Libya Throws Huge, Dangerous Wrench in Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan

President Donald Trump is planning to send a planeful of deportees to Libya—but both of Libya’s governments say they won’t take them, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, the prime minister for the Government of National Unity based in Tripoli, wrote on social media that “Libya refuses to be a destination for the deportation of migrants under any pretext.”

Dbeibeh said that Libya would not be held to any agreements made by “illegitimate entities.”

The Libyan National Army, which controls the eastern half of the country from Benghazi, also released a statement rejecting the arrival of deportees from the United States, saying that accepting deportees would “violate sovereignty in the homeland.”

While the U.S. government only has foreign relations with Dbeibeh’s government, the son of Khalifa Haftar, the general turned warlord in the east, visited with Trump administration officials last month. The meetings were not about deportations, according to the State Department and a Libyan official, CNN reported.

It’s not clear that any formal deal was made to facilitate the removal of immigrants to a potentially hostile host country. Libya’s migrant detention centers are notorious for subjecting detainees to severe beatings, sexual violence, extortion, and forced labor, according to a 2021 report from Amnesty International.

Lawyers for immigrants currently held in Texas have asked a judge for an emergency order barring any potential deportations to Libya. The lawyers argued that carrying out such a flight without warning would “blatantly” violate court orders.

Previous reports said that a military plane potentially carrying hundreds of immigrants could depart for Libya as soon as Wednesday, so it’s entirely possible that wheels are already up on the latest phase of Trump’s inhumane mass deportation crusade.

Trump is selling himself–and his meme coin—to the highest bidder. And most of those top bidders appear to be foreign, according to Bloomberg.

More than 200 of the largest holders of Trump’s lucrative meme coin will be invited to attend a May 22 dinner with Trump at his golf club in Virginia. The 25 highest holders will qualify for a private reception prior to the dinner, described as a “VIP” tour. The opportunity has caused a buying frenzy, leading to the meme coin shooting up by 20 percent in value, generating even more profit for the Trump family, which has raked in more than $320 million since January.

All but six of the top 25 holders used foreign exchanges that are closed to U.S. residents. And at least 56 percent of the 220 holders used other similar offshore exchanges. This raises valid concerns about just who will have access to the president during the May 22 dinner, as the guests have only been identified by short usernames of their choosing.

The top foreign exchanges used to buy the meme coin were Binance, Bybit, and OKX—all markets that restrict U.S. users.

“The sitting president appears to be selling personal cryptocurrency while in office, granting access to people who buy it, and thereby enriching his business and his family. It’s gobsmacking,” Senator Jon Ossoff said to Politico. “I’d like to hear one Republican senator defend it. Any self-respecting Congress would demand an accounting of everyone trading this coin who has any business before the government.”

Ford is jacking up the cost of its foreign-made cars, including what’s known as America’s most affordable pickup, amid Donald Trump’s disastrous auto tariffs.

Just days after the company said it didn’t expect auto prices to increase this year, a memo sent to Ford’s dealerships revealed it would hike prices on three of its Mexican-made models, Reuters first reported. The suggested retail price is expected to increase anywhere between $600 to $2,000 per car beginning May 2 and would hit the Maverick, known as the most affordable pickup truck in the country.

“This is our usual mid-year pricing actions combined with some tariffs we are facing,” Ford spokesman Said Deep told CNN. “We have not passed on the full cost of tariffs to our customers. Our approach throughout this evolving situation continues to be doing what’s right for our customers—and our business.”

Last month, the Trump administration imposed a 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles and auto parts, a devastating blow to car manufacturers who have long freely imported cars and parts without fee.

Economists estimate this will lead to imported vehicles facing tariffs ranging from $2,000 to $15,000 per vehicle, which will ultimately raise car prices for consumers. Auto dealers are already seeing a dwindling supply of available cars to sell.

On Monday, Ford said Trump’s tariffs were likely to drop the company’s profits for the year by about $1.5 billion, but that it is “well positioned to adapt to the changes tariffs are driving” in the industry. The majority of Ford’s cars are manufactured in the U.S., so it likely won’t be hit as hard by Trump’s tariffs as other manufacturers. Still, the three models it makes in Mexico—the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the Maverick, and the Bronco Sport—are already going up in price.

