Aaron Craig Gleason, a former writer for The Federalist and Daily Wire — both right-wing news outlets — was arrested last month "for molesting a victim under the age of 12, according to Okaloosa, Florida jail records," Daily Dot reported Thursday.

The irony in Gleason's crime, according to Daily Dot, is that in 2023, the ex-conservative pundit wrote a review published by The Federalist "about The Sound of Freedom, an indie hit and a favorite among right-wing circles."

The plot of the film involves "a former government agent who is trying to save children from sex traffickers in Colombia," which Gleason made a point to highlight as a Republican, anti-LGBTQ writer.

READ MORE: GOP senators threatens to move forward with Trump policy agenda without House approval: report

"The children are by far the best and worst part of this film," wrote Gleason in his review.

“It’s about the children—lost, invisible children who suffer in the depths of hell every single day. While the rich and powerful try to indoctrinate us with critical race theory and other ideological moralisms, true victims suffer in literal cages and chains."

Daily Dot notes, in addition to being a writer, Gleason was also an educator, according to his now deleted LinkedIn account.

"According to a local news site, he taught Bible at Rocky Bayou Christian School, which has two campuses in Florida," the news outlet reports.

Three days after his arrest, Gleason was released on $75,000 bail.

READ MORE: 'God have mercy on us': GOP rep slammed over 'dangerous' response to bishop’s plea to Trump

Daily Dot's full report is available at this link.

One January 6 rioter pardoned by President Donald Trump last month is on the way back to prison, according to Politico's Kyle Cheney.

The legal affairs correspondent reported via X: "NOTABLE: DOJ determines that a Jan. 6 defendant who was convicted of a firearm offense based on a search of his home must return to prison because the firearm charge is NOT covered by Trump's pardon. This was a point of contention among J6ers."

Cheney added, "This has implications for others, like Jeremy Brown and Edward Kelley, who were charged with crimes that were discovered because of their involvement in Jan. 6 but were not directly related to the attack on the Capitol. They say Trump's pardon should cover these."

READ MORE: 'Immediate danger': FBI agents sue Trump DOJ to stop purge of agents who worked Jan. 6 cases

"Under DOJ's logic, would Enrique Tarrio be covered by Donald Trump's pardon?" Cheney questioned, adding, "His conspiracy crimes did not occur "at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021."

Furthermore, Cheney added, "DOJ says this is 'the plain language' of Trump's proclamation."

READ MORE: 'Unchecked power': Trump himself ordered firings of prosecutors working criminal cases against him

A Department of Government Efficiency staffer resigned Thursday after racists posts across his now deleted X (formerly Twitter) account came to light, the Wall Street Journal exclusively reports.

Marko Elez, 25, was granted access to the US Department of Treasury's payment system by a federal judge Thursday morning, according to the report, but the judge also "limited" the Elon Musk ally's "ability to share the data."

He resigned from his role hours later.

READ MORE: 'Last thing I want is that guy': Dem warns against Musk 'trying to control the airspace'

WSJ reports:

The account, @nullllptr—a misspelling of a keyword in the C++ programming language—was deleted in December, but hundreds of brash, sometimes-sophomoric posts have been archived.

The user appeared to have a special dislike for Indian software engineers. '99% of Indian H1Bs will be replaced by slightly smarter LLMs, they’re going back don’t worry guys,' the user posted in December.

'Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool,' @nullllptr posted in July.

"You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity," a September 2024 post on the account also read, according to WSJ. "Normalize Indian hate," it continued.

Furthermore, the account also "advocated repealing the Civil Rights Act and backed a 'eugenic immigration policy' in the weeks before President Trump was inaugurated."

READ MORE: 'Going rogue': MAGA operatives say Musk 'on a 'collision course' with Trump

WSJ's full report is available here (subscription required).

President Donald Trump was mocked on Wednesday for claiming Senator Tommy Tuberville did "a great job" as Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes's college coach.

Tuberville, who served as Auburn University's head football coach from 1999-2008, never coached Mahomes.

The president made the remark during his signing of an executive order excluding transgender women from women's sports Wednesday.

READ MORE: 'If we were to happen to go to war with China': Tuberville backs Trump on Panama Canal

Ben Ross, a sports reporter for San Francisco's KRON-TV, reported Trump commented: "I said, ''How good was he?' He said, 'You don't want to know how good. He made me into a great coach.'"

Ross, in his own words, added: "Lmao just made up an entire conversation about a quarterback Tuberville never coached. Tuberville was at Texas Tech from 2010-12, Mahomes was there 2014-16."

Journalist and host of TV One News Now, Roland Martin, replied: "Trump is a damn liar"

Jane Coaston, host of Crooked Media's What a Day, said: "We did not elect a ball knower"

READ MORE: Legal expert: Trump lawyers 'even know' his moves to reshape government are 'highly illegal'

Many of President Donald Trump's moves to "reshape" the US government are "highly illegal," New York University law professor Ryan Goodman said Wednesday, according to Mediaite.

Speaking with Goodman about the MAGA administrations moves to demolish critical agencies, fire top DOJ, FBI officials, and more, CNN's Erin Burnett noted "USAID, which we were just talking about extensively, Department of Education — now they’re trying to dismantle it cuts at [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration], National Weather Service, CIA, FBI. Elon Musk, currently the driving force behind that."

She added, "And even Speaker [Mike] Johnson (R-LA) , it appears, says he doesn’t know what is happening. Is it legal?”

READ MORE: ‘He does not want war’: Fox News host downplays Trump’s plan to take over Gaza

Goodman said no, and Trump lawyers know that.

"There are a couple of things that I think stand out to me as highly illegal," the law professor began. "So, one is actually also something going on in the Justice Department when you said firing people. The purging of the FBI career servants, public servants, and DOJ public servants is a violation of the civil servants statutes. I think they even know it. And [Attorney General] Pam Bondi coming in and saying, I’m going to effectuate the weaponization executive order. That’s what it’s all about."

