Slingshot News: ‘It Would Be Different’: When Donald Trump Lied To His Supporters, Claiming He Would Get Rid Of The Income Tax At The White House
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Tag Archives: White House
Slingshot News: ‘I Can’t Answer’: Trump Nominee Stephen Miran Folds Under Pressure, Says He Has ‘No Idea’ if He Will Resign From Current Job If Confirmed
Slingshot News: ‘Costs Haven’t Gone Up’: Trump Scrambles To Dodge Accountability, Spews Bald-Faced Lies About The Economy During Remarks In The Oval Office
The Dispatch: No, President Trump’s Tariffs Haven’t Generated $8 Trillion in Revenue
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. on September 5, 2025. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
On Labor Day, a post on the White House’s official X account lauded President Donald Trump for having generated $8 trillion in revenue for the federal government and celebrated his “protectionist trade policies” for creating $8 trillion in U.S. investment. The text of the post highlights the trade policies, while an accompanying graphic touts the tariff revenue.
Trump also claimed Tuesday that the U.S. has “taken in almost $17 trillion in investment … most of it has come in because of tariffs.”
None of the claims is accurate.
A Bipartisan Policy Center analysis of the Treasury Department’s daily statements shows that the federal government has taken in $158.4 billion in tariff revenue since January 21, the day after Trump’s inauguration. On August 22, the Congressional Budget Office updated past projections and now estimates that Trump’s tariffs on China, Mexico, and several other countries will reduce deficits by $4 trillion—over the next decade. Each year, the United States on average takes in $3 trillion in imported goods, which makes the claim of $8 trillion in tariff revenue just in 2025 nearly impossible.
The White House maintains on its website a list of pledges of investment by various companies and countries, most recently updated on September 2. The list includes private sector projects such as a “$600 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing and workforce training” by Apple, $500 billion by Nvidia to update its U.S. infrastructure, and $200 billion by Micron to boost its U.S. production of memory chips. And it includes pledges by foreign nations such as the United Arab Emirates ($1.4 trillion), Qatar ($1.2 trillion), and Japan ($1 trillion) to invest in the U.S.
Add up those amounts, and you get roughly $7.5 trillion. But there are several reasons not to take these pledges at face value. As Dispatch contributor and Cato Institute vice president Scott Lincicome has written, companies like Apple, Amazon, or the chip manufacturer TMSC often seek to gain favor with a new administration by promising multibillion-dollar investments. These often involve either expansions of projects already in the works or vague pledges that lack concrete time frames.
“Oftentimes companies that are actually pledging new investment will say they’re going to do it based on market conditions,” Lincicome told The Dispatch. “Well, market conditions change, and suddenly what looks like a good investment isn’t a good investment, and it never happens. Or, the timeline is hilariously drawn out, and so it might take 10 years to hit that number.”
Trump’s first term, Lincicome continued, featured a collection of multibillion-dollar pledges from manufacturing giants—ultimately, with mixed successes. “Some of it certainly happened, but a lot of it didn’t, and some of it that did happen actually ended up collapsing. Look at [Magnitude] 7 Metals, this big aluminum company. [Trump trade adviser] Peter Navarro went out there and claimed this was the future of American aluminum, and it’s closed down two years later.”
When asked to clarify, the White House did not offer further explanation for their Labor Day post or for Trump’s remarks.
“President Trump is right: tariffs are bringing in historic revenue for the federal government, revenue that will amount to trillions of dollars in the coming years,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai told The Dispatch in an email. “Tariffs made America rich once before, and tariffs will Make America Wealthy Again.”
Simply bullshit! “The federal government has taken in $158.4 billion in tariff revenue since January 2”, not $8 trillion. Liars!
And they probably haven’t taken into account the changes in spending habits that occur when taxes and prices increase.
Independent: Trump welcomes guests to ‘Rose Garden club’ after revamp to make iconic White House location more like Mar-a-Lago
Trump hosted a dinner for allies in Congress and spoke at length about the changes he’s made to the iconic White House garden
President Donald Trump welcomed guests Friday evening to the “Rose Garden Club” – the iconic White House outdoor space that now appears strangely reminiscent of another exclusive location.
The new Rose Garden features a limestone patio with country club-style chairs, tables, and striped umbrellas – echoing Trump’s private Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago.
Trump hosted a dinner for allies in Congress and spoke about some of the changes he’s made to the iconic White House garden since taking office in January.
