Trump News

The White House is asking nine top universities to sign a pledge that would set several requirements for them if they intend to keep their federal funding, The New York Times reported Thursday. According to one constitutional law expert, they're not only illegal, but she's shocked the administration was willing to put in writing.

Among the demands in the list are that colleges must "commit to strict definitions of gender." Others include that schools must "prohibit policies that would punish conservative ideas. Provide free tuition to students studying math, biology, or other 'hard sciences' if endowments exceed $2 million. Prohibit employees from expressing political views on behalf of their employer, unless the matter affects the school."

Former Vice President Mike Pence melted down Thursday after President Donald Trump's administration approved a generic version of an abortion drug, thereby abandoning a key promise to a part of his base.

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved a generic version of mifepristone. The agency first approved the drug in 2000, and it is typically taken in combination with another pill called misoprostol to induce abortions.

MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace confessed she was "gobsmacked" watching Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's recent interview, where he described "sharing a wall" with accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

"They took videos of massages and then blackmailed them," Lutnick says at one point in the interview.

Lindsey Halligan, who President Donald Trump picked to lead the prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey, has created "chaos" within her new office because she appears to be letting at least one MAGA-aligned influencer make staffing decisions, according to a new report.

Halligan was recently appointed to lead the U.S. Attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia, an office that typically handles cases about classified information leaks and national security issues. Halligan was an insurance attorney and Trump's former defense counsel before she joined his administration. She has no prior prosecutorial experience, according to reports.

Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought is drawing attention amid President Donald Trump’s sweeping cancellation of funds previously allocated by Congress. Vought has spent the past few days targeting federal funds intended for so-called “blue states,” prompting enthusiastic celebration among MAGA loyalists.

The New Republic’s Greg Sargent described Vought as delighting in “a sadistic thrill” when he announced Wednesday that, as part of the government shutdown fight, he would inflict punitive spending cuts on states that voted against Trump in 2024. Sargent characterizes Vought as “a shadowy and powerful figure lurking behind the despot’s throne,” who recently tweeted in what Sargent calls a “drunk-on-power rapture.”

A pop-up statue of President Donald Trump holding hands with late financier and child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein has gone back up on the National Mall, after the National Park Service took it down.

The reinstallation of the statue, known officially as the "Trump-Epstein Friendship Statue" and erected as a protest by a group known as Secret Handshake, was reported on X by Joe Heim of The Washington Post. Its return comes amid ongoing controversy about the Trump administration's refusal to release the full trove of files on the Epstein criminal case, and reporting that Trump himself is mentioned in the files.

MAGA megachurch pastor Robert Morris pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges of sexually abusing a 12-year-old female in the 1980s, according to a new report.

NBC News reported that Morris admitted to five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. Morris' plea deal allows him to serve six months of a 10-year sentence, according to the report. Morris is also required to register as a sex offender and pay $250,000 in restitution.

New York is still the number one terrorist target in the world, even more than 24 years after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, said Terry Monahan, former NYPD chief of department. But Donald Trump just killed counter-terrorism funding.

Speaking to MSNBC on Thursday, Monahan explained, " Taking money away from the number one terrorist target is absolutely wrong. And it's something that has to be fought. And hopefully we're going to win this in court. But otherwise, this funding all goes into a city budget, and the NYPD now has to fight through a city budget to see if we can get the money to pay these analysts, pay for the equipment that we have."

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) fact-checked Fox News host Martha MacCallum on Republican claims that Democrats were fighting to protect health care for "illegals."

During a Thursday interview on Fox News, Coons explained why Democrats had not voted for a Republican resolution to fund the government.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) attacked President Donald Trump for punishing the American people in the government shutdown.

"If the President is going to fire thousands of federal employees, that's on him. He can't blame that on anybody else," Beshear said during a "Team Kentucky" update. "Why? Because in other shutdowns it hasn't happened. Our families are not a prop, they are not to be used as negotiating tactics or for leverage. And so I hope that everybody knows that this President doesn't have to fire any federal employees, and if he does, it's because he wants to."

Air Force veteran Dana Briggs was captured on video telling federal agents to go away. Suddenly, he was on the ground, surrounded by federal agents and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement staff, led away and arrested.

WLS News reported that veterans and other allies met outside of the Broadview ICE detention center on Thursday, demanding that ICE stop "harassing peaceful protesters and immigrants." The protest comes after President Donald Trump announced he was sending in troops to control the crime in Chicago.

President Donald Trump sent a letter to select members of Congress announcing that the United States is officially at war with drug cartels, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Trump decided that the country had entered a formal “armed conflict” with drug cartels, and those suspected of smuggling drugs are now deemed “unlawful combatants," the confidential letter says.

With Donald Trump expected to meet with Office of Management and Budget chair Russell Vought late Thursday about eliminating more government offices during the government shutdown, former Republican National Committee head Michael Steele told voters it was time to wake up to the president’s long-range plans.

Steele, now the host of his own MSNBC show, was asked by MSNBC's Chris Jansing what will be at play during the meeting and if what is currently happening is what voters had in mind when Trump was reelected.