The auto industry has been relatively supportive of Trump’s tariff scheme, and manufacturers have been slow to peg price increases to the president’s economic policies. But now not even Ford, the pride and joy of the American auto industry, can keep up the facade.

Donald Trump is planning to pay $45 million to roll tanks down the streets of Washington, D.C., on his birthday.

It was only a few months ago that the president signed an executive order creating a program to “beautify Washington D.C.” Now he’s plotting to transform his expensive birthday parade into a demolition derby that will cause serious damage to the roads that line the nation’s capital.

Jennifer Griffin, Fox News’s chief national security correspondent, wrote on X Wednesday that the newest batch of plans for a military parade to mark the Army’s 250th anniversary—which also happens to fall on Flag Day, Trump’s birthday—will feature 90 heavy vehicles.

This would include tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and heavy artillery weaponry. Griffin reported there would be 10 tanks and 10 Howitzers.

The first time Trump pitched the idea of throwing a massive military parade in his honor was in 2018. At the time, plans to include tanks were ultimately scrapped over concerns they would damage the roads. A Pentagon planning memo said that the procession would “include wheeled vehicles only, no tanks” because “consideration must be given to minimize damage to local infrastructure.”

This time around, it seems similar considerations to preserve local infrastructure have been skipped.

During an interview on NBC News’s Meet the Press Sunday, Trump said the hefty $45 million price tag was “peanuts compared to the value of doing it.” U.S. defense planners said that the price would fall somewhere between $25 million and $45 million, according to Griffin.

Those numbers should be questionable, however. In 2018, the estimated price tag of Trump’s parade was roughly $92 million. Imagining that these plans include many of the same features as the ones from seven years ago, inflation would put the price tag closer to $117 million.

Whatever the price may be, it will fall squarely on the Army, with the cost being divided between units. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has ordered major cost-cutting measures in the military. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Monday for a 20 percent reduction in the number of four-star generals and general officers in the National Guard and a 10 percent reduction in general and flag officers.

“Through these measures, we will uphold our position as the most lethal fighting force in the world, achieving peace through strength and ensuring greater efficiency, innovation, and preparedness for any challenge that lies ahead,” Hegseth stated in a memo.

It’s no secret that Trump has hated Washington for years—but that doesn’t mean he should be allowed to destroy it for a vanity project. A “No Kings Day” protest is already being planned to combat the parade.

The numbers are in, and they don’t look good for the president.

The Cook Political Report observed Wednesday that Donald Trump’s  poll numbers are in a slump with key groups that helped him win in November, including young voters, Latinos, and independents.

Cook’s newly launched poll tracker found that Trump’s net job-approval rating had plummeted just since April 15, dropping by seven points from -3.9 percent to -10.7 percent. The most dramatic shifts were witnessed in the aforementioned groups: For 18- to 29-year-old voters, Trump’s approval dropped by -11.8 points. The president lost Latinos by 10.4 points, and independents soured on Trump by 7.9 points.

“It’s worth noting that even significant slumps in the president’s popularity don’t directly translate into shifts in downballot vote choice, particularly in a deeply polarized climate,” the report read. “It’s no guarantee that most—or even many—Americans who ultimately sour on the current occupant of the White House will be driven into the arms of the Democratic Party come next November.”

Instead, those voters may be more likely to stay home—though that wouldn’t bode well for Republicans jockeying for other political positions downballot.

It’s just the latest in a string of sinking reactions to the president’s performance. An ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll published last month found that Trump’s approval rating had plummeted to 39 percent—a 6 percent drop from February—marking the lowest first-100-day rating of a president since modern polling began roughly 80 years ago.

And an April report by the Conference Board found that its consumer confidence index had fallen by 7.9 points, bringing overall U.S. consumer confidence to 86 points. Consumer futures were brought to a 13-year low, with outlooks on the economy dropping by 12.5 points to 54.5 points—well below the threshold of 80 that “usually signals a recession ahead,” according to the Conference Board.

The root cause of the instability was “high financial market volatility in April,” which hit American consumers’ stock portfolios and retirement savings hard and fast, per the Conference Board’s report. That was almost singularly due to Trump’s machinations in the White House, which included releasing (and stalling) a sweeping and vindictive tariff proposal plan that economists observed (and the White House eventually confirmed) was founded on bad math.