Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seemed to slip a nicotine pouch into his mouth in the middle of a White House event, the Daily Mail reported.
Kennedy, the nation's top public health official, was standing right behind President Trump during a press conference on lowering drug costs.
Trump was proudly touting a deal with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer when Kennedy appeared to put something in his mouth.
This is not the first time Kennedy has been spotted using a nicotine product on the sly. Many people who tuned in to Kennedy's contentious Senate confirmation hearing in January thought Kennedy popped a Zyn, a popular brand of nicotine pouch.
Kenned appeared to make a similar motion during Tuesday's press conference, swiping his hand across his mouth as Trump spoke.
The ability to discreetly consume nicotine pouches is one of their main draws. Some people even credit them with weight loss, since nicotine suppresses appetite.
While nicotine pouches like Zyn have been touted as an alternative to smoking, smokeless nicotine products are still addictive, and they may have harmful effects on the heart and gums.
The pouches lay between the upper lip and the gums, releasing nicotine slowly to produce a longer buzz than people get from cigarettes.
Trump set a loose, informal tone at Tuesday's event, where he announced a new website allowing consumers to purchase discounted drugs, "TrumpRx." The president also said Pfizer has agreed to charge lower prices for its drugs to Medicaid.
The president poked fun at Kennedy at one point for sneezing.
"God bless you, Bobby," Trump said. "I hope I didn't catch Covid just there."
Trump jokingly asked Pfizer executive Albert Bourla to administer an anti-viral treatment that Pfizer makes to treat COVID-19.
"Don't you have Paxlovid? He's got Paxlovid. Give me a Paxlovid immediately," Trump said.
The founder of the "Make America Health Again" movement, Kennedy has prioritized combating chronic disease, especially in children, blaming culprits like chemicals in the food supply and a tendency to overmedicate.
He has faced backlash for some of his more unorthodox views, especially on vaccines.
Just days ago, Trump and Kennedy caused a firestorm by blaming autism in children on pregnant mothers using the common over-the-counter painkiller Tylenol.
Kennedy's "MAHA" report on the health of America's children has been criticized by some for omitting tobacco as a cause of chronic disease.
A member of President Trump's Cabinet inadvertently exposed a "highly unfortunate" trade situation concerning American soybean farmers.
A journalist for the Associated Press snapped a photograph of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reading texts on his phone, with the messages clearly legible, while Bessent was at the United Nations General Assembly, the Daily Mail reports.
In the messages, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins laments a "highly unfortunate" turn of events after the U.S. offered to bail out Argentina, whose president, Javier Milei, is a Trump ally.
“Just a heads up. I am getting more intel, but this is highly unfortunate. We bailed out Argentina yesterday and in return, Argentina removed their export tariffs on grains, reducing their price to China at a time when we would normally be selling to China,” the text message read.
“Soy prices are dropping further because of it. This gives China more leverage on us,” it continued. “On a plane but scott I can call you when I land.”
Argentina temporarily dropped its export taxes on grains last week, a move that undercut American farmers right at the start of the harvest season, as China snapped up cargoes of Argentina's crops.
Argentina's selloff came after Bessent announced a $20 billion financial lifeline to support Argentina's economy as Milei faces midterm elections in October.
“These options may include, but are not limited to, swap lines, direct currency purchases, and purchases of U.S. dollar-denominated government debt from Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund,” Bessent said in a social media post.
“Opportunities for private investment remain expansive, and Argentina will be Great Again.”
Bessent is known for being a smooth communicator and defender of Trump's trade policies, but the leak of Bessent's texts has caught the White House off guard as members of Trump's base, including farmers, revolt over the proposed bailout of a foreign country.
Midwestern farmers are under significant pressure from Trump's trade war, as China snubs American farmers to purchase soybeans from South America instead. Trump has floated helping distressed farmers using revenue from his tariffs, which have generated over $200 billion.
The administration's desire to help Argentina stems from Trump's personal and ideological alliance with Milei, a hardline capitalist who received Trump's endorsement at the UN.
It remains to be seen how Trump will balance his desire to help a right-wing ally overseas with his pledge to put the American people first.
In any case, Trump is meeting with Milei in two weeks, Argentina said Tuesday.
An upcoming Supreme Court battle has massive implications for the structure of the federal government.
As reported by Fox News, President Donald Trump has been building a case to overturn a 90-year-old precedent, Humphrey's Executor, which places limits on the president's power to fire independent agency officials. Humphrey's Executor is widely seen as critical to the power of the so-called administrative state, sometimes known as the fourth branch of government to detractors.
