All posts tagged: J.D. Vance

What Stephen Miller gets wrong about debt and immigration

What Stephen Miller gets wrong about debt and immigration

Published by Sam Flores

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller speaks with members of the press outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Aug. 29, 2025. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images The U.S. national debt grew past 100% of gross domestic product last month, putting the country on the path to beat the record of 106% of GDP set in 1946, coming out of World War II. That record is on pace to shatter around 2029, just as Donald Trump’s presidency is ending, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates.  Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has identified a culprit for what might otherwise be a grim legacy. “I believe based on what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard is that we could balance the federal budget if the only dollars that went out of the Treasury went to individuals who were properly lawfully correctly eligible to receive them,” Miller said at a Trump administration anti-fraud event Tuesday.  Miller’s figures far overstate the federal government’s published estimates for misspent funds, and …

Pope’s AI warning latest feud between Trump Administration and Vatican

Pope’s AI warning latest feud between Trump Administration and Vatican

Published by Sam Flores

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum opened a new front Tuesday in the Trump administration’s public feud with the Vatican, dismissing Pope Leo XIV’s warning about artificial intelligence as the White House resists new guardrails on the rapidly evolving technology. “I didn’t know that tech editorializing was part of the role of being pope,” Burgum said in an interview on Fox Business, referring to Leo’s first encyclical, a 42,300-word document that called for stronger AI oversight and warned the technology could displace workers, deepen inequality and put lethal weapons decisions beyond human control. But Vice President JD Vance, the highest-ranking Catholic in the Trump administration and one of its most prominent links to Silicon Valley, in an interview with NBC praised the same message as “profound” and the kind of “moral leadership” the church should offer at the start of the AI age. The split response underscores the delicate politics facing President Donald Trump as he makes AI dominance and deregulation central to his second-term economic agenda while navigating an increasingly public feud with the first American …

Democratic AGs snub Vance’s White House anti-fraud roundtable

Democratic AGs snub Vance’s White House anti-fraud roundtable

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Vice President JD Vance holds a press conference to discuss “anti-fraud initiatives” in the Indian Treaty Room at the White House complex in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 13, 2026. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters Democratic state attorneys general declined an invitation to Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud initiatives roundtable at the White House on Tuesday, citing the fact that they were only invited on Friday, days after their Republican counterparts were asked to attend. “While we would appreciate the opportunity to engage in serious discussions, the invitation was provided with less than one business day’s notice with no agenda,” the 24 attorneys general wrote Vance in a letter dated Tuesday, after the Memorial Day holiday. “This short notice does not match the spirit of collaboration that has long defined our joint efforts with federal partners,” the letter said. “Accordingly, we respectfully decline to attend at this time.” Among the attorneys general who declined to attend is Keith Ellison of Minnesota, whose state has been the focus of Trump administration actions targeting alleged Medicaid fraud schemes …

Iran deal to reopen Strait of Hormuz ‘largely negotiated’

Iran deal to reopen Strait of Hormuz ‘largely negotiated’

Published by Sam Flores

President Donald Trump said Saturday that a peace deal with Iran that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz is “largely negotiated” and will be announced shortly, a development that could end a conflict that has choked global energy markets and pushed U.S. inflation to its highest level in years. Trump said in a social media post that he held calls from the Oval Office with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, all focused on finalizing terms with the Islamic Republic of Iran. “An Agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the various other Countries,” Trump said in the post. Details of the agreement are being discussed “and will be announced shortly,” he said, including reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for global energy trade. The deal under discussion includes a memorandum of understanding as a first phase, Iran’s foreign ministry said Saturday, before …

Iran to extend conflict ‘beyond the region’ if U.S. and Israel attack

Iran to extend conflict ‘beyond the region’ if U.S. and Israel attack

Published by Sam Flores

Motorists drive vehicles near a large political banner, depicting missiles being fired behind Iranian demonstrators in solidarity with the government, at Valiasr Square in Tehran on April 6, 2026. Atta Kenare | Afp | Getty Images Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard on Wednesday issued a strongly worded statement threatening to extend the Middle East conflict “beyond the region” if the U.S. and Israel resume attacks against Tehran. In the event the aggression against Iran is repeated, “the regional war that was promised will this time be extended beyond the region, and our crushing blows will bring you to ruin in places you cannot imagine,” The Guard said, according to a statement reported by the country’s semiofficial Mehr news agency. The comments come shortly after some mixed messages from the Trump administration on the prospect of a deal to resolve the Iran war. Speaking after the Republican Guard’s warning, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters he was in “no hurry” on Iran, adding: “I’d like to see few people killed, as opposed to a lot.” “We have …

