This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Job losses happen all up and down the scale of income levels in America.
And unemployment compensation is intended to make sure that people in dire situations have a resource to pay for the basics, like groceries. It certainly isn't intended to replace an income.
Of course, those with higher incomes are more likely to have savings accounts, homes that are paid off, cars without car loans, things like that.
And those circumstances are triggering a U.S. senator to plan changes that will be coming.
Because she found that the Joe Biden administration paid $271 million in unemployment compensation during just two years – to millionaires!
A report at the Federalist explains, "Good news for millionaires and billionaires: They are currently eligible for unemployment benefits, whether they need it or not. That has been true since 1964 when the Department of Labor determined unemployment is for all eligible workers no matter their income level"
That precedent resulted in Biden, in 2022, giving unemployment checks to 5,773 people earning $1 million or more.
About $58 million went to "out-of-work millionaires," an average of about $10,000, the Federalist confirmed.
"In 2021, a COVID quarantine year with extra dough baked into unemployment, 14,972 people earning $1 million or more received unemployment compensation. The Biden administration spent nearly $214 million keeping millionaires fed, paying an average of $14,200 each," the report said.
The numbers come from a Congressional Research Service document prepared for Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the Senate DOGE Caucus chair, who plans to shake things up.
"Our nation's safety net shouldn't be strained by subsidizing the lifestyles of the self-sufficient," Ernst explained, the report said. "Able-bodied millionaires shouldn't expect handouts paid for by overtaxed and overworked Americans. The freebies for free-loading fat cats are over."
Her plan is the "'Ending Unemployment Payments to Jobless Millionaires Act of 2025," which would bar federal cash being used for unemployment compensation for an individual whose wages during their base period are equal to or exceed $1 million
The CRS numbers were based on tax returns of people who "earned over $1 million and also received unemployment," the Federalist said.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The major Iranian opposition group known as the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, or PMOI/MEK, on May 8 exposed a secret nuclear facility in Semnan Province. Known as "Ranginkaman" (Rainbow), the site operates under the guise of Diba Energy Sina, a company claiming to produce chemicals for the oil and petrochemical industries. In truth, however, it is part of the SPND – an Iranian organization tasked with building nuclear weapons.
The facility's primary objective is to design warheads for missiles with a range exceeding 3,000 kilometers. Its use of tritium, a radioactive isotope, raises serious concerns for global security.
Rumors of a deal
Recent reports in regime-aligned media suggest Iran and the U.S. may be exploring nuclear cooperation, including joint uranium enrichment in a third-party country. Some sources even speculate about a potential meeting between Iran's president and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Regardless of their accuracy, these rumors must be approached with skepticism. The Islamic Republic has repeatedly violated its nuclear commitments – such as breaching the 3.67% enrichment cap set by the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA (the "Iran nuclear deal") and enriching uranium to 60%.
The revelation of yet another hidden nuclear site serves as a clear warning: Complacency in confronting Tehran's nuclear ambitions could once again plunge the region into crisis, as history has already shown.
With so much therefore at stake for Iran, the Mideast and indeed the entire world, it may be ironic that the youth of Iran are serving as a primary force for exposing the ruling regime and protesting its tyrannical rule.
Looking to the recent past, the fearless and determined presence of Generation Z, those born between approximately 1995 and 2008, in Iran's 2021 street protests was nothing short of extraordinary. Their influence is being similarly felt today.
Raised in a digital world, this generation is deeply influenced by the internet. With over 70% internet access, they are exposed to global cultures, which has significantly weakened the impact of the regime's outdated, theocratic ideology – propagated through textbooks, state television, cinema and more. These youths are bold, resistant to control and uninterested in self-censorship. They speak their minds freely and refuse to let their dreams be buried by repression.
Technologically savvy and independent, they seek solutions not from traditional institutions but through the online world. As one social researcher noted, a growing number within this generation not only reject the status quo but are actively shaping a vision to replace it.
90,000 protest-related cases
Iran's judiciary chief, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, recently admitted that in 2021, over 90,000 protest-related criminal cases were opened – many involving students, university youth and teachers. According to the Iranian Resistance, more than 20,000 people were arrested in just the first two weeks of the uprising.
This surge in youth-led unrest deeply alarmed the regime, prompting it to escalate repression, particularly within schools. A striking example is a new agreement between the Ministry of Education and the national police, allowing law enforcement officers to be deployed to schools – an unprecedented move that reveals the regime's deep fear of Generation Z.
The same generation the regime once tried to keep in ignorance has now risen to openly challenge its very legitimacy.
