Breaking News
Breaking News
from Washington and beyond

Trump’s UNO Meme About Iran War Hilariously Backfires

Has Donald Trump ever actually played UNO before?

Donald Trump speaks
Jim WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump has the reputation of being a bit of a card shark—but apparently, he has no idea what he’s doing at the table.

The president was roasted alive on Sunday after he revealed via a photoshopped image that he doesn’t understand the rules of the popular card game UNO.

The image, first circulated by Trump and then the White House, depicts Trump holding a handful of “wild” cards. It’s unclear what Trump was referring to, but he has said before that he holds “all the cards” when it comes to negotiating with Iran.

“I have all the cards,” Trump wrote—apparently unaware that the goal of the 55-year-old game is to have no cards.

“In Uno that means you are losing,” quipped MeidasTouch editor in chief Ron Filipkowski.

“I bet this goes hard if you’re fucking stupid,” wrote Jamie Bonkiewicz, a political commentator who was allegedly visited by the Secret Service in January after she tweeted about White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Screenshot of a tweet
Screenshot

Other social media users had different interpretations of Trump’s empty flex, using the open-format meme to call the president out on his soft spot for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his failed economic strategies against China and Xi Jinping, his various connections to child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, and the current state of the war with Iran.

“Starting to think all those 3-D chess analogies were off the mark,” wrote X user @RoguePotusStaff.

That same day, in another ludicrous attempt to frame the president as a relentless victor, the White House official account shared an hour-long loop of Trump saying the word “winning” at one of his campaign rallies. “Can’t stop, won’t stop,” the account wrote.

Todd Blanche Destroys His Own Case Against James Comey

Donald Trump’s acting attorney general just handed Comey a massive boost.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche makes a weird face while standing at a podium
Matt McClain/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche admitted Sunday that “86 47” isn’t a serious threat against President Donald Trump.

NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker asked Blanche what he made of the dozens of products being sold on Amazon that use the slogan “86 47,” the same slogan that landed former FBI Director James Comey with his second indictment for allegedly threatening the president.

“Should individuals selling or buying ‘86 47’ merchandise be concerned that they’re going to be prosecuted by the DOJ?” Welker asked.

“This isn’t about a single incident,” Blanche said.

“That’s posted constantly, that phrase is used constantly, there are constantly men and women who choose to make threatening statements against President Trump. Every one of those statements do not result in indictments, of course,” he added.

“Just to be very clear, you are suggesting the seashells themselves are not at the root of this indictment?” Welker pressed.

“No, I am suggesting that every single case depends on the investigation that’s done. And of course, the seashells are part of that case, I mean, that’s what the public sees,” Blanche said.

“But without a doubt—and it should be evident by the fact that it’s been 11 months since the posting and the indictment—there is an investigation that takes place. And the result of that investigation is the indictment that was returned last week.”

A look at the actual indictment suggests that it really is just about the seashells. The indictment alleges that the shells were a “serious expression of intent to do harm” against the president. The document makes no mention of additional materials that supposedly contributed to the legitimacy of that threat. And as Blanche readily admitted Sunday, “86 47” is widely used by Trump’s critics and is not considered to be a serious threat in every case.

So, what made this case different? Blanche didn’t bother to explain, simply pointing to the 11 months it took the DOJ to investigate a highly publicized Instagram post. It seems the only difference is who posted it: someone who Trump has decided is his enemy.

Supreme Court Saves Abortion Pill Mifepristone—for Now

The Supreme Court is restoring access to mifepristone, in rare but temporary good news.

Hands with nail poish and rings holds a box of Mifepristone, 200 mg.
Shuran Huang/The Washington Post/Getty Images

The Supreme Court restored access to the abortion drug mifepristone Monday, overturning a lower court ruling last week that blocked the pill from being distributed by mail.

Justice Samuel Alito signed the measure, which temporarily lifts restrictions that mandated visiting a doctor or clinic in person in order to obtain the medication, following a ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday. Both sides of the case have a week to respond before the court weighs in further.

Friday’s ruling from a three-judge panel led by Kyle Duncan, appointed by President Trump, upended years of precedent, including the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone in 2000 and a 2024 Supreme Court ruling unanimously protecting access to the drug. The case stems from a lawsuit from the state of Louisiana alleging that mail access to the pill violates its own abortion bans.

“Every abortion facilitated by FDA’s action cancels Louisiana’s ban on medical abortions and undermines its policy that ‘every unborn child is human being from the moment of conception and is, therefore, a legal person,’” Duncan wrote in his ruling.

Alito is one of the most conservative justices on the Supreme Court, so his ruling is not necessarily a sign of support for mifepristone. He limited his administrative stay on the lower court ruling to one week, while most of the time, his stays are indefinite. Alito and his fellow conservatives have a 6-3 majority on the high court, so he could very well be biding his time, using this stay as a fig leaf. A total ban on the drug, not just on mail-in access, may be coming soon.

