Social media erupts after Stephen King makes false claim about Trump’s family: ‘What is this sh–?’
Horror author Stephen King is facing backlash online Monday for a post tearing into President Donald Trump’s personal life, including a line claiming that Trump has no children. “Trump: has never had a child. Has been married 3 times. Ran several businesses into the ground. Never ran a home, couldn’t make a bed to save his a–. Calls people he works with dumb, losers, ect. Has never done sweat labor. Has never served on a local committee,” King said in a post to X. “[He] has no life experience,” King added. The post immediately began drawing criticism from accounts like Libs of TikTok. TRUMP TEARS INTO ‘AVERAGE GUY’ GEORGE CLOONEY WHO ‘COMPLAINED, CONSTANTLY, ABOUT COMMON SENSE IN POLITICS’ “Trump literally has 5 kids. What is this sh–?” Libs of TikTok posted on X. “Um… I’m pretty sure Donald Trump had children,” 1776 Project PAC founder Ryan Girdusky posted on X. “Is there a 25th Amendment for taking peoples’ phones away?” Conservative writer Bonchie wrote on X. “Donald Trump, famously childless,” conservative reporter Jerry Dunleavy jokingly wrote on X. King’s comments come as Trump, who is the father of five children and is in his second presidential term, is set to address the country on Tuesday evening in the 2026 State of the Union, a report to Congress on the administration’s work. King’s remarks mirror similar social media comments made about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a prominent progressive member of the House of Representatives, on Saturday. In a tweet put up by an account called “Stacy is Right,” a self-described MAGA mother of three, the author similarly disparaged elements of Ocasio-Cortez’s life and background. That post also mocks the Democrat for a lack of children, having never been married, never having run a business and never having had a “professional job.” AOC BLAMES CRITICS, TRUMP AFTER MUNICH HICCUP BACKLASH “[She] has no real life experience. Is a typical deadbeat socialist,” Stacy is Right said in her post. King reshared that post before putting up his own remarks about Trump. “You literally plagiarized an entire post…which was about AOC… and then applied it to Trump…… for whom it isn’t true and doesn’t make any sense. Why are you plagiarizing? I thought you were a writer?” Matt Van Swol, a former Department of Energy nuclear scientist, posted on X. Monday’s post isn’t the first time King has taken to X to vent his political views. Since Trump’s second term, King has used similar language to describe the president and his policies. NANCY PELOSI SWIPES AT TRUMP, ACCUSING HIM OF CROWNING HIMSELF AS ‘KING’ “Just wanted to say that Trump is a traitorous, Putin-loving dipsh–! Goes double for Elon!” King said in a post in February 2025. Earlier this year, King took to social media to compare ICE to Nazi Germany’s Gestapo. “ICE is the American Gestapo,” King wrote, referring to the secret state police in Germany. “Trump is ruining the economy with his stupid tariffs,” King said in another instance in April. King’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the message behind his post.
