Senate Republicans Don’t Have the Votes to Fund Trump’s Ballroom

President Donald Trump may not be getting taxpayer money for his ballroom after all.

Senate Republicans on Wednesday indicated they expect the funds intended to secure the planned East Wing project to be stripped out of the single-party package because they lack the votes to include the money in the bill.

Adding to the troubles, Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian, ruled that language fails to pass muster with the strict budget rules for what can be included in the $72 billion proposal for border security priorities.

“We’re going back to square one,” Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy told NOTUS. “What I’m told is it’s not based on an interpretation by the parliamentarian. The votes are not there. If we go forward, we will lose.”

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis also said Republicans don’t have the votes to pass the funding, warning that if they go forward with it, it would needlessly subject Republicans to brutal Democratic attacks ahead of the November midterms.

“They should have never conflated the other legitimate Secret Service needs because it’s just giving everybody the ‘billion dollar ballroom’ and it’s just a bad idea,” Tillis told NOTUS.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune acknowledged the struggle to lock down the votes, telling reporters that despite Trump’s calls to oust the parliamentarian, that is the lesser of the worries at present.

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Trump’s Self-serving Business Deals Have Prostituted the Office of the President

As far as I can tell, Donald Trump is the first American president in my lifetime to be actively engaged in business while serving as President of the United States.  I have no memory of Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, or George W. Bush starting and running businesses while occupying the Oval Office. It is true that Lincoln was a known agent of the railroads and that Grant’s administration was corrupt, as other 19th century administrations might have been when the creation of a new nation offered so much to plunder to those with power.  

I doubt presidents and their administrations can avoid doing favors for campaign donors and friends, and these favors little doubt bring gratuities when the president and his appointees are out of office.  Clinton and Biden were perhaps the first truly corrupt American presidents in my lifetime.  It was perhaps Clinton who “legitimized” selling influence. This practice took off in the Biden regime as so much evidence shows. The practice has been legally legitimized by the failure of the Trump regime to prosecute despite the evidence on Hunter Biden’s laptop, evidence we no longer hear about.

As President Trump has seemingly escalated the practice of using the Oval Office for personal enrichment, prosecuting past offenders would be self-indicting. We can expect Biden and his son to walk free.

Trump confronts us with a broader issue. A number of articles have pointed out that Trump is using his presidency to enrich himself and his family. For example, an article in The New Yorker reports that Trump has invested in companies that are competing for federal government permits and funding, has filed personal multi-billion dollar lawsuits against banks that are regulated by the Trump regime, which encourages the banks to settle, leases his name to resort hotels and golf courses, and suggests that Trump sold pardons, the net result being an increase in Trump’s net worth of $4 billion, perhaps making Trump a billionaire for the first time.

The Rolling Stone reports an amazing rise in the net worth of Trump’s sons.

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Trump Moves to Squeeze Illegal Aliens Out of the U.S. Financial System with New Executive Order Targeting Banking Loopholes

President Trump has taken another major step in his immigration enforcement agenda, this time targeting access to the American banking system.

In a new executive order issued Tuesday, the Trump administration directed the Treasury Department to increase scrutiny of financial activity tied to illegal immigration, including potential payroll tax evasion, concealed account ownership, off-the-books wage schemes, labor trafficking, and the use of Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) without verified legal presence documentation.

Banks will now be pressured to strengthen customer identification requirements and think twice before handing out accounts, loans, credit cards, or any financial services to those here illegally.

In plain English: No more easy banking for illegal aliens. No more wiring billions in remittances back to foreign countries while American families struggle. No more using our financial system to launder cartel money or fund the very invasion destroying our communities.

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Trump Details White House Construction Beyond a Ballroom: Military Hospital, Research Facilities

President Donald Trump’s White House construction goes beyond a ballroom, the commander-in-chief told reporters on Tuesday as he stood outside the construction site detailing the complexities of the massive addition.

“You might want to take a look at the complexity,” Trump said as he gestured toward the construction site on the premises. He explained that the ballroom is only part of the story. In fact, he described the ballroom itself as a “shield” of sorts, protecting all of the space currently being built underneath. That includes a military hospital, meeting rooms, and much more.

“These are all different rooms out here,” Trump said. “They’re building a hospital. They’re building a military hospital. They’re building all sorts of research facilities — also meeting rooms and rooms that go hand in hand for the military, using the ballroom, and the ballroom is really a shield and protecting all of the things that are built here.”

Trump explained that the construction already goes “very deep” — six stories deep.

“This is down because we’ve already done these floors, but these are already down two floors. That is down about six stories deep. That’s fixed up normally,” he said, walking through other features and complexities of this design.

