President Donald Trump was reportedly trying to win back voters he offended in recent weeks with a new stunt, according to reports on Wednesday.
The Guardian's Adam Gabbatt described how Trump's attempt Tuesday night to read from the Bible — the Old Testament's Book of Chronicles — was a move that left religious scholars unimpressed.
" Trump didn’t actually read it to the whole of the US, of course," Gabbatt wrote. "Instead he read it, in a taped message that was broadcast via a slightly janky livestream, to anyone enthusiastic enough to tune into a weeklong, rightwing, 'America Reads the Bible' event where 500 people – a collection of true believers, Republican politicians, grifters, weirdos, and homophobes – are taking it in turns to read the Bible cover to cover."
Trump has come under fire for attacks on Pope Leo, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, and following a bizarre move where he featured an AI image of himself portrayed as Jesus Christ on his Truth Social platform. He later removed it and told the press that he thought the image was depicting him as a doctor.
It's unclear if religious voters were swayed by the president's efforts to regain their support, Gabbatt argued.
"To some, Trump reading scripture may have seemed a little cynical," Gabbatt wrote. "Trump is desperate to win back angry Christians after he alienated many with that Son of God AI photo, and with the attacks on Pope Leo (among other things, Trump accused God’s representative on Earth of being 'soft on crime')."
"People might also fairly question the sincerity of Trump’s effort, given the president’s historically tenuous relationship with the Christian faith," Gabbatt added.
Trump has resumed his longstanding criticism of NATO, questioning the alliance's utility and threatening to withdraw U.S. support if member nations don't increase defense spending.
Jerry Moran (R-KS) urged unity with NATO members, with Trump consistently criticizing the intergovernmental organization for its lack of support for the United States' war in Iran.
Writing in The Hill, "Shared interests bind alliances together. The U.S. is stronger because of the willing and able partners in Europe with whom our global interests largely align. At a time when our nation’s own budgetary pressures and backlogged industrial base limit our ability to sustain force in multiple theaters simultaneously, we cannot afford to take them for granted. Indeed, we need them now more than ever and should treat them accordingly — as the valued allies they are."
Members of Trump's cabinet were also critical of NATO's refusal to back the bombing of Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reinforced Trump's position by criticizing NATO for not backing the Iran war, suggesting the alliance lacks commitment to U.S. strategic interests.
However, Rubio simultaneously acknowledged NATO's crucial value, noting the alliance provides critical basing rights for U.S. military operations globally.
NATO allies have expressed significant concerns about Trump's unilateral decision to wage war against Iran without seeking alliance consultation or approval.
When Trump asked NATO for assistance, he was rebuffed by several member nations concerned about the legal justification for military action.
According to three European diplomats and a Pentagon official “familiar with the plan,” the list “includes an overview of members’ contributions to the alliance and places them into tiers,” and was drafted as a means to help the Trump administration look “for ways to punish allies who refused to back the Iran war,” Politico’s report reads.
“They don’t seem to have very concrete ideas… when it comes to punishing bad allies,” a European official told Politico on the condition of anonymity. “Moving troops is one option, but it mainly punishes the U.S. doesn’t it?”
President Donald Trump erupted on social media Wednesday after Virginia voters elected to adopt a new congressional district map that could bolster Democrats’ electoral prospects in November, calling the election “rigged,” without evidence, and expressing hope that “the courts will fix this travesty.”
“A RIGGED ELECTION TOOK PLACE LAST NIGHT IN THE GREAT COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
“All day long Republicans were winning, the Spirit was unbelievable, until the very end when, of course, there was a massive ‘Mail In Ballot Drop!’ Where have I heard that before – And the Democrats eked out another Crooked Victory!”
Democrats scored a narrow victory Tuesday after 51% of Virginia voters elected to adopt a new district map that could flip as many as four congressional seats. The push to redraw Virginia’s district map was prompted by Trump’s own redistricting push last year, which resulted in Texas state lawmakers adopting a new district map designed to target Democrat-controlled seats.
