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George Santos Announces Primary Challenge

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Ex-Congressman George Santos (R-Ny.) is reportedly planning a political comeback.

Less than a year after being expelled from Congress, Santos says he plans to mount a primary challenge against Nick LaLota (R).

During his visit to the Capitol for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, Santos announced on Twitter, that he would challenge LaLota of New York’s 1st Congressional District, on Long Island.

“Tonight, I want to announce that I will be returning to the arena of politics and challenging Nick [LaLota] for the battle over #NY1,” Santos wrote on Twitter during Biden’s address. “I look forward to debating him on the issues and on his weak record as a Republican. The fight for our majority is imperative for the survival of the country.”

“New York hasn’t had a real conservative represent them since I left office arbitrarily, thanks to RINO, empty suits like @nicklalota. He is willing to risk the future of our majority and the future of this country for his own political gain,” Santos wrote.

“God bless you all, and we are off to the races!” Santos concluded.

“To raise the standard in Congress, and to hold a pathological liar who stole an election accountable, I led the charge to expel George Santos. If finishing the job requires beating him in a primary, count me in,” LaLota told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Santos was expelled from the House of Representatives on Dec. 1 after being indicted on multiple felony counts related to alleged campaign finance crimes, following which the House Select Committee on Ethics produced a report corroborating the indictment’s allegations. 

Leak Reveals Trump Planning ‘Mic-Drop’ Showdown With Media At WHCA Dinner

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WASHINGTON — A leaked report indicates President Donald Trump is preparing a high-profile confrontation with the press at this weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, signaling a return to direct engagement after years of boycotting the event.

According to the report, Trump plans to deliver a sharply critical speech targeting media outlets he believes have treated his administration unfairly — particularly coverage of the ongoing Iran conflict — before making a quick exit from the event.

Planned ‘Mic-Drop’ Moment

Sources familiar with the plan say Trump intends to use the traditionally lighthearted dinner as a platform for a more combative message, aimed at what he has frequently described as hostile or biased coverage.

The strategy reportedly includes:

  • Direct criticism of specific outlets
  • A short, pointed address rather than a traditional speech
  • Leaving immediately afterward — before awards and entertainment begin

That approach would break with longstanding tradition, where presidents typically remain for the full program and participate in a comedic back-and-forth with the press.

Timing and Optics

The reported plan comes as tensions between the administration and the media remain elevated, particularly over coverage of military operations involving Iran.

Trump has long accused broad swaths of the press of unfair reporting, while journalists have defended their coverage as part of standard scrutiny of government actions.

His expected appearance would mark his first attendance at the annual dinner as president after previously skipping it during both terms.

Breaking With Tradition

The WHCA dinner has historically served as a symbolic — if sometimes tense — moment of interaction between the presidency and the press corps.

In recent years, the event has evolved:

  • Comedians, once a staple, have been replaced or scaled back
  • The tone has shifted away from direct political roasting
  • Attendance by presidents has become less consistent

This year’s program reportedly features a mentalist rather than a comedian, reflecting efforts to avoid controversy tied to past appearances.

Political Context

The planned speech also carries broader political implications.

A direct confrontation with the media — especially in a high-visibility setting — could energize supporters who view press coverage as adversarial, while further straining relations with journalists already at odds with the administration.

What Comes Next

It remains unclear whether Trump will follow through exactly as outlined in the leaked plan.

But if he does, the dinner could shift from a ceremonial event into a high-stakes political moment — one likely to reverberate beyond a single evening in Washington.

READ NEXT: Watch: Lefty Media Star Makes Disgusting Comments About Atrocities

Latino District Flips To Trump As Democrats Confess ‘Massive Shift’ On Border Policy

Some Democrats are finally acknowledging they need to course correct on their immigration stance.

A new report from The New York Times revealed some leading Democrat lawmakers have admitted that open borders and immigration are costing the party and

“When you have the most Latino district in the country outside of Puerto Rico vote for Trump, that should be a wake-up call for the Democratic Party,” said Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas).

The report highlighted that Gonzalez witnessed President Donald Trump “win every county in his district along the border with Mexico.” Gonzalez’s 34th district in Texas has swung dramatically from voting heavily Democratic in recent presidential elections to going in favor of Trump in 2024.

“This is a Democratic district that’s been blue for over a century,” Gonzalez told the Times.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said the Democrat Party “got led astray by the 2016 and the 2020 elections, and we just never moved back.” 

