MAGA Rep. Insists Giving Iran Billions Is Actually a Good Thing

The Republican Party is gung-ho for the second coming of former President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal, though this time, reaching similar terms will come at a tremendous cost to American taxpayers.

In spite of the GOP’s well-worn insistence on federal frugality, some conservative lawmakers are suddenly in favor of the Trump administration’s reported plan to provide hundreds of billions in reconstructive aid to Iran.

In an interview with Fox News Monday, Florida Representative Brian Mast defended the expense on the basis that “we destroyed so much.”

“OK, maybe they do end up getting $20 billion, let’s say—we’re still $300 to $500 billion ahead considering we destroyed their Navy, destroyed their Air Force, destroyed all those nuclear facilities I already spoke about, their steel manufacturing, their drone manufacturing,” Mast said.

“We destroyed all that, and closed their ports,” he added. “We’re pretty far ahead.”

The White House and Tehran have already signed a peace deal, though the exact specifications of the agreement have not yet been revealed (and are still being hashed out). The final draft reportedly proposes the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz under Iran’s direction, a commitment from the U.S. not to interfere in Iranian affairs, and a reiteration of Iran’s commitment not to produce nuclear weapons, echoing language included in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, according to a senior Iranian official who spoke with Reuters.

The most contentious point of the plan, however, is a reported $300 billion reconstruction fund, as well as billions more in unfrozen Iranian assets and forfeited sanctions—all of which will be bankrolled by U.S. taxpayers.

That’s nearly 160 percent of the financial investment that the U.S. has put into Ukraine since Russia attacked it in 2022. That sum hovers around $188 billion, according to the U.S. special inspector general for Operation Atlantic Resolve.

One day after celebrating his 80th birthday with a UFC spectacle on the White House lawn, President Trump looked like he was feeling every bit his age while visiting France for the G7 summit.

Speaking with the media with French President Emmanuel Macron Monday, Trump was struggling to keep his eyes open as Macron praised the developments on peace with Iran, even as Macron often turned to Trump to acknowledge his efforts.

Later, appearing outdoors with Macron and his wife, Brigitte, Trump looked tired and his right hand appeared swollen and discolored.

The UFC event lasted until well after 1 a.m. early Monday morning as fireworks went off over Washington, D.C. Trump headed to the G7 just hours later, meaning his only time to sleep (aside from the nap he took during the UFC fight) would have been on Air Force One as it flew to France. As we learned from Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month, Trump is up at all hours of the night and usually doesn’t sleep much on plane flights, either.

This and jetlag likely exacerbated his tendency to fall asleep even during normal workdays. Trump is clearly not well, and holding an excessive birthday party (sorry, a “Freedom 250” event) until the wee hours of the morning didn’t leave him at his best to meet with Macron. If this is what the public is seeing, how much worse is Trump doing in private?

California Governor Gavin Newsom accused President Donald Trump Monday of having his family investigated by the Department of Justice.

Newsom released a video statement saying he’d been added to Trump’s “hit list,” claiming that federal investigators had launched a probe into him because he was considering a presidential run in 2028.

“In recent days, federal agents have knocked on the doors of family, friends, and former employees. Not because they found a crime. Because they are simply trying to find one,” Newsom said.

“They’re demanding records. They are abusing the grand jury process. Digging through years and years of random documents,” Newsom said. “Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets. He’s coming after me because I am considering running for president.”

Newsom claimed that federal investigators were also investigating his wife, actress and activist Jennifer Siebel Newsom, “who has done nothing wrong, other than having the temerity to advocate for what she believes in.”

There are actually several ongoing investigations related to Newsom, a source familiar with the situation told Semafor’s Shelby Talcott. The investigations reportedly involve his wife’s taxes and his chief of staff Nathan Barankin. Those did not originate from the main DOJ but stem from Sacramento, involving whistleblowers, according to the source.

This revelation comes a year after Trump threatened to have Newsom arrested, amid an escalating feud about the president’s illegal deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles.

Trump has bragged about his supposed “right” to weaponize the Department of Justice, and openly directed the DOJ to investigate his political enemies New York Attorney General Letitia James, Senator Adam Schiff, and former FBI Director James Comey. All of those cases crashed and burned.

Trump had also been investigating former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, although he dropped the case in order to get Powell’s replacement approved by the Senate. It’s not clear that the administration won’t resume targeting Powell.

And just a week ago, Vice President JD Vance referred Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to the DOJ for a criminal investigation into allegations of fraud.

This story has been updated.

President Jimmy Carter putting his peanut farm in a trust to avoid a conflict of interest feels like a long time ago.

Financial disclosures submitted to the Office of Government Ethics and dissected by CBS News show that accounts owned by President Donald Trump made 3,642 stock trades from January to March this year.

Trump and Israel began a war in Iran during this period. There was civil unrest too, as two American citizens were killed on the street and others died in custody during Trump’s violent immigration crackdown. Many of Trump’s trades coincided with White House policy directives and Trump making public statements about the companies.

While the monetary value of the trades depend on how each stock is valued now and in the future, CBS puts the minimum valuation of Trump’s trades at $212 million and the maximum at a whopping $695 million. The disclosures show that Trump’s favorite place to buy and sell stocks is the technology sector, followed by exchange-traded funds and the industrial industry. Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Netflix, Advanced Micro Devices, and Oracle were Trump’s most traded stocks.

Politicians trading stocks while in office has been a questionable practice for a long time. Conflicts of interest can easily arise, as politicians can profit by supporting legislation that benefits their investments. The American people, for one, are clear in their opinion: 86 percent think politicians should be banned from trading stocks while in office. Online tools tracking politicians’ trades have also become popular.

The most powerful person in the nation trading at such a massive scale presents even more opportunity for corruption. An investment professional told CBS he had “never seen a strategy out there that would warrant that amount of trading.” Another expert said the trading looked to be an attempt to lower Trump’s tax bill. Senator Elizabeth Warren called for an investigation into “potential insider trading” by the president, in response to the disclosures.

Trump verbally supported a congressional stock trading ban in February and bashed high-profile Democrats who trade stocks, such as former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. But presumably the president thinks he himself should still get to trade as much as he wants.

Such insider trading scandals could plague the president once he departs office. Even before then, Democrats could embrace a stronger anti-corruption stance and open investigations into some of his shady dealings if they can snag congressional majorities in November.

President Donald Trump has replaced several days of concerts to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with one boring MAGA rally—and this time, he’s picking the music. 

Trump announced Monday that he plans to mark the Fourth of July with a “Trump Rally” designed to celebrate the president’s ego more than the country he’s running into the ground.  

It seems that Trump has had enough of celebrity musical acts canceling on him. Instead, the president is turning to the only acts that can’t bail: military bands and ceremonial units. “This ensemble will be the largest formation of Joint Military Music and Ceremonial performances in History,” he wrote. 

Trump also teased an appearance from his personal playlist that would have “none of those people that put you to sleep and constantly complain!” Meanwhile, the original website announcing several days of concerts as part of Trump’s Great American State Fair has been completely removed. 

And anyone with a flight in or out of Washington, D.C., on July 4 should look into rescheduling. Trump promised even more “incredible Flyovers and Airshows,” even after the similar festivities for his birthday disrupted local air traffic.

“To conclude the program, and commemorate this Historic Occasion, I will be launching, what will be, the LARGEST FIREWORKS SHOW IN HISTORY, right here in our Nation’s Capital,” Trump wrote. 

Trump also promised to deliver a keynote address that is sure to be wildly political. The president has previously used major addresses to push dangerous partisan rhetoric.

Simply put: This bread is dry, and these circuses are lame!