Tom Boggioni

Republican senators, already looking past the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), are frantically searching within their own caucus for someone who can fill the late senator’s role as the “Trump whisperer.”

According to a report from Politico, Republicans are in a state of quiet panic following Graham's passing because it has exposed a critical vulnerability in the GOP's relationship with the president: no other senator possesses his particular combination of Trump's personal trust, legislative experience, and dealmaking prowess. According to internal discussions, his loss reportedly could leave Trump even more isolated and prone to impulsive decisions.

The South Carolina Republican's influence was demonstrated in his final hours, Politico reported. Trump revealed that Graham had called him just before his death to discuss the stalled SAVE America Act — the Republican elections bill that has languished in the Senate for months. Graham had been one of its most vocal advocates, yet consistently explained to the White House why most Senate Republicans refused to eliminate the 60-vote filibuster to pass it.

That balancing act — translating Trump's demands to reluctant senators while explaining legislative realities to an impatient president — was Graham's primary function, reportedly mediating confrontations, shepherding major legislation through the chamber, and preventing conflicts from spiraling into public warfare.

Now, Republicans are confronting an uncomfortable reality that no one can adequately replace him. The departure of former Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to become Homeland Security secretary has further depleted the ranks of Trump allies in the chamber.

Several senators — including Katie Britt of Alabama, Rick Scott of Florida, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee — maintain regular contact with the president. None, however, combines Graham's decades of Senate experience, his extensive network of domestic and international relationships, or his skill at managing Trump's temperament.

"Lindsey knew his place, but he was the only senator who could tell Trump what he didn't want to hear and not face his backlash," one Republican lawmaker said privately. "A lot of us can talk to the president but no one can deal with the president like Lindsey did."

White House officials are hedging their bets. One described Britt as a potential candidate to fill the void, with one saying of the Florida senator's relationship with Trump, "He’s close with Rick Scott, but so few people like him,”

The Politico report added, "Graham’s role has been particularly important as Trump’s relationship with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the Senate GOP conference has been strained in recent months over the president’s anger about Republicans’ unwillingness to blow up the filibuster to pass the GOP elections bill."

Add to the growing list of conservatives who have been turned off by Vice President JD Vance: influential Jewish donors with deep pockets who are furious about his criticisms of Israel.

According to a report from Politico, Vance is facing a brewing rebellion from powerful Republican donors and pro-Israel activists who view his foreign policy positions as a betrayal of the party's traditional unwavering support for the Jewish state.

The tension centers on Vance's role in brokering a ceasefire agreement with Iran and his public criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government—stances that have alarmed major GOP fundraisers who helped bankroll Donald Trump's return to power.

"It's hard to find any support for him at all in the Jewish community," said Eric Levine, a prominent Republican bundler and board member of the Republican Jewish Coalition, told Politico.

According to the report, high-profile conservative voices have begun openly questioning Vance's leadership on Israel. Media personality Mark Levin condemned the Iran memorandum of understanding, while former NCAA basketball coach Bruce Pearl announced he won't support Vance's anticipated 2028 presidential bid unless he "breaks" with Tucker Carlson, who has split from the Republican Party.

Multiple pro-Israel GOP insiders, speaking anonymously, told Politico there is widespread concern about Vance within their networks. "There's angst among a significant majority of pro-Israel Republicans, Christians and Jews alike," one major donor said. "Overwhelmingly, I'm seeing unease, and it could be even worse than that."

The friction threatens to fracture the Republican coalition as Vance positions himself as Trump's likely successor in 2028—an election expected to shatter fundraising records.

Politico is reporting that Vance's credibility problems with pro-Israel conservatives extend beyond his Iran diplomacy. Last fall, after leaked messages showed Young Republicans praising Hitler and making Holocaust jokes, Vance dismissed the incident, calling it kids "doing stupid things." During a Turning Point USA event in Mississippi, Vance failed to challenge a student who claimed Judaism was inherently hostile to Christianity and questioned why America supports Israel.

"When I talk to people in the pro-Israel space about Vance, the Turning Point event comes up in almost every conversation," one veteran GOP strategist involved in pro-Israel advocacy told Politico.

The decision by the Trump administration to go after New York Times reporters with subpoenas after they reported on the critical vulnerabilities with a Qatari plane gifted to the president was hammered on MS NOW on Monday morning.

Appearing on “Morning Joe,” an incensed Jim VandeHei, founder of Axios, claimed the decision to fly the luxury jet into the Middle East put the president and the nation at risk.

