Trump team feeling 'a little bit of anxiety' heading into Iowa vote: Morning Joe panelist

Donald Trump is widely expected to win the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus, but possibly not by as much as his campaign team had expected.

The expected margin of victory has thinned a bit heading into Monday's Republican primary vote, and MSNBC's Jonathan Lemire noted the situation has caused some internal anxiety among Trump allies.

"I think we've seen a little bit of anxiety from Trump folks in the last few days because they were so boldly, confidently predicting this blowout," Lemire told "Morning Joe." "Polls suggest he'll win by a sizable margin but maybe not by the number they had put out there, as you say, over 50 percent. There's a couple of reasons for that. One would be, of course, the weather ... there is concerns that people are going to stay home tonight because it'll be dangerous to be outside – legitimate reasons to stay home."

READ MORE: An Iowa obituary for Ron DeSantis’ presidential dreams

"Trump, for the first time all campaign, the last 24, 36 hours, went on the attack against Vivek Ramaswamy, of all people," Lemire added. "Ramaswamy has been supportive of Trump throughout his campaign. He's never criticized him, but the Trump people have really turned on him in recent days because Ramaswamy is still sticking in the 7 percent, 8 percent, 9 percent. His people who are for him are really for him, there's a lot of enthusiasm. Trump is trying to bang those people down, trying to switch them over to him for his margins. DeSantis' people think they have the best ground game. What that means for a campaign that seems to be half dead, we'll see, but some think he'll have a better than expected number because his team is motivated and organized to get people to caucus sites despite the bad weather. Yes, all eyes will be on the number that [Nikki] Haley comes up with."

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President Donald Trump's youngest son is building his next business venture at his father's Mar-a-Lago estate, according to a report.

Barron Trump, 19, is building a natural energy drink business that features yerba mate, The Daily Beast reported on Thursday. The youngest Trump launched the business with four co-founders: Spencer Bernstein, Rudolfo Castello, Stephen Hall, and Valentino Gomez.

At least two of Trump's co-founders have said they are dropping out of college to focus on the business, according to the report.

This is the third business Trump has formed since enrolling at NYU's Stern School of Business in the fall of 2024. His other ventures include World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency venture that he owns with his family, and a real estate development firm that he dissolved last year.

Trump's newest venture was announced at a time when questions are swirling about his father's business deals during the second administration. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that someone associated with the UAE royal family invested $500 million in the Trumps' cryptocurrency venture.

Overall, estimates suggest that President Trump's family has made more than $1.4 billion while in office.

Read the entire report by clicking here.

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President Donald Trump's FBI has reportedly summoned election officials from all 50 states to a mysterious late-February conference call, sparking alarm among state leaders already bracing for federal interference in midterm elections.

An email obtained by Crooked Media's "What A Day" reveals FBI "Election Executive" Kellie Hardiman invited state officials to discuss "preparations for the cycle" alongside the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and U.S. Election Assistance Commission on Feb. 25. The FBI refused to comment on the call.

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar called the unprecedented outreach "the strangest thing in the world" and suspected intimidation tactics.

“I was just like, ‘what is this?’ It’s the strangest thing in the world that the FBI is reaching out to us and trying to coordinate election security,” Aguilar told the outlet in a phone call on Thursday. “It’s never happened in the past. The casualness which they did… it was just beyond crazy.”

He added: “They’re just sowing this confusion and chaos to try to intimidate us into compliance.”

Trump has demanded the federal government control elections in 15 states, while the FBI recently raided a Georgia election hub with spy chief Tulsi Gabbard in tow. MAGA ally Steve Bannon has also publicly called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to "surround the polls" during November's midterms.

A former DOJ official confirmed the coordinated approach is highly unusual. Aguilar vowed Nevada would "push back" against what he called unconstitutional overreach designed to disrupt the midterm elections critical to 2028.

North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley was a hugely vocal supporter of President Donald Trump's operation to capture Venezuelan authoritarian Nicolas Maduro — but it turns out he may have had a financial stake in it, Politico reported on Thursday.

Whatley, an ex-energy lobbyist and Republican National Committee leader, proclaimed that the operation was an "important step" and he was "proud" of the troops who executed it.

"What Whatley didn’t mention is that he and his family have up to a million plus dollars invested in three major oil companies that saw spikes in their shares after President Donald Trump said he would increase oil production in Venezuela, according to his personal financial disclosure filed in late November," said the report.

"Whatley ... and his immediate family own between $321,000 and $890,000 in stock in Chevron, which is the only American oil major operating in Venezuela. The company is their largest individual holding, according to a PI analysis of the disclosure," the report continued. Additionally, the family owns "between $83,000 and $245,000 in stock in Exxon Mobil and between $3,000 and $45,000 in shares of ConocoPhillips" — all of which saw their stock prices go up sharply in response to the Venezuela operation.

In response to the article, Whatley spokesman Jonathan Felts slammed the insinuation, saying, “The idea that Michael would support Maduro’s arrest to boost his stocks is completely false and absurd — the sort of genius-level scheme dreamed up by liberal media. Michael Whatley has spent decades supporting energy policies that ensure affordable, reliable energy for all Americans.”

Maduro has spent years oppressing the Venezuelan people to the point of starvation. However, experts are suspicious of Trump's motives for military action in the country, with some suggesting he is simply after a new stream of oil or even that he could give Maduro leniency in exchange for validating conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen.

Whatley is set to face off against former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Thom Tillis, who in recent months has grown more openly critical of the Trump administration.

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