Goodman continued, "So, I think that’s a very serious problem. And then eliminating some of these agencies – USAID, DOE – you can’t do that as a president. That would mean we have like, a king."

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: 'Do We Have a King? Experts warn Musk’s moves signal growing 'Constitutional crisis'

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

President Donald Trump has been discussing his idea for the United States to takeover the Gaza Strip "for months," MAGA aides told Politico Wednesday.

Per the report, "It was clear Wednesday that they did little to prepare the rest of the world for Trump’s pitch to relocate nearly 2 million Palestinians from their homeland in Gaza so the U.S. could assert ownership of the area and turn it into 'the Riviera of the Middle East."

One person granted anonymity told the news outlet, "This was a 'get your ass to the negotiating table’ message."

READ MORE: ‘He does not want war’: Fox News host downplays Trump’s plan to take over Gaza

Drawing a comparison to Trump's tariff plan that he discussed for months ahead of his election win, the person added, "It was just like 25 percent tariffs on Canada."

Politico reports, "Another senior administration official given anonymity to discuss internal thinking said that Trump’s blunt statement that the U.S. would 'own and be responsible' for a Gaza Strip that has been reduced to rubble by 15 months of Israeli bombing should be read more broadly as an expression of his determination to lead a rebuilding process that achieves a lasting peace."

READ MORE: 'Exaggerated his own made-up claim': CNN rapid-fire fact-check busts Trump’s presser talking points

Politico's full report is available here.

Former Democratic and Republican leaders who "served under Biden, Obama, George W. Bush, Clinton, and Reagan administrations," according to an exclusive CNN report, are urging Congress to stop President Donald TRump's administration from closing down the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

CNN reports the ex-USAID officials called on “Congress to swiftly protect the Agency’s statutory role" in a statement released Wednesday to the news outlet.

Per the report, Samantha Power, Gayle Smith, Andrew Natsios, J. Brian Atwood and Peter McPherson said to "weaken and even destroy the Agency is to the benefit of neither political party and the detriment of all Americans."

READ MORE: 2 USAID officials put on leave after refusing DOGE access to classified docs

The ex-top government officials added, “While we don’t agree on all issues, we wholeheartedly agree that USAID and America’s foreign assistance programs are vital to our interests, that the career men and women of USAID have served each of us well, and that it is the duty of the Administration and Congress to swiftly protect the Agency’s statutory role."

"Failure to maintain the global engagement that foreign aid enables, to honor the men and women of our civilian service as we do those in the military, or weaken and even destroy the Agency is to the benefit of neither political party and the detriment of all Americans," they continued.

CNN notes that the Congressional Research Service calls the MAGA administration's aim to dismantle the agency "violation of the law."

READ MORE: 'A callous, destructive political power play': Oxfam blasts Elon Musk's latest move

CNN's full report is available here.

Two Democratic lawmakers stormed into House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) office "unscheduled" Wednesday over President Donald Trump ally, billionaire Elon Musk's new access to the US Department of Treasury's highly sensitive payment system, Politico reports.

Per the report, Reps. Judy Chu (D-CA) and Gwen Moore (D-WI) entered the GOP leader's office after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent visited Johnson's office to talk Trump's "tax agenda."

Politico notes that "Bessent gave members of Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency access to the payments system last weekend. The system controls trillions of dollars in payments for Social Security, tax refunds and myriad other government functions."

READ MORE: 'Overplaying his hand?' Musk mocked over social media tirade against House GOP leadership

Moore told the news outlet that Bessent had left the speaker's office before the two Democratic leaders around.

"Gwen Moore forced her way in there, and then I got to go in right behind her," Chu said in an interview, according to the report.

"And she was already confronting Speaker Johnson about Treasury Secretary Bessent and the stealing of Americans’ private information," the California lawmaker continued, "tax information that should never be stolen and given to this billionaire Elon Musk."

READ MORE: 'Going rogue': MAGA operatives say Musk 'on a 'collision course' with Trump

Politico's full report is available here.

Top Republican senators are becoming impatient with the hold up around passing President Donald Trump's huge bill containing his main priorities – immigration, energy and defense — according to Politico.

Per the report, Senate leaders like Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-SC) believe his fellow Republicans should move the legislation forward even before the House weighs in.

"We need to get moving,” the South Carolina leader told Politico.

READ MORE: 'Trump is not a member' of Congress: Dem confirms party will not help GOP pass sweeping bill

The senator did send "a soft warning to the House," according to the news outlet, "saying he wanted to see what happened over there 'in the next day or two.'"

Similarly, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) said,"We ought to move," referring to his Budget Committee colleagues.

Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-WI) told Politico, "I think if they fail to meet those deadlines that they set on themselves, then I think the Senate has to start moving forward."

Mullen has been assisting with coordination between Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).

READ MORE: Fox host unconvinced by Johnson’s plan to cooperate with Trump’s 'big, beautiful bill'

Politico's full report is available here.

Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) has advice for anyone concerned about President Donald Trump's pending funding freeze, and potential shutdown of the Department of Education: get over it.

According to a Politico report, Trump is planning to "dismantle" the Education Department through an executive order in the coming days — which comes after the president and billionaire "Elon Musk moved to eradicate" the US Agency for International Development Monday.

Democratic lawmakers were even blocked from entering the USAID building.

READ MORE: Dems blocked from entering USAID offices: 'illegal and corrupt'

"To my friends who are upset.. call somebody who cares," Kennedy said during a Fox News interview. "You know, they better get used to this. It’s USAID today, it’s going to be the Department of Education tomorrow."

