Hegseth Helps Trump Take Revenge on Democrats for Message to Troops

President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are looking to potentially court-martial Senator Mark Kelly for joining a video message with Democratic congressional veterans reminding soldiers that they can reject illegal orders.

“The Department of War has received serious allegations of misconduct against Captain Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.). In accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. § 688, and other applicable regulations, a thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further actions, which may include recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures,” Trump’s Defense Department wrote on X Monday.

“The Department of War reminds all individuals that military retirees remain subject to the UCMJ for applicable offenses, and federal laws such as 18 U.S.C. § 2387 prohibit actions intended to interfere with the loyalty, morale, or good order and discipline of the armed forces,” the statement continued. “Any violations will be addressed through appropriate legal channels.… A servicemember’s personal philosophy does not justify or excuse the disobedience of an otherwise lawful order.”

“The video made by the ‘Seditious Six’ was despicable, reckless, and false,” Hegseth later wrote on his personal X account. “Encouraging our warriors to ignore the orders of their Commanders undermines every aspect of ‘good order and discipline.’ Their foolish screed sows doubt and confusion—which only puts our warriors in danger.”

This is an extreme response to a video that was very tame, measured, and rooted in the military’s own words.

“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens. Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home,” Kelly said in the clip, along with Senator Elissa Slotkin and Representatives Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, and Chrissy Houlahan—all former military or intelligence veterans. “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.”

Last week, Trump called for their executions for reciting this basic military creed. On Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth added more fuel to the fire.

This is purely retaliatory. Trump has used the military in an alarming way, pitting it against American citizens as he’s released them into the city streets.

And while Kelly has yet to respond, the move has been met with disdain from those who agreed with Kelly’s original statement.

“Court [martialed] by the Department of Defense for saying what the UCMJ clearly states,’ one user wrote. “Political persecution at its finest.”

“Mark Kelly said troops should not follow illegal orders. And you’re saying you’re not giving any illegal orders,” wrote another. “So what exactly is the issue with what Mark Kelly said?”

Next steps for both Kelly and the Defense Department are still unclear at this point.

Donald Trump’s revenge prosecutions against former FBI Director James Comey—and New York Attorney General Letitia James—have been thrown out of court.

U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled Monday that interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, who had no prosecutorial experience prior to this role, was improperly appointed by the Trump administration, agreeing with Comey’s defense team. The ruling means that the federal indictments of Comey and James are dismissed.

“Ms. Halligan has been unlawfully serving in that role since September 22, 2025,” Currie wrote in her opinion. “All actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment … constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside.”

The judge tossed the case “without prejudice,” meaning Trump could try to bring forward the cases again on the same charges. Halligan received her job after her predecessor, Erik Siebert, was pushed out of the role for refusing to prosecute Comey and James.

Comey was facing charges of making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional investigation, but even aside from Halligan’s appointment, the indictment was full of flaws, leading U.S. District Judge William Fitzpatrick to take the rare and unusual step of allowing Comey’s legal team to review grand jury materials. James was charged with mortgage fraud, but Trump officials appear to have obtained her records illegally, resulting in several Fannie Mae employees being fired simply for doing their jobs and trying to protect her personal information.

Both cases seem to be clear examples of Trump targeting his political enemies, as Comey was on his bad side for investigating Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential election, and James successfully prosecuted Trump for financial fraud in 2024. Will Trump try to bring back the charges and risk losing again, or has he learned his lesson?

This story has been updated.

Federal immigration agents detained a 17-year-old Oregon high school student during his lunch break on Friday by breaking his car window. 

Christian Jimenez of Newberg, Oregon, was driving his father’s car at 12:30 p.m. Friday when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stopped him off-campus, his older brother Cesar Jimenez told Oregon Live. The young Jimenez told the agents that he was a U.S. citizen, but an officer said, “I don’t care” and told him to “get out of the car” as they broke the car window and arrested him. 

He was then taken to ICE’s facility in Portland and wasn’t released until just before 7 p.m. that day. According to his brother, Jimenez now faces charges of “interference or obstruction of investigation.” 

Unidos Bridging Community, an immigrant rights organization, said that Jimenez was one of four U.S. citizens detained by ICE in the Portland area last week, including two people recording ICE arrests. Hundreds of people in McMinnville came out to protest on Jimenez’s behalf on Saturday, waving signs. 

“A 17-year-old minor being abducted in broad daylight—whether people agree with that or not, it’s just unacceptable,” local resident Abraham Mejia, attending his first-ever protest, told TV station KGW. “It hits home, and it makes you feel almost fueled that you need to do something about it, and that’s why I’m here today.”

Federal agents have been arresting U.S. citizens for months under the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda and lying about it. As of mid-October, at least 170 citizens have been detained, a number that seems to keep growing each day. Until Congress intervenes, these blatant violations of basic rights, perhaps even the Constitution, can only be interrupted by court orders.  

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent thinks that people struggling with rising inflation should simply move from a blue state to a red state.

