Carl Gibson, AlterNet

President Donald Trump's signature domestic policy law's cuts to Medicaid is already wreaking havoc on rural hospitals — particularly in some of the reddest states. One Senate Republican is already fearing the backlash from voters could require an intervention.

According to a Monday report in Politico, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) predicted that Republicans may soon have to go back to the drawing board to rework H.R. 1 ("The One Big Beautiful Bill Act") in order to preserve hundreds of rural hospitals across the country.

"As the implications of the bill become better known, I think there’s going to be tremendous pressure to change the law," Collins told the World Medical Innovation Forum (which was attended by numerous healthcare executives) in Boston, Massachusetts.

READ MORE: 'House GOP at risk': 2 Republicans won't back Johnson's bill as Trump urges party unity

"But we’re going to need the evidence, the stories, the research that didn’t occur," she continued. "... People who didn’t get the care in time because they were diagnosed only when they show up at your emergency room, rather than by a primary care physician."

Trump's massive tax and spending law could close as many as 338 rural hospitals that overwhelmingly rely on Medicaid patients to stay open, according to research from the University of North Carolina's Sheps Center for Health Services Research. The Sheps Center found that in Maine, the Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle and the Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth are at risk of closing.

Collins — who is both the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions – is presumed to be running for a sixth term in the U.S. Senate. And because Maine has a Democratic governor and voted for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in 2024, Collins could be in for a particularly tough fight with several Democratic challengers already having declared their campaigns.

Click here to read Politico's report in full.

READ MORE: 'So disgusting': MAGA fueling outrage by 'increasingly' questioning women's right to vote

Two psychologists have recently pointed to several indicators that they argue show President Donald Trump is battling "early dementia."

The Daily Beast reported Monday that in the latest episode of the podcast "Shrinking Trump," psychologists John Gartner (who was educated at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University) and Harry Segal (a psychology professor at Cornell University) said Trump's pattern of falling asleep in public is particularly concerning for the 79 year-old president. They pointed to Trump's attendance at the U.S. Open men's singles final between Italy's Jannik Sinner and Spain's Carlos Alcaraz as just the latest example of a pattern the president has exhibited before.

"You’re at the finals of the U.S. Open, a riveting performance ... you’re the center of attention," Gartner said. "So how does Trump react? Oh, he’s asleep again, just like he slept through most of the days of his criminal trial."

The two also noticed that one side of Trump's face appeared to be drooping while he was attending a commemoration of the 24th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Asymmetrical facial drooping is typically associated with stroke patients, or with people who suffer from Bell's palsy. And they said Trump's swollen ankles could be a sign of another chronic condition.

"Congestive heart failure is what typically causes swelling, you know, largely swollen ankles. I think he’s not, I mean, he’s not doing well," Segal said. He maintained that Trump's facial drooping was "significant" and "not a normal face."

Trump has also been seen in public with large bruises on his hands, which he has occasionally attempted to cover with makeup. While the White House has said the bruising is a combination of Trump's frequent handshaking and aspirin use, Gartner pushed back and argued that Trump may be more sick than the administration is letting on.

“They’re obviously hiding the more serious problem,” Gartner said. “He’s probably getting some kind of IV fluids.”

Click here to read the Beast's full article (subscription required).

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) is going after House Republicans after many of them blamed Democrats for this week's murder of far-right activist Charlie Kirk.

As the Daily Beast reported Friday, Crockett went on "The Breakfast Club" to share her thoughts on the national climate in the wake of this week's fatal shooting of the Trump ally and MAGA movement leader on a Utah college campus. Crockett had a lot to say about the rhetoric of her colleagues in the House of Representatives, and suggested they should clean their own house before pointing fingers at the other side.

"The vast majority of these shootings, whether they are seen as political or not, if we look at the numbers — white supremacy ideology. But we don’t want to do anything about that," the Texas Democrat said.

"When we look at these mass shootings, most of them are linked to ... Proud Boys or whatever," she continued. "Every time you say white supremacy, they want to yell, ‘Oh, you’re race-baiting.’ No, I am going on facts."

