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A nationwide arrest warrant has been issued for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of pointing his gun at two motorists during the federal surge into Minnesota earlier this year.

Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., 35, of Temple Hills, Maryland, was charged with two felony counts of second-degree assault in Hennepin County District Court for the February incident, where prosecutors say the ICE agent pulled alongside two motorists while driving illegally on the shoulder and pointing his weapon at them, reported The Minnesota Star Tribune.

“They’re both terrified,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. “Policy here would consider that some type of use of force. You can’t just point your gun.”

Morgan told a state trooper he believed the people he pointed his gun at were agitators trying to impede his SUV, but Moriarity said the evidence contradicts him.

“This is the only case that we actually know what the federal officers say,” Moriarty said. “We have their statement. We have video. This difference is that it came to us just like any other case would have.”

Moriarty's office continues to investigate the shootings of Renee Good, Alex Pretti and Julio Sosa-Celis by federal agents during President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in the area, and she said the charges against Morgan might be the first anywhere in the nation related to on-duty conduct by immigration officers as part of that broad-ranging effort.

President Donald Trump claimed credit for a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

The 79-year-old president had announced that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would hold direct talks Thursday, which Lebanese officials later denied, but Trump claimed on Truth Social that he had spoke to both leaders and helped broker a ceasefire.

"I just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel," Trump posted. "These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST."

"On Tuesday, the two Countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, D.C., with our Great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio," Trump added. "I have directed Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, together with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Razin' Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE. It has been my Honor to solve 9 Wars across the World, and this will be my 10th, so let's, GET IT DONE! President DONALD J. TRUMP."

Rubio hosted the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the U.S. for an in-person meeting Wednesday, marking the first high-level engagement between the Middle Eastern nations since 1993.

Aoun told Rubio in a call that same day that he would not speak to Netanyahu until a ceasefire was in place, according to the Lebanese media outlet LBCI.

President Donald Trump's advisers are scrambling to cobble together a message as the Iran war and his erratic behavior threatens to consume Republican midterm campaigns.

The Trump administration's had crafted a midterm campaign strategy focused on tax refunds and economic gains, but those plans have been derailed by the Iran war, leaving Republicans facing potential losses of congressional control just seven months out from the November election, reported CNN.

“There’s direct correlation between presidential job approval and the party’s midterm performance. It’s not much more complicated than that,” said GOP pollster Whit Ayres. “They’re frustrated and unhappy, and that’s been the case for some time, but it’s especially the case now.”

The White House had designated Tax Day as the unofficial launch of a strategy to highlight money returned to voters' pockets through administration economic policies, but that plan has largely collapsed following Trump's decision to launch military operations against Iran, which sent gas prices soaring and dominated political attention away from economic messaging.

“We need to get on offense. We need a message,” said one Trump adviser. “But right now, everything’s on hold until the war’s over.”

Multiple Republican officials privately acknowledge the party's standing has deteriorated significantly as the seven-week-old conflict has negated nearly all the economic progress Republicans planned to campaign on, including efforts to lower gas prices, ease inflation, and bolster financial security perceptions, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen GOP figures.

“They were counting on the tax refunds to power the economy and to have inflation under control, and on both fronts, they have some concerns,” said longtime GOP economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the right-leaning American Action Forum.

Trump, whose aides once pledged he would conduct nearly weekly campaign rallies for down-ballot candidates, has instead remained focused on foreign affairs in Washington. His Nevada rally Thursday marks his first swing-state appearance in over a month, and he arrives at historically low approval ratings amid voter frustration over both economic conditions and the conflict.

"At a certain point, there's going to have to be a message shift from the administration if the war doesn't look like it's something we can just get out of," said one GOP operative.

Republican leaders maintain they are not panicking, noting that worst-case scenarios involving losses of both chambers have not yet materialized, and they highlight their fundraising advantage and the potential to deploy Trump's substantial MAGA Inc. super PAC resources.

The GOP strategy has shifted to emphasizing contrasts with Democratic policies and warning of impeachment threats should Republicans lose congressional majorities, but officials acknowledge that attacking Democrats offers only a partial argument for the party controlling the White House and Congress.