Then he blasted conservatives who are applauding the DOJ investigation.

MS NOW contributor Katty Kay prompted VandeHei with, “Jim, you and I were talking during the break about how this seems like overkill from the White House to issue these subpoenas. Is this just because the president was embarrassed about the reporting when we knew that this plane wasn't ready in a defensive capacity?”

“Yeah, I think it's both dumb and dangerous, right?” he shot back. “It's dumb in that it was pretty widely known that this aircraft wasn't up to the standards of Air Force One. That usually goes to a two-year period of being built and being vetted, and everybody knew that this was gifted by the Qataris. Everyone also knows that the Iranians are trying to actively assassinate the president of the United States, and he's in the Middle East.”

"And so this idea then is that you go after the reporters — and they wrote about it after the fact — the only way you'd actually have a plausible case is if you put the president's life at risk or you really jeopardize national security because you reported it before it happened,” he continued before repeating, “They reported it after it happened.”

“And anybody out there who's like, ‘Oh, yeah, but oh, it's the New York Times, I hate the New York Times,’ again, you have to always think about imagine that the other party does this,” he cautioned. “Any time that you don't like a story, that you send agents of the federal government to their home to try to intimidate them because they wrote something that made you feel uncomfortable, that was actually authentically, really, really important to the safety of the president of the United States, whether you like him or not, matters profoundly. And so when you start doing these things, you start normalizing these things, and if anybody cheers it, you better cheer it when they come after you.”

- YouTube youtu.be

Following the surprising death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) late Saturday night, MS NOW host Joe Scarborough attempted to set the record straight on Graham’s longtime friendship with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), which changed when Graham allied himself with Donald Trump.

Recalling his time in Congress when he served with Graham, the “Morning Joe” host admitted he had differences with Graham in his final years, repeatedly calling him a “shapeshifter.”

Addressing online commentary that McCain and Graham suffered a major rupture over Trump, the MS NOW host recalled his last talks with McCain before his passing in 2018.

“I mean, it was very funny to see Lindsey become a senator and then suddenly sidle up to power with a guy who was going to be the next presidential nominee for the Republican Party, but he did,” Scarborough recalled. “He was able to move back and forth.”

“I will say that relationship with John McCain, I read a lot of stuff over the weekend,” he observed. “'McCain was angry, McCain was this.’ I would say my last private meeting with John McCain before he passed, I didn't sense that John McCain was angry at Lindsey.”

“He was more sad, disappointed,” he added. “He sighed, he rolled his eyes, and he goes, ‘Man, it seems like an awfully high price to pay to go golfing with the president of the United States.” But even that was just between him and me in that room. There wasn't anger; it was more like, ‘C’mon, Lindsey."

- YouTube youtu.be

Sam Neill, the popular New Zealand actor whose career spanned five decades and encompassed more than 150 film and television roles, has passed away in Sydney. The actor, best recognized for portraying paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant across multiple "Jurassic Park" installments, was 78.

His family shared the news through a social media announcement, noting that Neill "passed with the dignity that has characterized his whole life" while surrounded by loved ones, The New York Times reported.

Neill had battled angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma following his diagnosis in early 2022.

Originating in Northern Ireland before relocating to New Zealand during his childhood, Neill launched his acting journey in the late 1960s, becoming known for his striking appearance and distinctive vocal delivery.

His body of work included critically acclaimed New Zealand features such as "The Piano" and "Hunt for the Wilderpeople," popular entertainment franchises including "Thor: Love and Thunder," and the acclaimed British drama series "Peaky Blinders."

Australian political leaders paid tribute to Neill's cultural impact, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese highlighting the actor's connection to the country, writing on X: “Wry and dry, thoughtful and laconic, Sam fought illness with the same dignity, humor and conviction that gave strength to his every performance.”

A star player for the Los Angeles Dodgers said he won't visit President Donald Trump at the White House after the treatment he received last time, according to a new report.

Kiké Hernández revealed his decision in a since-deleted social media message that the New York Post managed to track down on Friday.

"Please don't go to the White House," a follower begged.

Replied Hernández, "I'm not."

The Dodgers are slated to visit Trump later this month in celebration of their 2025 World Series championship, according to the Post.

Noted the Post, "Hernández was part of the Dodgers’ White House visit last year after their 2024 title."

Hernández's decision may stem from his frustration over that trip, which he described to Cultura Sports in April 2025, the Post reported.

“They had us sit in a room for about three hours," he said. "Then they told us to stand up and get in line. We waited for a couple more hours. And then they took us to the stage. The guy gave his speech, and we left.”

