SINCERETALK

President Donald Trump's former fixer and personal attorney, Michael Cohen told CNN that he is staking a claim to Trump’s $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, and he doesn’t care that Trump hates him. By filing papers, Cohen is joining the ranks of Trump ally Michael Caputo and January 6, 2021 rioters who are also looking for a taxpayer-funded payout for what they consider the weaponization of the justice system, despite outcry from critics. “The first time [I was wronged] … an IRS agent out of San Francisco downloaded my information, put it on a thumb drive, improperly used the finance system, and then gave that thumb drive to Michael Avenatti, who gave it to Ronan Farrow and then reported on it,” Cohen told CNN anchor Jake Tapper. The second incident, Cohen said, involved an individual who stole Donald Trump's tax documents, to leak to the press also stole Cohen’s. Tapper delivered some pushback, asking if Ronan Farrow's article resulted “in your being prosecuted?” “Wh...

Count Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) among the sparse but growing crew of Republicans with the courage to criticize President Donald Trump as he crushes the GOP. Bacon is also among the ranks of Republicans retiring this year , so he finds his courage “on the way out the door” as some critics have accused. Nevertheless, from the safety of his retirement, Bacon is lobbing major pushback against Trump’s controversial slush fund settlement proposal on CNN. “This whole thing smells,” Bacon told CNN. “You have the president is the is the plaintiff, but he's also in charge of the defendants. So he's, in a sense, negotiating with himself. And most people look at that. And that's not impartial. It surely looks partial. So there has to be some kind of arbitrator or some kind of like a judge or something that helps provide an impartial decision on who would get this money.” The announcement of the fund’s creation prompted condemnation among both Democrats and Republicans. On Thursday, Tru...

President Donald Trump is making mistakes as president that, according to his former Homeland Security Chief of Staff, will cost Americans their lives. Miles Taylor, who served during Trump’s first term, told MS NOW on Wednesday that the $1.776 billion slush fund that Trump created for his political supporters and possibly himself is more expensive than the government spends on important national security projects. "It's probably the biggest heist in American history of any kind, of any sort, that tells you a lot about the United States Congress,” Taylor said during an MS NOW appearance on Wednesday. “The Congress that spent most of its legislative time this week talking about the ballroom, trying to get ballroom funds passed instead of inflation and wars, or this heist." Taylor also denounced Trump’s gutting of America’s scientific infrastructure, particularly when it comes to fighting pandemics. “There are record numbers of measles cases in our country right now,” Tay...

President Donald Trump has recently had a series of successes campaigning against Republicans who displease him, with a majority going down to defeat in their primaries. Yet one Republican pollster argues that Trump, while winning these primary battles, may be losing the larger political war in the process. “We all have to say enough,” Republican-leaning pollster Frank Luntz told CNN anchor Boris Sanchez on Wednesday. “You should not be destroyed because you decide to enter politics. People need to be held accountable for what they do or don't do, for what they say or don't say. And I think that we're just pulling ourselves apart. I know I sound like a broken record because I've mentioned this before on your show, but it's all bad. It's all problematic, and it's not okay if the Republicans do it. It's not okay if the Democrats do it. We need to call an end to this.” While acknowledging that ‘politics is a tough business,” Luntz argued that it is un-demo...

President Donald Trump just walked back one of his most controversial immigration proposals — although he is not backing down altogether. Trump is no longer going to sign executive orders directing financial institutions to check customers for proof of citizenship, according to a report from Semafor . Wall Street and other major financial institutions opposed the proposal on the grounds that it would cost them money and be inefficient. Instead Trump’s new executive orders will require Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to guide financial institutions on ways to detect undocumented immigrants who ask for loans and open accounts. Bessent and other federal regulators will also need to change the Bank Secrecy Act to strengthen customer-due-diligence requirements and make it easier for financial institutions to acquire more information about customers’ backgrounds. Additionally, Trump will ask the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to consider modifying rules that clarify deportatio...

