All posts tagged: Trump administration

New York Times Report Details Shock and Turmoil Inside Paul Weiss After Trump Capitulation

New York Times Report Details Shock and Turmoil Inside Paul Weiss After Trump Capitulation

Published by Sam Flores

One of the major themes since Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection has been how established institutions have acquiesced to demands, including ABC’s brief silencing of Jimmy Kimmel, Paramount’s 60 Minutes settlement, and Meta’s $25 million account suspension payout, not to mention the ongoing attacks on funding of academic institutions. In early 2025, legal firm Paul Weiss,which built its reputation on a mix of elite corporate litigation and defense of civil liberties, was targeted by the newly installed Trump administration for engaging in lawsuits against the government. As opposed to fighting that arguably illegal attack in court, Paul Weiss scrambled to make a deal with Trump that roiled the entire legal community. According to the New York Times on Sunday, that drive to capitulate lays bare a firm was caught between its progressive ideals and the business demand for corporate practice. While the firm has fought against the practice of separating migrant children from their parents, it also served as outside counsel for Apollo Global Management when co-founder Leon Black faced scrutiny for his ties to Jeffrey …

Andrew Tate Was the Toast of Trumpworld. Has That Changed?

Andrew Tate Was the Toast of Trumpworld. Has That Changed?

Published by Sam Flores

Despite the recent fanfare in Trump’s DC and the alleged intervention in the travel ban, the administration seems content to let the extradition process unfold as usual. “There’s no role for us to play at this moment,” Marco Rubio, who holds final say over the process as secretary of state, told reporters last week, “or maybe ever in that regard. But I’m not going to opine on [that].” The following day, Karoline Leavitt offered a flat “no” in the White House press briefing room when asked whether the administration plans to intervene in the extradition. Did the Tate brothers take a wrong turn in Trumpworld? Is it simply too much to expect that the US would make a rare exception to its long-standing extradition treaty with the UK? Or are the stars of the manosphere, once considered a vital pathway to the young, male electorate of 2024, no longer influential enough to go to bat for? Over two interviews with Vanity Fair, Joseph McBride, a longtime lawyer for the brothers, said that any hypothetical intervention …

American Alliance of Museums Slams Trump Report on the Smithsonian

American Alliance of Museums Slams Trump Report on the Smithsonian

Published by Jenni Sidey

The White House has continued to escalate its assault on the Smithsonian Institution this week, ordering signage outside the National Museum of American History to flag what an executive order calls “inaccurate information” presented in its exhibits. A prominent industry group, the American Alliance of Museums, is finally hitting back. Earlier this month, the AAM released a statement condemning the Trump administration‘s attacks on the Smithsonian. In a scathing rebuke, the group asserted that the Smithsonian “reflects the highest standards of scholarship, stewardship, and public service.” Related Articles The AAM’s statement continues, “Efforts to politicize how museums present history, art, science, culture, and the natural world—and personal attacks on the museum professionals who carry out that work—threaten the integrity and independence of museums across the country. If scholarship at our nation’s leading museum system can become subject to political influence, no museum is beyond reach. The precedent would jeopardize the independence of 22,000 museums of every size and discipline across the country.” On Tuesday, the equivalent group in the UK, the Museums Association, republished the …

Who is Matt Taylor, the Artist Helping Trump Reshape Washington D.C.?

Who is Matt Taylor, the Artist Helping Trump Reshape Washington D.C.?

Published by Jenni Sidey

Who is Matthew Taylor, a senior adviser to the National Endowment for the Humanities and a key figure in the Trump Administration‘s efforts to reshape the nation’s capital in the president’s image? Well, the New York Times‘s Zachary Small dug into the little-known, but important figure, and found that Taylor has become a kind of de facto culture czar in the White House. Taylor consulted on the July 4 report that accused the National Museum of American History of “ideological capture”; is overseeing Trump’s maligned National Garden of American Heroes; and continues to serve as a key appointee on the Commission of Fine Arts, whose commissioners Trump fired en masse last year before appointing all seven members himself in January. The Commission has been delegated with reviewing and approving plans for many government projects, including the triumphal arch and the new White House ballroom. Related Articles Taylor, Small reports, is intriguing, complex character. In 2020, he directed a well-received Marcel Duchamp documentary, Art of the Possible. He also edited a key attack ad against John …

‘Forced labour’ rationale for Trump tariffs met with bewilderment

‘Forced labour’ rationale for Trump tariffs met with bewilderment

Published by Sam Flores

Donald Trump has once again inspired anger and confusion in US allies and trading partners as he imposed a wave of tariffs on more than 80 countries, replacing an expiring global duty introduced earlier this year. The new measures effectively replace blanket 10% tariffs that Trump imposed in February. The US supreme court ruled many of those were illegal. The new levies come in at between 10% and 12.5% on countries including the UK, Mexico, Canada, Australia, India, China and the 27 countries that make up the EU. Related: What to know about Trump’s new tariffs on more than 80 countries They are imposed under section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974, and the Trump administration has said the new measures are due to the dozens of countries failing to enforce bans on goods produced by forced labour. The imposition of the new tariffs led to Asian stock markets taking a hammering overnight. The Japanese Nikkei 225 fell 3.1%, while the Chinese SSE Composite dropped 1.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was the …

