President Trump's war on liberal elites has led to millions of dollars in settlements, as powerful institutions in media, higher education, and the legal profession surrender left and right to his demands.
As reported by Axios, Trump has received over $1 billion from big names like Columbia, ABC News, and Paramount, and it may not be long before Harvard gives in.
Trump has leveraged the federal purse strings and the Justice Department's law enforcement powers to secure big concessions, both monetary and political.
His success has shaken the left, which had until recently enjoyed uncontested cultural influence that it used to proselytize to half the nation.
The recent cancellation of Stephen Colbert's stridently partisan, and unprofitable, late-night show on CBS led to speculation that Trump was somehow responsible, although the move reportedly had nothing to do with Trump's $16 million settlement with CBS parent company Paramount.
The Trump administration announced a $50 million settlement with Brown University this week, making it the latest Ivy League school to capitulate to Trump's demands to roll back "DEI "and address campus anti-Semitism.
“Congratulations to Brown University on the settlement made with the United States Government. There will be no more Anti-Semitism, or Anti-Christian, or Anti-Anything Else!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“Woke is officially DEAD at Brown. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he added.
The oldest and wealthiest university in America, Harvard, resisted Trump's pressure initially but has moved towards a settlement. Harvard is reportedly prepared to pay $500 million, which would be the largest prize yet for Trump in his cultural shakedown.
The nation's left-wing elite legal profession has not been spared in Trump's war on "woke," either. Some of the biggest law firms have pledged nearly $1 billion in free legal services for conservative causes. It's a particularly notable development, considering the expenses Trump has incurred battling liberal "lawfare" over the years.
Trump has also scored major wins against the legacy media, or what he calls the "Fake News." ABC News and Paramount/CBS separately agreed to pay millions of dollars towards Trump's presidential library to settle a pair of lawsuits over defamation and election interference, respectively.
According to Trump, Paramount will also give him $20 million in free advertising, but Paramount denies this.
President Barack Obama, a Columbia University graduate and lawyer who owns several mansions, recently expressed anger at the capitulation of the nation's top law firms, chastising them for putting money ahead of their liberal values.
"Not because, by the way, that they’re going to be thrown in jail, but because they might lose a few clients and might not be able to finish that kitchen rehab at their Hampton house," the frustrated former president said. "I’m not impressed."
Columbia University has agreed to pay over $200 million to the federal government to settle civil rights probes and unfreeze research funding that Trump paused.
President Trump is in the early stages of recruiting a Supreme Court nominee, just in case a slot opens up during his second term, according to TIME magazine.
Trump appointed three of the current justices during his first term, shifting the balance of the court rightwards.
The conservative majority has handed Trump some major victories in recent weeks, exasperating his critics, including the members of the outnumbered liberal wing on the court.
A White House official told TIME that the administration wants candidates “in the mold of” Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and the late Antonin Scalia.
Thomas and Alito are the staunchest conservatives on the court, and also the oldest members serving: Thomas is 77, and Alito is 75.
By contrast, Trump’s own appointees, particularly Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, have proven to be surprisingly moderate, earning them praise from the left-wing media.
According to Time, conservative lawyers who are advising Trump are “burned by a handful of recent decisions in which Barrett joined liberal members of the court and want to ensure the next nominee is someone who won’t veer from the conservative bloc.”
Supreme Court retirements have become political footballs in a deeply polarized America, as reflected in the bare-knuckled fight over Kavanaugh’s nomination during Trump’s first term and the rapid confirmation of Barrett, who was approved by Senate Republicans just days before the 2020 election.
The oldest liberal on the bench, Sonia Sotomayor, faced retirement pressure last year as leftists feared the possibility of Trump naming her replacement. Democrats have been haunted by Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death in 2020, which enabled Trump to choose Barrett as a successor for the liberal icon.
Replacing Thomas or Alito with conservatives cut from the same cloth would not shift the ideological balance of the court, but it would help solidify Trump’s influence for years to come.
The shortlist for Trump's next pick includes several Trump appointees on the federal courts, including Andrew Oldham and James Ho, who sit on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Neomi Rao, of the D.C. Circuit, and Amal Thapar, of the Sixth Circuit. Oldham clerked for Alito in the past, and Rao was a clerk for Thomas.
If a vacancy opens before the 2026 midterm elections, Trump could expect the Senate's narrow Republican majority to confirm his choice.