“It’s all knit together between the drone proofing [and] the missile proofing. We have had the drone capacity upstairs. We can have all sorts of military up, whether — I hate to use the word snipers, but we have great sniper capacity,” the president said, revealing that it is “built for our snipers, not the enemy snipers.”

“And because of the height, we get a very clear view of everything all over Washington,” Trump said.

Trump’s brief tour followed the Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough determining that a plan drafted by Republican lawmakers to provide $1 billion in funding for the White House ballroom project did not follow the rules, although Republicans say they have a fix underway.

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Trump Praises Liberal Billionaire Mark Cuban at White House TrumpRX Event, Says Kamala Harris Endorsement Was “a Big Mistake”

Mark Cuban, the liberal former Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank co-host, made an appearance alongside President Trump at the White House on Monday to announce an expansion of the President’s TrumpRX website. 

Cuban’s online pharmacy, Cost Plus Drugs, along with Amazon Pharmacy and GoodRx, are set to list over 600 generic drugs on TrumpRX at lower costs for consumers. Cuban said 559 of the drugs come from his company.

“I’ve been the biggest proponent of TrumpRX.com,” Cuban said in brief remarks at the event. “Republicans want cheaper drugs. Independents want cheaper drugs. Democrats want cheaper drugs. And together, I think we’re going to do something special.”

However, Cuban has never supported Trump, frequently attacking him and supporting Kamala Harris in 2024.

One America News Network’s Daniel Baldwin asked the President about Cuban’s history as a Never Trumper, and Trump squashed the beef.

“he’s got a good company, and he’s going to do a lot of business with this,” Trump said, describing Cuban as “very gracious.” He continued, “I think I have a lot of respect for Mark, frankly, and I always have.”

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Trump Delivers 160+ UFO Files — Burchett Calls Out Deep State Slow-Walk as Congress Reacts

Multiple members of Congress admitted “I don’t know” when pressed by The Gateway Pundit on Capitol Hill about the more than 160 never-before-seen UFO files the Pentagon released on May 8, 2026, under President Donald Trump’s direct order.

The historic declassification, the first tranche under the new Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters, made public military reports, photographs, videos, and astronaut accounts spanning the 1940s to recent years. The files detail rotating saucer-shaped craft over Cold War Europe, metallic elliptical objects hovering motionless, glowing orbs with impossible maneuvers, and anomalous lights near Apollo missions that continue to defy conventional explanation.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., one of Congress’s most vocal and consistent advocates for UAP transparency for years, pulled no punches:

“The deep state’s fighting the president on release…Some of our alphabet agencies are slow walking a lot of information. It’s about power. It’s about control,” Burchett, R-Tenn., told TGP in an exclusive interview.

Burchett, who has long pushed for full disclosure, including introducing the UAP Transparency Act and repeatedly grilling Pentagon officials in hearings, warned that fuller releases could force the government to “admit that they’ve been lying to us all these years” and may involve a “cover-up of zero energy.” He praised Trump for honoring a personal commitment on the issue.

The release includes phenomena strikingly similar to the legendary WWII “Foo Fighters.”

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‘ALIGNED INTERESTS’: Trump, Xi and Putin To Join Forces Against the Globalist ICC: REPORT

The big three against the ICC?

Today, a Financial Times report did the rounds, in which is alleged that Xi Jinping would have told Donald J. Trump during last week’s talks that Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘might end up regretting his invasion of Ukraine’.

That was called out as fake news both by the Chinese and by Trump himself.

This report seems timed to coincide with Putin’s arrival in Beijing for a state visit.

However, in this same report we find a nugget that seems much more plausible, and that has not, so far, been denied by any party.

“During his summit with Xi, Trump also suggested that the US, China and Russia should join forces to combat the ICC, saying their interests were aligned, according to the people familiar with the talks. 

The White House declined to comment on the ICC comment. But the Trump administration has previously voiced strong opposition to the ICC, which it accuses of engaging in politicization, abuse of power, disregard for US national sovereignty and illegitimate judicial over-reach. Some officials have described it as an instrument for so-called lawfare against America.”

News9 Live reports:

“Trump argued that the three major powers had shared interests in opposing the Hague-based court. His administration has long accused the ICC of overreach and politicisation.

For anyone watching global politics, this is one of those moments where the room matters as much as the words. A US president, sitting with China’s leader, reportedly floating a common line with Russia against an international court. That is not a small diplomatic footnote.”

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Trump Wants Veto Power Over Chinese or Russian Investments in Greenland in Bold National Security Move

Trump is working to curtail outside influence in our hemisphere.

Back in November 2025, the Donald J. Trump administration released the new National Security Strategy, and we could understand a little better how the protection of the Western Hemisphere has become central to US efforts.

