Tag: donald trump

Trump says DOGE may “go back and eat Elon”

President Trump said Tuesday that DOGE could investigate Elon Musk, the latest indicator that his patience with the Tesla CEO is running thin.

The big picture: The two men have engaged in a war of words in the past 24 hours, with Musk taking to X to vent his objections to the president’s “big, beautiful bill” and the estimated trillions of dollars it would add to the national debt.

  • Trump posted to Truth Social overnight that DOGE may need to take a “good, hard look” at Musk’s companies, and he doubled down on the notion when he spoke to reporters Tuesday.
  • “We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,” he said before boarding Marine One.

Zoom out: When asked if he would consider deporting Musk, Trump said he didn’t know.

  • “We’ll have to take a look,” he said.

Worth noting: Musk is a naturalized U.S. citizen. While the Justice Department has recently directed attorneys to prioritize denaturalization in cases where naturalized citizens commit crimes, Trump did not suggest that Musk had committed any crime.

The other side: Musk swiftly responded Tuesday morning, writing that while it is “[s]o tempting to escalate this,” he would “refrain for now.”

Friction point: The relationship between Trump and his former chainsaw-wielding DOGE head publicly unraveled last month, as Musk aired an avalanche of grievances over the president’s signature tax and spending bill.

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CNN in Hot Water With Trump Admin After Promoting App That Tracks the Location of ICE Agents: ‘Sickening’

Trump administration officials are seething after CNN reported on “ICEBlock,” a new app designed to alert illegal immigrants to the nearby presence of ICE agents.

CNN helped promote the app, currently utilized by just 20,000 users who are mostly confined to the Los Angeles area, in a report on Monday. With the network’s help, that number will almost certainly skyrocket.

Joshua Aaron, the app’s developer, told the outlet he felt compelled to design something after seeing illegal alien arrests that reminded him of Nazi Germany. Because, of course.

“When I saw what was happening in this country, I wanted to do something to fight back,” Aaron said.

ICEBlock allows users to add a pin on a map showing where they spotted agents. They’re also capable of adding details about the agent’s appearance, such as what they’re wearing and what they’re driving.

Is it any wonder ICE agents are opting for masks?

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Trump’s justice department issues directive to strip naturalized Americans of citizenship for criminal offenses

The Trump administration has codified its efforts to strip some Americans of their US citizenship in a recently published justice department memo that directs attorneys to prioritize denaturalization for naturalized citizens who commit certain crimes.

The memo, published on 11 June, calls on attorneys in the department to institute civil proceedings to revoke a person’s United States citizenship if an individual either “illegally procured” naturalization or procured naturalization by “concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation”.

At the center of the move are the estimated 25 million US citizens who immigrated to the country after being born abroad, according to data from 2023 – and it lists 10 different priority categories for denaturalization.

According to the memo, those subjected to civil proceedings are not entitled to an attorney like they are in criminal cases. And the government has a lighter burden of proof in civil cases than they do in criminal ones.

The memo claims such efforts will focus on those who are involved “in the commission of war crimes, extrajudicial killings, or other serious human rights abuses … [and] naturalized criminals, gang members, or, indeed, any individuals convicted of crimes who pose an ongoing threat to the US”.

The directive gives justice department attorneys wider discretion on when to pursue denaturalization, including in instances of lying on immigration forms, cases where there is financial fraud or medical fraud against the US or against private individuals; and cases referred by a US attorney’s office or in connection with pending criminal charges.

The justice department’s civil rights division has been placed at the forefront of Trump’s policy objectives, including ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs within the government as well as ending transgender treatments, among other initiatives.

That comes as the US’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency registered its 13th in-custody death for the fiscal year beginning in October 2024. There had been 12 such deaths during the entire fiscal year that finished at the end of September 2024.

On Friday Jim Ryan, president of the University of Virginia, resigned amid an investigation by the justice department’s civil rights division. The investigation took aim at the university’s DEI programs and its continuing to consider race and ethnicity in various programs and scholarships.

The justice department also took the unusual step in recent days of suing 15 federal district court judges in Maryland over an order blocking the immediate deportation of migrants challenging their removal.

The justice department’s civil rights division is reportedly in disarray as its traditional mission – to combat racial discrimination after the civil rights movement – is reshaped by priorities stemming from the president’s executive orders. About 250 attorneys – or 70% of the division’s lawyers – were believed to have left the department in the time between January and the end of May, according to a recent National Public Radio (NPR) report.

The memo’s focus on denaturalization comes as at least one person has been denaturalized in recent weeks.

