The Trump administration wants to use a Navy base north of Chicago as a launchpad for federal law enforcement activity against undocumented immigration, defense officials said Tuesday, as the White House contemplates also deploying thousands of U.S. troops to the nation’s third-largest city amid rising tension with the Illinois governor.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/08/27/trump-chicago-ice-military
President Donald Trump is continuing to transform the Justice Department into a tool for vengeance against his political enemies, including billionaire philanthropist and Democratic donor George Soros.
“George Soros, and his wonderful Radical Left son, should be charged with RICO because of their support of Violent Protests, and much more, all throughout the United States of America,” Trump wrote Wednesday on Truth Social, referencing conspiracy theories claiming that Soros and his philanthropic group, the Open Society Foundation, pay money to and supply violent protesters.
“We’re not going to allow these lunatics to rip apart America any more, never giving it so much as a chance to ‘BREATHE,’ and be FREE. Soros, and his group of psychopaths, have caused great damage to our Country! That includes his Crazy, West Coast friends. Be careful, we’re watching you!” Trump added.
Soros has long been a boogeyman for right wingers, who have — for decades at this point — made the Jewish investor the centerpiece of antisemitic conspiracy theories, as well as other conspiracies claiming his financial support of pro-Democracy organizations is actually part of an effort to destroy “western civilization.”
In a statement to Rolling Stone, The Open Society Foundation wrote that “these accusations are outrageous and false. The Open Society Foundations do not support or fund violent protests. Our mission is to advance human rights, justice, and democratic principles at home and around the world.”
“We stand for fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, including the rights to free speech and peaceful protest that are hallmarks of any vibrant democracy,” the organization added.
In the early months of Trump’s second administration, and especially in recent weeks, the Justice Department and other federal agencies have been weaponized to go after people Trump perceives as enemies, and critics of his political project.
Last week, the FBI raided the home of former national security adviser John Bolton, who has been a public critic of the president since his departure from Trump’s first administration. Last month, the Department of Justice announced that it would launch a “strike force” to investigate former President Barack Obama, and placed New York Attorney General Letitia James — who successfully prosecuted Trump and his company — under investigation. The Justice Department is also probing Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) who led the first impeachment of Trump during his first term. The investigations into both James and Schiff center around potential mortgage fraud.
During a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump denied he is weaponizing the government by, as a reporter put it to him, “digging into the mortgage records of officials you don’t like.” Trump responded by saying that the reporter should be the one doing the digging before quickly moving onto a different question.
During the same Cabinet meeting, Trump for the second straight day mused to reporters about the American people wanting a dictator. “I’m not a dictator, I just know how to stop crime,” Trump claimed.
But while Trump may claim he’s not an authoritarian, the way he’s transformed agencies intended to serve the public into his personal attack dogs has all the hallmarks of fascism.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-threatens-charges-george-soros-1235416539
A manager at a McDonald’s outlet in New York was detained by immigration authorities earlier this week, despite reportedly holding a valid U.S. work visa and just before the restaurant’s annual company picnic.
Christian Rodriguez, who has worked at the branch in Oceanside, Long Island, for several years, reportedly possesses a Social Security number, according to Newsday.
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson told Newsweek: “Christian Emmanuel Rodriguez Torrealba, a criminal illegal alien from Venezuela, entered the U.S. on a B-2 tourist visa that required him to leave the U.S. by June 3, 2016. Nearly 10 years later, he is still illegally in the U.S. Rodriguez’s criminal history includes convictions for battery and property damage crimes. ICE arrested this illegal alien on August 21, 2025.
“President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [of Homeland Security Kristi] Noem have been clear: criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States.”
Newsweek has contacted McDonald’s for comment.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump has directed his administration to remove millions of migrants without legal status to fulfill his campaign pledge of mass deportation. The White House has maintained that anyone living in the country unlawfully is considered to be a criminal by the incumbent administration.
What To Know
A co-worker who requested anonymity told Newsday that Rodriguez taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents after attending a hearing regarding his immigration application, in Bethpage, New York, on August 21, according to the outlet.
He had previously appeared at another hearing on August 7, which colleagues believed went favorably, the outlet reported.
On the day of the second hearing, at around 2 p.m.—the time he was expected at a company picnic—Rodriguez sent a text to a co-worker saying his application had been denied and that ICE had arrested him, per the outlet.
Rodriguez was transported to Central Islip, where ICE appears to be taking detainees to the federal courthouse, according to Newsday.
A resident of the neighboring town of Baldwin, Rodriguez came to the United States in December 2015 on a tourist visa, per the outlet, which reported that Rodriguez’s immigration “notice to appear” stated that he faced possible removal from the United States for staying past the period permitted on his tourist visa.
Concerns have been raised over the economic impacts of the president’s mass removal policy. Immigrants, documented or undocumented, made up 20 percent of U.S. workers at the beginning of the year, but by June that share had fallen to 19 percent, a decrease of more than 750,000 workers, according to the nonpartisan Pew Research Center.
What Happens Next
Rodriguez will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
https://www.newsweek.com/manager-arrested-ice-immigration-agents-company-picnic-2120819
Donald Trump just made a “legally debated” move that will put us on the course toward a shut down next month, according to political experts.