In recent months, Trump has been challenging Humphrey's by firing various independent agency heads without cause. The Supreme Court has sided with Trump in these controversies, overruling lower courts that have tried to block him.
The latest development came last week when the court permitted Trump to fire a Biden-appointed Federal Trade Commission (FTC) official, Rebecca Slaughter.
Not only did the court let Trump fire Slaughter, for now, but the justices also agreed to examine Humphrey's, which Slaughter has cited in her defense. The ruling split the court's conservative majority and its vocal liberal wing, which accused the court of "raring to" overturn the New Deal-era ruling.
"The majority may be raring to take that action," Justice Elena Kagan wrote. "But until the deed is done, Humphrey's controls, and prevents the majority from giving the President the unlimited removal power Congress denied him."
The Humphrey's ruling stems from the time of President FDR, who tried to fire a Republican member of the FTC over a policy dispute.
In its brief to the court, the Trump administration argued that FTC has absorbed "considerable executive power in the intervening 90 years" since Humphrey's, placing the president's authority at risk.
A Supreme Court ruling tossing Humphrey's would be a massive victory for conservatives who hold to the so-called "unitary executive theory," which views the sprawling administrative state as an unconstitutional growth on the legitimate structure of the government. To many on the left, Humphrey's is seen as critical to checking Trump's so-called autocratic ambitions, but the Supreme Court has, broadly speaking, shown sympathy for Trump's view of executive power.
Hans von Spakovsky, a legal fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told Fox News that Humphrey's is on "life support." Van Spakovsky noted that the Supreme Court's conservatives have long been skeptical of independent agencies wielding executive power on the president's behalf.
"The Constitution says the president is the head of the executive branch," von Spakovsky told Fox News Digital.
"That means, just like the CEO of a big corporation, they get to supervise and run the entire corporation, or in this case, the entire executive branch, and you can't have Congress taking parts of that away from him and saying, ‘Well, they’re going to keep doing executive branch things, including law enforcement, but you won’t have any control over them.’"
Meanwhile, Trump has asked the Supreme Court to uphold his firing of Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook over mortgage fraud allegations. The Supreme Court gave a cryptic hint of how it may treat the controversy in a separate dispute, noting the Fed is a "uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States."
Another government shutdown is on the horizon, and despite canceling an earlier meeting with Democratic leaders, President Donald Trump will now attempt another meeting with them to hopefully negotiate a deal to avoid shutdown status.
According to Fox News, after canceling a meeting with Democrats earlier this month, citing "unserious and ridiculous demands," Trump is willing to give the other side another chance at serious talks.
The original meeting was set to take place with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
A partial government shutdown is looming, with Sept. 30 the day it happens unless a deal between the two sides happens.
The meeting between the two sides has been rescheduled, and it will include the aforementioned Democratic leaders, the president, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), and Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).
Leaders Schumer and Jeffries issued a joint statement regarding the rescheduled meeting with President Trump.
"President Trump has once again agreed to a meeting in the Oval Office," the statement said.
"As we have repeatedly said, Democrats will meet anywhere, at any time and with anyone to negotiate a bipartisan spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people. We are resolute in our determination to avoid a government shutdown and address the Republican healthcare crisis. Time is running out," the two Democrats wrote.
Both sides of the aisle are ready to pounce if no deal is struck with reasons as to why it's not their fault and the other side is to blame.
Democratic leadership had accused the president's short-term fix for avoiding a shutdown a "dirty" plan.
Fox News noted:
They argued that the Trump-backed short-term extension was "dirty," which would mean it had partisan policy riders or spending attached to it, and panned it for continuing "the Republican assault on healthcare," ignoring expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies, and possibly leading to the closure of hospitals and other healthcare facilities across the country.\
Users across social media reacted to the news of the rescheduled meeting between the two camps.
"Chuck spent weeks playing tough guy on TV, now he’s on speed dial begging Trump for a meeting. Power shifts fast when you’ve got no leverage," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "Don't give the Dems anything! Hold the line!"
In early September, a federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden ordered President Donald Trump and his administration to pay out roughly $4 billion in foreign aid funds that they had held back.
However, the defeat was short-lived, as the U.S. Supreme Court this week temporarily halted the early September order from U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, allowing the Trump administration to continue to hold back the funds, the Daily Caller reported.
