USA | United states of America

The Trump administration has been accused of corruptly placing private financial benefit above the public interest, most recently in President Trump’s acceptance of the gift of a Boeing 747 from Qatar for his use as Air Force 1, and invitations to dinner at a private club and to a private White House tour, offered as perks for those who invested substantial sums in his Stablecoin. Although, here, the President’s self-enrichment is blatant, more troubling are his policies aimed at dismantling safeguards against corruption at home and abroad. These reveal a deep contradiction in the warring goals of those currently governing in Washington; a contradiction that may eventually burst into the open.

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Donald Trump on Saturday authorized the deployment of 2,000 national guard troops to Los Angeles, after an immigration crackdown erupted into mass protests for a second day and police in riot gear used teargas on bystanders.

The California governor, Gavin Newsom, said in a statement on X that the federal government was “moving to take over” the California national guard. Newsom said the mobilization was “purposefully inflammatory” and warned that it would “only escalate tensions”.

The defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, wrote on X that national guard troops were being mobilized “IMMEDIATELY” and threatened to send “active duty Marines” if the unrest continued.

Donald Trump’s “Border Czar” Tom Homan said Saturday the administration is planning to send in the National Guard Saturday evening to quell protests in Los Angeles.

“This is about enforcing the law, and again, we’re not going to apologize for doing it,” Homan said on Fox News. He continued: “We’re already ahead of the game. We were already mobilizing. We’re gonna bring National Guard in tonight. We’re gonna continue doing our job. We’re gonna push back on these people, and we’re gonna [enforce] the law.”

On Saturday night, following Homan’s on-camera remarks, both national Democratic and Republican figures were scrambling to figure out if he was just mouthing off, or if the federal troops were actually on their way, or just … what the hell was going on.

Two Trump administration officials say they learned about the alleged National Guard plans from journalists such as Rolling Stone’s who had reached out to them on Saturday evening, asking for clarification.

Homan did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

“The federal government is moving to take over the California National Guard and deploy 2,000 soldiers,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) wrote on Bluesky Saturday evening. “That move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.”

He added, “LA authorities are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment’s notice. We are in close coordination with the city and county, and there is currently no unmet need. The Guard has been admirably serving LA throughout recovery. This is the wrong mission and will erode public trust.”

The president can request, but not order, a governor to deploy their state’s National Guard. The governor can refuse the request, and Trump would not be allowed under the Constitution to send National Guard troops to California from other states. However, the Trump administration has previously mulled invoking the Insurrection Act, which could allow the president to deploy the U.S. military domestically, federalize the National Guard, and send in troops to quell uprisings or civil disorder.

Arielle Angel
May 28, 2025

"But the attacks are coming: In a broad effort to criminalize pro-Palestine activism as “material support for terrorism,” there is no doubt that JVP is high on the list of targets. The group is mentioned prominently as a “Hamas Support Organization” alongside groups like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) in the Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther, a plan created last fall to quickly dismantle the Palestine movement in the first year or two of a favorable administration."

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Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into Joe Biden's actions during his presidency, accusing aides of a "conspiracy" to "deceive the public about Biden's mental state".

In this latest move to discredit his predecessor, Trump took aim at the aides' use of an autopen - a device that replicates signatures which presidents, including Trump, have used for decades - to sign executive actions.

"This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history," Trump said on Wednesday.

Biden slammed Trump's move as "ridiculous", saying his claims are aimed at distracting Americans as his administration works to extend tax breaks for the wealthy.

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Any time a federal agency wants to develop a project in Wyoming — an oil and gas lease, a pipeline, a dam, a transmission line, a solar array — it has to go through Crystal C’Bearing first. C’Bearing is Northern Arapaho and the tribal historic preservation officer, or THPO, for the Northern Arapaho tribe, so if a new wind farm is proposed, for example, she determines if any tribal areas will be impacted by the project.

C’Bearing’s scope extends beyond her home on the Wind River Reservation, to any and all lands ceded by treaty, routes tribal members took during the removal process, burial sites, and religious places. That means she reviews projects across 16 states in addition to Wyoming, from Wisconsin to Montana, New Mexico to Arkansas, and all points in between — traditional homelands of the Northern Arapaho and other Indigenous nations, acquired by the United States as it forcefully expanded westward. Because of that range, hundreds of federal proposals and reports flood her email inbox every week, as is the case with 227 other THPOs working for their respective nations. Many have overlapping historic homelands and histories.