Former Secret Service officials warn of low-tech threats facing Trump after latest Mar-a-Lago breach
A deadly confrontation at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Sunday is the latest in a string of high-profile security incidents threatening President Donald Trump, as former Secret Service officials warn that low-tech, lone actors now pose one of the toughest challenges to presidential protection. “It should be quite clear to all of us by now that Trump is the most threatened president in the history of the U.S.,” former Secret Service agent William “Bill” Gage told Fox News Digital Monday, pointing to multiple high-profile incidents in recent years. Unlike past presidencies, where threat levels often subsided over time, Gage said, “the longer he’s president, the more these attacks keep happening.” Gage said the most difficult cases to prevent are often the least sophisticated. The recent incidents, he noted, were “super low-tech attacks by people with zero training,” using rudimentary weapons. “If you were standing behind them in line at Starbucks, you wouldn’t have given them a second look,” he said. Gage said the threat landscape shifted over the course of his 12-year career as a Secret Service agent. When he joined the Secret Service in 2002, he said the agency was moving away from what he described as the traditional “lone gunman” model — figures like Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated John F. Kennedy, or international militants such as “Carlos the Jackal,” one of the world’s most wanted terrorists in the ‘70s and ’80s — and adapting to a post-9/11 world focused on coordinated terrorist networks like al Qaeda and later ISIS. ARMED MAN SHOT AND KILLED AFTER ‘UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY’ INTO MAR-A-LAGO: SECRET SERVICE “But if you look at Butler and the two incidents at Mar-a-Lago, those were super low-tech attacks,” Gage said. “The low-tech actors are the ones that tend to slip through the cracks.” He also warned of a potential copycat effect when details of such incidents become public. “If it were up to the Secret Service, they would never report any of these incidents ever,” Gage said, arguing that widespread coverage allows others to “study what happened” and attempt to refine it. In today’s hyperconnected political climate, he said, that dynamic adds another layer of complexity for agents trying to stop the next threat before it materializes. In the early hours of Sunday, a 21-year-old man identified as Austin Tucker Martin of North Carolina was shot and killed by U.S. Secret Service agents and a local sheriff’s deputy after entering the secure perimeter of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Authorities say Martin drove through the north gate carrying a shotgun and a gasoline can. After being ordered to drop both, he dropped the can but raised the shotgun toward officers, who fired and killed him at the scene. Trump and First lady Melania Trump were in Washington at the time. The incident marked the third highly publicized security encounter involving Trump in less than two years. In July 2024, a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing Trump’s ear and killing an attendee before being shot by a Secret Service sniper. In September 2024, a man armed with a rifle was confronted by agents near Trump’s golf course while he was playing; that suspect was later convicted on attempted assassination charges. While the incidents have drawn intense attention, former senior special agent Don Mihalek said the latest Mar-a-Lago intrusion does not necessarily signal a breakdown in protective systems. “He got through an exterior gate of an active club,” Mihalek told Fox News Digital. “This wasn’t someone reaching the president’s residence.” Agents confronted the suspect within seconds, he said, describing the rapid response as evidence that overlapping security layers functioned as designed. Mihalek said presidential protection relies on multiple rings of security because outer perimeters at properties like Mar-a-Lago cannot be sealed in the same way as the White House. “If he ended up in the president’s house on Mar-a-Lago, that might be a different conversation,” he said. He also cautioned against viewing recent incidents in isolation, noting that presidents routinely face roughly 2,000 threats per year, most of which are mitigated before the public ever becomes aware of them. “These just happen to be very public instances,” Mihalek said, arguing that the social media era amplifies perceptions of escalation. GUNFIRE, ARSON AND VANDALISM: TRACKING POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN AMERICA Mihalek pointed to the 2024 rally shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, as an example of how early intervention can be decisive, noting that local law enforcement had reportedly identified the suspect prior to the attack. “If somebody had walked up and said, ‘Hey, who are you?’ we wouldn’t be talking about Butler,” he said. As Trump prepares to address Congress at the State of the Union, both former officials said the security posture at the Capitol is unlikely to change in response to the weekend incident. The annual address is designated a National Special Security Event — the highest level of federal security planning — triggering coordination among the Secret Service, U.S. Capitol Police, FBI, War Department and other agencies. The designation allows for expanded perimeter controls, airspace restrictions and continuity-of-government planning. Gage, who previously led advance planning for State of the Union addresses, said the event operates under a well-established security “blueprint” built to account for worst-case scenarios. “There’s really no way to increase it anymore,” he said. Both former officials said the defining challenge for presidential protection today is unpredictability: individuals with minimal training, rudimentary weapons and the ability to find reinforcement online. Unlike organized extremist networks, such actors may leave few detectable signals before acting.