Administration officials have also attempted to deflect blame for gas prices by publicly criticizing gas station operators for failing to lower prices when oil prices decline, yet messaging efforts have been hampered by Trump's tendency to diverge from prepared talking points.

“Naval blockades and the president’s divinity,” Holtz-Eakin said. “Not exactly what they had planned.”

CNN's Brian Stelter called out Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for using religion to justify attacks on the free press.

The Pentagon chief focused much of his weekly update Thursday morning on attacking media coverage of the Iran war, but Stelter told "CNN News Central" that Hegseth seemed to be "doubling down" on President Donald Trump's self-aggrandizing use of religious language.

"Hegseth revealed how he's feeling with four words," Stelter said. "He said, 'I just can't help,' and then he went on his rant against the press. He said, 'I can't just help, I can't help myself.' He had to get it out, and that's been true from the secretary of defense over and over and over again during this war. He always seems to need to let out his anger and bitterness about the American media, which is so weird because he was a member of the media for decades."

"You know, he was a host on Fox News," Stelter added. "He knows how the media works. He knows the reality about how this war has been covered. He knows the American media has celebrated U.S. military victories and has pressed for more information in order to tell those stories more fully."

Stelter noted with alarm that Hegseth has been leaning even harder into the religious language he's been using to frame the conflict, which the media analyst said was made even more alarming by the president seemingly doing the same.

"But it's really notable today how he seems to be speaking in terms of a holy war," Stelter said. "It's interesting, too, this coming on the same week that Trump depicted himself as Jesus. But the insinuation from Hegseth was that doubting Trump or being skeptical of the war is like doubting Christ. He's essentially making it sound like to question the war is to question the true will of God."

"He's doubling down on the blasphemy of Trump likening himself to Jesus," he continued. "So I, as a Christian, I found it deeply offensive to hear this morning, as someone who wrote two books about Hegseth's old home, Fox News, it struck me as just really insecure and as a journalist, I just find myself wondering if you have such an amazing story to tell about military victories, why don't you tell it more fully? Why don't you share more video, open up more soldiers and airmen and marines to interviews? Why don't you provide more access to the press in order to be able to tell those stories?"

"He seems more inclined to use these press conferences to portray himself as a warrior in a battle of good versus evil, with the press being evil," Stelter added. "But I think we always have to remind ourselves in these conversations that every single poll we've seen in the United States shows widespread opposition to the war, and the messaging coming from the White House and the pentagon has not changed that, and I wonder if that's really what's so frustrating for Hegseth. American people are not with him on this crusade, and nothing that he has said from these podiums has changed that for the last almost two months."

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Lebanese officials directly contradicted President Donald Trump's breezy suggestion that its leader would speak with Israeli leadership.

The 79-year-old president announced on Truth Social that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun would speak Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying they were "trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon. It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years," but Lebanese officials told Reuters that would not happen anytime soon.

"Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun will NOT hold a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the near future, three Lebanese officials told Reuters on Thursday, after U.S. President Donald Trump said leaders of both countries would speak," reported Reuters correspondent Hümeyra Pamuk.

Two of the Lebanese officials said their embassy in Washington had notified the Trump administration before a call between Aoun and Secretary of State Marco Rubio that their president would speak to Netanyahu, according to Middle East Eye.

President Donald Trump seems to be ramping up pressure on elderly conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas to consider retiring as soon as possible.

The 79-year-old president strongly suggested in an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo that he would like to replace up to three justices before the midterm election, where Democrats appear poised to take back the House and narrow the already thin Republican Senate majority, according to CNN's Aaron Blake.

“In theory, it’s two or three, they tell me," Trump told Bartiromo. "If you just read statistics, it could be two, could be three, could be one. I don’t know. I’m prepared to do it.”

Trump praised Alito as "one of the great justices of all time" but told Bartiromo he already had a short list of potential replacements and said he'd like to appoint someone young enough to serve four decades on the court, and Blake said the president had plenty of reasons to encourage the conservative duo to step down.

"As they often are, Trump’s comments about the Supreme Court were remarkably political," Blake wrote. "But he also made some good points. This is one of the biggest political questions of 2026, for a host of reasons. And the decisions made by Alito, 76, and Thomas, 77, could reverberate in many ways."