The congresswoman also said President Donald Trump had contributed to making the current political environment more fractious and confrontational, and blasted his remarks blaming the "radical left" after Kirk died. Breakfast Club co-host Charlamagne Tha God made the point that free speech can often lead to unintended consequences, and referenced a 2023 quote from Kirk that he delivered roughly a week after a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee in which he argued some gun deaths every year were "a price worth paying" to protect the Second Amendment.

"We don’t get to determine the consequences of our free speech," Charlamagne said.

“We do have free speech in this country, but are you free to say just any and everything?" Crockett said in reference to Trump. "There are limits to all of our constitutional protections, as well as what kind of standard are we going to hold ourselves to, when you are sitting, say, in the Oval Office?”

One arena in which President Donald Trump's administration has been consistently stymied is the federal judiciary. And an attorney currently leading a prominent lawsuit against the White House is now giving new details on why his efforts have borne fruit.

During a Friday interview on MSNBC's "The Weeknight," Norm Eisen — who was U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic during former President Barack Obama's administration — expanded on his simple strategy of filing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests compelling the Trump administration to release documents pertaining to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Eisen previously shed light on his successes in the judiciary with The Atlantic in an article entitled "The Anti-Trump Strategy That's Actually Working." The article reported on "a legal resistance led by a patchwork coalition of lawyers, public-interest groups, Democratic state attorneys general, and unions has frustrated Trump’s ambitions."

"Hundreds of attorneys and plaintiffs have stood up to [Trump], feeding a steady assembly line of setbacks and judicial reprimands for a president who has systematically sought to break down limits on his own power," the report read. "Of the 384 cases filed through August 28 against the Trump administration, 130 have led to orders blocking at least part of the president’s efforts, and 148 cases await a ruling, according to a review by Just Security. Dozens of those rulings are the final word, with no appeal by the government, and others have been stayed on appeal, including by the Supreme Court."

"The tenacity and the ability to sort of go at these things really is coming into focus," MSNBC host Michael Steele said of Eisen's efforts. "... The Trump-Epstein story is the story of the Trump administration's corruption benefiting his rich and powerful cronies at the expense of vulnerable people. You explained it that way. That's the nub of this, and it's now coming home to roost, if you will."

"This is one — as I explained to The Atlantic — that has really broken through. And it's not just because it's salacious," Eisen responded. "What I think the American people are getting is a theme of the Trump administration too close to the rich and powerful, and as a result, who gets hurt? The most vulnerable people in our society."

The Atlantic reported that while FOIA requests are "normally a weak tool for unlocking investigative records gathered for criminal investigations," Eisen saw an opening based on an argument Attorney General Pam Bondi's Department of Justice made in a legal filing. He believed that because the DOJ claimed that extraordinary public interest in the Epstein controversy necessitated the release of grand jury transcripts, Eisen used that same rationale to force the administration's hand through the FOIA process.

"We've done 11 FOIAs. We're in court litigating. We're keeping the pressure on ... how did [Epstein accomplice] Ghislaine Maxwell get moved from a prison where she deserved for her involvement in these terrible crimes against young women, to a country club prison? We're going to get that information out there."

Watch Eisen's segment below, or by clicking this link.

Nearly all major cable news networks carried Wednesday's high-profile press conference in Washington D.C. in which victims of convicted child predator Jeffrey Epstein called for the Department of Justice to release all of its Epstein-related evidence.

Fox News, however, largely dismissed it.

Mediaite reported Wednesday that Fox aired the presser up until Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) took aim at the Trump administration for continuing to keep the Epstein files under wraps, specifically naming the FBI, the CIA and the DOJ. At that point, host Dana Perino cut away.

"So Marjorie Taylor Greene continues speaking at this press conference about the Epstein files, the Epstein victims, as well – a highlight on them today," Perino said, before segueing into a separate story attacking Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson as "the worst mayor in America."

Others also noticed Fox News suddenly cutting away from the press conference. Media Matters for America senior fellow Matthew Gertz wrote on X: "While CNN and MSNBC are airing the press conference featuring Jeffrey Epstein's victims, Fox News is providing counter-programming featuring a Trump appointee."

