What are we going do with him MB !?!?!?! He’s got 4 years with what appears to be a weak or non-existant Congress . . .
.
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MASTERBAKER All things Politics thread
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What are we going do with him MB !?!?!?! He’s got 4 years with what appears to be a weak or non-existant Congress . . .
.
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Demonstration outside us consulate in Greenland.
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Dr. Phil shows Trump a map highlighting Chinese government-funded farmland purchases, all located near strategic U.S. military bases.
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Fuck both of these idiots. I blame Oprah for creating Dr Phil racist azz. She could of put that energy into a brother.
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Honey, Trump shrunk the economy! And the lying coward is still blaming Biden. | Opinion
The cowardly president was quick to blame the bad economic news on former President Joe Biden, because, as we've learned over the past decade, nothing is ever Trump's fault.
Rex HuppkeUSA TODAY
Here’s the truth, assuming you still believe in such things: After three years of growth, the U.S. economy shrunk in the first quarter of this year, and it’s all thanks to President Donald Trump and his bizarre, old-timey obsession with tariffs.
The cowardly president was quick to blame the bad economic news on former President Joe Biden, because, as we’ve learned over the past decade, nothing is ever Trump’s fault – even when it is.
The president posted this gibberish April 30 on his increasingly inaccurately named Truth Social site: “Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang.’ This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!”
So much for Republicans being the party of personal responsibility.
Trump has demolished the strong economy Biden left him
Biden left Trump with an envy-of-the-world economy that was humming along. The tariffs – which for the 10 millionth time are a tax on American consumers that won’t accomplish what Trump thinks they’ll accomplish – are almost entirely to blame for America’s economic shrinkage.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
“If you were looking for a playbook on how to slow a healthy economy, this seems like a good example,” said Scott Helfstein, Global X's Head of Investment Strategy. “The continual sequence of policy reversals has led to very high levels of uncertainty for businesses and investors.”
Opinion: Amazon accidentally told the truth about what Trump's tariffs are costing us
Those high levels of uncertainty aren’t Biden’s fault. They’re the fault of the current president, who doesn’t seem to know his tail end from his elbow and keeps slapping tariffs on things like an excited child with a price gun and nothing to lose.
On the economy, all Trump can do is play the blame game
“Growth has simply vanished,” Chris Rupkey, chief economist at the financial research firm Fwdbonds, wrote to the firm’s clients. “Maybe some of this negativity is due to a rush to bring in imports before the tariffs go up, but there is simply no way for policy advisers to sugarcoat this.”
Oh, don’t worry, the coward Trump can find a way to sugarcoat it.
“We came in on Jan. 20. So, this is Biden,” the president said during an April 30 Cabinet meeting. “And you can even say the next quarter is sort of Biden.”
Opinion: Trump made good on cruel promises, ruining countless lives. It's made America worse.
Sure. And maybe the quarter after that or the possible recession coming later this year will be Biden’s fault as well. Who’s to say?
Let's remember, even when the economy was cooking and post-COVID inflation was going down under Biden, Republicans and the right-wing media could barely contain their outrage at "Bidenomics." But when Trump shrinks the economy for the first time in several years? Crickets from those hypocrites.
Numbers don't lie: Biden's economy was strong. Trump's tariffs killed it.
In 2024, under the aforementioned Biden, the S&P 500 grew 23%.As The Wall Street Journal reported April 29, the day before stocks reacted to this sorrowful first-quarter economic news: “The Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped 6.8% since Inauguration Day on Jan. 20. It was the worst start to a presidency for the index since the start of Richard Nixon's second term in 1973, according to Dow Jones Market Data.”
The two presidents are not the same, and the former isn’t at all to blame for the latter’s financial bungling.
Stock market falling, economy shrinking, consumer sentiment down
According to the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, U.S. consumer sentiment dropped again in April, the fourth consecutive month that has happened.These are not good developments if you like having job security, money in the bank and the ability to afford groceries.
Making them worse is the fact that Trump waltzed into the White House claiming he would usher in an economic Golden Age. Instead, he has flushed the American economy down a golden toilet. And he won’t admit to any mistakes or show any sign of a course correction.
The only way the man would acknowledge the existence of humility is if it told him how fantastic he is.
Now is not the time to be patient with Trump's handling of the economy
So here we are with our shrunken economy, looking at empty ports and staring at pain yet to be felt, with a so-called leader who’s only capable of blaming others for his own failures.Trump is imploring Americans to “BE PATIENT!!!” with his economic recklessness. That, quite clearly, is the worst thing any of us could possibly do.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk
The president may be thirsting for a new four-engine jumbo jet, but many governments and royal families are unloading their fuel-guzzling palaces in the sky.
The royal family of Qatar, owner of one of the largest private jet fleets in the world, has been quietly getting rid of some of its biggest planes. It may have found the perfect taker for one of its Boeing 747 jumbo jets in President Donald Trump, who has been frustrated with the multi-year delays in replacing Air Force One.
While many have speculated that the Qataris have offered Trump the luxurious plane to curry favor with the famously transactional president, there may be a simpler rationale: they just don’t want it anymore.
The royals have failed to sell the plane, which was put on the market in 2020, according to an archived listing. Giving it away could save Qatar’s rulers a big chunk of change on maintenance and storage costs, aviation experts told Forbes. Making Trump happy would be an added bonus.
Qatar, which has given away another blinged-out 747 and may have mothballed two more, epitomizes the fading demand for these huge, fuel-guzzling, highly personalized airplanes. There aren’t many who want to buy them, and many of the governments and royal families who own them have been trying to ditch them over the past decade.
“Qatar, like many modern states, is shifting toward leaner, more versatile aircraft, which offer better economics and more discreet presence for official travel,” Linus Bauer, managing director of the Dubai-based aviation consulting firm BAA & Partners, told Forbes. Giving the plane to Trump would be “a creative disposal strategy” that marks “a farewell to a bygone model of geopolitical theater in the skies.”
The arid peninsula off Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf, similar in size to Connecticut, boasts deep reserves of oil and gas that have made the country the fourth-wealthiest in the world by per capita GDP and enriched its rulers, the House of Thani. The family has plowed some of their wealth into an extravagant fleet of roughly a dozen Airbus and Boeing airliners converted into luxurious rides for a small number of passengers, as well as smaller business jets from Bombardier and Dassault.
