Tag: donald trump

Trump Closes Notorious EPA Lab that Conducted Illegal Human Experiments

President Trump is trying to save money by terminating leases on facilities used by federal agencies. One of these is EPA’s Human Studies Facility located at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. “Scientists are trying to save it,” reports Nature magazine. But being a waste of money is the least interesting aspect of the infamous lab.

In 2011, through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), I exposed the lab’s illegal experimentation on humans with air pollutants that EPA considers to be deadly. The lab’s central feature is an actual gas chamber into which EPA pumped exhaust from a diesel truck idling outside in a parking lot. You can see a photo of the twisted arrangement here.

After filtering out the carbon monoxide, EPA concentrated the exhaust’s fine particulate matter (soot, called “PM2.5” by EPA) to unrealistically high levels and pumped it into the chamber in which human guinea pigs inhaled it for periods of two hours. The purpose of the experiments was to observe the effects, if any, of inhaling PM2.5. For these experiments, EPA had recruited: asthmatics; people with heart disease and diabetes; and elderly persons up to 80 years of age. EPA paid its human guinea pigs as much as a couple thousand dollars for their participation in the experiments.

All this may seem harmless enough. But was it? EPA had previously concluded that PM2.5 was, essentially, the most toxic substance known to man. Any inhalation could cause death within hours, the agency had determined.  It had also stated that the people most at risk from inhaling PM2.5 were: asthmatics; people with heart disease and diabetes; and the elderly. Those at risk from PM2.5 were the very sort of people upon whom it had been experimenting.

But EPA had not disclosed any of this to, and so did not obtain legally required “informed consent” from its human guinea pigs. Instead of informing its human guinea pigs in writing that the agency believed the experiments could kill them, as was required by federal regulations, state law and the Nuremberg Code on human experimentation, the agency’s consent forms only disclosed that some temporary coughing or wheezing may result from the experiments.

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Judge Cannon Rejects Trump Would-Be Assassin Ryan Routh’s Attempt to Unseal Jury Questionnaire

Judge Aileen Cannon this week rejected Trump would-be assassin Ryan Routh’s attempt to unseal a jury questionnaire.

The judge will also hold a closed status conference to discuss the questions related to the jury questionnaire.

Law & Crime reported:

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has rejected a request from the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump to have the jury questionnaire in his upcoming criminal trial unsealed.

The denial marks the latest legal rebuff for Ryan Routh, a 59-year-old man accused of hiding out with a rifle at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, 2024, in hopes of shooting the then-Republican nominee for president. While discussing pre-jury selection procedures, Routh’s lawyers objected to a proposed plan to keep the jury questionnaire sealed before the trial.

Cannon outlined the two parts that would take place in a status conference regarding jury selection procedures. Part one, she said, would be public and “unrestricted” regarding the general logistics of jury selection, while part two would “proceed in sealed session and focus on a substantive discussion of the proposed juror questionnaire itself.”

It is this juror questionnaire that Routh’s legal team wanted unsealed, but Cannon, a Trump appointee who also presided over and later dismissed his Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, denied this request and additionally found that making part two of the conference publicly available would carry “significant risk.”

Last year federal prosecutors charged Ryan Routh with attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate after he pushed the muzzle of his rifle through the fence line at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course.

Ryan Routh was previously charged with two federal gun crimes: Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession (max penalty of 15 years in prison and $250,000 fine), and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number (max penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine).

Routh set up a sniper’s nest in the shrubbery outside the perimeter of Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach.

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President Trump Told Netanyahu To ‘Keep Going’ in Iran

President Trump said on Wednesday that he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call a day earlier to “keep going” with his attacks on Iran.

The president told reporters that Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for his role in war crimes in Gaza, is a “good man” who has been treated “very unfairly” by his own country. “He’s a wartime president. Going through this nonsense — ridiculous,” Trump said.

Trump’s comments about Netanyahu come amid anticipation over whether or not the US will enter Israel’s war with Iran directly by launching airstrikes. The US has supported the assault by providing weapons and intelligence and intercepting Iranian missiles and drones, but so far hasn’t launched direct strikes of its own.

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The U.S. killed almost as many civilians in 52 days as the previous 23 years of U.S. action in Yemen

On May 6 2025, a ceasefire between Yemen’s Houthis and the United States ended the most extensive military campaign of President Trump’s second term to date. But what was the full human cost of Trump’s eight-week bombing campaign, and how does it compare to the history of U.S. military action in Yemen?