The last seven justices to retire – as opposed to dying in office like Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Antonin Scalia – have stepped down while the party they're more aligned with controlled both the presidency and the Senate, and the last 10 justices to retire were 80 years old on average.

"Both could stick it out, but if Republicans lose the Senate in November, the justices could be well into their 80s before the GOP holds the White House and the Senate again," Blake wrote.

Thomas does have one major reason to stick around, Blake noted, because he's about two years away from becoming the longest-serving justice ever, but there is mounting political pressure to avoid the situation that Ginsburg put Democrats in by declining to retire when Barack Obama was president and they had a Senate majority.

"The political risk for Trump is great because it’s looking increasingly likely that Democrats will make significant gains in the 2026 election, at least in the House," Blake wrote. "It’ll be much harder for Democrats to flip the Senate since it involves winning some red states that Trump won by double digits, but it can’t be ruled out."

A confirmation battle could help boost turnout for a seemingly unmotivated Republican base, Blake said, and Trump could also be looking to cement his influence for decades by locking in a 6-3 conservative majority for at least another generation.

"If he replaced even one of Alito or Thomas with someone in their 40s, for example, the average age of the conservative justices would be less than 60," Blake wrote. "If he replaced both with justices in their 40s, that average age would drop into the mid-50s."

If Alito or Thomas retire this year, that would mean Trump will have appointed four or five of the court's nine justices.

"Which is an idea that seems to interest him quite a bit," Blake wrote.

President Donald Trump will travel to Nevada on Thursday to highlight his "no tax on tips" policy, one of his signature economic initiatives aimed at supporting the state's working-class voters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The event in downtown Las Vegas represents an attempt to reset the affordability narrative following the Iran conflict and previous unsuccessful pivots that have contributed to declining poll numbers, but the city's service industry workers say economic relief so far hasn't been enough to make a difference, reported Politico.

“The gas prices are high – that’s just part of it,” said Wayne, a 66-year-old shoe shiner from North Las Vegas. “When you go to buy steaks, it used to be $4.99 a pound, and now it’s $9.99. What can you do? You just have to live with it.”

The disconnect between White House messaging and worker experience is particularly pronounced in Las Vegas, where the economy heavily depends on tourism and discretionary consumer spending vulnerable to price spikes.

One cocktail server at a Strip restaurant received a $2,500 tax refund this year, compared to her typical $300 refund, but acknowledged slower business and reduced tipping.

“I could be doing better," said Hunter Blankenship, a 26-year-old cocktail server at the Peppermill Restaurant and Fireside Lounge. "I make enough to where I have money where I can pay all my bills. But I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily able to save as much as I’d like. I’m right there where I’m doing all right but I’m not necessarily able to set myself up for the future.”

A YouGov and Economist poll released April 14 found 70 percent of respondents rated the economy as "fair or poor," while the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index recently reached its lowest recorded level, demonstrating a significant gap between headline economic statistics and public perception.

Trump secured Nevada in 2024 with support from working-class and Latino voters — the first Republican presidential victory in the state in two decades. That coalition is now crucial to Republican prospects in 2026, particularly for Gov. Joe Lombardo's re-election.

Democratic officials are capitalizing on voter frustration. Nevada State Democratic Party Chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno stated that the administration's policies speak for themselves, noting that Democrats need not extensively campaign against them.

“It’s sad to say I don’t have to do a lot of the talking and do a lot of the messaging, because citizens are feeling it,” Monroe-Moreno said. “The story is pretty much telling itself.”

Republican operatives admit the president is "bleeding a bit" with working-class voters, but they're not yet convinced they'll change their allegiance to Democratic candidates in November's election.

“Along partisan lines, it’s falling where you’d expect," said one Nevada GOP operative. "But when it comes to voters in the middle, it’s more along the lines of … ‘things have sucked for so long, we’ve been feeling the pinch for so long.' There’s frustration because there were high hopes and expectations that prices would drop under the president, but I think they’re just mad at the longevity of this.”

“I’ve seen conflicting data about whether he’s bleeding them back into Dems or if he’s just bleeding them out of participation,” that operative added. “I’ve seen data that suggests both — but I’ve seen more data suggesting [that people say] ‘I’m just going to stay home.’”

President Donald Trump consulted with a controversial administration official about a widely criticized social media post showing himself as a Christlike figure.

