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There was only one check on Trump pardons — and Supreme Court killed it: expert

Joyce White Vance, former federal prosecutor and legal analyst at the Brookings Institution, noted on Thursday that there are no checks on presidential power for selling pardons.

President Donald Trump pardoned a list of people over the last month, and many of those chosen are turning heads. The one most discussed is reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley. However, another pardon, given to Paul Walczak, is also raising alarm. Legal experts are questioning whether it is a possible bribery case.

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'Bluffing too much': 'Nasty' reporter fires back after being confronted by Trump

CNBC White House correspondent Megan Cassella reacted after President Donald Trump accused her of asking a "nasty question" because she noted that Wall Street analysts said he "chickens out" on tariffs.

The question arose during a White House event on Wednesday, where Cassella said traders mocked Trump with the acronym TACO, meaning "Trump always chickens out."

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'Most honest answer we've had': Shop owner startles CNN host with candid comment

President Donald Trump's trade wars have injected uncertainty into the U.S. economy, forcing business owners to stock up on supplies in hope they can outlast costly tariffs, and one business owner startled a CNN host with a blunt response to how she's dealing with the stress.

The president and other administration officials say the tariffs are meant to encourage domestic manufacturing, but Virginia bridal shop owner Christine Greenberg told "CNN News Central" host Sara Sidner that plan was impractical no matter how laudable the intentions might be.

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Dem insider claims Bruce Springsteen just showed us a way to rise above Trump

During an appearance on MSNBC on Thursday morning, Jennifer Palmieri focused on the re-emergence of Bruce Springsteen as a leader of a new "resistance" against Donald Trump that should be a model for critics of the president.

Speaking with the co-hosts of "Morning Joe," the former White House Director of Communications explained that the popular singer has made it clear that if you stand for anything, "You have to pick sides" and stick to it.

Palmieri's appearance was based on her column at The Bulwark where she noted that after Trump railed at the songwriter to "KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT" in a Truth Social post, Springsteen refused to back down.

EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade

On MSNBC she stated she recently saw him in concert, and "His critique of him [Trump] was particularly like, really hit home because it's presented as a patriotic defense of America, right? Bruce talks about in the America I love this is happening and I think that's partly why it struck a chord with the American people. "

"But what really moved me was when he said at the end of that litany of Trump being corrupt, incompetent and treasonous, is we will survive this, right?" she continued. "The way that Trump fails democracy, even as you acknowledge the way that our system of checks and balances has not held him accountable, to say, to affirm that America will survive, this is really buying into the exceptional nature of America."

You can watch below or at the link.

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'Stunning defeat' could rip apart Trump's trade deals: White House reporter

A federal court dealt a "stunning defeat" to president Donald Trump and his tariff agenda, reported CNN's Alayna Treene.

A three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of International Trade slapped down the president's global tariffs and ruled in favor of a permanent injunction against his trade war against Canada, China, Mexico and other trade partners, and the issue could eventually wind up before the Supreme Court.

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Trump's latest 'distraction' is crippling him with his base: political expert

During an MSNBC segment of Donald Trump's ongoing wave of retribution against his perceived enemies, combined with his new attacks against law firms and educational institutions, longtime political observer John Heilemann claimed it wall all come back to harm him.

The "Morning Joe" panel began by discussing the Trump administration appearing in a Boston federal courtroom on Thursday to battle with Harvard University in a case involving the attempts to restrict the university from enrolling international students, which led to Heilemann to claim the president is taking his eye off what got him elected.

"The Trump administration driven by President Trump has been so extreme in how it's dealt with Harvard and made demands that no university could ever accept, that it kind of put someone who would potentially have been a partner of the Trump administration back on its heels and pushed it into a corner," he told the panel. "And you have a lot of people who –– even people who have been very critical of Harvard –– who look at this and go, 'Hey, I think this is going a little bit too far."

EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade

Pointing out that Trump "sees conflict as a zero sum game," he later added, "If you fight back against Trump he will fight you until there's no more fight to fight he just, he goes all the way to the extreme. He has done this across the board essentially, whether it's Miles Taylor or Chris Krebs or anybody else. If they push back against Trump, it is their fault and he will then punish them."

"It can be politically self-defeating because it takes his eye off the ball on what is really the political calculus that got him back into the White House, which is prices, economy, turning all that stuff around," he remarked. "Trump seems really distracted by a lot of personal vendettas here and not focused on what his base and what all American or Republican voters want."