Vanity Fair special correspondent Molly Jong Fast replied: "Yeah but none of these people have the constitutional authority to dissolve parts of the federal government"

Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE) commented: "Exactly what I was saying earlier: piece by piece, department by department, they are working to purge employees, consolidate power, gut programs -- even if they can't get everything immediately through executive fiat, they will decimate the federal government and sell it for parts. No program will be safe.

READ MORE: Not just Musk: Inside Trumpworld's coded messages to extremists

President Donald Trump's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, on Monday could neither confirm nor deny whether billionaire Elon Musk has received a security clearance as a US government employee under the president's new administration.

During a press conference outside of the White House, CNN's Chief White House Correspondent Caitlin Collins asked the MAGA secretary, "Can you confirm that Elon Musk is a special government employee? And what kind of security clearance does he have?"

Leavitt replied, "I can confirm he's a special government employee. I can also confirm that he has abided by all applicable federal laws. As for his security clearance, I'm not sure, but I can check."

READ MORE: Not just Musk: Inside Trumpworld's coded messages to extremists

Collins then asked, "Did he pass a background check, do you know?"

"I don't know about the security clearance, but I can check," Leavitt replied.

Collins then asked if the MAGA secretary knows whether anyone on Musk's team has security clearance.

"I don't, no. But, again, I can check on that for you," Leavitt said.

READ MORE: Why the world’s richest man is messing with your religion, your Social Security and everything else

Nico Perrino, executive dircector of the free speech nonprofit FIRE, replied: "Here we have a government employee holding press conferences about his government work on his privately owned social media platform, where he's also banning journalists and members of the general public who criticize him. Seems we're getting into First Amendment territory ..."

Former Politico CA reporter Carla Marinucci commented: "He’s acting co-president — with access to millions is private citizens’ data — and she doesn’t know if he has a security clearance???!"

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: 'It's a coup': Musk's DOGE granted access to system that pays out Social Security

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After declaring that he would impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada starting this week, President Donald Trump changed his mind.

"I just had a good call with President Trump," wrote Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau via social media Monday. "Canada is implementing our $1.3 billion border plan — reinforcing the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl."

He continued, "Nearly 10,000 frontline personnel are and will be working on protecting the border. In addition, Canada is making new commitments to appoint a Fentanyl Czar, we will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada- U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering. I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl and we will be backing it with $200 million. Proposed tariffs will be paused for at least 30 days while we work together."

READ MORE: 'Shell shock': Insiders 'didn’t think it was going to be this bad' under second Trump admin

Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell added: "Yup. Trump got rolled here"

Ex-Republican and CNN political analyst Tim Miller commented: "I’m a little confused. I thought the tariffs were going to bring a golden age of economic prosperity, pay for IVF, eliminate the debt, and ensure countries stopped ripping us off! Why would we trade away that bounty for a few mounties on the northern border?"

Symone Sanders Townsend, co-host of MSNBC's The Weekend replied: "You forgot childcare! The tariffs were supposed to lower the cost of childcare."

New Hampshire Democrats communications director Ty McEatran said: "Pretty incredible that Mexico and Canada just listed things they were already planning to do and mister art of the deal caved and said yes because he didn’t like the bad press he was getting for tanking the economy"

READ MORE: 'Trump is squandering this resource' with his 'hard power' approach to foreign policy: analysis

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) wrote: "Classic Trump: pick an unnecessary fight, create chaos, then back down and act like a hero. Canada announced its border plan in December. These tariffs were never needed — just another pointless stunt that hurt our economy for no reason."

One Republican lawmaker's future in politics is in jeopardy ahead of the Senate Finance Committee's vote on whether to confirm Robert F. Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Politico reports.

Because Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) "once prescribed life-saving vaccines," according to the report, the Louisiana lawmaker is concerned about helping to confirm an anti-vaxxer to lead the Health Department.

Politico reports:

Before entering politics, Cassidy was a liver doctor, or gastroenterologist.

He created a program to vaccinate nearly 36,000 children in and around Baton Rouge, Louisiana, against hep B. He pushed increased funding for vaccinations first during three House terms representing a majority-Black district that stretches from Baton Rouge northwest to Shreveport. In 2014 he defeated incumbent Democrat Mary Landrieu and has since celebrated public funding to better understand vaccine hesitancy in the Senate.

He urged the public to get the Covid-19 vaccine — a shot that Kennedy once decried as 'the deadliest vaccine ever made.'

READ MORE: 'That’s not normal': CNN panel shocked by applause for RFK Jr. at confirmation hearing

This leaves Cassidy between a rock and a hard place.

The GOP senator's political career is already hanging by a thread after he voted to convict President Donald Trump over his involvement in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. Politico notes that a vote against a MAGA nominee could make Cassidy's life even harder on Capitol Hill.

"He’s a Trump supporter," a doctor and health policy expert close to Cassidy told Politico.

"At the same time, he’s struggling with his obligations as HELP chair and in his Senate post with what is best for the health of Americans."

READ MORE: 'That is so dangerous': RFK Jr. blasted for claim on Black immunity and vaccines

Politico's full report is available at this link.

After a senior Federal Bureau of Intelligence [FBI] agent in New York sent an email Sunday to his staff promising to stand firm against President Donald Trump's intimidation, firing — and more threats of firing — FBI officials, a former top official in the agency warns America is in danger.

MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace asked ex-FBI assistant director for counterintelligence, Frank Figliuzzi, on Monday about his assessment of the situation.

"What I'm focused on is a couple of things," he began. "First, it's clear to me that Donald Trump lacks the capacity to seriously understand how seriously FBI agents take their oath of office. I don't think he grasped that. I don't think it's a concept he gets. But when you raise your right hand and swear to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, i don't think anyone takes it more seriously than the US military and the FBI."

