Ewan Gleadow

Ewan Gleadow is a breaking news reporter for Raw Story based in the United Kingdom. He previously worked for The Daily Mirror and its sister site, The Mirror US. He also runs the music and culture website, Cult Following.

GOP handed brutal '2%' polling figure as 'final nail in the coffin' delivered: expert

The Republican Party is facing down a brutal polling figure which could mark the beginning of the end for their midterms cycle, an analyst has claimed.

Simulations of the midterm election had the Democrats coming out on top with a House majority, The Economist's Marie Segger wrote. A recent redistricting effort in Virginia has been noted by Segger as the tipping point for what could be a rough election cycle for the Republican Party.

Virginia Democrats achieved a major victory when voters approved an aggressive redistricting measure in April 2026. The ballot measure passed with approximately 51% support, or more than 1.5 million voters. The new map favors Democrats in 10 of 11 districts, potentially gaining four House seats.

She wrote, "The recent redistricting in Virginia may be the final nail in the Republicans’ coffin: the model currently suggests that the Democrats have a 19 in 20 chance of taking the House. Republicans’ hopes rest on the Senate, but even there the race looks close: the chances are split nigh on evenly."

Further analysis from Segger noted the slim chances for the GOP, and that President Donald Trump's sinking approval rating will weigh heavily on a race-to-race basis.

"Winning the popular vote does not guarantee a majority of seats," she wrote. "But because the current House-district boundaries are almost perfectly fair nationwide (though highly unfair within gerrymandered states), whichever party wins more votes is also favored to win more seats.

"And in the past 40 years, the only time the president’s party won the popular vote in a midterm was 2002, in the wake of the September 11th attacks. Given Donald Trump’s abysmal approval rating, he is highly unlikely to become the second. How unlikely? Well, the chances are around 2%."

GOP strategist Barrett Marson has since suggested Republicans running in the midterm elections should distance themselves from Trump if they wish to hold onto their seat.

Marson, a GOP strategist in Arizona, told The Washington Post, “No Republican wants to run on ‘I stand with Donald Trump’s retribution tour'. There is no doubt that the vast majority of non-MAGA voters want Trump to focus on anything but his personal animus toward a wide variety of people."

King Charles hailed by observers for 'damning' jab he took at Trump: 'Quite something'

King Charles III has been praised by onlookers for an unlikely comparison made between President Donald Trump and a moment in US history.

During a speech given at a state dinner, the visiting King noted the long-running relationship between the US and the United Kingdom.

King Charles said, "You recently commented, Mr. President, that if it were not for the United States, European countries would be speaking German. Dare I say that if it wasn't for us, you'd be speaking French."

Some analysts picked up on the subtle jab at Trump, with King Charles seemingly making reference to the War of 1812. The British Army burnt down the Capitol, the President's house, and other public buildings in Washington in 1814.

Journalist Annette Dittert wrote, "I am not sure whether Trump understood how damning that allusion was, well hidden under a thick layer of British humor and self-deprecation. But to compare Trump's ballroom plans with the English destroying Washington during a war over trade in 1814 is quite something."

Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan added, "The best part of this joke is that Trump is laughing but I bet he doesn’t understand it."

A separate speech from King Charles has been praised by CNN senior vice president David Chalian. He said, "He comes in with his position to be above it a bit and in his, you know, very British, stiff upper lip kind of way.

"It's not that he was trying to get in a fight with President Trump, but he couldn't have seized the opportunity more to really stand clear on the importance of these things with a value system underneath it that is in contrast to a lot of what Donald Trump has been presenting on the world stage as it comes to these alliances."

Trump's administration sparked widespread embarrassment when black lampposts outside the White House were adorned with Australian flags instead of British flags ahead of King Charles III's state visit.

The blunder occurred as hundreds of national banners welcomed the King and Queen Camilla for a four-day visit to Washington, New York, and Virginia to commemorate 250 years since the Declaration of Independence.

The i Paper's Victoria Richards wrote: "The US, meanwhile, can't even remember what our flag looks like... there's only 'king' who matters in Washington – and his name is Donald Trump." The error was quickly corrected by the DC Department of Transportation.

