All posts tagged "white house"

'Stupid person': Trump suggests ousting Powell and making himself head of Fed

President Donald Trump went on a tear against Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell while standing in front of a group of workers waiting to put up two new flag poles outside the White House.

Trump began by talking about the flag poles before veering off the rails on Powell.

"We're doing well as a country. If the Fed would ever lower rates, you know, we'd buy debt for a lot less," Trump said as the workers looked on.

"It's a shame, this guy. I have a guy. Do you ever have a guy that's not a smart person and you're dealing with him and you have to deal?" Trump asked the workers.

"He's not a smart guy. He's worried about inflation. I said, 'That's all right, if there's inflation in six months or nine months, you lower the rates or you raise the rates. You can do whatever you want'...So let's say there's rampant inflation, which there's none. You know what? There is a success. I got a call from Congress last night: 'Sir, there's a problem.' I said, 'What is it?' 'Money is pouring in. We don't know how to account for it.' I said, 'Check the tariffs.' $88 billion came in from tariffs. No inflation. And it's going to get even more. So, I know what I'm doing. So, we have a stupid person frankly at the Fed."

"He probably won't cut today. Europe had 10 cuts and we had none. And I guess he's a political guy. I don't know. He's a political guy who's not a smart person, but he's costing the country a fortune. So, what I'm going to do is, you know, he gets out in about nine months. He has to. He gets fortunately terminated."

Trump then claimed people are losing "hundreds of billions" and "even trillions of dollars," because Powell is "too late" cutting interest rates.

"I call him 'Too Late Powell,' because he's always too late. I mean, if you look at him, every time I did this, I was right 100%. He was wrong. Maybe I should go to the Fed. Am I allowed to appoint myself? I don't know. Am I allowed to appoint myself at the Fed? I'd do a much better job than these people."

Watch the clip below via CNN or click the link.

Bannon demands probe into Elon Musk's drug use as MAGA feud escalates

Steve Bannon is demanding a special counsel investigation into fellow MAGA bro Elon Musk’s federal contracts as well as his alleged drug use, The Daily Beast reported.

Bannon told the podcast, "Sunday Night with Chuck Todd," that there should be formal investigations into Musk, who has admitted to using the drug Ketamine to treat depression, and who received $38 billion in federal subsidies over the past 10 years.

"The best way to do it is as a special counsel that can kind of oversee everything," Bannon said of his proposed investigation.

“Pull the security clearance for the drugs, temporarily. Investigate the whole drug situation,” Bannon said.

In May, The New York Times reported that Musk's drug use has included Adderall, ecstasy, and mushrooms, and has concerned those around him. President Donald Trump called Musk a "big-time drug addict" and speculated that drugs may have "had a role in their blow-up last week," The Beast reported.

"The White House has refused to say whether Musk was drug tested during his time as de-facto head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency," the report said, adding that Bannon agreed with Todd's assertion that Musk “never would have passed a security clearance as must a mid-level staffer.”

Although both Bannon and Musk have supported MAGA, the two have rarely gotten along.

Musk has called Bannon a “communist r------” and a “criminal" for serving four months in prison after defying a Jan. 6 House Committee subpoena.

Bannon told Todd that Musk's SpaceX should be "nationalized," and voiced concern over Musk's Starlink being installed in the White House. "The War Room" podcaster also claimed that Musk was controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and expressed his dismay at reports that Musk nearly received a Pentagon briefing about potential U.S. military action in China before Trump put an end to it.

“Why would you need a briefing at a highly classified level, in the tank, at the Pentagon on the China war plan?” Bannon asked Todd.

Read The Daily Beast article here.

'Sour grapes': Musk reportedly turned on Trump after being forced out of WH

Elon Musk, the former de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency, reportedly wanted to stay on in the White House beyond his 130 days as a "special government employee" to continue cutting government waste, "but was rejected," according to The Telegraph.

The outlet quoted a source as saying that Musk "had asked to stay on to make more progress towards his target of slashing $1 trillion from spending but was told that would not be possible."

