US News

President Donald Trump's popularity has called into question numerous aspects of American politics, but none more so than democracy itself, according to experts.

In a new essay for The New York Times, columnist Thomas Edsall argues that Trump has been remarkably effective at undermining American democracy. Experts Edsall spoke to said some factors contributing to Trump's assault on democracy include the GOP's sycophancy, his attacks on independent institutions like universities and the judiciary, and his quest to redefine American citizenship through immigration enforcement.

In a new interview, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called for greater transparency from Attorney General Pam Bondi in the wake of the Justice Department’s report on the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Earlier this year, Bondi said that a supposed client list maintained by Epstein for blackmail purposes was “sitting on (her) desk right now to review,” despite the DOJ’s report last week that concluded no such list existed. Speaking on "The Benny Show" this week, right-wing host Benny Johnson urged Bondi to address the discrepancies in her past remarks.

President Donald Trump issued a rambling boast about his contributions to the U.S. economy during a speech at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit on Tuesday, seeming to pull a bizarre number out of thin air.

“So in six months, but really three months. But let’s say four months. We have $16 trillion. The other administration had negative. Nobody’s ever seen these numbers?” said Trump.

An analysis of the prison video recorded from outside Jeffrey Epstein's prison cell found that nearly three minutes appeared to be missing. However, Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed last week that just one minute of the recording had been omitted.

The analysis, published by Wired on Tuesday, determined that "approximately 2 minutes and 53 seconds were removed from one of two stitched-together clips."

Far-right conservative Charlie Kirk has been spinning in a circle for 48 hours, and it has left MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace shaking her head.

Over the weekend, Kirk noted at his Turning Point USA conference that all of the new, young, male supporters among the MAGA followers are furious over the lack of transparency over Jeffrey Epstein, who was arrested by President Donald Trump's government in 2019.

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) called for public hangings after President Donald Trump's Department of Justice declined to release files relating to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

On Tuesday, CNN's Manu Raju asked Burchett if Attorney General Pam Bondi should appoint a special counsel to investigate the Epstein case.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon issued a warning to President Donald Trump after his continued attacks on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that when Dimon spoke to reporters, he cautioned that consequences could be forthcoming if Trump doesn't cool it.

Republicans appear to be facing a defection in their bid to pass President Donald Trump's package to defund foreign aid and public radio.

According to Punchbowl News' Andrew Desiderio, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) "spoke out against the rescissions effort again at lunch & had a back-and-forth w/Vought, per multiple [Republicans]."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) railed against House leadership Tuesday for allegedly blocking efforts to amend the GENIUS Act, a crypto-friendly bill that would establish a regulatory framework for digital currencies.

Taken up for a procedural vote in the House on Tuesday, the GENIUS Act failed to advance in a vote of 196-222, with critics like Greene accosting House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) for apparently not accepting amendments to the bill. Her largest grievance, Greene said, was the omission of a ban on the federal government developing a Central Bank Digital Currency, something President Donald Trump banned in January via executive order.

Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman tore into what he called President Donald Trump’s “war on science” Tuesday in a column, ripping into the administration's cuts on weather research.

“Trump’s cuts to scientific research aren’t about shrinking government and saving money,” Krugman wrote. “They’re about dealing with possibly inconvenient evidence by covering the nation’s ears and shouting ‘La, la, la, we can’t hear you.’”

Republicans have reissued cuts made in the 2026 budget bill that would have ended funding for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. However, on Tuesday, Republicans announced that they would pass another bill stopping the cuts. It would reinstate the full $9 billion in funding in the budget.

The Huffington Post's Igor Bobic quoted Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) telling reporters, “I don’t see it getting back in," meaning the cuts wouldn't return.