Distracted Trump put himself in danger by hampering his own security: ex-insider

Distractions over implementing President Donald Trump's immigration policy are causing issues for vital services, a former Secret Service agent has claimed.

Trump's administration has prioritized mass deportations, workplace raids, and expanded detention operations targeting undocumented immigrants across the nation. The Trump administration has deported thousands of people to about a dozen countries, often to places where they have no ties.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations have intensified significantly, with agents conducting sweeps in schools, workplaces, and residential areas. ICE's budget has grown from less than $6 billion annually a decade ago to $85 billion in a single year under Trump, surpassing the combined budgets of all other federal law enforcement agencies.

The Brennan Center for Justice noted ICE is now funded at levels "larger than the annual budget of all other federal law enforcement agencies combined," including the FBI.

Funding increases for ICE left other agencies, particularly the Secret Service, dealing with a logjam, according to former agent Jonathan Wackrow. The CNN analyst, who aided previous White House Correspondents' Dinner security measures, says Trump's team has failed to maintain a level of focus and detail necessary for the Secret Service.

CNN's reporting team shared, "But instead, the Trump administration focused on training new agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement for its deportation push, creating a logjam at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Wackrow said."

Wackrow claims that Trump had been too closely focused on funding ICE and finding agents to aid the immigration policies, and that funding for other agencies could have been secured. The ideal time for securing further funding has passed, with Wackrow suggesting the attempted assassination of Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, was the moment to push for an increase.

“The moment to do it was at the very beginning of this administration, when you had the momentum out of Butler, out of the bipartisan recommendations,” Wackrow said. “You had some budgetary support to push through a hiring campaign and get those people through the pipeline. But then the focus was on ICE.”

'No Republican wants to run': GOP strategist gives grim read of Trump's impact on midterms

Republican Party candidates are hesitant to align themselves with Donald Trump and his cabinet in the run-up to the midterm elections, an analyst has claimed.

Trump had previously put the Republican Party under pressure with a push to introduce the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. Key provisions of the SAVE Act include ending mail-only voter registration, implementing nationwide photo ID requirements, restricting mail-in ballots except for military, illness, disability, or travel, and mandating rules to purge noncitizens from voter rolls.

Republican candidates have since been urged to soften their alignment with Trump's administration, with strategists counseling a race-by-race approach rather than nationalized messaging around the president. An unnamed GOP strategist told Reuters, "We have to break out of that and show race by race why we’re the better choice."

Further actions in Iran and unpopular domestic policy have fractured the GOP, with strategist Barrett Marson calling on Republicans to distance themselves from Trump should they wish to stand a chance in the election cycle.

The Post reporters Isaac Arnsdorf, Liz Goodwin, and Theodoric Meyer also noted disapproval ratings for Trump and his cabinet would weigh heavily on the minds of voters.

They wrote, "Two-thirds of Americans said Trump hasn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems in a CNN survey conducted late last month, up from 52 percent in February 2025 and higher than at any point in his first term."

Further analysis from veteran Republican leader Newt Gingrich gave a view into how poorly the midterm elections could go for the GOP.

“If the election were in May, Republicans would lose,” said Gingrich. “The war, the sense of affordability, and gasoline – some of that has to be cleared up in order to win. If it doesn’t change, I’ll start tearing my hair out.”

Long-serving GOP strategist Mike Murphy also noted the "panic" within the party at the moment, adding, "I can't imagine a worse scenario than the one he [Trump] is in right now. The Democrats – not because they’ve done anything, but because they’re not Trump – have surged.”

Embarrassed Trump to fire gaffe-prone Cabinet member within days: White House insider

Donald Trump is preparing to fire a chief member of his Cabinet after a series of gaffes left the president embarrassed, a White House insider has claimed.

Trump recently dismissed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi in quick succession, marking a dramatic purge of Cabinet members.

FBI Director Kash Patel will be the next admin figure to be fired, according to the insider.

