The Justice Department (DOJ) says it has thwarted an Iranian plot to kill President-elect Donald Trump in the leadup to the election.ย
A criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York alleges that an unnamed official in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard instructed a contact to put together a plan to surveil and ultimately kill President-elect Trump.ย
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This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
President-electย Donald Trumpโsย transition team has reportedly been drafting a list of alternative nominees for Defense Secretary in case Trump rethinks his choice of,ย Fox & Friendsย Weekendย co-hostย Pete Hegseth.
According to Vanity Fair, which spoke to two unnamed Republican sources โclose to Trump,โ the president-electโs transition team has been โquietly preparing a list of alternative defense secretary candidates should Trump abandon Hegseth,โ following news of a 2017 sexual assault allegation.
โItโs becoming a real possibility,โ claimed one of the sources. The other source said, โPeople are upset about the distraction. The general feeling is Pete hasnโt been honest.โ
Shortly after Trump announced his decision to nominate Hegseth for secretary of defense this month, the Trump transition team was informed about a 2020 payment Hegseth reportedly made to a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her at a hotel and spa in 2017.
In a statement, Hegsethโs lawyerย Timothy Parlatoreย insisted, โMr. Hegseth is completely innocent. Not only did she take advantage of him, but we believe she then extorted him knowing that at the height of the #MeToo movement the mere public allegation would likely result in his immediate termination from Fox News.โ
The New York Times reported last week that Trump had โnot moved off supporting Mr. Hegseth, despite claims that his team was reassessing the pick, according to several people close to the incoming president.โ
Hegsethโs nominationย took Senate Republicans by surprise.
Asked for his thoughts on theย nomination, Sen.ย Tommy Tubervilleย (R-AL) reportedlyย remarked, โReally? Iโd have to think about it.โ
Sen.ย Lisa Murkowskiย (R-AK)ย reacted, โWowโฆ Iโm just surprised because the names that Iโve heard for Secretary of Defense have not included him,โ while Sen.ย Bill Cassidyย (R-LA) asked, โWho?โ
Sen.ย Ted Buddย (R-NC) was more optimistic about the nomination, calling Hegseth โan impressive individual.โ
PHOENIX โ Erika Kirk, the chief executive of Turning Point USA and the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, formally endorsed Vice President JD Vance for president in 2028 on Thursday, offering an early show of support that drew sustained applause at the groupโs AmericaFest conference.
Kirkโs remarks, delivered before a packed ballroom of activists and donors, marked one of the earliest high-profile endorsements of the post-Trump era, signaling that influential conservative organizations are already looking ahead, years before that period formally begins.
Framing her endorsement as part of a broader political plan, Kirk said Turning Point USA is focused less on individual races and more on reshaping the electoral map.
โFor both 2026 and 2028, weโre investing in states and not just in races,โ Kirk said. โSo what I mean by that is we are building the red wall โ Arizona, Nevada, New Hampshire. Thatโs going to be very important to us.โ
She stressed that the immediate goal remains protecting Republican majorities in Congress to support President Donald Trumpโs second-term agenda.
โWeโre going to ensure that President Trump has Congress for all four years,โ she said.
Kirkโs most forceful moment came when she turned directly to the next presidential cycle.
โWe are going to get my husbandโs friend, JD Vance, elected for โ28 in the most resounding way possible,โ she said, drawing cheers and a standing ovation from much of the crowd.
The endorsement is notable for its timing. With nearly three years to go before the next presidential election, few Republican leaders have been willing to publicly line up behind a successor.
Vance has not announced a presidential campaign and has repeatedly said his attention remains on his role as vice president.
In an interview last month with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Vance acknowledged he has thought about what comes next, but said he avoids dwelling on it.
โIโve thought about what that moment might look like after the midterm elections, sure,โ Vance said. โBut whenever I think about that, I try to put it out of my head and remind myself the American people elected me to do a job right now.โ
He warned that premature ambition can be counterproductive.
โIf you start getting distracted and focus on what comes next, I think it actually makes you worse at the job that you have,โ Vance said.
For now, he said, the administrationโs political focus is straightforward.
โAnd then after that, Iโm going to sit down with the president of the United States and talk to him about it,โ Vance said.
Kirkโs endorsement comes as early maneuvering intensifies within the Republican Party. Vance is widely viewed as a top-tier contender, but he is far from alone.
