Donald Trump's latest "low-energy" event revealed that he is "fading," according to a former GOP strategist.
Trump on Tuesday gave a rally in Pennsylvania in an attempt to convince voters he's a good steward of the economy. But it actually had a backfire effect by reminding citizens about the president's failing cognitive health, according to former Republican analyst Mike Murphy.
Murphy, the co-host of the political podcast Hacks on Tap along with Democratic strategist David Axelrod, made the observation early on Wednesday morning.
"A few hours after we discussed on [Hacks On Tap] why Trump has cut back rallies so much, it was pretty evident at his event today in PA just why," he wrote. "Meandering, more confusion and mental weakness than usual."
Murphy added, "Even a bit shall we say, low-energy. Weaker optics too. He’s clearing fading."
Donald Trump "may not make it to the end of this term" according to political commentator Jim Acosta
Ex-CNN journalist Acosta says he cannot see how Trump, 79, makes it to 2029 as president after showing signs of rapid decline so soon into the first year of his second term. Acosta believes even those closest to the president have noticed the decline over the last year and are treating him less like a "dear leader" and more like "goodnight grandpa".
In an appearance on Fast Politics with Molly Jong-Fast, Acosta suggested Trump may not make it to the end of his presidency. By the time Trump leaves office, the president will be 82-years-old, and coming up fast to his 83rd birthday.
Jong-Fast called recent cabinet meetings "North Korean style" with members of the administration heading up a round table where they praised Trump. Acosta added, "He was out. It was not just with Linda McMahon but Marco Rubio, it was several people around the table."
"You've gone from the dear leader treatment to the goodnight grandpa treatment. They're each taking turns putting Donald Trump asleep as they're going around the cabinet room these days. It seems to me like, this is not the same guy we saw on the campaign trail even like, a year and a half ago. I've been around him enough to know the contrast is there."
Further comments from Acosta suggested Trump may struggle to make it through the stresses of the presidency. Some telling parts of the second term may highlight this worry, including a lack of press conferences.
Acosta added, "He seems extremely tired. I will tell you, having covered him up close, where are the press conferences? He doesn't do press conferences. The most he can do now is he brings the little kids into the room and he screams at them and calls them names, and then he sends them away."
"That's the extent of him doing question and answer time is on Air Force One or in the Oval Office. He doesn't do rallies. That special election in Tennessee where he literally phoned it in. In the old days he would've done a hanger rally, but he doesn't do that anymore."
All of this seems to suggest Trump is going to struggle to the end of his presidency. Acosta added, "I did not think we would get to the end of this year and my prevailing thinking on Donald Trump is 'is he going to make it to the end of this term?'"
"Because he is more and more out to lunch by the day, he seems more detached from reality and just seems cognitively in a very different place than he was even a year ago. The naps, the Truth Social posts, the stuff he's saying about Somali immigrants. Some of this you can say 'isn't this the s**t he's been saying since 2015', yes, to some extent that's true, but it feels like, you know... there is something going on."
A new ruling from the Donald Trump administration will be "disastrous" for small businesses, the president's niece has warned.
Political commentator Mary Trump called out Republican representatives during an upload to her YouTube channel. The video, titled "Trump's Global Humiliation Hits New Low", criticised the administration for changing dates for free park entry. Trump's birthday, June 16, is now listed as a day where members of the public can access national parks across the country for free, but MLK Day and Juneteenth were revoked, The Guardian reported.
This change in policy, Mary Trump says, is "racist". But it also has an effect on small businesses across the country that the GOP should be doing more to protect, the political commentator noted.
She said, "Their admission prices have also been raised. Now, why is that a problem? Well, one, it makes people feel really unwelcome and it disincentivizes them to come to this country, let alone go to the national parks."
"Also, how good do you think that is for the American economy? How good do you think that is for the local economies of these places? The small businesses in these places that rely heavily upon tourism. Whether the tourism of American citizens or people from other countries. This is a disaster for those small businesses and local communities."