“In addition to everything else, the language on the Referendum was purposefully unintelligible and deceptive,” Trump wrote. “As everyone knows, I am an extraordinarily brilliant person, and even I had no idea what the hell they were talking about in the Referendum, and neither do they! Let’s see if the Courts will fix this travesty of ‘Justice.’”
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) touted President Donald Trump's naval blockade of Iran because he said it was "literally starving" the people of the country.
In an interview with Newsmax host Ed Henry this week, Marshall argued that the U.S. military was "locked and loaded" after Trump suggested to CNBC that he was willing to begin bombing Iran again if negotiations failed.
"And, well, again, we have our foot on Iran's neck right now," the senator explained. "When the president walks in the room, he's negotiating. There's a camera in front of him. He's negotiating, and again he's negotiating with these irrational religious zealots, that's just next to impossible, so they need to know he's serious and he's dead serious."
"If this turns into weeks, I think that's when we're going to start getting antsy," he continued. "But also, we had this embargo working as well, the blockade."
"And we're literally starving them both financially, as well as they can't feed themselves either very long."
Marshall argued that the lack of negotiations with Iran was "a good thing."
"The embargo, the blockade is there as well," he remarked. "I've got confidence in the president. That the president's got this."
The Supreme Court has employed a secretive practice known as the "shadow docket" to issue significant rulings. This mechanism allows the court to release orders and decisions with minimal explanation or transparency, often favoring religion and Donald Trump while avoiding public accountability.
Salon columnist Amanda Marcotte suggested that some members of the Supreme Court were avoiding debate and public scrutiny on issues by using the "shadow docket" and that doing so is cowardly.
She wrote, "There are many theories swirling around for why they have increasingly chosen to abandon their basic duty to legal transparency. And the likeliest one is also the simplest: They’re cowards.
"No matter how poorly they might be constructed, majority opinions have the force of law. Publishing them means that other people can read and scrutinize them, and mock the justices when they write illogical, unsupported, or embarrassing opinions.
"Rather than endure the shame of public scorn — which would still make no material difference to their levels of power — the justices would rather hide their views.
"Though they may occupy the highest spot on the judicial bench, the Court’s conservative members have revealed that, with these gutless actions, they are not much different than the rest of MAGA."
Legal experts had previously flagged the so-called "shadow docket" as a dishonest way of passing rulings.
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has defended the court’s use of the shadow docket, but instead has endorsed the term “interim docket,” citing the temporary nature of rulings decided using the tactic.
Georgetown University law professor Stephen Vladeck said, "When you’re going to have rulings producing these massive and permanent effects, it seems kind of disingenuous to label them as interim."
MAGA influencer Steve Bannon flew into a rage after Virginia voters approved a redistricting referendum that is likely to benefit Democrats in the midterm elections.
During his Wednesday War Room broadcast, Bannon blamed Republican consultants for the loss.
"That's just more consultant lobbyist crap!" he exclaimed. "And now in Virginia, it had something that was so fricking winnable. With the people putting Trump on their shoulder and say, we're not going to let it happen. And of course, the consultant says, shh, you don't want to bring up Trump because we might upset Democrats."
According to the MAGA host, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) was "running a color revolution."
"She's trained by the CIA!" he insisted. "Right? The foreign-born deep state folks up there [are] infesting the entire Commonwealth. That's their plan. And that's their plan everywhere. Because that's how they win."
"Defeat after defeat. Now it's a crushing, now they turned over the whole frickin' state," he continued. "It'll take us a decade to dig out of this. A decade of those grassroots going door to door."
"You're damn right, you're going to lose the Senate because you've given nothing for people to work for. Complete total group of scumbags, Cornyn, Lindsey Graham, John Thune, the whole lot of them!"
In the end, Bannon argued that President Donald Trump could not be blamed for the loss in Virginia.
"I can't hold him culpable," he said. "And right now, folks, take your number two pencil and write this down. We ain't going to be in power!"