The 79-year-old president's Sunday night post set off a firestorm of criticism, and two advisers who spoke to Trump about the image told Axios it had been brought to his attention by housing finance chief Bill Pulte over the weekend at Mar-a-Lago, although it's not clear whether he showed the image on his phone or sent it to the president.

"Everyone thought it was a joke," one of the advisers said.

The backlash was so fierce that Trump eventually took down the post from his Truth Social page, and the timing of the controversy was particularly sensitive.

"It was Easter Sunday for Eastern Orthodox Christians," Axios reported. "The Sunday before, on Easter Sunday for Catholic and Protestant Christians, Trump had posted a vulgarity-laced threat to destroy Iran's infrastructure that ended with, 'Praise be to Allah.' Hours before posting the meme Sunday, Trump lashed out at Pope Leo XIV over the pope's criticism of war, calling the pontiff 'WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,' and accusing the U.S.-born pope of 'catering to the Radical Left.'"

The 37-year-old Pulte has been described as an "agent of chaos" for allegedly pushing for a Justice Department criminal probe of Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, although he's denied that, and he has been the driving force in an unsuccessful effort to criminally charge New York Attorney General Letitia James, who won a civil fraud case against Trump in 2024.

The image was originally published in February in a since-deleted X post by MAGA influencer Nick Adams, although the version posted by Trump was seemingly run through another AI filter that altered images of military services members to appear like mysterious demonic figures in the heavens above his head.

Despite deleting the post widely condemned as "blasphemous," Trump shared a similar image Wednesday showing Jesus embracing him, and the account that initially posted that image included a caption that read "I was never a very religious man ... but doesn't it seem, with all these satanic, demonic, child sacrificing monsters being exposed ... that God might be playing his Trump card!"

Vice President JD Vance was slapped with another withering correction by the leaders of his chosen faith after criticizing the pope.

The 41-year-old vice president warned Pope Leo XIV to "be careful" with his theological statements against President Donald Trump and his administration's war in Iran, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a scathing, 164-word statement denouncing Vance's criticism of the U.S.-born pontiff.

“For over a thousand years, the Catholic Church has taught just war theory and it is that long tradition the Holy Father carefully references in his comments on war," wrote Bishop James Massa, chairman of the USCCBC Committee on Doctrine. "A constant tenet of that thousand-year tradition is a nation can only legitimately take up the sword ‘in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2308)."

"That is, to be a just war it must be a defense against another who actively wages war, which is what the Holy Father actually said: ‘He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war,'" the bishop added.

Vance, a former atheist who converted to Catholicism in 2019, claimed that he liked to debate the pope, who had served the church for nearly 50 years before he was elected pontiff last year, on matters of theology after Leo issued increasingly critical statements about the U.S. military action in Iran.

“How can you say that God was never on the side of those who wield the sword?” Vance said in response. “Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated France from the Nazis? Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated Holocaust camps?”

But the council of bishops scoffed at Vance's position on the matter.

“When Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ," Massa wrote. "The consistent teaching of the Church is insistent that all people of good will must pray and work toward lasting peace while avoiding the evils and injustices that accompany all wars.”

The vice president has been widely and pointedly criticized for his response to the pope's statements, including a lengthy fact check by Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest and bestselling author.

"Suffice to say, the Vice President doesn't seem to understand the tenets of just war," Martin wrote. "Nor does he seem to understand the fundamental position of the church, which is for peace. 'War is always a defeat for humanity,' as St. John Paul II said. If that authority isn't enough, then turn to Jesus who said, 'Blessed are the peacemakers,' not 'Blessed are the warmongers.' And after the Resurrection, the Risen Christ says to the frightened disciples not 'Vengeance is mine' but 'Peace be with you.'"

Voters will head to the polls Thursday in New Jersey to decide on a replacement to fill the U.S. House seat most recently held by Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill, and CNN's Harry Enten is closely watching that special election as a bellwether for the midterm elections.

Democrat Analilia Mejia will face off against Republican Joe Hathaway in the 11th Congressional District election, which Enten said could go a long way toward predicting the results of November's contest for control of Congress

"A blowout is brewing, it seems like a blowout is brewing, according to the Kalshi prediction market," Enten said. "Take a look here: Chance that the Democrat wins in the New Jersey special election by at least 24 points – look at this, a 79 percent chance in a district that Kamala Harris won, but just by nine points. So we're thinking at this point, at least according to those who are putting their money where their mouth is, that the Democrats can outperform by at least 15 points and the chance of an overall victory, at least 99 percent at this point."

