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The White House Intervened to Get a $620 Million Deal for a Company Tied to Donald Trump Jr.

(ProPublica) When the Pentagon announced a $620 million loan last year to a small North Carolina startup linked to Donald Trump Jr., defense officials and the company tried to tamp down suspicions of cronyism. The president’s eldest son said through a spokesperson that he wasn’t involved. The Pentagon said Trump Jr. played no role in the record-setting deal. And the startup’s founder told reporters that his company, Vulcan Elements, received no political favoritism. But interviews and Defense Department records reviewed by ProPublica show that the request to loan hundreds of millions of dollars to the firm linked to Trump Jr. was made by Peter Navarro, a White House adviser to President Donald Trump and a friend of Trump Jr.’s.

Dulcinea

Talarico targets Paxton's scandals in Texas Senate race, pivoting from his sunny primary message

(AP) Texas Democrat James Talarico launched his general election campaign for the U.S. Senate Wednesday by framing his Republican opponent, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, as part of a corrupt political establishment that uses power to serve itself rather than the people. Talarico has given Democrats their best chance in years of winning a Senate race in Texas and has boosted their still-uphill chances of retaking the majority in the U.S. Senate in November. Talarico, a former middle school teacher and a state lawmaker from Austin, laid out a clear strategy for the months ahead: Litigating Paxton’s scandals to a weary electorate.

BumRushDaShow

Republicans brace for money problems in Texas after Ken Paxton's win

(NBC News) President Donald Trump may be celebrating that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won Tuesday’s Senate primary, but some Republicans now worry that they have a Texas-sized problem on their hands. Paxton, with Trump’s endorsement, handily defeated four-term Sen. John Cornyn in the runoff. Democrats largely viewed Paxton as the weaker candidate because of his many controversies. But his fundraising struggles are also raising alarm bells among Republicans. “Economically, it’s a disaster. Texas is extremely expensive,” said a GOP consultant working on Senate races, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about party resources.

ImNotGod

Trump administration 'drawing up plans' to stop processing international flights in sanctuary cities

(The Guardian) The Trump administration has threatened to stop processing international flights in major cities around the country as a reaction to protests against immigration enforcement. Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, said during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday that the administration is “drawing up plans” to take the action, in response to days of clashes at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in New Jersey.

KS Toronado

Thursday's Condensed News Cartoons

RandySF

ICE detainees are dying by suicide at an 'alarming' rate, an AP investigation finds

(AP) Brayan Rayo Garzon was distraught. Detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he was on his fourth day of isolation in a Missouri jail as he battled the fevers and chills of COVID-19. His request for mental health treatment had been put off, records show, and staff had forbidden Rayo from making his nightly call to his mother as a precaution intended to prevent the spread of illness.

BumRushDaShow

ICE agents privately admit to horrific conditions in Manhattan facility: report

(Raw Story) Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents privately admitted to each other how horrific the conditions were in their section of 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, Courthouse News reported on Wednesday — including the proliferation of dangerous diseases in the facility. Nancy Zanello, a New York-based ICE assistant field office director, raged in a 2025 email that “This week has been one gross contagion after another,” leading to “multiple” cases of detainees requiring hospital treatment for “cardiac and seizures.”

marmar

Americans know something is deeply wrong. They're not imagining it.

(Salon) Civil rights activist and former sharecropper Fannie Lou Hamer was weary when she spoke alongside Malcolm X at a church in Harlem in December 1964. “I’ve been tired so long,” she said, “now I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” More than 60 years later, many Americans share this feeling but in a different context. More than ten years of the Age of Trump — and the great problems that birthed it — have left us full of dread and weariness. The evidence is clear: Donald Trump’s return to power is taking a deep toll on the American people’s psychological and overall health.

demmiblue

Trump appointees push $250 banknote with his portrait

(Washington Post) Trump administration officials have pressed the office responsible for printing the nation’s money to design a $250 bill featuring the president’s portrait, according to four current and former employees, in what would be the first appearance of a living person on U.S. currency in more than 150 years. Starting last year, two political appointees at the Treasury Department — U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach and his senior adviser, Mike Brown — repeatedly urged staff at the agency’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing to prepare prototypes of the note, according to the employees, who said the move raised concerns because federal law currently allows only deceased people to appear on bills.

BumRushDaShow

Newt Gingrich says impeaching Clinton over sex scandal was a mistake

(The Independent) Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich admitted in an interview that it was a “mistake” to impeach former President Bill Clinton over the sex scandal involving Monica Lewinsky, saying it drew attention away from Clinton’s perjury charge. Gingrich, a Republican congressman from Georgia and Speaker of the House, led the 1998 House impeachment inquiry into Clinton, which arose after the affair between Clinton and Lewinsky became public.

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Congressional Democrats argue in filing that White House ballroom construction shouldnt proceed without Congress consent

18 min ago - Updated on: May 28, 2026 / 4:50 PM EDT Roughly 150 Democratic lawmakers filed a legal brief Thursday in the ongoing White House East Wing litigation, asserting that construction cannot continue until the Trump administration obtains express consent f ... (CBS News)

A federal judge in D.C. declines to block Trump's executive order on voting by mail

34 min ago - The ruling released Thursday by U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump nominee based in Washington, D.C., leaves in place — at least for now — an order that tests the limits of the president's power under the Constitution. A separate, 20 ... (NPR)

USPS, DHL partner in a $10 billion 'last-mile' delivery agreement

42 min ago - Updated 1:33 PM EDT, May 28, 2026 NEW YORK (AP) — The United States Postal Service said Thursday it reached a $10 billion deal to provide “last-mile” package delivery services for DHL eCommerce, an arm of German package services provid ... (AP)

