Good afternoon, everyone. It has been another relentless news day to close out the week.
Donald Trump ignited an international firestorm with comments about NATO troops. Minnesota saw massive protests as a general strike took shape. ICE detained a two year old child. And the head of the federal vaccine advisory panel openly suggested making polio and measles vaccines optional. That alone would have been a full news cycle. Instead, it all happened at once.
Behind the scenes, Trump is increasingly frustrated and worried that what is unfolding in Minnesota could seriously damage Republican chances in the midterms.
We are also already seeing the real impact of the TikTok deal. Videos suppressed. Comments disappearing. Reach throttled. This is not theoretical. It is happening right now. It’s why today I launched this podcast on Apple Podcast to get even more reach. If you have a minute, click here or the button below, and rate it five stars. It’s quick and easy to do. Let’s beat Joe Rogan, Ben Shapiro, and Megyn Kelly.
That is exactly why what we are building here matters. This platform is not owned by a billionaire tied to the White House. I am fully independent. No advertisers dictate my coverage. No political office shapes my reporting. I answer only to you.
Here’s the news:
- President Trump is privately frustrated that chaotic scenes and protests in Minnesota are undermining his immigration message, with aides scrambling to shift focus from clashes and a fatal ICE shooting to highlighting arrests of alleged criminals, even as polling shows growing public concern that ICE tactics have gone too far and risks mounting political fallout ahead of the midterms.
- Donald Trump ignited an international firestorm by suggesting that NATO troops did not do enough in Afghanistan and were not near the front line.
- Keir Starmer said Donald Trump’s comments about British/NATO troops in Afghanistan were “insulting and frankly appalling” and suggested the U.S. president should apologise for diminishing their role.
- Prince Harry rebuked President Trump’s NATO remarks, saying British troops who fought in Afghanistan made real sacrifices that deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect, pushing back on Trump’s claim that non-U.S. forces stayed off the front lines.
- According to the Minnesota Start Tribune, federal agents detained a 2-year-old girl and her father in Minneapolis and flew them to Texas despite a judge’s order to release the child, according to family attorneys, who say the asylum-seeking pair were stopped without a warrant, denied timely access to counsel, and transferred out of state within hours — a case that has intensified scrutiny of ICE tactics involving young children during the Minnesota enforcement surge.
- ICE has been forcibly entering homes without judicial warrants since summer 2025, relying on lower-standard administrative warrants under a new DHS policy that critics say violates the Fourth Amendment, according to officials and internal documents.
- Minneapolis businesses and residents are continuing an “ICE Out” day of protest, with some shops closing and organizers calling for no work, school, or shopping, as opposition intensifies to aggressive immigration enforcement following large-scale arrests and the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by an ICE officer. Massive protests took place in front of the Minneapolis Airport:
- Another image from protests in front of Minneapolis City Hall:
- About 100 clergy members were arrested at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport while peacefully protesting a federal immigration enforcement surge — blocking airport roads, praying and singing to call on airlines like Delta and Signature Aviation to oppose ICE’s actions — as part of broader statewide demonstrations against deportations and federal immigration tactics.
- A federal judge in Minnesota rejected the Trump administration’s bid to detain two arrested anti-ICE protesters, ruling that DOJ lawyers failed to show detention was warranted or that the alleged conduct qualified as a crime of violence, undercutting the administration’s high-profile prosecution tied to a church protest and broader immigration enforcement crackdown.
- A New York Times/Siena poll found voters split on deportations but broadly opposed to ICE tactics, with about half approving of Trump’s border and deportation policies while 61% say ICE has “gone too far,” including majorities of independents and nearly one in five Republicans. I spoke with Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton about her effort to combat ICE in Illinois:
- Maine Gov. Janet Mills condemned what she called “secret arrests” by ICE, demanding warrants, arrest data, and transparency after a sweeping enforcement operation sparked fear in immigrant communities and led to the arrest of a county corrections recruit with verified work authorization, raising concerns about due process and federal overreach.
- The New York Times has confirmed that Dr. Kirk Milhoan, chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, said vaccines for diseases like polio and measles should be optional and based on individual choice—even acknowledging some children may die or be disabled as a result—arguing that autonomy outweighs public-health risk.
- One Maine resident attempted to film ICE yet was told that she would be put in a “data base” and labeled a “domestic terrorist” just for filming:
- Attorney General Pam Bondi told Judge Cannon she considers Jack Smith’s classified-documents report an internal DOJ deliberative memo that should not be released publicly.
- Philadelphia filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration after the National Park Service removed a long-standing exhibit on slavery at the President’s House site, arguing the displays recognizing people enslaved by George Washington were an integral, congressionally encouraged part of the historic site, were taken down without notice, and reflect a broader effort by the administration to reshape or sanitize public history.
- The Kennedy Center is scrambling to replace canceled performances by Grammy-winning soprano Renée Fleming, who withdrew from two May shows amid backlash to President Trump’s overhaul of the center’s leadership — including appointing himself chair and installing political allies on the board — making her the latest high-profile artist to pull out as criticism mounts over politicization, artist resignations, and declining viewership.
- The Trump administration announced a major expansion of the “Mexico City” policy, extending the long-standing restriction on U.S. foreign aid for abortion-related services to also bar funding for organizations that promote DEI or what officials call “radical gender ideology,” a change unveiled by Vice President JD Vance at the March for Life and expected to affect more than $30 billion in global assistance, including funding for foreign, international, and some domestic NGOs.
- Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, was arrested in Mexico after being accused by U.S. authorities of leading a violent transnational drug trafficking organization tied to the Sinaloa Cartel, allegedly shipping tens of tons of cocaine into the U.S. and Canada, ordering multiple murders (including a federal witness), laundering millions in drug proceeds, and evading capture for more than a decade before landing on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.
- Jury selection in the federal murder trial of Luigi Mangione, accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is set for Sept. 8 in New York, with the case drawing intense public attention as prosecutors push for the death penalty, defense lawyers challenge the legality of evidence seized during his arrest, and the trial’s full schedule hinging on whether it proceeds as a capital case.
See you soon.
— Aaron
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