Hernández said he did not speak to the president, but admitted, "I wasn’t really interested in talking to him anyway."

A MAGA-hat-wearing millionaire from Wyoming running for the state’s sole House seat is being forced to sue members of his own party over allegations of a secret whisper campaign and an anti-gay slur, according to a new report.

Reid Rasner, an openly-gay 42-year-old financial adviser and avid Trump supporter, is pursuing legal action against fellow Republicans he claims spread rumors accusing him of sexual misconduct—allegations he characterizes as baseless attacks rooted in homophobia, according to Semafor's Dave Weigel.

According to his reporting, on Friday, Rasner is expected to settle one defamation case against an Iowa resident who repeatedly labeled him a "pedophile" across social media. He's also actively litigating against a former Wyoming GOP state senator whom he claims "orchestrated a whisper campaign" of sexual misconduct allegations.

"I've never experienced anything like this in my entire life," Rasner lamented in an interview. "This just isn't the Wyoming I knew or thought I knew. The state needs to come to terms with the hate and ignorance that's fueled death threats and violence against me, all because of my sexuality."

According to Weigel, Rasner national profile jumped when "he got some national attention for publicizing a personal $47 billion bid to buy TikTok, offering a 'clean break from China”'on the president’s terms."

Internal polling conducted for a rival Republican campaign revealed the effectiveness of anti-LGBTQ+ messaging, according to the report. When voters were informed that Rasner had married his husband in New York, his support cratered. Despite trailing by single digits before that disclosure, the revelation sent his numbers plummeting, the report notes.

Rasner, who has invested $1.2 million of his personal fortune in his political campaigns, expressed regret about not taking legal action sooner. "Everyone told me: Don't file lawsuits," he said. "I should have filed them on day one."

Spanish officials are throwing up their hands over Donald Trump's contradictory ultimatums on military spending, with the country's top diplomat essentially dismissing the president's chaotic demands as inexplicable, Politico reported Friday.

The confusion stems from Trump's erratic behavior at this week's NATO summit in Ankara, where he attacked Spain as a "terrible partner" for refusing to commit to spending 5 percent of its gross domestic product on defense.

Then, on Wednesday, the president ordered Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to "cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits"—a threat that appeared to be in earnest when a U.S. official confirmed Thursday that the Treasury and Commerce Departments were drafting "a menu of Spanish products that may be embargoed in the coming days."

Trump then backed down after creating the international incident.

"I did have issues with Spain, and I still do, but Spain came back all the way today," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, claiming Madrid had "honored a request for lots of payment."

He added, "They were very generous today -- you know, I told them I was going to stop trading."

Pressed on what happened, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares expressed bewilderment, telling national broadcaster RTVE that he had no idea what Trump was referring to. "Only he can explain," the diplomat said dryly.

Politico reported Spanish government officials were still scrambling to make sense of Trump's comments, ultimately concluding he must have been referring to Spain's compliance with existing NATO commitments to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense—not any new spending increases.

"No, we understand [Trump] was referring to the data showing we've satisfactorily complied with the 2 percent target," a Spanish government spokesperson told Politico.

President Donald Trump may be trying to hide the White House from public view, according to a new report released Friday.

The Trump administration has been planning to construct new fences at the intersections of Pennsylvania Avenue with 15th and 17th streets NW, three anonymous sources told the Washington Post. Michael McGill, a former General Services Administration official, warned of a serious consequence.

"This would mean that residents and tourists alike would be unable to see the White House from any reasonable distance," he said. "Especially if Trump plants more trees in the Park."

The proposal marks an escalation in security measures that have long faced pushback from previous administrations concerned about the "perception of restricting public access to the White House," the Post reported.

According to the report, "The National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, a pair of federal agencies that oversee design matters related to construction projects in the capital region, have historically reviewed major changes to the White House and its grounds. That process often can stretch months or years, although the commissions — which are now led by Trump allies — have rushed several of the president’s projects."

While the Secret Service has previously suggested permanent fencing, those proposals were rejected over fears of appearing autocratic.

A White House official declined to comment directly on the fencing plans, offering only vague assurances that "conversations about improving campus security were ongoing" and that any projects would undergo "a review process."

The Secret Service, tasked with providing personal security, had no comment.

Earlier this week, an enormous tarp printed to look like columns was draped over White House columns.

The stock market has become a personality-driven casino betting on President Donald Trump's daily temperament, according to a new analysis.