READ MORE: FBI official Trump tapped as acting director refusing to approve his mass firings: report

Figliuzzi continued, "Number two, I can't overemphasize the. degree to which the drama playing out right now inside the FBI, and with DOJ [Department of Justice], is unprecedented. This has never happened before in FBI history — the threat of thousands of FBI agents. And let me be clear on something. there are only 14,000 special agents in the FBI. If we lose 6,000 of them, this nation's national security is done."

"For this country, the FBI is tracking multiple terror plots, there are surveillance teams right now watching the act. There are undercover agents right now inside domestic violent extremist groups and international terror groups trying to prevent the next act of terrorism. When you do away with layer upon layer of headquarters and field office management, including the heads of Washington field office, Miami, Las Vegas — all have happened. By the way, some of the people walked out of the.door aren't eligible for retirement, they have no salary on the way to pay for food on the table or the kid's college tuition. Our adversaries are watching this.They know there's a bunch of disgruntled FBI agents with no income coming. This is a national security crisis and we are less safe because of it."

READ MORE: 'Extraordinarily dangerous': Fears grow Trump nominee would turn FBI’s powers on enemies

Watch the video below or at this link.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

President Donald Trump early Sunday morning responded to a scathing rebuke from the conservative leaning Wall Street Journal over the MAGA leader's decision to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

Criticizing the president's move, the newspaper's editorial board on Friday, January 31, published an op-ed titled, "The Dumbest Trade War in History."

Trump took to social media to shoot back at the board, suggesting that the result of the tariffs will inflict "pain" on Americans.

READ MORE: 'Trump is squandering this resource' with his 'hard power' approach to foreign policy: analysis

"The 'Tariff Lobby,' headed by the Globalist, and always wrong, Wall Street Journal, is working hard to justify Countries like Canada, Mexico, China, and too many others to name, continue the decades long RIPOFF OF AMERICA, both with regard to TRADE, CRIME, AND POISONOUS DRUGS that are allowed to so freely flow into AMERICA," the president began. "THOSE DAYS ARE OVER! The USA has major deficits with Canada, Mexico, and China (and almost all countries!), owes 36 Trillion Dollars, and we’re not going to be the 'Stupid Country' any longer."

Trump continued, "MAKE YOUR PRODUCT IN THE USA AND THERE ARE NO TARIFFS! Why should the United States lose TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN SUBSIDIZING OTHER COUNTRIES, and why should these other countries pay a small fraction of the cost of what USA citizens pay for Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, as an example? THIS WILL BE THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA! WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!). BUT WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, AND IT WILL ALL BE WORTH THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID. WE ARE A COUNTRY THAT IS NOW BEING RUN WITH COMMON SENSE — AND THE RESULTS WILL BE SPECTACULAR!!!"

Reason Editor in Chief Matt Welch replied, "Congratulations, America!"

Former Trump White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci commented: "This of course is nonsense. Not grounded in fact. Trump wants to isolate us even if it causes economic destruction. He doesn’t like how much America has helped the world after WW2 and he wants to reverse our course. Bad outcomes ahead without a course reversal."

READ MORE: Trump on 'an ego trip' following announcement of tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China: top Dem

Cato Institute Vice President of General Economics Scott Lincicome added: "But wait I thought this was about fentanyl"

As President Donald Trump and the Republican Party take full control of the US government trifecta, Democrats are struggling to unite behind a strategy to take on MAGA world.

According to a Sunday New York Times report, several Democratic "governors, members of the Senate and the House, state attorneys general, grass-roots leaders and D.N.C. members" shared their thoughts on the future of the party.

“We have no coherent message,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) told the Times.

READ MORE: Trump leaves Dem-led watchdog 'paralyzed' after firing spree: report

"This guy is psychotic, and there’s so much, but everything that underlines it is white supremacy and hate. There needs to be a message that is clear on at least the underlying thing that comes with all of this."

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) emphasized that the party doesn't only have to take on Trump — but also his billionaire allies.

"We’re not just up against Donald Trump. We’re up against the richest billionaires in the country who control much of our communication apparatus," Garcia said. "We’ve got to start calling it like it is. And I think the American public and working-class people who make up a majority of this country will understand that."

The Times reports "on a private call" with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) "last week, a half-dozen Democratic governors pressed him to be more aggressive in opposing the entire Trump agenda — not just those issues on which the party thinks it can score strategic victories."

READ MORE: 'Wake him up early and keep him up late': How Dems can 'nail Trump to the wall' in 2nd term

For now, Democrats over the weekend selected a new leader to steer the party in a new direction.

Per the Times, "the party chose a candidate, Ken Martin of Minnesota, who said he planned to conduct a post-election review largely focused on tactics and messaging."

The Times reports, "In private discussions, former President Barack Obama has compared this moment to early 2005, after Democrats had lost the White House and control of Congress, according to a person briefed on the conversations. Two years later, Democrats gained control of Congress. And two years after that, Mr. Obama became the country’s first Black president and re-energized the party."

Former Democratic Washington State Governor Jay Inslee said, “We’re going to have midterm elections quicker than you may know. And the last time we picked up all kinds of seats, and I’m looking forward to that again."

READ MORE: 'Democrats' hidden in Instagram search results as Meta rushes to fix 'embarrassing' problem

The Times' full report is available here (subscription required).

In the first two weeks of his second term, President Donald Trump has proven he believes threatening US counterparts, like Canada, Mexico, China, Colombia and more, is the best way to accomplish his foreign policy agenda.

The New York Times' Peter Baker examines whether the president's "hard power" approach – opposed to "soft power" — will get him the results he seeks.

Baker notes:

Hard power has long been an instrument of influence for American presidents, going back to the days of gunboat diplomacy through more than two decades of war after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But the United States has also employed what is called soft power, a term and concept popularized in the 1990s by Joseph S. Nye Jr., former dean of the Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, who served in President Bill Clinton’s administration.