That includes the 747 coveted by Trump, which was given the tail number A7-HBJ, the initials of billionaire Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, who served as prime minister of Qatar from 2007 to 2013. It’s one of three 747-8s currently in the royal air fleet, which is managed by an entity called Qatar Amiri Flight. When the plane was bought in 2012, its list price was $367 million, not including the interior, which took three years to complete and likely cost tens of millions of dollars.
Unlike the passenger version of the 747-8, which can seat 467 people, the HBJ jet is a flying mansion designed for just 89 passengers, with two bedrooms, entertainment and meeting rooms, and a sumptuous beige and cream-colored interior created by the Parisian design house Cabinet Pinto that features furnishings made of sycamore and wakapou wood, silk fabrics and natural leather.
The luxurious interior of the Qatari 747 took three years to complete. The design was inspired by Art Deco and French saddle makers. It features electronically controlled reclining seats, custom rugs from the Hong Kong firm Tai Ping and art by Alexander Calder.
AMAC Aerospace
The 747, which entered service in 1970, revolutionized air travel by making long-distance air travel affordable for a mass market. But its four big engines make for high costs in an era of higher fuel prices. As of 2019, the VIP version of the 747-8 cost an eye-popping $23,000 an hour to operate, according to Corporate Jet Investor.
Over the past decade, airlines have been retiring the 747 and Airbus’ four-engine A340 in favor of more efficient twin-engine widebodies like the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350, as well as longer-range narrowbodies. Like Qatar, a number of royal families and governments have also been moving away from fuel-guzzling, four-engine palaces in the sky, including Saudi Arabia, Brunei, the UAE and Germany.
Beyond poor fuel efficiency, large ostentatious planes are a security risk, notes Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace consultant with Aerodynamic Advisory. “These things are big targets.” And bigger planes can only land on longer runways, limiting their usage. “There are a lot more airports you can get into if you have a narrowbody, and many more still if you have a traditional business jet,” he said.
The 747 the Qataris may give Trump only flew 1,069 hours in the five years before it was put on the market in 2020, according to a brochure for the plane from AMAC Aerospace, which built its interior.
One of the Qataris’ other two VIP 747-8s hasn’t been showing up on flight tracking services, indicating it may have been pulled from active service, said Bauer. In 2018, Qatar gave a similar 747-8 to Turkish President Reycep Tayyip Erdogan and offloaded an older 747-SP to an asset management firm, which appears to have put the plane in storage.
The massive, highly customized planes, with idiosyncratic interior decorating, are not easy to sell. “The market is incredibly illiquid for a jet like this,” said Aboulafia.
The poster child is a lavish 747-8 commissioned for Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud before his death in 2011. It was scrapped for parts in 2022 with just 42 hours of flight time.
The active Saudi royal 747 fleet is down to one, with two listed as mothballed in the last three years. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is using smaller aircraft like the Boeing 737 and 787-8.
The 747-8 is still in high demand to carry cargo given its huge internal volume. Two-thirds of the 155 that Boeing sold were configured as freighters, including the final one that left the factory in 2023. But planes like Qatar’s 747-8s are ill-suited to be converted into freighters since they were structurally and mechanically optimized for long-range flight with few passengers and custom interiors, said Bauer.
“It would require gutting the interior, reinforcing the floor, cutting a cargo door, and re-certifying structural integrity — an extremely expensive and complex process,” he said.
Giving the 747-8 to the U.S. would also allow the Qataris to avoid maintenance costs that are only getting higher with the 747 fleet shrinking worldwide and fewer mechanics available who know how to work on them, said John Goglia, a former airline mechanic and member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. The 2020 sales brochure noted that the plane was due for a landing gear overhaul in 2024 and a 12-year check in 2027. A check in which the airplane and engines are taken apart, typically carried out every six to 12 years, can take months to complete and cost millions of dollars. “The numbers are staggering,” said Goglia.
By contrast, Trump, who’s incensed that Boeing is years behind schedule on a $3.9 billion contract to fit out two 747s to serve as presidential jets, on Tuesday claimed that the Qatari plane would save American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. “Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our Country,” Trump wrote on his social-media platform Truth Social.
Aerospace experts aren’t so sure. The plane would need to be stripped down and swept for bugs. Then, unless the administration is willing to accept the risks of lighter security, it would need to be built up to the Air Force’s requirements to serve as an airborne command center, with encrypted communications systems, shielding to protect the electronics from the effects of a nuclear blast and defenses against missiles. That’s a process that Boeing, despite all its delays, is years down the road already with the two planes it began work on in 2018 during Trump’s first term.
It would take at least five years starting again from scratch, Aboulafia estimates, unless security requirements were relaxed.
“I can't imagine any well-trained senior Air Force officer saying this is a good idea,” he said. Democrats and some Republicans are also alarmed over the ethics of accepting such an expensive gift from a foreign country.
Boeing’s target for delivery of the new presidential planes, originally 2024, has slipped to 2028 or 2029, but the company recently told the Air Force it could advance completion to 2027 if requirements are relaxed. The Trump administration tasked billionaire Elon Musk with finding ways to speed up the process.
Boeing has struggled with problems with suppliers for interior components of the jet, the wiring design, and finding workers with security clearances to work on such a sensitive project.
For Qatar, a small nation with powerful neighbors like Iran and Saudi Arabia, the potential gift is another example of how it makes liberal use of its ample financial resources to cultivate allies. Qatar has spent billions of dollars to support a garrison of 10,000 U.S. troops at its Al Udeid air base, the largest American bastion in the Middle East. Qatar has also donated billions to U.S. universities and think tanks and established business ties with the Trump family. A Trump-branded golf course is in the works in Qatar, and a Qatari sovereign wealth fund has made multiple investments with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
If Trump does take the 747, the Qataris will still have plenty of other planes to get around on in the Amiri Flight stable, as well as access to Qatar Airways’ fleet of executive jets, notes business aviation consultant Brian Foley. “I don’t think they’ll miss it.”
The president may be thirsting for a new four-engine jumbo jet, but many governments and royal families are unloading their fuel-guzzling palaces in the sky.
The royal family of Qatar, owner of one of the largest private jet fleets in the world, has been quietly getting rid of some of its biggest planes. It may have found the perfect taker for one of its Boeing 747 jumbo jets in President Donald Trump, who has been frustrated with the multi-year delays in replacing Air Force One.
While many have speculated that the Qataris have offered Trump the luxurious plane to curry favor with the famously transactional president, there may be a simpler rationale: they just don’t want it anymore.