Finance professionals are raising urgent alarms about an economy increasingly distorted by presidential caprice rather than rational capital allocation, Politico reported Friday.

Investors have abandoned traditional analysis of earnings and cash flow, pivoting instead to obsessive speculation about which companies will catch Trump's attention—or fall out of favor, according to the report.

Investors are frantically hunting for the administration's next beneficiary, they're systematically attempting to forecast which industries and firms will gain advantages from White House polices, Politico reported, noting they are "... weighing which CEOs have the White House’s ear, whether a presidential announcement could transform a company’s prospects overnight, or whether a public falling-out could wipe out billions in market value.

"I've been doing this for 20 years, I've never seen it like this," Henrietta Treyz, co-founder and director of economic policy at Veda Partners told Politico.

She pointed out that her firm's clients continuously inquire about whether specific industrial sectors—copper mining, polysilicon production, entire categories—will soon enter the administration's focus, "viewing government attention as a potential advantage but also a new source of risk."

It's not sustainable, finance expert Luigi Zingale argued.

"We're no longer trying to figure out what is the next good allocation of capital, we're trying to figure out what is the allocation of capital most favored by President Trump," he warned. "It's a terrible sign of not only the market, but the economy."

According to Politico's Yasmin Khorram, "For investors trying to read Washington, the question is no longer just where the government intervenes — but whether political favor has become a market signal in its own right."

FBI Director Kash Patel should not expect Donald Trump to come to his rescue as the GOP leadership turns up the heat looking into his expenditures, according to a new analysis.

Patel's life of luxury caught the eye of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and now the controversial Trump appointee is under the gun, Hayes Brown wrote for MS NOW Friday.

“Grassley’s interest in the director living it up doesn’t spell Patel’s immediate downfall," Brown wrote. "It does, however, open the door to the kind of scrutiny he’s managed to avoid from Republicans despite multiple screwups. He’s repeatedly jumped the gun posting about active cases on social media and had to walk back his comments. Patel has also failed to transform the so-called grand conspiracy case — which would tie together multiple strands of anti-Trump Deep State conspiracies — into the arrests and prosecutions Trump craves.”

The spending scrutiny may prove more consequential than operational failures, argued Brown.

As media commentator Philip Bump observed, Patel has become vulnerable to any Republican objecting to what observers characterize as an "influencer-worthy lifestyle."

To that Brown added, "If Patel thinks that anything less than total cooperation with Grassley and other Republicans who have questions for him is a good idea, he’s even more of a fool than he already seemed. Trump has proved time and again that no amount of previous loyalty can make him stick his own neck out to protect his inner circle."

"If Patel tries to test this for himself, he runs the risk of becoming a lightning rod, drawing down the wrath of every frustrated Republican who knows it’s much easier to savage the people around Trump than aiming at the president himself," he concluded.

Donald Trump’s continuing attempts to squirm out of paying writer E.Jean Carroll the $5 million plus interest he owes her, despite failing to get the Supreme Court to bail him out, has set off a war at the law firm representing him in the case.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, partners at high-profile law firm Sullivan & Cromwell were told they “would stay out of Trump’s effort to overturn two jury verdicts that writer E. Jean Carroll won against him, finding that he sexually abused and defamed her, according to people familiar with the matter.”

Sullivan & Cromwell's co-chairman Robert Giuffra assured the firm's partners that they would maintain distance from Trump's crusade to overturn two jury verdicts in Carroll's favor. The firm drew a "red line." Then it erased it.

In recent weeks, Sullivan & Cromwell has inserted itself directly into one of the Carroll cases, deepening the firm's entanglement with Trump while creating a civil war over how far the firm will go to keep the president's business.

Noting that a federal jury awarded Carroll $5 million in 2023 in the sex-abuse case, Carroll "won again at trial in a separate case against Trump, with a jury ordering Trump to pay her more than $83 million for defamatory comments he made about Carroll in his first term in office." The Journal reported that, "The decision last year to take on Trump as a client was made by the firm’s executive committee instead of Sullivan & Cromwell’s larger committee of managing partners, which typically has final say over controversial representations, said people familiar with the firm’s internal workings."

Adding to the unusual aspect of taking on the controversial Trump as a client, the report states, "The executive committee didn’t consult the managing partners committee about the firm’s assistance in the Carroll matter, and the firm previously issued a denial to media about its involvement in the case," according to insiders.