“You’re the first ones in this great place,” the president said. “We call it the Rose Garden Club and it’s a club for senators, for congresspeople, and for people in Washington, and frankly, people that can bring peace and success to our country.”
Long gone is the central grassy area that Trump claimed was prone to getting muddy and is now replaced with tiles. But flowers remain along the border.
Friday evening’s setup featured four rows of six tables with white tablecloths draped across each one. The white chairs featured bright yellow seat cushions, in the same color scheme as the umbrellas.
Each table was outfitted with a classic country club-style place setting and included a basket of rolls and a saucer with pats of butter.
White House Communications Director Stephen Cheung posted a photo on X, giving a closer look at the individual table settings. Each person appeared to receive a gold-embossed welcome paper that read “The Rose Garden Club.”
“We picked a great stone,” Trump told the audience, referencing the limestone flooring. “And we have a great speaker system.”
The president recently installed a new speaker system in the Rose Garden which he showed off to reporters last month.
Trump has received criticism for making dramatic changes to the historic Rose Garden, which was established in 1913 by former first lady Ellen Louise Wilson, wife of former president Woodrow Wilson, and renovated during former president John F. Kennedy’s administration.
The president reportedly wanted to “recreate” the patio experience at his Mar-a-Lago club to host guests and entertain people, the New York Times reported earlier this year.
Before returning to the White House, Trump often spent evening downtime sitting on the patio at Mar-a-Lago with fellow club members, the Times reported. The president enjoyed sitting back and controlling the club’s playlist from an iPad, the report said, a tech set-up he has now recreated at his Washington abode.
But the Rose Garden revamp is just one of various aesthetic projects the president has embarked upon at the White House.
The Oval Office now features a plethora of gilded accents, from the ceiling’s crown molding to the side table lamps. Every detail has seemingly been turned to the yellow-gold – even the fireplace screen.
The portraits of famous Americans hanging in the Oval Office have had their frames swapped from wood to intricate gilded ones.
Each president has control over the decor of the Oval Office. They’re allowed to switch out the rug, curtains, couches, and even the desk. Pictures and accolades are put on display to show off a president’s accomplishments.
Trump has also made small changes elsewhere – he added two 88-foot American Flag poles to the White and South lawns of the White House and moved prominent portraits of former presidents to a hidden stairwell.
More changes are coming. The president said he would add a lavish $200 million ballroom to the White House to serve as a place to host state dinners and other events.
How much are the memberships? Are any Epstein girls included?
Raw Story: Stephen Miller boasts about ‘rich resources’ in nation targeted by Trump for regime change
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller couldn’t help but note Venezuela’s “rich resources and reserves” Saturday when speaking to a reporter in Washington, D.C., his comments made amid the Trump administration’s growing fixation on enacting regime change in the South American nation.
“It is a drug cartel that is running Venezuela; it is not a government, it is a drug cartel, a narco-trafficking organization that is running Venezuela,” Miller said, fielding questions from reporters. “The people of Venezuela have been suffering and struggling under the reality of a nation that is so rich in resources, so rich in reserves, that is run by (Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro, the head of the cartel.”
Tensions between the United States and Venezuela have risen in recent weeks, especially after the deadly U.S. precision strike this week on a supposed drug vessel heading toward American shores, an execution-style strike that has widely been condemned as amounting to murder.
President Donald Trump escalated tensions further when on Friday, he indicated that the United States would shoot down Venezuelan jets were they to fly over American naval ships, with at least eight warships and one submarine currently deployed off of Venezuela’s coast.
“Many Americans may not realize that the drugs killing their kids are coming from Maduro; also, the criminal aliens killing their kids are coming from Maduro,” Miller continued.
“So he’s sending his drugs, he is sending his killers, his assassins into our communities, and he’s working directly with other designated foreign terrorist organizations like the [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia], and all the Mexican drug cartels, so it’s one continuous loop.”
Maduro was indicted by the Justice Department on narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges in 2020, with the Trump administration issuing a $50 million bounty for his capture.
Given the Trump administration’s designation of drug cartels as terrorists, which permits the administration to carry out execution-style strikes on drug traffickers, a Trump official has admitted that Trump is keeping the idea of assassinating Maduro via strike “as an option.” Trump officials have also spoken favorably about the idea of enacting regime change in Venezuela.
“Maduro is an indicted drug trafficker, a fugitive from justice in America,” Miller said.
