Breaking News
Breaking News
from Washington and beyond

“Shove That Ballroom Up Your Fat Ass”: Trump Heckled at GOP Rally

What should’ve been a safe space for Donald Trump was derailed by voter frustration.

Donald Trump stands awkwardly at a midterm rally. He holds a stack of caps in one hand.
Kent NISHIMURA/AFP/Getty Images

Even MAGA rally attendees are sick and tired of hearing about Donald Trump’s ballroom.

The president visited Corinth, Mississippi, on Monday night to support the midterm efforts of Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, an incumbent Republican in an increasingly tight race against Democratic nominee Scott Colom. Trump was in the middle of rambling about the condition of the White House when he was heckled about his $600 million ballroom project.

“Shove that ballroom up your fat ass!” a man shouted from the crowd.

It was at least the third time that night Trump was interrupted by a dissenting voice, but he didn’t appear too bothered by the intrusion. “Go home. Go home,” Trump responded, laughing.

The crowd, however, went bananas. Thousands of people began to boo. Then they stood up, threw their fists in the air, and chanted, “USA, USA.”

The president, in turn, claimed that the protester was “paid $250 by [George] Soros,” and lamented that he was interrupted “just at the punchline” of his story.

“These people are sick,” Trump said. “For $250 he broke up my punchline, and it was a beautiful—we have to have a beautiful, well kept, White House.”

Trump knocked down the historic White House East Wing last year to make way for his enormous ballroom. He did so without obtaining permission from Congress or the requisite agencies. And he has been practically obsessed with its construction ever since.

An analysis by The Washington Post in April found that, by that time, Trump had invoked his ballroom in roughly a third of his public remarks, far outpacing any mentions of his supposed policy priorities.

The president has repeatedly claimed that the 90,000-square-foot expansion would be free of charge to the American public and entirely funded by private donors, but that is far from the truth. Earlier this year, Trump pushed Congress to sign a $400 million check for the ballroom’s construction. Several Republicans backed the strategy, arguing that the cost could be offset to taxpayers by reallocating on national park funds and custom fees.

Trump Proudly Declares He’s Ignoring Judge on Golf Course Takeover

Donald Trump is making it clear: He doesn’t care what the courts say.

People golf next to felled trees at the East Potomac Golf Links
East Potomac Golf Links near Hains Point in Washington, D.C., on October 19
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
East Potomac Golf Links near Hains Point in Washington, D.C., on October 19

President Trump loudly announced his plans to ignore and appeal a judge’s order blocking his planned takeover of a public golf course in Washington, D.C., calling the decision “time-consuming, unnecessary, expensive, and unconstitutional.”

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes extended the order barring the Trump administration and the National Parks Service from cutting down more trees at the golf course while the lawsuit remains active. The order also requires the administration to give 10 days’ notice before making any “irreparable modification” to any “forms or features” on the property.

This got Trump ranting and raving on Truth Social late Monday night.

“JUDGE ASKS FOR NOTIFICATION AS PUBLIC GOLF COURSE PROJECT, IN WASHINGTON, D.C., IS BUILT. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR TO APPEAL THIS UNCONSTITUTIONAL REQUEST,” he wrote. “We believe this Project is totally ‘as of right,’ and that the judge does not have the Constitutional Right to ‘ask for or receive notices,’ which are time-consuming, unnecessary, expensive, and unconstitutional. We will immediately appeal this decision.”

He went on to claim he must ignore the court ruling due to “wayward” balls on the golf course.

“To have to give advanced notices to a judge who has no expertise in Golf, Architecture, Landscaping, Construction, or anything else having to do with building such a World Class Project, is not fair, appropriate, or Constitutional,” he continued. “In its current form, the Course is extremely dangerous to play, in that the narrow and nondescript fairways are far too close together, leading to a constant barrage of people being hit with wayward shots, and the echoing throughout the air of the word, ‘FORE!’ The judge has absolutely no right to hold up this very important and beautiful Project.”

This latest crashout comes just over a week after Trump called Reyes a “crazed lunatic” after she lambasted the Trump administration for giving her last-minute notice that it would start cutting down trees in the park. When Justice Department attorney Marissa Piropato argued the government’s actions over the weekend were “not a renovation,” Reyes called her excuse “preposterous,” “doublespeak,” and “completely beyond the pale.”

While East Potomac Golf Links was already slated for renovations, Trump’s federal takeover of the project—which aims to turn the once beautiful and accessible course into a massive property to host championship golf tournaments—has been a complete legal mess.

Don Jr.’s Hunting Trip Exposes Dangerous Friendship With Putin Ally

Donald Trump Jr. went hunting with Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, who also paid for a large chunk of the first son’s wedding.

Donald Trump Jr. looks to the side while speaking at a podium
Donald Trump Jr.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Donald Trump Jr.

Donald Trump Jr. went on a remote hunting trip in Mongolia with Umar Kremlev, a Russian oligarch in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

President Donald Trump’s oldest son spent two days traveling with Kremlev in August. A guide told the outlet that during the trip, Trump Jr. killed one Altai argali, an endangered sheep valued for its large horns. News of the hunting trip follows a bombshell report that Kremlev dropped hundreds of thousands of dollars on Trump Jr.’s wedding in May.

