Good evening. I’m British Chris, and this is Raw America.
The Trump administration is reportedly planning to put the president’s face on a new denomination of currency. Bari Weiss is officially blowing up 60 Minutes, firing veteran journalists and handing the keys to an outsider with no broadcast experience. Dell just landed a massive Pentagon contract after its CEO pledged billions to Trump’s pet project. And the Justice Department is now suing four Democratic-led states for refusing to give ICE agents special license plates.
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Trump Plans to Put His Face on New $250 Bill
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing is reportedly laying the groundwork to print a commemorative $250 bill with Donald Trump’s face on it.
A Treasury Department spokesperson confirmed this is in the works, saying the agency is conducting “appropriate planning and due diligence” in response to what they’re calling “active legislation.”
Here’s the problem. There’s already a law that prohibits putting the image of a living person on U.S. currency. For that to change, Congress would have to pass an explicit exemption. The legislation being cited, introduced by South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson, hasn’t gone anywhere. There’s no evidence it’s going to pass anytime soon.
And here’s the detail that really tells you everything you need to know about the moment we’re living in: Trump’s signature would appear on the bill. Treasury Secretary Bessent is apparently planning to “recognize the historic achievements of our great country and President Trump” by adding the president’s signature to the currency.
They’re also insisting no tax dollars are being spent, since the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is self-sustaining. That’s a convenient talking point. But the underlying question is more about what it means when the machinery of the federal government starts treating a sitting president like Kim Jong-Un instead of a public servant.
Bari Weiss Announces Total Dismantling of 60 Minutes
CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss is blowing up 60 Minutes.
Weiss, who was appointed to run CBS News by tech heir David Ellison and who has zero prior television experience, is officially firing the show’s longtime executive producer, Tanya Simon, who had been with 60 Minutes for more than three decades.
Her replacement is tech journalist Nick Bilton, a documentary filmmaker who has never worked a single day in traditional broadcast news.
That’s not all. CBS also fired Cecilia Vega, the show’s first Latina correspondent. And it fired veteran reporter Sharyn Alfonsi, whose segment on torture in a notorious El Salvador prisons was pulled off the air by Weiss last year before it ultimately leaked anyway.
60 Minutes is the most-watched news program in the country. Its ratings actually went up nine percent this season. There was no performance problem. There was no editorial crisis that required this level of intervention.
What there was, was Sharyn Alfonsi, who told the New York Times this week that CBS is no longer separating editorial independence from corporate interests. And now she’s been fired.
Weiss has already made CBS News a more Trump-friendly operation. She personally books guests. She pulled a segment critical of ICE. She named Tony Dokoupil as primetime anchor, who is known for a combative interview with a Black author over a book about race.
The people who built the most vaunted TV news institution are getting the boot. What replaces them will almost certainly be an inferior product.
Dell Gets $9.7 Billion Reward for Trump Donation
The Pentagon announced this week that it’s awarding a five-year, $9.7 billion software contract to Dell Technologies.
The deal covers Microsoft 365 licenses, cloud subscriptions, and enterprise technology services for the military. Defense officials said Dell won through a “competitive process” and that the contract will save the Pentagon roughly $422 million a year.
Let’s all remember that last year, Dell CEO Michael Dell pledged $6.25 billion to fund what are being called “Trump accounts,” which are investment accounts for children that Trump has made a signature domestic policy initiative. Shortly after that pledge, Trump told attendees at a White House Mother’s Day event to “go out and buy a Dell.” Michael Dell joined Trump’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. And now his company has a massive new contract.
Defense Department officials insist the decision was made on merit. Maybe. But we’ve seen this playbook before. Company donates to Trump’s priorities. Trump publicly praises the company. Company gets a federal contract worth billions. Everyone insists it’s a coincidence. We all recognize the pattern. And taxpayers pay the price.
DOJ Sues Democratic States Over ICE Undercover Plates
Trump’s Justice Department filed lawsuits Thursday against four states: Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington. The issue? All four states refused to issue undercover license plates to ICE agents.
The DOJ argues the states are discriminating against federal law enforcement, since they’ve historically provided undercover plates to other agencies conducting covert operations. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said officers “risk their lives every day” and must be able to do their jobs.
But those states’ Democratic leaders aren’t buying it.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said the state supports legitimate criminal investigations, but that ICE’s tactics are “unconstitutional.” She added that Massachusetts won’t use state resources to help ICE “operate in secret, and without accountability.”
Maine’s attorney general had already sent a letter defending his state’s policy. Oregon is holding off on issuing any new undercover plates to federal agencies for now.
Healey is right: ICE has become notorious for aggressive tactics, including arrests in sensitive locations like churches, refusing to provide information on who they’re detaining and operating in ways that have made communities — including legal immigrants and U.S. citizens — afraid to cooperate with law enforcement.
Giving ICE undercover plates doesn’t just help them do their jobs. It just makes it harder for people to know whether the unmarked car following them is legitimate. When states are asking for basic accountability, Trump is responding by suing them.
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I’m British Chris, with Raw America. Thanks for watching. We’ll see you tomorrow.
STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
Trump Spending Millions in Tax Dollars to Cover Horse Statues in Gold Leaf. President Donald Trump has allocated $5 million toward covering four statues of horses on roads adjacent to the National Mall in 23.75 karat gold leaf as part of the upcoming America 250 celebrations. The four bronze horse statues are known as the Arts of War and the Arts of Peace, and a Maryland studio is handling their makeover thanks to a no-bid contract awarded by the National Park Service. The Department of the Interior is spending more than $95 million on beautification projects around Washington D.C., including $13 million on repainting the bottom of the Reflecting Pool to a dark blue shade.
Trump’s D.C. Projects Funded by National Park Visitors’ Fees. At least $67 million of the more than $95 million President Trump is spending on sprucing up Washington D.C. ahead of 4th of July celebrations has come from fees tourists paid to visit national parks. The New York Times reported that of the roughly $75 million in visitors’ fees parks collected last year, more than 90 percent of that was spent on D.C. based projects. Under previous administrations, that figure was typically around 5 percent or less.
Leading GOP Senate Candidate’s Chief of Staff Caught on Chat with White Nationalists. Kip Talley, who is chief of staff to Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.), was recently exposed as a member of a group chat featuring prominent white nationalists like Richard Spencer and Nick Fuentes. In one chat session, Talley boasted about using his role in Congress to get a Holocaust denier freed from prison. Collins — who is currently the front-runner for Georgia’s Republican U.S. Senate nomination — has not yet publicly responded to the allegations.
Far-Right Billionaire Trump Donor Flees to Argentina. Palantir and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel — who is also a prominent donor to President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance — recently announced he was leaving his homes in Los Angeles and Miami to relocate to Argentina. According to the New York Times, the main driver behind Thiel’s decision to move to South America is his concern about the direction of the United States. He’s also had meetings with far-right Argentinian President Javier Milei, who presented centabillionaire Elon Musk with a chainsaw at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference.
Iran Betting on Trump to Be First to Fold. Despite President Trump saying publicly that Iran is “negotiating on fumes” and desperate to make a deal with the U.S., the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has continued to be a thorn in the side of the U.S. military. Iranian leaders are pushing for a release of $12 billion in frozen funds as a precondition for any deal to end the war, while more hardline Iranian officials are balking at the very idea of peace talks with the United States. Trump is pushing for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — which was open and freely accessible prior to American and Israeli strikes on February 28 — and for Iran to give up its approximately 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, which it only developed after Trump destroyed former President Barack Obama’s previous deal with the Iranian regime.
