SmartNews

'Kind of numb': DeSantis delivers blunt putdown of GOP-led Florida legislature

Gov. Ron DeSantis threw out the V word on Thursday and warned state legislators he is getting ready to use his line-item veto power.

During a lengthy press conference on higher education held on the campus of Florida Atlantic University, the Republican governor took shots at the Legislature for not passing a budget on time. He also noted that the final $115.1 billion budget includes enough local projects for individual lawmakers to leave him “kind of numb.”

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'More cavities': RFK Jr. expects kid tooth decay from his anti-fluoride crusade

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted that children would likely see an uptick in cavities over his crusade to have fluoride removed from drinking water.

The admission came during a Thursday interview on Fox News with Kennedy and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R).

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'This feels different': Conservative says new scandal knocked Trump off-kilter

Conservative writer Charlie Sykes claimed in a new article that President Donald Trump has been so unnerved by the Iran scandal fueled by his own administration's claims that he can focus on nothing else.

So far, only one of 17 intelligence agencies released reports on the possible effects of last weekend's bombing, yet the Trump administration continues to call it a raging success. When the press has questioned exactly how Trump knows Iran's nuclear capabilities have been wiped out, the president has been going ballistic.

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Trump could manipulate Fed with early 'backseat driver' nomination: WSJ

According to White House insiders, Donald Trump could jump the gun and nominate his choice to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell months earlier than is traditional which could have a huge impact on financial markets and proposed interest rate changes.

In an exclusive report from the Wall Street Journal, the president already has his eye on several candidates and could make an announcement at any time, almost 11 months before Powell's term is up.

Among those candidates, the Journal is reporting, former Fed governor Kevin Wars, Trump adviser and frequent cable news guest Kevin Hassett and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are names that are being floated.

As the report notes, previous nominations have been announced three to four months prior to an expiration of a term, and an early announcement could be disruptive to the Fed's work.

RELATED: 'He hates me': Trump complains Fed chairman won't budge out of personal grudge

Should Trump make an early move, any pronouncements from Powell could be undercut by the incoming chair who will likely parrot whatever the president wants them to say.

According to the Journal's Brian Schwartz and Nick Timiraos, "An early announcement could allow the chair-in-waiting to influence investor expectations about the likely path for rates, like a backseat driver, attempting to steer monetary policy before Powell’s term ends."

Although Bessent has gone on record stating that no announcement would be forthcoming until September, the president appears to have other plans, according to some.

“I know within three or four people who all I’m going to pick,” he told reporters on Wednesday at the NATO summit. “He [Powell] goes out pretty soon, fortunately, because I think he’s terrible.”

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'Volcano is about to erupt': Ex-Trump insider warns about president's next plans

Donald Trump is planning to "lie" to Congress, according to an ex-insider to the president.

Lev Parnas, a former "trusted operative" to the U.S. president, recently flagged evidence of Trump's "cognitive decline."

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'Where's Tulsi?' MAGA host says emperor has no clothes after Gabbard sidelined

MAGA TV host Gina Loudon called out President Donald Trump's administration after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was expected to be absent from Senate intelligence briefings on Iran.

After The Washington Post reported that Gabbard, who had initially said Iran was not close to having a nuclear weapon, had been sidelined, Loudon demanded answers during a conversation with MAGA influencer Steve Bannon on Thursday.

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High-ranking Trump official 'should be scared' after his hearing: legal expert

Longtime legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Shan Wu released a video overnight warning that President Donald Trump's lawyer should be worried about accusations that he lied to Congress.

Trump nominated top Justice Department official Emil Bove to a judicial post on the Third Circuit Court, and he appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, where several Democrats confronted him with conflicting statements.

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Huckabee Sanders rebukes part of Trump spending bill: 'unintended consequences'

Republican Governor of Arkansas Sarah Huckabee Sanders is calling on her GOP colleagues to remove one part of President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.”

According to her column in the Washington Post, “There is one very small portion of the bill that was added by Congress that would have unintended consequences and threatens to undo all the great work states have done to protect our citizens from the misuse of artificial intelligence.”

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'Should be fired': GOP senator freaks out as unelected aide nixes Medicaid cut

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is crying “woke” and demanding Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough be fired after a ruling Thursday morning that blocked a provision in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Senate Republicans added a provision in the OBBBA that would limit undocumented immigrants from receiving Medicaid, among others. Thursday morning, however, MacDonough struck down the proposed changes to Medicaid, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) ruled out the idea of overruling her decision.

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'Never seen this': Former CDC official rails against Trump nominee's latest move

Former CDC vaccine Expert Dr. Fiona Havers railed against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision for a private citizen to come and give a presentation to his vaccine panel.

Havers, who spent 13 years at the CDC, was a senior advisor on vaccine policy. Blitzer noted the doctor, “resigned last week in the wake of health secretary Robert F Kennedy's purging of the agency's vaccine advisory committee.”

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MSNBC host questions if Trump just divulged classified info on Truth Social

Following Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's contentious Pentagon press conference, Donald Trump fired off a pair of posts about the event including one that raised the eyebrows of MSNBC's Jonathan Lemire.

With the "Morning Joe" host pointing out that Hegseth's abrasive performance seemed like it was only aimed at pleasing the president, he first added that it seems to have had its desired effect.

He reported Trump wrote on Truth Social: "One of the greatest, most professional, and most 'confirming' News Conferences I have ever seen! The Fake News should fire everyone involved in this Witch Hunt, and apologize to our great warriors, and everyone else!"

The MSNBC host then remarked, "To be clear, no one was belittling the heroism of the troops involved."

He then added, "And then just moments ago, this one really caught our attention. Trump followed up with another post, seemingly addressing the question that was asked at the news conference a couple of different times; the question on whether Iran removed enriched uranium before the U.S. strikes."

"The president wrote this: 'The cars and small trucks at the site were those of concrete workers trying to cover up the top of the shafts. Nothing was taken out of facility. Would take too long, too dangerous, and very heavy and hard to move!'"

"Two quick notes on that," he cautioned. "First of all, it's unclear, assuming the president –– he might be sharing something there that has not been unclassified. We don't know if indeed that is the truth, what he is saying. But it also, we should note that some experts in this field have said it actually wouldn't have been that difficult to transport the enriched uranium out of the site. We simply don't know whether or not that occurred. That is part of the ongoing assessment. We, of course, will keep you posted."

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'Did Hegseth start crying?' Defense secretary ridiculed for media 'tantrum'

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) poked fun at Defense secretary Pete Hegseth for his animated performance at Thursday's news conference on destruction caused by the airstrikes on Iran.

Hegseth unleashed on the media for "spinning" the news against Trump and the U.S. military because they wouldn't take Donald Trump's word that Iran's nuclear sites were "obliterated."

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'President this rattled': Trump reportedly 'spooked by a bombshell leak'

Donald Trump is "rattled," according to a new report.

The president is shaken by a major leak of his administration's internal reporting, which showed it was possible his strikes on Iran nuclear facilities weren't as damaging as he had suggested, Politico reports.

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