Dems Block Admiral’s Promotion Until He Explains Swastika Policy

Congress has frozen a Coast Guard admiral’s pending promotion until he explains the military branch’s disturbing stance on hate symbols.

Democratic Senators Tammy Duckworth and Jacky Rosen initially froze Admiral Kevin Lunday’s nomination to run the Coast Guard, questioning the maritime law enforcement branch’s new workplace harassment policy and its decision to downgrade swastikas and nooses from hate symbols to “potentially divisive.”

The senators’ objections effectively upend Lunday’s confirmation, which the Senate was scheduled to vote on this week, reported The Washington Post.

The fascism-friendly changes to the Coast Guard’s workplace harassment policy was abruptly reverted last month, mere hours after national news outlets began to report on the jarring update.

In a memo to personnel, Lunday—the Coast Guard’s acting commander—walked back the revisions almost as soon as they had been revealed, announcing that the prior version of the text was “canceled.”

“Divisive or hate symbols and flags are prohibited,” Lunday wrote in the memo, published November 20. “These symbols and flags include, but are not limited to, the following: a noose, a swastika, and any symbols or flags co-opted or adopted by hate-based groups as representations of supremacy, racial or religious intolerance, anti-semitism, or any other improper bias.”

The memo also clarified that the display of Confederate battle flags was still prohibited, unless they are a part of a historical display. Weeks later, it’s still not clear exactly who led the charge to reclassify such symbols.

“The policy rewrite was bad staff work,” a Coast Guard employee told the Post anonymously. “But the Coast Guard’s hands were tied in how we were able to address the mistake.”

Still, the changes have been quietly implemented since the downgraded harassment policy went into effect Monday, according to internal branch correspondence provided to Congress. That’s given lawmakers pause.

Duckworth told the Post that she did not understand why Lunday would simply not “delete the absurd characterization that clearly states a noose and swastika are merely potentially divisive symbols,” especially after having conversations with Lunday in which he affirmed “directly to me” that both images qualify as hate symbols.

“This shouldn’t be difficult,” Duckworth said.

Rosen, meanwhile, wrote on social media that her hold would remain in place “until the Coast Guard provides answers.”

Even some Republicans, including Senators Dan Sullivan and James Lankford, are demanding an explanation.

“There is no reason why there should be conflicting policies in place,” Lankford said.

President Trump on Wednesday announced a $1,776 bonus for members of the military. The next morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth enthusiastically sold the “warrior divided” announcement as a Christmas bonus for all the troops’ hard work.

“Thanks to President Trump’s unwavering commitment to our warriors, and the provisions provided in the One Big Beautiful bill, more than 1.45 million service members will … receive a onetime, tax-free bonus of $1,776,” he said. “This warrior dividend serves as yet another example of how the War Department is working to improve the quality of life for our military personnel and their families.”

In actuality, the Trump administration is taking money that was congressionally allocated toward soldiers’ housing and repackaging it as this corny $1,776 gimmick, while Hegseth gushes over the move like he’s doing these people a favor. It was already their money.

“Congress appropriated $2.9 billion to the Department of War to supplement the Basic Allowance for Housing entitlement within The One Big Beautiful Bill,” a senior administration official told Defense One, noting that Hegseth directed $2.6 billion of the funds to be distributed. “Approximately 1.28 million active component military members and 174,000 Reserve component military members will receive this supplement.”

If the economy is so hot (it isn’t), and if tariffs have us raking in cash (they don’t), why can’t the Trump administration give its dear war fighters an actual Christmas bonus rather than frame scraps as sustenance?

For years, Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump built a tight-knit friendship on their shared hobby: hunting women for sport.

Despite Trump’s vehement denials of a meaningful connection to the deceased child sex trafficker, people around the pair of socialites were under the impression that Epstein and Trump were each other’s closest friends. A critical component to that friendship, reported The New York Times Thursday, was their mutual obsession with ensnaring, showcasing, and eventually bedding the most beautiful young women.

Stacey Williams, a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model who accused Trump of groping her at a party in 1992 while she was dating Epstein, told the Times that it was akin to “trophy hunting.”

In order to ascertain the depth of their relationship, the Times spoke with more than 30 former Epstein employees, victims of the financier’s abuse, and their mutual acquaintances. The newspaper also uncovered new documents that shed additional light on Epstein and Trump’s extraordinarily private relationship.

What reporters discovered was evidence of an enduring friendship founded on power and sexual entitlement.