The royals have failed to sell the plane, which was put on the market in 2020, according to an archived listing. Giving it away could save Qatar’s rulers a big chunk of change on maintenance and storage costs, aviation experts told Forbes. Making Trump happy would be an added bonus.
Qatar, which has given away another blinged-out 747 and may have mothballed two more, epitomizes the fading demand for these huge, fuel-guzzling, highly personalized airplanes. There aren’t many who want to buy them, and many of the governments and royal families who own them have been trying to ditch them over the past decade.
“Qatar, like many modern states, is shifting toward leaner, more versatile aircraft, which offer better economics and more discreet presence for official travel,” Linus Bauer, managing director of the Dubai-based aviation consulting firm BAA & Partners, told Forbes. Giving the plane to Trump would be “a creative disposal strategy” that marks “a farewell to a bygone model of geopolitical theater in the skies.”
The arid peninsula off Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf, similar in size to Connecticut, boasts deep reserves of oil and gas that have made the country the fourth-wealthiest in the world by per capita GDP and enriched its rulers, the House of Thani. The family has plowed some of their wealth into an extravagant fleet of roughly a dozen Airbus and Boeing airliners converted into luxurious rides for a small number of passengers, as well as smaller business jets from Bombardier and Dassault.
That includes the 747 coveted by Trump, which was given the tail number A7-HBJ, the initials of billionaire Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, who served as prime minister of Qatar from 2007 to 2013. It’s one of three 747-8s currently in the royal air fleet, which is managed by an entity called Qatar Amiri Flight. When the plane was bought in 2012, its list price was $367 million, not including the interior, which took three years to complete and likely cost tens of millions of dollars.
Unlike the passenger version of the 747-8, which can seat 467 people, the HBJ jet is a flying mansion designed for just 89 passengers, with two bedrooms, entertainment and meeting rooms, and a sumptuous beige and cream-colored interior created by the Parisian design house Cabinet Pinto that features furnishings made of sycamore and wakapou wood, silk fabrics and natural leather.
The luxurious interior of the Qatari 747 took three years to complete. The design was inspired by Art Deco and French saddle makers. It features electronically controlled reclining seats, custom rugs from the Hong Kong firm Tai Ping and art by Alexander Calder.
AMAC Aerospace
The 747, which entered service in 1970, revolutionized air travel by making long-distance air travel affordable for a mass market. But its four big engines make for high costs in an era of higher fuel prices. As of 2019, the VIP version of the 747-8 cost an eye-popping $23,000 an hour to operate, according to Corporate Jet Investor.
Over the past decade, airlines have been retiring the 747 and Airbus’ four-engine A340 in favor of more efficient twin-engine widebodies like the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350, as well as longer-range narrowbodies. Like Qatar, a number of royal families and governments have also been moving away from fuel-guzzling, four-engine palaces in the sky, including Saudi Arabia, Brunei, the UAE and Germany.
Beyond poor fuel efficiency, large ostentatious planes are a security risk, notes Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace consultant with Aerodynamic Advisory. “These things are big targets.” And bigger planes can only land on longer runways, limiting their usage. “There are a lot more airports you can get into if you have a narrowbody, and many more still if you have a traditional business jet,” he said.
The 747 the Qataris may give Trump only flew 1,069 hours in the five years before it was put on the market in 2020, according to a brochure for the plane from AMAC Aerospace, which built its interior.
One of the Qataris’ other two VIP 747-8s hasn’t been showing up on flight tracking services, indicating it may have been pulled from active service, said Bauer. In 2018, Qatar gave a similar 747-8 to Turkish President Reycep Tayyip Erdogan and offloaded an older 747-SP to an asset management firm, which appears to have put the plane in storage.
The massive, highly customized planes, with idiosyncratic interior decorating, are not easy to sell. “The market is incredibly illiquid for a jet like this,” said Aboulafia.
The poster child is a lavish 747-8 commissioned for Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud before his death in 2011. It was scrapped for parts in 2022 with just 42 hours of flight time.
The active Saudi royal 747 fleet is down to one, with two listed as mothballed in the last three years. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is using smaller aircraft like the Boeing 737 and 787-8.
The 747-8 is still in high demand to carry cargo given its huge internal volume. Two-thirds of the 155 that Boeing sold were configured as freighters, including the final one that left the factory in 2023. But planes like Qatar’s 747-8s are ill-suited to be converted into freighters since they were structurally and mechanically optimized for long-range flight with few passengers and custom interiors, said Bauer.
“It would require gutting the interior, reinforcing the floor, cutting a cargo door, and re-certifying structural integrity — an extremely expensive and complex process,” he said.
Giving the 747-8 to the U.S. would also allow the Qataris to avoid maintenance costs that are only getting higher with the 747 fleet shrinking worldwide and fewer mechanics available who know how to work on them, said John Goglia, a former airline mechanic and member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. The 2020 sales brochure noted that the plane was due for a landing gear overhaul in 2024 and a 12-year check in 2027. A check in which the airplane and engines are taken apart, typically carried out every six to 12 years, can take months to complete and cost millions of dollars. “The numbers are staggering,” said Goglia.
By contrast, Trump, who’s incensed that Boeing is years behind schedule on a $3.9 billion contract to fit out two 747s to serve as presidential jets, on Tuesday claimed that the Qatari plane would save American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. “Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our Country,” Trump wrote on his social-media platform Truth Social.
Aerospace experts aren’t so sure. The plane would need to be stripped down and swept for bugs. Then, unless the administration is willing to accept the risks of lighter security, it would need to be built up to the Air Force’s requirements to serve as an airborne command center, with encrypted communications systems, shielding to protect the electronics from the effects of a nuclear blast and defenses against missiles. That’s a process that Boeing, despite all its delays, is years down the road already with the two planes it began work on in 2018 during Trump’s first term.
It would take at least five years starting again from scratch, Aboulafia estimates, unless security requirements were relaxed.
“I can't imagine any well-trained senior Air Force officer saying this is a good idea,” he said. Democrats and some Republicans are also alarmed over the ethics of accepting such an expensive gift from a foreign country.
Boeing’s target for delivery of the new presidential planes, originally 2024, has slipped to 2028 or 2029, but the company recently told the Air Force it could advance completion to 2027 if requirements are relaxed. The Trump administration tasked billionaire Elon Musk with finding ways to speed up the process.
Boeing has struggled with problems with suppliers for interior components of the jet, the wiring design, and finding workers with security clearances to work on such a sensitive project.