Other Republicans frequently mentioned as possible 2028 candidates include:
At the same AmericaFest gathering, ideological tensions within the conservative movement were also on display. Media figures Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson took public shots at one another, reflecting broader disagreements over the direction of the right and Carlsonโs past platforming of far-right figures, like white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
Still, Kirkโs remarks underscore the influence of Turning Point USA and its ability to mobilize young activists, donors, and grassroots organizers nationwide.
With the 2026 midterms looming and 2028 already on the minds of key players, her endorsement serves as an early marker of where some of the conservative movement hopes to go next โ and a sign that JD Vance is already being positioned as a central figure in the GOPโs future.
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Since the weekend, a number of officials and media personalities, including Fox News hosts, have called on former President Donald Trump to call for an “end to the violent rhetoric” expressed against the FBI. (RELATED: Gunman Killed After Trying to Enter FBI Building)
On Monday morning’s episode of “Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy said Trump, “a great supporter of law enforcement” should help tamp down on the rhetoric “against the FBI because the FBI was simply doing what the DOJ asked them to do.”
Co-hosts Brian Kilmeade and Ainsley Earhardt called out the FBI, echoing the widely held belief about the Bureau’s current political biases, but they also condemned any violence and threats of violence with Earhardt saying “no one is for the violence of FBI agents.”
Doocy in turn recommended that people frustrated by alleged hypocrisy between the treatment of Republicans and Democrats by federal law enforcement recognize that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland was the man behind the Mar-a-Lago search warrant. (RELATED: Judge Unseals Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant โ Trump Under Criminal Investigation)
Hours after the “Fox & Friends” trio issued a call for cooler heads to prevail, former President Trump told Fox News’ Brooke Singman he “will do whatever” he can to “help the country” and bring the temperature down or “terrible things are going to happen.”
The Daily Wire reports:
โPeople are so angry at what is taking place,โ Trump told Fox News Digital. โWhatever we can do to helpโbecause the temperature has to be brought down in the country. If it isnโt, terrible things are going to happen.โ
Trump referenced the โyears of fake witch hunts and phony Russia, Russia, Russia schemes and scams,โ emphasizing that โnothing happens to those people who perpetuate thatโnothing happens with them.โ
He added: โAnd then they break into a presidentโs houseโa sneak attack where it was totallyโno one ever thought a thing like this would happen.โ
Trump also said he told the DOJ he would do whatever he could to help. It is not immediately clear what kind of help Trump offered the DOJ, and the former presidentโs team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Before the DOJ’s warrant was unsealed, Trump used an intermediary to deliver a similar message to Attorney General Garland, saying according to a person with firsthand knowledge that “The country is on fire. What can I do to reduce the heat?”
According to Business Insider, it’s unclear if the message ever reached Garland.
The attempt to deliver the message preceded Garland’s Thursday press conference where he announced DOJ’s decision to unseal the search warrant. Trump had previously demanded the search warrant be released, even though he had a copy of it and the ability to do so himself.
Around the same time as Garland’s speech, but hours before DOJ unsealed the records, Breitbart published a leaked version of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant โ including the names of the FBI agents who signed their names on the property receipts.
The version released by DOJ had all of the same information but redacted the agents’ names. The FBI is currently grappling with an “unprecedented” number of threats made against its agents.
The identity of the leaker to Breitbart, a media outlet long managed by Steve Bannon, remains unknown. Breitbart was roundly criticized for its decision to doxx the agents.
Hours later, Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, sent a push alert to its members with the article that included the unredacted search warrant.
A day later, police killed a man armed with an AR-15 and a nail gun who attempted to breach an FBI office in Cincinnati shortly after posting “Kill [the FBI] on sight” on Truth Social.
The post has since been removed by moderators.
READ NEXT: Trump Benefits From Announcing FBI Raid First: Politics, Media Experts >>
Presidentย Joe Bidenโsย approval rating sank to a new low in a Marquette University Law School poll released this week.
According to the survey of 1,063 adults across the country, just 34% of the country approves of the way Biden โis handling his job as president,โ while 66% disapprove, putting him underwater by a shell-shocking 32 points.
Thatโs the worst net approval rating Biden has posted in theย pollย since taking office. It appears that the presidentโs decision to go back on his word and pardon his son,ย Hunter Biden, for any crimes he may have committed over a more than decade-long period, may have contributed to his plummeting popularity. Just 29% of respondents said they approved of the pardon, while 71% disapproved.
Fifty-three percent, meanwhile, say that they approved of the way President-electย Donald Trumpย handled his job during his first term in office.
