Judge Rips DHS Secretary for Caring More About Pronouns Than Wildfires
https://newrepublic.com/post/214594/judge-dhs-secretary-pronouns-wildfires-disaster-aid
Judge Rips DHS Secretary for Caring More About Pronouns Than Wildfires
The Trump administration is placing outrageous conditions on disaster relief.
A federal judge in Oregon ripped the Trump administration for placing political conditions on crucial, potentially life-saving disaster relief.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Michael McShane, an Obama appointee, issued a ruling regarding the city of Salem, Oregon’s July lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and FEMA leadership. In it, the city accused the Trump administration of dangling disaster aid above local leaders’ heads in exchange for a rejection of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Salem argued that the conditions were “unlawful,” especially given that the city was still recovering from storm damage from last winter. McShane agreed.
“As wildfires, severe storms, and floods routinely ravage through the State of Oregon, disaster relief has become a tool to advance unrelated executive policy … it is hard to imagine the connection between the use of preferred pronouns and the fires currently burning through central Oregon,” he wrote in his order.
McShane issued a preliminary injunction blocking the DHS restrictions on aid while the case continues.
Withholding basic disaster funds from American citizens just because they live in states that recognize trans people exist or talk about racism in school has become an obvious, spiteful trend for Trump. Last month, he denied FEMA disaster aid requests from four blue states after accepting the aid requests of six red states just two days before.
Natalie Harp’s Full Trump Letters Exposed—Revealing Creepy Obsession
Donald Trump’s much younger assistant wrote him fawning letters calling him her “guardian and protector.”
Natalie Harp’s relationship with President Donald Trump is even more intimate than we thought.
The Daily Beast published two intimate letters Thursday from Trump’s assistant, courtesy of Michael Wolff, Trump’s biographer who maintained a disturbingly close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The letters were written in 2023, either during or after a business trip to Scotland.
Here’s the complete text of Harp’s first letter (emphasis added):
Dear Mr. President,
I’m sorry. I thought I was the only one left behind last night, and had no idea Margo’s car was also pulled over, and sent back to the Airport. Since I was alone in the van outside Customs without my passport, I panicked, and should have just called Secret Service instead of you. I also am sorry if I was an embarrassment walking the course in Scotland. The first day I was told there were no carts, and people walked, which is why I walked. The second day, I was specifically asked by, I forget who his name was, but one of the main people who worked there, if I could continue walking, and tell any other girls who would head out there to do the same to spare the Course any more Carts. If there is anything else I have done to cause you trouble, please forgive me. I know that some people have said I haven’t been texting them back, and there have been some International cell issues (John was having technical issues on the Plane too, so asked me to help him out).
I want things to always be right between us. I also know I’ve been distracted all week (forgetting to eat throughout the days, and even forgetting to sleep, and only catching a couple hours at a time). I haven’t been myself, dwelling on the Past, and the pain of losing my Dad, and I started letting the remarks of people who haven’t bothered me before, get to me—not because I care what others think, but because I see myself being lowered in your eyes and good opinion. That is the fear you see, because I never want to bring you anything but joy. I’m sorry I lost my focus. You are all that matters to me. I don’t want to ever let you down. Thank you for being my Guardian and Protector in this Life—That’s what I wanted to use this card for, when you saw me at the Cash Register, and once again did what you didn’t have to do, and gifted me with Mementos of this Trip of a Lifetime, a Coming of Age. I will return a better person. I have to sign off now, as the cars are leaving. See you soon.
Harp signed that message with “All my heart.” Very normal stuff to send to your boss.
Here is the complete text of the second letter (emphasis added):
Dear Mr. President
Now this is the Note I wanted to write (But the apology needed to come first.)
