The latest economic figures for President Donald Trump's economy raised all sorts of red flags for one analyst on Thursday.
The Department of Labor reported that just 57,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy over the last three months, which is far below the 129,000 jobs that were cited in the last report. The unemployment rate also dropped to 4.2%, which is often a sign of a healthy economy, but the numbers were not comforting to David Goldman, CNN's senior business reporter.
Goldman reacted to the numbers on "CNN News Central" on Thursday.
He noted that the data suggest certain sectors of the economy, such as health care and hospitality, are struggling to hire workers. For instance, he noted that just 22,000 nursing jobs had been added over the last year, far below the 38,000 added at this time last year.
"Thatis something that we need to watch," Goldman said.
He also noted that the figures showed a significant decline in hospitality hiring, which seemed hard to believe because multiple cities are hosting World Cup games.
"I think, and there are a number of economists whoare smarter than me who think, that this mightchange as we get those revisions in the futuremonths, because this is kind of defying logic and defining what we can see withour own eyes," Goldman said.
European astronomers on Wednesday urged the US Federal Communications Commission to block a plan led by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to launch a total of 1.7 million satellites into the Earth’s orbit, warning that the use of so many extremely bright satellites—partially to support artificial intelligence data centers—would have “devastating consequences for astronomy.”
SpaceX’s Starlink telecommunications program has already rapidly increased the number of satellites orbiting the Earth, with the total now exceeding 14,000 since 2019.
Now the space exploration company led by Musk—a former special government employee under the Trump administration—has plans to send 1 million more satellites into space, which would “significantly alter the appearance of the sky,” according to a new study by the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
Scientists found that 100,000 is the maximum number of satellites—ones that are faint enough to be invisible to the naked eye—that can orbit the Earth in order to allow astronomers to continue observing the sky with modern telescopes.
In addition to Musk’s launches, the US startup Reflect Orbital has proposed launching a constellation of 50,000 “very large mirror-like satellites to provide sunlight at night,” said ESO.
“These satellites would be the brightest ever in orbit, with damaging consequences for dark skies on Earth,” said the observatory. “Seen from within a reflected beam, the satellite delivering sunlight would appear four times brighter than the full Moon. Even if no satellite points its beam directly at an observer, each would be as bright as the planet Venus, the ‘morning star.’ From a light-polluted city, like Munich, Germany, these hundreds of satellites would be the only ‘stars’ visible in the night sky.”
The startup E-Space and two Chinese constellations, CTC-1 and 2, would also add hundreds of thousands of satellites into orbit.
The companies’ satellite project could hinder scientists’ ability to observe far-away galaxies, Earth-like planets near other stars, and asteroids that could potentially endanger the planet.
“Satellites, illuminated by the sun, are much brighter than distant galaxies. When a satellite crosses what we observe, it makes a bright streak on our image, zapping whatever is behind it,” said ESO astronomer Olivier Hainaut, who led the study.
Hainaut noted that the planned launches could have economic and ecological impacts on the planet and humankind as well as harming astronomy.
Extreme light pollution from the bright satellites could disrupt people’s biological clocks and ecosystems across the planet, and the satellites could also directly impact air quality due to the numerous launches required to send them into space and the “atmospheric pollution caused as they burn up on reentry at the end of life.”
ESO conducted the research as the FCC considers applications from SpaceX and Reflect Orbital regarding the satellite launches
“The FCC received over 1800 comments regarding Reflect Orbital and nearly 1,500 comments on the application by SpaceX,” said ESO institutional affairs officer Betty Kioko. “The ball is now in the FCC’s court, and we wait to see the determinations they make on both filings. For optical astronomy, this is an existential threat, and we hope that the regulators will share that view.”
An attendee at President Donald Trump's state fair event was forced to seek refuge from extreme heat by dunking herself in a baptismal pool.
The entire Washington, D.C., metropolitan region is under extreme heat warning through the July 4 weekend with heat index values expected to be up to 112 degrees, and one MAGA fan told WTTG-TV that she took unusual measures to cool off Thursday at the Great American State Fair, which was celebrating "Faith, Values and Inspiration Day."