Airwars analysed every public allegation of civilian harm during the Trump campaign against the Iran-allied Houthis – dubbed Operation Rough Rider – and compared it to previous harm allegations from U.S. campaigns in Yemen, both targeting the Houthis under President Joe Biden and against Al-Qaeda in the decades before.

Key findings reveal:

  • In the period between the first recorded U.S. strike in Yemen to the beginning of Trump’s campaign in March, Airwars tracked at least 258 civilians allegedly killed by U.S. actions. In less than two months of Operation Rough Rider, Airwars documented at least 224 civilians in Yemen killed by U.S. airstrikes – nearly doubling the civilian casualty toll in Yemen by U.S. actions since 2002.
  • The two deadliest civilian harm incidents publicly recorded in the history of U.S. military operations in Yemen occurred during Trump’s campaign. Strikes on Ras Isa Port and Saada’s Remand Detention Prison allegedly killed at least 152 civilians and injured almost 200 others. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have now questioned the legality of both strikes.
  • The scale of the campaign resulted in an unprecedented level of civilian casualties per incident. During Operation Rough Rider, Airwars documented more incidents with higher numbers of casualties per strike than in any other U.S. campaign.
  • Some of the most advanced munitions in the U.S. military arsenal were deployed, including the first documented use of the StormBreaker in combat – a new precision-guided U.S bomb.
  • Civilian harm incidents were concentrated in the heavily populated cities of Sana’a and Saada. This differed from President Biden’s campaign against the Houthis, where civilian harm was typically dispersed across less heavily populated areas in western Yemen.

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Tulsi Gabbard Breaks Silence After Trump Publicly Rebukes Her Over Her Iran Nuclear Program

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has broken her silence after President Donald Trump publicly refuted her earlier congressional testimony regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The firestorm ignited when CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, ever the mouthpiece for the left, pressed President Trump aboard Air Force One about Gabbard’s March testimony before Congress.

“Tulsi Gabbard testified in March that the intelligence community said Iran wasn’t building a nuclear weapon,” Collins prodded, clearly fishing for a gotcha.

Trump shut her down, stating, “I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one.”

Vice President JD Vance also stepped into the fray on X: “First off, Tulsi’s testimony was in March, and a lot has changed since then. Second, if you look at what she said then, her point about uranium enrichment is consistent with what I wrote above.”

Vance clarified that while Iran is permitted nuclear energy for civilian use, the regime has repeatedly violated its obligations to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), proving its intent to weaponize its nuclear program.

Gabbard, refusing to let the media twist her words, fired back in a statement shared by CNN Capitol Hill reporter Sarah Ferris and confirmed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), according to The Daily Caller.

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Trump’s approach to Africa lauded by top Republican as recent airstrikes show ‘outside the box’ thinking

The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has lashed out at China, Russia and Iran for threatening U.S. national security interests in Africa in exclusive comments to Fox News Digital.

In a wide-ranging interview, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, discussed the Trump administration’s approach to Africa, highlighting terrorism, war and concerns over trade on the continent. Risch emphasized the importance of Africa to the U.S. 

“The economic opportunities in Africa cannot be understated, and the United States needs to have a seat at the table regarding trade and investment in the region,” he said. “At the same time, there are serious national security challenges we need to address head on to include terrorism, widespread conflicts affecting regional stability, migration and trafficking.”

Russia, China and Iran have been criticized by Risch as being ‘malign actors’ in Africa, accused of military interventions, exploitative trade practices, and in Iran’s case, reported to be working on an agreement to extract refined “yellowcake” uranium for its controversial nuclear program.

“The malign actions of China and Russia, and even regional actors like Iran, are serious challenges to our national security interests in Africa,” Risch said. “Countering the influence of these aggressors is as much about the U.S. pursuing greater partnerships with African states as it is about responding to the challenges put forward by countries like Russia and China in Africa.”

Risch weighed in on the role of the U.S. military on the continent, saying it “is to protect the American people, first and foremost, and that goal should remain the same in Africa. We have serious security threats in Africa, and we must take them seriously. Remember, Osama bin Laden hid in Sudan, bombed our embassies there, and planned his 9/11 attack.”