READ MORE: 'Tied directly to inflation': GOP senator hoping this key Trump tariff will be 'short-lived'

"President Trump’s confrontational style has resulted in foreign policy gains and can result in more — provided he is careful about the targets of his pressure and the specific implied or actual threats," ex-Pentagon official and Arizona State University's McCain Institute Executive Director Evelyn N. Farkas told the Times.

Baker points to last week, when "Colombia refused to accept U.S. military flights of deported migrants unless they were treated with more 'dignity,' as an example of the power of Trump's threats.

"Even though Colombia has been an important U.S. ally, Mr. Trump did not bother with traditional diplomacy and went instantly to his version of DEFCON 1 by threatening a trade war," Baker writes. "It worked. Colombia backed down."

However, Baker reports "veterans of foreign affairs and international trade said that quick and easy wins may do long-term damage. By basing relations with other countries on brute economic force and naked self-interest rather than shared values and mutual goals, they said, Mr. Trump may push some away from the U.S. orbit and toward the likes of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia or President Xi Jinping of China."

READ MORE: 'That is not his platform': Trump at odds with Republicans over major budget issue

Former President George W. Bush trade adviser Daniel M. Price told Baker, "Our allies struggle to differentiate Trump from Putin or Xi. They feel not like allies but like vassals. U.S. coercion and bellicosity create incentives for increased alignment with, or at least accommodation, of our geopolitical rivals."

Nye suggests that Trump might benefit from exercising soft power, which Baker notes "is noncoercive and includes foreign aid to fight disease and poverty while encouraging development, which beyond altruism has been viewed as beneficial to the United States. Among other things, experts say, it can discourage illegal immigration to the United States — a Trump priority — by helping improve living conditions in other parts of the world."

Nye told Baker, "Trump does not understand soft power — the ability to get what you want by using attraction rather than coercion or payment. In the short term, hard power usually trumps soft power, but the long-run effects may be the opposite."

The former Clinton official added, "And even in the short run, while you may have to use hard power, if you also have soft power, you can economize on the costs of sticks and carrots. Trump is squandering this resource. It may work in the short run, but will cost the U.S. in the long term."

READ MORE: Trump’s tariffs won't solve America’s fentanyl crisis — here's why

Less than one week after Donald Trump became the 47th president of the United States, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) proposed a resolution that would allow the MAGA leader to stay in power for a third term.

In an article for Politico Magazine, Politico's senior legal editor James Romoser explains why — despite the fact that a third term for a US president is unconstitutional — it's not impossible.

"The Constitution imposes an explicit two-term limit on the presidency — even if those two terms, like Trump’s, are non-consecutive," Romoser writes. "'No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice,' the 22nd Amendment mandates."

READ MORE: GOP rep proposes 'third term' constitutional amendment for Trump: report

However, "Around the globe, when rulers consolidate power through a cult of personality, they do not tend to surrender it willingly, even in the face of constitutional limits," the legal expert submits.

Romoser writes:

'Presidents tend to like their jobs, and there have been many attempts for them to overstay,' says Mila Versteeg, a law professor at the University of Virginia.

Versteeg co-authored a 2020 study that examined 234 heads of state in 106 countries in the 21st century. She found that one-third of them sought to circumvent legally imposed term limits. Many of them succeeded — typically not by directly disobeying the law, but rather by exploiting gaps and weaknesses in their constitutional systems or by convincing meek courts to bless their consolidation of power.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan did it in Turkey. Daniel Ortega did it in Nicaragua. Vladimir Putin did it in Russia. The list goes on and on, including leaders whom Trump admires.

'In the countries where this has happened, the rule of law is much weaker than in the United States,' Versteeg says. 'But we shouldn’t dismiss it as impossible or unimaginable. It has happened around the world.'

"It’s the stuff of liberal nightmares and MAGA dreams," Romoser writes, and it's possible, he emphasizes.

“Anyone who says that obviously the 22nd Amendment will deter Trump from trying for a third term has been living on a different planet than the one I’ve been living on," former President Barack Obama associate White House counsel and current Protect Democracy Executive Director Ian Bassin told Politico.

READ MORE: 'Figure something else out': Trump teases run for illegal 3rd term in meeting with House GOP

Romoser's full report is available at this link.

Many US government workers are surprised by the lengths President Donald Trump is going to exact revenge on his political adversaries, The Guardian reports insiders say.

Per the report, while some officials resigned ahead of Trump's inauguration, some remained in their positions, hoping for the best.

"The most common refrain I’m hearing from people who have left but are still talking to people on the inside is: 'I knew it was going to be bad but I didn’t think it was going to be this bad,'" longtime Democratic lawyer Mark Bergman told the Guardian.

READ MORE: Trump 'scrambling' to ensure controversial Cabinet pick is confirmed: report

The news outlet notes that Bergman "has been in contact with some of those who fear being targets of the retribution Trump repeatedly vowed" during his campaign.

Although Trump — in less than two weeks — has already snatched Secret Service protection from former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, ex-Trump CIA director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former Assistant Secretary of State Brian Hook, "more intense vengeance may have been felt by anonymous civil servants who were less prepared," the Guardian emphasizes.

"There’s certainly shellshock," Bergman told the news outlet.

"My view is that Trump is animated by his revenge and retribution agenda."

READ MORE: 'Many, many casualties': Panama officials fear war with United States over control of canal

The Democratic attorney also noted, "People are being moved reassigned, fired or otherwise [put] under pressure, if they are not able to say that they are mission-aligned, which is the phrase being used by the transition team to mean you will carry out the orders of the president regardless of whether they’re lawful or not."

The Guardian's full report is available here.

After it was announced Tuesday that President Donald Trump's administration is offering nearly 2 million federal workers "the chance to take a 'deferred resignation,' according to NBC News — allowing workers be paid through September — one reporter noted that the message to employees looked familiar.