The high court added that the ruling was its "preliminary review" of the case and that it wasn't determined on "merits."
Regardless, the ruling marks another crucial Supreme Court victory for President Trump, who has relied on the high court to combat the judical activism seemingly on display in the federal judiciary.
The Supreme Court explained in its ruling why it decided to allow the funds to be held back by the Trump administration.
"[O]n the record before the Court, the asserted harms to the Executive’s conduct of foreign affairs appear to outweigh the potential harm faced by respondents,” the Supreme Court’s order read.
"This order should not be read as a final determination on the merits," it added. "The relief granted by the Court today reflects our preliminary view, consistent with the standards for interim relief."
Not surprisingly, the three liberal justices on the high court dissented.
Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissent, "I appreciate that the majority refrains from offering a definitive view of this dispute and the questions raised in it."
She added, "But the effect of its ruling is to allow the Executive to cease obligating $4 billion in funds that Congress appropriated for foreign aid, and that will now never reach its intended recipients."
The Trump administration, specifically Solicitor General John Sauer, explained why it needed the high court's help in the matter in its emergency application.
"To have any hope of complying in time, the Executive Branch would have to immediately commence diplomatic discussions with foreign nations about the use of those funds—discussions the President considers counterproductive to foreign policy—and notify Congress about planned obligations that the President is strongly opposing," Sauer wrote.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration wrote that the federal judge's ruling was "a grave and urgent threat to the separation of powers."
It'll be interesting to see where this case ends up and which side gets the win.
President Donald Trump is not hiding his satisfaction with the criminal indictment of former FBI director James Comey, who was expected to surrender to the authorities on Friday.
“JUSTICE IN AMERICA!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI.”
“Today, he was indicted by a Grand Jury on two felony counts for various illegal and unlawful acts," he added.
Trump has spent years clamoring for Comey and other "Deep State" actors to be held accountable for the Russian collusion hoax that consumed the president's first term. The charges against Comey provide Trump with a measure of satisfaction, although Comey's fate is in the hands of a Biden-appointed judge and a jury of his peers.
The indictment charges Comey with making false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. In particular, Comey is accused of lying to Congress in September 2020 when he denied making unauthorized leaks to the press.
“That statement was false, because, as JAMES B. COMEY JR. then and there knew, he in fact had authorized PERSON 3 to serve as an anonymous source in news reports regarding an FBI investigation concerning PERSON 1,” read the two-page indictment.
Comey is facing up to five years in prison if convicted on both counts. He maintains his innocence. “My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system, and I’m innocent, so let’s have a trial and keep the faith,” he said in a Substack video.
Comey has never been one to conceal his feelings concerning Trump, having previously fallen under scrutiny for tweeting "8647," which some interpreted as a coded threat against the president.
Under Comey, the FBI was engulfed in a historic scandal as Trump's presidential campaign was spied on using opposition research from the Clinton camp as evidence.
The FBI's Trump-Russia probe eventually grew to consume much of Trump's first White House term, although he was ultimately cleared by special counsel Robert Mueller, who failed to uncover evidence of collusion.
Mueller's appointment was triggered in part by Trump's firing of Comey, who admitted to leaking sensitive memos in an effort to trigger the Special Counsel probe.
Democrats have decried Comey's indictment as an extraordinary act of political retribution, although many say Democrats have themselves to blame after they embraced a then-unprecedented effort by leftist prosecutors to derail Trump's 2024 campaign.
Trump has signaled that other opponents of his could still face charges, including former CIA director John Brennan, who also played a significant role in the Trump-Russia investigation.
"We’ll have to see what happens," he told Fox News Digital. "It is up to the Justice Department, but I can tell you, it is a group of people that was very disappointing,” Trump added. “This makes Watergate look like peanuts.”
“They tried to destroy our country," he added.
Vice president J.D. Vance confirmed rumors that Wednesday's deadly attack on an ICE facility was carried out by a "left-wing extremist," Breitbart reported.
The 29-year-old suspect, Joshua Jahn, is said to have fired indiscriminately at the ICE facility in Dallas, killing one detainee and injuring two before turning the gun on himself. No law enforcement officials were harmed in the attack.
.@VP SLAMS Democrats for their constant demonization of ICE agents: In Dallas, Texas, an ICE facility was opened fire upon by a violent left-wing extremist... We know this person was politically motivated.
