Author: Mandy Matthews

President Trump’s first year of a second term has kept him front and center, unwilling to back away from confrontations and quick to use White House appearances to go after critics, shaping the political fight with a direct, unapologetic style. A year in his second term in office has done little to cool President Trump’s yen for settling scores with opponents, as he used a White House news conference Tuesday to lash his opponents left a. That moment summed up a pattern: he takes the podium, sets the agenda, and rallies his base by calling out adversaries by name, refusing…

President Trump has endorsed 19 of the 22 Senate Republicans running for reelection in 2026, while withholding support from three incumbents who have opposed him, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. The map for 2026 already looks different because of where endorsements landed. Backing 19 of 22 incumbents sends a clear signal about who counts in the current GOP coalition. That pattern matters for headlines and for donor checks alike. Endorsements are shorthand in politics: they guide activists, boost fundraising, and shape primary fields. From a Republican perspective, rewarding loyalty makes strategic sense when the goal is to build a…

President Trump has announced he will sign an executive order to guarantee a dedicated four-hour broadcast window for the Army-Navy game, framing it as a defense of tradition against commercial pressures in college football. On Saturday, Trump posted his intent on social media to lock in an exclusive broadcast slot for the Army-Navy rivalry, saying he will act to protect the game’s place on the second Saturday in December. The announcement follows his presence at the 126th Army-Navy game on Dec. 13, 2025, at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, where Navy edged out Army 17-16 and claimed the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.…

A U.S. military action in Syria removed an al Qaeda-linked operative tied to a December ambush that killed two American service members and a civilian interpreter, officials said. U.S. forces say they killed a terrorist operative in Syria who was linked to al Qaeda and directly connected to an ambush last December that took the lives of two American service members and a civilian interpreter. The announcement came from Pentagon officials, who described the action as part of ongoing counterterrorism efforts in the region. Details on the specific individual and the exact timing of the operation were limited in the…

President Trump publicly urged “new leadership” in Iran after a sharp exchange with Iran’s Supreme Leader, who directly blamed Mr. Trump in a social media tirade; this piece examines the clash, the political signal it sends, and the likely reactions from conservative circles and the Iranian regime. President Trump’s call for “new leadership” in Iran landed in the middle of a tense back-and-forth with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who took to social media to single out Mr. Trump personally. The exchange is more than talk; it’s a public challenge to a regime long accused of repressing its own people and exporting…

On Thursday, the Senate passed a trio of funding bills with a strong bipartisan vote of 82-15, sending the package to President Donald Trump for his signature. The House had already approved this set of bills last week, and the package covers appropriations for key agencies like the Department of Justice, Department of Energy, Department of Commerce, Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, and several significant science agencies. That momentum matters because the Jan. 30 deadline isn’t a political talking point, it’s a hard cutoff that affects paychecks and services across the country. So far, six of the…

President Trump set a hard deadline for the credit card industry: comply with a 10% interest cap by Jan. 20, and the coming days will reveal whether banks bow to pressure, fight back, or find a middle ground. President Trump a week ago told the credit card industry it had until Jan. 20 to comply with his demand for a 10% cap on interest rates. That message landed like a buzzer in a crowded room and put lenders, regulators, and politicians on notice. With the deadline looming, the tone has shifted from routine negotiation to urgent public scrutiny. From a…

Karl-Olov Arnstberg’s The Sweden Syndrome frames a blunt diagnosis: a mix of leftist policy assumptions and unchecked migration can hollow out a nation’s civic fabric and public order. The book argues that when political elites prioritize ideology over social cohesion, institutions fray and everyday life changes in ways that are hard to reverse. That warning lands as a call to rethink how culture, law, and immigration interact in modern democracies. Arnstberg lays out a clear line from abstract policy choices to concrete consequences on the streets. He points to decisions that ignore assimilation, treat cultural differences as beyond debate, and…

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth announced a broad push to make the United States the unquestioned leader in artificial intelligence, drones, and space technologies, unveiling an acceleration plan alongside SpaceX CEO Elon Musk at the company’s Brownsville, Texas facility. Pete Hegseth stepped into a spotlighted moment on Monday with a blunt message: the Defense Department needs an attitude overhaul to keep pace with modern threats and opportunities. Joined by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk at the company’s facility in Brownsville, Texas, Hegseth introduced an AI acceleration strategy and a push to revamp the Defense Department by engaging tech startups and cutting through…

Robert McBride, the second-ranking prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, was abruptly fired after declining to assist in the Justice Department’s prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey, a move tied to a politically fraught case that was dismissed last November and is now the subject of an appeal. McBride had only been in the role of first assistant U.S. Attorney for a few months when he was terminated for refusing to join the prosecution effort, according to a source familiar with the matter as reported by CBS News. That decision landed in the middle of a controversy over…