Houlton Regional Hospital nurses continue to strike over staffing levels

1 hr ago - BY David Ledford Maine PUBLISHED 2:14 PM ET May 28, 2026 HOULTON — Registered nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital are nearing the end of a four-day strike over staffing levels. They are asking management to staff at least three nurses in the eme ... (Spectrum News)

Democrats move to block Trump's triumphal arch near Arlington Cemetery

1 hr ago - Posted 10:40 AM, May 28, 2026 Two dozen House Democrats plan to introduce legislation to block construction of a 250-foot triumphal arch that President Trump has proposed building near Arlington National Cemetery. Democrats say the arch would obstruc ... (Scripps News)

California Families Sue To Stop DOJ From Obtaining Medical Records Of Trans Youth

1 hr ago - Updated Thu, May 28, 2026 at 1:25 PM EDT Six California families sued the DOJ on Wednesday evening to try to stop it from using a grand jury subpoena to obtain private medical records of transgender youth. The suit, filed jointly by the National Cent ... (Yahoo! News/Huff Post)

James Talarico campaign says it raised more than $3 million in 24 hours since Texas primary runoff

2 hrs ago - PUBLISHED May 28, 2026, 6:01 AM ET James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Texas, raised more than $3 million in the first 24 hours after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton emerged as his Republican opponent, Talarico’s campaign f ... (CNN Politics)

Police Rush to Supreme Court Justice's Home After Gunshots Reported in Apparent Swatting Attempt: Report

2 hrs ago - May 28th, 2026, 1:05 pm Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was reportedly the victim of attempted swatting, according to new dispatch audio released on Thursday Washington, D.C. journalist Andrew Leyden posted about the alleged incident on Thur ... (MEDIAite)

Feds pause Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern rail merger

3 hrs ago - By: Aaron Sanderford - May 28, 2026 3:03 pm OMAHA — The federal government on Thursday paused a proposed merger of two railroad behemoths, Nebraska staple Union Pacific and Georgia-based Norfolk Southern. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board, a ... (Nebraska Examiner)

In major shake-up, CBS replaces '60 Minutes' executive producer with tech journalist

3 hrs ago - May 28, 2026, 12:39 PM EDT / Updated May 28, 2026, 3:25 PM EDT CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss on Thursday replaced Tanya Simon, the executive producer of the network’s flagship newsmagazine “60 Minutes,” with a technology journali ... (NBC News)

CNN sues Perplexity over 'verbatim' copycat articles

3 hrs ago - CNN has filed a lawsuit against Perplexity, claiming that the startup’s AI tools generate “verbatim” copies of its work, as reported earlier by CNN. The lawsuit, filed in a New York court on Thursday, also alleges that Perplexity provi ... (The Verge)

Students For Trump Co-Founder Arrested On Domestic Violence Charges, Allegedly Yelled "Do You Want To Die Today?"

3 hrs ago - Students For Trump Co-Founder Arrested On Domestic Violence Charges, Allegedly Yelled “Do You Want To Die Today?” By Samer Kalaf 9:48 AM EDT on May 28, 2026 Ryan Fournier, the co-founder and chairman of the group Students for Trump, was a ... (defector.com)

Trump's DOJ sues 4 Democratic-run states over denying undercover license plates for federal agents

3 hrs ago - May 28, 2026, 10:45 AM President Donald Trump's administration is suing four states over their refusal to issue undercover license plates to federal agents, the latest front in the wider struggle between the White House and Democratic-led states over ... (ABC News/AP)

Netanyahu says he directed Israeli military to take over 70% of Gaza

4 hrs ago - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he has directed Israel’s military to take over 70% of Gaza’s territory. During an interview at a conference in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu said that Israel is “tighteni ... (CNN)

Bruce Springsteen calls out the White House and announces a protest festival

4 hrs ago - Updated 12:54 PM EDT, May 28, 2026 WASHINGTON (AP) — Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews, Brittany Howard and Joan Baez will headline a star-studded protest festival set for the Washington, D.C., area a month before the midterm electi ... (AP)

Senate Dems urge investigators to check Pentagon's math on Iran war

5 hrs ago - Updated May 28, 2026, 12:24 p.m. ET Senate Democrats are pressing federal budget investigators to examine the gap between the Pentagon's stated cost for the Iran war – $29 billion – and outside estimates that peg the cost up to tens of bill ... (USA Today)

Israeli minister confirms goal of large-scale expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza

5 hrs ago - Israel’s defence minister has said he is committed to the ethnic cleansing of Gaza through large-scale migration of Palestinians as part of Israel’s long-term plans for the territory. Israel Katz said the government would implement a plan f ... (The Guardian)

Multiple artists listed for America 250 event on National Mall deny involvement

6 hrs ago - 05/28/26 10:11 AM ET Multiple artists listed as entertainers for a massive bash slated for next month on the National Mall to celebrate America’s 250th birthday have pushed back on reports of their participation. Young MC, Morris Day and the Ti ... (The Hill)

No Kings event set for 14 June, as Trump celebrates birthday with White House UFC bout

7 hrs ago - Thu 28 May 2026 10.11 EDT Last modified on Thu 28 May 2026 11.20 EDT The No Kings movement has announced a nationwide event on 14 June, directly counter-programming Donald Trump’s 80th birthday celebrations and a Ultimate Fighting Championship ( ... (The Guardian)

Global temperatures set for record highs and could hit 1.9C above pre-industrial levels by 2030

8 hrs ago - There is a 75% chance the 2026-2030 five-year mean will exceed 1.5C above the 1950-1990 average, scientists say Rebecca Speare-Cole Thursday 28 May 2026 06:45 BST Global temperatures are likely to continue at or near record levels in the next five ye ... (The Independent)