Team Trump Turns Against One of Its Own After Pay-to-Play Scheme

President-elect Donald Trump’s son Eric sent out a clear “warning shot” to one of their own allies, Republican strategist Boris Epshteyn, amid allegations he tried selling access to Trump to the highest bidder.

Reports on Monday revealed that Trump’s lawyers investigated the senior aide after he was accused of “multiple instances” of “requesting payment in exchange for promoting candidates for administration positions or offering to connect individuals with people in the upcoming administration relevant to their industry.”

Epshteyn reportedly asked for at least $100,000 a month for his services, which he describes as “a type of consulting.” Epshteyn also suggested that Trump treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent “pay him to promote his name with Trump and others at Mar-a-Lago.” Bessent apparently declined.

Trump himself was told of Epshteyn’s side hustle, and is reassessing his role.

Eric Trump appeared on Fox News Monday night to clear the air on Epshteyn.

“I’ve known Boris for years, and I’ve never known him to be anything but a good human being,” he said. “That said I will tell you my father has been incredibly clear, you do not do that under any circumstance. I certainly hope the reporting is false.… If it’s true, the person will probably no longer be around.”

Epshteyn has denied any and all allegations, writing to CNN that the claims against him “are false and defamatory and will not distract us from Making America Great Again.”

Donald Trump wants to slap tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada on his first day in office, which would have devastating effects on supply chains and drive up costs on many companies that do business in the United States.

The president-elect made the announcement Monday on Truth Social, saying that he would institute a 25 percent tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico until drugs and migrants stopped arriving at the border.

“This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” Trump posted. “Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”

In a separate post, Trump complained about China sending illegal drugs to the United States and threatened that country with a 10 percent tariff.

“​​I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States—But to no avail,” Trump posted. “Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our Country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before.”

The three countries are America’s biggest trading partners, and many industries rely on exporting goods to them in addition to imports. These include car companies, farmers, and food packagers. In all, Canada, Mexico, and China make up more than a third of all U.S. imports and exports, with millions of jobs depending on them. Last year, the three countries bought over $1 trillion of U.S. exports and the U.S. imported nearly $1.5 trillion of goods and services from them.

These tariffs, added to the costs of goods in the U.S., would cause prices to skyrocket as companies would pass their costs to the consumer. Other countries would likely retaliate with tariffs on American products, hurting industries stateside. By all accounts, his plan would cripple the economy, and it has been criticized by most economists. Companies would be far more likely to take their business elsewhere rather than pay tariffs or shell out the high cost of relocating their operations to U.S. soil.

Plus, the U.S. is currently part of a free-trade agreement with Canada and Mexico that Trump bragged about renegotiating during his first term. Tariffs would be a blatant violation of that agreement and also set off a trade war in North America. For a president who is riding a wave of economic dissatisfaction, however unjustified, into office, this will not bode well.

Donald Trump took to Truth Social in the early hours of Tuesday to go on a lengthy rant about Maggie Haberman, likely set off by a recent article in The New York Times on his weird relationship with aide Natalie Harp.

Will the failing New York Times apologize to its readers for getting years of “Trump” coverage so wrong. They write such phony “junk,” knowing full well how incorrect it is, only meaning to demean.” Magot Hagerman, a third rate writer and fourth rate intellect, writes story after story, always terrible, and yet I almost never speak to her. They do no fact checking, because facts don’t matter to them. I don’t believe I’ve had a legitimately good story in the NYT for years, AND YET I WON, IN RECORD FASHION, THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN DECADES. WHERE IS THE APOLOGY?

The article, published Monday, detailed Harp’s questionable proximity to Trump since his 2020 presidential campaign. Known as the “human printer” by the rest of the Trump team, Harp has “established herself at the center of a fast-moving carousel of text messages, articles and tidbits directed at Mr. Trump,” the Times reported, which is apparently worrisome to other aides “at a moment when Mr. Trump appears more contemptuous than ever of attempts to manage or control him.” Haberman goes on to describe her as an “instant enabler of [Trump’s] impulses.” For every Truth Social rant or mean tweet, Harp is there.

Harp also freaked out the rest of Trump’s inner circle with steamy handwritten messages, writing, “you’re all that matters to me.… I’ll never let you down.” She also wrote to him that she wanted to reclaim the “synergy” they had. “We’d talk about everything and nothing.… I want to bring you joy,” Harp wrote. “To feel like we can get through a day without ever having to talk ‘work.’” And it isn’t particularly one-sided either. The Times, which viewed the letters, reported that Trump apparently commented that Harp was the only member of his team that truly cared about him.