Susan Crabtree, a political correspondent for Real Clear Politics, shared a comment from the White House source on the possible removal of Patel, despite pressure also building for White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles following questions regarding security coming after Saturday's shooting attempt at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

The anonymous official has claimed that Patel's firing could come within days.

Crabtree wrote, "A source familiar with the presidential security protocols said White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles oversees the Secret Service and has let [Secret Service Director Sean Curran] remain in his job despite numerous failures on his watch. 'They’re about to fire Kash and he had nothing to do with this, while Susie oversees the Secret Service, and it’s failure after failure, and she gets no blame,' the source said."

Patel filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic and staff writer Sarah Fitzpatrick on April 20, 2026, following a bombshell investigative report detailing his alleged excessive drinking and erratic behavior.

The Atlantic's reporting cited multiple current and former FBI officials describing Patel's unexplained absences, panic episodes when locked out of the FBI computer system, and concerning behavior patterns that raised serious questions about his fitness for office.

Trump admin's 'embarrassing' flag slip up leaves onlookers astonished

President Donald Trump's administration has been criticized for a mistake made over King Charles III's visit to the United States.

Black lampposts outside of the White House were adorned with flags representing Australia, not the United Kingdom.

Political analysts were left astonished by the mix-up, which Trump's admin apologized for at the time. The i Paper opinion editor, Victoria Richards, suggested this was an awkward moment during a strained time for the US and UK's relationship.

Richards wrote, "The blunder happened on Friday, when hundreds of national banners were installed across the capital to welcome the King and Queen Camilla, who are making a four-day state visit to Washington, New York and Virginia to mark 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The error was 'quickly corrected', a DC Department of Transportation official said on Friday."

Richards went on to suggest the flag change may have been more than just a simple slip-up. She added, "But given how much the UK Government is hoping the state visit will heal the rift between the US and the UK – and between Donald Trump and Keir Starmer – the slip-up serves as a pretty good summation of how much attention America as a whole is paying. Namely: not a lot.

"So, this gaffe, now, when relations between our two nations are at perhaps their lowest ebb in 70 years, feels – accidental as it may be – like a power move.

"Britain is sharply divided as to whether the King should be meeting Trump and touring the US, worried our honor and dignity is being traduced. The US, meanwhile, can’t even remember what our flag looks like. And, in the end, what we’re left with is the message that there’s only “king” who matters in Washington – and his name is Donald Trump."

Further analysis from political commentator Art Candee suggested the Trump admin should be embarrassed by the flag mix-up. Candee wrote, "Trump’s administration put up some Australian flags instead of British flags ahead of King Charles’ visit? Embarrassing and beyond symbolic of this dumpster fire presidency."

Supreme Court 'coming apart' as justices lob 'chilling' public attacks: analysis

The Supreme Court's infighting has spilled out into public view, and it paints an ugly picture of the judicial body, according to a political analyst.

The New York Times opinion columnist Jesse Wegman believes recent activity from Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh, and Clarence Thomas highlights the trouble brewing inside the Supreme Court. Wegman wrote, "We’ve come to expect diatribes against entire swaths of the country from the Trump administration, but to hear a Supreme Court justice do it is somehow more chilling.

"All Supreme Court justices are at risk of huffing their own fumes. It comes along with the lifetime appointment, the endless cosseting and flattery. It’s easy for them to forget that they play a unique role in American life, and are held to a higher standard of behavior than the rest of us.

"These days, the Supreme Court sometimes feels as if it is slowly coming apart, the victim of both its own members’ arrogance and the hardball politics that Senate Republicans used to pack the court with right-wingers over the past decade."

Thomas, earlier this month, delivered a scathing critique of progressivism during a speech at the University of Texas Austin Law School, characterizing the political philosophy as fundamentally incompatible with American constitutional principles.

Thomas argued that progressivism seeks to replace the foundational premises of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution itself. "Progressivism seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence and hence our form of government," Thomas stated. "[Progressivism] holds that our rights and our dignities come not from God, but from government."