ICE arrests convicted pedophiles, violent assailants as Trump meets with Angel Families
FIRST ON FOX: After President Donald Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem met Monday with Angel Families impacted by crimes committed by illegal immigrants, the agency announced it had arrested additional illegal immigrants convicted of sexual assault and violent crimes. Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital that “while Americans were enjoying their weekends, the heroic men and women of ICE were working around the clock to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens out of our country, including pedophiles, rapists and violent assailants.” Bis said that while “sanctuary politicians and the media ignore the victims of criminal illegal immigrant crime. Today, President Trump and Secretary Noem met with Angel families and victims at the White House,” adding that “these victims and their families are why we continue to fight for the arrest and removal of illegal aliens from our communities.” Among those arrested by ICE this weekend was Gerardo Moran-Cisneros, from Mexico, who was convicted of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old in Los Angeles. Also in Los Angeles, ICE arrested Jathniel Rei Tangkilisan, from Indonesia, convicted of domestic battery in Hollywood. DHS HONORS ILLINOIS WOMAN WHOSE CORPSE WAS ALLEGEDLY ABUSED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT FREED UNDER SANCTUARY LAWS In the Los Angeles suburbs, ICE arrested Hoang Dung Duong, from Vietnam, who was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in Santa Ana, California. Across the country in New York City, ICE arrested Pedro Pichasaca-Dutan, from Ecuador, who was convicted of rape. In nearby Somerset County, New Jersey, ICE arrested Mexican national Victor Ortiz-Ramos, who was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a victim less than 13 years old. Also in New Jersey, which is a sanctuary state, ICE arrested Carlos Aparicio-Zarate, also from Mexico, who was convicted of aggravated assault — serious bodily injury in Asbury Park. In the Chicago suburb of Wheaton, Illinois, Martin Villanueva-Arenas, another Mexican illegal, was arrested by ICE following his conviction for aggravated criminal sexual assault of a child, leaving the scene of an accident and resisting a peace officer. In Chicago proper, ICE arrested Jose Parada-Valdivia, from Mexico, who is convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Meanwhile, ICE also arrested Mexican national Juan Ortiz-Pozos, who is convicted of aggravated vehicular hijacking and aggravated battery on a peace officer in Chicago’s Cook County. TRUMP’S ‘TOTAL ELIMINATION’ STRATEGY PAVED WAY FOR FALL OF CARTEL KINGPIN ‘EL MENCHO’ In Houston, ICE arrested Javid Finton McLawrence, from Grenada, who was convicted of indecent assault. In the Dallas-area Tarrant County, ICE apprehended Jeremias Hernandez-Fernandez, from Mexico, who was convicted of indecency with a child. Over the weekend, ICE also arrested Mexican nationals Juan Vasquez-Perez, convicted of third-degree sex abuse in Johnson County, Iowa, and Esteban De Paz Jimenez, convicted of assault and battery on a family member, aggravated robbery and preventing summons of law enforcement in Caroline County, Virginia. The agency also arrested Claudy Ngoy, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill in Wake County, North Carolina. On Sunday, Trump signed a declaration proclaiming Feb. 22 “National Angel Family Day” in honor of the “thousands of American lives stolen from us by criminal illegal aliens and the deadly drugs they bring across our borders.” In the declaration, Trump reaffirmed his commitment to combatting illegal immigrant crime, writing, “We stand with the Angel Families, many of whom continue to be left without justice” and “we recommit to carrying out the largest mass-deportation effort in our Nation’s history, getting the worst of the worst out of our country, and putting a stop to the violence targeting the brave men and women of law enforcement.” TRUMP HALTS ANGEL FAMILIES SPEECH TO CHECK ON WOMAN IN AUDIENCE Among those present for the Angel Family event were Allyson Phillips, mother of slain Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, Alexis Nungaray, mother of slain Houston teen Jocelyn Nungaray, and the family of Rachel Morin, a Maryland mother of five who was killed by an illegal alien. Trump told the families, “For too long, your stories were suppressed so that politicians could open our borders. But today, the world hears you.” “We are not just mitigating the threat anymore; we are eliminating it,” he went on, adding, “The justice delivered in Tapalpa this weekend is just the beginning for every family in this room.” Several of the Angel Families spoke during the event as well, with Phillips telling Trump, “You are a man of your word, Mr. President.” “My daughter Laken didn’t die in vain,” said Phillips. “Because of the Laken Riley Act and the work you’re doing to clear out these monsters, other mothers won’t have to live my nightmare.”