The 'poisoned chalice' of nuclear talks
The term "poisoned chalice" was first used by Ayatollah Khomeini when he was forced to accept a ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq war. Khomeini, who vowed to fight "until the last house in Tehran," had linked the war to the regime's very survival – making the ceasefire a bitter, humiliating retreat.
Today, for his current successor, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, nuclear negotiations with the West likewise represent a similar "poisoned chalice." Having built the regime's defiance and survival around its nuclear ambitions, he is now cornered by internal resistance and external pressure.
Courage has surpassed fear
Despite the regime's rising use of executions since 2021, it has failed to intimidate the population into silence. The courage of Iran's youth now outweighs their fear, pushing Khamenei to the negotiating table.
Thousands of resistance units – young activists operating in small mobile teams conducting anti-repression operations – have become a nightmare for the regime. Khamenei knows that heightened foreign pressure or a military clash could trigger a national uprising, this time with the coordination and resolve to bring about regime change
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The Donald Trump White House already had released a list confirming more than $5 trillion in new investments in the United States that are coming because of his trade policies.
"From advanced manufacturing to cutting-edge artificial intelligence infrastructure, these historic investments – spurred by President Trump's unwavering commitment to revitalizing American industry – will reinforce the U.S. as the global leader in innovation and economic growth," the statement, which estimated the creation of more than 451,000 jobs, said.
For example, some $150 billion is coming through IBM expansion, $900 billion through Amgen's manufacturing expansion, $500 billion through the Project Stargate AI work, $500 billion from Apple, $500 billion from NVIDIA and more.
Now add another $600 billion, at least, to that.
A Fox News report outlined some details of an economic partnership that Trump signed with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a visit to Saudi Arabia.
Industries in the bull's-eye include energy, defense, mining and space.
Trump said the dozen memorandums of understanding and letters of intent will create many new American jobs.
While specifics haven't been released yet, the report said there will be a $20 billion investment by Saudi Arabia's DataVolt in AI centers, another $80 billion in "cutting-edge transformative technologies," and $142 billion in a defense package.
The report said, "Several of the agreements tracked with previously stated ambitions by both Washington, D.C., and Riyadh, particularly when it comes to defensive deals. While the extent of the details of the agreements remain unclear, there were deals included that had not been previously flagged ahead of the president's visit to the Middle East, like the 'cooperation agreement' between Saudi Arabia and the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of Asian Arts, as well as an agreement established with the Smithsonian Institute National Zoo and Conservation Biology."
The White House issued a statement explaining, "The United States and Saudi Arabia signed the largest defense sales agreement in history – nearly $142 billion, providing Saudi Arabia with state-of-the-art warfighting equipment and services from over a dozen U.S. defense firms."
Trump also said he hopes Saudia Arabia soon will join the Abraham Accords. Those already involve Israel and a list of its Arab neighbors in which the two sides, long at war, essentially are agreeing to normalize relations.
Trump succeeded in establishing a handful of those agreements during his first term, but Joe Biden essentially accomplished nothing to build on the precedent-setting language agreed upon before he moved into White House.
Besides Saudi Arabia, Trump also is visiting the United Arab Emirates and Qatar during this trip.
Previously announced by the White House have been promises of investments of $100 billion from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, $55 billion from Johnson & Johnson, $50 billion from Roche, $27 billion from Eli Lilly and Company, $25 billion from Novartis, $21 billion from Hyundai, $5 billion from Stellantis and more from Corning, GE Aerospace, Schneider Electric, Abbott Labs, AIP Management, Paris Baguette, TS Conductor and Toyota.
At the time, the White House confirmed, "That doesn't even include the U.S. investments pledged by foreign countries, including $1.4 trillion from the UAE and $1 trillion from Japan."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Joe Biden, while he was campaigning to be president, repeatedly promoted the leftist, and unscientific, ideology that boys or men can become girls or women.
Being male or female actually is embedded in the body to the DNA level, so that cannot change.
However, Biden became cheerleader for the ideology that has proven lucrative for providers of chemicals and surgeries, and took that promotion to White House heights while in office.
But he ignored, even while promoting those chemicals and those body-mutilating surgeries as "health care," the results now confirmed in a government study that was being developed at the time, and now is released, revealing that all of those attempts to "change" adults didn't "improve their lives."
The agenda immediately was applied to children, despite the failure in "treating" adults.
In fact, according to a report in the Washington Stand, the report, "Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices," released by the Department of Health and Human Services on May 1, said those "same medical interventions had failed to improve the lives of adults."