"MSNBC and CNN giving full coverage to Epstein victims testimony today, because Trump is president and wants it to go away," conservative freelance journalist Jack Hunter tweeted. "Fox News not covering it at all, because Trump is president and wants it to go away."

Deadline.com correspondent Ted Johnson also confirmed that Fox News diverted from the press conference by posting four screenshots with the text: "CNN, MSNBC and BBC on press conference with Epstein victims, Fox News so far is not."

"What an absolute disgrace on the part of @FoxNews -- the network cut away from the Epstein survivors press conference," one X user wrote. "Fox is clearly taking orders from the White House."

During a Tuesday news conference, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) took direct aim at President Donald Trump after he reiterated his plan to send the National Guard to his state.

Pritzker held his press conference directly after Trump concluded his own remarks to reporters in the Oval Office. In one exchange, Trump promised that he was going to send troops to Chicago, though he refrained from saying exactly when he would order the deployment. Pritzker — who is considered a contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination – particularly took issue with Trump requesting that he "beg" the administration for federal assistance.

"I also have experience asking the president for assistance, just to have the rug pulled out from underneath me," Pritzker said. "I refuse to play a reality game show with Donald Trump again. What I want are the federal dollars that have been promised to Illinois and Chicago for violence prevention programs that have proven to work."

"That is money that Illinois taxpayers send to the federal government," he continued. "And it's an insult to any and every citizen to suggest that any governor should have to beg the president of any political party for resources owed their people."

The two-term Illinois governor went on to say that Trump's plan to conduct immigration raids in Chicago will likely resemble the administration's efforts in Los Angeles, in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents largely focused on detaining day laborers with no criminal record despite a promise to only target violent offenders. He added that White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller likely chose September as the month the administration would zero in on Chicago due to planned events celebrating Mexican Independence Day (which takes place on September 16). And he specifically identified the Trump administration official spearheading the effort in Chicago.

"None of this is about fighting crime or making Chicago safer. None of it," he said. "For Trump, it's about testing his power and producing a political drama to cover up for his corruption. If you need any proof of this — that it's all a big show — well, look at who they're putting in charge: Gregory Bovino, a guy who desperately wants to be a reality TV star."

"He led the cruel adventures of ICE in Los Angeles, and he's been sent here to do the very same thing," Pritzker said. "Go look at his social media. He terrorizes innocent people and then posts on TikTok edits of himself. Apparently, this is a Trump administration norm, because the last time we saw staged major ICE raids in Chicago, they sent Dr. Phil here to embed with the agents so he could get views and likes for his social media."

Watch the video of Pritzker's comments below, or by clicking this link.

Shortly after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the bulk of President Donald Trump's tariffs were unconstitutional, the president posted a lengthy rant on his social media platform slamming the decision and the judges. Some conservative and libertarian commentators responded to his statement with mockery.

On Friday, after the 7-4 decision was made public, Trump tore into the "highly partisan" judges who upheld a lower court ruling striking down most of his "Liberation Day" tariffs announced in April. He insisted that his unilaterally imposed import duties were both lawful and necessary for the safety of the country, and bemoaned the "enormous Trade Deficits" used to justify his tariffs.

"If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America," the president wrote.

"If Trump can’t impose illegal tariffs, he says, it will 'literally destroy the United States of America.' This is lunatic stuff," wrote Ramesh Ponnuru, who is the editor of the conservative National Review.

"Just can't stop laughing at this insane statement," tweeted investor Mayank Seksaria, of Liberty Mutual Investments.

Roger Hunt, who is a doctoral student at Bentley University, responded to Trump's statement by writing: "I'm MAGA, but this isn't how tariffs work." Reason magazine editor at large Nick Gillespie opined that Trump was "acting like a king — King George III" and celebrated the ruling by proclaiming: "No taxation without representation!" And Patrick Jaicomo, who is a civil rights litigator at the libertarian-leaning Institute for Justice, simply posted a screenshot of Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution (which states that the power to impose tariffs exclusively belongs to Congress).