This story has been updated.

Judge Puts Brakes on Trump’s Plans to Take Over Public Golf Course

A federal judge is delaying Trump’s attempt to seize a golf course on prime real estate in Washington, D.C.

A man swings his golf club at East Potomac Golf Links
Pete Kiehart/The Washington Post/Getty Images
East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C.

A federal judge rebuked the Trump administration Monday morning for an alleged attempt to seize and bulldoze a public golf course in Washington, D.C.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes responded to a request from the DC Preservation League to block the administration from taking over the East Potomac Golf Links. During the hearing, she chastised White House lawyers trying to argue that their plans for the golf course simply involve the removal of dead trees.

“We can’t have bulldozers taking down trees … and no one has come to me first,” Reyes said, adding that if the administration wants to cut down more than 10 trees, the court needs to be notified and needs to see plans.

The DC Preservation League is worried that the White House will move quickly to demolish parts of the course, pointing to how fast President Trump took over the Kennedy Center. The Preservation League’s attorney said that they didn’t trust the administration, and when Reyes asked a White House lawyer if they planned to close the golf course, the attorney said, “No closure notice has been issued ... but it’s still under consideration at this point.”

“I didn’t hear a ‘NO,’ your honor!” the plaintiff’s attorney interrupted. The White House’s lawyer tried to claim that they would follow the rules, and that they haven’t closed anything yet. But Reyes was then handed a note stating, “It looks like there were signs on the golf course that there were closures.” The administration’s counsel had no response to this, and Reyes said she was concerned about the White House making a “surprise” move on the golf course.

On Friday, NOTUS reported that the White House planned to take over the course and begin landscaping and tree clearing, with major renovations beginning later. A golf course architect, Tom Fazio, has already been chosen, an unnamed source told NOTUS. While the administration denied the report, the DC Preservation League quickly filed an emergency motion to block any construction.

It’s clear that the preservation group does not trust the administration in the slightest, and for good reason. Trump quickly demolished the East Wing of the White House without legal approval for his ballroom project, after saying publicly that he wouldn’t make large-scale changes. He has also slapped his name on several Washington buildings and government organizations without congressional or legal approval.

Whatever Trump’s plans are for this and other public golf courses in the nation’s capital, Reyes’s decision Monday may just slow him down rather than deter his plans altogether. Trump seems intent on remaking Washington in his own image regardless of what its residents or the courts say.

American Confidence in Trump’s Health Tanks Amid Odd Medical Visit

Not many people believe Trump is healthy enough, physically or mentally, to serve as president.

Donald Trump points and yells at a reporter (not pictured)
Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images

Most Americans don’t believe President Trump is healthy enough to do his job anymore, a new poll reveals, as questions swirl around a surprise medical visit he made over the weekend.

Recent polling from The Washington Post, ABC News, and Ipsos shows that a brutal 59 percent of Americans don’t think Trump has the mental acuity to serve as president, and 55 percent think he is not in physical shape to do so. That number is a sharp uptick from last fall, when only 45 percent of Americans believed he wasn’t in good enough physical shape to serve as president.

The poll was conducted before an odd medical visit that has raised questions even among Republicans about the president’s health and fitness.

On Saturday, Trump left his Florida golf course rather suddenly for what staff said was a dental appointment that was not previously on his presidential schedule.

“There’s been such lack of candor about the health of the president that even a visit to the dentist raises questions. The WH has a dental operatory (Pres Biden had a root canal there) so why a Sat morning visit in Florida?” wrote Jonothan Reiner, who served as former Vice President Dick Cheney’s doctor. “Maybe he just likes this dentist.”

Representative Nancy Mace also posted a mysterious “pray for President Trump” with no context, only fueling more theories.

“So, yesterday Trump is at his golf course in FL. He’s playing around, and suddenly he leaves for a dentist appointment. His press team says it was a regularly scheduled appointment but it was not on his Presidential schedule,” January 6 insurrectionist Trisha Hope posited. “Today @NancyMace posted this. What’s going on?”

“Why did the White House lie yesterday that Trump’s obvious medical emergency was a ‘scheduled’ dental appointment that was not on his schedule and caused him to suddenly leave his golf course?” conservative commentator Cheri Jacobus mused. “What IV infusion is he getting at the beginning of each month? And what’s wrong with his leg?”

Trump has always maintained that he is in peak physical condition, even though it’s clear that he’s at the very least lost a step since his first term. But the secrecy surrounding his health isn’t just alarming political insiders. It’s alarming most of America. Examples of the president’s questionable health range from Trump falling asleep in public meetings, to his unaired rants on 60 Minutes, to this mystery dental appointment.