Harp first hit the scene in 2019, when she appeared on Fox News and started talking about how Trump saved her life by signing a law that gave her access to unspecified experimental drugs that helped treat her bone cancer. That launched her into a Republican National Convention speaking slot in 2020, and by 2022, she was a full-time aide to Trump.

Haberman’s article seems to have truly struck a nerve for the president-elect. He might be waiting on that apology for a while though.

MAGA loyalists are getting frustrated with some of their fearless leader’s own Cabinet picks.

President-elect Donald Trump announced in a statement on Truth Social Friday that he’d be nominating physician and Fox News medical correspondent Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to surgeon general. 

“Dr. Nesheiwat is a fierce advocate and strong communicator for preventive medicine and public health,” the statement read. “She is committed to ensuring that Americans have access to affordable, quality healthcare.” 

Nesheiwat has always been a staunch advocate for vaccines, even as a regular on Fox News. The selection has angered many Trump supporters, as they see Nesheiwat as an insufficiently extremist candidate for the position.

“We don’t need another Fauci!” one dejected Truth Social user wrote in the replies to Trump’s statement. “We need to know the truth about everything that happened during the plandemic! And we the people need full accountability for the millions that were killed or harmed around the world because of this poison jab!”  

“Dear President Trump, many of us … MANY of us are very disheartened and upset about this pick,” another reply read. “This doctor has been a major advocate for pushing Covid vaccines upon people which are being proven cause much harm. She also was a big advocate of masking and other terrible Covid policies please don’t let this happen! @rfkjramericans.”  

It isn’t just Nesheiwat drawing the ire of online MAGA. Even Pam Bondi, one of Trump’s former impeachment attorneys nominated to replace Matt Gaetz as attorney general, isn’t satisfying the right-wing faithful. 

“PLEASE change Pam Bondi your new attorney general she is super anti-gun she has a horrible history being anti-gun that’s all she focuses on RINO and there’s a bunch of compromised pictures of her and BAD history, there’s have to be someone else this is very depressing!!!” one Truth Social user rambled. 

“We cannot have an anti second amendment attorney general. Trump please do not put this communist in office,” wrote another. 

It seems that Trump supporters won’t accept any Cabinet candidate who isn’t some right-wing zealot.

After special counsel Jack Smith moved to dismiss his case against Donald Trump for attempting to overturn the 2020 election Monday, Trump decided to gloat on X and attack everyone who tried to prosecute him.

Trump made a rare post on his old stomping ground late Monday afternoon blasting Democrats and prosecutors, specifically naming Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, former Fulton County prosecutor Nathan Wade, New York state Attorney General Letitia James, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. He called every case against him “a political hijacking, and a low point in the History of our Country that such a thing could have happened, and yet, I persevered, against all odds, and WON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

At least while he’s president, Trump no longer has to worry about facing any charges for his role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection or mishandling classified documents. His sentence for his felony conviction in his hush-money case has been indefinitely canceled, and his Georgia election interference case was already in limbo.

But now that he’s in the clear, Trump wants revenge. His attacks have an ominous tone, as he repeatedly made threats to take retribution against his enemies while campaigning for his second term as president. He’s promised to take on the “enemy within,” meaning Democrats who have opposed him, and he just put James, Willis, and Bragg firmly in his crosshairs.

Trump will have plenty of help from right-wing foot soldiers in the Justice Department, led by his new handpicked attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi. She already has a record of helping the president-elect with whatever he wants, whether it’s serving as his lawyer during his impeachment or opting not to press charges against his phony university while she was Florida attorney general in exchange for (illegal) campaign donations.

Bondi and the right-wing legal establishment probably will not have any qualms going after whoever Trump has a grudge against, even if they are elected officials and prosecutors. The question is whether any laws or courts will be enough to withstand Trump’s desire for revenge.

Lawyers for Donald Trump investigated allegations of noncriminal influence peddling against one of the president-elect’s top aides, Boris Epshteyn, according to a CNN report published Monday.

Per CNN, the internal review examined “multiple instances of Epshteyn allegedly requesting payment in exchange for promoting candidates for administration positions or offering to connect individuals with people in the upcoming administration relevant to their industry.”