I have learned so much about myself on this Trip—I always knew coming home to my roots would be enlightening, but I had no idea how much. For the first time, in I don’t know how long, you forced me to “unplug.” We could be out on the Course, with no machines, and even forget what time it was! I didn’t have to be “Human Printer.” I could take time to enjoy good conversation, and still get all my work done at the end of the day. In fact, I even had time to take long morning and evening walks to enjoy each Sunrise and Sunset (though I did forget to eat and sleep!). With so much thinking time, I confess it did have a slightly negative effect at times, that I know you picked up on, but the end result, I believe, will be worth it. I had no idea how rapidly I was approaching burnout, and starting to envy those whose only “job” seems to be to talk with you, and look pretty. I want that job!!
So many times, I’m just trying to stay afloat with all that’s coming in for you, I look like a hunchback who didn’t have time to freshen up (at least you know what I should look like)! Plus, I miss the days when you used to call, during my Talkshow days, and we’d talk about everything and nothing. I want to get back to that synergy. We shouldn’t have to talk about work all the time!! I’ve always felt like an in-betweener, somewhere between Staff and those you enjoy talking to on the Plane or at Dinner, because that’s who I used to be to you when I was a “Talkshow Host” (as much as I hated that actual job!). I wish I could hear every conversation, because that’s when you’re having a good time, getting away from it all, at least for a few moments.
But after going through all this self-analysis, my conclusion? I need to reunite my past self with my current into a better version who will make you proud. And please, when I fail, will you tell me? You have the absolute right to cuss me out, if need be, when I deserve it, because no one knows or cares about me more. Thank you for always being there for me—I’ll never forget when you made that promise to me after losing my Dad, and I know how happy he is right now that I did get to go to Scotland and Ireland, as he always wanted for me. To modify a classic, ‘I could not have parted with you, to anyone less worthy’—And, I will add, it is I who is unworthy.”
Harp signed her second letter with “Always.”
Within the span of the second letter, Harp vacillates from viewing Trump as a kind of spiritual adviser, a father figure, and a Mr. Darcy-type romantic lead. As for her request for more access, it seems Harp got her wish. White House staff and national security officials have expressed serious concerns about her unfettered access to the president—and all of his conversations.
Michael Cohen’s Reunion Interview With Trump Was a Fever Dream
Trump’s former attorney turned #Resistance hero is now trying to get back in the president’s good graces.
Michael Cohen’s highly anticipated reunion radio interview with President Trump was a masterclass in brownnosing.
The president made a sleepy appearance on Cohen’s weekly talk radio program and podcast, When You Know You Know, on Thursday night, and the two men spent most of the time relitigating what they see as their persecution and trading stale old stories.
“So I wanna go back to 2016 if we can, because you and I have obviously traveled a pretty rocky road together,” Cohen said near the beginning of the interview, after playing the song “Why Can’t We Be Friends” by War. “Do you remember, sir, when I went on CNN with Brianna Keilar and she told me that you were underwater in the polls and I responded with those famous two words, ‘Says who,’ which became some worldwide meme?”
“A good advocate, and then they weaponized you like nobody’s ever been weaponized, like few have been,” Trump responded.
“Well, maybe just you and I, sir.”
“Yeah. Me too, but … mine was, mine was at a level that nobody’s ever seen before. But they weaponized you, they weaponized a lot of people. And, uh, I respect the fact that you recanted everything you said,” Trump continued. “And that’s a big, that’s a big thing that you did.”
The rest of the interview was effectively a stock speech for Trump, as he eventually devolved into ranting about polling, Iran, gas prices, and upcoming elections.
“I think that we’re doing really well in the polls, the real polls. If I were running today, I think I’d win by 25 points. I think we’d win by a lot. The economy has never been stronger. We’re doing numbers that nobody’s ever seen before,” he said. (His approval rating fell to 33 percent this week, the lowest level of his presidency.)
“Venezuela was amazing. And now with Iran, they will never have a nuclear weapon,” he continued. “We’re essentially controlling and soon controlling the straits. We’re doing very well with Iran. The press doesn’t like to say that, although a lot of the press does say it, you know, because the Navy’s gone, the Air Force is gone, the leadership is gone.… I had [gas] down to $1.85 a barrel. And then I said, ‘But we have to make a journey to the Middle East because we can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.’ And that’s what happened.… We’ve wiped them out, militarily wiped out.”