ABC News White House policy reporter Cheyenne Haslett reported via X: "NEW: The memo sent to government employees this evening offering them buyouts very closely mirrors an email Musk sent to Twitter employees in 2022 — down to the same subject line 'A Fork in the Road.'"

She added, "The 2022 email tells Twitter employees, 'Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.'"

READ MORE: 'There’s no clarity': Reporter confronts Trump’s press secretary over federal funding freeze

Furthermore, Haslett wrote, "Compare that to memo: 'The federal workforce should be comprised of the best America has to offer. We will insist on excellence at every level...And another similarity: in the same way the OPM [U.S. Office of Personnel Management] memo requires employees to only respond 'Resign' to the email to seal the deal, Musk asked Twitter employees to 'click yes on the link below' if they wanted to stay on at Twitter."

The email continued, "Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Twitter successful," Musk wrote in 2022. And this evening, the closing message to government employees by OPM: 'Whichever path you choose, we thank you for your service to The United States of America,'" Haslett noted.

READ MORE: 'There’s no clarity': Reporter confronts Trump’s press secretary over federal funding freeze

President Donald Trump's slew of executive orders has left the US Army in disarray in the MAGA leader's eight days since taking office once again, according to a Tuesday Politico report.

Per the report, the 47th president's moves to begin the administration's mass deportation efforts and end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives — to name only a few — are "sparking so much confusion that top officials directed a halt on new contracts and then walked it back."

For example, Politico reports, "Top officials misinterpreted Trump’s order on diversity, equity and inclusion and set an Army freeze on deals for new weapons," then, "The Pentagon clarified on Tuesday that it wasn’t going to issue a pause," upending the entire defense industry.

READ MORE: 'Trump’s not a king': Internet erupts after Biden-appointed judge halts federal funding freeze

Additionally, Politico reports:

Some service members also are concerned that Trump’s team will purge officers who are not deemed loyal enough. The president last week dismissed Adm. Linda Fagan, the Coast Guard’s commandant. A Homeland Security official credited her firing to program delays and an 'excessive focus' on diversity and inclusion efforts.

"What kind of signal does this send to the defense industrial base, which is already plagued with a number of challenges?" ex-Army official Becca Wasser said to the news outlet.

"A lot of that stems from a very unclear demand signal from the U.S. government," the Center for a New American Security senior fellow added.

READ MORE: How Trump’s quick executive actions could redefine who counts in our democracy

Politico's full report is available here.

President Donald Trump's administration claimed that the MAGA leader's freeze on federal funding Tuesday "would not hurt anyone anyone receiving "direct assistance" from the federal government," but CBS News' report that the Medicaid Payment Management System is down left some Americans unconvinced.

Meanwhile, Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt tweeted, "The White House is aware of the Medicaid website portal outage. We have confirmed no payments have been affected — they are still being processed and sent."

The Trump staffer added. "We expect the portal will be back online shortly."

READ MORE: 'There’s no clarity': Reporter confronts Trump’s press secretary over federal funding freeze

Symone Sanders Townsend — MSNBC's The Weekend co-host and former press secretary to ex-President Joe Biden — replied to Leavitt's remarks.

"Um. The portals didn’t glitch they were shutdown as a result of the memo from OMB," Sanders Townsend wrote.

"The reason they are coming back on is because of the uproar. To be clear that’s what happened. When I was in the WH we never could have gotten away with this. The reporters would have been on us like white on rice!"

Politico's Kyle Cheney reported later Tuesday evening that "a federal judge has ordered a halt to Donald Trump's sweeping aid freeze, issuing a 'brief administrative stay' to preserve the status quo for at least a few days while further litigation plays out."

READ MORE: 'Seek help': GOP rep buried for saying poor kids on free lunch 'sponge off of the government'

In addition to banning over a dozen books from school libraries and classrooms six months ago, the Utah State Board of Education is now prohibiting students from bringing their own copies of those books into the building, The Washington Post reports.

"These titles should not be brought to school or used for classroom activities, assignments, or personal reading while on school property," the State Board's guidelines reads, according to the public radio station KUER.

Authors including Judy Blume, Margaret Atwood and Sarah J. Maas' books are included on the banned list, which Let Utah Read co-founder Peter Bromberg told the Post "could grow quickly" in the coming weeks.

READ MORE: ‘Literally heartbreaking as a librarian:’ 150 titles pulled from Tennessee school libraries

"Now a kid might get in trouble or be disciplined for bringing a book to school that has not been adjudicated by a judge or a court of law, or even their own school district board that’s been elected by their own community," Bromberg told the newspaper.

Asron Terr, director of public advocacy at FIRE, a free-expression organization, argues that banning students from bringing their own copies is much worse than banning the books from school libraries.

"We've seen plenty of disputes over schools removing books from school libraries and whether that amounts to a ban. But this is different. This is an escalation," he told the Post. "This goes beyond the school deciding what to include in its own curriculum or library. The state is banning students from personally possessing books that they have a First Amendment right to access and read on their own time."

Terr added, "For the same reason that public schools can’t ban a student from wearing a black armband to school to protest the Vietnam War, they can’t ban a student from, say, bringing a book in their backpack that is antiwar or otherwise expresses ideas that make people uncomfortable or that some people think are inappropriate."

READ MORE: Most book bans target children’s lit featuring diverse characters and authors of color

The Washington Post's full report is available at this link (subscription required).

After President Donald Trump fired "more than a dozen" prosecutors on Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith's team Monday, several of the agency's officials shared a peak into the aftermath with Politico.

The news outlet reports, "POLITICO spoke with more than a dozen current and former DOJ officials for this article, most of whom were granted anonymity because of fears of" consequences from Trump.