One of the big reasons we care is because in my mind, if in fact the predictions hold true, it is emblematic," he added. "It is emblematic, New Jersey 11 is emblematic of what is going on in the suburbs, and Donald John Trump, take a look here. Okay, let's take a look: Suburban voters on Trump in October of 2024, according to Fox News, he was leading among suburban voters over Kamala Harris by two points. But look at his net approval now. Down he goes into the New Jersey swamps. Look at that, minus-20 points, an over 20-point shift away from Donald Trump among suburban voters very much like the suburban voters in New Jersey's 11th district."

The president's approval among suburban voters is important to Republican candidates because most voters live in the suburbs.

"I will note that the plurality of voters are in the suburbs, that's why they're also so important," Enten said. "Well, it's about the economy. Look at this: Suburbanites on Trump and the economy ... What a shift this is. Harris vs. Trump, Harris was behind Trump, Trump led by six points when it came to who voters trusted more on the economy back in 2024. Look at him now, look at Donald Trump now – down he goes again, minus-32 points, a nearly 40-point shift when it comes to the economy and suburban voters and Donald Trump. Suburban voters have turned on Donald Trump."

"If this holds for the midterm elections that are going to be happening in November, there is no way on God's green earth that Republicans will come anywhere close to holding the U.S. House of Representatives," he added. "They will, in fact, get blown out if these numbers hold."

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President Donald Trump blew his stack after seeing a Democratic candidate for California governor on his favorite TV channel.

The 79-year-old president apparently viewed one of at least four mentions of billionaire Tom Steyer, one of the Democratic candidates vying to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, that aired late Wednesday morning on Fox News, and he launched into a Truth Social tirade in response.

"Why is FoxNews showing SLEAZEBAG Tom Steyer, doing a big piece on him right now, and probably putting him 'into play,' instead of talking about Republican Candidates, and really good ones like Steve Hilton, and Republicans?" Trump posted at 12:39 p.m. EST. "How can a Republican expect to win that State, with their Mail In Voting and Rigged Elections, when you have FoxNews promoting the Democrats?"

"Nobody cares about Tom Steyer, he is a LOSER, but Fox is making it possible for a guy like this to win," Trump added. "VOTE FOR STEVE HILTON, AND TURN CALIFORNIA AROUND! President DONALD J. TRUMP."

Steyer, who also ran for president in 2020, released a sweeping immigration plan Tuesday that calls for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and reversing Trump-era enforcement policies, among other policies intended to protect immigrants and their legal rights.

A prominent Catholic priest called out Vice President JD Vance's criticism of Pope Leo XIV's understanding of theology.

Father James Martin, who has frequently corrected the vice president's statements about the Catholic faith to which he recently converted, was astonished that Vance had warned the U.S.-born pontiff to "be careful" with his theological statements against President Donald Trump and his administration.

"Yes, he really said that," Martin posted on X.

"Yesterday Vice President JD Vance criticized Pope Leo XIV for not knowing enough theology: 'I think it's very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology ... If you’re going to opine on matters of theology, you’ve got to be careful, you’ve got to make sure it’s anchored in the truth,' he said, at a Turning Point conference."

Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019 at age 35, after a nondenominational upbringing, and he was baptized and confirmed at St. Gertrude Priory in his adopted hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, so the Jesuit priest provided a bit of a theological history lesson.

"One of the many, many, ironies about that statement is that it came in response to Pope Leo's comments about war and peace and, specifically, the concept of 'just war,' which originated with St. Augustine," Martin explained. "As many have already noted, when the Vice President was making his comments, Pope Leo XIV, a member of the Augustinian Order, and twice Prior General of the Augustinians before his election as Pope, was visiting the hometown of St. Augustine, then called 'Hippo,' now in Annaba, a town in modern-day Algeria."

"For good measure, Pope Leo XIV, the man critiqued for insufficient theological education, earned not only a master's degree in divinity, but also licentiate and a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome," Martin continued. "JD Vance's recent conversion to Catholicism is beside the point, because many converts are of course not only highly intelligent (and learned in theology) but faithful and energetic Catholics."