"It is time to STOP the rhetorical assault on law enforcement." pic.twitter.com/KLAnRSB8UU
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 24, 2025
As news of the attack began spreading online, some on the left speculated without evidence that a bullet engraved with the simple message "anti-ICE" had been planted by the FBI to frame Trump's political opponents.
This morning just before 7am local time, an individual fired multiple rounds at a Dallas, Texas ICE facility, killing one, wounding several others, before taking his own life. FBI, DHS, ATF are on the ground with Dallas PD and state authorities.
While the investigation is… pic.twitter.com/SMOyxiKLqA
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) September 24, 2025
FBI director Kash Patel shared further updates Thursday, saying Jahn wrote a note about creating "terror" for ICE agents.
The suspect had also searched the gruesome video of Charlie Kirk's assassination and looked up information about ballistics, Patel said.
Democrats responded to the shooting by condemning "dehumanizing" rhetoric toward immigrants, although the evidence suggests that ICE agents were the intended target.
"No one in America should be violently targeted, including our men and women in law enforcement who protect and serve our neighborhoods, and the immigrants who are too often the victims of dehumanizing rhetoric," House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY), Whip Katherine Clark (MA) and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said in a statement.
Republicans say Democrats are responsible for the attack, citing a pattern of rhetoric from the left comparing ICE agents to soldiers of an authoritarian regime.
Hours before the shooting, Governor Gavin Newsom (CA) compared ICE to a "private domestic army."
Democrats have also pushed to require ICE agents to go mask-less, and left-wing activists routinely threaten to expose agents' identities.
During a speech in Charlotte, North Carolina, Vance said there is a difference between criticizing the administration's policies and demonizing people who work for the government. Those who attack law enforcement can "go straight to hell," Vance said.
"In Dallas, Texas, an ICE facility… was opened fire upon by a violent left-wing extremist, a person who wrote ‘ANTI ICE’ messaging on their bullets,” Vance said. “And there’s some evidence that we have that’s not yet public, but we know this person was politically motivated.”
Trump has also weighed in, demanding that Democrats dial down their rhetoric immediately.
"This violence is the result of the Radical Left Democrats constantly demonizing Law Enforcement, calling for ICE to be demolished, and comparing ICE Officers to 'Nazis,'" Trump wrote in a social media post.
"I AM CALLING ON ALL DEMOCRATS TO STOP THIS RHETORIC AGAINST ICE AND AMERICA’S LAW ENFORCEMENT, RIGHT NOW!" Trump added.
Secret Service agents are very concerned by the slow response to an incident that occurred at the United Nations on Tuesday, according to a report.
Agents should have moved to protect President Trump and his wife Melania right away after an escalator froze under their feet, sources told reporter Susan Crabtree of RealClearPolitics.
The delayed reaction from Trump's bodyguards has alarmed Secret Service insiders, who say the incident was a perfect set-up for a would-be assassin.
🚨🚨 Why did the @SecretService allow Pres. Trump and Melania to get stalled on an escalator today at the @UN General Assembly before his speech without moving quickly to protect the leader of the free world and his wife?
The stalled escalator with President Trump and first lady… https://t.co/mFvxGVXDQN
— Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) September 23, 2025
First Lady Melania Trump briefly lost her footing after the escalator suddenly turned off while she and her husband were on it. Melania was right in front of the president.
“This is not hard. Don’t just stand there,” former agent Rich Staropoli told Crabtree, who added agents "should have closed ranks right around there, as close as you can be.”
“Somebody’s got to make a call. We’re going to stand here like a bunch of morons, like we did in Butler. Or are we going to scoop up the first lady and POTUS and either go down or go up?”
Secret Service agents were similarly slow to get Trump off the stage after he narrowly survived an assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year.
The Secret Service is probing the cause of the escalator issue including the possibility that it was sabotage, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
According to a report in the Sunday Times, UN staffers had "joked" about turning off the escalators to pressure Trump to restore funding to the global institution.
The United Nations has said the escalator stopped after a built-in safety mechanism was inadvertently triggered by someone further up on the escalator.
NOW - Escalator at UN headquarters immediately stops as Trump and Melania step on it shortly after arriving. pic.twitter.com/8nlUkDoQxm
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) September 23, 2025
The escalator incident occurred on the same day that would-be assassin Ryan Routh was convicted for trying to kill Trump at his Florida golf course last September.
Concerns about political violence are also heightened after the assassination of Trump's friend Charlie Kirk by a radical leftist.