What Cohen and Trump didn’t talk about was Cohen’s multiple politically advantageous transformations.
He was first Trump’s longtime attorney—before being sentenced to three years in federal prison on charges related to his role as the middleman in Trump’s hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Then he had a #Resistance liberal hero arc, lambasting Trump as “a cheat, a mobster, a liar, a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator, a con man” in his book and testifying against him in court. And now that Trump is back in power, he’s returned to bending over backward to appease him.
Cohen ended the episode with Peaches & Herb’s “Reunited.”
Food Safety Keeps Getting Worse Under Trump
The FDA has recalled 12 products in the last week alone.
In the last week alone, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recalled 12 different products—a rate four times higher than the same week a year ago.
In the past week, the FDA has discovered salmonella in granola, salad dressing, jalapenos, and animal food; glass in fruit popsicles; and metal in sourdough—just to name a few examples.
Between August 14 and 20, 2025, the FDA recalled only three products. In the same week in 2024, the FDA recalled only two, according to the FDA website.
It’s not immediately clear whether the increase in recalls can be attributed to increased enforcement or more hazardous food—but the rapid recalls really make you wonder, is this what making America healthy again looks like?
This week of many public health announcements follows a national cyclospora outbreak that has sickened more than 13,000 people and caused two deaths. Last week, the FDA finally dispatched investigators to the facilities linked to the outbreak—nearly a month after linking the parasite to Taylor Farms. Before any of this, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly cut back on parasite monitoring.
Trump’s Treasury Secretary Thinks It’s Good That the Economy Is Bad
Scott Bessent tried and failed to spin a lousy job market on CNBC on Thursday.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wants you to think that a weak job market is a good thing.
CNBC’s Sara Eisen asked Bessent to comment on recent signs that the job market was cracking. Bessent downplayed the “noisy” numbers suggesting the job market was not stable.
“The jobs that we’re seeing are going to Americans,” Bessent. “After the deportations that we’ve seen during the President Trump administration and the closing of the border, that’s like this unfettered migration, we don’t need to produce as many jobs.”
In July, the U.S. labor market shed 23,000 jobs, a worrying sign when paired with high gas prices and tariff-based inflation. Notably, women accounted for 100 percent of that decline, losing 32,000 jobs while men gained 9,000. The report also revised down job growth numbers from the previous two months.
For several months, the Trump administration has been pushing Americans to lower their expectations for job growth to reflect a labor market that doesn’t rely on undocumented immigrants. Americans don’t need jobs, apparently! It’s a strange spin for the simple fact that the president’s sweeping deportations are hurting the economy.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration claims that more than 2 million immigrants have left the country since Trump reentered office—something that couldn’t possibly be true.
U.N. Alarmed by Trump Plan to Allow Drilling Near World Heritage Site
Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” approach is going to hurt America’s world heritage sites.
The Trump administration’s plan to allow oil and gas extraction near the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico is drawing concerns from UNESCO, the United Nations’s heritage organization.
The Guardian reports that the organization is alarmed that the administration is getting rid of a buffer zone around the park, which is a world heritage site. “The world heritage committee has consistently considered extractive activities to be incompatible with world heritage status,” a UNESCO spokesperson told the paper.
The committee has also “emphasized that projects proposed outside world heritage properties should not adversely affect their outstanding universal value—which are the features of the site that justify its inscription, and should be subject to appropriate impact assessments before decisions are taken,” the spokesperson added.
The federal Bureau of Land Management has proposed getting rid of a 10-mile buffer zone protecting the area from any industrial activity, whether that’s uranium mining or fossil fuel drilling. Tribal leaders, environmental groups, and archaeologists have all warned that the site could be irreparably damaged from such activity. In a 12-day public comment period earlier this year, the government received close to 100,000 comments mostly opposed to ending the buffer zone.
“This park offers an incredible transportive experience where you essentially go back in time 1,000 years to experience what the ancient Pueblo people saw,” Maude Dinan, New Mexico program manager at the National Parks Conservation Association, told The Guardian. “The buffer zone is incredibly important and removing it would completely change this experience.”
