A candid admission from a high-ranking NBCUniversal executive that Comcast's multi-million dollar contribution to President Trump's ballroom project was merely the "cost of doing business" sparked outrage among journalists at a company retreat this week.

According to media watchdog Status, NBC-owned stations' news directors and NBC News investigative reporters gathered for a network training day ahead of the 2026 Investigative Reporters & Editors conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

During that gathering, Anzio Williams, executive vice president of talent, strategic initiatives and team impact at NBCU Local, defended Comcast's seven-figure bankrolling of Trump's ballroom as a necessary price "to facilitate the company’s ability to continue producing journalism," Natalie Korach wrote.

According to attendees, Williams said: "If we have to name a ride after him at Universal Studios, that's fine too, as long as it means they leave us alone."

The comment landed like a bombshell, Status is reporting. Journalists in the room immediately expressed displeasure to NBC management, describing the remarks as a "gut punch," according to one attendee.

In a statement to Status, Williams disputed the characterization of his remarks, claiming: "I was lauding our company for giving us journalistic independence and not interfering in our work. I noted our parent company has a lot of interests and followed up to share that they make donations across the spectrum, but our journalism is never influenced or impacted."

An NBCUniversal spokesperson declined to back up the explanation.

The episode reignited controversy over Comcast's decision to bankroll Trump's ballroom project—a decision that sparked fury when first revealed. Several MS NOW hosts publicly rebuked their own corporate parent on air before the network was spun out of Comcast's portfolio as part of Versant, Status is reporting.

"Those public-facing companies should know there's a cost in terms of their reputation with the American people," Rachel Maddow said at the time, with Lawrence O'Donnell adding: "Comcast is committed to nothing but Comcast."

President Donald Trump publicly congratulated himself for the memorandum of understanding to end his war in Iran.

The president signed the agreement Wednesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping and pause hostilities for 60 days while details are negotiated on Iran's nuclear program, and just hours later, Trump claimed in an all-caps social media post that the benefits were already flowing.

"Oil is flowing, Iran can never have a nuclear weapon (the world will be safe!), the stock markets are roaring, jobs are at records, and prices are dropping (affordability!)," Trump posted, suggesting that all the problems blamed on his war have been immediately solved.

Shipping has resumed in the strait, and U.S. stock markets rebounded Thursday morning as oil prices came down, but the agreement's impact on the job market and consumer prices might take longer to be felt, and the nuclear issue has still not been fully resolved.

"Our country is strong, safe, and respected like never before," Trump boasted. "'You're welcome!'"

Overnight, Trump blasted his critics – including many Republicans – who cast doubt on the details of his memorandum.

"These fools, who think I haven’t been tough enough on Iran, when the Stock Market Just Hit A RECORD HIGH, and Oil prices are 'tumbling' down, are either jealous, bad people, or stupid," Trump posted. "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!"

A veteran Washington reporter said Wednesday he'd "bet everybody's farm" that Congress will launch an investigation into Stephen Miller by week's end.

Scott MacFarlane made the prediction during a panel on MS NOW. The MeidasTouch Network's chief Washington correspondent was reacting to New York Times reporting on secret White House memos showing Miller had pushed to suspend habeas corpus rights for undocumented immigrants.

"By the end of the week, Congress launches an investigation that would go right to the White House," MacFarlane said. "This is not the Department of Justice. This is the White House. This is a report about Stephen Miller, so you could bank on that."

The Times report, bylined by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, revealed that Miller — President Donald Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy — proposed stripping undocumented immigrants of the centuries-old right in order to accelerate deportations after courts kept blocking the administration's efforts.

Habeas corpus — older than the United States itself, rooted in the Magna Carta — is the foundational legal right that forces the government to justify, before a judge, why it has locked someone up.

A confidential memo dated April 29, 2025, written by White House staff secretary Will Scharf, warned Chief of Staff Susie Wiles that the move would almost certainly be struck down. Its subject line: "THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS."

Scharf wrote that the Constitution permits suspension only in cases of rebellion or invasion — and that courts have almost uniformly held that only Congress can do it.

Miller told reporters the suspension was "…an option we are actively looking at," insisting the border qualified as an invasion.

The proposal eventually faded — but the Times reported it was never fully abandoned.

MacFarlane, a former CBS News justice correspondent who covered more than 1,500 Jan. 6 prosecutions, also disclosed he had spoken with Sen. Tom Tillis (R-NC) minutes before the broadcast. Tillis, a pivotal Senate Judiciary Committee vote on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's confirmation, told MacFarlane he had no Jan. 6 concerns — but the "Anti-Weaponization Fund" was another matter.

"That slush fund is not going over well," MacFarlane said.

Blanche's confirmation hearings are set for July.