“We looked feckless, we weren’t decisive, we weren’t listening to voters, and the voters decided that we weren’t in the right when it comes to what was happening with the border,” Gallego told the Times. 

In May, Gallego released a border security plan that would speed up asylum seekers’ claims and make other countries do their “fair share” in receiving asylum seekers, as well as take action against cartel violence.

The New York Times reported that various Democrats “are pushing for a course correction they see as overdue,” noting a new proposal from the Democratic policy shop and left-wing think tank Center for American Progress. The organization is calling for expanding legal immigration but also for ramping up border security and clamping down on abuse of the nation’s asylum system, the latter two of which are longtime Republican priorities.

Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, admitted to the Times that Democrats will have to adopt some level of border security policy.

“I’m happy to argue with Stephen Miller or anyone else about why they are wrong,” Tanden told the New York Times. “But the way we’re going to be able to do that is to also honestly assess that the border has been too insecure, that it allowed too many people to come through and that we need to fix that.”

The Trump administration has ramped up efforts to deport illegal immigrants as well as increase security at the U.S. border. The administration’s efforts have been criticized by progressives and violent anti-ICE protests recently prompted Trump to deploy the National Guard to California.

Trump Drops Unexpected New VP Shortlist

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Some new names and faces…

Former President Donald Trump floated a list of four names for VP that to much surprise did not include Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) or Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) who have been loyal Trump supporters.

However, in an exclusive post-rally interview with News 12 New Jersey’s Tara Rosenblum at Crotona Park in the Bronx, Trump didn’t have either of them on his mind.

When Rosenblum pushed Trump to “make news” and name some names, Trump initially said he didn’t want to — then dropped four names a few seconds later that included one Black candidate who isn’t Scott or Donalds and one Hispanic candidate who mocked Trump’s penis size in 2016:

TARA ROSENBLUM: So if not Nikki, then who? Let’s make some news tonight. You and I, for your hometown TV station. Share with me. Share with me your top three candidates for your running mate at this point.

DONALD TRUMP: Well, we have so many. I don’t want to do that, but we have so many. You could take people like Ben Carson. You could take people like Marco Rubio, JD Vance.

I mean, there are so many. Elise is doing a fantastic job here. But but I could go on for quite a long time. We have many people that would do a really fantastic job.

TARA ROSENBLUM: Do you have a timeline on when you’ll make the decision?

DONALD TRUMP: Sometime during the convention?

Ukranian President Accuses Ex-Fox News Personality Of Colluding With Russia

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused conservative commentator Tucker Carlson of working with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

Responding to Carlson’s own appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored – during which he criticized Zelensky for his persecution of political opponents and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – the Ukrainian president claimed, “Regrettably, this blogger or journalist, whatever he wants to call him, he unfortunately fully repeats words of the Putin.”

“It seems to me that to this journalist, I do not remember his surname. Excuse me, Tucker. Yes, Tucker, his name, but it seems to me he needs to more deeply understand what’s happening in Ukraine,” Zelensky said during an appearance on pundit Piers Morgan’s program. “Just stop working for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”

Carlson, Zelensky said, knows better.

“When he simply says something, you know, just throwing the words,” the Ukrainian leader said. “Has he for one time in his lifetime lost his close ones? I wish to his family, I do not know his family, I wish them peace and no losses, but one must have his own opinion and understand that he probably influences many people. He’s simply disinforming them, misinforming the people.”

Watch:

Carlson, a former Fox News host, recently launched his own media company and used an interview and commentary style internet show to feature conversations with newsmakers and other public figures.

Last year, Carlson published an extensive interview with Putin, during which the Russian leader defended his invasion of Ukraine. (RELATED: Tucker Carlson Confirms Vladimir Putin Interview)

During his appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Zelensky also claimed he had been invited to President Donald Trump’s inauguration but decided not to go.

“President Trump invited me to his inauguration, but he invited me in very general terms, as maybe other leaders,” he said. “I think that it was simply not very appropriate for me to come. He wouldn’t have time for [a] personal meeting.”

Trump Declares Biden Autopen Pardons ‘Void’

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The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Monday morning, President Trump said he plans to void all the last-minute pardons former President Joe Biden made using autopen.

“The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,” Trump posted on Truth Social early Monday morning.

“In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!” he said of the oldest-ever president and concerned at his age-related mental abilities at 82.

The 47th president also alleged that the pardons were not “approved” by his predecessor.

“The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden,” he wrote. “He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime.”

Trump also warned that members of the former Jan. 6 House select committee who Biden issued pardons would be “subject to investigation at the highest level.”

