth Social post Friday, Trump called it his “Great Honor” to endorse Komatireddy, whom he described as an “America First Patriot,” and said she had his “Complete and Total Endorsement” in the November election.

    Trump also unleashed a blistering attack on James and Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, declaring that New York had “gone to HELL” under their leadership. He branded James a “Complete and Total Disaster” and again accused her of pursuing a politically motivated “WITCH HUNT” against him.

    The president said Komatireddy would prioritize law and order, support police and first responders, protect election integrity, combat illegal immigration and defend the Second Amendment if elected.

    Komatireddy quickly welcomed the endorsement.

    “I was honored to be nominated to be a federal judge by the President in 2020 and I’m honored to receive his endorsement today,” she wrote on X. “I’m working hard to win the support of all New Yorkers and defeat Letitia James this November.”

    Trump announced his intent to nominate Komatireddy to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in 2020, although the Senate did not confirm her nomination. A Harvard College and Harvard Law School graduate, Komatireddy spent more than a decade as a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York and later served as chief of staff at the Drug Enforcement Administration. She previously clerked for then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

    Her prosecutorial record includes cases involving terrorism, cybercrime, narcotics trafficking, money laundering and foreign corruption. The Justice Department has credited her for work that helped secure convictions in cases involving an ISIS recruiter and Genaro García Luna, the former Mexican security official convicted of aiding the Sinaloa Cartel.

    A Feud Years in the Making

    Trump’s endorsement is especially personal because James has made legal action against him a defining part of her public profile.

    James campaigned for attorney general in 2018 as an outspoken Trump critic. Her office opened an investigation into the Trump Organization in 2020 after former Trump attorney Michael Cohen testified before Congress about the company’s financial practices. In 2022, James sued Trump, his company and several executives, alleging they had repeatedly inflated asset values on financial statements to secure more favorable terms from banks and insurers.

    After a civil trial, New York Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump and other defendants liable and imposed roughly $464.6 million in disgorgement and interest, along with business restrictions and independent oversight of the Trump Organization.

    Trump scored a major victory in August 2025 when a state appeals court vacated the entire financial award, concluding that the massive disgorgement order amounted to an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment. But the ruling did not erase the underlying judgment: the court otherwise affirmed the case, including findings that Trump and his company had submitted deceptive business records. Both sides moved to continue the fight in New York’s highest court, with Trump seeking to eliminate the remaining penalties and James seeking to restore the financial award.

    The feud later widened to include separate mortgage-fraud allegations against James. Federal prosecutors accused her of making false statements connected to a Virginia property, and a grand jury indicted her in October 2025 on bank-fraud and false-statement charges. James denied wrongdoing and described the prosecution as political retaliation.

    A federal judge dismissed the indictment the following month after ruling that the prosecutor who brought the case had been unlawfully appointed. Two grand juries subsequently declined to return a new indictment. As of August 2026, James is not under indictment, although Trump has continued to call for her prosecution.

    An Uphill Fight in Deep-Blue New York

    Komatireddy enters the general election with an extensive law-enforcement résumé but a significant name-recognition problem. A Siena University poll released Aug. 12 showed James leading 54% to 36% among likely voters. More than two-thirds of those surveyed said they had either never heard of Komatireddy or did not know enough about her to form an opinion.

    Trump’s endorsement could help Komatireddy consolidate Republican support and introduce her to voters across the state. It also ensures that a contest already centered on crime, public integrity and the power of the attorney general’s office will double as another referendum on the Trump-James rivalry.

    James, first elected in 2018 and now seeking a third term, remains the favorite. Komatireddy, however, is betting that voters frustrated by public safety concerns and politicized law enforcement will be willing to break with New York’s Democratic establishment.

    The general election is scheduled for Nov. 3.

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    Iran Defies Trump’s Bid to Claim Strait of Hormuz for America

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    Iran fired back at President Trump on Saturday after he declared his intention to make the Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory, insisting that Tehran alone will decide when the strategic waterway opens or closes.

    “The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X, according to an English translation published by The Hill.

    “This strait will only be closed and opened under Iran’s command,” he added.

    Gharibabadi said Iran would continue enforcing its blockade as long as the United States refused to accept what he called the “reality of defeat” and continued indulging in “delusions.”

    The response escalated a growing power struggle over one of the world’s most important shipping routes nearly six months into the conflict.

    Trump floated the extraordinary move during remarks at a police academy in New York on Friday.

    “Pretty soon, I will be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” Trump said.

    The president has repeatedly argued that America’s naval presence and blockade have already placed the strait under Washington’s operational control.

    “We have control over it. Nobody else. Only us,” Trump told reporters earlier in the week. “Our Navy is unbelievable, and things are going great for our country.”

    The White House previously quoted Trump making a similar declaration during a July interview with Fox & Friends.

    “Iran doesn’t control the Strait. We control the Strait,” Trump said, according to the White House summary.

