Top Stories Daily Listen Now
RawStory

Trump News

'Alcoholic’s personality': Trump's top aide compares him to her own drunk father

President Donald Trump famously does not drink alcohol, but one of his top White House officials said his personality calls to mind her alcoholic father.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles gave a series of 11 interviews to Vanity Fair writer Chris Whipple, author of a well-regarded book on White House chiefs of staff, where she offered some withering assessments of the president and his team, including her counterintuitive comparison of Trump to her father, longtime NFL broadcaster and former player Pat Summerall.

"The most valuable gift Susie got from her dad was hard-earned," Whipple wrote. "Summerall was an absentee father and an alcoholic, and Wiles helped her mother stage interventions to get him into treatment. (Summerall was sober for 21 years before his death in 2013.) 'Alcoholism does bad things to relationships, and so it was with my dad and me,' Wiles said."

Keep reading... Show less

Trump 'mighty unhappy' as own DOJ blindsided him with Ghislaine Maxwell: chief of staff

In a series of interviews with Vanity Fair, Donald Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles revealed that the president was unaware the Department of Justice would transfer convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum-security prison following an interview with her.

According to the New York Times' Peter Baker, Wiles made a series of "extraordinarily unguarded" observations about the Trump White House's inner workings, including critical remarks about Attorney General Pam Bondi and Vice President JD Vance. During her conversation with interviewer Chris Whipple, the topic of the Jeffrey Epstein files naturally arose.

Wiles attributed the decision to interview Maxwell to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former lawyer now serving at the Department of Justice. She stated that Trump had no knowledge Maxwell would be relocated to a minimum-security facility.

"The president was ticked," Wiles recalled. "The president was mighty unhappy. I don't know why they moved her. Neither does the president."

Wiles also claimed to have reviewed the Epstein files and asserted that they contain no incriminating information about either Trump or former President Bill Clinton.

You can read more here.

Trump is expecting Supreme Court smackdown — but has scheme to ignore ruling: legal expert

Business leaders are expressing growing apprehension that Donald Trump may either disregard a Supreme Court ruling or employ legal maneuvers to evade consequences if the conservative-leaning court invalidates his tariff policies.

According to Politico, indicators suggest the Trump White House anticipates an unfavorable decision — and is taking steps to retain tariff revenues already collected, potentially creating a complicated aftermath to any adverse ruling.

Politico legal analyst Ankush Khardori noted that the administration's apparent indifference to a potential loss obscures new legal and political challenges it would face. He wrote, "Their seeming indifference, however, also obscures the new legal and political obstacles that the Trump administration would confront.

"The fallback effort would not be as simple or straightforward a matter as they have claimed. It is true that the administration could use other statutes to replicate (largely, though probably not entirely) the current tariff regime in the short term. But a new set of questions would immediately emerge."

Khardori points to the lawsuit filed by wholesale retailer Costco as evidence that businesses recognize the administration's position and are positioning themselves for refunds from a government reluctant to provide them.

Trade lawyer Timothy Meyer warned that actions taken by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warrant scrutiny. Meyer noted, "Bessent and other members of the administration have spent months telling the public and the courts that refunding the IEEPA tariffs would lead to a fiscal calamity." He characterized efforts to use refunds as leverage in litigation as "ham-handed," stating that such tactics have "really just eviscerated any confidence that anyone would have that the administrative process would be administered efficiently, quickly and in good faith."

Meyer added, "People increasingly suspect the Justice Department will drag this out for as long as possible."

A Supreme Court defeat could have broader political consequences for the Republican Party. While Trump's congressional allies might be expected to encourage the president to abandon his tariff strategy to protect their political interests, Trump remains firmly committed to the policy. By continuing to pursue tariffs despite a major court setback, he risks damaging his party's standing and could face intensified Democratic scrutiny if they regain House control.

Keep reading... Show less

GOP's mass recoil from 'inexcusable' Rob Reiner post displays 'diminished' Trump: expert

The Republican Party are finding it harder to "excuse the inexcusable" in Donald Trump's increasingly unhinged Truth Social posts.