Kremlev is president of the International Boxing Association, which is financed by Gazprom, a Russian state–owned energy company. Kremlev has extensive ties to Putin: The Russian president has positioned Kremlev as a central figure in the sports betting industry and chosen one of his companies to run the national lottery. In 2023, Putin nationalized Russia’s largest car dealership company—and Kremlev promptly became its owner. Kremlev is also involved in a sports education organization called Healthy Fatherland, which has been sanctioned by Ukraine for allegedly abducting and relocating Ukrainian children.

After the trip concluded, Trump attended dinner with Mongolia’s President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh. A government spokesperson posted on social media that the two had discussed relations between the United States and Mongolia, as well as potential business opportunities. The post was removed soon after, and Trump’s spokesperson claimed it was an informal meeting where they discussed the outdoors. Khürelsükh’s spokesperson said, “They did not discuss politics or official visits.”

Trump’s spokesperson separately stated that the first son has “a personal friendship, not a business relationship,” with Kremlev. But intelligence experts warned the Financial Times that the relationship still posed a major risk.

“It really doesn’t matter if people have the most above board intentions,” Holden Triplett, who served as counter-intelligence director on the National Security Council during Donald Trump’s first administration, told the outlet. “The moment the Russian security and intelligence services figure out someone has a relationship with anyone of high value, they will try to weaponize that.”

Read more about Trump’s ties to Kremlev:

Trump DOJ Charges James Comey a Third Time Over Alleged Leaks

The latest charges came just hours after a federal judge ruled that the Department of Justice had illegally fired Comey’s daughter.

Former FBI Director James Comey gestures with one hand and speaks into a microphone during an event
Former FBI Director James Comey
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Former FBI Director James Comey

The Trump administration has just charged James Comey for a third time.

The Department of Justice alleged that the former FBI director leaked national defense information 10 years ago, according to court filings made public Monday. The DOJ claims that Comey was the source of national security information that ended up in a 2016 New York Times report.

Prosecutors filed a “waiverless criminal information” in Washington, D.C., federal court, allowing them to bring charges without an indictment and extend the 10-year statute of limitations to get one. Comey vowed to fight any charges in a video he posted Monday.

“It would almost be funny if it weren’t such an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice, one that we cannot become numb to. Nothing’s changed with me, I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid of these people, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary,” Comey said, adding that prosecutors waited too long to bring the charges.

President Donald Trump still holds a grudge against Comey over the FBI’s investigation into ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. He fired Comey in 2017, and in Trump’s second term, the DOJ tried to indict the former director for allegedly lying in a 2020 congressional hearing, only for that case to fall apart because the prosecutor was improperly appointed.

Later, federal prosecutors charged Comey for somehow trying to threaten the president’s life with a social media post of seashells on a beach spelling out “86 47.” The government argued that Comey used “86,” a slang term meaning “get rid of,” to say “kill” and used “47” to mean Trump, the forty-seventh president of the U.S. That case remains pending.

The new charges came just hours after a judge ruled that Comey’s daughter Maurene, the former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, was wrongfully terminated in July 2025, and ordered the DOJ to reinstate her with back pay. No reason was given for her dismissal, although her last name may have been a factor.

Ohio Venues Keep Canceling on Vivek Ramasamy After That Campaign Ad

The Republican nominee for governor is having trouble finding venues for his campaign events after defending his advertisement with Amy Acton’s mother.

Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks into a handheld mic while standing on a platform.
Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy joins other Republicans at a rally at the annual Circleville Pumpkin Show, on October 23.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy joins other Republicans at a rally at the annual Circleville Pumpkin Show, on October 23.

Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is struggling to book venues in his home state just days before the midterms, amid growing backlash to his unreasonably cruel attack ad against Democratic opponent Amy Acton.

Two Ohio restaurants—Elliot’s Wood Fired Kitchen and The Old Dog Ale House & Brewery—have canceled events with the Ohio Republican Party featuring Ramaswamy after he released and then doubled down on his advert featuring Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur. An event the party was supposed to host on Tuesday now lists “to be announced” as the location.

The ad features Arthur accusing her daughter of lying about how she was raised. But Arthur lost custody of Acton after her husband, Cledith “Bud” Arthur, was arrested for raping Acton when she was just 12 years old. Bud skipped bail and left town with Acton’s mother, who stayed married to him until his death. Now she is being platformed by Ramaswamy, calling her daughter who survived years of sexual abuse a liar on camera.

That cruelty is negatively impacting Ramaswamy’s campaign. An anonymous Ohio Republican even told Zeteo that they were “getting calls that people don’t want him there.” Other venues that hosted Ramaswamy over the weekend have been flooded by one-star reviews on Google.

Aside from the restaurants, Ramaswamy has been rebuked by every living governor of Ohio, Democrat and Republican, for the ad—which has continued to run. Former Republican Governor Mike DeWine said that it was “wrong” to run the ad last week and urged the Ramaswamy campaign to take it down.

Even still, Ramaswamy, President Trump, and Vice President JD Vance have continued to defend the decision to run the ad, while Acton’s brother Philip Stearns lambasted the campaign last week.

“It’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point,” Stearns said. “After he was arrested and Amy and I were removed from their custody, our birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died. This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core—a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants.”