Group That Escaped Trump’s Kennedy Center Takeover Is Thriving

The Washington National Opera has found new life since it steered away from Donald Trump’s control.

The 70-year-old opera company departed its longtime home at the John F. Kennedy Center when the president and his allies assumed control of the historic cultural institution last year. Yet the difficult exit has apparently not hurt the company—instead, it is well on its way to a full reinvention, raising questions about whether or not the group needs the $2.75 million federal subsidy and support of the Kennedy Center in order to survive, The New York Times reported Friday.

“We didn’t lose any artists,” Francesca Zambello, the artistic director of the Washington National Opera, told the Times. “We didn’t lose any staff when we rebooted as a new company. Nobody lost a paycheck. Nobody lost their benefits. Everyone has been very united.”

Zambello added that it has been difficult to fundraise and, effectively, create “an opera company out of nothing,” though they have also found “incredible freedom” in the process.

The opera company’s program has shifted. It has more operas scheduled this year than it did during the 2024-25 season, but it will also have fewer performances of each opera.

“This reflects the competition for stages at auditoriums that have already booked shows well in advance,” noted the Times.

The company’s budget has also grown, from $25 million last year to about $30 million next year. That’s due to the additional costs tied to renting venues, and the loss of in-house staff and government subsidies. A $17 million endowment also hangs in the balance.

“We had to increase our fund-raising budget significantly to cover new costs and to account for limited weeks available in new venues, which means fewer revenue-earning performances per production,” Timothy O’Leary, the general director of the opera, told the daily. “Thankfully, we have received leadership support from our board and donor base, as well as a groundswell of new donors from around the country.”

Long before Trump’s meddling, the Kennedy Center was widely considered a premier global arts institution. But since the White House became directly involved in its operations and programming, its normally star-studded lineup has fallen apart.

In December, the president suddenly decided to rename the venerated cultural institution “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,” in a flagrant rejection of the laws that created the center in the first place.

Republicans are furious with the Trump administration after its decision to cease all troop deployment to longtime U.S.-ally Poland. The decision is the latest of Trump’s anti-European defense tendencies, coming just a month after the Pentagon removed 5,000 troops from Germany after criticism from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the Iran war.

“I just want to say this is a slap in the face to Poland; it’s a slap in the face to our Baltic friends,” Representative and Armed Service Committee member Don Bacon told Politico. “It’s a slap to the face of this committee … “I may not represent 100 percent of people on this committee, but I think I represent the views of the vast majority … We disagree.”

“We don’t know what’s going on here, but I can just tell you we’re not happy with what’s being talked about, particularly since there’s been no statutory consultation with us,” said Armed Services Chair Representative Mike Rogers, suggesting that the move was made without congressional oversight. Although the Pentagon stated that pulling troops was “not an unexpected, last-minute decision.”

Top Armed Service Democrat Adam Smith felt similarly.

“The only answer I’ve got is, ‘Well, that’s what they told us to do.’ Okay, why?” Smith said. “If there’s some strategy behind it, then you guys ought to know and you ought to be able to communicate it to us.”

Poland is the only European country that prefers a U.S. military presence.

A charisma-less Vice President JD Vance was met Friday with humiliating silence when he tried to transform a memorial event into a political stump speech.

Speaking at a memorial service outside the U.S. Capitol for the Fraternal Order of Police’s National Peace Officers, Vance got a quiet reaction to his raving about the Trump administration’s efforts to end cashless bail.

“How about we have a federal government that puts violent criminals in prison, as opposed to letting them out of jail?” Vance said. There was a long, awkward pause, before the quiet members of the audience slowly started clapping.

It’s possible that the crowd of law enforcement officers and their families are aware that there is no significant documented increase in violent crimes among arrestees out on cashless bail, which allows people suspected of a crime who can’t meet bail to avoid spending time in a cage before they’ve been convicted.

Or perhaps the audience weren’t impressed by how Vance used his pulpit to deliver a political speech.

In honoring the fallen law enforcement officers, Vance took credit for a historic drop in violent crime—when rates were already dropping nationwide before Donald Trump came into office. Experts have said there is little evidence to suggest that Trump has had a significant impact on crime rates.

Still, Vance attributed a drop in violent crime to the Trump administration’s efforts to stop “the tide of narcotics and migrant crime flooding across our borders.” Of course, immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born citizens. But this is just the run-of-the-mill xenophobia one can expect from Vance, who has admitted to telling racist lies for attention. And who could forget when he readily put a target on the back of immigrant children?