"Even after full surgery, "improvement' in their actual life situation is not always observed,' noted a transgender psychologist," the report explained.
The patients' "subjective" feelings varied, with some claiming improvement.
But the report highlights the "weak basis and failed results of medical transitions for minors."
To the question, "Did medical transition at least alleviate gender dysphoria?" the response was, "Interestingly, there was no relationship between reported happiness and stage of transition."
So, the "unsuccessful model for adults in time became the basis for the 'affirming model' for minors," the report said.
The Washington Stand noted that Harry Benjamin, the "father of the transgender medicine," once sued the Journal of the American Medical Association for calling his work "quackery," and lost.
Indeed the report explains that while Benjamin promised to change bodies to "at least resemble those of the sex to which they feel they belong," there are few early instances of those surgical procedures and the first known patient, Einar Wegener, who became Lili Elbe, died in 1931 after an "abyss of suffering."
The agenda moved into the U.S. when in 1952 a former soldier traveled to Denmark for surgery and the media screamed, "EX-GI BECOMES BLONDE BEAUTY: OPERATIONS TRANSFORM BRONX YOUTH." He subsequently was met on his return by 300 reporters and was paid $20,000 for an interview.
Still the agenda remained relatively obscure.
Eventually assessments began with a survey of 229 patients in the Netherlands Gender Care Foundation, and, HHS said, "While the self-reported subjective outcomes were good, objective measures told a different story."
"One in seven [male-to-female transitioners] and one in 36 [female-to-male transitioners] had attempted suicide after treatment began. (Of the total number of patients seen at the NGCF in the previous 10 years, three had committed suicide after treatment.) 60% of the MFs and 37% of the FMs were unemployed and 59% of the MFs and 33% of the FMs had no romantic partners," HHS observed.
"If it is possible to discern a trend in these reports that the subjective well-being of the transsexuals has increased, whereas an 'improvement' in their actual life situation is not always observed," the study said, concluding that surgeries did not appear to lessen patients' gender dysphoria.
"Although a fair number of persons attribute their feelings of happiness to SRS, there appears to be no direct relation between the subjective well-being and the phase of therapy. Those who have completed SRS are not happier or less happy than those who are still in the initial phase of therapy. In other words, a person's positive evaluation of his/her life-in-its-totality is not directly related to his/her progress in physical adjustment to the opposite sex."
The conclusion noted pursuing gender alterations is no assurance of happiness and that actually "can lead to new problems."
Despite the facts, the gender industry developed a model of puberty blockers at 12, cross-sex hormones at 16 and surgery at 18.
The results align with multiple other studies that show a high level of suicide, or attempted suicide, among members of the transgender community.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
PALM BEACH, Florida – President Donald Trump on Sunday aired his personal doubts about Ukraine possibly making a peace deal with Russia to end the three-year "bloodbath," but urged the leaders of both countries to meet "now," irrespective of any ceasefire precondition.
"President Putin of Russia doesn't want to have a Cease Fire Agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH," Trump said on Truth Social.
"Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY. At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible, and if it is not, European leaders, and the U.S. will know where everything stands, and can proceed accordingly!
"I'm starting to doubt that Ukraine will make a deal with Putin, who's too busy celebrating the Victory of World War ll, which could not have been won (not even close!) without the United States of America.
"HAVE THE MEETING, NOW!!!"
Not long after Trump's post, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on X: "We await a full and lasting ceasefire, starting from tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy.
"There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
For years, Democrats have schemed and tried to put President Donald Trump in prison.
And have failed.
So perhaps Elon Musk should not really be worried, despite a new polling that shows more than 7 of 10 in the party would support a hypothetical law that would do that to him.
The results are from Rasmussen, which said, "Since he agreed to lead President Donald Trump's effort to reduce government waste, Elon Musk has become so hated by liberals that they would overwhelmingly favor a law to put the high-tech billionaire behind bars."
Musk, in fact, is running Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, cutting government spending, jobs, waste, fraud and corruption. Billions have been saved already, despite an active campaign by district judges across the country to foil Trump's taxpayer-benefitting program.
The results come from a telephone and online survey by Rasmussen in coordination with the Heartland Institute.
Overall, 54% of Likely Voters "would support a hypothetical law that would imprison Musk for his role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), including 39% who would Strongly Support such a law. Thirty-six percent (36%) oppose a law that would send Musk to prison, including 26% who Strongly Oppose it, while 10% are not sure."
Democrats, who lost the 2024 presidential election by landslides in the popular vote and the Electoral College vote both, were literally lining up to condemn Musk.
