Good evening, and welcome to Raw America. I’m British Chris.
Senate Republicans are watching their majority “melt down” over Trump’s controversial slush fund for January 6 rioters. A sweetheart deal signed by Trump’s acting attorney general could save the president more than $600 million in taxes. A federal judge has thrown out felony charges against ICE protesters. And Trump bragged to Fox News that he’s “only” lost 13 American service members in his war on Iran, saying it gives him a “kick.”
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Senate Republican Says ‘Majority Is Melting Down’ After ‘Hostile’ Meeting with Todd Blanche
Senate Republicans has a closed-door meeting with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche today, and by all accounts, it did not go well.
The meeting lasted nearly two hours. As many as 25 GOP senators reportedly spoke out against the taxpayer-funded pot of money tucked into Trump’s big reconciliation bill that would funnel big payouts to January 6 rioters. The meeting was described as “hostile.” One GOP senator told Punchbowl News: “Our majority is melting down before our eyes.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune then walked into the room and told his colleagues the Senate would be going home until June, leaving the entire reconciliation bill unfinished. Not just the slush fund. The whole package — including the ICE funding and the Trump policy priorities packed into it — is now on hold until further notice.
Many Republican senators, per reporting from inside that meeting, believe Trump brought this on himself. The view is that his aggressive purging of Republicans he considers insufficiently loyal has created what insiders are calling “free agents” who no longer feel political pressure to fall in line.
The House is expected to follow suit and recess without finishing its work either. This is a massive self-inflicted wound for a party that controls both chambers and the White House.
Trump’s Acting AG Allows Him to Avoid $600 Million in Taxes
While the Senate was melting down over one form of self-dealing, another was quietly unfolding at the Justice Department.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the same man Republicans were berating in that closed-door meeting, signed a document this week giving Donald Trump, his two eldest sons and the Trump Organization broad immunity from potential tax disputes with the federal government.
According to reporting from Forbes, Trump had an estimated $1.4 billion in earnings in 2025, largely from his crypto ventures. The math on what he’d owe the IRS, under normal circumstances, adds up to more than $600 million.
And now his own Justice Department has given him a pass.
His response was essentially to wave it off and restructure the arrangement so the government doesn’t pay Trump directly. Instead, Trump just gets to pay less to the government. When asked about all of this, the White House referred reporters to the Trump Organization.
The Trump Organization was convicted of tax fraud in 2022. That scheme involved a relatively small amount of money. This one involves more than half a billion dollars.
Felony Charges Dropped for ICE Protesters in Chicago
A federal judge in Chicago this week threw out the top charge against the remaining defendants in the so-called “Broadview Six” case.
The case stems from a September 2026 protest outside a detention facility in Broadview, Illinois, where activists surrounded an ICE vehicle. Prosecutors alleged the group banged on the vehicle, crowded around it, and impeded its movement.
The Justice Department hit six of them with felony conspiracy charges that carried up to six years in prison. Defense attorneys argued from the start that the prosecution was politically motivated, brought under pressure from the Trump administration as payback against people protesting his policies.
The felony count is gone, though there are still misdemeanor charges for impeding a federal officer, each carrying a maximum of one year. If this goes to trial on misdemeanor charges, it would be one of the most unusual federal cases in the history of Chicago’s federal courthouse in recent memory.
Trump Brags About ‘Only’ Losing 13 Americans in His Iran War
Donald Trump stood on a tarmac today and told Fox News that he gets a “kick” out of people criticizing his war on Iran over the 13 U.S. service members who have died in it.
He then compared himself favorably to predecessors he confused with each other, bringing up the 13 service members who died during the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan at Kabul’s airport and attributing that to Obama. It was Biden who oversaw the Afghanistan withdrawal. This isn’t the first time Trump has made this mix-up. Last week, returning from his China visit, he blamed Biden for the Iran nuclear deal, which was actually an Obama-era agreement from 2015.
The Iran war has also killed more than 3,000 Iranians, led Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes, and sent gas prices surging. Fears of a full-blown global energy crisis are now a regular feature of international economic reporting.
Trump’s response to all of it is to stand on a tarmac and say he gets a kick out of 13 American families getting a knock on their door with the worst news of their lives.
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Thanks for watching. I’m British Chris, with Raw America. We’ll see you tomorrow.
STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
Trump Approval Rating Hits New Record Low — Again. The latest monthly survey from polling firm American Research Group (ARG) shows that President Donald Trump’s approval rating has now plummeted to just 31 percent. This marks a year-over-year decline of 10 percentage points compared to May of 2025. The president’s approval rating has been trending steadily downward since he launched his war against Iran in February. ARG noted that in May of 2018 — when Republicans went on to lose 40 seats in the House of Representatives — Trump’s approval rating was at 37 percent, making the GOP on track to potentially lose even more seats in November.
Karl Rove Warns Trump’s Low Approval Rating Could Sink Republicans in Midterms. In a Thursday op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, longtime Republican operative Karl Rove, who was a top advisor to former President George W. Bush, stressed that President Trump’s unpopularity would make it harder for Republicans to keep their majorities in Congress this November. Rove cited data from pollster Nate Silver showing Democrats leading by a margin of 6.6 points on the generic ballot, while the New York Times/Siena College poll had Democrats up by 11 points. Rove suggested the White House fix its messaging strategy on the Iran war and stop dismissing Americans’ concerns over high gas prices.
GOP Congressman Hints He May Ask for Cut of $1.8 Billion Slush Fund. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) came out in support of the Trump Department of Justice’s proposed $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, and also didn’t rule out potentially seeking a cut of it for himself. Clyde — who owns a gun store — was subject to $940,000 in civil asset forfeiture in 2013 by the IRS during the Barack Obama administration. While he was refunded most of it, Clyde suggested he may try to recoup roughly $100,000 in legal fees.
Trump Declines to Sign AI-Related Executive Order Over Concerns About Regulation. The president on Thursday abruptly decided against signing a new executive order allowing artificial intelligence companies to voluntarily allow the government to review models for 90 days before public release. The White House stated that it was concerned the order would impede AI companies from being able to compete with China.
Greenland Residents Protest in Front of New U.S. Consulate in Capital City. Hundreds of Greenland residents demonstrated in front of the newly opened U.S. consulate building in the island’s capital city of Nuuk on Thursday. The protests erupted following comments by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R), who Trump named as the U.S. Special Envoy to Greenland, saying it was time for the U.S. “to put its footprint back” on the island. Greenland’s prime minister has promised to boycott the opening ceremony.