For Qatar, a small nation with powerful neighbors like Iran and Saudi Arabia, the potential gift is another example of how it makes liberal use of its ample financial resources to cultivate allies. Qatar has spent billions of dollars to support a garrison of 10,000 U.S. troops at its Al Udeid air base, the largest American bastion in the Middle East. Qatar has also donated billions to U.S. universities and think tanks and established business ties with the Trump family. A Trump-branded golf course is in the works in Qatar, and a Qatari sovereign wealth fund has made multiple investments with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
If Trump does take the 747, the Qataris will still have plenty of other planes to get around on in the Amiri Flight stable, as well as access to Qatar Airways’ fleet of executive jets, notes business aviation consultant Brian Foley. “I don’t think they’ll miss it.”
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Honey, Trump shrunk the economy! And the lying coward is still blaming Biden. | Opinion
The cowardly president was quick to blame the bad economic news on former President Joe Biden, because, as we've learned over the past decade, nothing is ever Trump's fault.
USA TODAY
Here’s the truth, assuming you still believe in such things: After three years of growth, the U.S. economy shrunk in the first quarter of this year, and it’s all thanks to President Donald Trump and his bizarre, old-timey obsession with tariffs.
The cowardly president was quick to blame the bad economic news on former President Joe Biden, because, as we’ve learned over the past decade, nothing is ever Trump’s fault – even when it is.
The president posted this gibberish April 30 on his increasingly inaccurately named Truth Social site: “Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang.’ This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!”
So much for Republicans being the party of personal responsibility.
Trump has demolished the strong economy Biden left him
Biden left Trump with an envy-of-the-world economy that was humming along. The tariffs – which for the 10 millionth time are a tax on American consumers that won’t accomplish what Trump thinks they’ll accomplish – are almost entirely to blame for America’s economic shrinkage.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
“If you were looking for a playbook on how to slow a healthy economy, this seems like a good example,” said Scott Helfstein, Global X's Head of Investment Strategy. “The continual sequence of policy reversals has led to very high levels of uncertainty for businesses and investors.”
Opinion: Amazon accidentally told the truth about what Trump's tariffs are costing us
Those high levels of uncertainty aren’t Biden’s fault. They’re the fault of the current president, who doesn’t seem to know his tail end from his elbow and keeps slapping tariffs on things like an excited child with a price gun and nothing to lose.
On the economy, all Trump can do is play the blame game
“Growth has simply vanished,” Chris Rupkey, chief economist at the financial research firm Fwdbonds, wrote to the firm’s clients. “Maybe some of this negativity is due to a rush to bring in imports before the tariffs go up, but there is simply no way for policy advisers to sugarcoat this.”
Oh, don’t worry, the coward Trump can find a way to sugarcoat it.
“We came in on Jan. 20. So, this is Biden,” the president said during an April 30 Cabinet meeting. “And you can even say the next quarter is sort of Biden.”
Opinion: Trump made good on cruel promises, ruining countless lives. It's made America worse.
Sure. And maybe the quarter after that or the possible recession coming later this year will be Biden’s fault as well. Who’s to say?
Let's remember, even when the economy was cooking and post-COVID inflation was going down under Biden, Republicans and the right-wing media could barely contain their outrage at "Bidenomics." But when Trump shrinks the economy for the first time in several years? Crickets from those hypocrites.
Numbers don't lie: Biden's economy was strong. Trump's tariffs killed it.
In 2024, under the aforementioned Biden, the S&P 500 grew 23%.
As The Wall Street Journal reported April 29, the day before stocks reacted to this sorrowful first-quarter economic news: “The Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped 6.8% since Inauguration Day on Jan. 20. It was the worst start to a presidency for the index since the start of Richard Nixon's second term in 1973, according to Dow Jones Market Data.”
The two presidents are not the same, and the former isn’t at all to blame for the latter’s financial bungling.
Stock market falling, economy shrinking, consumer sentiment down
According to the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, U.S. consumer sentiment dropped again in April, the fourth consecutive month that has happened.
These are not good developments if you like having job security, money in the bank and the ability to afford groceries.
Making them worse is the fact that Trump waltzed into the White House claiming he would usher in an economic Golden Age. Instead, he has flushed the American economy down a golden toilet. And he won’t admit to any mistakes or show any sign of a course correction.
The only way the man would acknowledge the existence of humility is if it told him how fantastic he is.
Now is not the time to be patient with Trump's handling of the economy
So here we are with our shrunken economy, looking at empty ports and staring at pain yet to be felt, with a so-called leader who’s only capable of blaming others for his own failures.
Trump is imploring Americans to “BE PATIENT!!!” with his economic recklessness. That, quite clearly, is the worst thing any of us could possibly do.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk
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Trump Is Not My President
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Politics
Emily Crane
Published June 11, 2025, 7:26 a.m. ET
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard warned of a “nuclear holocaust” as she ripped warmongers for bringing the world closer to the “brink of nuclear annihilation” than ever before.
President Trump’s intelligence director posted an ominous three-minute social media video on Tuesday to sound the alarm on the consequences of a nuclear attack following her recent visit to Hiroshima, Japan, which was destroyed in such an attack in 1945.
“This is the reality of what’s at stake, what we are facing now,” Gabbard said.
4
Tulsi Gabbard released a video on nuclear threats.@TulsiGabbard/X
“Because as we stand here today, closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before, political elite warmongers are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers,” she said.
“Perhaps it’s because they are confident that they will have access to nuclear shelters for themselves and for their families that regular people won’t have access to. So it’s up to us, the people, to speak up and demand an end to this madness,” she added.
4
The first B61-13 HiFi nuclear bomb unit completed at Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque, New Mexico.Craig Fritz/Sandia National Labs / SWNS
Gabbard’s grim remarks come as the Trump administration pushes forward with negotiations with Iran over a nuclear deal.
An explosion from a nuclear test explosion from April 1954.U.S. Air Force via REUTERS
President Trump signaled he is losing hope that Iran will agree to end all uranium enrichment in a revised nuclear deal — but remains determined not to allow Tehran to get their hands on an atomic weapon.
“I don’t know,” Trump told The Post’s Miranda Devine when asked if he thought he could get Iran to agree to shut down its nuclear program.
“I don’t know. I did think so, and I’m getting more and more — less confident about it.
Image shows the destruction from the explosion of an atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan.AP
“They seem to be delaying, and I think that’s a shame, but I’m less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago. Something happened to them, but I am much less confident of a deal being made.”
