By and large, Americans are dumping Donald Trumps policies.
Within the first seven months of his second term, Trump has managed to add trillions to the deficit, eviscerate agencies like the Education Department, rattle the economy, shake Americas strongest alliances, develop concentration camps for his sweeping deportation program, and strip popular social programs such as Medicaid from millions of Americans.
But despite following through on his campaign promises, Trump has failed to earn majority support for any major issue, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research published Thursday.
Approximately half of U.S. adults49 percentbelieve that Trumps policies have done more to hurt them than help them since he returned to the White House, according to the survey. Twenty-two percent of that group reported that Trumps policies have not made much of a difference in their lives, while just 27 percentlittle more than a quarterof the polled population responded that Trump had actually helped them.
As it sits today, I dont know his policies have made much of a difference in my day-to-day life, Landon Lindemer, a 29-year-old logistics manager from suburban Atlanta who voted for Trump three times, told The Associated Press .
Public polling on Trumps handling of several key issues produced similar results to his overall job performance rating , which sits at around 40 percent. Trump failed to accrue more than 50 percent support on any topic, including immigration, which has historically been one of his strongest polling issues. Just 43 percent of Americans said they approved of Trumps immigration policies, compared to 49 percent who said as much in March.
Support also waned for the presidents federal spending habits: weeks after Trump forced through his big, beautiful bill, just 40 percent of Americans said they approved of Trumps government spending, a six percent drop compared to those who felt that way four months ago.
Trumps approval ratings on the economy, however, have remained relatively stagnant, with four in 10 Americans approving of Trumps performance on the key factor.
Timothy Dwyer, a 26-year-old self-described independent with conservative leanings based in Dyersburg, Tennessee, told the AP that Trumps plan tariffs have really sucked.
Hes turned us into a toilet and has absolutely made us the laughing stock of the world, Dwyer told the newswire.
President Trump is bringing Juul back.
After a federal ban in 2022 kneecapped the popular vape company, the Food and Drug Administration, under the watch of MAHA Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is now moving to loosen regulations and approving its full return to the domestic e-cigarette market, according to The Wall Street Journal . The FDA has authorized Juuls original vaporizer, as well as its tobacco and menthol-flavored cartridges, according to sources who spoke with the Journal. The decision means the agency believes the company provides greater benefits to adult smokers than any harm to general public health.
Former President Joe Bidens FDA briefly banned Juul from U.S. markets in 2022 due to its failure to provide the government with sufficient health and safety information. The agency later rescinded the ban, although it still dealt significant damage to the companys profit and reputation.
The FDA has not yet publicly commented on the news of Juuls reauthorization, nor has RFK Jr.
But now, the iconic flash-drive shaped e-cigarette that rose to prominence with teens and young adults during Trumps first term is back on the streets.
A resurfaced video of a younger White House deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller shows the presidents ghoulish policy adviser raving that torture is a celebration of life.
In a video dated 2003, 17-year-old Miller sits backward on a school bus speaking about the United States invasion of Iraq.
To the issue of the Iraqi civilians, I think that as many of them should survive as possible, because the goal of any military conflict is to kill as few people as possible, Miller said.
But as for Saddam Hussein and his henchmen, I think the ideal solution would be to cut off their fingers.
I dont think its necessary to kill them entirely, were not a barbaric people, we respect life. Therefore torture is the way to go. Because tortured people can live. Torture is a celebration of life and human dignity, he continued, as teenagers off screen burst into laughter.
We need to remember that as we enter these very dark and dangerous times in the next century. And I only hope that many of my peers and people who will be leading this country will appreciate the value and respect that torture shows towards other cultures, Miller said.
Twenty-three years later, Miller is a central figure leading the United States, and his inhumane immigration policies have marked the way for hundreds of people to be detained in tortuous conditions and deported to dangerous third countries and foreign gulags .
Speaking to Vice in 2017, former White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders dismissed the video as being inauthentic.
This is clearly a sketch comedy routine performed by teenagers and for teenagers as part of a video yearbook, she said. This teenage skit does not reflect any policy position, past or present, held by Stephen Miller. This is another comical overreach by the media.
But theres plenty of reasons to consider Millers heinous statements legitimate.