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TV Networks Face Advertising Apocalypse After Trump Admin Mulls Pharma Restrictions

Last week independent Senators Bernie Sanders (VT) and Angus King (ME) introduced legislation that would ban pharmaceutical companies from promoting prescription drugs directly to consumers – including through television, radio, print, digital platforms, and social media. 

Today, Bloomberg reports that the Trump administration is now ‘discussing policies that would make it harder and more expensive for pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to patients.’

The two policies the administration has focused in on would be to require greater disclosures of side effects of a drug within each ad — likely making broadcast ads much longer and prohibitively expensive — or removing the industry’s ability to deduct direct-to-consumer advertising as a business expense for tax purposes, these people said.

Although the US is the only place, besides New Zealand, where pharma companies can directly advertise, banning pharma ads outright could make the administration vulnerable to lawsuits, so it’s instead focusing on cutting down on the practice by adding legal and financial hurdles, according to people familiar with the plans who weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

If this happens, it would mark a major victory for Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr., who says he believes Americans consume more drugs than people in other countries due to the ability of US drug companies to directly advertise to consumers. 

While running for president, Mr. Kennedy said he would issue an executive order removing pharmaceutical ads from television, citing overmedication and industry influence on news coverage.

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Trump Says He Knows Location of Iran’s Leader, Demands ‘Unconditional Surrender’

President Trump said on Tuesday that the US knows the location of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and that he wouldn’t be killed, at least for now.

“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

In a follow-up post, Trump wrote, “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”

The president’s threats toward Khamenei come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing for the Iranian leader’s assassination, claiming that killing him would “end the conflict.” Netanyahu was also a major proponent of taking out former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The US appears poised to formally enter the Israel-Iran war by launching strikes on Iran, specifically the Fordow nuclear site, which is buried deep underground. According to Axios, Trump was holding a meeting of his national security team this afternoon where he could approve strikes.

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Trump Shares Private Text From Mike Huckabee That Compared Iran Situation To Truman in 1945

President Trump on Tuesday shared a private text message from US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee that compared the president’s decision related to Iran with President Truman’s situation in 1945, the year he dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan.

Huckabee, a Christian Zionist who believes God gave historic Palestine to the modern state of Israel — a view that’s rejected by the majority of Christian denominations — told the president that he believes God “spared” him for this moment.

“God spared you in Butler, PA to be the most consequential President in a century—maybe ever. The decisions on your shoulders I would not want to be made by anyone else. You have many voices speaking to you Sir, but there is only ONE voice that matters. HIS voice,” Huckabee wrote.

“I am your appointed servant in this land and am available for you but I do not try to get in your presence often because I trust your instincts. No President in my lifetime has been in a position like yours. Not since Truman in 1945. I don’t reach out to persuade you. Only to encourage you,” the US ambassador added.

Huckabee continued, “I believe you will hear from heaven and that voice is far more important than mine or ANYONE else’s. You sent me to Israel to be your eyes, ears and voice and to make sure our flag flies above our embassy. My job is to be the last one to leave. I will not abandon this post. Our flag will NOT come down! You did not seek this moment. This moment sought YOU!”

Since being appointed ambassador, Huckabee has approached the issue of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory through the lens of his radical religious views. He has said he believes the US is no longer pursuing a two-state solution and suggested a Palestinian state could be carved out of a “Muslim” country.

“Does it have to be in Judea and Samaria?” Huckabee said in an interview with Bloomberg last week, using the Biblical name for the West Bank.

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California Judge Blocks Trump Admin from Dismantling State Dept’s Censorship Agencies

A federal judge in California has halted the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R-FIMI) Hub, formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC).

In a June 13 order, US District Judge Susan Illston declared that the planned elimination of the unit, part of a broader push by the administration to downsize the federal government, violates an earlier injunction.

We obtained a copy of the order for you here.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio may have prematurely celebrated the end of R-FIMI back in April when he said the censorship unit was “dead.”

Despite his announcement, legal barriers remain in place, preserving the agency’s existence. For now.

Through the intervention of the federal judiciary, R-FIMI, a program with a $50 million annual budget that has drawn fire for suppressing online speech under the pretense of combating “foreign disinformation,” has been granted an unexpected lifeline.

The agency, a legacy of the Obama administration, was launched in 2016 to monitor and counter alleged foreign propaganda, particularly from Russia.

But over time, its activities expanded into domestic spheres, drawing allegations that it pressured social media platforms to silence certain political voices ahead of the 2020 election.

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