"So, once again, if any Republican tells you they care about the American working people or American small businesses, they are lying." Mary Trump went further and suggested Trump had his attention elsewhere, with a "hostile takeover" of the Kennedy Center.
She said, "There's a new level of humiliation that Donald engaged in last night, that would be the night that the first Kennedy Center Honors were held since his hostile takeover of the institution."
"The entire event with honorees like Sylvester Stallone and one-hit-wonder Gloria Gaynor was a huge embarrassment' making it infinitely worse however is that Donald chose to host the event himself."
Trump would use the event as an opportunity to call out "miserable" people in the audience and around the world while also honoring Trump's appointed "Hollywood ambassador" Stallone and rock band KISS.
The European Union is fast-tracking plans to preserve peace without the aid of the United States following comments from Donald Trump's administration.
A defense official representing a European country told Politico that "awkward" conversations over America's involvement in the continent were now being prioritized as the "uncertainty" of how the US would react to global conflicts is "just too high". The preparation comes following the release of the Trump administration's National Security Strategy.
Though the administration has played a part in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, the National Security Strategy makes it clear the US will no longer prop up "the entire world order". Such comments have caused uncertainty in European nations, some of which are now fast-tracking plans for a continent without America's influence.
The strategy published by Trump's administration reads, "The days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over. Wealthy, sophisticated nations ... must assume primary responsibility for their regions."
Trump's discontent was made clear in an interview earlier this week where he said world leaders in Europe "don't know what to do" and that the continent is "decaying".
Experts had warned earlier this week that Trump's disinterest in Europe would be a "brutal lose-lose" for everyone involved. Analysis from Georg Riekeles and Varg Folkman saw the pair warn a deprioritization of European stability would be "remarkably abstruse."
They wrote, "hina, they argue, is the decisive theatre, not Europe, and US attention and assets must shift accordingly. Washington has signalled some version of this pivot for more than a decade. Yet European governments have found the idea that the US might actually deprioritise the continent’s security remarkably abstruse."
"The war in Ukraine has intensified this tension: Europe’s thinking is that a US withdrawal or an imposed, unequal peace would produce chaos in Ukraine and instability across Europe." Riekeles and Folkman believe this is part of a larger plan from the US government to shape European politics in a Trump-friendly system.
They wrote, "Because it is clear that as Washington draws back militarily, it will pull even harder on its other levers: financial power, diplomatic pressure, export controls, trade measures and secondary sanctions. These instruments will increasingly be used to steer Europe in the political direction the US wants."
Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has mocked Donald Trump for organising the White House-hosted UFC fight to land on his birthday.
Trump will celebrate his birthday on June 14, the same day a proposed UFC fight will take place on the lawn of the White House. Kimmel criticised the plans to hold the event at the White House, and the weigh in at the Lincoln Memorial, calling Trump a "child" for organising such an event.
He would go on to point out a hypocrisy in the Trump administration when it came to historic memorials, too. Kimmel said, "The president is planning to build a 5,000 seat arena in front of the White House. They scaled it down from 20,000 to 5,000, which is fine because Trump will say it's 100,000 anyway, but, I guess it was too big."
"The event will take place on June 14, which just happens to be his 80th birthday. Whose 80th birthday theme is inviting men to beat the crap out of each other on his lawn? The most miserable son of a b**ch in the world, that's who. The weigh-ins for this event will be held at the Lincoln Memorial. That is not a joke."
Kimmel suggested those who were defending controversial historic memorials and then actively wanting a UFC weigh-in at the front of the Lincoln Memorial were hypocrites. The talk show host went on to say Trump was a "child" for having such plans.
He added, "These are the same people who are all, 'Don't you dare desecrate the flag.' Totally fine with guys in their underpants at the foot of Abraham Lincoln. But it's his birthday, he has to have a party for his birthday. What a child he is. Everyone around him treats him like he's three-years-old."
