Tag Archives: President Donald Trump

Polygraph Threats, Leaks and Infighting: The Chaos Inside Hegseth’s Pentagon

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Defense secretary has chastised top military officers and staffers as he seeks to quiet a storm he helped create.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied discussing sensitive military information with his wife and others in the Signal app.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was rattled.

Word had leaked that he was planning a classified briefing for Elon Musk on China, a revelation that infuriated President Trump and raised alarms inside the Pentagon given Musk’s business ties to Beijing.

https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/pete-hegseth-pentagon-fired-aides-cfa9e0d5

Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration Must Seek to Return Another Wrongly Deported Man, Judge Rules

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A second ruling finds that the government wrongly sent a man to an El Salvador prison under wartime law despite legal protections

A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of another man who was sent to an El Salvador prison as part of the government’s push to swiftly remove alleged members of a Venezuelan gang.

The man, identified only as Cristian in court documents, was born in Venezuela and came to the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor. He and others who came to the country as children reached a settlement agreement with the government in November that prohibited their removal while their asylum applications were pending. 

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/trump-administration-must-seek-to-return-another-wrongly-deported-man-judge-rules-ccdfed29

Reuters: Exclusive: Trump administration moved Venezuelan to Texas for possible deportation despite judge’s order

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  • US judge had ordered that the man remain in Pennsylvania
  • Supreme Court ruling halted deportation effort last week
  • Transfer shows Trump’s aggressive deportation tactics

President Donald Trump‘s administration moved a Venezuelan man who had worked in construction in Philadelphia to Texas for possible deportation after a federal judge had issued an order blocking his removal from Pennsylvania or the United States, according to court records.

A plane transporting the man took off on April 15 from an airport in the state capital Harrisburg about a half hour after U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines issued an order temporarily blocking the administration from moving him out of her western Pennsylvania judicial district or the country, Justice Department lawyer Laura Irwin told an April 17 hearing, conducted as a conference call.

https://archive.is/zw6N1

Associated Press: Hegseth had an unsecured internet line set up in his office to connect to Signal, AP sources say

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While Hegseth threatens to have his underlings prosecuted, he can’t keep his own house in order:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had an internet connection that bypassed the Pentagon’s security protocols set up in his office to use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer, two people familiar with the line told The Associated Press.

The existence of the unsecured internet connection is the latest revelation about Hegseth’s use of the unclassified app and raises the possibility that sensitive defense information could have been put at risk of potential hacking or surveillance.

Known as a “dirty” internet line by the IT industry, it connects directly to the public internet where the user’s information and the websites accessed do not have the same security filters or protocols that the Pentagon’s secured connections maintain.

Other Pentagon offices have used them, particularly if there’s a need to monitor information or websites that would otherwise be blocked.

Hegseth had an unsecured internet line set up in his office to connect to Signal, AP sources say
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had an internet connection that bypassed the Pentagon’s security protocols set up in his office to use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer.

https://apnews.com/article/hegseth-signal-chat-dirty-internet-line-6a64707f10ca553eb905e5a70e10bd9d

Politico: The vicious rivalries tearing apart Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon

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A feud between the secretary’s advisers and his chief of staff created backbiting and distrust that has erupted into the open.

When President Donald Trump chose Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary, incoming officials knew they’d need to surround the inexperienced Fox News host with accomplished staff who could handle the nation’s largest bureaucracy. Hegseth would be the show horse, they figured, and others at the top would keep the Pentagon on track.

What happened was the opposite. Hegseth surrounded himself with advisers who quickly turned into vicious rivals for power — whose bitter brawl has now unraveled into revenge power plays, surprise firings, accusations of leaking and embarrassing headlines that are blowing up the Pentagon, distracting from Trump’s agenda and possibly jeopardizing Hegseth’s job.

It’s a dog-eat-dog world. Just consider that they’re not starting with the finest of people.