Gabbard’s warning also comes as the US continues to broker ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, as well as Israel and Gaza.
Tulsi Gabbard warns of ‘nuclear holocaust’ in ominous video: We’re ‘closer to the brink’ of annihilation than ever before
ByEmily Crane
Published June 11, 2025, 7:26 a.m. ET
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard warned of a “nuclear holocaust” as she ripped warmongers for bringing the world closer to the “brink of nuclear annihilation” than ever before.
President Trump’s intelligence director posted an ominous three-minute social media video on Tuesday to sound the alarm on the consequences of a nuclear attack following her recent visit to Hiroshima, Japan, which was destroyed in such an attack in 1945.
“This is the reality of what’s at stake, what we are facing now,” Gabbard said.
4Tulsi Gabbard released a video on nuclear threats.@TulsiGabbard/X
“Because as we stand here today, closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before, political elite warmongers are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers,” she said.
“Perhaps it’s because they are confident that they will have access to nuclear shelters for themselves and for their families that regular people won’t have access to. So it’s up to us, the people, to speak up and demand an end to this madness,” she added.
4The first B61-13 HiFi nuclear bomb unit completed at Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque, New Mexico.Craig Fritz/Sandia National Labs / SWNS
Gabbard’s grim remarks come as the Trump administration pushes forward with negotiations with Iran over a nuclear deal.
An explosion from a nuclear test explosion from April 1954.U.S. Air Force via REUTERS
President Trump signaled he is losing hope that Iran will agree to end all uranium enrichment in a revised nuclear deal — but remains determined not to allow Tehran to get their hands on an atomic weapon.
“I don’t know,” Trump told The Post’s Miranda Devine when asked if he thought he could get Iran to agree to shut down its nuclear program.
“I don’t know. I did think so, and I’m getting more and more — less confident about it.
Image shows the destruction from the explosion of an atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan.AP
“They seem to be delaying, and I think that’s a shame, but I’m less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago. Something happened to them, but I am much less confident of a deal being made.”
Gabbard’s warning also comes as the US continues to broker ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, as well as Israel and Gaza.
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Sailors who can’t deploy will be moved to empty jobs under Navy program
The EMPLOY program is aimed at retaining sailors with medical conditions that might otherwise force them out of the Navy.Patty Nieberg
Published Jun 11, 2025 10:27 AM EDT
The Navy is implementing a program aimed at retaining sailors with temporary medical injuries or conditions that make them non-deployable. The EMPLOY program places these sailors into jobs that would otherwise sit empty. Navy photo by Lt. Cmdr. Alicia Sacks.
The Navy is implementing a program that will transfer non-deployable sailors to jobs that will keep them in the service long enough to return to duty rather than being separated on medical grounds.
The new EMPLOY program will focus on sailor “employability, not deployability,” by filling empty jobs with sailors who cannot deploy and reducing the number of sailors separated from the service through the Disability Evaluation System, according to a Naval admin notice posted Monday.
“EMPLOY accomplishes multiple important objectives for the Navy: we keep sailors on their career track by providing them with meaningful assignments that match their skills, we fill critical gapped billets ashore, and as an organization we retain the valuable knowledge, skills and experience these sailors possess,” Navy spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Stuart Phillips told Task & Purpose. “Everyone wins.”
The EMPLOY program is designed to place sailors into already-funded billets that would otherwise remain vacant. These assignments last for at least 24 months and include non-deployable, land-based jobs.
The Navy released formal instructions for the program this week but began a “phased roll-out of the EMPLOY model last year,” to evaluate the program’s effectiveness, Phillips said. In May 2024, the first sailor was approved for an EMPLOY program tour.
To date, 850 Sailors have been considered for EMPLOY with 303 selected so far. An average of 20 sailors are nominated each week, according to Phillips.
The program is designed to retain sailors who are non-deployable due to injuries or illnesses, but who are expected to eventually return to duty. Sailors who are “medically incapable of continued service” are not eligible for the program, according to a Navy factsheet.
For example, sailors recovering from a musculoskeletal injury that will eventually heal, or who are undergoing treatment for cancer, could be eligible for the EMPLOY program, Phillips said.
The program could also be for sailors taking certain medications that make them non-deployable. Phillips gave the example of anticoagulant medications that prevent fatal blood clots but also increase the risk of uncontrolled bleeding “which is even more dangerous on a deployed warship.”
“While sailors in these situations may not be suitable for a sea duty tour, they can continue to contribute from a shore billet,” Phillips said.
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EMPLOY is open to sailors on active duty and those in the Navy’s Training and Administration of the Reserve program, in which Reserve officers are put on active duty to manage and train the service’s Reserve Component.
Sailors in specialized career fields that require special duty screenings, like submarine duty, will have to complete a screening and de-screening process before they can be considered for EMPLOY.
The process begins with a sailor’s medical provider, who nominates the sailor for the program. Their case is reviewed by officials, including a Medical Evaluation Board. Sailors can work with detailers to negotiate their current orders or they can look for new opportunities through the Senior Enlisted Marketplace.
The jobs sailors can hold in the program include Type 1 and Type 6 duty stations. Type 1 stations are shore assignments at bases in the continental U.S., Hawaii and Alaska. Sailors are limited from leaving their station for more than 150 days per year, or attending schools that last 18 months or more. Type 6 duty stations are overseas and have similar limits for sailors not to be absent from their offices for more than 150 days each year. Examples of Type 6 can include overseas stations, like Naval Base Sigonella, Italy and some more-remote locations in the U.S., like Naval Air Station Key West, Florida.
Sailors may be cross-rated or redesignated into a new career field if the new job requires it. They may also be issued a conditional enlistment contract if they don’t have enough time left in their current one.
The NAVADMIN recommends that they consult with career counselors on how these temporary jobs could affect future Navy opportunities within their job field or other non-traditional roles. However, sailors in the program are still eligible for promotion.
The Navy has faced similar recruiting challenges to other services in recent years but changes to how it recruits new sailors and a revamp of its medical waiver process have led to improvements. In February, the service announced in a post on X that it was on track to meet its highest recruiting goal in over 20 years with more than 14,000 future sailors joining in the first four months of fiscal year 2025.
In September 2023, the Government Accountability Office found that the Navy didn’t have enough enlisted sailors to man its aircraft carriers, other surface ships, and attack submarines. As of November 2023, the Navy had 70,705 enlisted sailors, 16% fewer than the necessary 84,379 sailor billets.