Republicans in the Senate have long prioritized court appointments, even during Trump's first term, when they were often less than cooperative about advancing his agenda. The Senate GOP is more pliable when it comes to meeting Trump’s demands, these days.
The GOP showed deference to Trump again this week by confirming his former defense lawyer, Emil Bove, to be an appellate judge, over the objections of Democrats who said he was not fit for the role.
In a reversal, the Trump administration will reinstate Argentina back into the U.S. visa waiver program.
It's a symbolic upgrade in America's relationship with Argentina under its current president Javier Milei, a Trump ally.
Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem announced Argentina's reinstatement while visiting Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital.
Noem cited Argentina's shared commitment to border security, as reflected by Argentina having the lowest visa overstay rate in all of Latin America.
"Under President Javier Milei’s leadership, Argentina is becoming an even stronger friend to the United States—more committed than ever to border security for both of our nations," Noem said. "Argentina now has the lowest visa overstay rate in all of Latin America and 25 percent more Argentines traveled to the U.S. in the first four months of this year compared to last year—the biggest jump of any of the top 20 international arrivals. That is why we are now taking steps to allow Argentina back into the Visa Waiver Program."
Membership in the waiver program allows foreigners to visit the U.S. for up to 90 days without visas. Argentina was removed in 2002 as an economic crisis led many Argentines to use the program to stay in the U.S. illegally.
“This statement of intent I signed alongside Minister Werthein and Minister Bullrich highlights our strong partnership with Argentina and our mutual desire to promote lawful travel while deterring threats. This kind of diplomatic leadership, spearheaded by President Trump, will help increase the safety of both countries," Noem said.
Noem met with Mieli at the president's office, the Casa Rosada, where they posed next to a golden chainsaw, a symbol of Milei's aggressive government reforms.
Milei's election in 2023 shocked the leftist establishment in Argentina, which Milei had blamed for mismanaging Argentina's troubled economy.
The libertarian economist has dramatically reduced inflation with severe cuts to government spending. Milei's efforts have been cited as a model for Trump's DOGE.
Trump and Milei have warm ties, and Milei was one of a handful of world leaders to receive an invitation to Trump's inauguration in January.
Argentina's reinstatement in the visa waiver program will not happen overnight. Noem acknowledged that it would take "no less than a year" before Argentines are able to travel freely to the U.S again.
Noem is the third member of Trump's Cabinet to visit Argentina, after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
President Trump's CIA director John Ratcliffe is preparing to release more evidence uncovering Hillary Clinton's role in starting the Russiagate hoax.
Ratcliffe said he will release the "underlying intelligence" from the investigation led by Special Counsel John Durham, who examined the FBI's reliance on Clinton campaign materials linking Trump and Russia.
"What hasn’t come out yet and what’s going to come out is the underlying intelligence,” Ratcliffe told Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures.
It has long been known that Clinton's 2016 operation paid for the notorious, bogus Steeler dossier that the FBI used to spy on Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Around the same time the FBI launched its Crossfire Hurricane probe into Trump's campaign, the intelligence community intercepted Russian intelligence about a Clinton-backed effort to link Trump and Russia.
Former CIA director John Brennan briefed President Obama and his top national security officials, including FBI director James Comey, on the Clinton "plan," which according to Durham, was never considered by the FBI in its analysis of evidence connecting Trump and Russia.
“In the summer of 2016, U.S. intelligence intercepted Russian intelligence talking about a Hillary Clinton plan, a Hillary Clinton plan to falsely accuse Donald Trump of Russia collusion, to vilify him and smear him with what would become known infamously as the — as the Steele dossier,” Ratcliffe told Sunday Morning Futures.
Ratcliffe declassified information about the Clinton plan in October 2020, when he was Trump's ODNI director. Ratcliffe noted at the time that the accuracy of the Russian intelligence was unknown, but Ratcliffe did share Brennan's handwritten notes about the "‘alleged approval by Hillary Clinton on July 26, 2016 of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by Russian security services.’”
Ratcliffe told Sunday Morning Futures that the Clinton plan was effectively verified by Clinton's campaign manager, Robby Mook, who testified in 2022 that Clinton personally approved efforts to spread false claims tying Trump and a Russian bank.
Durham found that the FBI's investigation was seriously flawed and guided by institutional groupthink against Trump, but Durham fell short of alleging a criminal conspiracy and his probe did not result in the reckoning that many anticipated.