The conservative New York Post reported in a “midnight scoop” that Trump had scrapped $5 billion in foreign aid in a “rare” action called a “pocket rescission.” According to Post reporter Steven Nelson, it is a “legally debated maneuver that hasn’t been used in 48 years.”
“President Trump is moving to cancel nearly $5 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid and peacekeeping spending in a rare ‘pocket rescission,’ The Post has learned — making use of a legally debated maneuver that hasn’t been done in 48 years,” Nelson reported. “Trump on Thursday night notified Congress of his request to cancel the funds, which had been tied up in a court case until earlier in the day.”
The report notes, “A pocket rescission is a request that’s presented to Congress so late in the fiscal year — which ends Sept. 30 — that it’s made regardless of whether Congress acts.”
But reporters were quick to sound an alarm.
Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman flagged the news over night going into Friday, saying, “This would be the first step toward a shutdown next month.”
Co-founder John Bresnahan agreed, writing, “This could very well lead to a shutdown.”
One X user, District of Aluminum, added, “Vainglorious Russ Vought has decided to jeopardize a government shutdown with a $5 Billion ‘Pocket Rescission’ of foreign aid. He should have worked with Congress through appropriations. The villainy lies in his certainty that he alone knows the soul of America.”
https://www.rawstory.com/legally-debated-trump-shutdown-rescission
A federal judge has prohibited the Trump administration from dismissing Voice of America director Michael Abramowitz, handing President Donald Trump a defeat in his effort to dismantle the government-run and federally funded international news organization.
In his ruling Thursday, Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of D.C. stated that the Trump administration cannot fire Abramowitz without approval of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board.
“The applicable statutory requirements could not be clearer: the director of Voice of America ‘may only be removed if such action has been approved by a majority of the vote,'” Lamberth wrote.
“There is no longer a question of whether the termination was unlawful.”
Trump has sought to dismantle Voice of America, a decades-old soft-power tool for the United States that broadcasts news internationally, since returning to the White House in January, stating the broadcaster creates anti-Trump and “radical propaganda.”
On taking office, Trump fired six of the seven International Broadcasting Advisory Board members, and then in March placed Abramowitz and 1,300 other Voice of American employees on administrative leave.
On July 8, the U.S. Agency for Global Media informed Abramowitz that he was being reassigned as chief management officer to Greenville, N.C., and if he did not accept the position, he would be fired.
Before the end of the month, Abramowitz sued.
Then on Aug. 1, USAGM sent Abramowitz a letter stating he would be fired effective the end of this month if he did not accept the Greenville transfer.
The government had argued before the court that Abramowitz’s claims are not valid because he has not yet been fired, and that the rule dictating advisory board approval for hiring and firing a VOA director interfered with Trump’s executive authority.
In response, Lamberth, a President Ronald Reagan appointee, countered that whether USAGM fired Abramowitz or transferred him, he would still be removed from his position without the board’s approval, and if the Trump wished to have a vote on the matter, he could replace the board members he removed.
“To the extent the Board’s current lack of quorum institutes a practical barrier to removing Abramowitz, the Broadcast Act gives the President a straightforward remedy: replacing the removed members,” he wrote.
“The defendants do not even feign that their efforts to remove Abramowitz comply with that statutory requirement. How could they, when the board has been without a quorum since January?”
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/08/29/Trump-VOA/6481756449616
A portrait of Confederate general Robert E Lee that includes a slave guiding his horse is set to be reinstated in the Pentagon.
The 20-foot-tall painting, which was on display at the United States Military Academy for 70 years, will be hung in the West Point library under President Trump’s instruction despite a congressionally mandated commission that ordered its removal back in 2020.
“At West Point, the United States Military Academy is prepared to restore historical names, artifacts, and assets to their original form and place,” said the Army’s communications director, Rebecca Hodson, to the New York Times. “Under this administration, we honor our history and learn from it — we don’t erase it.”
Memorials to General Lee, former commander of the Confederate army and a slave owner, have long proven controversial. Multiple monuments to Confederate leaders like Lee have been taken down in recent years by campaigners who see them as a celebration of white supremacy.
The law that led to the painting’s removal was passed during Trump’s first term, when a key Senate committee passed a $741 billion defense policy plan in defiance of the president.
Proposed by Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, it required the Department of Defense to remove all names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honored or commemorated the Confederate States of America, as well as any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America.
Against Trump’s wishes, the Pentagon was forced to scrub names from monuments and paraphernalia honoring the Confederacy and its leaders from military bases and assets.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has moved to reverse a number of those decisions.
Speaking at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in June, Trump said he would also be restoring the names of Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk, Fort AP Hill, as well as Fort Robert E. Lee.
In 2023, Fort Lee was redesignated Fort Gregg-Adams to commemorate African American veterans Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams, following earlier proposals for the name change.
“Over the course of United States history, these locations have taken on significance to the American story and those who have helped write it that far transcends their namesakes,” Trump said.
He slated Congress’s 2020 directive as a “politically motivated attempt to wash away history and to dishonor the immense progress our country has fought for in realizing our founding principles.”
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