Miller was raised in California, where his evolving political views could not have been more at odds with those of progressive, inclusive Santa Monica, a fact in which he delighted, wrote Vanity Fair special correspondent William D. Cohan in 2017 after Miller had helped craft the Trump administrations travel ban on predominantly Muslim countries.
Millers former classmates recalled that he would challenge Latino students to speak English and loudly opposed putting student announcements in multiple languagesan attitude that mirrors the Trump administrations recent policy to end all multi-lingual services purporting to promote the use of English.
In 2002, Miller wrote a whiny op-ed for the Santa Monica Lookout, railing against the political correctness he believed had taken over his school, and declaring that Osama Bin Laden would feel very welcome at Santa Monica High School.
Once a wildly conservative wunderkind, now simply a seething racist, it seems that Miller hasnt changed at all.
One of Donald Trumps former employees is drawing a line connecting Jeffrey Epstein and the real estate mogul.
The former president and chief operating officer of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, Jack ODonnell, told CNN Wednesday that he once had to reprimand Trump for bringing a 19-year-old into the casino with the child sex trafficker in tow.
The incident occurred while ODonnell was atop the casino, between 1987 and 1990, according to the former C-suite executive.
He frequently came down to Atlantic City, the two of them, to attend special events, ODonnell told the network. In my mind, it was his best friend, you know, from really the time I was there for four years.
Host Erin Burnett then rolled a 2019 clip of Trump in which the 45th president denied reported ties between himself and Epstein, claiming that he only knew the New York financier like everybody in Palm Beach knew him, and that he was not a fan of Epsteins.
But ODonnell said that didnt square with what he witnessed between the pair during his time running the popular casino.
One incident that I think kind of proves their closeness and how much they hung out togetherone time, a Monday morning, I came in and the commission was waiting, the inspectors were waiting in my office, and Donald and Jeffrey had come into the casino in the wee hours of Sunday morning, 1:00, 1:30 in the morning, ODonnell told CNN.
You know, two buddies, they had three women with them, and the commission was waiting for me because they had determined that the women that they brought down were underaged to be in the casino, ODonnell continued. And when I asked them how they knew that, by the way, one of them was the number three-ranked tennis player in the world, okay, and this guy happened to be a tennis fan, and he said, Jack, I know shes 19 years old.
The commission effectively gave Trump a free pass that night, deciding not to fine him or the casino for bringing someone underaged into the casino, ODonnell recalled. But in turn, ODonnell had to read [Trump] the Riot Act.
I had to call him and say, Look, theyve given you a break this time, but if this happens again, the fine is gonna be substantial and its gonna be on your head, ODonnell said. And oh, by the way, its not gonna look good, you and this guy Epstein, coming down here with these young women.
ODonnell said he told Trump at the time that he shouldnt be hanging out with Epstein.
ODonnell further claimed that the two New York socialites must have been close to hop on a helicopter together to fly down to Atlantic City.
They were pretty good buddies, ODonnell alleged.
Much to Trumps chagrin, the botched rollout of the Epstein files has continued to plague his administration. A Morning Consult poll conducted earlier this month found that Trumps popularity had tanked by six points since the Justice Department contradicted Attorney General Pam Bondi on the existence of Epsteins so-called client list. And a YouGov/Economist poll conducted earlier this week found that the majority of Americans67 percent, including 59 percent of self-identified Trump votersbelieved that the Trump administration is covering up evidence relating to the Epstein case.
High-profile conservatives, including Elon Musk, have speculated that the administrations continued delay in releasing the Epstein case files is due to the fact that Trump himself might be mentioned in the documents.
Only two Republican senators broke the line to vote against their partys plan to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Alaskas Lisa Murkowski and Maines Susan Collins joined Senate Democrats in opposition to Republican cuts to organizations like PBS and NPR, and the smaller stations that they fund. While PBS and NPR would still continue at the national level, the cuts would likely devastate those local stations that rely on them.
The Senate approved $9 billion dollars of cuts early Thursday morning, with $1.1 billion in cuts to public broadcasting and $8.8 billion from foreign aid programs like USAID, which Elon Musks DOGE slashed earlier this year.