The plunge in the presidentโs approval was also fueled by soaring inflation โย which started spiking in the summer of 2021
Biden has not achieved a positive net approval rating since July 2021. His previous low of -30 came this summer.
The president’s approval stands in the mid-30s to low-40s in the latest national surveys, including the most recent Fox News national poll, where Biden stands at 41% approval.
The president has faded from the news cycle over his last half-year or so in office after he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in late Julyย
Actor John Cusack, once a household name in American cinema, used Easter Sunday to compare President Donald Trump to those who killed Jesus Christ. The post, shared on his X (formerly Twitter) account, quickly stirred controversy and prompted withering criticism from users across the platform.
Cusack, who achieved A-list status in the late ’80s and ’90s with films like “Say Anything,” “High Fidelity” and “Grosse Pointe Blank,” has become better known in recent years for his political commentary than his acting work. Heโs been a persistent critic of both Hollywoodโs corporate culture and right-leaning political figures, often using sweeping, inflammatory language to make his points.
Breitbart’s Warner Todd Huston provides further information and corrects the actor’s historical narrative:
Of course, Cusackโs simple-minded framing of the death of Jesus Christ is not entirely correct. Jesus was not crucified merely for โpolitics.โ The Jewish leaders who conspired to eliminate Jesus were incensed that he had called himself the Son of God and, therefore, a divine figure. They felt he was engaging in blasphemy. And the Romans prosecuted him for claiming to be โKing of the Jews.โ That was a crime in their eyes because only Caesar could be king. The question of Christโs divinity was not as incidental as Cusack wants to make it seem.
Certainly, Jesus also threatened the political power of the Jewish leaders. But the Romans were somewhat indifferent and did not feel he was all that much of a political threat to them. So, obviously there was a political aspect to the whole thing, but to say it was all just a โpolitical calculationโ is an oversimplification. There was also deep religious context to it all.
The Say Anything star is a constant presence on social media where he often engages in wild-eyed, hate-filled attacks on Donald Trump and anyone else who opposes Cusackโs extremist opinions.
Last month, for instance, Cusack once again broke out his tired โNaziโ epithets by calling Tesla chief Elon Musk a โNaziโ who is โliterally killing peopleโ for heading up Donald Trumpโs Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and looking for ways to cut the bloated and out-of-control federal budget.
Reactions on Social Media
The reaction to Cusackโs Easter post was swift. Many users mocked the statement, calling it โunhingedโ and labeling the actor a โnut job.โ Others accused him of being out of touch with everyday Americans and using religion as a tool for political attacks.
While Cusack has long aligned himself with progressive causes and anti-establishment rhetoric, critics argue that these kinds of extreme comparisons do more to alienate than persuade. Some pointed out the irony of invoking a religious holiday to make a hyperbolic political statement, particularly one that equates a democratically-elected president to biblical villains.
A Career Shifted from Blockbusters to Activism
Once a reliable lead in major Hollywood films, Cusackโs presence on screen has waned over the past two decades. Though he maintains a devoted fan base and occasional roles in direct-to-video flicks, his voice is now more commonly heard online, where he frequently engages in political debates and ad hominem attacks on his political opponents.
His legacy as a cultural figure from the ’80s and ’90s remains intact, but his recent public statements continue to polarize. Whether this latest post was an attempt to spark discussion or simply another instance of performative outrage, itโs clear Cusack remains committed to using his platform, even if it means drawing fire in the process.
READ NEXT: White House Responds To Report Itโs Seeking New Top Cabinet Official
On Tuesday, Michael Cohen, once President Donald Trumpโs personal lawyer and later one of his fiercest critics, appeared on Dan Abramsโ SiriusXM show to discuss a wide range of topicsโfrom his treatment in prison to a plea for pardons.
During the interview, Cohen revealed that he has written letters to both President Joe Biden and Donald Trump urging sweeping clemency for Americans with criminal records who have paid their debt to society. Reading from the letter he sent to Trump, Cohen said:
โIt is urged clearly, unequivocally, and without delay that the president issue an executive order granting a full and unconditional pardon to all non-violent felons who have completed their sentences. This act would be more than a gesture of compassion.โ
He continued:
โIt would be a defining stroke of moral leadership. Over 70 million Americans carry the lifelong burden of a criminal record, despite having fulfilled their legal debt to society. They are our neighbors, coworkers, parents, veterans, and citizens who live under silent exile, denied employment, housing, education, and the right to fully participate in the country they call home. With a single act, the burden can be lifted.โ
Cohen even coined a name for the plan: โTEPO, the Trump Emancipation Proclamation Order.โ He argued that such a move could be โthe single most important act of kindness that any president can bestow on 70 million Americans and their families.โ
While this appeal may surprise some given their adversarial past, it comes amid a historically expansive use of Trumpโs clemency powers in his second presidential term. Since returning to the White House in January 2025, President Trump has issued thousands of pardons and commutations, including blanket clemency for roughly 1,500 individuals connected to the January 6, 2021, Capitol events and a number of high-profile figures such as Ross Ulbricht and others.