"He is three years old. He needs a lot of attention so they let him have a press conference every day. He needs immediate gratification, so they give him a Diet Coke button. He gets constant praise for nothing. He takes naptime, often in the middle of a meeting."
"They order him McDonald's, he gets ice cream after dinner every night, he loves to use a sharpie when he's not supposed to.He wants to hear the same two songs over and over and over again, and he wears diapers. He is three-years-old."
President Donald Trump revealed a dark secret about himself when he accepted the inaugural FIFA peace prize last week, according to his niece.
Mary Trump, a psychologist and author, argued in a new Substack essay that Trump's exuberance over the "fabricated and meaningless" FIFA prize was reminiscent of how "desperately" Trump is seeking the love of his parents. She pointed to his statement after FIFA president Gianni Infantino handed him the prize.
"I’m going to wear it right now. This is truly one of the great honors of my life," Trump recounter her uncle saying at the ceremony.
"If Donald had any self-awareness at all, which of course he does not, he’d be embarrassed and ashamed," Trump wrote in the essay. "He would know what we know—that he is being mocked."
Trump went on to discuss how her uncle's father, Fred Trump, was a "patriarchal authoritarian sociopath" who was incapable of loving his son, the current president. That left a huge void in Trump's life that he now seeks to fill with other pursuits, Trump argued.
She also warned that "all of us are paying the price" because of this void in her uncle's life.
"That is why Donald constantly needs more of everything else, believing that that will somehow fill the void," she wrote. "More money, more power, a bigger ballroom, more fake medals, more fake prizes, more fake honors. Maybe, he desperately hopes, someday that void will be filled. Maybe receiving more compliments, having more people grovel and degrade and debase themselves for him will finally make him feel whole."
"On some very dark level, Donald knows that’s impossible because as much as my grandfather wanted to convince Donald, and his other children, and his grandchildren that money is the only thing that matters, it can stand in for everything else, that isn’t true and never can be," she continued. "Nothing can replace kindness, empathy, or compassion. Nothing, certainly, can replace love. In his most terrified moments, Donald knows that. And all of us are paying the price for that knowledge."
President Donald Trump was roundly mocked on Tuesday night after he issued his latest threat to The New York Times over its overage of his health.
Trump made a winding post on Truth Social after his speech in Monroe County, Pennsylvania on Tuesday that was supposed to be about affordability, but often touched on other points such as immigration and domestic policy. In the post, he called the NYT's reporting on his health 'treasonous' and said the country would be better off if the newspaper stopped printing.
"I actually believe it’s seditious, perhaps even treasonous, for The New York Times, and others, to consistently do FAKE reports in order to libel and demean 'THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,'" Trump wrote. "They are true Enemies of the People, and we should do something about it."
:They have inaccurately reported on all of my Election Results and, in fact, were forced to apologize on much of what they wrote," he added. "The best thing that could happen to this Country would be if The New York Times would cease publication because they are a horrible, biased, and untruthful 'source' of information."
Political analysts and observers noted the apparent irony behind Trump's statement on social media.
"Incredibly rich coming from a man who wouldn’t shut up about Biden’s failing mental state," Evan Rosenfeld, deputy digital director for The Bulwark, posted on X. "Pot, meet kettle."
"Every time Tiny Hands calls reporters 'Enemies of the People' and hints we should “do something” about the New York Times, he is telling you he thinks the First Amendment is a character flaw in the Constitution," political activist Mike Young posted on X. "The cognitive test he keeps failing is basic democracy."
"Turns out every third tweet Trump sent starting in 2020 was a seditious attack on Joe Biden," journalist Marcy Wheeler posted on X.
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins confronted MAGA Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) during an interview on Tuesday night over her alleged comments during an October incident at the Charleston International Airport.
Mace joined Collins on CNN's "The Source" on Tuesday, where the two discussed Mace's campaign for South Carolina governor and other issues. Collins asked Mace about a new report from The Washington Post that included video footage of an incident where Mace unleashed a profanity-laden tirade at a TSA official working at the Charleston airport.