In the absence of fundamental change, especially among Democratic leaders, I can't say I have a lot of hope these days. That's in spite of all the polling showing that Donald Trump is the most unpopular president ever. He was unpopular the first time. That he's unpopular the second time should not be surprising. What is surprising is he was elected again despite being unpopular. More surprising is we keep believing unpopularity will doom him. Don't get me wrong. It could be that Trump's policies burn up so much of the American electorate that voters storm the polls in November to put Democrats back in charge of the Congress. But what if they storm the polls and nothing changes? Not because Democratic leaders are squishes, though that's true enough, but because John Robert's US Supreme Court, and now state courts, legalized cheating. We all believe in our bones that you win when you're popular, lose when you're not. But white-power gerrymandering...

Four crew involved in a mid-air collision of military jets at an airshow ejected safely outside ‌Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, the US Navy said. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/DW2CXgG via sinceretalk

Oil prices extended gains as efforts to end the US-Israeli war on Iran appeared to have stalled, after a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates came under attack and as US President Donald Trump is expected to discuss military options on Iran. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/Hwulop0 via sinceretalk

A Gauteng car dealership has found itself in deep trouble for advertising a Jetour model that turned out to be unavailable at its lot. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/akM0Xeq via sinceretalk

Spirit Of Praise All Stars brought Middelburg, Mpumalanga, to a standstill as thousands of gospel lovers packed the Steve Tshwete Banquet Hall for a night of powerful worship, emotional performances and unforgettable moments. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/35JnFmQ via sinceretalk

Zimbabwe’s main state-owned diamond miner aims to produce five million carats this year, up from 3.8 million in 2025, despite a downturn in global prices and proliferation of lab-grown rivals. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/tKwsdST via sinceretalk

Moses Tembe, South Africa’s lotto king, is seemingly in business with at least three associates of Paul Mashatile; a used syringe has been presented to the medical profession’s watchdog as alleged evidence that TV doctor Pieter Henning is abusing opioids; embattled reality TV personality Mel Viljoen’s dreams of returning to South Africa received a boost this past week; and a comprehensive look at 30 ANC ministers over two decades reveals a far more serious pattern of personal corruption, bribery, and direct abuse of power. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/9AV3jms via sinceretalk

Congressional lawmakers and Trump’s own former lawyer are panicking over how racked President Donald Trump’s mind appears to be with illness. “I don't know how anyone can see what he posts or watch him in any meeting and think that he's fit for office,” said one lawmaker speaking to reporters. Another lawmaker said: “We have strategic ambiguity. But [Trump] is just … He’s confrontational, inconsistent, erratic,” said another congressman, who then fluttered his tongue in a demonstration of Trump’s lucidity. “I don't trust that man to be able to cognitively make a complete sentence, let alone negotiate with China,” said another. “I think he's seriously ill,” said still another. “I think Trump needs medical attention and there needs to be an intervention.” Back in the studio, MS NOW host Ari Melber interviewed Trump’s former attorney Ty Cobb, who offered little good news to deliver on that front. “In 2017, Dr. Bandy X. Lee, a forensic psychiatrist and president of the Wo...

A caller had no patience for Republican talking points on a Friday C-SPAN show . Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-Fla.) joined C-SPAN’s “Congressional News of the Day” show to share Republican talking points paying down the damage of President Donald’s war on Iran and the subsequent rise in gas prices and inflation at grocery stores and other consumer items. But C-SPAN is an older format show that still fields calls from commenters, and Haridopolos found himself catching the bad end of one man’s vocal beat-down. Haridopolos had just finished advocating for U.S. intervention in Cuba, saying “the people of Cuba are suffering,” when “Independent” voter “Roger” in Lawrenceville, Ga., phoned up and got a word in. “Congressman, I know you are a smart guy, a former educator. Why do you guys continue to parrot trump's crazy Fox News talking points when I know you have to know right from wrong? There is just no way [you can believe that stuff].” "Well give us a specific example," the C-S...