NBC News Exclusive: DOJ says names of two associates Epstein wired money to should stay secret
Exclusive: DOJ says names of two associates Epstein wired money to should stay secret
The DOJ Friday cited privacy concerns when asking a federal judge overseeing the case of Jeffrey Epstein to deny a request from NBC News to unseal the names of two associates who received thousands in payments from Epstein in 2018. NBC News NBC News’ Yamiche Alcindor reports with Alex Witt.
I’ll bet these two are pals of Trump, if not Trump himself.
The coverup continues!
Independent: Gavin Newsom’s online trolling targets Stephen Miller with photo of Lord Voldemort
California Governor fond of the comparison between Trump adviser and Harry Potter bad guy
Gavin Newsom has continued his fierce trolling of Donald Trump and his allies, with the California Governor targeting Stephen Miller – likening the White House special advisor to Lord Voldemort.
“AS PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED, WE ARE GIVING SERIOUS THOUGHT TO TAKING AWAY STEPHEN MILLER’S CALIFORNIA RESIDENCY,” the Governor’s office wrote, in all captails – a parody of the president’s own posting style.
“HE IS NOT A GREAT AMERICAN AND IS, IN MY OPINION, INCAPABLE OF BEING SO! — GCN.”
Newsom also posted a photo of the scowling Harry Potter villain alongside his message, comparing the two men – both of whom are bald.
The governor previously made the joke in mid-July, following the announcement that the character of Voldemort had been cast in HBO’s upcoming reboot of the Harry Potter franchise – though the identity of the actor chosen would remain a mystery.
“Congratulations @StephenM,” Newsom responded.
On a separate occasion, the governor called Miller out over comments he made on immigration raids in California, which descended into violent clashes between law enforcement and protesters.
Responding to an interview clip of Miller on Fox News, Newsom shared a grinning photo of Voldemort. “A live look at Stephen Miller seeing a chance to rip families apart, arrest women, and deport children,” he wrote.
That same day, after Miller branded a California judge’s ruling that ICE agents could not make arrests without “reasonable suspicion” as “another act of insurrection against the United States and its sovereign people,” Newsom lashed out again.
“This fascist cuck in DC continues his assault on democracy and the Constitution, and his attempt to replace the sovereignty of the people with autocracy,” the Governor wrote on X.
“Sorry the Constitution hurt your feelings, Stephen. Cry harder.”
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The Hill: Trump orders takedown of longtime protest tent at White House
President Trump ordered the removal of the White House Peace Vigil on Friday, marking an end to a 44-year protest against the nation’s nuclear weaponry and warfare.
A reporter informed the president of the ongoing protest — now manned by Philipos Melaku-Bello and a group of rotating volunteers — Friday in the Oval Office, describing the long-standing tent as an “eye sore” for visitors supported by the “radical left.”
“I didn’t know that. Take it down. Take it down today, right now,” Trump told staffers inside the White House.
The president has pledged to erase homeless encampments across Washington, D.C., in an effort to clean the streets ahead of the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding.
Unhoused residents have faced a swarm of police officers and National Guard soldiers in recent weeks who have detained them for sleeping outside.
However, the peace vigil in Lafayette Park stands out as a permanent stakeout for free speech and is widely known as the longest continuous act of political protest in U.S. history.
Activist William Thomas propped up the free standing structure in June 1981 parallel to the North Lawn, where dignitaries and world leaders arrive for discussion and dissent.
As years flew by, Thomas remained posted out front of the White House and faithfully manned the station through the course of seven presidents and various wars, until his death in 2016.
Melaku-Bello then took over the site with tattered signs that read “Ban All Nuclear Weapons or Have a Nice Doomsday” and “Live By the Bomb, Die By the Bomb” as a reminder of their push for peace to all who pass by, The Washington Post reported.
Over the years, the tent has drawn the attention of members of Congress who’ve either supported or condemned the collective mission of the White House Peace Vigil.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) was inspired by the protesters and has repeatedly introduced the Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Conversion Act on behalf of the group.
The legislation would redirect funding for nuclear weapons to other causes, such as the climate crisis, and human and infrastructure needs, such as housing and health care.
Norton has said it would help reestablish the country’s “moral leadership in the world.“
While she’s rallied behind the demonstrators, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) has advocated for the encampment to be swiftly removed, citing “public safety hazards” in addition to “aesthetic and historical degradation.”
“No group should be above the law, and the continued allowance of this permanent occupation sends the wrong message to law-abiding Americans,” Van Drew wrote in a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum obtained by the Post.