Sailors will be re-evaluated during their EMPLOY rotation and assessed as either fit for return to duty, a new EMPLOY assignment or referred to the disability system, or separated from the service. The Navy does not have any specific limits on how long a sailor could remain in the EMPLOY program.
NO KINGS (June 14th)
No Kings
On June 14—Flag Day—Donald Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday. A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else.
www.nokings.org
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Rep. Melissa Hortman & husband killed in shooting
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BREAKING: Police release screenshots of security footage revealing the Minnesota assassin wearing a latex mask and impersonating a police officer before shooting the Democratic lawmakers in their homes in the middle of the night.
He was a registered Republican.
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NO KINGS (June 14th)
No Kings
On June 14—Flag Day—Donald Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday. A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else.
NO KINGS.
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Elon Musk vows to start a new political party after Trump feud. Here's why that's harder than it sounds.
www.cbsnews.com
As billionaire Elon Musk feuds with President Trump over his signature tax and domestic policy legislation, Musk has reupped his calls to launch a new political party — a daunting task even for the wealthiest person on Earth.
Musk first floated launching a third party, dubbed the "America Party," earlier this month, part of a nasty back-and-forth between the president and the Tesla CEO that marked the likely end of their political alliance. Musk raised the idea again this week as lawmakers raced to send the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to Mr. Trump's desk — and this time, Musk put a time limit on the plan.
"If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day," Musk wrote in a post on X Monday evening, hours before the bill passed the Senate on Tuesday and headed back to the House. "Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE."
It remains unclear if Musk will follow through on his pledge, but the idea could be easier said than done. If Musk decides to launch a new political party, he'll need to contend with a thicket of complicated state laws, time-consuming ballot access rules and intense litigation.
"Only the richest person in the world could make a serious effort at creating a new American political party," Brett Kappel, a veteran election lawyer, told CBS News.
Each state has different legal rules for recognizing which political parties can appear on the ballot, and those hurdles "range from high to extraordinarily difficult to overcome," he noted. In some cases, a nascent state party may need to get candidates onto the ballot by submitting large numbers of signatures, and then win a certain percentage of the vote across election cycles.
For example, to qualify in California, a new political party needs to either sign up 0.33% of the state's voters — or about 75,000 people — as registered members, or submit signatures from 1.1 million voters. After that, in order to remain qualified, parties have to either maintain that 0.33% registration threshold or win at least 2% of the vote in a statewide race.
And to gain recognition at the national level, each state-level political party would need to seek an advisory opinion from the Federal Election Commission.
These efforts would almost certainly face intense pushback from the Democratic and Republican parties, including legal challenges over signatures in each state, requiring Musk — or any other aspiring third-party founder — to spend scores of money on litigation.
"The state laws in all of the states are biased towards the two major political parties, and make it as difficult as possible for the emergence of a third political party," Kappel told CBS News.
The process of creating a political party with national ambitions would be time-consuming, too. Kappel says it might be doable — albeit difficult — for Musk to get a few favored candidates onto the ballot in certain states, but building an entirely new national party would likely take years, and would not be possible by the 2026 midterm elections.
For evidence of how challenging the process is, look no further than the struggles that existing third parties have faced. The Green Party and Libertarian Party were each founded decades ago, and still engage in state-by-state pushes for ballot access and party recognition.
"The hurdles for creating a new party and getting it on the ballot are extremely high. It can be done if you have endless amounts of money, but it's a multi-year project and will cost hundreds of millions of dollars," Kappel said.
The Tesla and SpaceX leader spent a staggering $277 million to aid Mr. Trump and other Republican candidates in the 2024 election cycle. The bulk of that spending, roughly $239 million, was routed through America PAC, a political action committee founded by Musk that underwrote a sprawling get-out-the-vote effort across the swing states.
Since then, Musk has hinted that he plans to dial back his involvement in politics. His tenure leading the Trump administration's cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency ended in May, a month after telling Tesla shareholders his work with the federal government will "drop significantly." He also said at the Qatar Economic Forum in May that he will "do a lot less" political spending moving forward, noting he doesn't "currently see a reason" to keep opening his wallet.
If Musk follows through on his proposal to launch a competitor to the two mainstream parties, it would mark an expensive return to the fray — and the laws around how to finance it are complex.
Before new political parties are formally recognized, they are typically organized as not-for-profit groups, and their financial backers do not face any dollar limits to their donations, Kappel says. But once a party gains national recognition, donors like Musk would be subject to the FEC's caps on political contributions. Currently, individuals can only give $10,000 a year to a state political party, or $44,300 a year to a national party committee, the FEC says.
The rules governing when organizations are subject to those limits are byzantine. Almost two decades ago, the FEC said a group called Unity08 — which aimed to create a bipartisan presidential ticket — must register as a political committee if it spends over $1,000 trying to get ballot access. After a lengthy legal battle, an appeals court reversed that decision.
Another way for Musk to keep wielding political influence would be through America PAC. The group is organized as a super PAC, which allows Musk to donate unlimited sums of money, but requires the group to remain officially independent from candidates or political parties.
Even as he mused about launching a third party, Musk implied this week he could remain engaged in Republican politics. The billionaire suggested he will back primary challenges against GOP lawmakers who voted for the Trump-endorsed One Big Beautiful Bill Act. He also vowed to lend support to Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who voted against the bill and is facing a Trump-backed primary contest.
The president, for his part, has said in recent days that Musk appears to be "upset" that his signature tax and domestic policy bill would phase out electric vehicle tax credits — which could cost Tesla billions. Some of Musk's criticisms of the bill have focused on its steep cuts to green energy incentives, though he has also argued the bill is too expensive.
"I think Elon is a wonderful guy, and I know he's going to do well always," Mr. Trump told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo in an interview that aired Sunday. "But he got a little bit upset, and that wasn't appropriate."
Elon Musk vows to start a new political party after Trump feud. Here's why that's harder than it sounds.
Billionaire Elon Musk is floating a new political party dubbed the "America Party" — but the idea could face major hurdles.
www.cbsnews.com
As billionaire Elon Musk feuds with President Trump over his signature tax and domestic policy legislation, Musk has reupped his calls to launch a new political party — a daunting task even for the wealthiest person on Earth.
Musk first floated launching a third party, dubbed the "America Party," earlier this month, part of a nasty back-and-forth between the president and the Tesla CEO that marked the likely end of their political alliance. Musk raised the idea again this week as lawmakers raced to send the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to Mr. Trump's desk — and this time, Musk put a time limit on the plan.