During President Donald Trump’s second term, one of his key goals has involved reshaping U.S. cultural institutions to suit his ideological project, and the Smithsonian in particular has become a target of his culture war against diversity and historical narratives that he perceives to be “woke.” Shortly after he entered office, he signed an executive order calling for the museum to remove “ anti-American ” narratives, which took special aim at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, arguing that aspects of it portrayed American and Western values as “inherently harmful and oppressive.” While many speculated that this could mean the closure or radical whitewashing of exhibits involving issues like slavery or the struggles of minority communities, according to the Washington Post, the Smithsonian “has managed to push back and mostly hold its ground.” While it has been impacted by what the Post describes as “a few key losses,” it has succeeded at maintaining the maj...

Here are the Daily Lotto and Daily Lotto Plus numbers. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/v6IZ3Jc via sinceretalk

Anonymous sources speaking with Zeteo report President Donald Trump is getting increasingly angry with his failure in Iran and is looking to do something — anything — to move things along, regardless of the violence or the consequences. “Two senior Trump administration officials and two other sources briefed on the situation tell Zeteo that Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated by the state of peace talks with Iran, and the president has ordered an acceleration of the Pentagon’s preparation for a new phase of his war in the Middle East,” said Zeteo writers Asawin Suesaeng and Andrew Perez. “Trump’s war fever is back,” one of the senior administration officials said this week, adding that the administration is ready to “ramp up the war again within the coming days, after the U.S. president returns from his state visit in China, should Trump give the order to strike.” Additionally, the sources say Trump has not completely ruled out high-risk operations that could get Americans...

President Donald Trump’s Justice Department (DOJ) is asking the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to allow it to take security clearances away from law firms that accept cases with which they disagree — even though that same precedent could empower future Democratic presidents to persecute Republican law firms. “The DOJ returned to court Thursday and told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that President Donald Trump's executive orders to strip elite law firms of security clearances and tear up their government contracts must be revived, even if that means a Democrat eventually comes into power and deems MAGA lawyers enemies of the state,” reported Law and Crime on Thursday . “Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan, U.S. Circuit Judge Cornelia Pillard and U.S. Circuit Judge Neomi Rao — two appointees of Barack Obama and a lone Donald Trump appointee, respectively — formed the three-judge panel in a case the DOJ was prepared to drop in Ma...

I do the cooking in the family, so I’m also the guy who shops for the groceries. Truth is, I like doing both just fine, because sitting down for a good meal is one of life’s underrated treats. When I was done this morning corralling the goods at the local market that I hoped would get us through a few day’s worth of semi-fine dining, I aimed my shopping cart into an empty checkout line and started offloading my supplies. Experienced shoppers will know that there’s nothing like the privilege of scooting into an empty line at the grocery store. Better yet, this welcoming aisle was being staffed by one of my favorite cashiers, Betty. All signs were pointing to a better-than-average day. As I greeted Betty, and put the last of my stuff — the breakable items — on the conveyor belt, she asked with a smile if I’d found everything OK. Salty grocery-store navigator that I am, I told her I had, but with things so slow in the place, decided to make the opportunity for some small talk while drivi...

President Donald Trump and his family are using the White House to make the Trump family “the richest on the planet by the time the president’s term is over,” warned MS NOW correspondent Jonathan Lemire on Wednesday. ‘Donald Trump Jr. has been quoted in media reports saying that his goal is for the Trump family to be the richest on the planet by the time the president's term is over,” Lemire told MS NOW anchor Katy Tur on Wednesday while discussing the first people to disembark Air Force One in China. “It is telling that Eric Trump and his wife Lara Trump were among the first off the plane. And I will say, at least in that initial wave of officials who came down the front steps of Air Force One, I didn't see the Secretary of State. I didn't see the Secretary of Defense. I did see a couple of CEOs, and I certainly saw the Trump family — which I think is a fitting symbol of a family that, in the first term, did put up a few minor barriers and did try to have a few restrictio...