This painfully cringey racist is the person Trump wants to prop up in 2028, and maybe we should let him. If Vance’s performance Friday is any indication, there may very well be a Democrat in the White House in two years.

House Speaker Mike Johnson still doesn’t know anything about what Donald Trump is saying.

Johnson has spent the bulk of his time atop the House dodging attempts by reporters to pin down his opinion on the Trump administration’s various machinations. That remained true during a press huddle Friday, when a journalist asked Johnson about the president’s relaxed approach to safeguarding Taiwan from China’s control.

“Should President Trump have been more committal when it comes to Taiwan during his visit to China?” asked a reporter.

“I haven’t seen—I’ve been really busy the last couple days, so I haven’t seen the exact readout on how that discussion went,” Johnson said. “I heard a couple little comments off-hand of what he said. He feels like they had a very productive meeting, they talked about some really important issues. I’m awaiting a sit-down with him and go through it in detail.”

“We’ve always been concerned and we’ve made America’s interests very clear, our position on Taiwan. They need to stay independent and secure there and we have an interest in that, as does everyone around the world, because of chip manufacturing and other reasons there,” Johnson continued, adding that he couldn’t speak on the topic further because he had not yet discussed it with the president.

It’s remarkable that Johnson—as one of the most powerful lawmakers in Congress—does not feel empowered to speak independently about U.S. policy. Yet it’s perhaps equally alarming that his strategy is to consistently play inept and ignorant as to the White House’s activity, particularly since Trump refused to commit to a planned arms sale to Taiwan after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Chinese leadership warned the U.S. against supporting Taiwan, promising that doing so would place U.S.-China relations in “great jeopardy.”

“‘Taiwan independence’ and cross-strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water,” a readout from the Chinese government stated. “The U.S. side must exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan question.”

China has reaffirmed for years that Taiwan is an inalienable part of its territory, and that it intends to formally reunite with the island nation. More than 23 million people live in Taiwan, and its sovereignty is highly contested due to a complex history of colonization.

The U.S. has provided material defense support to Taiwan since 1979, when Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act. The law binds the U.S. to resist anything that would jeopardize Taiwan’s national security.

While speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One Friday morning, Trump refused to say whether he would defend Taiwan “if it came to it.”

“I don’t want to say. I’m not gonna say that,” Trump said. “There’s only one person that knows that. You know who it is? Me, I’m the only person. That question was asked to me today by President Xi. I said, ‘I don’t talk about that.’”

“He asked me if I’d defend them,” he clarified. “I said, ‘I don’t talk about that.’”

Trump added that he would make a determination on the arms deal “over the next fairly short period.”

Johnson was not always so hesitant to speak his mind. In October 2023—shortly after he won the gavel—Johnson said that the U.S. should intervene between Russia and Ukraine “because I don’t believe it would stop there.”

“It would probably encourage and empower China to perhaps make a move on Taiwan,” Johnson warned at the time.

Department of Homeland Security officials are plotting to proceed with the construction of ICE’s mega-prisons in Texas and Maryland, despite the ongoing legal challenges, local pushback, and a federal watchdog investigation. 

An internal ICE memo revealed that staffers are exploring what work can be done at a warehouse near Hagerstown, Maryland, even after a judge blocked construction, The Washington Post reported Friday. 

DHS signed a $113 million build-out and operations contract in March with KVG, a defense contractor with no experience overseeing detention centers, to work on the Maryland facility. The contract could grow to $642 million over the next three years.

Last month, a Baltimore judge issued a temporary injunction blocking the project, arguing that the building’s four toilets and two water fountains were not sufficient to accommodate the estimated 1,500-person capacity. However, earlier this week, officials in Washington County, Maryland, relayed that ICE intended to conduct an environmental assessment on the property, even though the government had initially argued the renovations had no environmental threat.  

This month, ICE officials have also discussed awarding contracts to oversee the construction and operation of warehouses it acquired earlier this year in San Antonio and near El Paso, two people briefed on discussions told the Post. Local officials have raised concerns about the facilities. 

In San Antonio, ICE purchased a warehouse valued at $37 million for more than $66 million. Precinct 4 County Commissioner Tommy Calvert claimed the purchase “reeked of corruption.” In Socorro, Texas, ICE paid a Delaware-based company called El Paso Logistics II LLC  $122 million for a warehouse, infuriating local officials who said they were only notified after the sale. 