The vast majority of this funding, more than 70 percent, actually flows to local television and radio stations, Collins said last month during an earlier stage of the deliberation. In Maine, this funding supports everything from emergency communications in rural areas to coverage of high school basketball championships and [a] locally produced high school quiz show. Nationally produced television programs such as Antiques Roadshow , Daniel Tigers Neighborhood , are also enjoyed by many throughout our country.
I understand & the concern about subsidizing the national radio news programming that for years has had a discernibly partisan bent, she added. There are, however, more targeted approaches to addressing that bias at NPR than rescinding all of the funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. She backed up that thinking with her vote on Thursday morning, along with Murkowski.
Conservatives have been obsessed with attacking NPR and PBS for years. This political decision gives them at least some of what they wanted, all while taking out programming and resources, from Sesame Street to Native American radio, that Americans of all ages genuinely use and enjoy.
We just dont have a lot of fat to trim elsewhere, South Dakota Public Broadcasting executive director Julie Overgaard told The New York Times on Thursday. On the PBS side of things, I cant just start cherry-picking which national programs I want and only pay for those & so it really leaves me and many others with little choice but to look at the local programming that we self-generate.
The Trump administration is looking to use more federal funds to repeat its investigation into Jeffrey Epsteins pedophilic sex trafficking ringbut only to prove Donald Trumps theory that the scandal is a hoax.
Speaking with the far-right network Real Americas Voice on Wednesday night, the president suggested that the FBI should expend resources to prove Trumps invention that the entire case against Epstein is a Democratic scam.
I think they could look at all of it, its all the same scam, they could look at this Jeffrey Epstein hoax also, because thats the same stuff, thats all put out by Democrats, Trump told the network, referring to dissenting conservatives as naive Republicans.
Against better sense, Trump has been working overtime to sweep the entire Epstein fiasco under the rug. That has included challenging the political identities of some members of his base, who believed Trumps repeated promises on the campaign trail that he would release the Epstein case files as soon as he returned to high office.
The Democrats, you know, they have bad policy, they have bad candidates, they have bad everything, but they stick together. The Republicans dont do that, Trump said.
Speaking with reporters at the White House earlier Wednesday, Trump said that he had lost a lot of faith in his supporters, accusing some conservatives of being duped by Democrats.
That was run by the Biden administration for four years, I cant imagine what they put into files, Trump told Real Americas Voice, apparently trying to seed doubt about the ultimate contents of the Epstein case files.
Much to Trumps chagrin, the botched rollout of the Epstein files has continued to plague his administration. A Morning Consult poll conducted earlier this month found that Trumps popularity had tanked by six points since the Justice Department contradicted Attorney General Pam Bondi on the existence of Epsteins so-called client list.
But elected Republicans have unquestioningly fallen in line behind their leader: on Tuesday, the party blocked a Democrat-led effort to release the Epstein files. The final vote was 211 to 210just one dissenting Republican would have tipped the scales.
A reminder that prior to his death, Epstein described himself as one of Trumps closest friends . The socialites were named and photographed together, and Trump reportedly slept with his now-wife Melania for the first time aboard Epsteins plane, nicknamed the Lolita Express.
But Trump also has a terrible track record with how he treats women outside of Epsteins world: the current president was found liable by a jury for sexually abusing Elle columnist E. Jean Carrol last year, was convicted as a felon for crimes relating to his affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, and famously boasted on a hot mic before his ascent to Americas political vanguard that he grabs women by the pussy. High-profile conservatives, including Elon Musk, have speculated that the administrations continued delay in releasing the Epstein case files is due to the fact that Trump himself might be mentioned in the documents.
Donald Trump is desperate for anything to distract the angry mob seeking answers on alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Now, hes hoping to toss them some dirt on Hillary Clintontoo bad nobody cares about that.
During an appearance Wednesday on Real Americas Voice, Just the News founder John Solomon reported that Trump was open to declassifying information tied to conspiracy theories about the former secretary of state.
One piece was the classified annex of Inspector General Michael Horowitzs 2018 report on the FBIs actions ahead of the 2016 election. The missing annex had become the center of right-wing conspiracies that the FBI had ignored credible information of Clintons wrongdoing in the investigation of her private email server.