Trumpโs defenders argue these pardons are part of his ongoing fight against what he describes as a politicized justice system, correcting overreach and restoring fairness where the courts or prosecutors exceeded their bounds. Opponents often frame the clemency spree as politically motivated, though Trumpโs supporters see it as a restoration of constitutional pardon authority to benefit everyday Americans and loyal citizens alike.
Cohen also recounted his own prison experience after being sentenced in 2018 to three years for tax evasion, bank fraud, and lying to Congress. He described harsh conditions and claimed that then-Attorney General Bill Barr had him sent back to prison under what he characterized as โdraconian conditions,โ with extreme cold and heat in holding areas that made his time there especially difficult.
Cohen addressed his recent departure from the MeidasTouch Network, a left-leaning media company that cut ties with him after a Substack post in which he suggested prosecutors coerced him into testifying against Trump. Cohen insisted:
โIt is true, not personal. โฆ I specifically state that I am not here to defend Donald Trump. That is not the intention of this statement which I wrote or my Substack article.โ
He described the split as a misunderstanding driven by headlines rather than the full context of his words.
The rift between Trump and Cohen runs deep. Once a loyal lawyer who said he would โtake a bulletโ for Trump, Cohen later turned on his former boss, cooperating with prosecutors and ultimately testifying in Trumpโs New York criminal caseโwhere Trump was convicted on business-record charges related to reimbursements made to Cohen during the 2016 campaign.
At the time Cohen was seeking a pardon from Trump, that relief never materialized. Trump publicly brushed off questions about pardoning Cohen, reportedly saying, โmost people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble.โ
Watch the full interview below:
Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is in hot water once again.
New reports indicate Abrams’ voting rights group Fair Fight Action has funneled millions of dollars to a law firm led by the chairwoman for Abrams’s gubernatorial campaign.
According to The Washington Examiner, Fair Fight Action spent $9.4 million in 2019 and 2020 with Lawrence & Bundy, a boutique Atlanta law firm that counts Abrams’s campaign Chairwoman Allegra Lawrence-Hardy, a close friend of the candidate, as one of its two partners, according to the nonprofit group’s 2019 and 2020 IRS tax filings.
There are no definitive reports to show how much Lawrence-Hardy’s firm has received from Fair Fight Action in 2021 and 2022. The organization has been involved in a legal fight against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) for the past years. Fair Fight Action filed the lawsuit after Abrams lost her 2018 gubernatorial bid toย Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, whom she is currently running against, claiming the secretary of state engaged in voter suppression. In September, U.S. district judge Steve Jones ruled against Abrams and found no evidence of voter suppression.
โThis is a win for all Georgia election officials who dedicate their lives to safe, secure and accessible elections,โ Raffensperger said at the time. โStolen election and voter suppression claims by Stacey Abrams were nothing but poll-tested rhetoric not supported by facts and evidence.โ
โJudge Jonesโ ruling exposes this legal effort for what it really is: a tool wielded by a politician hoping to wrongfully weaponize the legal system to further her own political goals,โ Kemp said in a statement celebrating the ruling.
The $9.4 million that Lawrence & Bundy received accounts for over 37% of the roughly $25 million in legal fees that Fair Fight Action has racked up in the past two years, according to Politico, which first reported on the payments to Lawrence-Hardy’s law firm.
Fair Fight Action raised over $61 million in 2019 and 2020 after being founded in 2018. At least one-third of that money has gone toward the lawsuit against Raffensperger, while $20 million has been put in cash reserves, tax records show. While there are eight separate law firms that worked on the case against the secretary of state, Lawrence & Bundy has earned the most in fees.
Abrams and Lawrence-Hardy were classmates together at Georgia’s Spelman College, and Abrams graduated from Yale Law School three years after Lawrence-Hardy.
Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for the left-wing think tank Public Citizen, says that Abrams’s years-long friendship with Lawrence-Hardy represents a clear conflict of interest.