Semafor reported on the inquiry as well, describing it as “closely held and … ongoing, with no findings to date.”

In one alleged instance, Epshteyn requested as much as $100,000 a month for his services, which he has at times attempted “to sell as a type of consulting.” In another, he reportedly suggested that Scott Bessent, whom Trump nominated for treasury secretary on Friday, “pay him to promote his name with Trump and others at Mar-a-Lago”—a proposal that Bessent declined.

“The way I see it is it’s very much a pay-for-play,” a source who had spoken to the investigating team told CNN. The source recounted another instance in which Epshteyn allegedly sought payment for “questionable consulting services”—that is, arranging to connect someone “with incoming administration officials relevant to their industry or lobbying firms that will be the most well-connected to the new administration.”

CNN cited “half a dozen sources” who confirmed the internal investigation. Internal investigators initially recommended that Epshteyn “be removed from Trump’s proximity and that he should not be employed or paid by Trump entities”—which the Trump team seems unlikely to act on at present, according to CNN.

In a statement to CNN, Epshteyn said, “These fake claims are false and defamatory and will not distract us from Making America Great Again.”

President-elect Donald Trump has endorsed Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer, in the special election for Matt Gaetz’s House seat. Just one problem: Patronis doesn’t live in Gaetz’s district.

Trump announced his endorsement via TruthSocial on Monday, writing:

A fourth generation Floridian from the beautiful Panhandle, and owner of an iconic seafood restaurant, Jimmy has been a wonderful friend to me, and to MAGA. As your next Congressman, Jimmy would work tirelessly alongside of me to Grow our Economy, Secure our Border, Stop Migrant Crime, Strengthen our Incredible Military/Vets, Restore American Energy DOMINANCE, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment. Should he decide to enter this Race, Jimmy Patronis has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, JIMMY, RUN!

Patronis responded dutifully to the endorsement, writing on X, “Put me to work, Mr. President!”

It seems neither Trump nor Patronis is dissuaded by the fact that the candidate doesn’t live in Florida’s 1st congressional district. (Legally, Patronis can still run, though it may be disturbing to constituents who call the district home.)

Patronis has been Florida’s CFO since 2017, appointed by former Governor Rick Scott. He made headlines in January of this year for an attempt to establish a “Freedom Fighters Fund” that would give Trump $5 million in Florida taxpayers’ money to help him with his many legal troubles, a move that was quickly shot down by Republican Governor DeSantis and Florida Democrats alike. Patronis was also one of the earliest Florida Republicans to endorse Trump in the Republican primary after DeSantis dropped out. That loyalty is now being rewarded.

Republican state House Representative Michelle Salzman, known for her incredibly strange and bigoted rhetoric, quickly withdrew her candidacy after Trump’s announcement, despite enthusiastically throwing her hat in the ring just last week. “Politics is an ever-changing chessboard,” she wrote on X. “Our first priority as elected officials should be our constituents. If we put them first, we all win! Jimmy has been endorsed by the leader of our party and that should be enough for us to get behind him.”

Gaetz’s seat was initially opened when the former representative resigned after being nominated for attorney general, likely in an attempt to nullify a damning House Ethics Committee report regarding allegations that he trafficked and had sex with an underage girl at a sex party in 2017. After denying all allegations and trying to rally Senate Republicans, Gaetz gave up and resigned from the nomination, as the skeletons in his closet were too vile for even Mitch McConnell.

Florida MAGA Representative Joel Rudman has also entered the race, although he’s yet to step down despite Trump’s endorsement. He posted a disturbing selfie on X and captioned it: “We are about to find out what kind of swamp creature the RINO establishment plans to run against me. Just like my predecessor @mattgaetz, I plan to give them both barrels!” Rudman said on X. “They will know they were in a fight! #fighter #tryme.”

The Republican primary in this special election is set for January 28.

The conservative who helped to push the Supreme Court to the right and overturn Roe v. Wade now has his sights set on crushing “liberal dominance” in America.

Leonard Leo was the architect of a decades-long effort to remake the federal judiciary in the right wing’s image through his membership in the Federalist Society and other conservative organizations. He helped to guide the careers of the top legal minds in American conservatism and ensure that they got jobs in politics and the courts.

Leo’s top achievement was ensuring a 6–3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court during Trump’s first term, but now he also wants to reshape American culture, he told NPR in an interview Monday morning. Specifically, Leo envisions a network for the conservative movement in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and other power centers the right sees as dominated by liberals, similar to the network he set up and used to change the judicial system.