“Therefore, those on the Unselect Committee, who destroyed and deleted ALL evidence obtained during their two year Witch Hunt of me, and many other innocent people, should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level,” Trump wrote Monday.

“The fact is, they were probably responsible for the Documents that were signed on their behalf without the knowledge or consent of the Worst President in the History of our Country, Crooked Joe Biden!”

Biden preemptively pardoned all nine members of the Jan. 6 Committee, including the two leaders — Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and then-Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) who later pledged to vote for then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2025 election,

On the last day of his presidency, Biden issued a string of 11th-hour pardons, including preemptive pardons to Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Trump was outraged after Biden issued the preemptive pardons, blasting the move as “disgraceful” and saying, “Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES!”

Despite Trump’s threat, it’s unclear whether any court will take steps to void Biden’s pardons over the autopen claims.

Last week, The New York Post reported that Missouri’s Attorney General Andrew Bailey suggested that dozens of executive orders signed by former President Biden were authorized with identical autopen signatures, and “if true, these executive orders, pardons, and all other actions are unconstitutional and legally void.”

“I am demanding the DOJ investigate whether President Biden’s cognitive decline allowed unelected staff to push through radical policy without his knowing approval,” Bailey said.

Nikki Haley Reveals New Timeline for 2024 Decision

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The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is taking some time to mull her options before making any hasty decisions about 2024.

Haley, who served as Ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration, has been named a potential contender to seek the 2024 Republican presidential nomination but says no final decision will come until after the holidays, according to The Hill.

“We are taking the holidays to kind of look at what the situation is,” the former South Carolina governor said at an event at Clemson University. “If we decide to get into it, we’ll put 1,000 percent in, and we’ll finish it.”

“A lot of people have asked if I’m going to run for president. Now that the midterms are over, I’ll look at it in a serious way, and I’ll have more to say soon,” Hayley said at a Las Vegas meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition earlier this month.

“For now, I’ll say this. I’ve won tough primaries and tough general elections. I’ve been the underdog every single time. When people underestimate me, it’s always fun,” she added. “But I’ve never lost an election. And I’m not going to start now.”

Earlier this fall, Haley told reporters that she would not launch her own bid for the White House if Donald Trump runs for president in 2024 but it seems she’s reconsidering.

Trump announced his own bid for the presidency earlier this month but has been met with a lukewarm response from high-profile Republicans- and donors.

Veteran Republican strategist John Thomas, who backed Trump during the 2016 and 2020 elections, recently told The Washington Examiner that he will not be supporting Trump a third time saying the bombastic Republican isn’t a viable candidate to defeat Democrats and take back the White House.

Thomas recently created the Ron to the Rescue super PAC and says he’s committed to spending at least $50 million in the next six to 12 months to ensure the governor earns the GOP nomination over Trump. However, DeSantis has not even announced his presidential campaign.

“The problem is, for Trump, is he needed to announce and pretty much steamroll everybody. He needed all the donors to capitulate his way. He needed all the party leaders to come his way, and while he’s had some success, it’s not been unanimous, and he needed it to almost be unanimous because the cracks that are appearing are going to turn into canyons very soon,” he explained. “He’s going to be constantly trying to, like, plug these leaks. I think his legal challenges, whether they have merit or not, I would think are going to turn his operation into more of a sclerotic beast.”

“I still like the guy. I just think he should move from a party leader to a party elder. That’s kind of the nuanced dynamic here that I want to make sure it’s not lost in the media, and also voters are reminded that it’s OK to vote for somebody else. It doesn’t mean you don’t like Trump,” Thomas continued. “I think at the end of the day, particularly primary voters want to get excited about their nominee, but it really is a sport about winning. If you don’t win, you can’t enact your legislative agenda. It’s not just about rallies and having a good time. It’s about winning, and Trump has kind of called into question at best his ability to do that anymore.”

Trump Names Florida Republican To Be Next U.S. Attorney General

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On Wednesday, president-elect Donald Trump officially nominated Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to be the next Attorney General.

Read the full statement:

It is my Great Honor to announce that Congressman Matt Gaetz, of Florida, is hereby nominated to be The Attorney General of the United States. Matt is a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law, who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice. Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System. Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department. On the House Judiciary Committee, which performs oversight of DOJ, Matt played a key role in defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, and exposing alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Weaponization. He is a Champion for the Constitution and the Rule of Law. Matt will root out the systemic corruption at DOJ, and return the Department to its true mission of fighting Crime, and upholding our Democracy and Constitution. We must have Honesty, Integrity, and Transparency at DOJ. Under Matt’s leadership, all Americans will be proud of the Department of Justice once again.