"Seventy-one percent (71%) of Democrats would favor a hypothetical law to put Musk behind bars, as would 80% of self-identified liberal voters. Fifty-four percent (54%) of Republicans and 57% of conservative voters. would oppose such a law. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 52% would support a law to imprison Musk for his role in DOGE, 34% would oppose it and 17% are not sure," the pollster said.
Justin Haskins, of the Heartland Institiute, said, "The fact that a majority of Democratic voters would support imprisoning Elon Musk for trying to make government more efficient is a shocking indictment of the modern left, which has become increasingly more tyrannical in recent years.
"We've reached a point where many Americans would rather unjustly punish innovation than fix the broken systems Musk was trying to reform."
The survey of 1,067 U.S. Likely Voters was done April 30-May 4, 2025 by Rasmussen Reports and the Heartland Institute. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Pollsters and pundits long have labeled Barack Obama as one of the most "popular" presidents of recent times.
He bragged while being nominated of plans to "fundamentally" change the nation, and then in office accomplished much toward that goal, weaponizing federal power against perceived political opponents, demanding Christians give up their religious rights on issues like abortion, orchestrating a government takeover over of massive parts of the nation's economy, and installing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of leftist extremists in key government posts.
But now a report shows that Donald Trump's popularity rivals Obama's, and the Republican president's policies even outshine those of the Illinois politician who jumped from Chicago to Washington by defeating Hillary Clinton for the Democrat nomination that year.
It is in a report in the Washington Examiner that columnist Paul Bedard explains, "President Donald Trump's approval ratings are paralleling those of former President Barack Obama's at the start of his second term, and the Republican's policies are even more popular than he is, giving him room to grow his poll numbers."
He cites three new surveys showing Trump's approval rating now is better than it was at the close of his first term.
"And a new element of those polls is that his policies are even more popular, suggesting that he can increase his personal approval rating above 50%," the report said.
Mark Mitchell of Rasmussen Reports explained, "His policies are more popular than he is," and Mark Penn of Harvard Caps-Harris Poll assured, "I think he's got room to grow it."
The report said a Big Data Poll put Trump's approval at 48% and his favorability at 51%, signally that voters continue to "give the president space as he pushes through with his economic and immigration agenda."
"If these economic concerns turn out to be unjustified, we should all expect the president's numbers to rebound, perhaps sharply," pollster Rich Baris said.
Rasmussen confirmed Trump's approval is tracking Obama's "at the same stage of a second term, and he predicted that the president could do better."
And Mitchell said Trump probably is going to "trace a little higher than that."
Penn explained, during an interview with Maria Bartiromo, the fact is the public approves of Trump's policies even more than they approve of him.
"If I say, 'Do you approve with what the president is doing on immigration,' 51% say 'Yes.' But when I say, 'Do you favor or oppose some of the policies that he's implementing,' close to 70% say 'Yes,'" Penn said.
He said that all suggests Trump's popularity to move up to 55%, or even 60%, "which is where you want to get to."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Joe Biden's lawfare against President Donald Trump needs more review.
That's according to Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, both Republicans, who dispatched a formal letter to the National Archives and Records Administration.
A report at the Federalist explains they are seeking more government records concerning Biden's role in the so-called "election interference" case that Democrats created to target Trump.
The letter to NARA Acting General Counsel Hannah Bergman and Acting Inspector General William C. Brown explains how the senators already have evidence that shows "a politically-driven conspiracy that began at the hands of a group of anti-Trump FBI officials who worked closely with Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors in an investigation known as 'Arctic Frost.'"
That later was morphed into Jack Smith's elector case against President Trump.
The senators want more government records concerning that scheme, including records and communications involving the Biden White House that concern the "election interference case" as well as the claims that Trump allegedly mishandled classified information.
That investigation infamously featured an FBI SWAT-style raid of Trump's home, with photographs of "evidence" that was "staged" in the home and then released to the public to influence public opinion regarding the charges.
"[B]ecause many of the DOJ, FBI and Biden White House personnel who were involved in Arctic Frost were also involved in the Biden administration's classified document case against President Trump, we are also requesting records pertaining to that matter as part of our investigation," the letter states.
The Daily Signal said, "Arctic Frost was the term used inside the FBI to describe the investigation into Trump opened in 2022, according to Fox News. Sources reportedly told Fox News Digital that former FBI agent Timothy Thibault 'took the action to open the investigation and involve Trump,' even though he was 'unauthorized to open criminal investigations in his role.' Fox News also reported in March that the Biden White House provided Trump and Vice President Mike Pence's government cellphones to the FBI as part of the probe. However, as Johnson and Grassley point out in their letter to NARA, this was done even though Trump 'was not yet a subject of the investigation.'"