In January, President Donald Trump declared a national energy emergency to speed the development of fossil fuel projects, mines, pipelines, and other energy-related infrastructure, cutting the amount of time federal agencies are required to notify Indigenous nations before starting a project. Now, as Trump’s proposed budget for 2026 works its way through Congress, the fund supporting the national THPO program is bracing for a 94 percent budget cut. On top of that, the Trump administration has yet to distribute THPO funds promised for 2025.

Traditionally, THPOs like C’Bearing have 30 days to review a project: 30 days to review federal reports, conduct site visits, identify artifacts or burial grounds, and collaborate with tribal members, sometimes from other tribes. According to C’Bearing, that window was already tight, but under Trump’s energy emergency, that deadline is now seven days. And as the year rolls on, C’Bearing’s budget is evaporating. If the administration doesn’t release the THPO funds already promised, she’ll be out of a job come September.

“If this is the moment that breaks the system, there’s not going to be anything there to catch the THPOs,” said Valerie Grussing, executive director of the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a last-minute plea from Native Americans seeking to challenge a massive copper mining project in Arizona that would destroy a sacred site used for tribal ceremonies, a weighty dispute that pitted religious rights against business interests.

The court turned away an appeal brought by the nonprofit group Apache Stronghold asserting that its members' religious rights will be violated if the Resolution Copper mine goes forward because it would obliterate Oak Flat, the site in question.

The Trump administration recently announced its backing of the project, which is now set to move forward.

Vicky Peacey, general manager at Resolution Copper, said in a statement that "extensive consultation" with tribes has already led to significant changes to the project.

Peacey added that the "ongoing dialogue will continue to shape the project."

Wendsler Nosie Sr., a member of Apache Stronghold, said in a statement the fight would continue.

"While this decision is a heavy blow, our struggle is far from over. We urge Congress to take decisive action to stop this injustice while we press forward in the courts," he said.

Paywall bypass: http://archive.today/enlWM

and on this issue of so-called "intellectual property," I suppose I'm with the Chinese.

House Republicans came together to pass their domestic policy megabill early Thursday, after weeks of internal conflict and last-minute intervention from President Donald Trump.

The 215-214 vote is a major victory for Speaker Mike Johnson, who largely kept his conference together after days of around-the-clock negotiations with holdouts. ... The bill includes a fresh round of tax cuts sought by Trump, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars in new funding for the military and border security.

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This is arguably the most significant piece of Legislation that will ever be signed in the History of our Country!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday morning. “Great job by Speaker Mike Johnson, and the House Leadership, and thank you to every Republican who voted YES on this Historic Bill! Now, it’s time for our friends in the United States Senate to get to work, and send this Bill to my desk AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!”

Democrats have their own names for the measure, including “the GOP tax scam” and “one big, ugly bill.” Minority party leaders are deriding the bill by pointing to nonpartisan forecasts that it would increase the federal deficit by trillions of dollars and cause more than 10 million people to lose health care coverage, while shifting resources away from the lowest-income households and to the wealthiest.

In a lengthy closing speech ahead of the final vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries accused Republicans of bankrolling tax cuts for the rich with cuts to safety-net programs like Medicaid and SNAP food assistance.

“And people will die. That’s not hype. That’s not hyperbole. That’s not a hypothetical,” Jeffries said, before a heated exchange about “decorum” with the Republican presiding over the floor.

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TL;DW:

• Trump and his lackeys are plunging America and even US citizens further into the 1984 rabbit hole with intimidating people on their political views starting at the airport.
• Trumps aims to give large corporations larger tax cuts while American citizens pay more of them. High income elite citizens are given benefits/special priviliges while everyone else gets the boot.

David Steiner, a former CEO of the nation’s largest waste management company who currently serves on the FedEx board of directors, is poised to take over control of the U.S. Postal Service, becoming the nation’s 76th postmaster general.

The announcement of Steiner’s appointment, which heightened concerns from postal unions over possible efforts to privatize the USPS, was made Friday by Amber McReynolds, chairperson of the USPS’ Board of Governors, during a meeting of the independent group that oversees the service.