Trump made light of the frozen escalator in his speech at the U.N. General Assembly, but Trump struck a more serious tone in a Truth Social post the next day, calling the event part of a "sinister" pattern that needs to be investigated. Trump also cited his teleprompter not working and audio issues during the speech.
“It’s amazing that Melania and I didn’t fall forward onto the sharp edges of these steel steps, face first,” Trump posted. “It was only that we were each holding the handrail tightly or, it would have been a disaster.”
“No wonder the United Nations hasn’t been able to do the job that they were put in existence to do,” he added. “All security tapes at the escalator should be saved, especially the emergency stop button. The Secret Service is involved.”
Tom Holland will soon return to filming the next Spider-Man movie after suffering a concussion.
The 29-year-old English star was hospitalized after an injury on the set for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, according to The Sun.
It is said that Holland cracked his head while performing a stunt on Friday at Leavesden Studios in Watford.
"We were called at 10.30am on Friday to attend to a patient who had sustained an injury at Leavesden Studios in Watford," An East of England Ambulance Service spokesman said, according to The Sun.
“An ambulance was sent to the scene, and the patient was transported to hospital for further care.”
The movie production is shutting down for a week while Holland recovers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
This is Holland's fourth time acting in a standalone Spider-Man movie. He became famous for playing Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War (2016.)
Holland appeared at a dinner for his family's charity, Brothers Trust, over the weekend. The actor was joined by his fiancée Zendaya, who is reprising the role of Michelle “MJ” Jones MJ in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Holland left the charity event early because he was not feeling well, according to reports.
Producers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day made the call on Monday to pause work for a week. The movie is being co-produced by Marvel Studios and Sony and is set for release in July 2026.
While the pause is not expected to delay the movie's release, it is certain to be very costly.
According to the Daily Mail, Holland's absence will likely burn through over $14 million. Daily operating costs for the $200 million movie are likely in the range of $2 million, a director told the Daily Mail.
"On a production the size of Spider-Man, which carries a $200 million budget, the daily running costs are immense," said director Emeka Egbuonu.
"Once you factor in cast, crew, set locations, equipment, and the logistical machine that keeps a blockbuster moving, each day of filming can cost between $1.5 and $2 million [£1.1m and £1.5m]."
"The challenge is that even when filming halts, many of those costs don't disappear — the crew still need to be paid, sets need to be maintained, and equipment continues to be on hire."
That's one expensive fall! But it goes to show how much the star is worth in a big production.
President Trump has replaced a top prosecutor in Virginia who failed to bring charges against one of his Democrat enemies, ABC reports.
In a social media post, Trump announced that he had fired Erik Siebert, who was the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Siebert was reportedly struggling to build a mortgage fraud case against New York attorney general Letitia James (D), a longtime foe of Trump.
Trump nominated a White House aide and former defense lawyer, Lindsey Halligan, to take Siebert's place.
In a series of posts, the president praised Halligan as "tough, smart, and loyal," noting she represented him during the infamous raid of Mar-A-Lago.
"What we don’t need is a Democrat Endorsed 'Republican,' I will be nominating Lindsey Halligan to be the United States Attorney in this very important part of our Great Country. She will be Fair, Smart, and will provide, desperately needed, JUSTICE FOR ALL!"
Trump cast Siebert as a pawn of the Democrats, noting he had support from both of Virginia's Democratic senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.
"Today I withdrew the Nomination of Erik Siebert as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, when I was informed that he received the UNUSUALLY STRONG support of the two absolutely terrible, sleazebag Democrat Senators, from the Great State of Virginia,” Trump wrote.
"Next time let him go in as a Democrat, not a Republican."
After Siebert resigned on Friday, Trump said he had forced Siebert out.
"He didn’t quit, I fired him!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Letitia James allegedly listed a Virginia home she bought in 2023 as her "principal residence," the New York Post notes, but there is no evidence she lives there.
James targeted Trump's business empire in a controversial civil fraud case that grabbed headlines during his 2024 campaign. Trump frequently clashed with James and the judge in the case, Arthur Engoron, who handed down a staggering $500 million penalty that was thrown out by an appeals court last month.
In a post on Truth Social over the weekend, Trump complained to attorney general Pam Bondi about the inaction of the Justice Department against James and others. Trump said there is a "GREAT CASE" against James but Siebert, a "woke RINO," refused to do anything.
"Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you, a lot. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility," Trump wrote to Bondi.
James denies all wrongdoing.