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Trump administration sues Los Angeles over sanctuary policies that ‘impede’ ICE operations

The Trump administration is suing the city of Los Angeles, alleging that the policies interfere with federal immigration authorities from doing their jobs.

“Sanctuary policies were the driving cause of the violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles,” Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News in an exclusive statement.

“Jurisdictions like Los Angeles that flout federal law by prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens are undermining law enforcement at every level – it ends under President Trump,” Bondi added.

The lawsuit says that the city is discriminating against federal authorities by treating ICE differently than other types of law enforcement.

The Department of Justice argues that the Supremacy Clause in the U.S. Constitution prohibits this, so they are asking a judge to block the enforcement of the policies.

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Trump Working on “Temporary Pass” for Illegals in Certain Industries

A “temporary pass” to allow farmers and hospitality businesses to retain some illegal workers is currently in the works, according to President Donald Trump.

In an interview with Maria Bartiromo of Fox News on Sunday, the President said he was trying to be both “the strongest immigration guy that there’s even been” and also the “strongest farmers [and hotels] guy.”

“What we’re going to do is we’re going to do something for farmers, where we can let the farmer sort of be in charge,” the President explained.

“The farmer knows he’s not going to hire a murderer. But you know, when you go into a farm and he’s had somebody working with him for nine years, doing this kind of work—which is hard work to do, and a lot of people aren’t going to do it—and you end up destroying a farmer because you took all the people away, it’s a problem.”

The President continued: “We’re going to work it so that some kind of a temporary pass where people pay taxes, where the farmer can have a little control, as opposed to you walk in and take everybody away.”

Bartiromo asked the President whether the new move was a response to the “clumsy” execution of his mass-deportation policy, which has meant “people were afraid to go to work.” The President responded that his policy was “unbelievable,” and that it was President Biden’s immigration policies that were clumsy.

President Trump indicated at the beginning of June that he was considering a temporary pass for workers in certain industries, and during a cabinet meeting in April, he said that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said there should be a pathway for “certain people” who farmers want to “stay in for a while and work with the farmers and then come back and go through a legal process.”

Meanwhile, Border Czar Tom Homan has said that immigration raids on farms, hotels and restaurants will continue.

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Trump Says He Gave Iran Permission to Bomb U.S. Base in Qatar and…Well, Mostly Crickets?

When political scientist Seth Masket shared this story on Bluesky yesterday, I couldn’t believe it was real. The right-wing Washington Times reported that at a press conference at the NATO Summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday, Trump revealed that he had given Iran permission to bomb the U.S.’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in retaliation for the American bombing of their nuclear sites. 

“They said, ‘We’re going to shoot them. Is one o’clock OK?’ I said it’s fine,” Trump said. “And everybody was emptied off the base so they couldn’t get hurt, except for the gunners.”

I poked around for other major coverage of this extraordinary admission, and landed only on a transcript of the press conference. And yes, amid a characteristically meandering monologue, Trump actually said that he let a foreign adversary bomb an American military installation. But this story has pretty much come and gone with virtually no attention and certainly none of the outrage commensurate with what Trump said.

Let’s consider what Trump’s verbal diarrhea here could mean. Suppose he is (for once) telling the truth. Wouldn’t that represent the most shocking dereliction of duty one could imagine for the commander-in-chief? (A high crime or misdemeanor, perhaps?) Is he saying he let Iran get its retaliation out of its system with what he called “a very weak response” to bring an end to hostilities? Perhaps Trump simply was rambling incoherently as he basked in his new “daddy” glow at NATO.

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Fatwa Calling for Muslims to Assassinate President Trump Issued by Iranian Ayatollah

Iranian Shiite Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, 98, issued a fatwa calling on Muslims worldwide to assassinate President Donald Trump, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The semi-official Iranian news outlet Mehr News Agency reported on its English language site on Sunday (excerpt):

Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi has issued a fatwa in which he declares anyone who threatens Leader, and Shia Marja to be the Enemy of God, who has to be fought against according to Islamic teachings.

After threats were made by the criminal American president and the leaders of the child-killing Zionist regime against the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and the senior Shiite clerics known as Marja, a group of believers submitted a request to His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi regarding the duties of Muslims in response to such threats. Grand Ayatollah Makarem response to the question put forward by his followers is as follows:

“Any person or regime that threatens the Leader or Marja (May God forbid) is considered an enemy of God,” Grand Ayatollah Makarem said in his Fatwa, which is a response to the question to him.

The senior Iranian Shia Marja added that “any cooperation or support for that enemy by Muslims or Islamic states is haram or forbidden. It is necessary for all Muslims around the world to make these enemies regret their words and mistakes.”