"We rejoice over everyone entering the church," the Jesuit priest added. "What most of us do not rejoice over, however, is a deadly combination of inaccuracy and hubris."

To make his point clear, he showed exactly where the vice president was mistaken about his understanding of church matters.

"Pace, Vice President Vance, but the current war in Iran is not a just war under Catholic doctrine," Martin said. "You can hear that from church leaders from across the theological spectrum, from Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the head of the military vicariate and former head of the @USCCB, to Cardinal Robert McElroy, Archbishop of Washington who holds doctorates in both theology and political science. You can look all that up online."

"Suffice to say, the Vice President doesn't seem to understand the tenets of just war," the priest continued. "Nor does he seem to understand the fundamental position of the church, which is for peace. 'War is always a defeat for humanity,' as St. John Paul II said. If that authority isn't enough, then turn to Jesus who said, 'Blessed are the peacemakers,' not 'Blessed are the warmongers.' And after the Resurrection, the Risen Christ says to the frightened disciples not 'Vengeance is mine' but 'Peace be with you.'"

"Incidentally, the day before, the Vice President said that the Pope (and the Vatican) should stick to teaching about morality, also seeming to forget that war and peace are profoundly moral issues," Martin posted. "For his part, Pope Leo was focused yesterday on his spiritual father, St. Augustine. After what seemed like an emotional visit to Hippo, he celebrated Mass at the Basilica of St. Augustine in Annaba. During his homily he said, 'The primary task of pastors as ministers of the Gospel is therefore to bear witness to God before the world with one heart and one soul, not permitting our concerns to lead us astray through fear, nor trends to undermine us through compromise.'"

"Amen. Let's all continue to pray for the Holy Father as he works for peace," Martin concluded.

Yes, he really said that.

Yesterday Vice President JD Vance criticized Pope Leo XIV for not knowing enough theology: "I think it's very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology ... If you’re going to opine on matters of theology,… pic.twitter.com/8VWP1WpXQ4
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) April 15, 2026

CNN's Harry Enten pointed to underlying data that shows why President Donald Trump is struggling with broad swaths of the electorate.

Federal income taxes are due Wednesday, which will be the first day where the president's tax and spending bill kicks in, but Enten told "CNN News Central" that Americans aren't feeling any benefits from the Republican-passed law.

"It ain't working too good because Trump is paying the piper when it comes to taxes and the American public," Enten said. "Look at this trend, I mean, again, what massive trends we're seeing from term one to term two. Trump's net approval rating at this point on taxes in term number one in 2018 – remember, there was that tax cut that was just passed just before tax day back in 2018. Look at this, he was above water at plus-two points. But down he goes, down he goes. Look at this: He's at minus-28 points as net approval rating on taxes, down 30 points from term number one."

"If there are benefits that the American people are liking when it comes to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, they are not, in fact, giving the two thumbs up to Donald Trump when it comes to that," he added.

The president is a whopping 58 points underwater with independent voters on the issue of taxes, and he's been sinking on that issue for years dating back to his first term.

"I think this may be part of the equation of what is going on here," Enten said. "Take a look at this, okay, say their income taxes are not fair or fair back in 2018. Again, at this point in Trump's term number one, 61 percent of Americans said fair. There was a big upswing that said fair. Coming off of Obama to Trump, Trump got that benefit. But look, right now in term number two, look at this, it's a flip-flop. Now the plurality, 49 percentage points from this point in Trump's term number one, and look at this, the fair has plummeted down to 47 percent. That is near an all-time low since 1999."

Voters specifically do not like the Trump-GOP tax bill, according to Enten.

"We've saved the best for last, or at least save something good for last, and I think this kind of puts a nice big ribbon, a nice big bow on this segment," Enten said. "Take a look here: Net approval rating of of the One Big Beautiful Bill. Look at this, the American people, they don't like it – they don't like it. Look at this, 20 points underwater, and look, among independents – independents, the name of the game. We have seen Trump over and over and over again struggle with independents, and you see it right here."

"Look at this, 41 points underwater," he added. "No wonder that Donald Trump is struggling so much when it comes to the American public and taxes."