Sotomayor also made headlines earlier this month for a scathing put-down of Kavanaugh. Speaking at the University of Kansas School of Law earlier this month, Sotomayor said Kavanaugh "probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour" in response to a question about a recent case concerning immigration law.

In the case, Kavanaugh argued that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents should be allowed to conduct what's known as "roving stops" to check someone's immigration status.

Sotomayor publicly apologized to Kavanaugh a week later. In her statement, Sotomayor said, "At a recent appearance at the University of Kansas School of Law, I referred to a disagreement with one of my colleagues in a prior case, but I made remarks that were inappropriate. I regret my hurtful comments. I have apologized to my colleague."

Trump's vast fortune could be wiped out by judge's startling ruling: legal analyst

President Donald Trump could see his vast personal fortune wiped out by a judge's ruling relating to the January 6 Capitol Hill attack, a legal analyst wrote Sunday.

The insurrection occurred as Congress met to certify the 2020 presidential election results, which Trump had refused to accept. Veteran legal analyst Sabrina Haake believes that Trump could see his personal fortune wiped out should a judge rule he is personally liable for damages accrued during the insurrection.

Haake wrote, "Measuring the amount of corruption lining Trump’s pocket is like shoveling on a snowy day. As of late January, Trump had pocketed upwards of $4 billion from untraceable cryptocurrency ventures, suspicious market manipulations, and outright bribery from foreign and domestic sources during his first year back in office.

"He’d better be thinking on how to hide it, because U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta has ruled that Trump. Is. Civilly. Liable for the damages he caused on January 6, 2021."

Last month, Mehta ruled that Trump was not immune against civil claims for damages regarding Jan. 6.

"Judge Mehta’s cautious 79-page ruling denied Trump civil immunity through a careful analysis largely devoted to distinguishing between Trump’s criminal actions as an office-holder (official-acts immunity), and his actions in seeking office, which were not official acts and therefore are not immune.

"The decision carefully followed the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling, and will allow claims against him from members of Congress and Capitol police officers to proceed to trial."

Rep. Barry Loudermilk, who chairs the new GOP Select Subcommittee on the Jan. 6 attack, suggested federal agencies had advance warning of violence ahead of the deadly Capitol attack, insisting, “there’s no way they could miss that.”

“There was intelligence from both groups on the left and the right,” Loudermilk told Raw Story this month. "Why wasn't something done? Was it incompetency? I can't believe that it's that level of incompetency across several agencies.”

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) blasted Loudermilk’s line of attack as “embarrassing,” and accused Republicans of ignoring the root cause of the riot. "What happened was that Trump incited a mob and asked them to come and attack the Capitol violently," Lofgren said.

JD Vance 'sold his soul' – and voters are abandoning him for Trump favorite: analyst

Vice President JD Vance's support for a presidential campaign is slipping rapidly, according to a political analyst.

Vance has attempted to consolidate his possible presidential push with a series of appearances at Turning Point USA rallies. But the Vice President is seemingly losing support, and potential voters are abandoning Vance in favor of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Vance faces a significant erosion of support within MAGA circles as Secretary of State Marco Rubio gains prominence as a potential 2028 presidential successor. Trump voters surveyed in focus groups express a preference for Rubio over Vance, viewing him as the "adult in the room" compared to other cabinet members.

Rubio's multiple government roles—secretary of state, national security adviser, acting USAID administrator, and acting archivist—have created an image of competence and influence. By contrast, Vance's standing has deteriorated sharply. MS NOW analyst Zeeshan Aleem believes voter sentiment is shifting from Vance to Rubio.

Aleem wrote, "It might be that he is more closely identified with Trump and hardcore MAGA ideology, and so Trump’s plunging ratings weigh more on Vance than other administration officials.

"Or, somewhat paradoxically, it might be — as many of Longwell’s quoted focus group participants suggest — that Vance comes across as less sincere rhetorically and seems to have “sold his soul” for proximity to power.

"Sometimes these things boil down to vibe. Even though both Rubio and Vance, like most of their GOP colleagues, have shifted many of their political views during the Trump era, Vance can come across as more try-hard than Rubio, perhaps because of the theatrical zeal with which he speaks, or because the very premise of his relatively short career in national politics was rejecting Trumpism."