"If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day," Musk wrote in a post on X Monday evening, hours before the bill passed the Senate on Tuesday and headed back to the House. "Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE."
It remains unclear if Musk will follow through on his pledge, but the idea could be easier said than done. If Musk decides to launch a new political party, he'll need to contend with a thicket of complicated state laws, time-consuming ballot access rules and intense litigation.
"Only the richest person in the world could make a serious effort at creating a new American political party," Brett Kappel, a veteran election lawyer, told CBS News.
Navigating 50 different state laws — and federal rules
"Political parties are creatures of the states," Kappel said.Each state has different legal rules for recognizing which political parties can appear on the ballot, and those hurdles "range from high to extraordinarily difficult to overcome," he noted. In some cases, a nascent state party may need to get candidates onto the ballot by submitting large numbers of signatures, and then win a certain percentage of the vote across election cycles.
For example, to qualify in California, a new political party needs to either sign up 0.33% of the state's voters — or about 75,000 people — as registered members, or submit signatures from 1.1 million voters. After that, in order to remain qualified, parties have to either maintain that 0.33% registration threshold or win at least 2% of the vote in a statewide race.
And to gain recognition at the national level, each state-level political party would need to seek an advisory opinion from the Federal Election Commission.
These efforts would almost certainly face intense pushback from the Democratic and Republican parties, including legal challenges over signatures in each state, requiring Musk — or any other aspiring third-party founder — to spend scores of money on litigation.
"The state laws in all of the states are biased towards the two major political parties, and make it as difficult as possible for the emergence of a third political party," Kappel told CBS News.
The process of creating a political party with national ambitions would be time-consuming, too. Kappel says it might be doable — albeit difficult — for Musk to get a few favored candidates onto the ballot in certain states, but building an entirely new national party would likely take years, and would not be possible by the 2026 midterm elections.
For evidence of how challenging the process is, look no further than the struggles that existing third parties have faced. The Green Party and Libertarian Party were each founded decades ago, and still engage in state-by-state pushes for ballot access and party recognition.
"The hurdles for creating a new party and getting it on the ballot are extremely high. It can be done if you have endless amounts of money, but it's a multi-year project and will cost hundreds of millions of dollars," Kappel said.
Musk's campaign cash
The high cost of launching a political party may not be a big stumbling block for Musk, whose net worth exceeds $350 billion according to Forbes and Bloomberg's valuations.The Tesla and SpaceX leader spent a staggering $277 million to aid Mr. Trump and other Republican candidates in the 2024 election cycle. The bulk of that spending, roughly $239 million, was routed through America PAC, a political action committee founded by Musk that underwrote a sprawling get-out-the-vote effort across the swing states.
Since then, Musk has hinted that he plans to dial back his involvement in politics. His tenure leading the Trump administration's cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency ended in May, a month after telling Tesla shareholders his work with the federal government will "drop significantly." He also said at the Qatar Economic Forum in May that he will "do a lot less" political spending moving forward, noting he doesn't "currently see a reason" to keep opening his wallet.
If Musk follows through on his proposal to launch a competitor to the two mainstream parties, it would mark an expensive return to the fray — and the laws around how to finance it are complex.
Before new political parties are formally recognized, they are typically organized as not-for-profit groups, and their financial backers do not face any dollar limits to their donations, Kappel says. But once a party gains national recognition, donors like Musk would be subject to the FEC's caps on political contributions. Currently, individuals can only give $10,000 a year to a state political party, or $44,300 a year to a national party committee, the FEC says.
The rules governing when organizations are subject to those limits are byzantine. Almost two decades ago, the FEC said a group called Unity08 — which aimed to create a bipartisan presidential ticket — must register as a political committee if it spends over $1,000 trying to get ballot access. After a lengthy legal battle, an appeals court reversed that decision.
Another way for Musk to keep wielding political influence would be through America PAC. The group is organized as a super PAC, which allows Musk to donate unlimited sums of money, but requires the group to remain officially independent from candidates or political parties.
Even as he mused about launching a third party, Musk implied this week he could remain engaged in Republican politics. The billionaire suggested he will back primary challenges against GOP lawmakers who voted for the Trump-endorsed One Big Beautiful Bill Act. He also vowed to lend support to Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who voted against the bill and is facing a Trump-backed primary contest.
The president, for his part, has said in recent days that Musk appears to be "upset" that his signature tax and domestic policy bill would phase out electric vehicle tax credits — which could cost Tesla billions. Some of Musk's criticisms of the bill have focused on its steep cuts to green energy incentives, though he has also argued the bill is too expensive.
"I think Elon is a wonderful guy, and I know he's going to do well always," Mr. Trump told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo in an interview that aired Sunday. "But he got a little bit upset, and that wasn't appropriate."
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I pledge
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Republicans Are Destroying Our Future
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So let me get this straight: one lucky group of employers now gets to hire cheap illegal labor to boost their profits, while all other employers...
US News
The Trump administration is launching a new visa program for migrant workers as farmers and hotel owners express concerns that their labor force is being threatened by the president’s mass deportation raids.
The Department of Labor’s newly-created Office of Immigration Policy will help fast track visas for foreign laborers — but the administration has made it clear that the initiative is “not amnesty” for illegal migrant workers, a senior administration official told Axios.
“This is not amnesty. It’s not amnesty lite,” the official told the publication. “No one who is illegally here is being given a pathway to citizenship or residency.”
Migrants who are in the US illegally will not be eligible for the visa program and would-be foreign workers must apply from their home country before coming to the US legally, Axios reported, citing officials.
3
The Trump administration has faced pressure from farmers over his mass deportation effort.WILL OLIVER/EPA/Shutterstock
The Office of Immigration Policy will attempt to cut through regulations the Labor Department argues the Biden administration used as incentives for employers to hire illegal immigrants.
It’s unclear how the Trump administration intends to expedite the visas for migrant workers.
To hire foreign, seasonal agricultural workers via H-2A visas, farmers must show that there’s a lack of qualified local employees to fill the roles, according to the Department of Labor.
President Trump last month halted ICE raids at farms, hotels and restaurants after industry leaders raised some issues stemming from the administration’s immigration crackdown.
The employers, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, shared that his “policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace.”
“In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs,” Trump wrote. “This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”
The Trump administration hopes to streamline the process for migrant farmworkers to obtain visas.AFP via Getty Images
One Trump advisor told Axios that the post served as “the bat signal to ICE” to “leave the farmers alone.”