- YouTube youtu.be

President Donald Trump sparked another round of concerns about his cognitive health with a disordered interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.

The president shrugged off Chinese aggression, touted Republican chances in the midterms, predicted the war with Iran was nearly over, lamented that he did not take over Greenland and made a hash of the timeline for his replacement for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

"Look what happens to Justice Ginsbug, she was not exactly a young woman," Trump told Bartiromo. "You had a Democrat with the liberal justice, and the liberals to stick together they stick together like glue – not like the Republicans. She decided she would live forever and two minutes after the election she went out, and I got to appoint somebody."

Social media users agreed the interview showed clear signs of mental decline, as well as evidence of a possible plot to let Trump add younger conservative justices to the court.

"This morning, Trump has nothing but grandpa moments," opined Harper's editor and attorney Scott Horton.

"Hey, everyone else acts like Biden was president in 2020 and responsible for everything that happened then," pointed out Bluesky user Gluten-free Seitan. "Why not pretend Biden nominated Amy Coney Barrett, too?"

"The pathology is so malignant and preposterous, it’s not hard to understand why some people look away and ignore," said child psychologist Ellen Braaten.

"How much longer can Republicans pretend he’s not bats--- crazy?" asked Bluesky user Jennifer Lee.

"So is he pushing for Alito and Thomas to retire now, while he (and the GOP Senate) could presumably stuff younger far-right Justices into their seats?" wondered historian Betsy Cazden.

"The President of the United States is a dementia riddled sociopathic idiot," snarled Bluesky user Chrysostom. "Every single day it’s there right in front of the world. And America just sits there and shrugs as this evil mentally ill monster drags the world towards catastrophe."

"This is a prerecorded interview too," noted Bluesky user ThatRaleighGuy. "Imagine the stuff they cut."

"He’s going to have to sue Fox News now," supposed MS NOW's Joyce Vance.

"So, Pappy dementia now can’t even recount pivotal events that happened during his own Presidency," suggested X user Hadley Sheley. "And Fox News has now become his enabler, just letting him incoherently ramble as if what he’s saying is completely salient and totally normal."

"He can't even remember his own presidency, he's completely senile," exclaimed X user Another.

"The sun is going down," added journalist Justin Baragona.

President Donald Trump shrugged off a Chinese cyber intrusion described by the FBI as a “major incident,” saying the U.S. did the same to the other country's government computer networks, but he erupted when pressed to explain how he would respond to the attack.

The 79-year-old president sat down for an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, who asked about China's reported weapons transfers to Iran to use against U.S. troops, and Trump said Chinese leader Xi Jinping assured him that wasn't taking place.

"I wrote him a letter asking him not to do that," Trump said, "and he said essentially he is not doing that."

Bartiromo then asked about the alleged cyber attack.

"We heard from the FBI that there was a major cyber attack attributed to China," she said. "What responses under consideration for the cyber attack."

Trump seemed unconcerned.

"They do it to us, we do it to them," he said, echoing language he used when asked about Russia providing weapons to Iran.

"When was the last time we did a cyber attack in China?" Bartiromo countered.

"I'm not going to tell you that," Trump replied. "We do them, they do us, it's been like that for a long time."

"So it's not going to be addressed?" Bartiromo asked, seemingly astonished.

"Maria, I will address things, but it is what it is," he said. "Look, China's China. They are never easy, but we're doing great with China. I'm the toughest person on China anywhere in the world. I put on a hundred percent tariff on Chinese cars. We don't have a Chinese car in the whole country. If you look at Europe there being inundated with Chinese cars, and it's killing their car companies, okay. There is nobody tougher than me – don't forget I put a 20 percent tariff on them for what they've done with fentanyl. I put a penalty, I call it a penalty – I put a 45 percent tariff. I had 145 percent tariff, and literally they were going to go out of business.

"There's never been anybody tougher on China than me," he added. "But I have a good relationship with presidency and that's a good thing. TikTok – billions and billions of dollars, not the biggest thing in terms of China, bigger is the other things that I do, but everybody said they will never approve the deal, it's a hard no, President Xi said it's a hard no, we will never do it. Then American business people got together, paid billions of dollars, and I called the President Xi and said it would be a good thing if you did it and he did it."