The underlying intelligence in Durham's report will soon be made public, Ratcliffe said, and it will make clear once and for all that Clinton fabricated the Trump-Russia narrative that derailed Trump's first term.
“And what that intelligence shows, Maria, is that part of this was a Hillary Clinton plan, but part of it was an FBI plan to be an accelerant to that fake Steele dossier, to those fake Russia collusion claims by pouring oil on the fire, by amplifying the lie and bearing the truth of what Hillary Clinton was up to," Ratcliffe said.
Clinton has long been scrutinized over her efforts to link Trump and Russia, but recently declassified documents shared by intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard have cast the net wider, implicating President Obama and his national security team in advancing the false "collusion" narrative.
While years have gone by since the events of Russiagate, the statute of limitations for the "conspiracy" has not run out, Ratcliffe said.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the people that we just talked about conspired. They conspired against President Trump. They conspired against the American people,” Ratcliffe said.
To say the Democrats took a huge hit after the 2024 election would be a massive understatement. The party was utterly humiliated across the board, and it's because working-class Americans knew which party had their best interests in mind.
According to Breitbart, the party is not doing any better, as new numbers show that the Democratic Party's public image has fallen to its lowest levels since 1990.
A new Wall Street Journal poll showed that the majority of Americans are clearly gravitating toward the Republican Party on all major issues.
That's even with that same majority "expressing disapproval of Donald Trump’s approach to key policies such as inflation, tariffs, and foreign policy," according to the report.
To say that Democrats have a real public image crisis on their hands would be the nice way of putting it. The polls that were released reflect an absolute disaster for the party as it struggles to gear up for the 2026 midterms.
Breitbart noted:
The Democrat Party has hit a 35-year low with American voters, according to a new Wall Street Journal poll showing 63 percent view the party unfavorably, the worst rating since 1990, and just eight percent hold a very favorable view.
Republicans are preferred on nearly every issue, which certainly wasn't the case for decades. The Democrats were once billed as the party of the average Joe, and now the opposite is true.
Republicans hold a staggering advantage on virtually every major issue, and especially on immigration, where the party holds a 24-point lead on Democrats.The
Breitbart added:
Even among voters who disapprove of Trump’s approach to certain policies, the GOP is still favored to lead. For example, voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of inflation by 11 points, yet trust Republicans over Democrats on inflation by 10. The pattern repeats across multiple issues, with voters essentially signaling: We may not love Trump, but we trust his party to govern.
Democrat pollster John Anzalone, who co-conducted the survey, shared his thoughts on the bombshell numbers.
"The Democrat brand is so bad that they don’t have the credibility to be a critic of Trump or the Republican Party," Anzalone said.
He added, "Until they reconnect with real voters and working people on who they’re for and what their economic message is, they’re going to have problems."
He's not wrong, and Democrats have a real problem on their hands with the upcoming midterms.
It'll be fascinating to see if they can turn it around. Don't bet on it, though.
While the Trump administration -- specifically Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard -- has released bombshell evidence implicating former President Barack Obama in the "Russia hoax," there may not be anything they can do about it.
According to the Daily Mail, President Trump recently admitted that his own massive Supreme Court victory that provided him immunity after his presidency could also apply to Obama.
That would mean Obama could argue that he's not able to be charged for any alleged "treasonous" activities related to the Russia hoax that nearly crippled Trump's first presidency.
That didn't stop Trump from previously accusing Obama of treason. Obama has already responded and strongly denied the allegations.
Trump was asked by reporters if the landmark Supreme Court ruling that protected him would also apply to Obama, and President Trump didn't deny the strong possiblity that it would.
President Trump went as far as saying that he did his predecessor a favor by securing the Supreme Court victory that offers an enhanced level of immunity for former presidents.
"He has done criminal acts, no question about it. But he has immunity and it probably helps him a lot. He owes me big. Obama owes me big," Trump said.
The Daily Mail noted:
The ex-president's team argued in late 2023 that Trump, and any president, must have absolute immunity from prosecution over actions taken while in office or it could impair important decision-making.
Meanwhile, DNI Gabbard made a number of explosive claims regarding Obama's involvement in the Russia hoax, even making several referrals to AG Bondi's office for further review.
Obama has vehemently denied the allegations and responded to the accusations publicly last week.
A spokesperson for the former president responded and said that Gabbard's report doesn't "undercut" what was claimed regarding Russia's alleged involvement in the 2016 presidential campaign.
"Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes," the spokesperson said.
Trump, when asked about the referrals to Bondi's office made by Gabbard, held nothing back.
“It’s Obama. His orders are on the paper. The papers are signed. The papers came right out of their office,” he said.
Former New York Congressman George Santos sent a dramatic farewell message to his "darling" fans before reporting to prison Friday to begin a seven-year sentence for fraud.
The notorious Republican and former drag queen compared himself to a "glamorous" stage performer in a post reflecting on his short, tumultuous political career.
"Well, darlings… The curtain falls, the spotlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed," he wrote on X. "From the halls of Congress to the chaos of cable news what a ride it’s been! Was it messy? Always. Glamorous? Occasionally. Honest? I tried… most days."
Santos burst onto the scene after the 2022 midterm elections, when the openly gay Republican flipped a Democrat-leaning House district on Long Island.
A vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, Santos was often seen to embrace the spotlight, from the halls of Congress to the courthouse where he pled guilty last summer to identity theft and wire fraud.
His career in Washington quickly unraveled after he was exposed for making flagrantly false claims about his life. He ultimately served less than a full term, becoming one of six House members in history to be expelled after his fellow New York Republicans pushed for his removal.
Although widely reviled, Santos embraced his infamy as he turned his scandalous career into an operatic spectacle that the media couldn't turn away from.
He was charged with a litany of fraudulent schemes, from cheating donors to bilking unemployment benefits during the COVID pandemic. Within days of leaving Congress, the outrageous politician started selling personalized messages on the website Cameo.
In his farewell message, the congressman reflected that he was "honest" on "most days" and hinted that his story is not yet over.
"To my supporters: You made this wild political cabaret worth it. To my critics: Thanks for the free press. I may be leaving the stage (for now), but trust me legends never truly exit," he wrote, adding emojis of a star, an American flag, and a pair of lips. "Forever fabulously yours, George."
The Justice Department confirmed that Santos reported to a federal prison in New Jersey, the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Fairton.
Santos has slammed his seven-year sentence as excessive and unjust, and he has urged President Trump to consider a pardon.
"I’ll take a commutation, clemency, whatever the president is willing to give me," Santos told Piers Morgan in May.
“President Trump, I’d appreciate if you can give me a consideration," he added.
As she pokes around for her next job, Kamala Harris should not bank on receiving a glowing reference from her former boyfriend and political patron, Willie Brown.
The heavyweight California politico and former San Francisco mayor dismissed Harris's rumored ambitions to run for governor of the state, calling her qualifications the wrong "fit."
“I do think people running for public office really ought to fit eventually where they are trying to land at. And I really do, hope, frankly, that [Harris] comes to that reality,” Brown said on the State of Gold podcast.
Recent polls suggest that Harris would be the frontrunner to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) if she decided to run.
But many Democrats are reluctant for Harris to stay in the spotlight after her humiliating loss to President Trump last fall.
Shockingly, the party's official election autopsy will reportedly overlook mistakes made by Harris and her former boss, Joe Biden, who endorsed her after suspending his own re-election campaign.
Harris has apparently downsized her ambitions, with Politico reporting that she plans to decide by the end of the summer on running for governor of her home state.
Snubbing his former lover, Brown said there are other Democrats who would do better in an executive role like governor. He suggested Harris go for a legal job like attorney general or even Supreme Court justice.
“There’s just so many really talented people thinking about that job,” Brown said.
“She may not want to run for governor of the state of California,” he said. "That may not be where she should be going. I think it’s going to be difficult for her to win that job.”
Brown infamously dated Harris briefly in the 1990s when she was an up-and-coming prosecutor in Alameda County, and he was the speaker of the California state Assembly.
Brown used his influence at the time to appoint his much younger then-girlfriend to two state California boards, and Harris has never been able to live down accusations of nepotism since then.
Harris has been in career limbo since her much-hyped presidential campaign imploded in the fall, sending Democrats into the political wilderness.
Brown's expectations of his former girlfriend's political future seem to have dimmed since November. He was effusive about a Harris presidency last year - before Democrats lost the White House, the national popular vote and the U.S. Senate.
“I was a part of every campaign that she’s ever been involved in, supported her religiously and will still do so, and I am just looking forward for the next 89 days. I just can’t wait to get in as president,” he added at the time.
A young member of the British royal family has died in an apparent suicide.