“This isn’t about stopping protest. It’s about upholding the rule of law, preserving one of America’s most iconic public spaces, and ending a double standard that’s made a mockery of both,” he added.
However, Norton told the Post that protesters are well within their right to peacefully assemble outside of the White House on public property.
“The First Amendment protects peaceful protests, even when they’re seen as unsightly or inconvenient, and even when they occur in front of the White House,” Norton said in the statement.
“The Peace Vigil has stood in front of the White House for more than 30 years, with its organizers engaged in principled activism at considerable personal cost. If Representative Van Drew’s claim that the vigil creates public safety hazards were valid, it would have been removed long ago.”
Just one more First Amendment violation by the White House Grifter with 6 bankruptcies and 34 felony convictions!
Trump orders takedown of longtime protest tent at White House
President Trump ordered the removal of the White House Peace Vigil on Friday, marking an end to a 44-year protest against the nation’s nuclear weaponry and warfare. A reporter informed the president of the ongoing protest — now manned by Philipos Melaku-Bello and a group of rotating volunteers — Friday in the Oval Office, describing…
Western Journal: DOJ Finds Biden Admin ‘Weaponized the Full Weight of the Federal Government Against Christians’
A new Trump administration report condemned the Biden administration for its treatment of Christians.
The initial report of the Department of Justice’s Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias has been released, and it categorized what it called “numerous instances of anti-Christian bias during the Biden administration.”
“Joe Biden weaponized the full weight of the federal government against Christians and trampled on their fundamental First Amendment rights,” White House representative Taylor Rogers said, according to Fox News.
“Unlike Joe Biden, President Trump is protecting Christians, not punishing them,” Rogers said.
The report said that in recent years, America’s Christian underpinnings have been “undermined. The political, social, and humanitarian contributions of Christians have been devalued, their beliefs marginalized, and their communities unlawfully targeted by their own government.”
“A review of federal departments and agencies revealed a consistent and systematic pattern of discrimination against Christians during the Biden Administration. Where there should have been ‘equal justice under law’ there was unequal treatment — policies and practices that singled out Christian people, Christian houses of worship, and Christian convictions for disfavored treatment,” the report said.
The report included the task force’s vow that “the federal government will never again be permitted to turn its power against people of faith.”
“Under President Trump and Attorney General Bondi’s leadership, in partnership with all members of this Task Force, the rule of law will be enforced with vigor, and every religion will be treated with equality in both policy and action. The days of anti-Christian bias in the federal government are over. Faith is not a liability in America — it is a liberty,” the report said.
The report cited various departments that imposed prejudicial actions against Christians.
For example, it said, the Department of State “provided limited humanitarian relief to Christians relative to other populations and offered muted responses to attacks on Christians compared to other groups.”
In the State Department, “preferential employment practices were afforded adherents of non-Christian religions, while Christian employees were disfavored. It was particularly concerning that employees were less likely to be permitted leave for observation of certain Christian holidays as opposed to non-Christian ones.”
It also “imposed radical LGBTQ gender ideology on foreign governments and State employees, including the forced usage of preferred pronouns and rainbow flags, violating the sincerely held religious beliefs of many Christians and other Americans of faith.”
The Department of Justice “arrested and convicted approximately two dozen individuals under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for praying and demonstrating outside abortion facilities. Yet, the same DOJ refused to apply the FACE Act to protect places of worship and crisis pregnancy centers,” per the report.
Over at the Department of Education, “The Biden Administration’s ‘book ban coordinator’ role within ED, investigated school boards for removing age-inappropriate materials from school libraries, typically in response to religious objections by parents.”
“Though these investigations remain in their early stages, the evidence uncovered is unmistakable: during the Biden Administration, people of faith, particularly Christians, were repeatedly subjected to anti-religious bias at the hands of their own government,” the report’s conclusion noted.
“By eradicating anti-Christian bias in the federal government, the Task Force is reaffirming a principle older than the Republic itself, that freedom of religion is not granted by government but guaranteed against it.
“America must remain One Nation Under God if she is to remain Indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for All. The Task Force will never permit the federal government to be used as a weapon against faith.”
This is f*ck*ng ludicrous, just one more gratuitous against Biden by the Trump clan. Biden himself is a Christian (Roman Catholic).
DOJ Finds Biden Admin ‘Weaponized the Full Weight of the Federal Government Against Christians’
A Trump administration task force has tracked the insidious bias against Christians that pervaded the Biden administration.