After being ushered out of the West Wing last week, taking with him a gold key presented in a keepsake wooden box bearing Donald Trump's signature, Musk immediately turned on the president and his "big, beautiful bill," the report said.

Musk lashed out on his social media platform X, slamming the bill as a “disgusting abomination” and threatening to work against Republicans who voted for the measure.

"A day later, a Trump world insider said administration officials were 'disappointed' with his reaction," the report said, adding, "And a source close to Mr Musk said it was a case of 'sour grapes'".

Musk was known for wearing a MAGA baseball cap with the words, "Trump was right about everything," but that sentiment obviously disintegrated.

The Telegraph quoted "a figure close to the White House" as saying "officials were upset by the nature of his attack."

“It’s safe to say people are disappointed,” the source said. “He’s done a lot of really great work, and he’s fundamentally changed the way things like fraud, waste and abuse are viewed in Washington. But he left. So he speaks now as a business person, not as a government entity and that’s the way to understand what he says.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to Musk's outburst by saying, “The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. It doesn’t change the president’s opinion."

On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he tried to phone Musk but was ignored.

"I called Elon last night but he didn't answer," Johnson told reporters. "But I hope to talk to him today...I'd love to talk to him this week and I hope he calls me back today."

Read The Telegraph story here.

'We're so cooked': Critics agog as WH refuses to deny using AI to write report

Reporters and social media users questioned whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s much-anticipated "Make America Healthy Again" report on children was cobbled together using artificial intelligence after telltale flaws appeared in the document.

A reporter asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt during Thursday's press briefing, "I know this investigation found the MAHA commission report released last week cites studies that appear not to exist. We know that because we reached out to some of the listed authors who said that they didn't write the studies cited. So, I want to ask: Does the White House have confidence that the information coming from HHS can be trusted?"

Leavitt answered that the administration had "complete confidence" in Kennedy and everyone at Health and Human Services.

"I understand there were some formatting issues with the MAHA report that are being addressed and the report will be updated, but it does not negate the substance of the report," Leavitt said.

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

The reporter then asked, "Is AI used to put together these reports?" to which Leavitt responded, "I can’t speak to that."

"So... did the authors of the MAHA report use AI, which hallucinated sources? Or did they simply make stuff up? Either way, it's incredibly embarrassing and people should resign," wrote physician @matthew_loftus.

Conservative commentator Erik Erickson wasn't buying Leavitt's explanation, posting to X, "Sounds very much like someone used ChatGPT or something to write the MAHA report for HHS."

Gaming influencer @AceDoloX1 wrote, "LOL this ONLY happens when AI is used. We're so cooked man.

The account of political commentator @NickAPappas wrote, "I can’t sympathize with people who spend all their time rejecting actual science and studies, undermining experts, and then decide to just trust the output of a faceless language model for their health advice. Their goal is to be a contrarian a------. They aren’t actually skeptical and careful, they want to appear like they are and continue to tear things down because it gives them joy."

'Flawed': Government health report blasted as being packed full of bogus data

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" campaign is being criticized for using "misleading" information in its official report on children's health.

In "MAHA Report: Making Our Children Healthy Again" released Thursday, the White House "blamed exposure to environmental toxins, poor nutrition and increased screen time for a decline in Americans’ life expectancy" and declared, “today’s children are the sickest generation in American history in terms of chronic disease," according to The Washington Post.

The MAHA report also "casts doubt on the current vaccine schedule and medications deemed safe by most in mainstream medicine," the Post said, adding that "several sections of the report offer misleading representations of findings in scientific papers."

Examples included a claim that "virtually every breastmilk sample … tested in America contains some level of persistent organic pollutants," and a claim that there is “limited scientific inquiry into vaccine injury and potential links to chronic disease.”

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

The Post said the language in the report "echoes the positions of anti-vaccine activists, including Kennedy, who have fixated on the cumulative effects of the immunization schedule to cast doubt on vaccination."

A Yale University expert on vaccine policy told the Post there was "little biological basis to argue the series of shots could be harming children by overwhelming their immune systems."

“We are seeing a very familiar playbook, but we are now seeing it from the highest levels of our government’s health agencies rather than the margins of the anti-vaccine conversation," said associate professor of public health Jason Schwartz.