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

Democrat Donors Boost Trump-Backed Challenger To Oust Rep. Thomas Massie

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Political representation of parties making money

A growing share of high-dollar political donors with histories of supporting Democratic candidates are now backing Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL and primary challenger to Republican Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District.

Gallrein, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, is positioning himself as a MAGA-aligned alternative to Massie—one of the most independent-minded Republicans in Congress and a frequent critic of party leadership, including Trump at times.

Trump has made unseating Massie a priority, previously signaling he would support a primary challenger after clashes with the Kentucky congressman over key votes and strategy. Gallrein has emerged as that candidate.

However, campaign finance records reviewed by the Daily Caller raise questions about the ideological makeup of Gallrein’s donor base.

According to Federal Election Commission filings, 85% of donors who contributed the maximum allowable amount to Gallrein’s campaign have previously donated to Democratic candidates. Of the 141 donors identified in the fourth quarter who gave at least $3,500, 120 had prior histories of donating to Democrats.

Additionally, 112 of those donors—roughly 79%—are considered high-dollar contributors to Democratic campaigns, suggesting a significant overlap between Gallrein’s financial support and traditional Democratic donor networks.

The findings stand in contrast to Gallrein’s public claims about his fundraising.

“Let me give you an example: my money is coming from conservatives — not from the same people who got Mamdani elected,” Gallrein said during a Feb. 25 appearance on Hugh Hewitt’s show.

“I’ve challenged journalists to look into where his funding is coming from — there’s a Pulitzer Prize waiting for whoever does that research,” Gallrein said. “The sentiment right now is like a pressure valve being released. There’s finally a viable candidate, and it’s a one-on-one race — not a split field he’s benefited from in the past. And his money isn’t coming from Kentucky.”

When asked about the apparent discrepancy, the Gallrein campaign dismissed the criticism.

“Honestly, we find that question is ridiculous. Thomas Massie is bankrolled by Obama donors, Kamala donors, Hillary donors, and even Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar donors. You should be asking him about that,” a campaign spokesperson told the Caller.

“President Trump endorsed Ed Gallrein because he’s the MAGA conservative in this race. There is a reason the ladies of View [sic] love Massie. Maybe ask Massie’s best friend, socialist Ro Khanna, about who is the conservative in this race,” the spokesperson added.

Among Gallrein’s contributors is Adam Offenhartz, who made an in-kind donation to the campaign and has previously supported both former Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 campaign and President Joe Biden’s 2020 bid.

The race is shaping up as a high-profile proxy battle within the Republican Party, while drawing in an unexpected mix of donors from across the political spectrum.

Report: SCOTUS Rejects Kari Lake’s Voting Machine Suit

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Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Republicans Kari Lake and Mark Finchem’s lawsuit over the use of voting machines in Arizona elections.

The Hill reports Lake and Finchem asked the Supreme Court to review a federal appellate judge’s decision to dismiss their case last October. The suit sought to block electronic voting machines from being used in the state, questioning their accuracy and reliability.  

Lawyers for Lake, who is running for a Senate seat in Arizona this cycle, and Finchem, who is seeking a state Senate seat, argued in a court filing to the Supreme Court that they had sufficiently argued that “[a]ll Arizona-certified optical scanners and ballot marking devices, as well as the software on which they rely, have been wrongly certified for use”; Arizona’s voting machines had been “hacked” and “manipulated”; and that there were apparent discrepancies in the Maricopa County’s vote count after the 2020 election. 

The lawsuit was filed ahead of the November 2022 midterms while Lake was running for governor.

The Supreme Court’s decision to decline to revisit the federal court’s decision puts a cap on Lake’s and Finchem’s lawsuit.

“We are obviously disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to review the decisions of the Arizona district court and the Ninth Circuit, and order that our challenge to the 2022 election procedures be heard on the merits,” said Kurt Olsen, one of the attorneys that sought to get the Supreme Court to consider the case, in a statement, who argued new information came to light after their case was dismissed by the  circuit court. 

“Although the Supreme Court grants review in less than 1 percent of cases presented on petition, we believe we presented a case.”

“The Kari Lake and Mark Finchem case was dismissed based on a purported lack of standing to assert an injury,” Olsen wrote. “Therefore, the courts, even now, have not ruled on the merits of our case. We will continue to raise these issues especially in light of the upcoming 2024 election.”