    Trump claimed the U.S. blockade was powerful enough to determine which vessels could enter the passage. The administration has twice deployed the blockade during the conflict as it attempts to isolate Tehran and cut off Iranian shipping.

    The president, however, has not explained what legal mechanism he would use to designate the waterway as American territory. The strait is an internationally navigable passage bordered by Iran and Oman, with shipping lanes running through their territorial waters.

    The Guardian reported that it was unclear whether Trump’s statement represented a formal change in administration policy.

    Former U.S. diplomat Richard Haass has also challenged Trump’s assertion, arguing that no single country currently controls the strait.

    The collapse in vessel traffic has become a visible test of the competing claims.

    Only six ships traveled through the waterway last weekend, according to Kpler data cited by The Hill. Before the war began on Feb. 28, approximately 130 to 140 vessels crossed the strait each day.

    The disruption carries consequences far beyond the military confrontation.

    Before the conflict, roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas moved through the narrow passage. Its closure has disrupted global supplies, driven up energy prices and forced Middle Eastern producers to reduce output.

    The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in June that the strait remained “effectively closed.” The agency projected that Brent crude would average $105 per barrel in June and July as shipments remained limited and regional production declined.

    Diplomatic efforts have produced little sign of a breakthrough.

    Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that Tehran had not decided to resume direct talks with the United States. Messages exchanged through Qatar and Pakistan did not amount to formal negotiations, he said, according to Reuters reporting carried by The Guardian.

    Araghchi said Iran’s separate discussions with Oman were focused on establishing a possible shipping route through the strait.

    Tehran has continued to demand that Washington end its military campaign and blockade, lift sanctions, release frozen Iranian assets and compensate Iran for wartime damage before the waterway fully reopens.

    For now, Trump and Iran are locked in a high-stakes test of power, with both sides claiming control of the world’s most important oil chokepoint.

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    Trump White House Hit With Second Top Exit In 48 Hours

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1
    White House image via Wikimedia Commons

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    But the timing is impossible to ignore.

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

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

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

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

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    Hegseth Dismisses USS Lincoln Crisis As Sailors’ Families Demand Answers

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America - Pete Hegseth, CC BY-SA 2.0

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Families Describe Sailors Reaching a Breaking Point

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Navy Says Conditions Are Improving

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

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

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

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

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

    Congress Wants More Than Reassurances

    The reports have prompted congressional demands for a fuller accounting.

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

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

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

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

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

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    CNN Star Emerges as Surprise Favorite to Replace Karoline Leavitt

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    By Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America - Karoline Leavitt, CC BY-SA 2.0,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Jennings is not the only name reportedly under consideration.

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

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

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

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    White House Press Secretary Announces Resignation

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    By The White House - https://www.flickr.com/photos/202101414@N05/54325633746/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=159707159

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

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

    Trump shared the news on Truth Social:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Lindell loses—and questions the count

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Demuth immediately turned toward Democratic nominee Amy Klobuchar.

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

    Trump’s Wisconsin pick cruises

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Marques wins a pivotal Alabama nomination

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

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

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

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

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

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

    The bottom line

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

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

    Then there is Lindell.

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

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

    Tuesday proved it is not a guarantee.

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    Trump Smuggled Off Air Force One Amid Reported Iranian Missile Plot

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    President Donald Trump answers questions from members of the media aboard Air Force One en route to Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, for a rally on the economy, Tuesday, December 9, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

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

    Then he vanished.

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

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

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

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

    A Presidential-Scale Decoy

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

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

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

    They had unknowingly become part of the decoy.

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

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

    The Iran Threat Behind the Ruse

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

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

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

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

    The Disappearing Act Continued

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

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

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

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

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

    Questions Surround Trump’s New Jet

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

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

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

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

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

    Officials Furious Over Security Leak

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

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

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

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

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    MTG Slams Door On Tucker 2028 Buzz After Fueling It Herself

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Marjorie Taylor Greene is pulling the plug on the Tucker 2028 hype — just months after helping light the fuse.

    The former Georgia congresswoman says Tucker Carlson is not plotting a third-party White House run, despite a viral summit of Trump-world defectors and a manifesto-style speech that sent speculation into overdrive.

    “Tucker, he’s not running for president,” Greene told POLITICO Playbook over the weekend, according to The Hill. “He said that publicly. He said that privately.”

    Greene also ruled herself out of the 2028 sweepstakes, insisting the group’s fight is bigger than landing one of its members in the Oval Office.

    “Our argument is the two-party system is a complete and total failure,” she said. “I am 100 percent totally completely disgusted with both parties.”

    That is a striking change in tone from March, when Greene loudly floated Carlson as Trump’s successor — and even suggested the former Fox News star could beat the president if Trump tried to seek an unconstitutional third term. (RELATED: Marjorie Taylor Greene Floats New ‘America-First’ Party, Says Tucker Carlson Could Upend 2028)

    “I SUPPORT TUCKER,” Greene wrote at the time, adding that Carlson “would beat Trump” in that hypothetical showdown, Axios reported.