Vance previously found himself ditched by MAGA voters, with The Atlantic analyst Sarah Longwell noting the changing tide for Rubio, who appeared to be benefiting from his vast number of titles.

Longwell wrote, "Rubio currently serves as secretary of state and national security adviser, and until recently he served as acting USAID administrator and acting archivist of the United States. Voters see the memes tweaking Rubio for having such a laughable number of important titles and think he must be doing something right."

'Shady salesman' Lutnick under fire for inflating Trump Gold Card numbers: insider

Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has been grilled by a White House insider for allegedly lying about Trump Gold Card statistics.

President Donald Trump announced the Trump Gold Card earlier this year. Trump first discussed the notion in February to sell the exclusive visas for $5 million a piece to give “very high-level people” a “route to citizenship.”

At the time, Trump and Commerce Secretary Lutnick claimed the gold card visas would replace the EB-5 visa that grants citizenship to foreign nationals who invest in U.S. businesses, according to the report.

A donation to the Department of Commerce of $1 million is required for individuals, while a $2 million donation is required for a corporation or a donation made on behalf of another person. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had claimed in June that there was a waiting list of over 70,000 people.

This figure, along with other economic claims made by Lutnick in relation to the Trump Gold Card, has been ridiculed by a White House insider speaking to PunchUp.

Reporter Tom Latchem wrote, "A PunchUp source close to the White House was brutal: 'Every number he’s given about Trump’s Gold Card is bigger than the one before, and none of them are real… Based on what we know, he’s acting more like a shady salesman instead of cabinet sec.

"'Congress needs to crack down and find out where all the money is.' PunchUp contacted the Commerce Department’s media office to ask four straightforward questions: Why has only one of 70,000 been approved? What happened to the rest of the money? Was the 70,000 figure ever accurate? And who actually is the one person who has been approved for a Trump Gold Card?"

A "tax exemption" card named Trump Platinum Card is also available on the official website for Gold Card applications. The Platinum Card is listed as "coming soon".

Application times have been cited as taking just "weeks" according to the trumpcard.gov website. It reads, "Once an applicant’s processing fee and application are received, the process should take weeks. The applicant will need to attend a visa interview and submit any additional documents in a timely manner."

'Layers of failure' to lax security after Correspondents Dinner shooting: journalist

Security at the White House Correspondents' Dinner has been criticized by an attendee who says more could have been done to prevent the shooting.

A gunman stormed a security checkpoint outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 26, 2026, forcing President Trump and his party to evacuate the head table in a chaotic attack.

CNN journalist Wolf Blitzer witnessed the violence firsthand. "All of a sudden, I start hearing gunshots in the hall right near me," Blitzer said. "The next thing I knew, a police officer threw me to the ground and was on top of me." Blitzer described hearing approximately six shots and characterized the scene as "very scary" and "so worrisome," noting the gunman "had a major weapon."

Trump, in a press conference given just hours after the shooting, claimed the attack proved the necessity of his White House ballroom project, stating: "It's drone-proof. It's bulletproof. We need the ballroom. That's why the Secret Service, why the military, they're demanding it."

The Daily Beast executive editor Hugh Dougherty criticized the handling of security at the Hilton Hotel and suggested that more could have been done to vet those who were entering and exiting the building on the day of the shooting.

Dougherty wrote, "It does not take a security expert to unravel the layers of failure that happened at a Washington, D.C. hotel on Saturday night.

"How on earth could someone with a disassembled long gun check into a room at a hotel where the president was going to speak? I can answer that: Nobody even looked at my luggage on Friday afternoon. Worse, my colleague arrived on Saturday at 5 p.m. Nobody looked at his luggage either: No magnetometers, no hand checks, no I.D. checks. Nothing.

"How on earth could that person get downstairs and assemble a long gun? I can answer that too. I moved up and down from Floor 10 all day. Nobody ever stopped me and asked me anything.