ICE raids on farms, hotels and restaurants have since resumed.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said that farmers dug themselves into a hole by not taking Trump’s threats of carrying out a historic deportation campaign seriously.
“They should have known this was coming,” Krikorian told The Post.
“That’s not the way it has to be done. That is the business model they have followed. And they should have known eight months ago that they needed to start making adjustments,” said Krikorian.
Krikorian said these farmers have access to the “unlimited” H-2A visa program for agricultural workers, but didn’t want to shell out the extra cash to provide required wages.
Migrant workers tend to a farm in Florida.AFP via Getty Images
He added: “It’s an unlimited program, but it has certain requirements related to pay and transportation and housing. And the farmers just want to not bother. Well, sorry, but they’ve had eight months to work with companies that actually arrange the H-2A process.”
US News
Trump offers new visa program for migrant workers after facing backlash from farmers: report
The Trump administration is launching a new visa program for migrant workers as farmers and hotel owners express concerns that their labor force is being threatened by the president’s mass deportation raids.
The Department of Labor’s newly-created Office of Immigration Policy will help fast track visas for foreign laborers — but the administration has made it clear that the initiative is “not amnesty” for illegal migrant workers, a senior administration official told Axios.
“This is not amnesty. It’s not amnesty lite,” the official told the publication. “No one who is illegally here is being given a pathway to citizenship or residency.”
Migrants who are in the US illegally will not be eligible for the visa program and would-be foreign workers must apply from their home country before coming to the US legally, Axios reported, citing officials.
3The Trump administration has faced pressure from farmers over his mass deportation effort.WILL OLIVER/EPA/Shutterstock
The Office of Immigration Policy will attempt to cut through regulations the Labor Department argues the Biden administration used as incentives for employers to hire illegal immigrants.
It’s unclear how the Trump administration intends to expedite the visas for migrant workers.
To hire foreign, seasonal agricultural workers via H-2A visas, farmers must show that there’s a lack of qualified local employees to fill the roles, according to the Department of Labor.
President Trump last month halted ICE raids at farms, hotels and restaurants after industry leaders raised some issues stemming from the administration’s immigration crackdown.
The employers, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, shared that his “policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace.”
“In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs,” Trump wrote. “This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”
The Trump administration hopes to streamline the process for migrant farmworkers to obtain visas.AFP via Getty Images
One Trump advisor told Axios that the post served as “the bat signal to ICE” to “leave the farmers alone.”
ICE raids on farms, hotels and restaurants have since resumed.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said that farmers dug themselves into a hole by not taking Trump’s threats of carrying out a historic deportation campaign seriously.
“They should have known this was coming,” Krikorian told The Post.
“That’s not the way it has to be done. That is the business model they have followed. And they should have known eight months ago that they needed to start making adjustments,” said Krikorian.
Krikorian said these farmers have access to the “unlimited” H-2A visa program for agricultural workers, but didn’t want to shell out the extra cash to provide required wages.
Migrant workers tend to a farm in Florida.AFP via Getty Images
He added: “It’s an unlimited program, but it has certain requirements related to pay and transportation and housing. And the farmers just want to not bother. Well, sorry, but they’ve had eight months to work with companies that actually arrange the H-2A process.”
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1987 DOCUMENTARY: Life in The SOUTH BRONX | A Cry For Help
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American father of three who joined Russian army to escape ‘woke’ US has been sent to the frontlines, wife says
ByRonny Reyes
Published July 22, 2025, 6:20 p.m. ET
234 Comments
American dad DUPED into fighting on Russian frontlines after family fled US
A Texas father of three who moved his family to Russia and joined the military to escape “wokeness” in the US has been sent to the frontlines of Moscow’s meat grinder, his wife said.
Derek Huffman, 46, claimed he was being tossed under the bus after being deployed to the frontlines in Ukraine despite assurances from the Russian military that he would be serving in a non-combat role, his wife DeAnna said in a now deleted YouTube page, according to the Telegraph.
“He feels like he’s being thrown to the wolves right now, and he’s kind of having to lean on faith, and that’s what we’re all doing,” she said of her husband’s situation.
4Texan Derek Huffman moved to Russia together with his family to escape “wokeness” in the US.X / HuffmanTime
4Huffman went on to join the Russian military, where he was allegedly promised a non-combat role, only for him to be deployed to the frontlines, his wife claims.YouTube / HuffmanTime
The Huffmans had moved to Russia in March, with the father-of-three celebrating what he called an escape from the LGBTQ “indoctrination” in America.
He was one of two families who reportedly answered American blogger Tim Kirby’s invitation to move to a village outside Moscow to be free of the “liberal gender norm.”
To secure an expedited citizenship process for his family and to earn the respect of his new countrymen, Huffman told Russian state media that he would gladly join the military.
“The point of this act for me is to earn a place here in Russia,” he told state media last month.
4Huffman claimed he was happy to enlist in the army to expedite his citizenship process and earn the respect of his new countrymen.
“If I risk myself for our new country, no one will say that I am not a part of it. Unlike migrants in America who come there just like that, do not assimilate, and at the same time want free handouts,” he added.
DeAnna, however, claims he was misled during the military recruitment process, where Russian officers allegedly promised him a role as a welder or war correspondent.
Instead, Huffman, who has no prior military experience, underwent training in a language he did not understand and was shipped off to fight in the frontlines, where hundreds of Russian troops are killed every week.
4His wife, DeAnna, said her husband has no prior military experience and received little training by the time he learned he would be deployed to fight Ukraine.YouTube / HuffmanTime
“Unfortunately, when you’re taught in a different language, and you don’t understand the language, how are you really getting taught?” DeAnna pointed out. “You’re not.”
“It seems as though he is getting one more week of training, closer to the front lines, and then they are going to put him on the front lines,” she added.
The confused wife also claimed that even after a month of service, the family has yet to receive any of the wages promised to Huffman.
234
What do you think? Post a comment.
Huffman was last seen on his family’s social media accounts during a Father’s Day message to his wife and kids in June, which showed him wearing camouflage and speaking to them directly.
“I miss you all more than you can imagine,” he said. “I can’t wait to see you, hopefully I get a vacation at some point and I get to go home and spend a couple of weeks with you.
“But man, you’re on my mind 24/7 and just know that what I’m doing is important to me and important to our family. Just know I will do whatever it takes to be safe and to come home to you. Take care of each other,” he added.
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