The New Mexico park is one of 27 world heritage sites in the U.S., ranging from national parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone to landmarks like the Statue of Liberty. The lone American site on UNESCO’s list of heritage sites whose preservation is in danger is Everglades National Park in Florida, thanks to nearby development and pollution. Chaco and other sites where the administration has pushed for development, mining, and drilling, such as Big Bend National Park, could soon join that list.
Democrats Launch Probe Into Hegseth Meddling With Military Newspaper
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth isn’t explaining why he installed an active-duty officer at the independent newspaper—and what happened to make the publisher quit.
Senate Democrats are initiating a probe into whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth placed one of his own supporters inside the independent military newspaper Stars and Stripes.
“Our offices have been informed that the Department of Defense assigned an active-duty Public Affairs officer to serve as a ‘deputy’ to Stars and Stripes Publisher Max Lederer, reportedly without consultation with Mr. Lederer,” Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, and Jeanne Shaheen wrote in a Thursday letter to Hegseth. “On August 18, Mr. Lederer announced that he will retire after more than three decades at Stars and Stripes … citing fundamental differences between his understanding of the value and mission of Stars and Stripes and the Department’s plans for the organization.”
“The placement of an active-duty Public Affairs officer in the senior leadership of an organization whose credibility depends on its independence from the military chain of command raises serious questions.”
Stars and Stripes is partly funded by the Defense Department but has long had editorial independence. Installing an active-duty military officer in an editorial position at the newspaper in the midst of an extremely unpopular overhaul of Pentagon leadership—and an even more unpopular war on Iran—reeks of bias. The senators gave Hegseth a deadline of August 28 to offer a “detailed explanation” as to why he appointed the active-duty officer to oversee the outlet.
“For generations, American service members, particularly those stationed overseas and in combat zones, have relied on Stars and Stripes for credible and independent news,” the letter concluded. “At this critical moment of leadership transition, that independence must not be compromised. We urge you to preserve that independence and provide prompt answers regarding these latest developments.”
Hegseth has already demonstrated a desire for narrative control over what both civilians and service members know about his leadership. Earlier this year, the Pentagon fired the ombudsman responsible for guaranteeing the military paper’s editorial independence. Last year, he filled the Pentagon Press Corps with sycophants from the likes of ultraconservative organizations like Turning Point USA shortly after instituting a “pledge” for Pentagon reporters, requiring them to abstain from receiving any unauthorized material or publishing without approval. And the administration at large has fought with reporters covering troops’ low morale, low provisions, and severe injuries in the war on Iran.
Hegseth has yet to officially respond.
Trump Treasury Secretary Flails as National Debt Passes $40 Trillion
Scott Bessent thinks it’s A-OK that the national debt is ballooning.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried in vain to spin the country’s astronomical $40 trillion debt on CNBC Thursday.
Speaking to the network’s Sara Eisen, Bessent admitted that he didn’t know when the Iran war would end, but that things were otherwise going well with the economy despite the soaring national debt and increasing deficit.
“This Iran conflict, we will get on the other side of this. We don’t know when,” Bessent said, failing to inspire much confidence.
Bessent was even less inspirational when it came to the national debt, telling Eisen, “There’s nothing magic about the 40 trillion number, and we can grow our way out of that,” before blaming tariff refunds for the poor GDP and rising deficit.
“One of things that’s temporary here that’s influencing the deficit has been these tariff refunds, and we won’t have to do that again,” Bessent said, adding that the administration was reinstituting tariffs. “I would expect that our 2026 tariff income is going to be roughly what it was in 2025.”
When Eisen asked if “we have seen peak deficit during this administration,” Bessent replied, “I think there’s a very good chance we have.”
“We are going to be laser-focused, as I said. [Office of Management and Budget] Director Vought, myself, the president; that combined with the vice president’s fraud task force, where I think we could save several hundred billion dollars,” Bessent said.