“I can tell you.… You know the best way to bring your inflation rate down? Move from a blue state to a red state,” Bessent declared on MSNBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday. “Blue state inflation is half a percent higher, and that is because they don’t deregulate, they keep prices up. Energy is higher.

What a baffling, tone-deaf statement. How would people already struggling with rising prices have the time or money to uproot their jobs, homes, and families to move to a state that has a few thousand more Republican voters?

“Move to a red state where the general cost of living and quality of life is worse, pay is worse, you have fewer protections, less access to healthcare, are less safe, but hey, you’ll save half a penny per dollar on your groceries,” one X user replied. “Fucking ghoul.”

“Great message. Tired of high grocery prices? Sell your home, find a new job, buy a new home, move somewhere else, start life over. Magic!” wrote another. “Now your grocery bill is $10 less.”

This blue-state-versus-red-state narrative that Bessent, the GOP, and even many Democrats push is so tired. There are poor, working-class Americans struggling to survive in “coastal elite” states like New York and California just like there are in the deep South and the Rust Belt. Bessent’s comments only further distract from the much larger issues of impending recession and economic inequality.

There’s no way anyone had this on their bingo cards: Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene says she’s had enough of childish antics. 

The former die-hard Donald Trump fan took a moment on Monday to call out her critics—who now include the president she’d once pledged her loyalty to—following her announcement that she would resign from Congress in January. 

“Everyone just runs their mouths but results are the only thing that matter to the American people. Smears, lies, attacks, and name calling is childish behavior, divisive, and bad for our country. Memes and red meat rants do nothing. Actions speak louder than words,” Green wrote on X. 

“Be quiet, be kind, be humble and fix the real problems that are crushing Americans. Not foreign country’s problems. Not the donor’s problems,” she wrote. “The American people’s problems that both political parties created and dumped on the American people.”

Of course, the Republican firebrand has levied more than her fair share of outlandish lies and name-calling during her time in office.  

Her mention of “childish behavior” seems to be a reference to Trump’s post on Truth Social Saturday, in which he resorted to schoolyard taunts to address the resignation of “Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Brown,” claiming that the Georgia Republican “went BAD.”

Trump had doubled down on the nickname Monday morning, praising a Fox & Friends segment that also bashed Greene—except he confused a prerecorded clip during the show for a live one.

Democratic activists are looking to overhaul the party’s presidential primary process with ranked-choice voting.

Proponents of the idea have privately met with Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin and other leading party officials who want to see ranked-choice voting in action for 2028. Those behind the push include Representative Jamie Raskin, the nonprofit Fairvote Action, and Joe Biden pollster Celinda Lake.

Axios reports that ranked-choice supporters told a DNC breakfast meeting in D.C. that they believe it would unify and strengthen the party, prevent votes from being “wasted” after candidates withdraw, and encourage candidates to build coalitions. The publication quotes DNC members as being divided on the issue, with some being open and others thinking that it is best left to state parties.

Raskin told Axios that ranked-choice voting “favors positive politics rather than negative politics, and that’s a great thing for the Democratic Party primaries.”

“Oftentimes there’s a sense of acrimony and bitterness that can last decades. Think about the race between Hillary and Bernie Sanders,” Raskin added.

The change would only happen by getting past the DNC’s rules and bylaws committee, then the majority of the committee’s 450 members, and then state Democratic parties. Some states would also have to change their election laws. Some localities already use it for local and state elections, including Alaska, Maine, San Francisco, Minneapolis, and most famously, New York City, where Zohran Mamdani’s upstart campaign used ranked-choice voting to triumph in the Democratic mayoral primary.

Will the Democratic Party go for it? Party moderates might be skeptical, considering that in 2016 and 2020, the current system produced their preferred presidential nominees in Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. But the 2016 primary fight also fueled discord between progressives and moderates as the contest between Sanders and Clinton went late into the primary process, with some blaming it for Clinton’s loss in the general election.

If the Democrats institute ranked-choice voting, it would certainly grab attention and give the party pro-democracy credentials, allowing more candidates a chance to win. But that may inspire pushback from the party’s old-guard—even as the Democrats continue to articulate a vision for the future.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s abrupt resignation announcement has only revealed even more cracks in the GOP’s foundation. Punchbowl News reports that even more Republican representatives are considering resigning in the middle of their term due to what they see as the “arrogance of this White House.”

“This entire White House team has treated ALL members like garbage. ALL. And Mike Johnson has let it happen because he wanted it to happen. That is the sentiment of nearly all—appropriators, authorizers, hawks, doves, rank and file. The arrogance of this White House team is off putting to members who are run roughshod and threatened,” one anonymous senior House Republican told Jake Sherman. “They don’t even allow little wins like announcing small grants or even responding from agencies. Not even the high profile, the regular rank and file random members are more upset than ever. Members know they are going into the minority after the midterms.”

It’s unclear which Republicans are on the brink of resignation, but their feeling of disrespect—and their failure to win on various issues—have led many on the right to throw in the towel for 2026 as they expect the party to lose its already slim majority.

“More explosive early resignations are coming. It’s a tinder box. Morale has never been lower,” the anonymous representative continued. “Mike Johnson will be stripped of his gavel and they will lose the majority before this term is out.”

This should be a massive wake-up call for President Trump and GOP leadership. A sitting, high-ranking member is predicting that they will lose the House due to resignations before the midterms.

Greene sounded off on these issues in her exit manifesto on Friday. She wrote:

Almost one year into our majority, the legislature has been mostly sidelined.… During the longest shutdown in our nation’s history, I raged against my own Speaker and my own party for refusing to proactively work diligently to pass a plan to save American healthcare and protect Americans from outrageous overpriced and unaffordable health insurance policies. The House should have been in session working everyday to fix this disaster, but instead America was forced fed disgusting political drama once again from both sides of the aisle.

My bills which reflect many of President Trump’s Executive Orders … just sit collecting dust.

Many common Americans are no longer easily convinced by paid political propaganda spokespersons and consultants on TV and paid shills on social media.… They know how much credit card debt they have, they know how much their own bills have gone up over the past 5 years, they actually do their own grocery shopping and know food cost too much, their rent has increasingly gone up, they have been outbid by corporate asset managers too many times when they put in an offer to buy a house, they have been laid off after being forced to train their visa holding replacement, the college degree they were told to earn only left them in debt with no big six figure salary, they see more homeless people than ever on their own community streets, they can’t afford health insurance or practically any insurance, and they just aren’t stupid.

President Trump is waging his own cultural crusade, begging billionaire Larry Ellison—whose son owns Paramount—to bring back iconic 1980s and ’90s action comedies like the Rush Hour franchise, according to Semafor. 

Trump’s affinity for Rush Hour isn’t just because it’s a funny, mostly politically incorrect movie that embodies the 1990s (or at least the first one is). He also has the loyalty and political support of multiple people involved. Rush Hour producer Arthur Sarkissian is also in charge of the production company that made The Man You Don’t Know, an incredibly pro-Trump documentary that focused on humanizing the president. 

Moreover, Trump has the support of the movie’s leading men, who have refused to publicly criticize him. 

“Just give him a chance to try to change America and change the world,” Jackie Chan said in 2016. “He’s a businessman.… I think he knows how to handle these types of things.” In 2018, his co-star Chris Tucker said he hope Trump “does good.’ 

The role of Ellison—and his son David—cannot be ignored. It’s been clear that the right-wing, pro-Israel billionaires are waging a new culture war against algorithms that don’t fit their narrative. Bringing back these ’80s and ’90s anti-woke, machismo-filled films like Rush Hour is just a different point of attack for them. God only knows how badly they’ll butcher a remake if it ever comes out.  

Scott Bessent’s latest baffling defense of President Donald Trump’s tariffs suggests the treasury secretary doesn’t really understand how they work.

During an interview on NBC News’s Meet the Press Sunday, host Kristen Welker pressed Bessent on Trump’s decision to scale back tariffs on certain products that had seen price increases, such as bananas and coffee. “Isn’t the fact that you’re rolling back tariffs an admission that ultimately they do drive up prices for consumers?” Welker asked.

“Kristen, how much does your arm weigh?” Bessent asked.

“That I do not know,” Welker said, laughing.

“Exactly, but you know how much you weigh, and you get on the scale every morning. Inflation is a composite number, and we look at everything. We try to push down the things we can control,” Bessent replied.

The implication of Bessent’s response is that Trump officials don’t really know how much anything contributes to inflation, highlighting the administration’s measure-once-cut-twice approach to governance.

Trump has repeatedly claimed to have brought grocery prices down, despite consumers experiencing the biggest price jump in more than three years. He has also pushed claims he defeated Biden-era inflation, even though inflation has steadily increased for the last five months in a row.

In reality, Trump’s tariffs and his crackdown on immigrants have significantly contributed to rising prices—and Americans are noticing. A recent poll found that only 26 percent of Americans approved of Trump’s work managing the cost of living, down from 29 percent earlier this month.

In a move that will only raise the prospect of conflict, the Trump administration has formally designated Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his government allies as members of a foreign terrorist organization. 

The White House is targeting the “Cartel de los Soles,” which describes corrupt government officials, mostly within the Venezuelan military, who have been linked to drug trafficking. The designation lets President Trump place more sanctions against Maduro, focusing on his assets and power structure. Officially, it doesn’t mention the use of military force, but it is likely to make military action easier. 

Trump has already sent aircraft carriers to the Caribbean Sea, part of a deployment of dozens of warships, as well as 15,000 troops, to the region. The administration has been bombing boats in the waters around central America, north of Venezuela, which the government claims are transporting drugs to the U.S., with very weak legal justifications.

The White House has also authorized covert CIA action in Venezuela and is pushing conspiracy theories that the country rigged the 2020 presidential election against Trump. All of this adds up to an open campaign of regime change against Venezuela, with Trump musing about airstrikes against Venezuelan military targets on land. 

While the stated purpose of all of these actions is fighting drug trafficking, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent let slip last week that oil prices could drop “if something happens down in Venezuela.” Does Trump, who is infamous for taking rash action, plan to start a war in Venezuela for cheap oil and a boost to his flagging poll numbers?