A top counterterrorism official in the Trump administration is under investigation after allegations that she was using "sugar daddies" to fund her lifestyle, The Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism Julia Varvaro, 29, had an official complaint filed against her after a man who was identified by The Mail as Robert B. alleged he spent $40,000 on her during their three-month relationship. He said they met on the dating app Hinge, and alleged she has used a sugar daddy platform under the pseudonym "Alessia."
"Robert has made an official complaint with the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General, revealing she had a profile on the sugar daddy website 'Seeking,'" The Mail reported. "On the page, seen by the Daily Mail, she called herself Alessia and offered 'seductive sophistication.' She used the same photo that is on her Instagram."
Varvaro told the outlet she did nothing wrong and denied having a profile on Seeking.
"We were together in an exclusive relationship. We went on vacations. I don't know what's the problem with that," she said.
In the complaint, Robert made several allegations about his ex, including that they consumed marijuana together — something the high-level Trump official has denied.
"I did not want a sugar daddy/prostitution relationship, after spending $30,000-$40,000 for vacations, Cartier jewelry, expensive handbags, and various shopping trips. She told me that she does not have college debt because sugar daddies paid for her college education," he said in the complaint.
"She also told me directly that the $40,000 worth of jewelry on her wrists and ears are all trophies from her sugar daddies," he added. "I believe that she's under financial stress and that her actions pose a security risk."
Veteran Democratic Party strategist Max Burns believes the movement's loss of both Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson is a sign that MAGA support could be slipping.
Burns wrote in The Hill, "MAGA voters have long believed in taking Trump 'seriously but not literally.' This is just another way of saying Trump might lie to other people to advance his own interests, but he would never lie to the supporters who power his political movement.
"At least some of those faithful Trump supporters are finally ready to admit that they’ve been conned, and there’s no way back to believing the fairy tale.
"Greene and Carlson’s awakenings are just the beginning of an exodus from the MAGA movement, which just a year ago seemed to be reaching new heights of power. After a decade of chaos and disruption, Trump’s transactional politics is finally catching up with him. It’s just a shame that it took so long."
Carlson has emerged as a vocal critic of Trump's MAGA movement, primarily over the Iran war. Carlson directly challenged GOP leaders during heated interviews, demanding they answer basic questions about Iran policy.
Carlson, a mainstay on Fox News from 2016 to 2023, recently said he regrets backing Trump over traditional conservative values, The Guardian reported. He said, "You know, we’ll be tormented by it for a long time – I will be. And I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people. It was not intentional, that’s all I’ll say."
Greene has distanced herself from the MAGA movement over Trump's Iran war, which she views as a fundamental betrayal of core MAGA principles. Greene spent millions campaigning for Trump specifically because he promised to end foreign wars.
Greene suddenly resigned from Congress late last year. Greene had publicly distanced herself from Trump over his Iran war policies, declaring opposition to the conflict and characterizing it as a betrayal of MAGA principles.
Her decision to leave Congress marked the culmination of growing ideological rifts within Trump's movement and her frustration with the direction of the Republican Party under Trump's leadership during his second term.
President Donald Trump is reportedly considering extending his deadline for Iran by another “three to five days,” Axios’ Barak Ravid claimed on Wednesday, citing an unnamed source who shared the news in a curse-laden message.
"Trump is willing to give another three to five days of ceasefire to allow the Iranians to get their s--- together," a “U.S. source briefed on the matter” told Ravid, he claimed in a social media post on X. “It is not going to be open-ended."
Trump has issued Tehran several deadlines throughout the duration of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, deadlines that he’s extended several times for various reasons, most of which have been sharply refuted by Iranian officials.
The latest two-week ceasefire tentatively agreed to by Washington and Tehran was set to expire on Wednesday, but Trump announced Tuesday that he would be extending the ceasefire "until such a time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal” for an agreement to end the conflict.
His reasoning for the aforementioned extension, Trump claimed, was that Iran’s government was “seriously fractured,” another claim that Iran immediately disputed, alleging it to be a “false claim” and a “desperate attempt to save face.”
According to Ravid, Trump now appears poised to give Tehran three to five more days to offer a proposal to end the conflict before hostilities between the United States and Iran would resume.