"The Carroll cases were of particular concern for some lawyers because of the nature of Carroll’s allegations—that Trump sexually assaulted her during a chance meeting at a department store in the 1990s—and because big law firms rarely take on such cases for fear of reputational damage, people familiar with the firm said," according to the Journal's C. Ryan Barber, Joe Palazzolo and Josh Dawsey," adding, "Some lawyers at the firm also took the position that Sullivan & Cromwell shouldn’t be the one-stop shop for Trump’s highest-profile personal legal matters."

According to the report, since last year, Giuffra has "sought to persuade partners at Sullivan & Cromwell that the work for Trump would be limited but beneficial."

President Donald Trump's boast on Truth Social that his tariff war spurred Toyota to move its Tacoma truck manufacturing operations to the U.S. was drowned in derision by the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal this week.

The conservative WSJ board on Thursday rained on Trump's parade by pointing out that the manufacturing move should be celebrated, but, in the larger picture, his tariffs have been a disaster and Americans are still furious.

"The President is right that his tariffs are at work—in destroying U.S. jobs and raising prices," the editors wrote.

"Mr. Trump’s Section 232 national security tariffs on autos and parts have cost $35.2 billion through April of this year, and his steel and aluminum tariffs another $17.5 billion, according to U.S. government data."

Since taking office in January, the U.S. has hemorrhaged roughly 75,000 manufacturing positions. More than one-third evaporated directly from the automotive and related parts sectors—the industries Trump claims to be protecting.

The board argued the administration's tariff experiment has obliterated American manufacturing.

"Mr. Trump and his advisers claim that foreigners pay his border taxes, but the evidence shows that U.S. companies, workers and consumers are picking up most of the tab," the board wrote.

Add to that, they asserted Trump is forcing consumers to balk at buying new cars over economic uncertainty.

"Many are driving clunkers for longer—and paying more for repairs if they break down—or buying used cars," the editorial stated. "New vehicle sales have averaged 15.9 million in the first half of this year, down from the 17 to 18 million in the five years before the pandemic.

"When people buy fewer cars, auto makers don’t need as many workers. His trade oscillations and border taxes are a major reason the economy hasn’t performed as well as during his first term, and why Americans are so unhappy."

A White House spokesperson late Thursday night lashed out at reporters who revealed President Donald Trump had claimed credit for Walmart price cuts the company later admitted the he played no part in, the Daily Beast reported.

Trump boasted on Truth Social earlier this week that the company was "lowering prices, by a lot, at my Administration's request," including the high cost of beef which has exploded during his administration, with the president calling it a "big deal," the report noted.

But then Walmart issued a clarification.

A spokesperson told the Bulwark the president had no part in the price reduction and explained the price drop was a week old and normal before the July 4th weekend, the report notes.

That's when Senior Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai flew into a rage on X, targeting the Bulwark's Sam Stein.

"The President and Walmart’s announcement was that the sale is extending all summer long," he wrote. "This is a big win for Americans. The media’s obsessive need to try to undermine any good news when it affects President Trump is pathological."

According to the Beast's Ewan Palmer, "Walmart executives had also been discussing lowering prices for months to help consumers, as they expected billions of dollars in tariff refunds after the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s sweeping import levies in February."

President Donald Trump may call himself the master of making a deal, but four Wall Street Journal writers think he stinks at writing them.

The Journal on Thursday published a stern rebuke of Trump's memorandum of understanding with Iran, arguing a single "poorly worded clause" resulted in the battle for the Strait of Hormuz.

"The root of the dispute is Paragraph 5, which says Iran will make arrangements to restore shipping through the strategic waterway and then work with Oman to determine how to administer it in the future," the report states. "But it also includes an Iranian pledge to ensure safe passage and remove military obstacles such as mines."

The pledge became a problem because it was open to different interpretations by both sides as the war ramps up again, the Wall Street Journal reporters argued.

" Trump administration officials saw that clause as unlocking the strait, the main accomplishment of the president’s deal." they wrote. "Iranian hard-liners, however, have used it to push a maximalist interpretation that gives the Islamic Republic exclusive control over the waterway as a key source of leverage."

Geopolitical analyst Michael Horowitz agreed with their assessment.

"Washington has tried to convince Tehran that compliance would be more profitable, but this framing misses the point," he reportedly said. "Iran's behavior isn't driven by financial motives but by security concerns and bargaining leverage. It's a power dynamic."

Now the U.S. faces tough times ahead in the struggle, according to the analysis

"Tehran has also repeatedly asserted that it will work out arrangements for future management of the strait with its weaker neighbor across the waterway, Oman," the Journal report stated.

"The difficulty coming to terms on opening the Strait of Hormuz points to rough negotiations ahead."