Ex-Navy SEAL puts ‘deranged’ Mexican drug cartel on notice after violent weekend: ‘More like ISIS’
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, is calling on Congress to put more support behind joint efforts between the U.S. and Mexico to combat Mexican drug cartels in the wake of the death of “El Mencho,” the leader of the “most violent and deranged cartel.” “This is the beginning of the war against the most violent and deranged cartel in Mexico: El Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación or OJNG,” Crenshaw said in a post to X on Monday morning. Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL, believes the strike on El Mencho represents a needed expansion of U.S. efforts to combat cartels and a window of opportunity for increased coordination between U.S.-Mexican forces. “Over the past year, most of the attention has been on the Sinaloa cartel. This is a much-needed refocusing on CJNG. Both are major traffickers of fentanyl, but CJNG is more like ISIS than the mafia,” Crenshaw said. CRENSHAW PRAISES MEXICAN OFFICIALS AFTER ‘EL MENCHO’ DEATH, CALLS CARTEL ‘TERRORIST INSURGENCY’ Crenshaw believes Congress has a role to play in combating that threat. “I’ve authored a dozen pieces of legislation to support our military, intelligence and law enforcement efforts in Mexico. It’s time for committees to take them up.” Among them, Crenshaw introduced a bill in 2023 alongside 24 other cosponsors that would have authorized the U.S. military to “combat, attack, resist, target [and] eliminate” narcotraffickers. If implemented, the bill would allow President Donald Trump to use the American military against foreign nations, organizations or persons that the president determines are trafficking fentanyl into the U.S. MEXICO FLIES 37 CARTEL MEMBERS TO US UNDER PRESSURE FROM TRUMP ADMIN More recently, Crenshaw has spearheaded the North America Security Initiative — an effort to shore up U.S. support of Mexican special forces resources. Crenshaw has called on the U.S. to put more resources behind Mexico’s special forces in the same way the U.S. has diverted parts of its arsenal to support Ukraine’s war with Russia. He has urged the U.S. to provide Mexico with equipment, weapons and intelligence — an act Crenshaw believes will strengthen its relationship with Mexico. MEXICO VIOLENCE SEES DOZENS OF MILITARY TROOPS, CRIMINALS DEAD AFTER CARTEL LEADER ‘EL MENCHO’ KILLED “Unilateral action will only serve to alienate existing partnerships. Our near-term goal is the disruption of fentanyl networks that are killing Americans on a daily basis,” an information packet provided by Crenshaw’s office said about the initiative. A person familiar with Crenshaw’s thinking said he’s been coordinating with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on bringing similar cartel-focused pieces of legislation up for consideration in the near future. “We finally have a solid partner in the Mexican government to work with. We are finally focusing huge intelligence collection efforts on the cartels (due in large part to my amendment to FISA two years ago authorizing collection on the cartels),” Crenshaw said. “We are finally taking them on. It won’t be over soon. But it’s about time we started.”
