Trump Whines About Having to Invite Women’s Hockey Team to White House

Donald Trump was particularly happy to congratulate the U.S. men’s hockey team on their Olympic gold medal over the phone, gushing over their performance and inviting them to Tuesday’s State of the Union address as well as the White House.

The women’s team? Not so much.

Both teams had dramatic, overtime wins over Canada to win gold in Milan, with the women’s victory coming on Thursday and the men’s on Sunday. In the locker room phone call to the men’s team shortly after their victory, Trump joked about having to invite the women’s team as well.

“I must tell you, we’re gonna have to bring the women’s team, you do know that,” Trump said as the entire men’s team laughed with the president. “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. women’s hockey team said Monday that the team received an invitation from Trump to the State of the Union and that they’re “sincerely grateful,” but can’t attend “due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments.”

“We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal–winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement.... They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment,” the spokesperson said.

It’s not a good look for the president to be favoring the men’s team over the women’s when both achieved hard-fought victories over Canada, a country where hockey is the national sport (and where Trump has caused unnecessary tension). It brings to mind Trump’s long history of sexism and refutes the administration’s claim that it cares about women’s sports. Both teams can be celebrated without an ugly joke.

This story has been updated.

She’s baaaaack: Judge Aileen Cannon just barred the Department of Justice from releasing the second volume of former special counsel Jack Smith’s report on Donald Trump.

In a 15-page order Monday, Cannon approved two motions to block the public release of Volume II of Smith’s report, writing that its release would “plainly offend” her original dismissal order and the “substantial discovery” held under a protective order.

Releasing the report “would cause irreparable damage to former defendants from disclosure of non-public discovery material implicating still-contested grand jury and privilege concerns; and it would contravene basic notions of fairness and justice in the process, where no adjudication of guilt has been reached following initiation of criminal charges,” she wrote.

One motion to block the release of Volume II came from Trump, and the other came from Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, two former Mar-a-Lago employees who were accused of helping Trump hide boxes of classified documents at his Florida estate from federal investigators and trying to delete security footage that showed them moving boxes. Trump also asked Nauta to lie on his behalf to the FBI and promised him a pardon if he faced any charges.

In July 2024, Cannon made the unprecedented decision to toss out the felony classified documents case against Trump by ruling Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional. Her move has been criticized by legal scholars but repeatedly celebrated by Trump.

Cannon accused Smith of violating her order to dismiss the case by compiling a final report ahead of Trump’s inauguration in order to “circumvent” her ruling. “The Court need not countenance this brazen stratagem or effectively perpetuate the Special Counsel’s breach of this Court’s own order,” she wrote.

Cannon also repeatedly insisted that the motions to bury Volume II were unopposed, but in fact the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and American Oversight to Intervene had both filed for the report to be available to FOIA requests. Cannon had denied the request.

This story has been updated.

president donald trump is having a totally teenagerish temper tantrum because the supreme court blocked his illegal tariffs.

In a tirade on Truth Social Monday morning, Trump declared that he’d no longer capitalize the Supreme Court’s name “based on a complete lack of respect.”

“Our incompetent supreme court did a great job for the wrong people, and for that they should be ashamed of themselves (but not the Great Three!),” he wrote, referring to Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Samuel Alito, who dissented from the majority ruling.

Trump’s petty response continues his unprecedented—and unpresidential—streak of smears against the Supreme Court and its members. The president has called the justices who ruled against him “a disgrace to our nation” and an “embarrassment to their families.”

In the post, Trump continued his doublethink P.R. spin that the ruling was both good and bad for him at the same time (spoiler alert: It’s really bad for him).

“For one thing, I can use Licenses to do absolutely ‘terrible’ things to foreign countries, especially those countries that have been RIPPING US OFF for many decades, but incomprehensibly, according to the ruling, can’t charge them a License fee,” he wrote.

Trump then turned his attention to the Supreme Court’s upcoming docket: the president’s case attacking birthright citizenship.

“The next thing you know they will rule in favor of China and others, who are making an absolute fortune on Birthright Citizenship, by saying the 14th Amendment was NOT written to take care of the ‘babies of slaves,’” Trump said, adding that the court would “find a way to come to the wrong conclusion” and make China and other nations “happy and rich.”

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments for that case on April 1. But perhaps Trump’s recent tirades will finally shake the court loose of letting him do whatever he wants.

FBI Director Kash Patel is unapologetic after being caught celebrating with the U.S. men’s hockey team after their Olympic gold medal victory in Milan on February 22.

Patel posted on X Sunday that “yes, I love America and was very humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys,” following viral videos of him celebrating and drinking with the team in their locker room.

Ben Williamson, the FBI assistant director for public affairs, had in previous days castigated news outlets for even suggesting that Patel had traveled to Italy with FBI resources in order to watch the Olympics, claiming that Patel was there for security events.

MS NOW reports that the video of Patel chugging beer circulated around Department of Justice and FBI circles, outraging current and former employees. Eight former officials from both departments even sent the video to the news outlet.

Patel has previously drawn criticism for using FBI resources for personal reasons, whether using a $60 million jet to see his singer girlfriend perform at a pro wrestling event or detailing an FBI SWAT team to protect her. Patel has also used taxpayer dollars to order a fleet of custom-armored BMW X5s to travel in. Meanwhile, the FBI has yet to investigate anyone implicated in the latest Epstein file release. Does Patel realize what his job actually entails?

Violence broke out in parts of Mexico on Sunday after government security forces killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, or “El Mencho,” the country’s most wanted drug kingpin—with “intelligence support” from the United States.  

El Mencho was killed in a shootout with security forces in Jalisco. As founder of Cartel Nueva Generacion Jalisco, or CJNG, he was most active in fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine trafficking and put out hits on multiple members of government. 

“The United States provided intelligence support to the Mexican government in order to assist with an operation in Talpalpa, Jalisco, Mexico, in which Nemesio ‘El Mencho’ Oseguera Cervantes, an infamous drug lord and leader within the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, was eliminated,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X. “President Trump has been very clear—the United States will ensure narcoterrorists sending deadly drugs to our homeland are forced to face the wrath of justice they have long deserved.” 

The violence was immediate and retaliatory, according to Mexican authorities. There were multiple explosions and reports of gunfire, as billows of smoke appeared in at least 13 different states. Armed cartel members blew up gas stations and set up various blockades with burning cars, and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico issued a security alert as many American tourists remain trapped. 

“The fear that remains in society is overwhelming,” a Zitacuaro, Michoacan, resident told Al Jazeera. “That’s when you realise the immense power these organisations have, because they can collapse a city in a matter of minutes.… They have co-opted the leaders who manage transport, and at any moment they can block the entrances and exits of a city.… They can completely paralyze a city’s movement.… All basic services are disrupted: going to hospitals, grocery shopping, ordering food. It becomes total chaos.”

President Claudia Sheinbaum urged her citizens to remain calm in the face of these attacks. 

“The Secretariat of National Defense reported on the operation carried out this morning by federal forces, which resulted in various blockades and other reactions. There is absolute coordination with the governments of all states; we must remain informed and calm,” she wrote. “The social media accounts of the Security Cabinet provide permanent updates. In the vast majority of the national territory, activities are proceeding with complete normality.”

While Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau called El Mencho’s death a “great development for Mexico,” others acknowledged the death of El Mencho—the last of an era of Mexican kingpins that included El Chapo and El Mayo—as a major shift in a conflict that is far from over.