    Now she is slamming the brakes.

    The fresh frenzy began with a photo from Carlson’s cabin in Maine showing Greene, Carlson, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and former Trump counterterrorism chief Joe Kent gathered around a wooden table.

    Greene accused Trump of betraying voters who backed his promise to avoid new foreign wars and declared: “The movement has begun.” Carlson later shared her post and called for “a new path forward,” according to WIRED.

    Kent then poured gasoline on the 2028 chatter, revealing that members of the group had urged Carlson to run. But he also acknowledged that Carlson had repeatedly told them no.

    That resistance is not new. Carlson has pushed back on presidential speculation for years, and he drew an explicit line between building a political alternative and becoming its candidate in a July interview with the Columbia Journalism Review.

    Carlson predicted that “there’s going to be a third party” and said he intended to help build it. Asked whether he would run on its ticket, he answered: “I don’t want to be a candidate.” CJR reported.

    The distinction matters.

    Greene is denying a Tucker Carlson campaign. She is not denying the push to create a new political force outside the Republican and Democratic parties.

    As GAND previously reported, Carlson gave that effort an ideological spine last week when he unveiled a 10-point vision of what America “should be.” The former Fox host stopped short of announcing a campaign or launching a party, presenting the plan instead as the foundation for “whatever comes next,” Axios reported. (RELATED: Tucker Carlson Unveils 10-Point Blueprint As Revolt Against Trump Deepens)

    His agenda called for equal treatment under the law, a revival of American manufacturing and farming, tougher restrictions on immigration, greater government transparency and an end to foreign entanglements. It also placed the Jeffrey Epstein saga at the center of Carlson’s case that powerful elites operate by a different set of rules.

    Carlson’s transformation from Trump ally to MAGA dissident has been driven largely by two explosive disputes: the war in Iran and the administration’s handling of the Epstein files.

    The media personality said he personally urged Trump not to enter a regime-change conflict with Tehran and visited the White House three times before the war. Once fighting began, Carlson said he stopped speaking to the president and accused him of abandoning the anti-war promise at the heart of “America First.”

    Trump fired back in March, saying Carlson had “lost his way” and was no longer MAGA. Carlson later told CJR that Trump was “not a man in charge of his own life” — a brutal assessment from a commentator who was once among the most influential voices in the president’s political orbit.

    The feud widened over Epstein. Carlson has accused the administration of withholding key information and protecting a powerful class from scrutiny. Greene and Massie also became prominent critics of the government’s handling of the files.

    That shared anger — over war, foreign influence and elite impunity — is now binding together a loose coalition of former Trump loyalists looking beyond the GOP.

    Greene’s latest comments settle one question, at least for now: Tucker Carlson is not running for president.

    But the political rebellion gathering around him does not seem to be going away.

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    DOJ Says Byron Donalds Is Not Under Federal Investigation, Rejecting Rival’s Claim

    By
    Seijah Drake
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    Byron Donalds via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    The Department of Justice publicly denied that Rep. Byron Donalds is under federal investigation, directly contradicting explosive allegations made by one of his Republican rivals in the Florida governor’s race.

    The announcement came after gubernatorial candidate James Fishback claimed Donalds was being investigated for “federal sex trafficking” in connection with scandal-plagued Rep. Cory Mills.

    “Falsely accusing someone of being under investigation is a dangerous form of weaponization,” the DOJ’s Rapid Response account wrote on X. “This claim is not true. Congressman Byron Donalds is not under investigation.”

    Fishback Claimed Whistleblower Came Forward

    Fishback said last week that a whistleblower had approached his campaign with information he alleged implicated Donalds in criminal wrongdoing.

    He publicly tied those claims to Mills and alleged that Donalds was the subject of a federal sex-trafficking investigation.

    Donalds’ campaign immediately rejected the accusations as “completely false,” according to Florida Politics.

    Fishback has not shared evidence establishing that Donalds is under federal investigation.

    Rare DOJ Intervention

    The DOJ’s decision to address the accusation publicly is notable because federal law enforcement agencies often decline to confirm or deny the existence of investigations.

    That raises the stakes for Fishback, whose campaign is now facing questions over why it promoted such a serious allegation seemingly without publicly verifiable evidence.

    Donalds Remains Clear Frontrunner

    Donalds, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, remains the dominant candidate in the Republican gubernatorial primary.

    Recent polling reported by Florida Politics has shown him ahead by roughly 30 points, reinforcing his status as the race’s clear frontrunner.

    Donalds has also benefited from strong name recognition after serving in Congress and becoming one of Trump’s more prominent allies on Capitol Hill.

    Stakes Rise in Florida GOP Primary

    Fishback has attempted to break through Donalds’ substantial polling advantage with increasingly sensational attacks, while Donalds’ campaign has portrayed his rival as reckless and dishonest.

    The Justice Department’s categorical denial could become a major issue in the primary if Fishback is unable to substantiate his claims.

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