"Now I'm fine, but previously, none of these booths have air conditioning," said the woman in a pink Trump hat after exiting a medical tent for treatment. "We don't know what happened, but I started seeing stars, and we went to the tent – there's a religious tent because that's the theme for today – and they had a pool. They're baptizing people, but thank God they had the pool."
"They said, 'Do you want to get in?'" she added. "I go, 'Yes, I think I do.' I'm soaking wet! But I went to the medic tent, they took care of me. I've still got one of these towels, they filled me with electrolytes, but good lord. Oh, they're wonderful, absolutely excellent."
Republicans yelped about socialism after Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged New Yorkers to keep their thermostats set at 78 degrees to ease strain on the city's power grid during a brutal heat wave.
The city is expecting numerous days of extreme temperatures through the holiday weekend, and Mamdani suggested that residents conserve power where possible to prevent power outages, saying city buildings would maintain 78-degree temperatures and turn off or dim lights during peak times for electricity demand.
"New York: it's hot out there, and the power grid is working overtime to keep us cool," the mayor posted on social media. "Set your AC to 78 degrees, turn off lights/electronics you're not using, and unplug what you can."
Donald Trump's Department of Energy recommends setting thermostats between 75 degrees and 78 degrees, but MAGA turned the recommendation into a new front in the culture war, warning that this week's Democratic primary wins by Democratic Socialist candidates could ultimately result in a ban on air conditioning.
"First AOC tried to come for your steak and ribs and now the Socialist Democrats are coming for your AC," warned Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), referring to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). "This is the future that WOKE Democrats want not just for NYC but for South Carolina too!"
"In a first-world country, you could turn on the A/C," sneered Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
"This one is for you @ZohranKMamdani," gloated the Manhattan Institute's Daniel Di Martino, posting a video of himself turning a thermostat down to 67 degrees.
"No thanks. This is America. We crank our A/C down to 60 whenever we please," boastedTrump envoy Nick Adams.
"78?! Get lost," huffed podcaster Connor Crehan, who goes by Captain Cons.
"This is what socialism looks like, folks," barked Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. "The right answer isn’t restrictions or mandates. It’s drilling, fracking, coal, & nuclear. That’s how we’ll roll in Ohio. (And he sounds eerily just like Amy Acton during Covid)."
"Welcome to socialism, where the government demands you turn your house into a sauna because they can't plan for the super unpredictable fact that it tends to get hot in the summer," pontificated Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX).
"78 degrees??? Welcome to communism people! Hope you enjoy!" belched Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy.
"Is this what was meant by the warmth of collectivism?" smarmed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In an unguarded moment this week, Vance disclosed that Trump told envoys tasked with negotiating a peace deal with Iran to "use the [memorandum of understanding] to refill the world's oil economy, refill some stocks and then to see where the hand is."
According to Parton, that was an admission that the administration is stalling negotiations to drive down gas prices before possibly restarting the war, but that Vance's blunder is simply business as usual in an administration where "verbal incontinence" cascades from the top down.
Trump's tendency to blurt out whatever pops into his head has become so normalized that his vice president is now doing the same thing — casually revealing strategic calculations about a potential Middle East conflict to the public, she suggested.
According to Parton, during Trump's first term, "... administration officials like John F. Kelly, his second White House chief of staff, and Jim Mattis and Mark Esper, his first two defense secretaries, tried to contain the president’s worst impulses, they were often unsuccessful. Trump seemed congenitally undisciplined, unable to stop himself from articulating every thought that passed through his head, usually to brag, blame or threaten. The result was a presidency that was, in a word, unstable."
Now a year and a half into his second term, that instability has grown because he believes he can do no wrong.
"Trump’s old compulsion to behave erratically and shoot his mouth off is now combined with a megalomania that has him building monuments to himself and musing openly about being included in the pantheon of dictators like Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler. Today he’s driven by a belief that he is omnipotent, and nothing he does will have any negative consequences. He has come to believe that whatever he says is the right thing, no matter what," she wrote.
Even worse, she suggested, if Trump faces "blowback," he dismisses it and makes more outrageous claims.
"He is impervious to criticism now because he literally believes he can do no wrong, and there are tens of millions of people who believe that too," she warned.
A high-ranking Trump administration attorney received a swift schooling Thursday when he took to social media to whine about a recent court ruling regarding ICE agents' ability to go masked.
