Posts on Thursday, July 10, 2025

Donald Trump calls her the “Ice Maiden.” But in person, the very private White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, is warm and hospitable — as long as you don’t cross her. She didn’t become the most powerful woman in the world without a determined glint in her eye that can silence the most spirited Cabinet minister. Wiles, 68, has brought a sense of order and calm to Trump’s second presidency, which has given him the space to notch up wins at breakneck speed. In a rare interview on our new podcast “Pod Force One” she explained how she does it.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to North Korea for a three-day visit beginning Friday in the latest sign of the countries’ deepening ties during Russia’s war in Ukraine, state media reported. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Lavrov was invited by the country’s Foreign Ministry but did not immediately provide further details, including whether he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Lavrov’s visit follows a June trip by Russia’s top security official, Sergei Shoigu, who met Kim in Pyongyang before saying the North had decided to send thousands of military construction workers and deminers to Russia’s Kursk region to help rebuild the war-torn area.

Russia pounded Ukraine’s capital with another major missile and drone attack overnight into Thursday, causing fires in areas across the city and killing two people a day after the heaviest aerial attack of the three-year war so far, according to Ukrainian officials. “These people were killed by the Russians. This is a terrible loss. My condolences to their families and loved ones,” said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv Regional Administration. He said at least 13 people were injured, and there were fires in at least five other districts at residential buildings, cars, warehouses, office and other non-residential structures.

Florida cannot enforce a new law that would bar illegal immigrants from entering the Sunshine State, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday. “The application for stay presented to Justice Thomas and by him referred to the Court is denied,” read the order rejecting Florida’s emergency appeal to the high court. No justices dissented, and the court did not provide a written opinion explaining the order. US District Judge Kathleen Williams, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, blocked Florida from enforcing the new law in April.

Border Patrol agents arrested four anti-ICE violent lunatics on Tuesday, hours after they allegedly used improvised tire spikes to attempt to disable federal law enforcement vehicles and obstruct immigration law enforcement operations occurring in Van Nuys, California. One of the men arrested, Ernesto Ayala, is the current vice chairman and former chair of Partido Nacional de la Raza Unida (PNLRU), the political party better known a La Raza. As shown in photographs from Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino, at least one device found its way to the tire of a van being used by Border Patrol agents.

Six Secret Service agents have been suspended for their conduct in connection with the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, against President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in 2024. During Fox News' "Jesse Watters Primetime" on Wednesday, the host announced that six Secret Service agents who were connected to then-presidential candidate Trump's Butler assassination attempt "have been suspended." Watters pointed out that the news comes just days shy of the first anniversary of the shooting that left one person, firefighter Corey Comperatore, dead and Trump with a bloody ear wound after he turned his head moments before the shot would've hit him.

WASHINGTON–President Donald Trump blasted Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) on Wednesday over their bill, which would require Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to display legible identification and prohibit them from wearing face coverings. A reporter asked Trump during a multilateral meeting with African leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House if he would ever sign the bill, called “the VISIBLE Act,” should it reach his desk. He responded by saying Booker and Padilla hate America.

T-Mobile on Tuesday wrote to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr, saying that the wireless provider has ended its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices. T-Mobile wrote to FCC Chairman Carr: You’ve made clear that you expect companies the FCC regulates to have practices that are lawful, free from invidious forms of discrimination, and open to all. Without a doubt, T-Mobile’s culture and practices are centered on giving every employee an opportunity to grow and succeed and deliverying on our vision to connect each and every American no matter who they are or where they live.

The Trump administration will not enforce any Biden-era diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) or “Green New Scam” requirements on Department of Transportation (DOT) grant recipients, Sec. Sean Duffy announced Wednesday. After blasting the previous administration last month for leaving a massive backlog of DEI-filled grant projects for his agency to take care of, Duffy said this week, “It’s a new day in America, where common sense is in the driver’s seat.” “Our roads, rails, skies, and waters will be safer for it. The public wants to see their hard-earned dollars going towards safety and efficiency standards – not woke DEI or American Energy-killing ideas,”

British parliamentarian William E. Gladstone is credited with the phrase “justice delayed is justice denied.” I’m seeing quite a few opinion articles and social media posts decrying the numerous investigations and reports into alleged political misdeeds, very few of which are accompanied by subsequent indictments, trials, and convictions. There are exceptions, of course, such as the case of Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who was convicted on bribery and corruption charges. But the figures behind the larger scandals never seem to face any consequences, and I think people have had enough