COLUMBIA — The Senate on Tuesday rejected a push to redraw the state’s congressional lines just weeks before the primaries, with GOP leaders saying it’s legally unnecessary and wrong for South Carolina. Senators’ 29-17 vote fell short of the two-thirds majority approval needed to proceed. Officially, senators refused to add redistricting to a resolution setting the rules for what the Legislature can do after the session ends Thursday. That’s despite pressure from President Donald Trump, who called GOP senators personally over the last week and publicly prodded the majority caucus through his social media platform. “I’m watching closely, along with all Republicans across the Country who are counting on their Elected Leaders to use every Legal and Constitutional authority they have to stop the Radical Left Democrats from destroying our Country,” the president wrote Monday night on Truth Social . But Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said legislators need to stand up for what’s best fo...

President Donald Trump and the Republican Party are planning on sending troops to polling places during the 2026 midterm elections, according to a recent report by The New Republic. “The Republican National Committee announced Tuesday that it has deployed poll watchers and election observers in at least 17 states for the midterm elections,” The New Republic’s Hafiz Rashid reported on Tuesday. “In a post on X, RNC Chairman Joe Gruters posted an audio clip where he said, ‘We’ve already deployed field staff and we’ve hired state directors and election integrity directors.’” Although Gruters did not specify which states he was targeting, he made it clear that this is part of the GOP’s plan to retain control of Congress during the 2026 midterm elections. “We focus on the big picture,” Gruters said. “We focus on winning. We have a plan. We’re executing the plan.” As Rsahid reported, Trump himself has said he is considering sending the National Guard and ICE to voting locations in November....

I had dinner recently with a group of political operatives — sophisticated people who for years have been advising politicians and candidates. During dinner they shared with me their fantasy, which they gave 30 percent odds of becoming a reality within the next four months. In my dinner companions’ fantasy, Trump’s failed war will elevate gas and food prices so high and long that much of the Republican base will begin turning against Trump. And Trump’s mental problems will become even more obvious. Faced with all this, JD Vance promises Marco Rubio that he’ll appoint him vice president if Rubio joins Vance in seeking to oust Trump under the 25th Amendment.* Rubio agrees. Vance and Rubio then approach House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune for confidential discussions in which they broach the possibility. Johnson and Thune give Vance and Rubio their tacit support. Vance and Rubio then get Pete Hegseth to sign on, promising Hegseth that he’ll keep his job. They...

President Trump has launched an aggressive campaign to punish journalists who reported on his decision to launch war against Iran, marking an unprecedented assault on press freedom. According to the Wall Street Journal , Trump personally handed acting Attorney General Todd Blanche a stack of news articles with a sticky note labeling them "treason," prompting the Justice Department to pursue subpoenas directly targeting reporters' records. The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and Axios have all received grand jury subpoenas or faced investigations for reporting on the Iran war's buildup. The Journal received subpoenas dated March 4 for reporters' records related to a February 23 story detailing Pentagon warnings about the military campaign's risks. That article ran five days before Trump launched the war on February 28. Trump's anger intensified after a New York Times article revealed how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu p...

A Republican lawmaker has been caught on tape agreeing to a racist remark directed at House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries , in which he was referred to as having "cotton-picking hands." Jeffries, the House Minority Leader since taking over from Nancy Pelosi , has been outspoken in response to the Virginia Supreme Court's latest ruling, shooting down a new congressional map designed to create four new Democratic seats. The effort, approved by the state's voters in a special ballot measure, was undertaken in order to counteract gerrymandering campaigns done in red states at the behest of President Donald Trump, with the aim of rigging the 2026 midterms in their favor. Jen Kiggans is a Republican representative for Virginia, who on Monday appeared on the latest episode of the "Richmond Morning News" podcast with host Rich Herrera. During the interview, Herrera made a comment about Jeffries, a New York representative and a black man, staying out of Virginia...