"Y'know what, I'm sick and tired of this huge trade deficit I've got with my local game store," wrote Ethan Blevins, who is a legal scholar at the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation. "I keep buying all their cards, and they never buy anything from me! Well, no longer. I'm going to go in there and tell them to pay me for legal advice they don't need!"

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) took several veiled jabs at President Donald Trump, as their public feud continues to dominate headlines.

The Daily Beast reported Friday that Pritzker — who was visiting Wagoner Elementary School in Sauk Village (roughly 30 miles south of Chicago) — was simultaneously complimentary to young students while trolling the president. In a post to his official X account, the two-term Illinois governor didn't mention Trump directly but wrote: "Our leaders in Washington could learn a thing or two from some of the best elementary school students here in Illinois."

"I just got to meet a group of kindergarteners and second graders, and they are really smart kids, and it was great to spend time with them," Pritzker said. "They get to learn every day about these classroom rules, and they follow them. And I have to say, there are a few in here I think the leaders in Washington ought to learn like, for example, 'listen carefully,' maybe 'treat each other with respect' and of course, 'make good decisions.'"

"I wish more leaders in Washington would do that," he added.

Pritzker's office shared several photos from the governor's visit to the school, including one notable photo of a Venn Diagram students made in which two circles — with one representing a governor's duties and the other listing a president's responsibilities — overlapped. While the left-hand circle labeled "governor" included the text "leads the state" and had Pritzker's name, the other circle labeled "president" read "leads the nation." The overlapping circle read: "Leaders take care of people."

The Illinois governor, who is rumored to be a contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, has been trading blows with Trump as the White House has openly threatened to send federal troops to Chicago. Pritzker maintained that violent crime in his state's largest city has been declining, and that federal resources would be better spent in states with Republican governors that have much higher violent crime rates, like St. Louis, Missouri, Shreveport, Louisiana and Jackson, Mississippi.

Earlier this week, Trump threatened to withhold more than $1 billion in Congressionally appropriated funding for an infrastructure project in Illinois unless Pritzker called him and officially requested it. Should Trump follow through on his threat, it would not only be a violation of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, but could potentially mean Illinois taxpayers shoulder the cost.

Click here to read the Beast's report in full (subscription required).

A longtime Republican strategist is now warning that President Donald Trump may be contemplating deploying the U.S. military as a means of disrupting next year's pivotal midterm elections.

During a Thursday appearance on MSNBC, Rick Wilson, who is a co-founder of the anti-Trump Republican group The Lincoln Project, weighed in on California Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) comments that Trump may attempt to stay in power beyond 2028 in defiance of the U.S. Constitution and whether Newsom's concerns were legitimate. He said that while Trump has a history of "trolling," the president is also a "gambler" who has a pattern of taking big political risks for large payoffs.

"If it had gone just slightly differently on January 6th, 2021, and Congress refused to certify the election, Donald Trump would have returned to the White House," he said. "He is a guy who will gamble and push and use that shamelessness and that transgression that's so that's so central to his character to try to get away with stuff ... If he could get away with it, he would make a shot at it."

After Wilson's comments, New York Times reporter Peter Baker piled on, and suggested that Trump could feasibly use the National Guard as a means of depressing voter turnout in certain states, given that he's already given orders to deploy them to various red states. Wilson affirmed Baker's point, and said that while it was too early to tell what the president would do next year, he had exhibited patterns that should concern voters.

"Trump enjoys the outrage it generates when he mobilizes federal forces onto the streets who are armed, in environments where they're not trained to be, for law enforcement purposes or immigration purposes," he said. "He enjoys that reaction."

"He is also, you know, [borrowing] from the dictator's playbook," Wilson continued. "He wants to desensitize people to the presence. of those folks out there all the time. ICE now has a bigger budget than the Marine Corps, and he loves this gigantic force that is answerable only to him. And he is certainly putting it to maximum effect. I would not be shocked if he did try to apply it as an intimidation tactic in the 2026 election season.