Vance defends Trump stock-trading spree: ‘Come on, man’

Vance defends Trump stock-trading spree: ‘Come on, man’

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on May 19, 2026 in Washington, DC. Heather Diehl | Getty Images Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday defended President Donald Trump against a question about the heavy stock trading on display in the president’s latest financial disclosures, which revealed transactions totaling hundreds of millions of dollars over just three months. “The president doesn’t sit at the Oval Office on his computer on his, like, Robinhood account, buying and selling stocks,” Vance said in response to a reporter at a White House press briefing. “That’s absurd. He has independent wealth advisors who manage his money. He is a wealthy person. He has had success in business,” Vance said. “He’s not making these stock trades himself,” the vice president said, while accusing the reporter of suggesting otherwise. The filings, made public Thursday, showed more than 3,700 transactions in the first three months of 2026 alone. They include securities of companies Trump “has talked up at events” …

Trump DOJ fund might pay Jan. 6 defendants, Blanche says

Trump DOJ fund might pay Jan. 6 defendants, Blanche says

Published by Sam Flores

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday would not rule out allowing people convicted of assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot to seek payments from a new Department of Justice fund created to compensate people who claim they were politically targeted by the Biden administration. Pressed at a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing, Blanche said, “anybody in this country can apply” to a new $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and said a commission would decide the rules for who can receive compensation. “The commission will set the rules,” Blanche said when asked whether members of the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers or others convicted of attacking Capitol Police officers could receive payments. “That’s not for me to set. That’s for the commissioners.” Vice President JD Vance later Tuesday also declined to say that Jan. 6 defendants would be barred from receiving payments from the fund. “I’m not committing to giving anybody money or committing to giving no one money,” Vance said in a White House press briefing after the hearing. Vance said the administration …

Trump flexes endorsement power for Ken Paxton after ousting Cassidy

Trump flexes endorsement power for Ken Paxton after ousting Cassidy

Published by Sam Flores

GOP Texas Senate Candidate Ken Paxton speaks to supporters at a watch party on March 3, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. Paxton and incumbent John Cornyn will face off again in a run off. Sergio Flores | Getty Images President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s Republican Senate primary runoff Tuesday, throwing his weight behind a hard-line ally and dealing a major blow to incumbent Sen. John Cornyn one week before Election Day. The endorsement gives Paxton a major boost in one of the GOP’s most closely watched Senate primaries, a race that has become a test of Trump’s grip on Republican voters and the strength of the Senate GOP establishment. “Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate. He will tirelessly fight to continue the Great Growth of our Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he …

Trump turns to midterms, affordability after China as Iran continues

Trump turns to midterms, affordability after China as Iran continues

Published by Sam Flores

US President Donald Trump (R) gestures as he poses for photos with China’s President Xi Jinping during a visit to Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing on May 15, 2026. Evan Vucci | Afp | Getty Images President Donald Trump has returned stateside and so has his administration’s focus, even as the Iran war and the aftermath of his China trip remain front-burner issues. Trump and his top officials are fanning out across the U.S. this week for events aimed at touting his domestic achievements — a notable pivot after major foreign policy matters in Iran, China, Cuba, Venezuela and elsewhere have dominated headlines for months. Trump on Monday afternoon is set to unveil his latest effort to bring down healthcare costs, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth travels to a campaign event in Kentucky and Vice President JD Vance attends a manufacturing-focused event in Missouri. The apparent shift, days after Trump’s return from Beijing, comes ahead of the fast-approaching 2026 midterm elections, where Democrats hope to regain at least one chamber of Congress and fiercely push back …

Marco Rubio heads to the Vatican as 2028 presidential buzz ramps up

Marco Rubio heads to the Vatican as 2028 presidential buzz ramps up

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on May 5, 2026 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images As he heads to a critical meeting to smooth tensions with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is riding a hot streak. He may not have had a response handy when asked his DJ name, but Rubio was otherwise calm, cool and collected during a White House press briefing stand-in appearance on Tuesday that led to #Rubio2028 trending on X. It was a good day for Rubio. Despite President Donald Trump’s flagging approval rating and an ongoing war with Iran that has sent gas prices soaring, Rubio has emerged as a rising star and appears to be separating himself from another projected 2028 hopeful, Vice President JD Vance. “Rubio is happy as a pig in s— at this White House briefing. Careful [Vice President] @JDVance, Marco wants the top job and is coming for your …