The vicious rivalries tearing apart Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon
A feud between the secretary’s advisers and his chief of staff created backbiting and distrust that has erupted into the open.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/22/pentagon-infighting-hegseth-fired-officials-00302709

NBC News: Trump takes executive action targeting ActBlue, the main Democratic fundraising platform

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ActBlue is widely considered one of the pillars of the Democratic Party’s digital ecosystem.

Trump is now trying to sic his politicized Department of Justice on the Democrats’ fund raisers:

President Donald Trump signed an executive memorandum Thursday aimed at investigating ActBlue, the leading Democratic fundraising platform.

The memorandum directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to “investigate allegations regarding the unlawful use of online fundraising platforms to make ‘straw’ or ‘dummy’ contributions or foreign contributions to political candidates and committees, and to take appropriate action to enforce the law.”

It specifically names ActBlue as an online fundraising platform being used “to improperly influence American elections.”

Trump takes executive action targeting ActBlue, the main Democratic fundraising platform
ActBlue is widely considered one of the pillars of the Democratic Party’s digital ecosystem.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-expected-sign-memo-targeting-act-blue-rcna202673

NBC News: Trump slams Zelenskyy for rejecting Ukraine-Russia negotiations, saying a deal was ‘very close’

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High-level talks in London aimed at bringing a pause to fighting in Ukraine disintegrated after Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff pulled out.

President Donald Trump slammed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, accusing him of derailing negotiations to end the war in Ukraine while a peace deal was “very close.”

In a long post on Truth Social, Trump described Zelenskyy’s rejection of Russia’s takeover of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, as “very harmful” to achieving peace.

“It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War,” Trump wrote.

Zelenskyy has consistently rejected the suggestion that his country give up its claim to the Crimean Peninsula.

“There’s nothing to talk about here,” he said at a media conference Tuesday. “This is against our constitution.”

It’s “very close” only in Trump’s deranged mind. All parties need to honor the 1990 agreement on the Sovereignty of Ukraine. Russia’s aggression must not be rewarded.

Trump slams Zelenskyy for rejecting Ukraine-Russia negotiations, saying a deal was ‘very close’
High-level talks in London aimed at bringing a pause to fighting in Ukraine disintegrated after Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff pulled out.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/rcna202525

Pew Research Center: Trump’s Job Rating Drops, Key Policies Draw Majority Disapproval as He Nears 100 Days

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Majorities in both parties say Trump administration must stop an action if a federal court rules it is illegal

With President Donald Trump’s second term approaching its 100-day mark, 40% of Americans approve of how he’s handling the job – a decline of 7 percentage points from February.

Worst president ever!

Trump’s Job Rating Drops, Key Policies Draw Majority Disapproval as He Nears 100 Days
Trump’s approval rating stands at 40%, and Americans mostly disapprove of his tariffs and government cuts.

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/04/23/trumps-job-rating-drops-key-policies-draw-majority-disapproval-as-he-nears-100-days

NBC News: Info Hegseth shared with wife and brother came from top general’s secure messages

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Hegseth has denied the information he shared was classified, but it was given to him on a system for sensitive and classified information, sources told NBC News.

Minutes before U.S. fighter jets took off to begin strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen last month, Army Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, who leads U.S. Central Command, used a secure U.S. government system to send detailed information about the operation to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The material Kurilla sent included details about when U.S. fighters would take off and when they would hit their targets — details that could, if they fell into the wrong hands, put the pilots of those fighters in grave danger. But he was doing exactly what he was supposed to: providing Hegseth, his superior, with information he needed to know and using a system specifically designed to safely transmit sensitive and classified information.

But then Hegseth used his personal phone to send some of the same information Kurilla had given him to at least two group text chats on the Signal messaging app, three U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the exchanges told NBC News.

Info Hegseth shared with wife and brother came from top general’s secure messages
Hegseth has denied the information he shared was classified, but it was given to him on a system for sensitive and classified information, sources told NBC News.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna198838