Democrats demanding ICE reforms lose airport escorts in shutdown they triggered
The Trump administration is escalating pressure on Senate Democrats as negotiations to end the partial government shutdown remain at a standstill. The partial government shutdown, which is only affecting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), entered its second week on Monday. So far, the impacts of the shutdown have been minimal, but the pain could be coming soon as the agency activates “emergency measures” while the shutdown drags on. DHS announced over the weekend it would be making tweaks to some Transportation Security Administration (TSA) functions that could lead to longer wait times for passengers and lawmakers alike. DHS SHUTDOWN LEAVES LOCAL EMERGENCY RESPONDERS ON THEIR OWN AMID EXTREME WEATHER, EXPERT WARNS “Shutdowns have real-world consequences, not just for the men and women of DHS and their families who go without a paycheck, but it endangers our national security,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “The American people depend on this department every day, and we are making tough but necessary workforce and resource decisions to mitigate the damage inflicted by these politicians.” The agency announced that, for now, TSA PreCheck would stay operational after a back-and-forth over whether to continue the program during the shutdown. The program is used by more than 20 million people to speed up wait times at airports across the country, according to the agency. However, courtesy escorts for members of Congress have been suspended. “At this time, TSA PreCheck remains operational with no change for the traveling public,” a spokesperson for the agency told Fox News Digital. “As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case-by-case basis and adjust operations accordingly.” DHS SHUTDOWN EXPLAINED: WHO WORKS WITHOUT PAY, WHAT HAPPENS TO AIRPORTS AND DISASTER RESPONSE Much of the real pain that could come from a prolonged shutdown will have to do with TSA agents missing paychecks. That became a major factor during the historic 43-day shutdown last fall that saw wait times skyrocket and flight cancellations compound by the day. Some Republicans believe it will take that kind of disruption to get Democrats to reverse course on their current position. “Nothing’s going to happen here until flights get shut down, right? When TSA workers stop showing up,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. “When the Democrats, you know, can’t fly, then they’ll give in. I mean, they don’t care, because they’re being paid.” Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the White House are gridlocked in their ongoing back-and-forth over a compromise to fund the agency. DEMOCRATS RISK FEMA DISASTER FUNDING COLLAPSE AS DHS SHUTDOWN HITS DAY 5 Schumer and his caucus want more stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), following deadly shootings in Minnesota amid immigration operations. The White House has so far been willing to entertain some of the changes they’ve proposed, but Republicans have drawn red lines on imposing judicial warrant requirements and unmasking agents, among other provisions. That means a bulk of the agency is going without funding as both sides continue to butt heads, given that ICE and some immigration enforcement functions are flush with funding from the “big, beautiful bill.” The tweaks to TSA are not the only steps DHS has taken to implement emergency measures during the shutdown. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has halted Global Entry at airports and diverted agents to instead help process travelers. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has also stopped all public assistance for ongoing disasters, paused non-emergency work, halted non-disaster-related activities and restricted personnel travel to activities “strictly necessary to respond to active disasters and life-safety emergencies,” according to the agency.
Rep Randy Fine to bring 4-legged guest Sadie to Trump’s State of the Union amid backlash over X post
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., is using President Donald Trump’s State of the Union to send a message to critics of an X post he made about choosing “between dogs and Muslims.” Fine’s guest to Trump’s primetime address will be his father, Alan Fine, along with his father’s seeing-eye service dog, Sadie. “I think it’s also important, given the issues that I burst into the public consciousness last week, to talk about the importance of our dogs as Americans,” Fine told Fox News Digital on Monday. “My father’s seeing-eye dog is part of our family and allows him to live his life, and I’m going to fight like hell against anyone who wants to take it away.” The dog will be outfitted with a shirt that reads, “Don’t tread on me,” which has become Fine’s rallying cry against the outpouring of rage from Democrats over his controversial X post. HOUSE GOP UNVEILS RESOLUTION TO CONDEMN BOULDER TERROR ATTACK, CALL FOR MASS DEPORTATION OF OVERSTAYED VISAS Last week, Fine shared a screenshot from X of Palestinian Muslim activist Nerdeen Kiswani writing, “Finally, NYC is coming to Islam. Dogs definitely have a place in society, just not as indoor pets. Like we’ve said all along, they are unclean.” Fine wrote on the platform in response, “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.” It prompted an outpouring of criticism from House Democrats, with calls ranging from a censure to Fine’s outright ouster from Congress. REPUBLICAN WANTS JUDGES HELD ACCOUNTABLE IF THEY RELEASE REPEAT VIOLENT CRIMINALS WHO STRIKE AGAIN House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., posted on X, “House Democrats will not let the racist and bigoted behavior of Randy Fine go unchecked. Accountability is coming to all of these sick extremists when the gavels change hands in November, if not sooner.” The Florida Republican responded to the criticism by questioning the lack of widespread outrage when a member of the House Democratic Caucus, nonvoting Del. Stacey Plaskett, D-V.I., was found to have been texting Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing, and when Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., was accused of misusing COVID-19 pandemic funds. “I think the same people that don’t have a problem with a member of Congress texting Jeffrey Epstein, the same members of Congress who don’t have a problem with a member who stole $5 million of money that was supposed to go to people suffering from natural disasters … somehow have a problem with a member of Congress who says Americans have a right to have a dog and if people don’t like it, they can leave,” Fine said. “So they can shove it.” Kiswani has since posted that her initial comment was meant to be a joke and called Fine’s X post “genocidal.” But he has dug in since then, even introducing a resolution to Congress called the “Protecting Puppies from Sharia Act.” His father, Alan Fine, said he was eager to see his son on the House floor as a member of Congress. “I’m actually more excited to be here to watch my son,” he said. “More to see him than the president, to be quite honest. I guess that’s because I’m a Jewish father.”