When asked if hed declassify the annex, Trump told Just the News , I would do that.
Absolutely. I think it should be looked at. The whole thing was a scam. I would do that broadly, Trump said.
Trump also indicated he was open to declassifying another classified annex from Special Counsel John Durhams 2023 report , which supposedly contained evidence that Clinton had approved a proposal to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security services.
I would declassify it, yeah. Why not? Trump told Just the News . I would absolutely declassify it.
But Trumps promises are far from an actual commitment. Trump had previously pledged the total declassification of any & all documents related to Russiagate and Clintons use of a private email server during his first term, but attorneys from the Department of Justice told the Office of White House Council to simply disregard the presidents hollow threat.
Trump has been increasingly desperate to redirect the massive backlash over his administrations toothless findings in its investigation into Epstein, which produced no additional documents and found that the sex offender kept no incriminating client list, even though his attorney general claimed one had been sitting on her desk.
The president posted a furious rant on Truth Social Tuesday, saying that any of his followers who were interested in the Epstein case were falling for Democratic bullshit, and compared it to the totally fake and made up story used in order to hide Crooked Hillary Clintons big loss in the 2016 Presidential Election. Similarly to Russias interference in the 2016 election, Trump now claims that Epstein files are a hoax.
Unfortunately for Trump, Americans dont care about Clintons emails nearly as much as they care about his own administrations scandal: Signalgate, the infamous use of a non-secure messaging app by several top Cabinet officials to discuss sensitive war plans.
After Signalgate, a YouGov survey found that nearly 75 percent of respondents believed the scandal was very or somewhat serious.
After Clintons email scandal in 2015, YouGov found that 56 percent of respondents thought the issue was very serious and somewhat serious. By 2022, people had become more concerned, but only 62 percent saw it as very serious or somewhat serious, likely at least in part resulting from Trumps constant griping about it.
Meanwhile, a Quinnpac Poll published Wednesday found that 63 percent of American voters disapprove of the Trump administrations handling of the Epstein files.
Trumps looking for anything at all that can distract the angry mob. Just in case the almond moms were sharpening their pitchforks, Trump even promised that he would get real sugar added to Coca Cola instead of high fructose corn syrup. Now theres something everyone can get behind!
Trumps dismissal of the Jeffrey Epstein case is giving some of his most ardent supporterslike Alex Jonesa bit of an identity crisis.
Trump, weve believed in you, weve seen you do great work, weve seen the bad guys, the worst certified people on earth come after you, Jones said in a video on Wednesday, staring directly into the camera. He then accurately detailed the Trump administrations history of contradictory policy on the Epstein files. And now weve seen you uncharacteristically flip flop on your promises back and forth. There was no Epstein case, theres nothing to see here. Ok, were gonna investigate it, were gonna put it in a special counsel, no theres nothing there, anybody investigating it is fake news and is a traitor. Your most loyal supporters and good people are the ones pointing this out.
Jones captioned the video why is Trump destroying MAGA in real time?
If I was a QAnon-adjacent, Epstein-obsessed MAGA conspiracy theorist, I would be feeling dejected, angry, and confused right now too. Donald Trump and his inner circle made this issue central to their campaign, making promises upon promises to reveal every secret regarding the Epstein files. Now theyre saying theres nothing there, and that anyone who ever thought so is a complete idiot. Its been brutally amusing to watch in real time.
To say you either agree with everything I do or youre not in our club, I dont want you, well, that sounds kind of like a thorough-bred cult to me, he said in another video where he compared MAGA to a cult. When somebody starts saying dont question things or you cant be in our club, yeah thats a cult.
I have to say at this point, if you look at the scales here, whether it happened a year ago or six months ago or a month ago, stuff really started to change when Elon [Musk] left, with what he discovered, he added. And I think it has a lot of credibility what he said. Trumps implicated here. Im not saying sex abuse or kids but definitely somehow, somebody close to him & you are compromised. And If you go with the deep state and continue down this road & the coverup is even worse than whatever would have come out. So Im loyal to the truth.