In a section on the "over medicalization of kids," the MAHA report "argued psychiatric and weight loss drugs pose long-term risks for children," the Post piece said.

"Max Wiznitzer, a professor of pediatrics and neurology at Case Western University and a specialist in ADHD, said the research cited in the report to cast doubt on the long-term effectiveness of stimulants is flawed," wrote the Post reporters.

In addition, they wrote, "Specialists in childhood obesity previously told The Washington Post that existing evidence justifies the use [of weight loss medications] when studies have demonstrated their safety and efficacy."

Read The Washington Post report here.

'Don't interrupt me': CNN conservative Scott Jennings admonished by fellow strategist

CNN's Scott Jennings got a scolding when he interrupted a Democratic strategist discussing Thursday's Supreme Court arguments on Donald Trump's desire to do away with automatic birthright citizenship.

"This is what I don't get," Lis Smith began on Thursday's "The Arena" with Kasie Hunt. "It is pretty crystal clear in the Constitution, if you're born here, you get citizenship. And, why is Donald Trump picking this fight? Only 25% of voters support getting rid of birthright citizenship; less than 50% of Republicans do. And, you know, I'm not in the business of giving Donald Trump advice."

She continued, "Scott you could call up the president and give him some really good advice and say, 'Hey, you know, that comprehensive immigration bill that you helped tank last year?"

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

"Are you still on that?" Jennings interrupted. "Even though you lost the election over it."

"Scott, let me talk. Don't interrupt me," Smith admonished. " But, you could take that bill — you now control the White House, the House and the Senate — and pass it. Presidents from both parties for decades have been trying to get this through. He could be a historic president by doing that. Instead, he's taking on a fight like birthright citizenship, which is a loser for them, will not go through. And I think that this is why, you know, people are turning against Trump on an issue that was one of his strongest against Democrats in November."

"I'll just briefly answer," Jennings retorted. "We didn't need the bill; we just needed a new president, as Donald Trump has argued. He changed executive branch policy, and has effectively closed the southern border. And now he's taking executive action to get rid of the violent people who were here. We don't need legislation. We just need the executive branch to be able to do what's clearly enumerated them to do in the Constitution.

Watch the clip below via CNN.

'Bad news': White House insider predicts GOP is headed for 'impressive losses'

Author Michael Wolff, who has written "a series of blistering books" on Donald Trump, claimed that the president's instincts will "sabotage" Republicans during the 2026 midterms when they can least afford to lose their slim majority in the House, according to The Daily Beast podcast.

“Fundamentally, Donald Trump is self-destructive,” Wolff told host Joanna Coles. “All of the kinds of things he’s doing now will result in him losing—certainly losing the House of Representatives,” Wolff said.

Wolff added that he plans for the GOP losses to be "impressive," especially due to the economic uncertainty Trump has wrought with his self-imposed trade war that has received little pushback from Republicans.

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

"Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to retake the House, where Republicans hold the narrowest majority since the 1930s," wrote The Beast's Erkki Foster. "Their odds are strong in any circumstances—the president’s party usually loses ground in midterm elections. In the 2018 midterms, during Trump’s first term in the White House, Democrats picked up 40 seats to retake the House."

Losing the House could open Trump up to his third impeachment proceedings.

But, "the bad news for Republicans doesn’t end there," Foster wrote. Wolff predicted that "a Trump 'proxy' will be the GOP nominee in 2028, only to be brought down by Trump himself."

“That person will lose because (Trump) will undermine them because he doesn’t want them to win,” Wolff told the podcast. Instead, Trump himself wants to "maintain his grip on the Republican Party" at all costs.

And he just might get the chance; Wolff maintained that Trump's charisma makes him “more compelling than any other politician in the United States because you can’t take your eyes off of him.”

Read The Daily Beast article here.

'So this is why?' Columnist flabbergasted as he figures out likely reason for Trump deal

An opinion columnist for The Washington Post asserted that President Donald Trump's "very big announcement" on a trade deal with Britain — which turned out to be "just the outline of a deal" — proved once again that he's really only concerned about his own business interests.