Georgia lawmaker calls for ICE surge after Savannah teacher allegedly killed by illegal immigrant
A Georgia congressman is calling for a surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to his state after a teacher was allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant fleeing law enforcement. “It is truly a tragedy,” Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., told Fox News Digital. “This is something that should have never happened.” A special education teacher at a K-8 school in Savannah, Ga., was killed when Oscar Vasquez Lopez ran a red light while trying to leave the scene of an ICE operation earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said. FAMILY OF IOWA GRAD KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TO ATTEND TRUMP’S STATE OF THE UNION DHS said Vasquez Lopez is “a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala who was issued a final order of removal by a federal judge in 2024.” Carter, who has previously called for more ICE agents in Georgia’s capital, said he believed having more federal agents throughout the Peach State could help prevent such tragedies in the future. “I’ve already called for more ICE agents to be in Atlanta, and now I’m calling for more ICE agents to be out throughout the state of Georgia,” Carter said. “Listen, this is serious. We need to get rid of the criminal illegal immigrants here in this country. We’ll deal with the others later.” Carter cited reports that claim there are roughly 500,000 illegal immigrants residing in Georgia. ICE REVEALS ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ ARRESTS IN JUST ONE DAY AFTER ROUNDING UP ‘THUGS’ CONVICTED OF VILE CRIMES “It would be naive of us to think that some of those aren’t criminal illegal immigrants,” he said. DHS said Vasquez Lopez was charged with vehicular homicide by the Chatham County Police Department after the fatal collision, in which he sustained “minor injuries.” The department said ICE agents had attempted a traffic stop when Vasquez Lopez “initially complied” but then fled, making an illegal U-turn and running a red light before striking the teacher’s car. Tensions over ICE have reached a fever pitch after President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, which recently concluded after the administration directed a surge of federal officers to the Midwest city to withdraw. A U.S. citizen was shot and killed by ICE agents last month while attempting to leave the scene of a demonstration, though she was accused by the federal government of trying to hit one of the agents with her car while fleeing. Weeks later, a second U.S. citizen was killed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents while recording them during a separate anti-ICE demonstration.
Trump fires judge-picked US attorney as top DOJ official warns courts to stay in their lane
The Justice Department announced Friday the firing of a second court-appointed U.S. attorney in as many weeks, revealing the swift removal of another prosecutor selected by federal judges to lead a district. The judges in the Eastern District of Virginia had chosen veteran lawyer James Hundley to fill the vacancy left by Trump-appointee Lindsey Halligan, who stepped down from the role last month after the court said she was illegitimately serving. A top DOJ official quickly announced Hundley’s termination on social media, intensifying the ongoing fight between the executive and judicial branches over who has authority to choose the top prosecutors in each of the 93 federal court districts. “Here we go again. EDVA judges do not pick our US Attorney. POTUS does. James Hundley, you’re fired!” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote on X. FEDERAL JUDGE DISQUALIFIES US ATTORNEY, TOSSES SUBPOENAS TARGETING NY AG LETITIA JAMES Blanche’s comment echoed a similar one he made when announcing the termination of Donald Kinsella after judges in the Northern District of New York chose him to replace Trump appointee John Sarcone, whom they also disqualified. Constitutional scholar John Yoo recently told Fox News Digital that while the law gives judges the authority to choose a lawyer to fill a U.S. attorney vacancy, the Constitution and court precedent clearly grant the president — not the attorney general or deputy attorney general — the power to dismiss U.S. attorneys at will. Underscoring that the decision had come from the president was Dan Scavino, the head of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, who told Hundley through a social media post, “Check your email James,” after Blanche announced Hundley’s termination. Halligan’s and Sarcone’s absences have left DOJ leadership, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and Blanche, to serve as signatories on court filings in those districts as the Senate fails to confirm Trump’s preferred nominees to serve in them and several other blue state districts, where the home state senators must approve of the nominees under the upper chamber’s blue slip tradition. In a similar scenario, the court disqualified Trump appointee Alina Habba, and DOJ leadership responded by assigning three department officials to assume the duties of the U.S. attorney there. The DOJ initially also appealed the decision to disqualify Habba, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a lower court ruling on it, and the department has not at this stage sought relief from the Supreme Court.