Watch the full segment below, or by clicking this link.

Despite his threats to deploy the military across the country, President Donald Trump has revealed the impotence of his administration in actually solving crime, according to a recent analysis.

In a Thursday essay for The Washington Post entitled "Trump's bravado is no match for crooks and rats," columnist Marc Fisher argued that Trump's anti-crime push in the nation's capital has proven that the administration has been largely ineffective in its various goals. He pointed out the various ways in which the D.C. occupation has fallen flat.

" Trump says things, but saying is not doing: Where is the city supposed to put all the arrested people? In its overcrowded jail? And after Trump’s troops arrest so many lawbreakers that crime vanishes from the city, who will prosecute the cases?" Fisher wrote.

READ MORE: 'Empty threat': Ex-prosecutor reveals why Trump has no power to follow through on new push

"Who will judge the bad guys? The city’s Superior Court is short 13 judges (out of 62 positions), and the court has a backlog of about 4,000 cases," he continued. "...Who will indict and convict all the wrongdoers? The same grand jurors who on Tuesday rejected charges against Sandwich Man, the guy who threw a salami sub at a federal officer? The same grand jurors who refused to indict a protester accused of assaulting an FBI agent (actually, for pushing the agent’s arm after officers shoved the protester against a wall)?"

Fisher also referenced Trump's goal of criminalizing the burning of the American flag, which he outlined in an executive order earlier this week. However, he reminded readers that "like many of his other executive pronouncements, this one has more gum than teeth: He has zero authority to do such a thing."

"The Supreme Court has made it clear that flag-burning, annoying and offensive as it is, is protected speech, a classic symbolic expression of dissent," Fisher wrote, referencing the 1989 Texas v. Johnson case. He also slammed Trump for offering "shiny but stunningly inappropriate" gifts to D.C. residents, and suggested the city would be better served by Trump simply allowing local law enforcement to have proper autonomy to do their jobs, rather than National Guard troops flown in from thousands of miles away.

"Trump boasts that he’s somehow going to find $2 billion to spiff up the city’s parks," he added. "...This purportedly Republican president also plans to take over Union Station. Apparently, the private sector is the problem, and government is the solution."

READ MORE: 'Who pays?' GOP rep exits through back door after constituents hound him over Trump policy

Click here to read Fisher's full column in its entirety.

When Congress comes back to Washington, D.C., after the Labor Day holiday, President Donald Trump is hoping they'll take up a "comprehensive" new bill focused on addressing crime. But some Republicans aren't sure what he's talking about.

That's according to a Wednesday article by Politico's Meredith Lee Hill and Jordain Carney, who reported that Trump has offered scant few details about what he wants included in the bill, and has only said that there will be "more to follow." So far, Trump has only indicated he wants $2 billion to "beautify" the capital city, and lawmakers are reportedly still "in the dark" about the details.

Politico reported that Trump told House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) he wanted to extend his 30-day occupation of D.C., with Johnson promising to put it to a vote. While the House has enough of a majority to pass it, an extension would be less certain in the U.S. Senate, where filibuster rules would require more than a half-dozen Democratic votes to pass.

Some of Trump's allies in the upper chamber of Congress — like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee – said they felt confident that Trump's lesser ask of additional funding for his D.C. effort could get across the finish line. However, Graham kept mum regarding the details of a purported crime bill, which would have to go through his committee.

"I’m going to try to find him the money to repave the roads, take the graffiti off the building, refurbish the parks and give homeless people some place to go other than a tent," he said.

Hill and Carney further reported that seven unnamed Republican lawmakers speaking anonymously were "puzzled" about the sudden push for a crime bill, particularly considering the limited amount of time Congress has to address other time-sensitive issues. Congressional Republicans are already scrambling to pass a government funding bill in order to avoid a shutdown ahead of the September 30 deadline. Lawmakers are also hoping to assemble next year's National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to fund the Pentagon through next year.