Despite Abrams’s accusations of rampant voter suppression in the Peach State early voting data reports Georgians to have already broken records for early turnout. According to The Hill, Saturday’s turnout surpassed the 2020 electionโs sixth day of early voting by 20 percent.
The 79,682 voters who cast ballots on Saturday also marked a 159 percent increase from the first Saturday of early voting in the 2018 midterm elections, according to the Georgia secretary of stateโs office.
Georgia also smashed early voting on the first day polls opened last week, when 131,318 ballots were cast in-person, far above the 70,849 reported in 2018 and close to the 136,739 mark in 2020.
โEarly Voting is strong because Georgiaโs voter registration system is strong,โ said Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in a statement. โEvery eligible Georgian who wants to be registered to vote is registered to vote.โ
However, despite the record-breaking data Abrams is still claiming voter suppression is underway in Georgia.
โIn 2018, we had record turnout,โ Abrams said in a press conference Monday. โWe had record turnout that shattered records for Democrats among communities of color and in that same election โฆ we know that 85,000 Georgians were denied their right to vote due to voter suppression tactics that shut down their precincts. We know that 50,000 voters had their right to vote held hostage by the exact match process which was proven to be voter suppression tactics. We know that thousands of people stood in lines for hours because of voter suppression tactics.โ
Billionaire Elon Musk announced the launch of his new political party on Saturday, but has yet to share any further details on how he plans to navigate the red tape to establish a viable alternative.
Musk on Saturday appeared to confirm his intention to launch his โAmerica Party,โ after posting a poll to his X account the prior day asking followers whether or not he should create the new party.
โBy a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it! When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,โ he wrote. โToday, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.โ
Elon Muskโsย plan to launch a new US political partyย could split the Republicans, Donald Trumpโs allies have warned.
Musk,ย who until recently was a key Trump ally, said the America Party would adopt a โlaser focusโ on winning a handful of Senate seats and House districts in a bid to sway key votes on legislation.
โGiven the razor-thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people,โ he posted on X.
On Sunday, Mr Musk responded to a post about how he could โbreak the two-party strangleholdโ by writing: โNot hard tbh [to be honest].โ
Scott Bessent, the US Treasury secretary, insisted a Musk party would pose no threat to the Trump administration.
โLook, the principles of Doge [theย Department of Government Efficiency] were very popular. I think if you looked at the polling, Elon was not,โ he told CNN on Sunday, referring to the cost-cutting agency Mr Musk headed for just over four months.
However, Laura Loomer,ย a leading MAGA influencerย who has been seen close to Trump, warned the move could trigger Republican defections and split the partyโs base.
โI predict Tucker Carlson,ย Marjorie Taylor Greeneย and Thomas Massie will join the new โAmerica Partyโ to spite President Trump,โ she posted on X.
Musk said his decision to form the party stemmed from opposition toย Trumpโs new economic bill, which includes significant reductions to Medicaid and the removal of subsidies for electric vehicles.
The announcement follows the revival of his public feud with Trump, who threatened to cancel the Tesla tycoonโs government contracts andย deport him back to South Africa.
Speaking with reporters ahead of a flight to Florida last Tuesday, the president was asked about whether he would consider deporting the South African mogul.
โWeโll have to take a look,โ Trump said. โWe might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon! Wouldnโt that be terrible?โ
Watch:
In what some are claiming is a dig at his vice president, Trump declined to explicitly name JD Vance as his successor during his recent interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier.
In a clip from his interview with the president that aired Monday afternoon on Fox, Baier asked โDo you view Vice Presidentย JD Vanceย as your successor, the Republican nominee in 2028?โ
โNo, but heโs very capable,โ answered Trump decisively. โI mean, I donโt think that it, you know, I think you have a lot of very capable people. So far, I think heโs doing a fantastic job. Itโs too early, weโre just starting.โ
โBut by the time you get to the midterms, heโs going to be looking for an endorsement,โ observed Baier.
Trump then deflected by submitting that โa lot of people have said that this has been the greatest opening almost three weeks in the history of the presidency.โ
On Monday, Baier weighed in on the answer:
I think it was a little shocking when he said no, you know, I wasnโt expecting that. But, you know, following up, it is you know, once you get to the midterm, it starts, you start to think about 2028. And obviously, one would think JD Vance is going to be trying to position for that role. But clearly, the president is not ready to talk about that, or think about it, and says that there are other other people that may get in the mix.
Watch:
