Trump Fumbles Defense of RFK Jr. Gutting His Biggest Achievement

Officials in the Trump administration appear to be advancing their own agendas without informing the president.

Speaking with reporters at the White House Wednesday, Donald Trump revealed that he was not aware that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had announced a $500 million divestment from mRNA vaccine research.

“You were the driving force behind Operation Warp Speed, these mRNA vaccines that are the gold standard,” a reporter asked. “Now your health secretary is pulling back all the funding for research. He’s saying that the risks outweigh the benefits, which puts him at odds with the entire medical community and with you. What is going on?”

“Research on what?” Trump asked.

“Into mRNA vaccines,” the reporter clarified.

“Well we’re going to look at that. We’re talking about it, and they’re doing a very good job, and you know that is a pass,” Trump said. “Operation Warp Speed was—whether you’re Republican or Democrat—was considered one of the most incredible things ever done in this country.”

Trump then patted himself on his back for how his first administration reacted to the Covid-19 pandemic, fast-tracking research and access to mRNA technology that ultimately provided Americans with a vaccine in record time. (This was, of course, after Trump had downplayed the effects of the virus, pushed back against medically backed health and safety precautions, and encouraged people to inject bleach into their veins.)

“That was now a long time ago, and we’re on to other things. But we are speaking about it, we have meetings about it tomorrow, tomorrow at 12 o’clock,” Trump said. “We’re looking for other answers to other problems, to other sicknesses and diseases.”

But Kennedy also pulled the federal funding for treatments to other sicknesses and diseases, nixing 22 mRNA studies because “the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu.”

Instead, Kennedy said that his agency would shift the funding toward “safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”

The problem with that is twofold in the face of superior technology: It will result in a sacrifice of time and money. Traditional vaccines injected a weakened or dead version of a virus, triggering the body’s immune response and the development of antibodies. Researching and developing these vaccines is a “lengthy and costly” process that becomes further complicated when researchers have to respond to mutations in the virus, according to Penn Medicine.

MRNA technology, meanwhile, employs a synthetic genetic code that instructs the body to produce proteins akin to the viral protein, training the body’s immune system without ever actually exposing the individual to the disease. Once the response is initiated, the synthetic genetic sequence breaks down in the body, according to Medline Plus. The result is a “plug-and-play” vaccine technology that offers rapid development times at a lower cost to traditional vaccines.

In the years since mRNA technology debuted on the U.S. market, biomedical researchers have framed mRNA as a potential cancer treatment. But its sudden emergence in the United States prompted suspicion from anti-vaxxers, including Kennedy.

Since Kennedy took the reins at HHS, he has removed independent medical experts on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel and replaced them with vaccine skeptics. He warned against the use of the MMR vaccine during Texas’s historic measles outbreak, recommending that suffering patients instead take vitamins. And he founded his new directive for America’s health policy—the “Make America Healthy Again” report—on studies generated by AI that never existed in the real world.

The Department of Homeland Security was caught transporting Border Patrol agents in a Penske moving van, a tactic they seem to have borrowed directly from the white nationalist militia group Patriot Front.

A short video from an immigration raid Wednesday shows more than a dozen masked agents spilling out the back of a Penske truck in the McArthur Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, chasing after people as they fled. Gregory Bovino, who heads the immigration crackdown in that region, called the raid “Operation Trojan Horse.” 

The tactic seems to have come directly from the Patriot Front, which used a Penske van earlier this summer in Missouri to attack a Pride Parade, with its members bursting from the moving van while carrying shields and tactical gear. 

Penske has distanced itself from both. The company denounced Patriot Front back in June and banned the individuals involved in the Missouri attack from future rentals. And while they did not criticize the DHS on Wednesday, they did note that they “strictly prohibit” the use of their trucks to transport people. 

“The company was not made aware that its trucks would be used in today’s operation and did not authorize this,” Penske wrote. “Penske will reach out to DHS and reinforce its policy to avoid improper use of its vehicles in the future.”  

It’s unsurprising to see the agents carrying out Trump’s indiscriminate immigration crackdown use the same strategy as a group that wants to keep this country white. It’s almost as if they have the same goals. 

ICE facility workers trapped three Democratic representatives between the fence and the entrance as they denied their lawful attempt at entry to a detention center in Brooklyn, New York, on Wednesday.

Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center is normally controlled by the Bureau of Prisons but is currently being used by Homeland Security to house detainees. Representatives Adriano Espaillat, Nydia Velazquez, and Dan Goldman have the right to visit Homeland Security facilities as members of Congress, even without prior notice. But their visit was denied by the Bureau of Prisons, who claim to have different rules.

“.@ICEgov locked me, @NydiaVelazquez and @RepDanGoldman between the fence and the building entrance of the Sunset Park Detention Center as we tried to conduct our Congressional oversight this morning,” Espaillat wrote on X. “This blatant lack of respect towards the Legislative Branch is a deterioration of checks and balances, all while they hide their atrocities from the public. The people demand answers, and immigrants deserve humanity.”

“We have been trapped in here by a masked agent with no name, and whom we cannot determine who it is because he refuses to show his face,” Espaillat said in the attached video. “We are duly elected members of Congress, and section 527 allows us the oversight responsibilities to go in there and see what is going on with the detention of immigrants.”

ICE has been particularly confrontational with elected officials who show up unannounced, even unlawfully arresting Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and pressing charges against Democratic Representative Monica McIver in May.

In a shocking turn, the sex trafficker who could get a pardon from President Donald Trump has not said anything to implicate President Donald Trump.

During her nine-hour interview with Todd Blanche in July, Ghislaine Maxwell told the deputy attorney general that she never saw Trump do anything that would cause concern, sources familiar with what she said told ABC News Tuesday.

The transcripts of the interview, which took place over two days, could be publicly released as soon as this week. It’s not clear whether the administration also plans to release the audio recording of the conversation.

The public is clamoring for more transparency around the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, especially after the Department of Justice clawed back the release of the convicted sex offender’s so-called “client list,” claiming that contrary to prior statements, such a thing didn’t exist.

In July, the DOJ agreed to meet with Maxwell in an attempt to quell MAGA’s rage over the lack of transparency. Trump has also requested to unseal the transcripts of the grand jury trials for Maxwell and Epstein, a move that Maxwell has opposed, as she’s appealing her case before the Supreme Court.

But Maxwell wouldn’t need the Supreme Court if she could get a pardon—which Trump has said he is “allowed” to give, without weighing in on whether he would. She has even offered to testify publicly in exchange for clemency. But as Trump himself could likely be implicated in the Epstein case as the financier’s longtime friend, his power to pardon Maxwell throws suspicion on any testimony she provides.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has decided on a “who cares” approach to America’s public health policy.

The vaccine conspiracist announced Tuesday that the Department of Health and Human Services had directed the cancellation of $500 million worth of vaccine projects, including 22 mRNA studies, because “the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu.”

“We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted,” Kennedy said, without specifying which science or experts were consulted. “We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”

Doctors reacted in horror to the news, arguing that Kennedy’s decision to nix the vaccine studies would effectively leave America completely defenseless against another pandemic.

“I don’t think I’ve seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business,” Mike Osterholm, a University of Minnesota expert on infectious diseases and pandemic preparations, told the Associated Press.

MRNA technology has saved millions of lives and is a crucial tool in combating emerging diseases, particularly the most lethal and contagious ones, such as Covid-19.

Stanford University infectious diseases specialist Dr. Jake Scott wrote on X that HHS was “undermining pandemic preparedness at a time when we can least afford it.”

“The claim that mRNA vaccine technology poses more risk than benefits is simply false,” Scott said, responding to Kennedy’s video statement. “What poses risk is abandoning the most adaptable, scalable vaccine platform we’ve ever had.”

MRNA vaccines have been around for decades but were relatively new to the United States when the coronavirus began to spread. Their use allowed scientists, pharmaceutical companies, and the medical industry to rapidly respond to the virus, shortening the timeline to reach national herd immunity. The technology was heralded as a medical marvel and went on to win the 2023 Nobel Prize in medicine, with abilities that extend far beyond the infectious disease realm: In the years since it debuted on the U.S. market, biomedical researchers have framed mRNA as a potential cancer treatment. But its sudden emergence in the U.S. prompted suspicion from anti-vaxxers, including Kennedy.

Since Kennedy took the reins at HHS, he has removed independent medical experts on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel and replaced them with vaccine skeptics. He warned against the use of the MMR vaccine during Texas’s historic measles outbreak, recommending that suffering patients instead take vitamins. And he founded his new directive for America’s health policy—the “Make America Healthy Again” report—on studies generated by AI that never existed in the real world.

Should it need repeating: Vaccines have proven to be one of the greatest accomplishments of modern medicine. They are so effective they have practically eradicated some of the worst diseases, from rabies to polio and smallpox, a fact that has possibly fooled some into believing that the viruses and their complications aren’t a significant threat for the average, health-conscious individual.

President Donald Trump is planning to make the biggest changes to the White House in over 50  years—and according to him, he’s graciously taking one for the team and helping to fund it himself.

“I am proud to be the only President (with the possible exception of the Late, Great George Washington) to donate my Salary. My first ‘Paycheck’ went to the White House Historical Association, as we make much needed renovations to the beautiful ‘People’s House,’” Trump posted Wednesday on Truth Social. 

In the past, the president has routinely donated large amounts of his yearly $400,000 salary to causes such as fighting the opioid crisis, repairing monuments, and funding the Department of Veterans Affairs. Trump is the wealthiest ever U.S. president, with a net worth of around $5.5 billion—bolstered recently by profits from his crypto coins.

“Great improvements and beautification is taking place at the White House, at levels not seen since its original creation. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he added in his post.

Trump’s “beautification” of the White House so far has involved paving over the Rose Garden, hanging a portrait of himself, and a lot of gold paint.

No matter his generosity, Trump’s plans for a 900,000-square-foot ballroom off the East Wing will cost $200 million—far more than Trump himself could cover with his salary. The White House has said the funds will be supplemented by “other patriot donors,” according to The New York Times. 

Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University, told the Times that this could allow people to donate who were seeking “ways to get in good with Trump.”

On Sunday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called on law enforcement to “hunt down” Democrats who left the state in protest against Republicans’ gerrymandering efforts. On Wednesday, those same Democrats were forced to evacuate the Illinois hotel they were staying in due to bomb threats.

Police responded to the threat around 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday, and evacuated 400 people, including the Texas Democrats, after a “thorough” scan of the building confirmed that there was no bomb present.

“I am aware of reports that threats were made against Texas elected officials in our state. Threats of violence will be investigated and those responsible will be held accountable,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker wrote on X. “I have instructed @ILStatePolice to ensure we maintain public safety.”

Democrats left Texas over the weekend in an effort to deny quorum in the state House to prevent Republicans from moving forward with their shamelessly skewed redistricting plans, which are likely to add five more seats to the Republican congressional majority in 2026. And while we’re still awaiting more information about the bomb threat, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Paxton and Governor Greg Abbott called on law enforcement to round up Democratic politicians like dogs.

“A bomb threat this morning forced an evacuation—because of dangerous republican rhetoric. As a former human trafficking prosecutor, I’ve faced threats before, but never from the Governor or President Trump,” state Representative Ann Johnson wrote after the evacuation on Wednesday. “Paxton told his supporters to ‘hunt us down’—but we won’t be silenced.”

Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers are blasting the government for its mismanagement of the Epstein files case, and calling for survivors’ perspectives to be formally considered.

After hearing that Vice President JD Vance called a “strategy session” about the Epstein files, in what is presumably another attempt to rectify the administration’s botched efforts at transparency, the family of Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre spotted that the guest list had some notable omissions.

“We understand that Vice President JD Vance will hold a strategy session this evening at his residence with administration officials. Missing from this group is, of course, any survivor of the vicious crimes of convicted perjurer and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein,” said family members in a statement Wednesday to MSNBC.

They asked that survivors be given an opportunity to testify, with Giuffre’s family volunteering to testify in her stead. “Their voices must be heard, above all,” the statement said.

Another accuser, Annie Farmer, issued a letter to the court supporting the release of Epstein’s and Ghislaine Maxwell’s grand jury documents. Farmer, via her lawyers, expressed anger at the meager amount of justice that has been brought for “over one thousand victims” who suffered at the hands of Epstein and Maxwell.

“To date, however, the combined forces of our country’s law enforcement agencies have only ever arrested these two individuals in connection with crimes committed against countless young women and girls, and the Government’s recent suggestion that no further criminal investigations are forthcoming is a cowardly abdication of its duties to protect and serve,” the letter says.

The letter goes on to request that the grand jury files be unsealed to “help expose the magnitude and abhorrence of Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes.”

Farmer also expressed horror at how Maxwell is “attempting to escape justice” by angling for a pardon.

An underage sex-trafficking scheme should have consequences for every abuser, not just the man at the top. These statements should remind Donald Trump and his administration that to survivors and their families, their fumbling of this case is not just a campaign promise betrayed, it is a miscarriage of justice.

Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard’s stupendous evidence that former President Barack Obama masterminded the Trump-Russia investigation boils down to a single word choice.

Gabbard was pressed to explain her theory—which has been roundly condemned as a thinly veiled distraction from the Trump administration’s Epstein files scandal—during an interview with Fox News’s Laura Ingraham Tuesday.

“You said there was irrefutable evidence that Obama was the mastermind of this intelligence manipulation and the perpetuation of the Russia hoax. What is that irrefutable evidence for our viewers tonight?” asked Ingraham.

Gabbard, in turn, directed Fox’s audience to her office’s website, which hosts heavily redacted versions of her report.

“And those who go in and read this will see how President Obama directed that a National Security Council meeting be called to talk about Russia, that the report that came out of that meeting was filled with tasks that were delivered by James Clapper’s assistant to [FBI Director] John Brennan and to other elements of the intelligence community,” Gabbard said.

“And very specifically, they were tasked to create an intelligence assessment that detailed how Moscow tried to influence the election—not if, but how,” she said.

But that differentiation doesn’t mean very much within the larger context of the Russia investigation, which established—via a Republican-led House investigation as well as a bipartisan Senate investigation fronted by now–Secretary of State Marco Rubio—that Russia had worked to intervene in the 2016 election. So having a president inquire “how” that occurred, rather than “if” it occurred, makes sense.

In MAGA world, however, the difference is apparently treasonous. Several of Donald Trump’s allies have called for investigations as to whether the forty-fourth president committed “treason” by looking into Russian influence in the 2016 election.

Other efforts to reframe what Trump has deemed a “hoax” have also proven to be duds. Last week, a declassified report intended to add fuel to a debunked theory that Hillary Clinton cooked up the Trump-Russia connection actually revealed that a critical document to the plot was the likely invention of Russian spies, undermining the administration’s revisionary campaign.

Republican Utah state Senate President J. Stuart Adams used his power to change local law to help a family member facing charges of allegedly raping a 13-year-old.

Adams’s family member, an 18-year-old high school student, was arrested and looking at four first-degree felonies. Then Adams stepped in.

Before Adams, 18-year-olds who had sex with 13-year-olds in Utah were treated like the adults they legally were and could face first-degree felony charges of child rape. In Utah, anyone under the age of 14 cannot legally consent. Adams successfully changed the law to allow 18-year-olds charged with child rape to be essentially tried as minors if they were enrolled in high school at the time of their crime. Adams’s family member was in high school, and although the law was not made retroactive, the 18-year-old-still went from facing years in prison to accepting a plea deal for reduced charges and no jail time beyond the week already served after the initial arrest.

While Adams swears his family member’s charges had nothing to do with his pushing of the rule change, the prosecution, defense, and judge alike all acknowledged that it played a major role in changing the charges.

The victim’s family was devastated. “It was out of nowhere,” the middle schooler’s mother told The Salt Lake Tribune. “I felt like I was punched in the gut.”

“I feel like a law is the law, regardless of who you are, but that wasn’t what was going on here,” she continued. “I feel like [Adams’s relative] just got special treatment … and nobody was going to say anything about it.”

This piece has been updated to correct the explanation of the law and to remove potentially erroneous references to the genders of the suspect and victim, which are publicly unknown.