Trump's portrayal of himself as Jesus, or anointed by Jesus, is typical of cult leaders.
Chris Hedges Apr 20, 2026
Clock ticking on president's ability to wage war without congressional approval, limited to 60 days by 1973 legislation
Rep. Tom Kean Jr. represents New Jersey's most competitive district this November " but nobody, even his GOP colleagues, can say where he's been for the past month. A scion of one of the state's most storied political dynasties, Kean's team says the two-term congressmember is facing unspecified health issues. The New Jersey Republican hasn't voted since March 5 and has missed almost 50 roll call votes. The other two Republicans in the New Jersey delegation, Reps. Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew, said they have called and texted Kean out of concern for his health. But so far, neither said they have heard from him. Van Drew said it's been "radio silence."
Election law attorney Marc Elias dubbed Turley "Mike Lindell with tenure," which is funny, but always seemed a tad unfair. Turley's takes oscillate between ragebait cynicism and comical dullardry. Even his most conspiratorial takes " like swallowing hook, line, and sinker the wingnut theories about Hunter Biden's laptop " carried a faux intellectual energy, that separated him from the frothing conspiracy theory vibe that the MyPillow guy brings to everything. But that tenuous grip on reality seems to be slipping, as the professor delivers his contrarian love letter to the recently deposed Viktor Orban. Sure, Orban had ties to Putin and a reputation for "authoritarianism and corruption," Turley concedes, but the Hungarian prime minister formed the last firewall against "global governance," a term Turley invokes with all the tin foil, black helicopter baggage you'd expect from Alex Jones, not a GW Law professor.
Hospitals in Mississippi " already strained under the costs of caring for a high rate of patients without health insurance and with low-reimbursement plans, such as Medicaid " are expected to lose $1 billion over the course of the next decade as a result of President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill signed into law in July. To complicate matters further, federal enhanced premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act Marketplace insurance expired late last year. That happened after Congress did not extend them, making health care less affordable for hundreds of thousands of Mississippians.
Close to half of the children in the United States"more than 33 million kids"live in counties with dangerously high levels of toxic air pollution, according to the American Lung Association's annual air quality report out Wednesday. Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the ALA, said at a time when the federal government should be strengthening air quality standards, President Donald Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) "is doing the opposite," despite Trump's campaign promise to deliver "the cleanest air." "In the last year, EPA has weakened enforcement and rolled back rules that would have protected kids from power plant and vehicle pollution," said Wimmer. "Children need clean air to grow and play, and communities need clean air to thrive. Leaders at every level must act to improve and protect America's air quality."
The media blackout of Jared Kushner's historic, ongoing corruption scandal As Trump's son-in-law returns to Pakistan for more talks with Iran, major news outlets are largely ignoring an egregious conflict of interest. Read more
US Naval Secretary John Phelan has been fired. Phelan, who has no military experience, was appointed to the position by Trump in 2025 following a career as a private equity CEO and Republican fundraiser.
An IDF soldier wracked with unimaginable guilt and suffering from PTSD after being deployed into the Gaza Strip:
Meanwhile other Israelis celebrate the mass murder of Palestinians
The Trump administration is in advanced talks for a financing package for Spirit Airlines as the carrier is facing the risk of a liquidation, according to people familiar with the matter.
The deal could include $500 million in financing from the government, which could provide a path to give the government an equity stake in the carrier, said the people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks. The senior financing would put the government ahead of other stakeholders in the airline, one of the people said.
The iconic discounter Spirit has been challenged for years by rising costs, changing consumer tastes, an engine recall and a court-blocked plan to be acquired by JetBlue Airways two years ago.
Department of Homeland Security Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism Julia Varvaro (29) has been accused of picking up men on Seeking.com, a site that is often used by young, attractive singles looking for older, wealthier partners to help fund their luxury lifestyles. Said a former CIA officer: "If true, allegations of a sugar daddy relationship' and unreported income are serious issues for DHS security personnel that need to be resolved."
One of the World's Oldest Vocations
In the days before proposed talks aimed at ending the war between them, President Trump and Iran's leaders exchanged a barrage of threats and insults that played out like a high-stakes game of chicken. In the end - at least, from Iran's perspective - Mr. Trump blinked first.
The war has not pushed Iran toward a dual structure in which civilians speak one language and the security establishment speaks another. After the war, power in Iran has become more concentrated within a military-security core, and the space for visible flexibility has narrowed.
Southern Poverty Law Center's interim CEO Bryan Fair claimed in a Tuesday video that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating the organization and possibly preparing criminal charges. "Although we don't know all the details," Fair said in a video posted to the organization's YouTube account, "the focus appears to be on the SPLC's prior use of paid confidential informants to gather credible intelligence on extremely violent groups."
"Two ships came under attack in the Strait of Hormuz as tensions flared in the waterway, after President Trump said the U.S. would extend its ceasefire with Iran and continue its blockade until Tehran presents a unified proposal,'" the Wall Street Journal reports. "An Iranian gunboat fired on a containership northeast of Oman, before a second vessel reported being fired at off the coast of Iran. The two incidents within hours of each other demonstrate that while the aerial war between the U.S. and Iran is on pause, the fight for control of the strait continues."
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who once unsuccessfully ran against President Donald Trump, is reportedly "begging" the president for a top role in the administration as he seeks a new job ahead of his term ending this year. While dining with the president at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami, the outgoing Florida governor allegedly asked the president to become the next attorney general, Trump told a confidant, according to Axios. However, an unnamed source told the news outlet that DeSantis was "not interested" in becoming the next AG. Rather, DeSantis would want to serve as the next Secretary for the Department of Defense, should Secretary Pete Hegseth ever leave, or his "dream job" as a Supreme Court justice, a source claimed.
