SmartNews

Trump cuts threaten massive steel plant in JD Vance's hometown: 'Makes no sense'

Even though one of the goals of President Donald Trump 's trade war is to revive U.S. manufacturing, his administration is slashing a key program meant to help modernize plants across the country — including in Vice President JD Vance's hometown of Middletown, Ohio.

New reporting from CNN says the Trump administration has frozen $6.3 billion in Biden-era grant programs that would have allowed large industrial companies to upgrade their equipment. In the meantime, Elon Musk's DOGE will decide what it will allocate, if anything, to companies like "steel giant" Cleveland-Cliffs.

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'You're pretty superhuman': Dem belittles Trump official over trade negotiations claim

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) questioned U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during a Tuesday hearing about the tariffs, which will go into effect on Wednesday.

Greer explained that despite requests for negotiations, all tariffs will be implemented this week — and there is no way of knowing when they will be paused.

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'Bizarre interaction' with Trump considered apology for betrayal: ex-GOP candidate

A former Republican congressman revealed how he received a near-apology from Donald Trump for possibly costing him and the Republican Party a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Mo Brooks published an op-ed Tuesday for AL.com describing how he overcame his distaste for Trump and his "character flaws," made plain in his "dishonest" personal attacks on Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and his family during the 2016 campaign, to seek his endorsement in a special election the following year to fill the Senate vacated by Jeff Sessions to serve as attorney general.

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'Muzzle down!' Kristi Noem shocks as she points gun at officer's head in video

Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, drew mockery — and concern — on social media after posting video showing her holding an assault rifle with the muzzle pointed toward the head of a law enforcement officer.

"Human traffickers. Drug Smugglers. 18th Street Gang members. Spent the morning in Phoenix with our brave @ICEgov and Arizona law enforcement arresting these dirtbags and getting them off of our streets," Noem posted Tuesday along with the video introducing officers "Marco" and "Brian."

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Not so fast: Ex-prosecutor claims Supreme Court ruling doesn't let Trump off hook

The U.S. Supreme Court put a pause on rehiring federal probationary workers in a ruling on Tuesday — but legal experts don't see the decision as being straightforward,.

"I obviously disagree with the Roberts Court decision that the groups in the probationary employees case don’t 'presently' have standing," said lawyer Norm Eisen, who has been representing many unions and federal workers facing termination. "But the door isn’t closed—& we’ll be back in trial court tomorrow with other groups developing more grounds for relief. We will keep going!"

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'Boys will be boys': Leavitt says 'be very grateful' after Musk calls Navarro a 'moron'

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt sought to downplay "public sparring" between DOGE administrator Elon Musk and trade adviser Peter Navarro.

During Tuesday's White House briefing, Leavitt was asked about the spat after Musk referred to Navarro as a "moron" and other slurs on his X social media platform.

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Trump supporter who wanted to 'make the Church great again' charged with killing priest

A man who was recently charged with murdering a priest in Seneca, Kansas, has a long history of writing letters to his local newspaper in which he expressed support for President Donald Trump.

Local news station KSNT reported that 66-year-old Oklahoma man Gary Hermesch, who was arrested by police last week for the alleged fatal shooting of 57-year-old Seneca-based Father Arul Carasala, regularly wrote letters referencing Trump to the local Courier-Tribune newspaper.

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'I'm barely surviving': Mike Johnson's constituents nervous as he eyes Medicaid cuts

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and his fellow Republicans have been eyeing massive cuts to Medicaid as part of a budget package that will also include renewing that 2017 tax-cut package passed under the first Trump administration.

However, KFF Health News reports that constituents in Johnson's district in Louisiana are feeling nervous about the planned Medicaid cuts, as 40 percent of residents in that district rely on the program to provide health insurance.

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Rand Paul mocks Trump's tariff policy: 'I have a trade deficit with my grocery store'

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) mocked the way President Donald Trump calculated his so-called reciprocal tariffs by noting that trade deficits were not necessarily evidence of one side losing.

During a Tuesday interview on CNBC, Paul told conservative host Joe Kernen that Trump's tariff policy was "backwards and upside down."

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GOP senator on Trump's tariffs: 'Whose throat do I get to choke if this proves wrong?'

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) asked an official from President Donald Trump's administration whose "throat do I get to choke" if the controversial tariff trade war fails.

Tillis grilled U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during a Tuesday Senate Finance Committee hearing.

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'Gay beam machine': Right-wing pastor makes startling claim about airport scanners

A Christian nationalist pastor made a startling claim about scanners used at airports to detect weapons and other potential threats.

Andrew Isker, who co-hosts with C. Jay Engel what he calls "the number one Christian nationalist podcast in the world," shared his unconventional and homophobic views on the Transportation Safety Administration's security scanners in a video flagged by WTVF's Phil Williams, who has reported extensively on his ministry.

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'He needs to own this': The View urges audience to keep heat on Trump

"The View's" Sunny Hostin wants to nickname President Donald Trump's economic woes the "Trump Slump."

On Tuesday's show, the co-hosts questioned whether Republicans in Congress would ever hold Trump accountable for the stock market volatility and broader economic uncertainty.

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Supreme Court blocks judge's order that Trump re-hire 16K fired workers

The United States Supreme Court has blocked a lower court order that directed the Trump administration to re-hire 16,000 probationary federal workers who had been fired earlier this year.

As the New York Times reported, the court order "said the nonprofit groups that had sued to challenge the dismissals had not suffered the sort of injury that gave them standing to sue," while adding that the order's impacts "may be limited, as another trial judge’s ruling requiring the reinstatement of many of the same workers remains in place."

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