Instead of giving any real updates about when Americans could expect lower prices at the store, columnist David Milbank wrote, Trump used the announcement to talk about his golf courses in the U.K.

"We have good investments over there, beautiful,” Trump said.

"So this is why Britain went to the top of the trade-deal waiting list?" Milbank asked, adding that, "It was just the latest reminder, as if we needed one, that Trump has no permanent alliances, only personal financial interests."

Milbank's piece was published several hours before White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed it was "ridiculous" that anyone would even suggest that President Trump "is doing anything for his own benefit."

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

Milbank assured the American public that they don't need to worry about the Trump family's well-being as the U.S. hurtles toward recession. As the country contends with the "Two Doll Policy" brought about by his sky-high tariffs, "Trump and his family are subjecting themselves to no such sacrifice," he wrote.

Milbank recounted Trump's "access-selling scheme" — charging up to "$20 million a pop for people to have dinner with him" — and "crypto racket" that have netted the family hundreds of millions of dollars, "some of it from foreign businesses and governments."

All this "with the added insult that tens of thousands of novice investors who are presumably his supporters have lost their shirts buying the Trump coins," Milbank wrote.

"The Trump family’s crypto grifting is on top of a new hotel in Dubai, a tower in Saudi Arabia, a golf course in Qatar and a club in Washington," Milbank wrote.

"But what’s striking about the second term is that he has increased both the threshold for the pain he is willing to inflict on others and the amount of his devotion to his own pleasure," the piece stated. "The world may be going to hell, but don’t worry: The president is doing well!"

Read The Washington Post opinion piece here.

Trump aide Steven Cheung melts down as MSNBC host questions president's mental health

Top White House aide Steven Cheung didn't hold back his raging response when he caught wind of Lawrence O'Donnell's psychological assessment of President Donald Trump, according to the Daily Beast.

O'Donnell wondered aloud on his MSNBC show whether Trump's mental health was suffering because he was unable to answer whether it was the president's duty to uphold the Constitution.

“Every high school student in America is supposed to know the answer to that question, which is one word: 'Yes,'" O’Donnell said. “But Donald Trump’s answer was ‘I don’t know’—which could be a sign of mental illness or could be a sign of early-stage dementia."

O'Donnell continued, "In Donald Trump’s case, stupidity is the most innocent explanation for his ‘I don’t know.' But during mental health month, we have a right to consider other possibilities.”

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

In a statement to the Daily Beast, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung raged that O'Donnell was “clearly suffering from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his brain.”

Cheung then changed the subject to former President Joe Biden.

“President Trump aced his cognitive test, meanwhile Joe Biden’s handlers refused to allow him to take one out of fear of what was apparent to the entire world—his mind was severely in decline and lacked the intelligence to lead the country,” Cheung said. “People like Lawrence are complicit in the coverup to hide Biden’s condition, and he knows he’ll have to live the rest of his life reconciling the fact he helped deceive the American people.”

Daily Beast reporter Tom Sanders wrote, "Cheung has made a habit of accusing anyone who criticizes the president of having 'Trump Derangement Syndrome'—including The Daily Beast Chief Content Officer Joanna Coles, whom he called a 'piece of s---' who suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome in an unhinged rant."

On the Daily Beast Podcast, Coles ridiculed Cheung's "recycled insults."

“I wanna recommend, as my medical diagnosis for Steven Cheung, that he buy a thesaurus,” she said. “Get a little more creative.”

Read the Daily Beast story here.

Amazon rushes to kill tariff story: 'Never under consideration'

After White House furor over reports that Amazon would be displaying price increases due to President Trump's tariffs, new reporting by The Washington Post claims the information isn't entirely true.

In a morning press briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Amazon's move "a hostile and political act by Amazon."

But the Post's Jeff Stein posted on X shortly after, "Amazon Spox now saying this was never under consideration for the main Amazon website. Says Amazon Haul has considered listing import price duties on certain products."

Stein included Amazon's statement on the issue: “The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store has considered listing import charges on certain products. This was never a consideration for the main Amazon site and nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties.”

Amazon owner Jeff Bezos hasn't yet commented.