President Trump’s White House the Richest of All Time

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President Trump’s White House the Richest of All Time

(Headline USA) The number of people worth at least $100 million whom President Donald Trump has appointed to his administration is more than four times the combined total under the three previous presidents, according to a report from the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.

It’s the numbers for the Trump administration, in the context of previous administrations, that stand out in Public Citizen’s report, published on Monday. In all, 57 Trump officials are worth at least $100 million, including 17 ambassadors and the remaining 40 in senior posts across the executive branch.

Look no further than Trump’s Cabinet. Eight of its 23 members fit the category, notably Treasury Secretary Howard Lutnick and Education Secretary Linda McMahon, both billionaires.

The president, himself a billionaire, has described his inclination toward appointing the ultrawealthy as deference to financial success. And yet, Trump, who owes his White House comeback to support from middle-income, working Americans drawn to his pledge to lower everyday costs and re-shore industry.

Presidents have long sought counsel from the nation’s wealthiest people and tapped some for high-profile administrative leadership roles. Likewise, presidents routinely reward wealthy and influential supporters with ambassadorships.

Among the most notable examples is Andrew Mellon, the aluminum, oil and banking tycoon who was among the handful of the nation’s wealthiest people in the 1920s and served as treasury secretary for three presidents.

The Trump officials worth at least $100 million include Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg and Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler, who are also billionaires, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and special envoy Steve Witkoff, both worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

By comparison, Republican George W. Bush’s administration and Democrat Joe Biden’s each included five members worth $100 million or more. Democrat Barack Obama’s included three, the report states.

The list does not include Trump, whose net worth Forbes estimates at more than $6 billion. Nor does it include space and social media giant Elon Musk, who advised Trump last year on an effort to reduce the federal government’s size, scope and workforce and is the world’s wealthiest person, with a net worth Forbes estimates at about $860 billion.

Trump’s views are well established: Financial success is evidence of executive mastery and negotiating strength.

“They have great competence, those people. Incredible competence. Some of the smartest business leaders,” Trump said last year in explaining why he put considerable weight on advice from business executives.

He has also pointed to investments by wealthy people as a signal of future economic growth. To encourage billionaires to deliver, Trump, in his first year back in the White House, pursued policies on artificial intelligence and financial regulation that could benefit wealthy people, along with tax cuts and reduced regulatory burdens for large-scale investments.

Trump Orders Hegseth To ‘Substantially Reduce’ Joint Military Exercises With South Korea

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Trump Orders Hegseth To ‘Substantially Reduce’ Joint Military Exercises With South Korea

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) President Trump on Sunday said that he had ordered US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with South Korea, citing his relationship with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.

“Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea. These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful,” the president wrote on Truth Social.

“Therefore, and based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises! While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’” he added.

Trump’s statement came as the US and South Korea were set to begin a major annual war game known as Ulchi Freedom Shield. It remains to be seen whether the exercises, scheduled to last 11 days, will be scaled down.

The US president met with Kim three times in his first administration, and following their first meeting, the US and South Korea suspended major war games, though they resumed in 2022 under President Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was much more hawkish toward the North than his predecessor, Moon Jae-in.

Yoon was impeached and removed from office in 2025 over his brief attempt to use martial law and the military to shut down the National Assembly in December 2024, and his successor, Lee ⁠Jae Myung, has taken a different approach toward Pyongyang, calling for reviving peace efforts.

“Let us put down our intentions to threaten each other and begin discussions to end the long-running war as the directly involved parties,” Lee said on Friday. “Through this, it may also be possible to discuss effective measures to halt the advancement of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.”

Trump’s announcement came a day after he shared a photo of one of his meetings with Kim. “Despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture, there are many where we’re smiling, Kim Jong Un and I get along GREAT!” he wrote on Truth Social.

While Trump pursued diplomacy with North Korea in his first term, a report from The New York Times published last year revealed that he also oversaw a botched raid carried out by Navy SEALS. The purpose of the raid was to plant a listening device, but the SEALS opened fire on a boat that approached them, killing everyone onboard, and then retreated.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.

Hate Crime Charges Filed in Manhattan Synagogue Attack

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Hate Crime Charges Filed in Manhattan Synagogue Attack

(Headline USA) Hate crime charges have been filed against a man who disrupted Shabbat services in Manhattan’s Central Synagogue and struck two people while being hustled outside Friday night.

“As synagogue security was escorting him out, he struck a member of the congregation, damaged synagogue property, and then spit at and head-butted a member of the security team,” a statement from Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

A police sergeant working as a paid security detail at the synagogue immediately took the man into custody and no one was seriously injured, Tisch said.

Larry Montes, 46, of the Bronx, faces two counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of criminal mischief as a hate crime, among other charges, Tisch said.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the assault during the livestreamed service “horrifying.”

“Every New Yorker must be able to observe their religion without fear of violence,” he posted on social media.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer were among those who also condemned the attack.

Additional police security was added and Shabbat services continued Saturday.

“We might want to be focusing on the beauty of our liturgy and the sanctity of Shabbat, and somehow the feeling of the imperfect and cruel world keeps flooding in,” Rabbi Rebecca Thau told congregants.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Inspector Finds ‘Dormant’ $57 Million Fund

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Inspector Finds ‘Dormant’ $57 Million Fund

(, The Center Square) Following an advisory by the Chicago inspector general’s office, the city treasurer has asked the city council to dissolve the Community Catalyst Fund and return its more than $57 million in assets to general funds.

The fund was set up 10 years ago to increase access to public and private investment capital for businesses and organizations in economically underserved areas.

Inspector General David Glockner said the city provided half of the $100 million initially proposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, but the fund has been been effectively dormant since 2020.