"I have never shown my I.D., except to the clerk who checked me in; I have never been searched or frisked when I checked in, or moved in and out of the hotel. To get down from my room to the dinner, I simply flashed my ticket. It could have been a photocopy.

"The only time I went past a checkpoint was at the same magnetometers that Cole Allen, 31, sprinted past with his gun. Another colleague was outside; I texted them a copy of their ticket. That allowed them to get into the hotel as far as those same magnetometers, entirely unchecked. How on earth could that be considered safe?"

War scholar flags chilling parallels between Trump's war in Iran and past conflict

A contrast between President Donald Trump's war with Iran and a previous conflict has been flagged by a war scholar.

Trump's military conflict with Iran has emerged as one of the most consequential failures of his second term. The war, launched without congressional authorization, has devastated regional stability and undermined American credibility with traditional allies.

Domestically, the conflict has fractured the MAGA movement, with prominent figures like Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene publicly opposing the war as a betrayal of "America First" principles.

Historian Hai Nguyen believes there are parallels between how Iran has reacted to US strikes and how Vietnam responded to a boots-on-the-ground deployment in the 1960s.

Salon columnist Andrew O'Hehir wrote, "From the beginning of this conflict, the Iranians identified the fundamental weakness of U.S. strategy, which was based on a litany of false assumptions, starting with the premise that total victory could be achieved with air power (something that has never happened in the history of warfare) and that killing Iran’s senior leaders would cause the regime to surrender or collapse.

" Trump and Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio and whoever else somehow persuaded themselves — or allowed Netanyahu to persuade them — to ignore the obvious Heffalump trap that was right in front of them, that being yet another protracted, expensive and massively unpopular foreign war likely to crater or destroy a presidency.

"Hai Nguyen, a Vietnam War scholar at the Harvard Kennedy School, told [Foreign Policy columnist Michael] Hirsh that he saw history literally repeating itself. Like the Viet Cong of 50-odd years ago, the Iranians have perceived the American superpower’s Achilles heel: 'They understand that the U.S. could drop thousands of tons of bombs, but it does not possess the patience to withstand a prolonged war.'

"In refusing to negotiate despite the risk of further devastation and the immense hardship inflicted on its own people, the Iranian regime is observing a time-honored principle attributed to Napoleon: Never interrupt your opponent when he’s making a mistake."

Trump using old playbook tactic to scare voters ahead of midterms: analysis

President Donald Trump is using an old tactic to scare the electorate ahead of the midterm elections, a political analyst has claimed.

Heather Digby Parton, a columnist for Salon, suggested that Trump and the Department of Justice are kindling a scare tactic with a "lesser-known" administration policy. Mass deportations have given the right a "newfound freedom to talk of expelling anyone of whom they disapprove," according Parton.

His administration has prioritized mass deportations, workplace raids, and expanded detention operations targeting undocumented immigrants across the nation.

The Trump administration has deported thousands of people to about a dozen countries, often to places where they have no ties. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations have intensified significantly, with agents conducting sweeps in schools, workplaces, and residential areas.

Federal data shows immigration authorities placed 248 relatives of veterans into deportation proceedings after Trump rescinded preferential treatment guidance.

Parton wrote, "Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy, who is running for attorney general in the Lone Star State, has submitted a particularly grotesque piece of legislation that he dubbed the 'MAMDANI Act,' which stands for Measures Against Marxism’s Dangerous Adherents and Noxious Islamists.

"As the bill’s title suggests, it would ban immigration by many Muslims and socialists. Since communists are already covered under previous laws, 'socialists' means people like Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who identify as Democratic Socialists.

"Belonging to the Democratic Socialists of America is mentioned specifically as a reason to deny a visa or green card application. In fact, you don’t have to claim any affiliation with socialism at all; all you have to do is 'advocate the restructuring of economic and social relations to reduce class distinctions.'

"That would include pretty much all the entire Democratic Party and half of all Independents. And guess what? The bill would strip any naturalized citizen who meets that criteria of his or her citizenship.