"Trump is willing to give another three to five days of ceasefire to allow the Iranians to get their shit together," one U.S. source briefed on the matter told me. "It is not going to be open-ended" https://t.co/aQogWCkO3m — Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) April 22, 2026
Fox News host Lara Trump took a subtle shot at her sister-in-law, Ivanka Trump, for offering the most "unsolicited advice" in the family.
"What she's got, I feel like she wants to help," Lara Trump told White House insider Katie Miller on a podcast this week. "Like she always means so well."
"But, you know, it's okay," she added. "We take it all in stride. It's all good."
Lara Trump acknowledged that Ivanka also gave the "best gifts."
"Eric and I are the absolute worst," she admitted. "I mean, she remembers everything: my kids' birthdays, every single time. Don't ask me when the last time was I sent my nieces and nephews an actual birthday gift on time, because I always fail. I'm the worst."
President Donald Trump's cabinet has a new set of fears to contend with as they are dealt a fresh problem, a political analyst has suggested.
Heather Delaney Reese claims that Trump's team is slowly but surely leaking information to cover themselves as cabinet members and White House insiders worry for their future.
Reese wrote, "The cabinet he promised would be the tightest, most loyal operation in history, is hemorrhaging. Kash Patel is now suing The Atlantic over a deeply reported story about his excessive drinking, which claims his staff has trouble waking him up when he was seemingly intoxicated.
"In the past couple of months, three cabinet members have been fired or forced out: Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, and Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Every single one of them a woman.
"Every one of those leaks came from someone who is scared. People do not risk their careers and their clearances to talk to reporters because things are going well. They talk because they cannot stay quiet anymore. Because the fear of staying silent has finally overtaken the fear of him.
"And once that starts, it does not stop. Because what they are seeing is serious enough that the fear of staying silent has finally overtaken the fear of him. That is a shift. A real, documentable shift. And once it starts, it does not stop."
Trump has fired Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr.'s appointed CDC director, Susan Monarez, IRS head Bill Long after just two months, and multiple National Security Council and Pentagon officials.
Trump fired Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi in rapid succession, citing performance concerns and policy disagreements. Noem faced criticism for her handling of ICE operations in Minneapolis, where agents killed two individuals. Democratic lawmakers condemned her dismissal as insufficient accountability.
Trump subsequently removed Bondi, claiming she failed to aggressively pursue his political enemies and investigate perceived adversaries.
The White House faced backlash for "honoring" the University of Georgia women's tennis team with a photo that featured only men in the foreground.
On Tuesday, the Bulldogs were among other NCAA champions that were invited to the White House. To celebrate their accomplishment, the White House's Margo Martin posted a photo on X with the women of the team barely visible behind a group of men, which included President Donald Trump.
"Congratulations, Georgia Women's Tennis!" Martin wrote.
Reactions to the photo were critical.
"Who is being celebrated in this picture? Usually puts the focus of the picture front and center, not hidden behind the dude bros," Winston Smith wrote.
"Good thing the women are showcased. Who are all those other clowns in the picture and what's up with the conman in the middle?" John Gilbert asked. "What a pathetic picture."
"Georgia Women's Tennis, with a bunch of dudes standing in front of them," another commenter complained.
"Of course they put the women in the back. Just like the misogynistic a—holes they are," a user with the handle @mrsccveach noted.
"Where are the women? Oh, there they are, in the back of the bus, behind the white men," Susan jabbed.
After weathering years of challenges, from online competition to the COVID pandemic, President Donald Trump’s tariffs became “the last reason” why Jennifer Bergman decided to close down the New York City toy store her mother opened in 1981.
As small businesses currently navigate a complex tariff refund process and still face rising costs, Bergman, 59, is one of five business owners speaking out in a new $200,000 YouTube ad campaign launched Wednesday by Small Businesses Against Tariffs, a project from the Defending Democracy Together Institute, an advocacy group formed by anti-Trump conservatives.
“I'm not afraid of [Trump]. I'm not afraid of his goons, and if they want to throw us all into jail because we're saying things against them, that's fine by me,” Bergman told Raw Story.
