February 25, 2026 at 10:30 PM EST
'We will not kneel': Republican launches defiant challenge to Trump

Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist who advised President George W. Bush and the 2008 presidential campaign of Arizona Sen. John McCain, accused America's rich and powerful of "kneeling" to President Donald Trump -- and urged defiance. "We recognize that the world's richest people of the most powerful corporations, the big media companies, the big tech companies, the big banks have made a decision for the privilege of resting their head on a Mar-a-Lago pillow," Schmidt said in a Substack posted on Wednesday. "They are satisfied to live on their knees, but we are not."

February 25, 2026 at 8:55 PM EST
Nobel laureate says Trump's economy is not the 'envy' of Europe

President Donald Trump and Republicans enjoy bashing the European economy as a foil to America's awesome growth, but Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman says the party really doesn't have much to brag about. "When comparing the US and the EU, uncritical use of real GDP numbers can lead to the conclusion that Europe is getting poorer relative to America. But it isn't," said Krugman on his substack.

February 25, 2026 at 7:46 PM EST
Trump may refuse to fire people for an unexpected reason: analysis

President Donald Trump wants to fire controversial cabinet members like Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, but a new report reveals fears that it will be "too disruptive" unless he gets the timing just right. "From Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's relationship with Corey Lewandowski to FBI Director Kash Patel's locker-room celebration with the US men's hockey team to a probe of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer's conduct in office, multiple Trump advisers are facing bad headlines that would have sunk their counterparts under other presidents," report Semafor's Burgess Everett and Shelby Talcott.

February 25, 2026 at 7:13 PM EST
Respected GOP strategist says Trump set himself up for 'shellacking'

Veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove knows how to win elections. He says he also knows what losing them looks like, and he says Trump is on his way to losing big. Strangely, the Republican Party's master of partisan politics claims Trump is being too partisan, as indicated by the direction he took at his State of The Union speech.

February 25, 2026 at 6:42 PM EST
Trump's manufacturing recovery is a work of fiction: analysis

President Donald Trump repeatedly claims that manufacturing jobs have boomed during his second term, but a recent report reveals the construction spike is not doing what most people want -- creating large numbers of jobs. "Industry data show that much of the recent surge in construction jobs is tied to data centers and the power infrastructure that supports them, not a wave of new factories backed by fresh investment pledges Trump has secured," wrote Politico's Megan Messerly and Sam Sutton. "That matters because factories tend to employ far more people than data centers, one of the main reasons communities have been more receptive to the former setting up shop in their towns."

February 25, 2026 at 6:00 PM EST
'Trump has said one thing so far that is true'

President Donald Trump promised during his Tuesday State of the Union message to stop members of Congress from profiting from insider trading -- and, in a rare moment, received bipartisan support. During a dramatic moment in his speech, Trump declared that Congress should "ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information," adding they should "pass the Stop Insider Trading act without delay." Even though Democrats joined Republicans in applauding and delivering standing ovations, Trump then tried to make the issue into a partisan one by singling out a prominent Democrat.

February 25, 2026 at 4:34 PM EST
Media mogul who called for prayers backing Trump holds White House meeting

The billionaire head of a Berlin-based global mass media behemoth that owns influential outlets including Politico, reportedly met with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles on Wednesday. Mathias Döpfner serves as chairman and CEO of Axel Springer SE, a publishing group that operates in dozens of countries and counts U.S. private equity firm KKR -- co"'founded by Republican donor Henry Kravis -- among its principal owners. According to Forbes, Kravis gave one million dollars to Donald Trump's 2017 inauguration committee.

February 25, 2026 at 4:26 PM EST
Republican women are gunning for GOP's 'good old boys club'

NBC News reports there a small rebellion brewing among the Republican Party's cadre of traditionally patient women. "Republican Rep. Nancy Mace plans to force a House vote next week on her resolution to release sexual misconduct and harassment reports involving members of Congress," NBC News reported Wednesday.

February 25, 2026 at 4:03 PM EST
Massive Iran mystery leaves Americans confused about Trump policy

President Donald Trump's Iran policy is so confusing, it is unclear whether the president himself is entirely clear on what he wants to achieve. Noting that Trump's historically-lengthy State of the Union message "just a few minutes to the subject" and falsely implied Iran had never forsworn nuclear weapons, The Economist reported that Trump has also threatened Iran over killing protesters earlier this year, the existence of its missile arsenal or simply to commit a coup.

February 25, 2026 at 3:39 PM EST
'His policies have failed': Nobel economist disputes Trump's myths

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz responds to Donald Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday, when the president repeatedly touted his tariffs as saving the country money and boosting the economy. Stiglitz says Trump's "lies" about tariffs can't erase the truth about how they have raised costs for most U.S. residents. "It is estimated the average family is paying somewhere between $1,000 and $1,700 in extra money because of the tariffs," says Stiglitz. "His policies have failed."

February 25, 2026 at 12:01 PM EST
Trump is running out of his most precious resource: time"?

During both of his inaugurations -- January 20, 2017 and January 20, 2025 -- President Donald Trump had Republican majorities awaiting him in both branches of Congress. But if the 2026 midterms play out like the 2018 midterms, the GOP could lose the U.S. House of Representatives in November while holding the U.S. Senate. Democratic strategists are feeling optimistic about their chances of flipping the House, where Republicans have a small 218-214 majority. And Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) is saying that the Senate is also in play for her party, while acknowledging that trying to flip Congress' upper chamber is an uphill climb.

February 25, 2026 at 12:00 PM EST
Trump's DNI blocked whistleblower claims about her from lawmakers

A whistleblower came forward through the proper channels about Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard; however, lawmakers will never hear from that whistleblower because Gabbard has blocked it. The Wall Street Journal said in a bombshell report that an email sent to Democratic congressional staffers on Feb. 13 said that it would not give the unredacted intelligence sought by lawmakers "due to the assertion of executive privilege to portions" of the intelligence itself.