Reporter’s Notebook: Trump’s State of the Union becomes political boxing match as Democrats boycott
Imagine a boxing match. A boxing match may only go a few rounds. But it’s a big production. There’s a massive buildup for weeks in the press. There’s the weigh-in. Both fighters enter the ring to fanfare. Everyone scans the crowd to see “who” is there or nabbed seats close to the ring. Celebrities. Actors. Musicians. Models. Other famous athletes. There’s a lot to see. And that’s why the president’s State of the Union speech is similar. DHS SHUTDOWN DRAGS INTO WEEK TWO AS IRAN THREAT, SOTU CLASH COMPLICATE HILL TALKS Yeah, there’s the speech. But there’s a lot more on which to focus when President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. It may range from what “trunks” the fighters wear when they enter the ring to who is serving as their cornermen. Do you train your attention on the speech itself and what the president says? Does he deliver a stemwinder of an address, veering off into any number of political tributaries and addressing countless grievances? Do you observe the delivery of a president who maintains a mostly loyal MAGA base but struggles with soaring disapproval ratings? What about the presence of Supreme Court justices who ruled against the president last week on tariffs, one of the most seminal issues of his administration? How about his push to double down on tariff policies, despite the decision by the High Court? We haven’t even discussed what the president may say about ICE, unrest in the Twin Cities, the stalemate over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. And that’s to say nothing about the possibility of invading Iran or new questions emerging about Greenland. This is just an incomplete list regarding the speech. But State of the Union messages are now laced with theater and performance. It extends well beyond what the president may say or do. Lawmakers were practically props a few decades ago, applauding and cheering when they heard the president tout a policy or achievement they endorsed. Or, sitting silently if something came up which they opposed. Now, State of the Union is a participatory if not contact sport. The president’s most ardent opponents are expected make noise, heckle, boo, shout or even upbraid the president. Think of the iconic photo depicting Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, waving his cane at Trump before House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., banished him from the address last year. Or former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., on their feet, jeering former President Joe Biden a few years ago. BILL MAHER CALLS FOR COMPLETE END TO STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS AHEAD OF TRUMP SPEECH Tuesday night will serve as a test for Congressional decorum. Expect outbursts and shouted retorts. But we’ll see if anyone raises – or lowers – the bar when it comes to their conduct compared to Johnson bouncing Green from the chamber last year. Then there’s the old “look who I brought” to the speech watch. Democrats may gravitate toward pillars of their community, local heroes, or those wronged by ICE. Republicans may bring along local law enforcement officials helpful toward the detention and deportment of those in the country illegally. Or, the relatives of those harmed by illegal immigrants. There’s also a question whether some lawmakers will show up. Some Republicans representing vulnerable districts or competitive states may skip out to build distance between themselves and the largely unpopular president. Meantime, a growing number of Democrats plan to attend an alternative to the president’s address. They are eschewing the speech in exchange for what they call the “People’s State of the Union” on the National Mall. Some Democrats may pull double duty. One wonders if some lawmakers — of both parties — will use travel issues posed by the East Coast blizzard as a convenient excuse to skip out. Someone who might not skip out: former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. The House expelled Santos in late 2023. Only the sixth Member ever kicked out of the House. But as a former Member, Santos still has privileges to come and go from the Capitol as he wants. So Santos showed up for Biden’s State of the Union in 2024. Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft in 2024. But Trump commuted Santos’ sentence last fall. And then there is who reacts to Trump. Virginia Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger, delivers the official Democratic response. She’s a moderate former Congresswoman who prevailed last fall by campaigning on “affordability.” Republicans will focus on Spanberger and plans to redraw House districts in Virginia to offset prospective gains by GOPers through redistricting — at the president’s behest — in Texas. WATCH: TOP 5 MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN AMERICAN STATE OF THE UNION HISTORY Three other prominent Virginians have delivered rebuttals to State of the Union messages in recent years. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., was Virginia’s Governor when he responded to then President George W. Bush in 2006. Democrats drafted then Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., to deliver the response to Mr. Bush’s 2007 speech. Republicans tapped then Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell to speak after Obama’s 2010 oratory. Most responses to presidential State of the Union addresses either don’t go well or are barely remembered. It may be noteworthy if Spanberger hacks through the noise at all and people remember anything from her presentation. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., will deliver the Democrats’ response in Spanish. This will be Padilla’s highest profile moment since guards protecting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem threw the senator to the ground when he interrupted her remarks about ICE during a news conference in Los Angeles in June. The president will be on screen most of the time during the speech. But the two men who likely rival Trump for screentime are Johnson and Vice President JD Vance. Or at least their torsos will as they’re half visible in the frame, sitting above Trump on the House dais. Johnson will run the show, as he is Speaker
Kingpins fall, prices don’t: How cartels defy the rules of economics
In most markets, removing a CEO rattles investors and drives prices up or down. In the global drug trade, taking down a kingpin barely moves the needle. Over the weekend, Mexican authorities said they killed one of the world’s most prolific traffickers, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes — better known as “El Mencho,” the longtime leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel. His death should represent a major disruption to the market. And yet, cartels appear to defy one of economics’ most basic assumptions. DEATH TOLL RISES AFTER MEXICAN DRUG CARTEL LEADER KILLED IN US-BACKED OPERATION Basic economics holds that when supply is disrupted — especially in a risky black market — scarcity drives prices higher. Increased danger should mean higher premiums. And after decades of kingpin arrests, cartel crackdowns and military operations, the cumulative effect should be visible in the data. But drug prices remain remarkably stable. Part of the explanation, as Tom Wainwright argues in “Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel,” is structural. Cartels do not function like fragile, personality-driven firms. They resemble decentralized corporations that are built to absorb shocks, replace leadership and protect distribution networks. Remove a boss and the enterprise keeps running. But resilience at the top is only part of the story. Cartels also exert extraordinary control over their supply chains, particularly over the farmers who grow coca, the raw ingredient used to make cocaine. “Under normal market conditions, coca farmers would be able to shop around and sell their leaves to the highest bidder. That would mean that in times of scarcity, coca buyers raised their bids, and the price of the leaf went up,” Wainwright explains. TOURISTS TRAPPED IN PUERTO VALLARTA RECOUNT CARTEL RETALIATION AFTER EL MENCHO KILLED In many coca-growing regions, prolonged violence has left a single trafficking group in control. “That group is the sole local buyer of coca leaf, so it dictates the price,” Wainwright said. That dominance allows traffickers to dictate prices and insulate themselves from rising costs. “Just as big retailers protect themselves and their customers from price rises by forcing suppliers to take the hit, cartels keep their own costs down at the expense of coca farmers.” The tight grip that cartels have on the supply chain, Wainright said, means that “any worsening in coca-growing conditions simply makes poor farmers even poorer, without doing much to cut the cartels’ profits or raise the price of cocaine for consumers.” Killing a kingpin can change the leadership chart, but it does not dismantle the supply chain that keeps the market stable.