Definition of “Marja” via Wikipedia:

Marja’ (Arabic: مرجع, romanized: marjiʿ ; plural marājiʿ ; lit. ’source to follow’ or ‘religious reference’) is a title given to the highest level of Twelver Shia religious cleric, with the authority given by a hawzah (a seminary where Shi’a Muslim scholars are educated) to make legal decisions within the confines of Islamic law for followers and clerics below him in rank. The highest ranking marjiʿ is known as the marja al-mutlaq or marja al-taqlid al-mutlaq.[1][2][note 1] A marji’ is usually also[3] a grand ayatollah.

English translation posted by Mark Dubowitz:

In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

It is clear that threatening the leader of the Islamic world, as well as the esteemed sources of emulation, is a war against Islam. According to the Quranic verse “Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against God and His Messenger…”, this act carries a severe punishment.

Strengthening the front of Muslims and the unity of Islamic ranks is an obligation. I consider it haram (forbidden) to remain silent in the face of such threats.

It is necessary for Muslims around the world to strongly condemn these threats and to take appropriate and united action.

May God preserve the Islamic community from the evil of enemies under the protection of the Imam of the Age (may God hasten his reappearance), and reward the righteous defenders.

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Canada hands big win to Trump, suspends U.S. tech firm tax that had roiled trade talks

Canada announced Sunday night it was suspending a tax on U.S. technology firms that had caused President Trump to suspend trade negotiations between the two nations, handing a major victory to the American president.

The Canadian government said it was suspending enforcement of the tax that was due to be collected starting Monday, saying the action was taken “in anticipation of a mutually beneficial comprehensive trade arrangement with the United States.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney informed the Trump administration of the decision, and the two sides plan to resume trade talks on or about July 21.

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Trump Says Administration Working on ‘Temporary Pass’ for Illegal Immigrant Farm, Hotel Workers

President Donald Trump said on June 29 that his administration was working on a solution where farmers and hospitality business owners could potentially retain some illegal immigrant workers if they’re not involved in crime and pay taxes.

Speaking with Maria Bartiromo of Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Trump said he’s trying to reconcile being both the “strongest immigration guy that there’s ever been” and also the “strongest farmers [and hotels] guy.”

“I cherish our farmers,” Trump said, adding that some of the farmworkers being deported have been working in these positions for 15 to 20 years and “are good” but possibly entered the country “incorrectly.”

“What we’re going to do is we’re going to do something for farmers, where we can let the farmer sort of be in charge,” he said.

“The farmer knows he’s not going to hire a murderer. But you know, when you go into a farm and he’s had somebody working with him for nine years, doing this kind of work—which is hard work to do, and a lot of people aren’t going to do it—and you end up destroying a farmer because you took all the people away, it’s a problem.”

Trump said he understands the farmers’ position as well as those wanting a crackdown on illegal immigration.

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Federal security grants to US synagogues to resume after two-month Trump freeze

The US Federal Emergency Management Agency has lifted a freeze on security funding for religious institutions this week, ending a months-long pause that drew alarm from Jewish groups that had advocated for expanded federal security funding.

The Nonprofit Security Grant Program provides funding for synagogues, schools and Jewish community centers to pay for security measures to protect their buildings from attack. Congress provided $274.5 million for the program in 2025.

Reimbursement payments to participating institutions were halted in March as part of an overall funding freeze on FEMA, the federal disaster relief agency. At the time, nearly 80 members of Congress from both parties signed a letter urging the Trump administration to reverse course.

Nechamia Dsatmar on October 13, 2023. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

JTA — The US Federal Emergency Management Agency has lifted a freeze on security funding for religious institutions this week, ending a months-long pause that drew alarm from Jewish groups that had advocated for expanded federal security funding.

The Nonprofit Security Grant Program provides funding for synagogues, schools and Jewish community centers to pay for security measures to protect their buildings from attack. Congress provided $274.5 million for the program in 2025.

Reimbursement payments to participating institutions were halted in March as part of an overall funding freeze on FEMA, the federal disaster relief agency. At the time, nearly 80 members of Congress from both parties signed a letter urging the Trump administration to reverse course.00:20 / 37:55

That appears to have happened this week, Jewish Insider reported on Friday, citing an email sent by Jewish Federations of North America to its member federations.

“Nonprofit Security Grant Program funds are essential to keeping our communities safe, especially amid rising antisemitism,” Karen Paikin Barall, the Jewish Federations of North America vice president for government relations, said in an emailed statement. “We are relieved that the government’s review process has concluded and that funds will now be released, allowing nonprofits to be reimbursed for critical security investments they’ve already made.”

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