While some MAGA loyalists have scapegoated Attorney General Pam Bondi for various reasonslike her lying about the client list being on her desk, or claims that she is a nefarious deep state operative who strong-armed FBI director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Bongino on the Epstein memobut few have had the gall to make the connection Jones did here. Perhaps Trump wants everyone to forget about Epstein because he or his friends would be implicated. Either way, the hardcore wing of the MAGA movement is in shambles over this. And as we approach week three of the fallout, its unclear if theyll ever fully recover. There may be more tears from Jones in the near future.
Elected representatives say they arent interested if their constituents are detained by federal immigration officials.
On Capitol Hill Wednesday, South Carolina Representative Ralph Norman, Texas Representative Troy Nehls, and Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville brushed off reports that American citizens were being targeted by ICE agents in overzealous raids.
Congressman, do you care if U.S. citizens accidentally get detained in ICE raids? Migrant Insiders Pablo Manr�quez asked each of them.
No, Im not concerned about that, confessed Norman, underscoring that he was so appreciative of border czar Tom Homans actions to force undocumented immigrants out of the country en masse.
Im concerned about law and order in America. If youre an illegal, you dont need to be here, Norman said, apparently forgetting that ICE has no authority to arrest, detain, or deport U.S. citizens.
But what if youre a citizen?... It just seems to be happening a lot, pressed Manr�quez.
But Norman said he doesnt believe that, highlighting concerns about alleged undocumented gang members in the country when Manr�quez cited reports that U.S. veterans are getting dragged into ICEs deportation machine.
At least one veteran has so far been detained by the aggressive agency: George Retes, a 25-year-old disabled veteran, was detained on July 10 while at work on a California farm. He was held for three days by ICE officials without access to legal representation and without any charges against him, according to Representative Pramila Jayapals office .
Jayapal introduced legislation Wednesdaythe Stop ICE from Kidnapping US Citizens Actto make ICEs illegal actions even more blatant. The measure would prevent ICE from detaining and deporting U.S. citizens following reports that the agency had been harassing the countrys Latino population , requesting on-demand proof of citizenship.
But Norman isnt the only lawmaker to disregard the alarming cases. Nehls attempted to undermine the traumatizing nature of detention when asked if he cared about the arrested citizens, telling Manr�quez that the media shouldnt spin detention for more than it really is.
Are you detained for more than three days? Nehls asked rhetorically, waving his cigar.
In some cases, yeah, responded Manr�quez.
Well, maybe people cant prove that theyre American citizens, either, have the documentation, Nehls said, apparently at a loss for words, though he did mention that he believed Homan was doing a hell of a job.
Its not a big problem. It really, really isnt, Nehls added.
Tubervilles sensitive advice to Americans concerned about being illegally detained by plainclothed undercover ICE agents was simple: First of all, dont put yourself in a situation where that happens.
Im sure with the illegals we have in this country, some mistakes happen, that alwaysthats gone happen, Tuberville said , before directing Americans to disengage from undocumented communities. But if you are gonna be hanging around people who are not citizens of this country, some things like that are going to probably happen.
Dont hang around illegals, he warned .
Tuberville had no advice for mixed-status families.
President Trump once again raised questions surrounding his mental acuity after he seemed to forget that he was the person who appointed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, while he was in the middle of admonishing Powell for not capitulating to his economic plan.
Hes a terrible, hes a terrible fed chair, Trump said of Powell on Wednesday. Im surprised he was appointed, I was surprised frankly that Biden put him in and extended him.
It was in fact Trump, not Biden, who put Powell in. The president nominated Powell for Fed chair in November of 2017, to replace Janet Yellen.
The incident came just after multiple reports revealed that Trump has a secret letter firing Powell, and he has been asking Republican lawmakers whether he should send it.
This is also a major slip-up from Trump, the result of both his strong inclination to blame anything he doesnt like on the previous administration and genuine mental decline. This is not the first time Trumps mental fog has shown itself, even as he is just barely halfway through the first year of his second term. He went on an unrelated tangent about his summer vacation plans earlier this month when he was asked a very basic question about how long detainees would be kept in the Alligator Alcatraz detention camp, and famously confused Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley up at a campaign event last year. These are just one of many examples . Who knows what Trumps mind will look like at the end of this term.
