Good evening. I’m British Chris, and you’re watching Raw America.
Donald Trump has now visited the dentist three times this year, and his repeated, unscheduled medical appointments are raising serious questions about his health. Trump told reporters he’s “not thinking even a little bit” about the financial pain everyday Americans are feeling from the Iran war. A U.S. citizen has now been arrested by ICE three separate times. And FBI Director Kash Patel melted down in front of the Senate Oversight Committee after a Democrat confronted him over his alleged excessive drinking and unexplained absences. Let’s dive in.
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Trump Prompts New Health Questions After Third ‘Dentist Visit’ of the Year
Donald Trump is headed to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on May 26th for what the White House is calling his annual dental and medical evaluation. Here’s the problem with that framing: this will be his third dental visit this year.
He went to a dentist in Palm Beach on May 2nd. That visit wasn’t on his public schedule. When reporters noticed and asked about it, the White House described it as “a scheduled dental appointment at his local dentist.” He had a nearly identical appointment in early January. The White House has its own dental suite. Presidents don’t need to leave the building for routine dental care.
On its own, that might be a curiosity. But Trump turns 80 next month. Last summer, the White House acknowledged he has chronic venous insufficiency, which explains the swollen ankles reporters kept noticing, but does not explain the persistent bruising on his hand.
He also had two “yearly” physicals within a six-month span last year, capped off with an MRI in October that he couldn’t explain. When reporters asked him about it on Air Force One, he said he had “no idea” what body part they were imaging, and then insisted the results were “absolutely perfect.”
Trump has also been boasting about how many times he’s taken the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, a test designed specifically to screen for dementia-linked cognitive decline. He said he’s taken it three times, which he frames as a point of pride. It may actually be the point.
Trump Admits He’s Not Thinking About Americans’ Finances ‘Even a Little Bit’
Standing on the White House South Lawn on Tuesday, Trump was asked how much Americans’ financial situations were factoring into his approach to the Iran negotiations.
His answer was simple and direct: “Not even a little bit.”
He said the only thing on his mind is preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and that everything else, including whether Americans can afford gas, is secondary.
Since the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran in late February, Iran has blockaded the Strait of Hormuz. About twenty percent of the world’s oil supply passes through that waterway every single day. As of Tuesday, regular unleaded is averaging $4.50 per gallon nationally. Diesel is at $5.64.
The ripple effects have pushed April inflation to 3.8 percent, the highest level in nearly three years, with energy costs alone accounting for more than forty percent of that monthly increase, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s enough to wipe out all of Americans’ wage gains this year.
When Trump was pressed again on whether he really wasn’t factoring in the economic impact, he argued “Every American understands.” But Americans paying five dollars for gas might have a different view.
ICE Arrests U.S. Citizen a Third Time — After He Sued Them
Leo Garcia Venegas is a U.S. citizen living in Silverhill, Alabama. He has been arrested by ICE three times now.
On the morning of May 2nd, an unmarked SUV blocked his driveway. Two ICE agents pulled him from the truck he was driving before he could show his REAL ID. According to his sworn court declaration, they tackled him to the ground and shackled both his arms and legs. He was holding his ID the entire time.
They never asked him a single question about his identity before using physical force. DHS is denying this third arrest happened at all, calling it merely a “routine vehicle stop.”
Venegas is the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against the Trump DHS. He was arrested twice last year at construction job sites, again while holding his REAL ID. A DHS official responded to his lawsuit by arguing in a declaration that REAL ID “can be unreliable to confirm U.S. citizenship.”
A ProPublica investigation last October found that ICE had detained at least 170 U.S. citizens. In some cases, agents were caught using excessive force and making arrests without probable cause. They have also been documented lying about who they detained and how those people were treated.
Leo Venegas alone has had three of these encounters. How many others are out there?
Kash Patel Agrees to Drinking ‘Audit’ in Explosive Hearing
FBI Director Kash Patel appeared before the Senate Oversight Committee on Tuesday, and things went sideways fast.
Democrat Chris Van Hollen raised reports that Patel has been drinking excessively on the job and has been unreachable during periods when his security detail couldn’t locate him. Patel exploded, denied the allegations and challenged Van Hollen to take an “audit” drinking test alongside him, right then and there.
He then accused Van Hollen of drinking margaritas with gang members, a reference to the senator’s trip to El Salvador to visit wrongly deported Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Van Hollen has said the margarita glasses that appeared on the table during that meeting were part of a staged setup by the Bukele government to embarrass him, and that neither he nor Abrego Garcia drank from the glasses.
Senator Patty Murray, the committee’s vice chair, put it plainly: “If you want to pass out liquor or pop bottles in a locker room, stick to podcasting.”
Meanwhile, Patel has reportedly ordered dozens of polygraph tests for FBI staff in an effort to find internal leakers.
Stories like these are the reason Raw America exists, and why we need your support more than ever. This summer, we’ll be increasing our Washington D.C. coverage to bring you more exclusive news directly from the Capitol. We’re bringing viewers more live interviews with newsmakers and insiders who have perspectives the billionaire-owned outlets will never air. Today, Raw America managing editor Carl Gibson interviewed Virginia political expert Carolyn Fiddler about the recent Virginia Supreme Court decision that invalidated last month’s statewide election in which voters approved a new redistricting map. You can watch the interview below or by clicking this link.
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Thanks for watching. I’m British Chris, with Raw America. We’ll see you tomorrow.
STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
South Carolina Legislature Rejects Attempted Redistricting. On Tuesday, lawmakers in South Carolina voted down an effort to redraw the state’s congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterms. The five Republicans who voted with Democrats to reject the effort expressed concerns that diluting GOP-held districts with more Democratic voters could backfire and lead to Republicans losing more races in the fall. Republicans had mulled changes to the state’s congressional district lines that would have eliminated the district held by longtime Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.).
Trump Doesn’t Rule Out Sending Federal Troops to the Polls. President Donald Trump on Tuesday expressed a willingness to send federal troops and/or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to polling places this fall. The president told reporters he would “do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections.” Other key administration officials like Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche have also defended the idea of sending ICE agents to voting precincts.
RNC Deploying ‘Election Integrity’ Teams to 17 States Ahead of Midterms. Republican National Committee chairman Joe Gruters announced in a Tuesday social media post that the RNC is preparing an “election integrity” campaign in 17 states ahead of the pivotal midterm elections. The RNC’s teams will include “poll watchers” and “election observers” who will likely challenge election outcomes in races where incumbent Republicans are at risk of losing their seats. Gruters did not immediately name the 17 states where the RNC was deploying resources.
Appeals Court Allows Trump to Avoid Paying E. Jean Carroll Settlement Until Supreme Court Weighs In. The 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has allowed President Trump to delay paying an $83.3 million settlement to writer E. Jean Carroll until the Supreme Court decided whether to take up the case. The court did, however, require Trump to post a $7.4 million bond to cover additional interest costs, at the request of Carroll’s attorney. A New York jury ruled in Carroll’s favor in 2024 to order then-candidate Trump to pay her the settlement after he was found civilly liable for defaming her. In 2023, Trump was found civilly liable for sexually abusing Carroll in 1996 in a New York City department store.
Trump Sued for Painting Bottom of Reflecting Pool. The Trump administration is now being taken to court over the president’s decision to repaint the bottom of the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial to a dark blue color. A nonprofit group called The Cultural Landscape Foundation accused the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service of changing the color of the Reflecting Pool without following “Congressional mandatory procedures.” The group noted that the Reflecting Pool is “listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the National Mall Historic District,” which requires any proposed changes to first go through Congress.