We read there: “The United States has achieved success in rolling back outside influence in the Western Hemisphere by demonstrating, with specificity, how many hidden costs—in espionage, cybersecurity, debt-traps, and other ways—are embedded in allegedly ‘low cost’ foreign assistance. We should accelerate these efforts, including by utilizing U.S. leverage in finance and technology to induce countries to reject such assistance.”

So, when it comes to the Arctic Island of Greenland, this whole security architecture applies there, too.

We have reported how Greenland Leader Admits US Military Presence on Island Is Part of Negotiations ‌With Washington.

But the security is not limited to establishing a number of air bases and other military assets there.

There’s also the question of curbing the outside influence from major powers.

So, it’s not at all surprising that reports arise today that Trump is demanding a ‘veto’ power over any future Chinese or Russian investments in Greenland.

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Trump Asks DOJ to Launch Investigation Into Maryland After 500,000 Mail-In Ballots Were Sent Out in “Error”

President Trump on Monday afternoon asked the Justice Department to investigate Maryland officials for sending out “500,000 illegal mail-in ballots.”

Last Friday, Maryland election officials said they will be issuing 500,000 new ballots after a vendor made an error in sending out the first batch of ballots for the state’s gubernatorial primary election.

Statement from the Maryland State Board of Elections:

In order to maintain the highest level of confidence and accuracy in mail-in voting, SBE is working with the vendor to send replacement mail-in ballots. While it is possible only a small number of voters received the wrong ballot, and most voters received the correct ballot, all voters must be issued a replacement ballot. This action of resending ballots maintains the integrity and security of mail-in voting.

This error affects only voters who were mailed a ballot before May 14, 2026. If a voter requested and received their mail-in ballot by web delivery (Print at Home ballot), their ballot will not be affected. All affected voters will be notified.

“We are diligently working to address this error and provide clear instructions to those affected as quickly as possible,” said Maryland State Administrator of Elections, Jared DeMarinis. “The State and Local Boards of Elections remain committed to running an election that is verified, secure and accurate. Mail-in voting is an integral facet of the electoral process. With over
500,000 voters requesting mail-in ballots, we want to eliminate any doubt in its integrity or accuracy that is why I have arranged the sending of replacement ballots.”

On Monday, Maryland election officials insisted the first batch of ballots would be sequestered and voided.

President Trump said Maryland sent out illegal ballots.

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Fury as Trump gets $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded payout from his own government: ‘Stunning act of corruption’

Donald Trump has struck a $1.8 billion deal with his own IRS to funnel taxpayer money to victims of ‘lawfare’, including January 6 rioters and his political allies, in a settlement that Democrats are calling the most corrupt presidential act in history.

The President, his sons Don Jr and Eric, and the Trump Organization filed suit against the Treasury and IRS in the Southern District of Florida federal court after the leak of their tax returns.

They agreed to drop their suit Monday, as well as two claims, including for damages resulting from the raid on Mar-a-Lago in 2022 and the Russian election interference probe, in exchange for the government’s creation of the ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund.’

The $1.776 billion fund will have the power to issue formal apologies and monetary relief owed to claimants. It will be governed by a five-member commission appointed by the Attorney General, with Trump given the power to remove any member. 

While Trump is barred from directly receiving payments from the fund, entities associated with him are not explicitly prohibited from filing additional ones.

The settlement drew immediate fury from Democrats, among them Senate Finance Committee member Ron Wyden, who said it represented a brazen new level of corruption. 

‘Even by his standards, the move he’s trying to get away with now is a stunning act of corruption,’ said Wyden.

‘What Trump wants is a $1.7billion slush fund for right-wing political violence and subversion, and if he follows through, it will be the most brazen theft and abuse of taxpayer dollars by any president in American history.’ 

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said: ‘The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again.

‘As part of this settlement, we are setting up a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.’ 

The extraordinary arrangement comes despite the misgivings of the judge in the case, Kathleen Williams, who was investigating a potential conflict of interest as Trump sued his own government.

Trump himself conceded last October that ‘it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself.’

However, the judge has limited legal authority to halt any settlement deal. 

Minutes after Trump’s legal team announced it was dropping the suit on Monday, almost 100 House Democrats submitted a ‘friend-of-the-court’ brief accusing Trump of ‘blatant self-dealing’ as they seek to put legal blocks on the fund.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement: ‘This case is nothing but a racket designed to take $1.7 billion of taxpayer dollars out of the Treasury and pour it into a huge slush fund for Trump at DOJ to hand out to his private militia of insurrectionists, rioters, and white supremacists, including those who brutally beat police officers on January 6, 2021, and sycophant accomplices to his election stealing schemes.’

The Trump administration claims that the fund is non-partisan and that anyone can file a claim if they believe they were mistreated by Biden’s DOJ.

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