“My parents would be really proud of me, and they'd bail me out if they were still around. Actually, they'd be right there with me in jail.”
Bergman closed her store, West Side Kids, in July after she realized she wasn’t going to be able to pay her rent or make payroll.
”I’d never had that before, ever, ever,” she said.
Over the years, Bergman’s staff shrunk from 12 employees to four. Those four people lost their jobs when the store closed and struggled to find new ones, with one even becoming unhoused, Bergman said.
When Trump added a 145 percent tariff on China last year, Bergman said a $10 toy she’d typically sell for $20 would need to be marked up to $45 to cover the extra costs since she couldn't “afford to eat any of it.”
The price of a scooter she’d typically sell for $150 shot up to $180 when her supplier called to say they needed to reroute shipping containers to Canada and raise prices after Trump announced tariffs last May.
“Prices were going up, and you only have a finite amount of money to spend,” Bergman said.
“The product was getting so much more expensive that I was spending more money for less.”
Bergman also blamed Trump’s tariffs for preventing her from closing on a deal to sell her store as she was in conversation with two potential buyers in early 2025.
“When the tariffs hit, they were both like, ‘We can't do this right now … we just need to deal with this,’ and so I lost the opportunity to sell my store, too.” Bergman said.
‘Never in my wildest dreams’
After deciding to expand to a second location in 2024, Gabe Hagen, co-founder and owner of Brick Road Coffee in Arizona, said starting construction in early 2025 was “rough” timing due to tariffs.
“Once we learned the results of the election and what the new administration was planning on doing with tariffs, we had to really think on our feet,” Hagen told Raw Story.
“We had to kind of re-pivot what we were doing, so we cut back a lot up front.”
Hagen, who is also featured in the Small Businesses Against Tariffs campaign, said the business decided to change equipment purchases and pre-purchased a year’s worth of cups and disposables to “weather the impacts of tariffs.”
Hagen’s projections for stocking the second location, which is both a roastery and a coffee shop, ended up being about a third of what he actually spent.
“The strain of that on a new small business — especially one that's just expanded — we're already so tight on our cash, it's just rough,” Hagen said.
At the end of 2024, raw coffee beans cost Hagen about $4 a pound. At one point, prices spiked to just under $7 a pound, Hagen said. Now prices for speciality coffee are still $5 to $6 per pound, he said.
When Hagen started, roasted coffee cost around $10 per pound. Now prices range between $12 to $14 on the wholesale side, he said.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd be paying 50 percent tariffs on a Brazil coffee, which is our number one coffee that we use,” Hagen said.
The Trump administration backed down its tariffs on coffee at the end of last year, but small businesses like Hagen's are still feeling the effects.
“Every new business, we expect some bleed, but this bleed is taking a lot longer than we expected,” he said.
Hagen took out another working capital loan and put his house up for collateral, he said.
Gabe Hagen at Brick Road Coffee's second location and roaster, Prism Coffee Lab (Photo provided by Brick Road Coffee)
“We don't really have many more levers left on a small business side, so that's why tariffs were so important for me to speak out against because I can't just grow my coffee,” Hagen said.
The unpredictability of Trump’s tariffs make it hard to know “when we'll feel relief," Hagen said.
“I don’t know if it'll change back, so I think the hardest part for me is I don't know how to do a 12 month forecast," he said.
From a trucking company to a DIY flower shop and an eco-friendly dinnerware company, small businesses have struggled to stay afloat due to tariffs, Raw Story reported.
"We felt it was important to run this campaign in light of spiking prices and confusion around the tariff refund policy,” a Small Businesses Against Tariffs spokesperson said.
“Our hope is that it will help to educate Americans about who truly pays the costs of tariffs and trade wars: American small businesses and consumers. The goal here is to keep engaging those people who show an active interest in the tariff issue, to emphasize who ends up paying the costs of tariffs and to de-bunk widespread lies.”
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Gabe Hagen at Brick Road Coffee's second location and roaster, Prism Coffee Lab (Photo provided by Brick Road Coffee)