You can watch below or at the link.

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Sean Combs poised to make 'bad tactical decision' that 'could sink him': expert

Sean "Diddy" Combs is virtually guaranteed to take the stand to defend himself against sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges, according to his attorney, but legal experts say that carries profound risk.

The music mogul's defense team was unsuccessful in getting the judge to declared a mistrial over an arson investigator’s testimony about fingerprint evidence in the firebombing of rapper Kid Kudi's car, and CNN's Audie Cornish asked former federal prosecutor Alyse Adamson about the likelihood that he would testify.

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'Going to say this slowly': Wall St. execs lectured on Trump's tariff 'off-ramp'

A ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade on Wednesday that Donald Trump overstepped his authority by instituting reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners has given the president a chance to back off his unpopular trade war policies –– but he won't.

Reacting to the ruling where the court stated the use of tariffs was "impermissible not because it is unwise or ineffective, but because [federal law] does not allow it,” MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-host Jonathan Lemire suggested there are those who believe Trump would take advantage of the ruling as an "off-ramp."

"I know there was some speculation last night, some wishful thinking, perhaps from some other Republicans I heard from that this may be an off-ramp for President Trump, that you could blame the courts, but then actually back away from some of the tariffs because of the impact on the markets, because of the impact potentially down the road on the economy," Lemire told the panel. "But this is, Joe [Scarborough], as you well know, the president has believed in for a very long time, and at least now I'm told, he doesn't plan to alter course."

EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade

That led co-host Scarborough to state, "So I'm going to say this slowly so our billionaire friends on Wall Street and our multi-millionaire friends on Wall Street who trade every day can understand it: if you thought that Donald Trump was just talking when he kept campaigning and promising to provide tariffs –– he wasn't."

"He's been saying that since 1987, and I have it on very good authority that the people that are saying Donald Trump is backing down on tariffs and there's an off-ramp, that Donald Trump does not believe there is an off-ramp for tariffs," he continued.

"And people running around saying that he always backs down or he chickens out, why don't you just invite him to put more tariffs on more countries," he joked. "He's not backing down on tariffs. It is one of the driving forces of his political life and his political being. There is no off-ramp, alright? Let me say that again: there is no off-ramp."

You can watch below or at the link.

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Ex-Obama adviser says tariff ruling may have saved Trump 'from himself'

A federal court’s decision to strike down Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff plan may be a political “black eye” for the administration – but could ultimately help the president if it effectively causes him to be “stymied in doing something that's going to raise costs for people,” according to Democratic strategist David Axelrod.

“It may be a black eye, but it may also be a break for him,” Axelrod claimed.

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Trump desperately trying to avoid a public showdown with Musk: Maggie Haberman

President Donald Trump doesn't want to get into a public fight with tech billionaire Elon Musk as the latter denounces his "big, beautiful bill" on tax cuts, energy deregulation, and border security, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman told CNN's Jake Tapper on Wednesday.

The bill, which narrowly passed the House earlier this month, cuts hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid and food assistance, on top of a laundry list of other controversial provisions, to preserve Trump's 2017 tax cuts. It faces an uncertain path in the Senate as Republicans vow to make major changes.

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How Donald Trump ruined Nicolle Wallace's Memorial Day BBQ

New York Times opinion columnist Nicholas Kristof penned a piece over the Memorial Day weekend that detailed the ongoing corruption in President Donald Trump's White House.

MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace said that she was reading the column and quickly sent it to everyone she knew. They responded, "Go back to your barbecue."

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Eric Trump claims Mar-a-Lago worth $2B at crypto conference

Eric Trump revealed that he had an opportunity to mortgage Mar-a-Lago to purchase cryptocurrency but chose not to because his father would not have been "thrilled."

At a Bitcoin conference on Wednesday, Trump said he was approached by "Bitcoin evangelist" Michael Saylor about a year earlier.

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'What?' Nicolle Wallace cracks up as Trump brags about 'terrific criminals'

MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace was shocked not only by seeing the full list of President Donald Trump's latest rounds of pardons, but also by a call he had with the daughter of one of those pardoned individuals.

On the phone with Savannah Chrisley, Trump said her jailed parents, Todd and Julie Chrisley, are "terrific people" — despite being convicted of a bank and tax fraud scheme.

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