The president is facing a slump in polling as his administration fails to deal with the cost-of-living crisis and health care woes, but comments made Monday about the murder of Hollywood filmmaker Rob Reiner underscore how tired the GOP is of Trump. Ben Jacobs of Slate Magazine has suggested Republican Party representatives are showing they've had enough.

Keep reading... Show less

Trump double whammy has Ohio farmers now facing 'full collapse'

Combined with other factors, President Donald Trump’s big tariffs on Chinese goods are costing Ohio farmers and their counterparts in other states heavily, according to a new report.

The report shows Ohio farmers lost nearly $76 million of their exports to China this year compared to one year earlier.

Keep reading... Show less

Bitter Trump feud cools as Elon Musk eyes handing GOP 'huge boost' for midterms

Elon Musk is expected to back the GOP in next year's midterms with a financial package that could give the Republican Party a "huge boost."

Insiders speaking to Axios claim the Tesla CEO could offer his support to Donald Trump and the Republican Party at the 2026 election, despite previously saying he would create a third party. Musk had enjoyed a close relationship with the Trump administration at the start of this year, though it soon soured. The president and Musk were spotted dining together alongside Cristiano Ronaldo recently, and it appears their relationship has been mended, Axios reported.

Keep reading... Show less

'He made it about himself': Seth Meyers hits out at Trump statement after Rob Reiner death

Talk show host Seth Meyers believes Donald Trump made the death of Rob Reiner "about himself" with his Truth Social statement.

The ex-Saturday Night Live member paid tribute to film director Reiner, who was found dead at his home alongside wife Michele Singer Reiner on Sunday (December 14). Meyers, speaking during a tribute to the When Harry Met Sally director uploaded to the show's YouTube channel, suggested the Trump statement was expected but still horrifying to read.

Keep reading... Show less

Trump has 'serious monkeys on his back' but GOP 'lack courage' to call him out: analysis

Donald Trump is facing several problems during his second term, but the GOP "lack the courage" to call him out, an ex-US attorney has claimed.

Joyce Vance, who served as US attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2009 to 2017, says the Republican party must do more to flag the failings of Trump's presidency. Writing in her Substack, Vance claimed the GOP could recognise the failings but were refusing to openly criticise the president on them.

Keep reading... Show less

Jimmy Kimmel blasts 'hateful and vile' Trump response to Rob Reiner death

Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has torn into Donald Trump's statement on the death of film director Rob Reiner.

The Hollywood legend, known for directing films like When Harry Met Sally and Misery, was found dead at his home with wife Michele Singer Reiner on Sunday (December 14). A statement released by the president following the news of Reiner and Michele's death has been roundly criticised, with Kimmel saying the Truth Social post was so horrible he believed it was fake.

Keep reading... Show less

'Beyond redemption': Trump's niece flags 'most fitting punishment' after Trump's outburst

President Donald Trump's niece flagged the most fitting punishment for the president after his outburst about slain director Rob Reiner.

Trump chided Reiner's murder in a Truth Social post on Monday, saying the director suffered from "Trump Derangement Syndrome" and suggested that may have been a cause in his death. Authorities have indicted Reiner's son, Nick, with murder in the case.

Keep reading... Show less

Trump's 'Peace President' brand just became more 'mendacious' after Reiner rant: column

President Donald Trump's rant about slain director Rob Reiner just made his "Peace President" brand more "mendacious," according to one columnist.

Reiner and his wife, Michele, were murdered in their Hollywood, California home on Sunday, according to reports. Their son, Nick, has been indicted on murder charges related to the case.

Keep reading... Show less

Trump's 'indefensible' comments called out by president's staunch defender on CNN

A prominent GOP strategist called out President Donald Trump's "indefensible" statements about a slain director on Monday during an interview on CNN.

On Sunday night, director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found dead in their Hollywood, California, home. Authorities have said the Reiners' son, Nick, is "responsible" for his parents' death, and he faces murder charges in their killings.

Keep reading... Show less

Trump hit with scathing rebuke from right-wing site warning 'bad misstep' will backfire

A staffer at a right-wing news site published a scathing critique of President Donald Trump's posts blaming Hollywood director Rob Reiner for his own killing, asserting the president's widely-derided message represented a "massive" tactical "misstep" that may ultimately come back to haunt Republicans in the midterms.

In a rant to his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, "Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before."

Keep reading... Show less