Rather than take a victory lap, James Percival, Seventh General Counsel for Homeland Security, lashed out at Philadelphia Democrats who challenged his department's authority.
"Democrats across this country have no shame," wrote Percival. "These mask restrictions on ICE lack even a plausible legal basis."
Percival's outburst came in response to news from Politico reporter Kyle Cheney that a federal judge has blocked Philadelphia from banning masks and face coverings.
Percival was apparently outraged that Philadelphia even attempted to limit how federal agents conduct themselves in the city, where immigration arrests have surged under President Donald Trump and communities report living in fear.
He argued the real danger was the one ICE agents face.
"This danger is not hypothetical," Percival wrote. "Our officers are facing an 8,000% increase in death threats."
Minutes later, Americans stepped in to share their interpretations of Democrats' demands.
"It's wild to claim that wanting federal agents not to look like cartel gangsters with masked faces is framed as 'threatening their families' safety,'" Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow with the American Immigration Council, wrote. "Polls consistently show strong bipartisan opposition to ICE agents masking up."
Attorney Tom Needham of Chicago added, "Why do they need masks when all other federal agents plus state and local law enforcement do not?"
"Real police do not wear masks," wrote author William Turner. "The putative threat to their families is even greater. This has never been a problem."
MAGA loyalists were melting down Thursday after President Donald Trump's Social Security Administration announced a new design for babies born this year.
The limited edition "Freedom 250" logo-themed cards will be issued for babies born between now and the end of the year, The Washington Post reported.
"Freedom 250 is the public-private initiative the Trump administration launched last year to organize events — often aligned with the administration — for the nation’s semiquincentennial. It is different from America250, a nonprofit established by Congress in 2016 to organize such celebrations," according to The Post.
But MAGA fans, still apparently upset over the Supreme Court's ruling this week to uphold birthright citizenship, were outraged online. Some right-wing commentators claimed the cards would be used for "anchor babies" and shared their anger over the high court's decision.
"Notice how they don’t say American Children? Oh yea that’s because 5 people destroyed what it meant to be an American the week of our independence. Being an American is nothing sacred anymore the Supreme Court just cemented that," user Cori, who frequently shares MAGA-aligned content, wrote on X.
"Doesn’t feel the same knowing they’ll also be going to anchor babies," user Alexandra, whose profile states "all I want for Christmas is mass deportations," wrote on X.
"It boils my blood that some baby tourist is going to have one of these while they live in China or somes---," Renlos Malik, a user who frequently shares MAGA-related material, wrote on X.
"Anchor babies too... or nah?" Tim Young, Heritage Foundation media fellow with more than 1.1 million followers, wrote on X.
"I wonder, how many illegal birth tourism anchor babies will enjoy this very special honor?!!!!" Luce Wood, author and self-described "proud conservative" with more than 18,000 followers, wrote on X.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's post about President Donald Trump's new Air Force One backfired this week when critics zeroed in on its shelf of fake books.
In a post on X, Leavitt shared a beaming photo of herself seated aboard the plane, a bookshelf looming behind her. The shelf surrounds a screen displaying the presidential seal. The books filling it appear to be purely decorative.
"Are those…fake books?" Vanity Fair Washington correspondent Aidan McLaughlin wrote on X.
"Of course a plane full of people who have never read a book has a bookshelf of fake books with titles like 'Library,'" wrote physician Nick Mark, whose post drew 1.2 million views.
He zoomed in on the spines. Sure enough: the books are labeled "LIBRARY."
CBS News White House correspondent Jennifer Jacobs confirmed the shelf was stocked with "decorative books."
The plane is a retrofitted Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar — a foreign government — and upgraded for $1 billion with taxpayer dollars. Critics from both parties have called the arrangement a conflict of interest.
"She misspelled '$400 million bribe solicited from Qatar,'" HuffPost senior White House correspondent S.V. Dáte wrote on X.
National security journalist Marcy Wheeler called it a "Flying Bribery Palace."
Leavitt, however, called it "a truly unforgettable day."
Trump has said the plane will be transferred to his presidential library when he leaves office.
A Republican congresswoman faced derision Thursday for urging Americans she identified as "communists" to move to Europe and suffer through a record-breaking heat wave.
Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) cried out in alarm on Newsmax over a string of Democratic primary election wins this week by candidates endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America.
"For the people in our country who want to turn this country into a communist country -- leave," McClain said. "Go to Europe where they are experiencing this heat wave and they don't have air conditioning. See how well that works for you. I'm proud to be an American. I respect the flag."
The Michigan Republican's impassioned plea was met with criticism and mockery.
"Today I learned that what separates capitalism from communism is air conditioning!" exclaimed economist Tony Annett.
"Europe doesn’t have air conditioning?" remarked radio personality Sean Burke.
"Can the Republican Party get any dumber?" asked veteran newsman John Harwood.
"McLain is an idiot," scoffed tennis legend Martina Navratalova. "She wouldn’t know a communist if they were in bed with her."
"Actually, she does not respect the flag, because she refuses to see America as it is," opined journalist John Stoehr. "The flag for her is a symbol so drained of its meaning only the form remains."
"So the next highly orchestrated, completely manufactured panic on the right is that liberals are plotting to steal your air conditioner," predicted journalist Jay Bookman.
"How dare you? There are no such communists and your dear leader has done more to destroy plans to confront climate change than anyone," scolded law professor Sara Dillon. "You, the advocates of neofascism, are the ones who should leave."
Republican Party lawmakers, fed up with taking the blame for President Donald Trump's failures, are launching pre-emptive strikes ahead of the upcoming midterm election, according to a new report.
In interviews with NBC News, GOP senators and operatives unloaded on the president, saying he's already setting the stage to blame Republicans if the party suffers losses in November. Trump has already latched onto the failure to pass the SAVE America Act as "his weapon of choice," they noted.
A Republican senator, speaking anonymously to avoid Trump's wrath, laid it bare: if Republicans lose seats in November, Trump "will blame it on us and the fact that we didn't pass the SAVE Act, and nobody will believe it but him."
For Trump, "everything is a zero-sum game," the lawmaker told NBC. "He likes to dominate people, and he's a bully, and he's f------ things up as fast as he can, and there's nothing anyone can do about it."
Resentment is festering across Republican circles over Trump's quixotic fixation on rewriting the nation's election laws—a bill that GOP operatives view as "strategically misguided."
A longtime Republican operative advising key Senate races bluntly observed that the president "blames Republicans for most of his problems. I'm sure he will try to blame the Senate."
The operative added that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), "cannot manufacture votes," and that Trump has himself to blame for for alienating outgoing Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, John Cornyn of Texas, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
The operative argued those lawmakers have no longer have any incentive to bow to Trump's demands. "They will vote their conscience and not for Trump's wishes," the operative said.
"Trump’s fixation on the voting bill baffles some Republican strategists, who believe his focus is misplaced," NBC News reported. "A savvier approach to the midterms would befor him to sign and celebrate measures aimed at reducing costs and making daily life more affordable for American families, such as the housing bill."
“Poll after poll shows affordability is the top issue, and he’s got signature legislation on his desk that he won’t sign,” one strategist complained. "So that tells you where his head is on the midterms."
The Justice Department accidentally released former special counsel Jack Smith's sealed report on President Donald Trump to lawyers for the former prosecutor accused of stealing it.
Volume II includes Jack Smith's evidence in his case to prove Trump mishandled classified documents after leaving office — the report Trump has fought to keep secret. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed judge who dismissed the underlying case, has barred the Justice Department from releasing it outside the department.
Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, a former Fort Pierce federal prosecutor, is charged with emailing herself a copy of Volume II disguised as a cake recipe. On Thursday, the Justice Department did damage control after mistakenly sending a copy to her defense lawyers.
"Upon review, the Government confirmed the documents in question were copies of the Volume II Report that were embedded within electronic messages required to be produced in discovery," the filing said.
"Defense counsel voluntarily ceased review of the discovery material, affirmed they had not examined the documents in question, deleted all discovery materials already downloaded to their server, and cooperated with the Government's efforts to recover the flash drives that same day," the notice added.
"The Government acknowledges the professionalism and candor of defense counsel in remedying this inadvertent inclusion."
