Good afternoon, everyone. There’s major news breaking today. A leaked group chat has exposed Young Republican leaders across the country embracing Hitler, joking about rape, and making horrific racist and antisemitic remarks.
At the same time, Fox News has rebuked former host and now Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. President Trump is threatening to move the World Cup and the Olympics out of Democratic-led states. And I spoke with both candidates in Maine’s high-stakes Senate race.
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A leaked trove of Telegram messages revealed widespread racist, antisemitic, and violent rhetoric among Young Republican leaders across several states, including jokes about gas chambers and rape, open praise of Hitler, and slurs against minorities. The POLITICO investigation shows some members tied to state parties and the Trump administration, prompting firings, public condemnations from GOP officials like Elise Stefanik and Roger Stone, and renewed scrutiny of extremist culture within the party’s youth ranks.
Major U.S. networks — including Fox News, ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN — have refused to sign the Pentagon’s new press policy, jointly denouncing it as restrictive to journalistic freedom and transparency, marking a rare united stance by major broadcasters against the Defense Department under Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Trump said the Pentagon’s new press policy “bothers” him because reporters roaming around could cause “tragic” mistakes, and he floated imposing a similar arrangement at the White House — even suggesting moving the press “across the street” to limit their access and keep them in a separate space.
Trump threatened to pressure FIFA and the IOC to relocate World Cup matches in Boston and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles over what he called poor governance by Democrats (singling out Boston’s mayor Michelle Wu and California’s Gavin Newsom), saying he could ask organizers to “move it to another location” if he judged conditions unsafe.
Donald Trump today about a female reporter: “I just like to watch her talk. Good job. Thank you, darling.”
Trump warned he would withhold federal funds from New York City if Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani wins, calling him a “communist guy” and saying he wouldn’t be “generous” with aid to a city led by his political opponent.
Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) introduced the WIC Benefits Protection Act, a bill to make funding for the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program mandatory so it can’t lapse during a government shutdown. Scott called it “unconscionable” that mothers might fear losing benefits, warning of irreversible harm from infant malnutrition. The bill follows Trump’s recent directive ensuring military pay continues as the shutdown drags on.
Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned the U.S. may reconsider its $20 billion aid deal with Argentina if President Javier Milei’s party underperforms in upcoming elections, linking continued support to the country maintaining conservative, market-driven policies.
During a meeting with Argentina’s president, Trump warned that the U.S. would forcibly disarm Hamas if it fails to do so voluntarily, accusing the group of lying about the number of Israeli hostages’ bodies returned and vowing, “They know I’m not playing games.”
NBC News revealed that Texas has spent over $775,000 acquiring secret supplies of pentobarbital for executions under a state secrecy law, raising ethical and legal concerns as evidence suggests some doses were bought at inflated “black market” rates, possibly expired, and tied to an opaque system lacking pharmaceutical oversight.
My interview with Graham Platner:
My interview with Governor Janet Mills:
Chicago TV producer Debbie Brockman was violently detained by federal agents during an ICE raid despite being a U.S. citizen, with lawyers calling her arrest “alarming and horrifying” and denying claims she assaulted officers, as no charges were filed and she plans legal action against the authorities.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Alex Jones’s appeal, upholding the $1.4 billion defamation judgment against him for spreading false claims that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax, ensuring he remains liable for damages to victims’ families after years of evasion and bankruptcy filings.
Israel has halved aid deliveries and kept the Rafah crossing closed, accusing Hamas of breaching the U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire by withholding the bodies of 24 hostages, escalating tensions as both sides test the fragile truce amid limited humanitarian access, sporadic violence, and slow progress toward Gaza’s reconstruction and governance under a Trump-led peace plan.
President Trump announced a U.S. strike on a boat near Venezuela that killed six alleged drug traffickers, marking the fifth such attack amid growing criticism from the UN and human rights groups, who condemn the operations as unlawful extrajudicial killings, while the White House defends them as part of a new “armed conflict” against narco-terrorist networks.
Cody Balmer, who set fire to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s mansion with gasoline-filled bottles while the family was inside, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and terrorism, receiving a 25–50 year sentence for the politically motivated arson that caused millions in damage but no injuries.
California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill banning cookware and consumer goods containing PFAS “forever chemicals,” citing concerns over affordability and market disruption, sparking debate between environmental advocates and chefs who argued for balanced regulation and consumer education.
D’Angelo, the Grammy-winning neo-soul pioneer known for Brown Sugar, Voodoo, and Untitled (How Does It Feel), has died at 51 from pancreatic cancer, leaving behind a transformative musical legacy celebrated by artists worldwide for redefining R&B and inspiring generations.