Rosie Roche, a cousin of Prince William and Prince Harry, was found dead aged 20 inside her family home in Norton, England, a small village in Wiltshire. The coroner said a gun was found nearby and that she died from a traumatic head injury.
Roche seemed to have exciting things to look forward to as she had been packing up for a trip with friends.
Her mother Pippa and sister Agatha made the gruesome discovery on July 14.
"Upon checking the office in the house, Agatha found Rosie deceased and she was slumped over a firearm with significant head trauma," said Grant Davies, area coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon.
The police do not suspect any third-party involvement or anything suspicious about the death.
Roche was a student of English Literature at Durham University. Professor Wendy Powers, Principal of Durham's University College, described Roche as a lover of poetry and travel who had lots of friends.
"University College staff and students are extremely saddened by the tragic death of Rosie Roche," Powers said.
"Rosie was a first year student studying for an English Literature degree. Rosie had settled into the University and College beautifully and had lots of friends."
"She was loved for her creativity, energy, her love of books, poetry and travel among many other talents. She will be sorely missed."
"Our thoughts and condolences are with Rosie's family and friends, and we are offering support to those affected at this extremely difficult time."
Roche was the granddaughter of Princess Diana's uncle, Edmund Roche, 5th Baron Fermoy, who shot himself in the head at age 45 after a long bout of depression.
Her death from an apparent gunshot comes after the suicide of Thomas Kingston, the husband of Lady Gabriella Windsor, a second cousin of King Charles III.
Kingston shot himself in the head at his parents' home in the Cotswolds last February. An inquest found that he was suffering adverse effects from anti-depressants when he took his life.
An obituary for Rosie in The Yorkshire Post read: "Roche, Rosie Jeanne Burke. Died on Monday 14th July 2025."
"Darling daughter of Hugh and Pippa, incredible sister to Archie and Agatha, Granddaughter to Derek and Rae Long."
"Private family funeral. A memorial service will be held at a later date."
The British royal family has yet to offer comment.
President Trump has called for Barack Obama to be prosecuted over a conspiracy to undermine America's democracy.
Trump's demand comes after the release of new documents exposing Obama's role in shaping the "Russian collusion" investigation that dominated much of Trump's first term.
“He’s guilty … This was treason, this was every word you could think of. They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election," Trump said during a White House meeting Tuesday.
Intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard has accused Obama of weaponizing intelligence analysis in a "treasonous conspiracy" to discredit Trump's stunning win over Hillary Clinton, a close ally of Obama who served as his Secretary of State.
Newly released documents show that Obama ordered the intelligence community to develop a new assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election that ultimately cast doubt on the legitimacy of Trump's shocking victory. The intelligence agencies' final assessment propelled a years-long investigation into Trump-Russia ties that came up empty.
The FBI started investigating Trump's campaign in July 2016, a shocking intervention by federal law enforcement into domestic politics that was guided by rumors and innuendo contained in a notorious dossier procured by the Clinton camp.
Gabbard's report noted that intelligence analysis before Obama's intervention did not find substantive Russian meddling with election infrastructure. After a White House meeting on December 9, 2016, the intelligence community was directed to form a new assessment "per the President’s request” on "tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election.”
The intelligence community's final assessment in January 2017 found that Vladimir Putin actively boosted Trump against Clinton. The report focused largely on the role of Russian information operations, including internet bots and hacks of the Democratic party.
“It’s criminal at the highest level. It would be President Obama, he started it," Trump said. "And [Joe] Biden was there with him, and [then-FBI Director James] Comey was there, and [then-Director of National Intelligence] James] Clapper — the whole group was there, and [then-CIA Director John] Brennan.”
Gabbard has sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department over the alleged Obama-led conspiracy to subvert Trump's first administration.
It was not until more than halfway through Trump's first term that he received vindication from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who deflated Democrats' hopes with the finding that Trump did not collude with Russia, although Mueller took the unusual step of refusing to exonerate Trump for obstruction.
While Trump was preoccupied with fighting for his political survival during his first term, Trump has remarked that he feels liberated to pursue his agenda without distraction since January, and he's not holding back from getting even with his foes either.
“After what they did to me, whether it’s right or wrong, it’s time to go after people. Obama has been caught directly,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
“If you look at those papers, they have them stone cold, and it was President Obama… the leader of the gang was President Obama, Barack Hussein Obama. Have you heard of him?”