The DHS Office of Inspector General announced Thursday that it would investigate whether ICE had purchased the buildings “in a cost-effective manner.” CoStar, the real estate data tracker, found that DHS paid an average of 13 percent above market value for warehouse properties across eight states, the Post reported. 

El Paso is already home to ICE’s largest detention center Camp East Montana, where within the first 50 days of operation, the facility had already racked up 60 federal code violations. Now, Donald Trump wants to build eight more Camp East Montanas—and make them even bigger.

MAGA Representative Jim Jordan got caught in his own lie while trying to argue that it was actually no big deal that Americans are experiencing skyrocketing gas prices and inflation at the hands of President Trump.

Jordan was questioned by CNN’s Kaitlin Collins on how the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has negatively impacted U.S. consumers.

“What about his promise in 2024 that if he was reelected, gas would be under $2 a gallon because of his policies?” asked Collins.

“Well, gas prices were coming down until we had to deal with this situation. But, you know, that’s life. That’s dealing with the world and, you know, the world we live in,” Jordan replied. “I think the country gets the fundamental fact – and I know I understand this – President Trump makes decisions that are in the best interest of our nation, 250 years, greatest country in history.”

“But if someone’s listening to you and they were paying $2.98 a gallon gas before the war started, and now they’re paying $4.53, I mean, saying ‘that’s life’ might not, you know, make them feel better,” Collins replied.

“Those are– those are your words. Not mine. I’m saying–”

“No, you said, ‘That’s life’ just now.”

“This is the situation. This is the situation. They were pursuing a nuclear weapon. They wanted to get there. President Trump said, “I’m not gonna do that.” He ran on that, and he’s taken the appropriate action that I think you want your commander-in-chief to take for the security and safety of America.”

“But he also ran on bringing gas prices to under $2 a gallon.”

“Hopefully, we’ll get there soon. I want– I want gas prices low, too. I mean, we all want gas prices low. Who doesn’t, for goodness sake?”

Jordan’s response was widely ridiculed as a moment that represented the Trump-induced fugue state that many republicans seem to be in, particularly of late as prices get higher and higher with no end to the war in Iran in sight. Just two days ago Vice President JD Vance denied that Trump stated that he didn’t care about Americans’ economic situations “even a little bit” even as there is readily available footage of him saying exactly that.

The Justice Department is arguing that President Trump’s proposed ballroom will be a “gift to the American people,” and that anyone opposed to the vanity project simply has “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

The latest Justice Department filing from acting Attorney General Todd Blanche regarding the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s lawsuit against Trump’s ballroom relies on the recent White House Correspondent’s Dinner assassination attempt and other MAGA-friendly arguments that display the deep levels of sycophancy present within the Trump administration.

“The assassination attempts make clear what Defendants have been explaining from the start of the case: Presidents need a secure space for significant events, which currently does not exist in Washington, D.C., and this Court’s injunction stalling this Project cannot defensibly continue. To ensure construction proceeds, and to conserve judicial resources, this Court should immediately issue a ruling indicating that it would dissolve its injunction at once,” the filing reads, noting that Trump’s ballroom will have “missile resistant steel columns, Military grade venting, drone proof ceilings, and bullet, ballistic, and blast proof glass”—which will cost at least $1 billion. They even refer to it as the “Militarily Top Secret Ballroom” and allege that the plaintiffs are only suing because it was Trump’s idea.

“That fact is also relevant to the merits here because it is further evidence that rank political bias led to this meritless, dangerous lawsuit being filed. A bipartisan chorus of legislators, analysts, and media pundits have agreed the Ballroom is needed more than ever. The Ballroom is a gift to the People of the United States and to future Presidents,” the filing continues. “Plaintiff’s frivolous suit should be dismissed, and the Court should indicate that it would dissolve its injunction and allow construction of this vital for National Security Project to be completed without any risk of hindrance.”

A Tennessee lawmaker is retiring because his district will no longer exist after this year.

Democratic Representative Steve Cohen announced Friday that he will not be representing Tennessee’s 9th congressional district after his term expires due to the state legislature’s recent decision to carve up the predominantly Black and Democratic voting base.

In future, the area will consist of several rural voting areas that are expected to lean Republican.

“This is by far the most difficult moment I’ve had as an elected official,” Cohen said during a press conference at his office.

Currently, Tennessee’s 9th district covers most of Memphis and its inner suburbs. The new map creates three alternative districts in the area, none of which include Memphis proper.

The progressive lawmaker told reporters that he has considered running in one of the other districts.