Congress Introduces Bill to Protect Artworks in Government Buildings

Congress Introduces Bill to Protect Artworks in Government Buildings

Published by Jenni Sidey

On July 14, two Congressional representatives—Dina Titus (D-Nevada) and Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) proposed a bill that would protect public artworks commissioned by the U.S. government. The PRESERVE Act (“Protecting Resources and Ensuring Stewardship of Enduring Records of Visual Expression Act”) would require the General Services Administration, which manages federal agencies, to identify any artworks contained within government buildings deemed “surplus property” and form a committee to oversee the future of said artworks. Related Articles “Publicly commissioned art should never become collateral damage when federal buildings are sold or otherwise disposed of” said Titus, a co-sponsor of the bill, in a statement. “It is critical that we establish a process to protect these national treasures and ensure the public has full access to the 26,000 works of art exhibited in museums and federal buildings around the country, no matter who sits in the Oval Office. Art commissioned by the federal government is a vital part of our national heritage and deserves to be preserved for future generations.” While the language of the PRESERVE Act does not …

TMZ DC Feels Right at Home in Trump’s Washington

TMZ DC Feels Right at Home in Trump’s Washington

Published by Sam Flores

What does Texas congressman Brandon Gill think of one of the UFC fighters at the White House calling Michelle Obama a man? (“Hilarious.”) Does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez think we’ll sooner have a gay or female president? (“We don’t know if we’ve already had a gay president.”) And what does Ted Cruz have to say about a slush fund for January 6 rioters? (“Were you worried at all when Joe Biden was weaponizing the Department of Justice?”) Or about the tabloid Mad Libs romance unfolding between Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry? (“There’s an old phrase of ‘outkicking your coverage.’”) These are the questions that TMZ DC has been asking since the Hollywood outlet set up an outpost in the nation’s capital this year. The announcement ignited no shortage of anticipation about a potential clash between celebrity tabloid tactics and a comparatively staid political press corps, but in a Washington ruled by a reality TV character, the two men wielding the cameras have quickly made themselves at home. Cotton interviews Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett soon after decamping to Capitol …

Iran warns of Hormuz ‘red line,’ retaliation to Trump’s strike threats

Iran warns of Hormuz ‘red line,’ retaliation to Trump’s strike threats

Published by Sam Flores

Pro-government supporters stand next to a banner depicting a portrait of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a nightly rally in Tehran, Iran, on July 12, 2026. Morteza Nikoubazl | Nurphoto | Getty Images Iran warned Thursday that it would “crush” key targets in the Middle East if U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to target the country’s infrastructure in the coming days are carried out. Trump said in a Tuesday evening interview with Fox News that U.S. forces would target key Iranian infrastructure next week if a diplomatic breakthrough is not achieved. “Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants,” he said. “Next week comes the bridges. We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.” In a statement published on Telegram on Thursday morning, a spokesperson for Iran’s top military command said that if Trump’s threats were implemented “everything that is still intact … that is, all the infrastructure …

Whistleblowers Accuse Kennedy Center of Awarding No-Bid Contracts

Whistleblowers Accuse Kennedy Center of Awarding No-Bid Contracts

Published by Jenni Sidey

Last week, US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), the ranking member of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, detailed allegations that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts “mismanaged federally appropriated funds,” rushed renovation work, and skirted standard government contracting procedures. The allegations, laid out in a letter on July 9 from Whitehouse to Matt Floca, the executive director of the center, were drawn from whistleblower disclosures submitted to Whitehouse by the Government Accountability Projects. The disclosures, per Whitehouse’s letter, came from firsthand accounts of multiple former project managers at the Kennedy Center, annd were supported with documents and photographs. According to the disclosure, beginning in February 2025, after President Trump reconstituted the Center’s Board of Trustees and installed himself as chairman, Center management worked in unusually close consultation with the White House to rush a series of renovations to meet deadlines tied to the President’s desire to host events at the Center in December 2025, including the ceremony at which President Trump received the so-called “FIFA World Peace Prize.” In the process, …

Trump says Iran called to make a deal after U.S. strikes

Trump says Iran called to make a deal after U.S. strikes

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press aboard the new Air Force One on July 8, 2026. Win Mcnamee | Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday evening that he does not know whether Washington and Iran are returning to a full-fledged war, but told reporters that Iran “badly” wants to make a deal to cease escalating hostilities in the Middle East. Trump flew back to Washington, D.C., via the U.K. on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One as he departed the U.K.’s Mildenhall Air Force Base, the president said American forces had “just hit [Iran] very hard.” “I say we hit them 20 to 1 – every time they hit us, we’re going to hit them 20, and we did it last night,” he said. “They did a little something today, but it was really retribution for last night … when they hit, we hit back much harder.” When asked whether the U.S. and Iran are returning to a full-scale military conflict, Trump responded: “I don’t know,” …