"It feels like a non-violent war. It’s just wild. Everybody’s a sitting duck and these people have no power or control over the situation," a DOJ career employee told Politico.

READ MORE: 'Widespread massacre': Trump reportedly purges at least a dozen inspectors general

"People are just in a state of shock and devastated. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen … Nothing that happened during the first Trump administration came anywhere close to this," the person added.

"It’s got to be among the most demoralizing moments in the history of the Department of Justice,” an-ex DOJ official told Politico.

"It is a flat-out purge of individuals who this administration must view either of suspect loyalty or have worked on matters they just did not like," the former official emphasized. "We are in the early phases of what to me is just looking like a wholesale politically inspired demolition of the Department of Justice in key places."

Furthermore, Politico notes, "Government-wide directives the administration issued calling on agencies to 'identify all employees on probationary periods' have led to some panic among DOJ personnel who’ve been at the agency for less than two years and lack most civil service protections."

READ MORE: Trump leaves Dem-led watchdog 'paralyzed' after firing spree: report

A DOJ career staffer emphasized the "probation announcement that has people completely terrified."

Politico's full report is available here.

One of President Donald Trump's nominees might not receive the necessary backing from Republicans to receive confirmation, according to Senator Rand Paul (R-KY).

CNN's Sahil Kapur on Monday reported via X: "GOP Sen. Rand Paul tells me he’s a NO on Trump nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer for labor secretary, citing her support for the PRO Act."

Kapur added that the Kentucky lawmaker emphasizes Chavez-DeRemer "could lose 15 more Republicans (and win some Democrats)."

READ MORE: Why Trump’s potential labor secretary pick has 'alarmed business interests': report

Earlier this month, The Atlantic's Russell Berman noted that the MAGA nominee is "one of just three House Republicans to co-sponsor the labor movement’s top legislative priority: a bill known as the PRO Act, which would make unionizing easier and expand labor protections for union members."

As a result, Chavez-DeRemer has earned the support of some Democrats.

Eugene, Oregan's KVAL News reports that Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) "expressed his support for Chavez-DeRemer's confirmation," on Monday.

"It will be great to have an Oregonian who's in the cabinet," the Democratic leader told the news outlet.

"She was the most pro-labor Republican in the House of Representatives, and I plan to support her," Merkley added.

READ MORE: Why this Trump nominee is 'a pleasant surprise' for Dems

President Donald Trump on Monday urged the House of Representatives to renew his tax cuts.

This comes as the GOP-controlled Congress attempts "to overcome internal differences on how to pay for" the presidents "sweeping tax cuts, with hardline conservatives determined to reduce an annual federal deficit approaching $2 trillion," according to Reuters.

However, Trump couldn't care less about the divide.

READ MORE: Trump’s expiring 2017 tax cuts made income inequality worse and especially hurt Black Americans: study

Aisha's Hanse, a senior national correspondent for Fox News, reported via social media: "TRUMP calls on Congress to renew his tax cuts — 'We got to get that done. And we don't want to get hung up on the budget process. We just want, whether it's one bill, two bills, I don't care.'"

Michael R. Strain, director of economic policy studies & senior fellow for American Enterprise Institute, wrote: President Trump’s decision not to provide leadership on the legislative strategy is a major strategic error that could come back to haunt him.

Semafor congressional bureau chief Burgess Everett commented: "The easiest way to get hung up on the Budget process is to not pick how to execute the budget process"

READ MORE: Here’s why the cost of extending Trump’s tax cuts just surged by nearly $1 trillion

President Donald Trump left the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board — an independent civil liberties watchdog — "paralyzed" on Monday after firing three of its members who were selected by Democrats, according to The New York Times.

This comes after the new MAGA administration earlier today fired "more than a dozen" prosecutors on Special Counsel Jack Smith's team.

Per the Times, Sharon Bradford Franklin, Edward W. Felten and Travis LeBlanc were all ordered to leave their posts following Trump's inauguration last week, and notified that refusal to do so would result in their dismissals by the president.

READ MORE: Trump DOJ fires 'more than a dozen' prosecutors from Jack Smith’s team

However, because the members had not received further word on the matter, according to the report, the trio remained in their positions as of Friday, January 24, "when the board released a long-in-the-works study of terrorism watchlists, which keep people off planes or subject them to extra screening at airports."

Then, on Monday, Trump White House official Trent Morse emailed the employees confirming their firing.

Per the report, "The New York Times reviewed one of the emails, and Mr. LeBlanc confirmed that all three had been fired. Others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter."

READ MORE: 'Cruel' Trump foreign aid order 'will kill people': global health experts

The New York Times' full report is available at this link (subscription required).

Global health experts are sounding the alarm on President Donald Trump's "sudden halt on U.S. foreign aid" issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to a Monday Politico report.

Per the report, "Many federal workers, from the Pentagon to the U.S. Agency for International Development, are confused by the wording of the order, such as what exactly could qualify for an exemption. In some cases, their ability to get information is being stymied: In a note to staff obtained by POLITICO, a top USAID official told employees they needed prior top-level approval to even talk to institutions outside of the agency."

Although the order is unclear to many workers, Asia Russell, who leads Health GAP, a nonprofit working to help developing countries access HIV treatment, told Politico, "This ‘stop work’ order is cruel and deadly."

READ MORE: 'Self-destructive insanity': Trump admin blasted over latest order for US public health officials

Russell added, "It will kill people."

Furthermore, the news outlet reports that "Ken Jackson, USAID’s assistant to the administrator for management and resources wrote in an agency-wide email to some 10,000 employees" that "the pause on all foreign assistance means a complete halt.

He added that "all communications outside the agency, including to the State Department, must be approved by the Agency Front Office," and, "failure to do so, he wrote, would result in unspecified disciplinary action."