South African Police Service divisional commissioner for supply chain management, Lieutenant General Molefe Fani, has been suspended. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/IrWno7E via sinceretalk

South African golfer Yurav Premlall surged to a stunning 14-shot victory to secure his maiden DP World Tour title at the Catalunya Championship. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/MEGdfuQ via sinceretalk

Cape Town was battered by a second cold front overnight, with strong winds and heavy rain damaging homes, flooding roads and causing electricity outages across parts of the metro. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/oWqAjRs via sinceretalk

US President Donald Trump’s swift rejection of Iran’s response to a US peace proposal sent oil prices surging higher amid concerns the 10-week-old conflict will drag on, keeping shipping through the Strait of Hormuz paralysed. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/3MyfcR8 via sinceretalk

Arms maker Paramount has lodged high court papers over a contract for nearly 500 border‑protection vehicles, alleging Armscor awarded on a paper design, deferred field tests, and diluted requirements while Milkor allegedly had no vehicles ready. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/bVG6dDF via sinceretalk

Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected the idea of being a swing vote on the U.S. Supreme Court during an appearance in Arkansas on Saturday, despite cases where she’s split from the court’s conservative majority. Barrett, who President Donald Trump nominated to the court in 2020, spoke for an hour about her work during an event at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. Conservatives hold a 6-3 majority on the court, but Barrett has sided with the liberal justices on several key cases over the years. But Barrett said she doesn’t view herself as a swing vote. “I don’t like that label because it makes me sound sort of flighty,” she said during the “Building Bridges” Q&A with Crystal Bridges Board Chair Olivia Walton. “You could say a lot of things. I don’t think I’m flighty. I think independent, or just following the law, would be the way to describe it.” Barrett said that being a judge means that sometimes she’ll decide a case where she doesn’t like the results. “I thi...

A recent SEC filing reveals President Donald Trump’s Truth Social’s parent company, Trump Media and Technology Group, sloughed off more than $400 million last quarter and brought in only a few hundred thousand dollars in sales. Trump’s family may be cashing in big through government contracts and federally-enabled crypto schemes, but the president’s own social media company appears to be bleeding. The company reported only $871,200 in revenue in the first three months of 2026, but also revealed a nearly $406 million net loss in 2026, which amounted to a total $387.8 million loss after accounting for earnings, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. The company blamed its $405.9 million net loss and a $387.8 million Adjusted EBITDA loss for “non-cash losses including unrealized losses on digital assets, digital assets pledged, and equity securities, accreted interest, and stock-based compensation.” Despite the red ink, the company claims “a strong balance sheet” and that it will be “...

The Irish Star reports critics bushwhacked a White House social media post wherein it proclaimed to be an ally of small business when consumer satisfaction is historically low. The mass attack came on the heels of a small business summit held at the White House, after which the White House posted on X, stating : "Small businesses are the backbone of America. They drive 40 percent of our economy, power American manufacturing and support working families nationwide.” But hundreds of online critics swarmed the comments section to share their fury at President Donald Trump and the business environment he’s created for the small businesses he claims to appreciate. “As a small business owner, you have made everything MUCH worse. You're the enemy of the United States and of the American people,” said one critic, according to the Star. “Trump just gave small business the death sentence,” posted another . “With fuel doubled, family businesses will be going into bankruptcy from Trump...

As of right now, CNN anchor Jake Tapper says Republicans appear to “have the edge” in the gerrymandering arms race that President Donald Trump set off with his extreme mid-decade gerrymander in Texas. But CNN data analyst John King says there are some things that even the most extreme undemocratic tampering can’t fix. With Republicans determined to lock in a permanent House majority by picking their own voters and the Supreme Court agreeing to let white-majority Southern legislators “go back and take away the majority Black districts,” King said Republicans look like they’re winning their gerrymander war. But he added that “this is still a bad Republican year.” “[B]ased on historical odds — it’s usually 25 seats on average since World War II — the party in power loses 25 seats in the House in a midterm election year. So the Democrats, on average, are still poised to get there.” If Democrats have a “below average year,” King said Republicans could maintain their gerrymandering advantag...