Cohen was first elected to the House in 2006 and has consistently won re-election ever since. He is the first Jewish person to represent Tennessee, a detail that has sparked criticism from some of his electoral challengers, who have argued that the majority-Black district should be represented by a person of color.

Tennessee state Representative Justin Pearson was aiming to challenge Cohen for his seat before the state passed its new map.

“I have an opponent who’s verbally facile, and can jump around and dance, and things like that, and if somebody thinks that’s who they wanted, that’s who they can have, because I can’t,” Cohen said Friday of Pearson. “I don’t dance anymore, jump around, but I think I was gonna win that race.”

Tennessee passed its maps last week, offering Republicans all nine seats in the House while eliminating the state’s lone Democratic district. Pearson will continue to run in the newly redrawn 9th district.

Donald Trump’s blatant corruption just got even more outrageous.

A recent financial disclosure revealed that the president bought and sold millions of dollars worth of stocks in tech companies and government contractors, including Palantir and Nvidia, NOTUS reported Friday.

On February 10, Donald Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million worth of stock in Nvidia, a massive AI chip maker. A week later, Nvidia announced a major computer processing power deal with Meta. Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO, has spent more than a year cozying up to Trump.

Trump previously purchased between $500,000 and $1 million worth of Nvidia stock on January 6, after clearing the sale of Nvidia’s H200 chips, the company’s second-most powerful AI chip, to China. A week later, the Commerce Department officially approved the sale. This week, after Huang traveled with Trump to China, the Commerce Department cleared 10 Chinese firms to buy Nvidia’s chips—making way for Trump to make millions more.

Also on January 6, Trump purchased between $50,000 and $100,000 worth of stock in AMD, another AI semiconductor company, which was authorized to sell their chips to Chinese customers a week later. Trump purchased at least $740,000 in AMD stock last quarter, according to NOTUS.

In the first quarter of 2026, Trump also purchased at least $260,000 worth of stock in Palantir, a private weapons manufacturer with hefty government contracts and ties to the president.

In January, Trump bought between $65,000 to $150,000 of Palantir stock, and sold between $1.1 million and roughly $5.3 million of it in February. That same month, Palantir won a billion-dollar purchasing agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to use the company’s software to aid Trump’s sweeping deportation efforts.

In March, Trump purchased between $200,000 and $500,000 in Palantir stock. Last month, Trump made a public call for people to buy stock in Palantir—including the stock’s ticker symbol in his social media post—in an obvious effort at market manipulation. A few weeks later, Palantir landed yet another major federal contract.

Trump’s May 14 financial disclosure showed that the president has shifted away from his prior strategy of investing mostly in corporate and municipal bonds, and had made more than 3,600 individual stock and other financial trades during the first three months of 2026.

In a statement to NOTUS, the White House said that Trump and his family were not responsible for their investments, or notified of their trades.

For Trump to get rich off of companies he regulates is insanely corrupt, but not necessarily surprising from the president who runs several schemes to get rich from the Oval Office. That said, Americans should not stand for it, nor for any lawmakers who sit idly by and watch it happen.

Before Dr. Brian Christine was tapped to lead America’s public hantavirus response, he was an Alabama-based urologist who specialized in penile implants, CNN reported Friday.

Christine currently serves as the assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and as such is one of the top public health officials running the country’s infectious disease policy. Earlier this week, he told reporters in Nebraska that the agency’s response to the dangerous outbreak would be “grounded in science” and “grounded in transparency.”

Yet Christine’s resume seems far and away from that of a typical U.S. health official. While he has some public health experience under his belt, having served as a four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, he has also espoused dangerous far-right beliefs and spread wellness conspiracy theories.

He rebuked coronavirus mandates and spread conspiracy theories about treatment plans that sowed doubt and division over the government’s public health response at the time. He has claimed that the pandemic was a part of a wider government plot to control people, and he skirted questions from the U.S. Senate as to whether or not he would recommend the Covid vaccine to his patients.

The 62-year-old admiral also hosted a YouTube series titled “Erection Connection,” a professional show for other urologists discussing erectile dysfunction.

More than 40 people in the U.S. are currently being monitored in connection to a hantavirus outbreak aboard a Rotterdam-bound cruise ship last month. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday that there are currently no cases in the U.S. and that risk to the general public remains low. Nine cases have been confirmed in connection with the ship.

A Dutch couple were identified by the WHO as the first passengers infected with the virus. It is believed that they were exposed to the virus while birdwatching at an Argentinian landfill. Both the husband and wife died as a result.