Good evening. I’m British Chris, and this is Raw America.
Vice President JD Vance just admitted to Joe Rogan that the administration bungled the release of the Epstein files. The U.S. Mint just put Donald Trump’s face on a coin in direct violation of a law that’s been on the books since 1866. Trump’s pick to run America’s intelligence agencies can’t even bring himself to say Joe Biden won the 2020 election, and Pentagon officials are reportedly drawing up plans for a possible invasion of Cuba while the Iran war continues to drag on.
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Joe Rogan Hammers JD Vance Over Botched Epstein Files Release
Joe Rogan endorsed Donald Trump in 2024 and was recently seen grinning while holding the mic in front of a UFC fighter who insulted Michelle Obama at the White House, But on Wednesday he came directly at Vice President JD Vance with real questions about the Epstein files, and the vice president couldn’t dodge them.
Rogan reminded Vance of the February 2025 stunt when then-Attorney General Pam Bondi handed binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” to MAGA influencers on the White House driveway. But the actual contents of those binders had already been public for years.
Rogan directly asked Vance flat out what the point of that whole display was, and Vance didn’t have a good answer, saying, “I don’t know what the purpose of it was but I know that the effect of it was to make people mistrust the entire effort.”
Rogan didn’t let up, suggesting that maybe the people who didn’t want the files coming out had more influence than previously believed. Vance eventually gave up, and said, “If people wanna say we mishandled the Epstein release, guilty.” he added that the White House did mishandle its communications with the public.
This all traces back to Bondi claiming in 2025 that an Epstein client list was “sitting on my desk.” The DOJ later walked that comment back, saying no such list exists. Rogan even pointed out that some of the redacted names in the released files weren’t victims at all, but some of Epstein’s co-conspirators. Vance didn’t have a response to that either.
US Mint Puts Trump’s Face on a Coin in Defiance of 160-Year Old Federal Law
The Trump’s Treasury Department is rolling out its new commemorative coin for America’s 250th birthday, and, naturally, it has Donald Trump’s face stamped right on the front.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced it Wednesday, calling it a tribute to “the enduring legacy of liberty.” The coin shows Trump in a suit with “LIBERTY” across the top and the dates 1776 to 2026 below.
There’s just one problem. Federal law says you can’t put a living president’s face on U.S. currency. The Thayer Amendment, which was passed back in 1866, exists specifically to stop presidents from turning American money into their own personal monuments.
This isn’t the first time Trump’s put his name on something that wasn’t his to claim. He’s slapped his name on the Kennedy Center, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and a whole class of Navy battleships. Bessent also announced in March that Trump’s signature will now appear on new paper currency as well, even though that job has always belonged to the treasurer and the treasury secretary, not the president.
The Treasury Department has yet to explain why the finished coin looks different from the design the Commission of Fine Arts originally approved. The initial design showed Trump leaning forward with his fists on a desk.
Trump’s Pick for Intel Chief Confronted for Refusing to Admit Biden Won 2020 Election
On Wednesday, Jay Clayton, the Manhattan federal prosecutor Trump wants to install as director of national intelligence, was grilled by senators during his confirmation hearing. In several testy exchanges, Democrats asked him a question that should be easy: who won the 2020 election?
Clayton refused to say it. Over and over, he repeated only that “Biden was certified as the president of the United States.” That’s not the same thing as saying Biden won, and everyone in the hearing room knew it.
Senator Angus King of Maine called him out directly, reminding him: “One of your qualifications is you told us you’re going to tell the truth to power and you won’t even answer a simple question to tell the truth to power.”
Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia also pressed him. Clayton clammed up and said, “I’m not going to engage in the theater.”
If confirmed, Clayton would oversee the entire intelligence community. Trump has already redirected the office Clayton is seeking toward investigating his own 2020 loss. Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte has no intelligence background at all and was told by Trump to look into “rigged” elections. The intelligence community is expected to declassify material as soon as this week that Trump is almost certainly to use in a primetime address pushing the same debunked claims of election fraud he’s made more than a hundred times.
Clayton’s also on record spreading conspiracy theories about mail voting in California. When senators asked him about it, he refused to walk any of it back. That alone says a lot.
Pentagon Reportedly Eyeing Cuba Invasion as Iran War Drags On
While Trump continues to drag the U.S. deeper into the Iran war, Pentagon officials are reportedly looking into a potential war with Cuba.
CBS News is reporting that the Pentagon has gamed out scenarios for a Cuban invasion, including an air assault led by the Army’s 101st Airborne Division. Officials are emphasizing that no official decision has been made, but the fact that these briefings are even happening at all is revealing.
Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio says the U.S. still prefers diplomacy, but that process has stalled while the U.S. keeps squeezing Cuba financially, prompting widespread blackouts and shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Behind the scenes, there’s also friction between Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the Iran war, with Trump reportedly upset that an early diplomatic solution got rejected.
Tensions with Cuba have been escalating since the Trump administration indicted 95-year-old former Cuban leader Raul Castro, and the CIA’s visit to Havana that included introducing Cuban officials to the operator who helped capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January. The fire has been burning hotter for a year and a half, and it’s not slowing down.
Fight Back Against the Oligarch Takeover of the Media
The stories you just read exist because readers like you fund them, not billionaires. The oligarchs are quickly snapping up American media with new cable networks and newspapers being absorbed every day. Every newsroom they gobble up is one less news source reporting on Trump’s corruption or a Republican lawmaker stonewalling their constituents. The single best way to fight back is to fund the independent media they can’t buy. If you’ve been reading Raw America on a free subscription, upgrade to a paying membership right now. Subscribe or upgrade today.
Here are a few stories that may have slipped through the cracks:
JD Vance’s Secret Service Detail ‘Fed Up’ with Last-Minute Personal and Family Travel. Several members of Vice President JD Vance’s Secret Service detail are anonymously confiding to MS NOW that they are “fed up” with having to accommodate last-minute, hastily arranged family vacations. One example sources pointed to was Vance asking agents to accompany his elementary school-aged son and a helicopter crew to attend a golf lesson. Some agents considered such requests to be an inappropriate and unprecedented use of government resources.
Corporations Get $110 Billion in Tariff Refunds Following Supreme Court Ruling. Business around the globe have been reimbursed to the tune of $110 billion after the Supreme Court ruled this spring that President Donald Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs issued in April 2025 were unconstitutional. Many ordinary consumers expressed dismay at the refunds, pointing out that these same companies getting massive refunds already made up for the cost of the tariffs by hiking prices on imported goods, passing the cost onto buyers.
Trump Administration Considers Walling Off Reflecting Pool Until 2027. The Independent is reporting that the chain link fence currently surrounding the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool may remain in place through the remainder of 2026. The outlet reported that the $37,263 contract for the fence, which was awarded to National Construction Rentals Inc., runs through January 8, 2027. The Trump administration recently drained the pool again, and many observers noted that the alleged 350-foot gash Trump said “vandals” carved down the middle of the pool’s lining was nonexistent. However, tire tracks from Trump’s convoy were still clearly visible when the president conducted his own “inspection” of the pool after the bottom was painted dark blue this spring.