Suggesting that the deficit isn’t going to increase beyond current levels doesn’t make sense with how President Trump is spending money on everything from the Iran war to his pet construction projects. There’s no guarantee that Trump’s new tariff approach will survive court challenges either. And Bessent couldn’t help but admit that the Iran war shows no sign of ending anytime soon, meaning that his positive forecast is just a lot of wishful thinking.
Trump’s DOJ and Elon Musk Think AI Has a Right to Turn People Nude
The Justice Department is siding with Elon Musk’s xAI in a lawsuit against Minnesota.
President Trump’s Justice Department is teaming up with Elon Musk’s xAI to fight Minnesota’s ban on AI that lets users create sexual images of people without their consent.
The DOJ filed a statement of interest this week arguing that the law goes too far, and is broader than federal law.
Minnesota’s ban states that “a person who owns or controls a website, application, software, program, or other service must not: (1) allow a user to access, download, or use the website, application, software, program, or other service to nudify an image or video; or (2) nudify an image or video on behalf of a user.” Breaking the law carries a fine of up to $500,000.
The law defines “nudify” as “the process by which an image or video is altered or generated to depict an intimate part not depicted in an original unaltered image or video of an identifiable individual.” It also applies when “the altered or generated image or video is so realistic that a reasonable person would believe that the intimate part belongs to the identifiable individual.”
The DOJ argued that the law “sweeps up constitutional and productive conduct not prohibited under federal law because of the way Minnesota drafted (and apparently will enforce) the statute.”
Musk’s xAi filed its lawsuit last month on First Amendment grounds after a temporary restraining order request was denied.
xAI’s attorneys argue that the law would hold the company unfairly liable for users nudifying images. They also argue that xAI has adequate moderation tactics in place to stop it from happening in the first place.
“The state would punish xAI for allowing a user to nudify themselves,” attorney Robert Dunn said to Courthouse News. Minnesota disagrees.
“It’s certainly not surprising that xAI is not coming into federal court and saying, ‘We support these images,’” Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Janine Kimble said to Courthouse News. “They say, ‘Look at our terms of service; we tell people not to do this.’ … And yet, they still are reporting tens of thousands of users creating images.”
In January, Musk himself admitted that his Grok AI chatbot was posting nude images of children at the behest of some of his platform’s most perverted users. He blamed “lapses in safeguards.” The chatbot also posted nude deepfake images of adult women without their consent—making Minnesota’s law seem all the more reasonable.
Darline Graham Just Made Her Disastrous Foreign Policy Gaffe Worse
After one of the worst stumbles in the history of American political debates, the South Carolina Senate candidate tried to make amends—by blaming trans people.
South Carolina Senator Darline Graham has a baffling excuse for her humiliating debate performance—spoiler alert: It involves transgender athletes!
Speaking on Fox News’s Sean Hannity Show Wednesday, Graham explained the shocking moment she admitted she was “not informed on national security,” when asked whether Taiwan and the South China Sea were national security issues for the United States.
“You know, I tripped up on one question last night regarding Taiwan. But you know I’ve said many times, I’m not a politician, certainly not a career politician, I don’t speak politician,” she said. “You know I was just honest, and I think that’s kind of a foreign concept.”
It’s true that a wise woman knows herself to be a fool—but Graham’s foolishness wasn’t finished.
“Of course Taiwan is our friend, but I think people in South Carolina are more worried about making ends meet, they’re concerned about boys in girls’ sports,” she added.
It would be surprising if people in South Carolina really felt that way—considering the state passed a law banning transgender students from playing on girls’ or women’s sports teams four years ago. The conservative-majority Supreme Court recently upheld similar rules in two other states, cementing the status of South Carolina’s transgender athlete ban.
She added that South Carolinians were more concerned about the second amendment, the SAVE America Act, and illegal immigration, “so they’re concerned about a lot of things other than Taiwan.”
Crucially, if Graham can’t answer simple questions about national security, she has no business being on that debate stage. She also has no business representing South Carolina, for in the same debate, Graham also claimed that there were 50 million people living in South Carolina. There are only 5.6 million.