The Federalist already had reported on the Biden administration's obsession with trying to put Trump in jail over the classified documents disputes.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
'Mike always has been a great friend. He was a newsman's newsman'
Longtime California political reporter, newspaper editor and much-loved WND commentary writer Thomas "Mike" Pottage died last week at the age of 83.
His son, Edward Pottage, told WorldNetDaily how, despite his father's suffering from advancing cancer, the one activity that kept Mike forward-looking and positive, even toward the end, was being able to continue his writing.
"My father," Edward assured WND, "will be missed dearly by not just me, but millions of conservative Americans. Thank you for allowing him to publish on your site. That privilege made him very happy because writing was his passion. He was like a 10-year-old who just learned how to ride a bike when you asked him to write a column for WND."
Even toward the end, noted Edward, Mike's opportunity to practice his craft of political journalism "made his last few weeks tolerable as his pain subsided under the joy of writing again."
"As a commentator," said longtime WND Commentary Editor Ron Strom, "Mike had a great combination of keen insight, a deft writing style and, perhaps most importantly, a humble spirit about his work."
Added Strom, "He will be greatly missed."
WND's David Kupelian recalled: "Mike explained to me a few months ago about how, now in his 80s, he was so grateful to have gotten back into writing after having spent 15 years mostly away from journalism while caring for his wife, who was very ill. After she passed away, Mike, now all alone, found himself gravitating back to the activity he said he had always loved – and that was writing.
"I remember before last November's election talking to Mike about Kamala Harris, who had risen through the ranks in California politics while Mike, then a Sacramento journalist, was a very interested and astute eyewitness. He really opened my eyes about Kamala's astonishingly radical early years.
Added Kupelian: "Though he was dealing with serious health issues, I remember being struck not only by how cogent Mike still was, but how genuinely cheerful and enthusiastic as well – mostly about being able to write for WND."
Pottage shared a long and strong bond of friendship and professional camaraderie going back decades with WorldNetDaily founder Joseph Farah, back when Farah was, like Pottage, a working journalist in California.
It was while Farah was editor-in-chief of the Sacramento Union newspaper in the early 1990s that he first came to know Mike Pottage. Indeed, they became professional colleagues and good friends – for life.
"He worked for me at the Sacramento Union as city editor," said Farah. But more than that, he added, "Mike always has been a great friend."
Reflecting on Mike's passing, Farah said, "I get choked up just thinking about it."
Of his old friend and compatriot Mike Pottage, Farah added simply, "He was a newsman's newsman."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
'This is INSANELY easy to prove. DOJ just needs to make a move'
Elon Musk, President Donald Trump's leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, has made a startling discovery, saying there are more than 100,000 active federal employees illegally receiving unemployment benefits.
The DOGE chief revealed the stunning figure Saturday to Lara Trump, host of "My View" on Fox News.
"We've actually found there's a lot of people who are federal government employees, that are active employees, who nonetheless have applied for and received unemployment insurance," Musk explained.
"While they are federal employees," an incredulous Trump responded.
"Yes, and this appears to be at least 100,000 people," Musk continued.
"Wow!" Trump said.
Online journalist Nick Sortor reacted with outrage: "That's called FRAUD. WE NEED ARRESTS!"
"This is INSANELY easy to prove. DOJ just needs to make a move," he added. "These arrests are layups."
"I'm really, really hoping I'm proven wrong but I'm starting to lose hope that this DOJ is ever going to make any significant arrests for corruption, voter fraud, etc."
Matt Van Swol, a former nuclear scientist for the U.S. Department of Energy, noted: "They actually received unemployment benefits from the government while also working???
"That is the definition of fraudulent payments. Needs to be investigated … but where the hell is Pam Bondi?!"
Last month, as WorldNetDaily reported, Musk revealed more unemployment fraud discovered by DOGE, including thousands of recipients over 115 years old, between one and five years old, and with birth dates more than 15 years in the future.
"Your tax dollars were going to pay fraudulent unemployment claims for fake people born in the future! This is so crazy that I had to read it several times before it sank in," Musk said at the time.
"This is another incredible discovery by the DOGE team, finding nearly $400 million in fraudulent unemployment payments," Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer told Fox News Digital regarding the April disclosure.
"The Labor Department is committed to recovering Americans' stolen tax dollars. We will catch these thieves and keep working to root out egregious fraud – accountability is here."