"Since it’s aimed at both Muslims and Marxists, it’s only logical to assume that the name 'Ilhan Omar' can be read between the lines. (Mamdani also meets that criteria, but then again, he is already named outright in the bill’s title.) This is straight-up McCarthyism, taken right out of the Red Scare playbook. Everything old is new again."

Trump family could pocket billions from IRS suit: analyst

President Donald Trump will funnel a potential IRS payout into a family shell company, a political analyst has claimed.

Trump and his sons are negotiating with the Internal Revenue Service to settle a $10 billion lawsuit without trial. Trump filed the lawsuit after taking office, claiming an IRS contractor leaked his tax information. The motion for settlement extension was filed with IRS consent, requesting time for parties to engage in discussions and avoid protracted litigation.

Trump acknowledged in January that he is essentially negotiating with himself, stating he could make the settlement "a substantial amount" before directing funds to charities.

Heather Delaney Reese believes that, should Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service be a success, the payout will not be headed to charity.

Reese wrote, "Trump and his lawyers are currently in settlement talks with the Department of Justice over this lawsuit. The same DOJ that he controls. If those talks result in a payout, it would be Trump’s own administration writing Trump and his family a check from the United States Treasury. That would be taxpayer money being spent.

"And if he does donate the winnings to charity, as he suggested on Air Force One, do not hold your breath waiting to find out which one. This is a family with a history of creating entities that look like charities on paper.

"The Trump Foundation was shut down under court supervision after the New York Attorney General found that Trump had repeatedly used its funds for his own personal, business, and political interests.

"He was ordered to pay $2 million in damages. He made 19 admissions of illegal activity. His three adult children were required to undergo mandatory charity law training as part of the settlement. So when he says the money could go to charity, it might not mean what we imagine that to mean."

Reese went on to suggest that the lawsuit could be set to collapse by May after a federal judge asked a pointed question about the point of the suit.

"But on Friday, a federal judge named Kathleen Williams, an Obama appointee sitting in Miami, looked at the case and asked a question that cut through what this lawsuit really was about: money," Reese wrote. "She pointed out that Trump is the sitting president who directly oversees both the IRS and the Treasury Department.

"His named adversaries in this lawsuit are agencies whose decisions are subject to his direction. She questioned whether the parties are even 'sufficiently adverse to each other' for the lawsuit to be constitutional under Article III, which requires an actual controversy between genuinely opposing parties."

Melania said to have sent coded Epstein message about 'exquisitely vulnerable' husband

Melania Trump's statement regarding her involvement with Jeffrey Epstein has endangered President Donald Trump, a biographer has claimed.

Michael Wolff, the author behind Fire and Fury: Inside the White House, believes the First Lady's statement is not just about creating distance between her and child sex offender Epstein, but about dragging Trump back into the spotlight on his ties to the notorious child abuser.

Melania Trump delivered a six-minute statement earlier this month addressing her connection to Epstein, triggering significant controversy and raising troubling questions about Donald Trump's own relationship with the disgraced financier.

Melania declared, "To be clear, I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, [Ghislaine] Maxwell," directly distancing herself from the scandal.

Wolff, during an appearance on Inside Trump's Head, said, "The first thing was, ‘You’re not going to pin this Epstein stuff on me. This Epstein stuff is your problem. You got us into this'. To me, [it] read, ‘Congress should investigate you.’ You, my husband, the president.

"She opened up the one area that I think Donald Trump is exquisitely vulnerable on, which is that period in the 1990s, early 2000s. A period of [where] lots of models, girls, his whole connection to the modeling industry.

“We come back, always, to the question: why would she do this? Why would she call attention to this particular moment in time? I think that she’s saying [to Trump], that’s your problem, and don’t put it on me. You better protect me in this."

Department of Justice materials revealed Trump was mentioned thousands of times in Epstein-related files, including correspondence showing Trump's relationship with Epstein was more than casual. Melania's strategic silence on Trump's innocence has fueled speculation about potential legal exposure ahead.

Due to the sheer volume of Epstein-related materials released by the DOJ, many of the documents contain unverified, uncorroborated allegations that do not constitute evidence and do not establish wrongdoing. Trump is not facing any criminal charges or investigations related to the allegation.