SmartNews

'He has some issue': Trump biographer reveals depths of the president's racism

The first time Donald Trump appeared in the New York Times, back in 1973, was an article on a Department of Justice lawsuit accusing him and his father of anti-Black bias, and one of his biographers says he's seen the president's racism up close.

The president has appeared in the pages of his hometown paper thousands of times since then, including numerous articles accusing him of being racist – such as one from February titled, "As Trump Attacks Diversity, a Racist Undercurrent Surfaces" – and author Michael Wolff provided some new insight on that bigotry to The Daily Beast Podcast.

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USA Today columnist takes parting shot at Musk as CEO goes through 'rough patch'

USA Today columnist Rex Huppke took aim at Elon Musk one last time as the CEO departs the Department of Government Efficiency and heads back to the private sector.

“We hear you’re going through a bit of a rough patch lately,” Huppke opened the column. “Your electric-car brand and overall reputation are in the toilet, people are saying not-nice things about you, and the whole ‘King of the Department of Government Efficiency’ thing didn’t work out the way you wanted.”

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Big Trump admin report is 'rife with errors' and non-existent sources: analysis

A "Make America Healthy Again"(MAHA) report submitted by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as representing the "gold-standard” of health science is anything but.

That is the conclusion of a report from NOTUS that noted that among the 500 studies cited, it is "rife with errors," misstated conclusions and points to sources that do not exist.

Case in point, Emily Kennard and Margaret Manto of NOTUS wrote, is a cited study by epidemiologist Katherine Keyes examining anxiety in adolescents.

EXCLUSIVE: Breastfeeding mom of US citizen sues Kristi Noem after being grabbed by ICE

The problem is, she didn't write it, telling NOTUS in a email, "The paper cited is not a real paper that I or my colleagues were involved with. We’ve certainly done research on this topic, but did not publish a paper in JAMA Pediatrics on this topic with that co-author group, or with that title.”

According to the report, it is still a mystery who did the study, titled "Changes in mental health and substance abuse among US adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic,” or if it even exists since the link to it is "non-functional."

"The anxiety study wasn’t the only one the report cites that appears to be mysteriously absent from the scientific literature," NOTUS is reporting. "A section describing the 'corporate capture of media' highlights two studies that it says are 'broadly illustrative' of how a rise in direct-to-consumer drug advertisements has led to more prescriptions being written for ADHD medications and antidepressants for kids. The catch? Neither of those studies is anywhere to be found."

In one case a search for a a report on “Overprescribing of oral corticosteroids for children with asthma” only returns a result pointing to the MAHA report.

Add to that, the author of that cited study, pediatric pulmonologist Harold J. Farber, claimed he he did not write it nor has he ever worked with the co-authors listed.

The report goes on to note, "Spread across the footnotes of the 73-page document, those missing papers are listed alongside dozens of citations with more mundane errors like broken links, missing or incorrect authors and wrong issue numbers."

NOTUS is reporting that HHS spokespeople "did not respond to a request for comment on the report’s citation inconsistencies."

You can read more here.

Universe's greatest mysteries will remain unsolved thanks to Trump: scientists

President Donald Trump's proposed cuts to NASA's budget could throw away decades of research and leave the universe's greatest mysteries unsolved forever, a chorus of scientists warn.

The Trump administration intends to slash the space agency's budget by 24 percent – to $18.8 billion, the lowest figure since 2015 – and those cuts would decimate space and Earth science missions, with a 53 percent drop in funding since what they received last year, reported The Guardian.

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CNN reporter flags what 'really stands out' about China's reaction to Trump move

As the world reacts to a court’s take down of President Trump’s tariffs, CNN correspondent Marc Stewart says there is one thing China is doing which is “really standing out.”

“This is a major moment, and on one hand, you could argue this is tremendous validation for China,” Stewart said. “Yet on the other hand, Beijing knows the United States has other tools to make life difficult for Chinese people, for the Chinese economy. So that's kind of where we stand right now.”

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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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'Not our plan at all!' Finance columnist fears his Trump nickname will backfire

The financial analyst who coined a derogatory nickname for president Donald Trump that's gaining traction with Wall Street investors is worried what will happen now that he's aware of it.

Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong has been credited with slapping the "TACO" acronym – "Trump Always Chickens Out" – on the president for his habit of backing down from his harsh tariffs after the markets tank, but he's concerned that dynamic could be disrupted now that a reporter asked him about it at the White House.

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Trump will unleash his 'alternative powers' after court blocks tariffs: analysis

After a court brought President Donald Trump’s tariff plans to a crashing halt, Trump will be turning to “alternative powers” in order to impose his agenda, according to The Economist.

“The administration’s power to impose universal tariffs, the court argued, is specified in a different law: the 1974 Trade Act,” the outlet wrote.

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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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Rumors swirl as Stephen Miller's wife leaves White House to work for Elon Musk

One of president Donald Trump's aides, who is also the wife of top staffer Stephen Miller, is following Elon Musk out of the White House to work full time for the tech mogul.

Katie Miller had been working as a top adviser and spokesperson for the Department of Government Efficiency, but three sources familiar with the matter told CNN that she was leaving the government to work for Musk in the private sector.

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'A matter of time': Trump's 2024 win boosts prospect of electoral college change

In an ironic twist, Donald Trump's presidential win in 2024, where for the first time in three tries he won the popular vote, has given a boost to activists who are pushing individual states to change how they tally Electoral College votes.

According to a report from the Washington Post, the people behind the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact created in 2006 has been given new life by the Trump win.

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Trump's China truce facing collapse after 'infuriating' Wednesday moves: report

According to an overnight CNN report, Donald Trump's truce with China in the trade war he created could fall apart after his administration made two unforeseen "bombshell" announcements.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday that the U.S. will “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students” studying in critical fields or if they have connections to the Chinese Communist Party, an announcement which was met with a wave of anger by families in China, many of whom have saved for years to educate their children abroad.

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