According to Politico, "The U.S. is the world’s No. 1 provider of humanitarian aid. The billions involved are less than 1 percent of the U.S. federal budget, but advocates say the money is key to protecting lives and helping America’s global reputation as it competes for influence with geopolitical rivals such as China and Russia."

READ MORE: 'Bad things': Conservative explains why Trump decision to fire 15 IGs is so 'dangerous'

NGO leaders told the news outlet that "even several weeks without funding could force them to shut down."

One official told Politico, "We operate on a shoestring budget. In 30 days you’ll start to see a very significant cash crunch across the board and probably some bankruptcies. It’s an absolute dumpster fire and no one has any idea what’s going on."

Politico's full report is available at this link.

Donald Trump's list of orders just seven days as the 47th president of the United States is getting longer — and receiving more and more pushback from journalists and political experts.

The Associated Press reported on Monday that "U.S. public health officials have been told to stop working with the World Health Organization, effective immediately."

Per the news outlet's report, :Experts said the sudden stoppage was a surprise and would set back work on investigating and trying to stop outbreaks of Marburg virus and mpox in Africa, as well as brewing threats from around the world. It also comes as health authorities around the world are monitoring bird flu outbreaks among U.S. livestock.

READ MORE: Trump in for rude awakening as some Republicans less than enthusiastic about his agenda: report

Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan slammed the latest Trump move via social media, writing: Self-destructive insanity

John Pelissero, political scientist and Government Ethics scholar at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics of Santa Clara University, wrote: "Not surprising that Trump is back with an uncaring approach to public health. This is not a policy area for disrupters."

Washington Post contributing editor David E. Hoffman commented: "Sure, everyone drinking up detergent will stop the next pandemic. Brilliant."

READ MORE: Will Trump be ranked as a 'great' president? Here's what the research says

New York Times columnist and former Republican, David French, in an op-ed published Sunday points to one German political expert to make sense of President Donald Trump supporters' unwavering loyalty.

"Over the last decade, I’ve watched many of my friends and neighbors make a remarkable transformation," French writes. "They’ve gone from supporting Donald Trump in spite of his hatefulness to reveling in his aggression."

However, he notes, "This isn’t a new observation. In fact, it’s so obvious as to verge on the banal. The far more interesting question is why," arguing, "When a person believes that he or she possesses eternal truth, there’s a temptation to believe that he or she is entitled to rule."

READ MORE: 'The Holocaust is not a joke': Group that initially defended Musk’s salute turns on him

French writes:

There’s a difference, however, between yielding to temptation and developing an alternative morality. And what we’ve been witnessing in the last decade is millions of Americans constructing a different moral superstructure. And while it is certainly notable and powerful in Trumpism, it is not exclusive to Trumpism.

A good way to understand this terrible political morality is to read Carl Schmitt, a German political theorist who joined the Nazi Party after Hitler became chancellor. I want to be careful here — I am not arguing that millions of Americans are suddenly Schmittians, acolytes of one of the fascist regime’s favorite political theorists. The vast majority of Americans have no idea who he is. Nor would they accept all of his ideas.

One of his ideas, however, is almost perfectly salient to the moment: his description, in a 1932 book called 'The Concept of the Political,' of the 'friend-enemy distinction.' The political sphere, according to Schmitt, is distinct from the personal sphere, and it has its own distinct contrasts.

'Let us assume,' Schmitt wrote, 'that in the realm of morality the final distinctions are between good and evil, in aesthetics beautiful and ugly, in economics profitable and unprofitable.' Politics, however, has 'its own ultimate distinctions.' In that realm, 'the specific political distinction to which political actions and motives can be reduced is that between friend and enemy.'

Furthermore, French notes that Schmitt notes that "one of liberalism’s deficiencies is a reluctance to draw the friend-enemy distinction," and its failure "to draw it is a fool’s errand."

"An enduring political community can exist only when it draws this distinction. It is this contrast with outsiders that creates the community," French emphasizes.

The Times columnist suggests, "Because our civics depends on our ethics, we should be teaching ethics right alongside civics. Sadly, we’re failing at both tasks, and our baser nature is telling millions of Americans that cruelty is good, if it helps us win, and kindness is evil, if it weakens our cause. That is the path of destruction. As the prophet Isaiah said, 'Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.'"

READ MORE: 'Where’s my German friends?' Trump hosts far-right German activists who defended Nazis

French's full column is available at this link (subscription required).

President Donald Trump's new administration looks a lot different from his first. For starters, Trump's second administration is filled with MAGA loyalists who appear to be willing to back their leader no matter the consequences.

According to an exclusive Axios report, the difference "is surprising — even frustrating — some longtime friends in his second administration's early days with fewer leaks, a lack of exploitable rivalries, and tighter restrictions on access to him."

A lobbyist connected to the current administration told the news outlet, "There's a 'strong silo system' that has kept advocates and special interests from forum-shopping and end-running administration officials."

READ MORE: GOP rep proposes 'third term' constitutional amendment for Trump: report

One major change, Axios reports, "is that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and other aides have clamped down on the ability of random friends and reporters to call Trump directly" — when, up until his inauguration last week — "if you had his phone number and called, Trump would answer and talk to you — and maybe even act on whatever you suggested."

But even before this change, the president has moved more quickly in the last six days than any other US president.

Marc Short, who served as chief of staff to ex-Vice President Mike Pence, told the news outlet, "Back then, he was trying to consolidate power in the Republican Party. Today, Trump is the party."

Still, a consultant who served in Trump's first administration told Axios, "There are more questions about how all this is going to work, and right now, there just aren't enough bodies to answer them."

READ MORE: 'Three big factors' that make Trump's second presidency different from the first: report

The lobbyist familiar with Trump's camp told the news outlet, "It's a total black box. Nothing is leaking except what they want."

Axios' full report is available here.

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