The report, which includes transcripts and interviews with local police officers who responded that day, described Mace's interaction with the employees as "berating."
Collins asked Mace about some of the comments that the report says she made that day. The report says Mace called one employee a "f------ idiot' and "f------ incompetent."
"Are you saying that you never said any of these quotes, that every single one is a lie?" Collins asked.
Mace asked her to read the quotes back to her, and then denied saying them.
"I have never called a cop an idiot. That is a remarkably false," a defiant Mace insisted.
"But you're saying these police officers are lying?" Collins shot back. "Then who spoke to them?"
"I am absolutely saying that that report was falsified. 100% fictitious," Mace continued.
The Department of Justice moved to dismiss a civil lawsuit brought by an injured Capitol police officer who responded to the events on Jan. 6, 2021, that could have forced President Donald Trump's administration to hang a plaque commemorating that day.
Congress commissioned a plaque to honor the bravery of police officers who responded to the Jan. 6 riot shortly after the event occurred. The plaque was supposed to be completed by May 2023 and installed by 2024, but the installation was not completed before Republicans won back control of Congress.
Since then, the party has sought to prevent the real plaque from being hung. Democrats have chided Republicans by hanging replicas throughout the halls of Congress.
In the lawsuit, the police officers claimed that the delay in hanging the plaque caused them "psychic injuries," and they also received death threats. The DOJ argued in a court filing on Tuesday that these allegations do not constitute an "injury-in-fact," and asked the judge to toss the case.
"Despite that public recognition over three years ago, Plaintiffs contend that the harms they allegedly experienced on January 6, 2021, and allegedly continue to experience from the subsequent conduct of third parties, persist," the court filing reads. "They have pled no allegations that would allow the Court to plausibly infer that the further act of installing an honorific plaque would ameliorate any of their alleged harms which either arose from the events of January 6, 2021, or flow from the subsequent independent acts of parties not before the Court."
"For example, it is implausible for Plaintiffs to suggest that the installation of the plaque would stop the alleged death threats they claim to have been receiving from third parties not before this Court," it added. "Accordingly, standing does not exist for this additional reason."
President Donald Trump attacked The New York Times in a new Truth Social post on Tuesday night, suggesting the paper's reporting on his health may be "seditious" and that reporters for the outlet may have committed treason.
Trump issued the screed after he delivered a speech in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, that was supposed to focus on affordability, but meandered through old talking points about immigration and the wonderful job his cabinet secretaries are doing.
In the post, Trump claimed he is the hardest-working president in history and that his "results are among the best."
"Despite all of this, the time and work involved, The New York Times, and some others, like to pretend that I am 'slowing up,' am maybe not as sharp as I once was, or am in poor physical health, knowing that it is not true, and knowing that I work very hard, probably harder than I have ever worked before," Trump wrote in the post. "I will know when I am 'slowing up,' but it’s not now!"
"After all of the work I have done with Medical Exams, Cognitive Exams, and everything else, I actually believe it’s seditious, perhaps even treasonous, for The New York Times, and others, to consistently do FAKE reports in order to libel and demean 'THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,'" he added. "They are true Enemies of the People, and we should do something about it. They have inaccurately reported on all of my Election Results and, in fact, were forced to apologize on much of what they wrote."
"The best thing that could happen to this Country would be if The New York Times would cease publication because they are a horrible, biased, and untruthful 'source' of information," he continued.
Trump's health has been called into question recently after the president admitted to taking a cognitive test and getting an MRI. Some psychological experts suggested that Trump may be experiencing early signs of dementia.
Other medical experts have pointed to the bandage on his hand and the swelling of his ankles as evidence of his physical decline.
A new review of deportee profiles posted on the Department of Homeland Security's website undercuts claims Secretary Kristi Noem has made about the operations, according to a new report by The Daily Beast.
