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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called out a yawning child who did not appear to be thrilled with his speech.

During an event in Philadelphia on Thursday, some of the city's schoolchildren were on hand to hear Duffy talk about America's 250th birthday.

Ashley St. Clair, a former Turning Point USA brand ambassador turned critic, is exposing what she describes as a coordinated paid promotion scheme involving President Donald Trump's top online personalities.

In monologue-style videos published on TikTok to 77,000 followers, St. Clair alleges MAGA influencers portrayed as grassroots activists receive coordinated talking points from administration officials through group chats and are compensated for promoting conservative candidates, reported The Washington Post.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mulling complained that "Kamikaze" Dems had sabotaged his supply of paperclips during the recent partial government shutdown.

During a Fox Business interview on Thursday, host Maria Bartiromo asked Mullin if he could insulate DHS from future shutdowns so "people are still getting paid."

Major energy companies are reaping enormous profits from the ongoing Strait of Hormuz stalemate triggered by Donald Trump's war on Iran, with European oil giants reporting dramatic earnings surges while American producers sit on the sidelines, the New York Times is reporting.

British energy giant Shell reported robust first-quarter profits Thursday, with adjusted earnings soaring 24 percent to $6.92 billion — more than twice what the company earned in the previous quarter and significantly higher than analyst expectations.

In a statement, Shell's chief executive, Wael Sawan, attributed the windfall to an "unprecedented disruption in global energy markets," with oil prices briefly trading above $126 a barrel last week.

Shell is not alone in profiting from the conflict. Britain's BP more than doubled its first-quarter profit to $3.2 billion from the previous quarter, driven by superior oil trading and elevated prices. French oil company TotalEnergies reported quarterly net income of $5.4 billion and announced it would raise its dividend and double its share buybacks, the Times is reporting.

According to the Times' Gregory Schmidt, that stands in sharp contrast to American oil producers who are reporting declining profits despite elevated prices. Exxon Mobil reported $4.2 billion in first-quarter earnings — down 46 percent from a year earlier — while Chevron's quarterly profit slid to $2.2 billion, a 37 percent drop year-over-year. The Times report adds the caveat that the companies attributed the declines to accounting adjustments and paper losses they said would be unwound in coming months as gas prices stay high.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a campaign-style video Wednesday describing his "hope for America," triggering widespread speculation that he may challenge Vice President JD Vance for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination.

Though Rubio has publicly stated he would support Vance, political analysts and conservative influencers interpreted the video as a potential presidential pitch. Rubio outlined his vision of America as a place where anyone can achieve their potential regardless of birth circumstances or ethnicity.

Federal law enforcement has collapsed as the Department of Justice focuses on President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

A Reuters review found that between January and April, federal prosecutors in Minnesota charged eight people with gun or drug offenses compared to 77 in the same period last year, which amounts to a 90 percent collapse in serious federal criminal prosecutions.

The Department of Justice is investigating a series of suspiciously timed trades timed around major announcements about the war in Iran, prompting skepticism.

The DOJ, along with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is looking into at least four transactions where traders made more than $2.6 billion betting that oil prices would drop right before they did, reported ABC News.

President Donald Trump has for years gotten away with flagrant corruption and self-dealing off of the apathy of the American people, Mona Charen wrote for The Bulwark on Thursday — but that may finally be coming to an end.

The extent of his excesses, she wrote, can be seen in the "gargantuan shakedown" Trump is trying to stage against the IRS, which started because a whistleblower working for an IRS contractor leaked information about Trump's tax returns.

The economy has been pushed to the brink as President Donald Trump escalated his war with Iran, sending the price of oil and gas surging and setting off a new wave of inflation.

But even if that war is resolved now, it's likely too late to fix the economy ahead of the midterms, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.