It already has a name: the Teneo Network, which describes itself as a “talent pipeline” that seeks “to Recruit, Connect, and Deploy talented conservatives who lead opinion and shape the industries that shape society.” Leo plans to raise money from right-wing donors to identify, connect, and promote rising conservative stars, the same way he did for judges and lawyers.

“So in the case of Hollywood, for example, the idea is to recruit and identify talented young professionals who have a knack for content creation and other aspects of the production of entertainment,” Leo said.

“People who believe in a sort of family-centered entertainment, where there’s a high demand. And Hollywood recognizes that. And then really helping them find opportunities to use their skills to create that kind of entertainment in the Hollywood space and beyond,” Leo added.

Leo hopes that this will in effect “crush liberal dominance” by, in his words, making “sure that there’s a level playing field for the American people to make choices about the lives that they want to have in their country.” In Leo’s eyes, “left ideology” has such dominance in news media, business, and finance, and the right must reshape those sectors in the same way it did the judiciary.

As the past few years show, Leo’s effort with the legal system has largely been successful, with his like-minded conservatives not only holding important positions across America’s courts but also in politics. Leo has already inserted himself into culture-war battles such as the right-wing Bud Light boycott of 2023 and AIDS relief efforts, and has set himself up as a Republican power broker. He’s managed to evade accountability from Democrats in Congress too.

If Leo can get the same kind of dark-money funding to extend conservative influence to other centers of power in America that he got with the courts, he and fellow conservatives may end up asserting their dominance in this country. The question is whether liberals will see it coming.

The Trump team’s delay in signing standard transition agreements is raising ethics and security concerns, as well as questions about the incoming administration’s preparedness come Inauguration Day.

The president-elect’s transition team has not yet signed three memoranda of understanding—agreements the incoming administration typically completes with the federal government and current administration to ensure a smooth transition—Politico reported Sunday. This decision prevents Trump appointees from coordinating with the agencies they will run in a few months’ time. 

Beyond undermining the incoming administration’s preparedness—and awareness of classified information on threats to national security and public health—the holdup means Trump’s Cabinet picks have not undergone FBI background checks and that “potential ethical and financial entanglements of the transition staffers” helping the president-elect assemble his Cabinet remain unknown to the public.

Richard Painter, a former Bush administration official, said of the delay: “Until they sign this agreement, they’re not yet government employees. They can do anything they want. They can have any conflicts of interest they want. They could be taking money from foreign governments for all we know.”

One of the agreements Trump has yet to sign would heavily restrict how much individuals and entities can donate to his transition effort. And, in a considerable break with tradition, Trump has so far refused to reveal who his transition donors are. Since foreign nationals can donate to presidential transitions, this raises definite red flags, as anyone could be trying to curry favor—and influence—with Trump without the American people knowing.  

Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the Biden administration on Thursday, describing the president-elect’s team’s “refusal to sign agreements with the outgoing administration” as an unprecedented decision and a threat to the American public, one that “hamstring[s] incoming officials’ ability to govern responsibly. 

“All Americans share an interest in presidential administrations being prepared to handle the basic governance of executive branch agencies, public health and safety threats, and national security emergencies,” Warren wrote.

A federal judge on Monday granted special counsel Jack Smith’s request to dismiss the biggest case against Donald Trump, the criminal indictment related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Smith had asked the judge to dismiss the case without prejudice, which means it could be reopened once Trump leaves office in four years. But for now, Trump is getting away without facing justice for his attempts to overthrow democracy.

“After careful consideration, the Department has determined that [the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel’s] prior opinions concerning the Constitution’s prohibition on federal indictment and prosecution of a sitting President apply to this situation and that as a result this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” Smith wrote in his motion to dismiss.

“For the reasons set forth in the accompanying Opinion, ECF No. 282, the Government’s Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 281, is hereby GRANTED, and the Superseding Indictment, ECF No. 226, is hereby DISMISSED without prejudice,” Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote in a one-page order shortly after Smith’s motion.

Smith’s announcement on Monday comes after Trump’s sentencing for felony charges—based on his 2016 hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels—was indefinitely postponed last week. The other two cases against him—one for election interference in Georgia and another for mishandling classified documents—have also been indefinitely delayed

This story has been updated.

* This piece has been clarified to note the nature in which Smith dismissed the case.