Noem has claimed that DHS is deporting the "worst criminals," but a review of the cases the agency has posted on its website found many to have only committed traffic violations. Some of the deportees had committed traffic violations that mirrored some of Noem's past behavior, according to the report.
Overall, the outlet found at least 30 people have been removed from the U.S. for traffic violations.
"Traffic infractions were not the only minor offenses that landed detainees on the 'worst of the worst' list," the report reads in part. "A Jamaican man was arrested in Tampa, Florida, for marijuana possession, and a Cuban national was picked up in Houston, Texas, for the same conviction, which is not a criminal offense in many states."
"The only listed conviction for dozens of others seen by the Beast was 'Illegal Re-Entry,' meaning they had previously been removed from the United States—not what most people think of when they hear 'worst of the worst,'" it added.
Noem has accrued several traffic violations herself, none of which resulted in her life being upended in the same manner that she is inflicting upon the deportees, the report noted.
During her campaign for a seat in Congress in 2010, Noem admitted to collecting more than 20 traffic tickets since the late 1980s. Violations included failure to stop at a traffic light and driving with invalid plates, according to the report.
A Pennsylvania Republican kneecapped Donald Trump's claims that prices are falling moments before the president was supposed to take the stage for a rally in the battleground state.
Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who was sworn into Congress in January, spoke to MAGA fans on Tuesday evening before Trump took the stage to deliver remarks on the economy amid a nationwide squeeze on everything from beef to coffee.
After Mackenzie touted Republicans' accomplishments on lowering social security taxes, the lawmaker made an eyebrow-raising admission that the Trump administration and Republicans have not brought down prices.
"There is more work to be done," he said. "We know that's not enough. We are not gonna rest on our laurels. We know so many people are struggling because of those prices from Joe Biden's inflation. That does not mean that prices come down when we say that we have tamed inflation. It just means that we have stopped the rate of growth from that massive spending that was going on for four years.
He concluded, "We have a lot more work to be done."
Rep. Ryan Mackenzie admits that he and Trump have NOT lowered prices:
"That does not mean that prices come down when we say that we have tamed inflation. It just means that we have stopped the rate of growth." pic.twitter.com/wpV4Deewhj — Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) December 10, 2025
President Donald Trump was roundly mocked by political analysts and observers on Tuesday night after giving a meandering speech that was billed to be about affordability.
Trump traveled to Monroe County, Pennsylvania, a blue-collar swing district in the northeastern part of the state, to discuss how his administration was addressing the rising cost of living. The speech was delivered at a time when a recent Politico poll found that 37% of Trump voters said the cost of living is the highest they can remember.
During the speech, Trump blamed the Biden administration for the rising cost of living, citing the pandemic-induced spike in inflation, growing immigration, and other Democratic policies. However, the speech meandered through other topics, including praise for the work of his cabinet secretaries.
Political analysts and observers shared their thoughts on social media.
"Trump's approval is near record lows, dragged down by his approval on the economy, dragged down by his least popular policy ... tariffs," Jon Favreau, a former Obama White House staffer, posted on X. "Affordability tour off to a great start!"
"It only took 20 minutes for Trump’s speech at the NEPA casino to go completely off the rails," J.J. Abbott, executive director of Commonwealth Communications, posted on X. "He can’t even stay focused on a speech about affordability, let alone do anything to help."
"Trump’s economic speech is now cutting more midterm ads for Democrats," Aaron Fritschner, deputy chief of staff to Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), posted on X.
"So this 'affordability tour' is a propaganda campaign seeking to gaslight Americans into disbelieving their own lived experience," political analyst Ahmed Baba posted on X. "Trump claims prices are down when they’re up. 37% of his own voters say the cost of living is the worst in memory. This strategy is delusional."
"Miami just elected a Democratic mayor for the first time in 30 years, while Trump is on stage calling affordability a hoax again," social impact entrepreneur Mike Nellis posted on X. "The midterms are going to be fun."