“Neither man drank or did drugs. They pursued women in a game of ego and dominance. Female bodies were currency,” the Times reported.

Recently released documents and interviews reveal that Epstein claimed he “gave” Trump a 20-year-old woman he had previously dated; that Trump had made advances on one of Epstein’s employees aboard the serial abuser’s private jet, telling her that he could have anyone he wanted; and in another instance, Trump allegedly mailed Epstein modeling cards to peruse “like a menu,” according to another Epstein employee who spoke with the paper.

One woman, who was groomed for Epstein’s abuse by the disgraced financier’s longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, anonymously told the Times that Trump was a regular in Epstein’s life. She said that Epstein often bragged about his relationship with Trump but also seemed to view him as competition.

“It was like a pissing contest—who had the most women,” she said.

The House Oversight Committee released more than 20,000 emails last month that it had obtained from Epstein’s estate. The documents included multiple mentions of Trump, such as in a 2011 email, when Epstein expressed he was grateful Trump had stayed quiet about details of Epstein’s life. The “dog that hasn’t barked is Trump,” Epstein wrote, despite detailing how Trump had spent hours at one of Epstein’s properties with a known victim.

But that should be just the tip of the iceberg. After months of dragging their feet, Republicans in both chambers of Congress passed a bill to release the investigation files related to Epstein and his potential associates. Trump signed the bill on November 19, starting a 30-day timer on the documents’ release. If everything goes to schedule, the files will be released Friday.

So far, the administration has already attempted to waylay public expectations that the files will be exposed to the full breadth of the document load, with FBI Director Kash Patel claiming that his agency is doing everything it can to release the portions of the files that are “lawful,” despite the fact that Congress mandated their entire release.

Donald Trump’s social media company is now going to get into fusion power.

Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, announced Thursday that it’s pursuing a $6 billion merger with TAE Technologies, which says it is building “the world’s first utility-scale fusion power plant” to power the data centers that support artificial intelligence.

Shareholders from each company will own 50 percent of the new entity as a result of the deal, which the companies say will be completed in mid-2026. TAE is backed by Google and oil giant Chevron, while Trump Media continues to struggle to make money. The social media venture reported sales of $927,900 from June to September 30, down from $1.01 million in the same period last year. It also lost $54.8 million during that period, an increase from $19.2 million last year.

Cow enthusiast and former Representative Devin Nunes, the CEO of Trump Media, bragged about the deal in a statement.

“Trump Media & Technology Group built uncancellable infrastructure to secure free expression online for Americans, and now we’re taking a big step forward toward a revolutionary technology that will cement America’s global energy dominance for generations,” Nunes said. “Fusion power will be the most dramatic energy breakthrough since the onset of commercial nuclear energy in the 1950s—an innovation that will lower energy prices, boost supply, ensure America’s A.I.-supremacy, revive our manufacturing base and bolster national defense.”

The merger would lead to one of the first publicly traded nuclear fusion companies, according to the news release.

The move is somewhat confusing, the only explanation being that Trump wants to capitalize on power generation connected to the AI boom. Fusion power itself is still unproven and unrealized, with scientists still unable to generate more power than they use for the process. But Trump, having already used his social media company to go big on cryptocurrency, seems to see dollar signs in something slightly more tangible in fusion power. Does this mean that supporting this impractical technology will soon become government policy?

Progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez likes her chances in a 2028 general election matchup against Vice President JD Vance—and the numbers are currently backing her up.

“Do you think that you could beat JD Vance in a head-to-head race for president as polling suggests in 2028?” AOC was asked by Migrant Insider’s Pablo Manríquez.

The congresswoman laughed.

“Listen, these polls like three years out are … they are what they are,” she said with a smile. “But, let the record show—I would stomp him. I would stomp him!”

The polling in question is from The Argument/Verasight, and has Ocasio-Cortez edging out Vance 51 percent to 49 percent.

As the congresswoman said herself, there is still so much that can happen between now and 2028 that could deem polls like this completely irrelevant. However, this positive showing from perhaps America’s most popular left-leaning politician demonstrates a desire for populist, antiestablishment, pro–working class politics that Democrats have eschewed and Republicans have misrepresented.

Ocasio-Cortez would join a crowded Democratic primary field that could include the likes of Governors Gavin Newson, JB Pritzker, Andy Beshear, Wes Moore, and Josh Shapiro, as well as Senators Cory Booker, Ro Khanna, Chris Murphy, and former Vice President Kamala Harris.