Cannon sealed the report in February, writing that Trump "still enjoy[s] the presumption of innocence" because his charges were dismissed without a guilty verdict. She cited Jack Smith's "brazen stratagem" in compiling the report after she had already thrown out the case.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche — Trump's former personal defense attorney in the very classified documents case Volume II describes — now runs the DOJ that filed Thursday's notice. Senate Democrats have warned that having Trump's former lawyers on both sides of Volume II decisions raises serious conflict-of-interest concerns.
First Lady Melania Trump's close adviser Marc Beckman was ripped online Thursday after praising her work during a live broadcast.
Beckman, a longtime loyal aide to the first lady, spoke with Real America's Voice on Rumble about how her self-titled film and book "Melania" has fueled her energy to focus on children.
"This is the most active, the most productive, the most direct vision for a First Lady I think in the history of America," Beckman said.
Critics online didn't agree.
"Eleanor Roosevelt, Abigail Adams, Dolly Madison [SIC], Rosalynn Carter and so many others worked tirelessly to do great things for people," Ron Filipkowski, MeidasTouch editor and attorney, wrote on X. "Melania shows up once a month and badly reads a speech someone wrote for her before returning to pampered luxury."
X user Bucky, who self-describes as a "fierce defender of democracy" and has more than 3,500 followers, shared on X some snark directed at Beckman and the First Lady.
"Oh, darling, the absolute bravado of a Madison Avenue rebrand," wrote Bucky. "It is simply magnificent. To watch Marc Beckman breeze onto the airwaves and declare Melania to be the most industrious First Lady since the dawn of the republic is high-fashion fiction at its absolute finest."
"Marc Beckman is not Melania Trump’s 'senior advisor,' he is Melania’s 'PR Propaganda Pusher,'" political commentator Barry Phillips, a retired attorney and CPA, wrote on X.
"Marc Beckman must be really profiting from his position as senior adviser to Melania Trump. What does he advise her on, shoes? She is the WORST First Lady we have ever had and the nude photos don't dignify her. He should be ashamed of himself for lying so dastardly," progressive political commentator Josephine Imperato, who has more than 25,000 followers, wrote on Bluesky.
Oh, darling, the absolute bravado of a Madison Avenue rebrand! It is simply magnificent. To watch Marc Beckman breeze onto the airwaves and declare Melania to be the most industrious First Lady since the dawn of the republic is high-fashion fiction at its absolute finest. https://t.co/MiIIOT2CwJ — Bucky (@BuckyNoseBest) July 1, 2026
Fox News was subjected to ridicule Thursday by critics who say the network inadvertently embarrassed President Donald Trump with its coverage of the virtually empty Great American State Fair.
The Trump-friendly network provided real-time footage of the near-empty National Mall event, plagued by sweltering heat, severe storms, power outages, mechanical malfunctions and poor attendance, as critics were quick to point out.
"INCREDIBLE SCENES ON FOX as there is LITERALLY NOT A SOUL at Trump's fair, which has now been open for 15 minutes," reported journalist Aaron Rupar.
Rupar's post included a video clip of the empty expanse of grass behind anchors Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino.
Other social media users piled on.
"On a summer day at 10AM when the Air & Space Museum or the Natural History Museum opens, there are hundreds of people outside waiting to get in," noted writer and researcher Jim Stewartson. "To empty out the Mall this thoroughly is only possible by enclosing it and putting armed guards at the entrance."
"Maybe they got raptured. Have you ever considered THAT?" quipped Friendly Atheist blogger Hemant Mehta.
"The best part is someone very carefully designed this Fox temporary studio to frame a magnificent backdrop of the teeming masses of people celebrating," pointed out popular Bluesky user darth. "Someone spent more time setting up this one view than the entire Trump administration spent setting up the whole fair."
"The fair grounds look like a prison yard with grass," observed Bluesky user bfriedman.
"You know who is watching Fox News 15 hours a day? Not very pleased," speculated literary agent Mitch Solomon.
"I don't think I saw any marketing materials for the fair at any point," noted Paul E. Williams of the Center for Public Enterprise. "I knew it was happening because I read the news, but I don't recall seeing any advertisements telling me to come."
"It is difficult to believe now, but there are people who produce commentary for a living who argued mere weeks ago that Biden or Harris would have done," marveled Stan Veuger of the American Enterprise Institute.