The push for a crime bill appears to be more politically motivated than policy-focused, according to Politico. Republicans are apparently eager to put Democrats on the defensive going into next year's midterm elections. Hill and Carney also observed that a major legislative push focused on crime could also distract the news cycle from the ongoing outrage over the Trump administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Click here to read Politico's report in its entirety.

One journalist suggested to MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace that President Donald Trump wasn't totally in the wrong in sending the military to occupy Washington, D.C. Wallace didn't let the point stand without interjecting.

During the Wednesday broadcast of her show "Deadline: White House," Wallace played a clip from a town hall that Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.) hosted this week. Brecheen defended Trump's federal takeover of Washington D.C. law enforcement operations by telling assembled constituents that Trump was the "chief law enforcement officer" of the United States and that sending the military to U.S. cities was within his purview.

After the clip, Sam Stein — who is managing editor of anti-Trump conservative website The Bulwark — suggested to Wallace that it was important to apply "nuance" to what Trump was doing. He argued that crime was an important issue to Americans and that while Trump may be taking a political risk by using the military to address crime, there was a significant population of Americans who were in support of his methods.

"I think Trump has a little bit of ground here," Stein said. "If you look at the polling data, people are somewhat supportive of the idea that there's crime in the cities, that it's out of control and that a heavier presence - even from the federal government – would be useful to tamp it down."

Stein went on to say that while Trump's proposal to have troops to patrol streets in Chicago and New York City was unlawful, he had more breathing room in D.C. given its status as a stateless city. He added that while it may be "politically disadvantageous," he was still touching an important nerve for Americans and pleasing his GOP base by focusing on crime. At that point, Wallace interrupted him.

"Let me just stop you there. I worked for Republican presidents. I worked for a Republican governor, I worked for a Republican attorney general of the state of California who ran on 'three strikes, you're out.' No Republican is for military on the streets," she said. "What Republicans are for are more cops. What Republicans are for are more prosecutors. What Republicans are for are more restrictions on how you get out of jail after serving your time or being charged ... The sliding toward the normalization of, 'Trump's on solid ground' is absolute horse doo-doo, Sam!"

"Trump is in outer space!" She added. "I've worked for Republicans longer than you've probably been able to legally drive, and no Republican has ever been for active-duty troops on the streets of an American city. ever."

Watch the segment below, or by clicking this link.

One conservative journalist recently laid out his case for why he believes President Donald Trump will continue to entrench himself in the Oval Office in spite of the Constitution — and with the blessing of the other two branches of government.

In a Wednesday essay for anti-Trump conservative website The Bulwark, editor Jonathan V. Last laid out a bleak picture for readers about both the power and influence Trump is wielding in his second term and the complicity of both the government itself and the electorate. Last pointed to "the pace at which we are moving" and "how Trump employs a mix of the ridiculous and the dangerous" to illustrate his point that Trump has already assumed a significant level of control over both politics and even culture that previous presidents have never had.

"He is the living embodiment of the leviathan, the totalized state," Last wrote of Trump. "No sector of American life exists beyond the reach of this president. There is no private sphere or civil society he feels should be outside his influence or control. There is only the dear leader, whose views must be considered in all matters."

Last observed several key differences between Trump's first term and his current administration. Namely, that he has "learned to operate outside the world of legislation and purely through executive power," and that his White House is "staffed with button-men who are willing to do whatever he demands, regardless of legality."

He also lamented that the private sector has "accepted subservience" that the GOP-controlled Congress "has also completely submitted" to Trump's will, along with the American people. Last noted that polls today show Trump with a higher approval rating today (approximately 40 percent) than he enjoyed in August of 2017 (roughly 38 percent).

"The clear lesson is that a consistent share of about 44 percent of Americans want this," he wrote. "And [44 percent + dictatorial control of the government] should be enough to retain power for quite some time."

"I realize the last two weeks have seemed interminable. But you haven’t seen anything yet. We’ve got three and a half years left under the best-case scenario," he continued. "In the worst case our present condition will persist indefinitely. I keep saying this, but: Trump is not behaving like a man who intends to ever vacate the White House."

Click here to read Last's full essay in The Bulwark (subscription required).