“The total balance is now about $57 million. The fund had fallen off filing its annual reports. There were also quarterly reports that were supposed to be filed with respect to the investments and were not filed,” Glockner told The Center Square.

Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin is the ex officio chair of the catalyst fund’s board of directors. The fund failed to submit annual reports from 2022 to 2025.

“From my perspective, it’s more an indication of sort of a lack of activity and focus on the fund than anything that is sort of suspicious or nefarious,” Glockner said.

Glockner said there is no indication that the money was misused.

The inspector said the fund only invested about $21 million of the $50 million that it received. No private dollars were ever invested in the fund.

Glockner said the fund’s investments were all made in 2020 and the money was repaid.

In a July 2026 letter, OIG suggested that the city treasurer and catalyst fund board of directors comply with the board’s established ordinance by using the fund for its legislated purpose or, alternatively, the city could terminate the fund and allocate its more than $57 million in assets for other investments or general municipal purposes.

In response to the advisory, through counsel, Conyears-Ervin’s office asked the city council to dissolve the fund and return its assets to general funds.

The next full council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 23.

When asked how quickly the money might be returned to the general fund, Glockner said it’s not his office’s role to tell the city what to do.

“But I would think it’s something the city likely could do pretty quickly,” the inspector said.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office has projected a $130 million deficit for the $16.7 billion budget for 2026 passed by city council last December.

Glockner said his office routinely looks at the city’s financial statements and operations.

“I have no reason to think that there are other kind of $57 million pots out there, but our day job is to try to find places where the city can do better.  Given the financial challenges the city is facing these days, we’re pretty focused on helping the city do better from a financial perspective,” Glockner said.

Boy among 6 Dead in Michigan Shootings; Girl Survived

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Boy among 6 Dead in Michigan Shootings; Girl Survived

(Headline USA) A teenage boy and four adults were killed Friday in shootings that prompted a wide search for the fleeing gunman, whose body was ultimately found in a wooded area alongside one of his victims, authorities said. A teenage girl survived and was in stable condition, police said.

Chad Hickman, 39, was found dead after a wide search in Missaukee County, police said. Police released the ages and genders of the victims on Saturday but did not specify whether they were related to each other or the suspect.

Officers responded Friday morning to reports of a shooting at a home about 170 miles northwest of Detroit, where they found the bodies of a 16-year-old boy, a 45-year-old man and 40-year-old woman, and a 13-year-old girl in critical condition, Michigan State Police said.

Authorities say Hickman fled that scene, leading to a large-scale search. Police found the body of a 53-year-old man at a second home, and then a 29-year-old woman, dead alongside Hickman, in the woods. All the victims died of gunshot wounds, police said.

“This situation is heartbreaking for the community and challenging for the investigators involved,” Lt. Ashley Miller said in a Friday statement. Miller said Saturday the investigation is ongoing.

Hickman was convicted in 2024 of misdemeanor fourth-degree child abuse, according to court records. He was sentenced to one year in jail. In the same case, the court dismissed felony assault and criminal sexual conduct charges.

Tim Penrose, who lives on the street where the 53-year-old was found dead, said Hickman lived in that home. Penrose said he heard shots but didn’t think much of it until police arrived because he lives in a rural area where gunfire is not uncommon. Penrose said Hickman frequently harassed him and his wife, though he didn’t provide more details.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Trump Says He’ll ‘Never Apologize’ for Rising Gas Prices Caused by His War With Iran

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Trump Says He’ll ‘Never Apologize’ for Rising Gas Prices Caused by His War With Iran

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) President Trump has said he would “never apologize” for the higher gas prices Americans are facing due to his war with Iran, downplaying the surge in prices as just a “tiny little bit more.”

The US president framed the increase in gas prices as necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, though there was no evidence either before the June 2025 war or the current conflict that Tehran was attempting to develop a nuclear bomb.

“So, for you to pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline, just remember you’re doing it so that a very evil country cannot have a — really, it’s the number one state sponsor of terror in the world — we don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon,” the president said on Friday during a rally on Long Island.

“When you have to pay a little bit more, you’re at $4. It’s okay. I’ll never apologize. I did the right thing … you just have to remember that what we’re doing is a great service for the world. Not only for ourselves, but for the world. And we’re really doing a great job,” he added.

The president also said that, once the war ends, he would declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory. “After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated — pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” he said.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi responded to Trump’s comments, saying the US leader needed to accept defeat. “This strait will only be opened and closed under Iran’s command, and as long as you do not accept the reality of defeat and stop indulging in delusions, Iran will continue to enforce the blockade,” he said.

At Least 6 People Dead from Record-Setting Flooding in Indiana

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At Least 6 People Dead from Record-Setting Flooding in Indiana

(Headline USA) Days of storms and flooding in Indiana left at least six people dead as floodwaters peaked in Indianapolis’ White River and rains were expected to ease in the state capital region and other parts of the state Sunday.

Frank Gounder was among the Indianapolis residents assessing the damage Sunday, which also happened to be his 37th birthday.

The furniture maker, who lives on the city’s hard-hit north side, less than a mile from the White River, had been at home as floodwaters crept up his driveway until they were about 2 feet deep in the house and his workshop.

Now he’s left to pick through waterlogged materials and handmade furniture in various stages of completion to see what, if anything, could be salvaged.

“It’s a lot. Before the water had actually gotten into my house and I saw that it was going to happen, I started freaking out, getting mad,” he said. “But after you realize you can’t do anything about it, you kind of just have to let go and just continue, or else you’re just going to be miserable.”

Storm victims mourned

A 4-year-old boy, two men and three women were among those who had died since the storms began Aug. 11, said Liz Woods, a spokesperson for the state Department of Homeland Security.

Officials in Jennings County, in the southern end of the state, said the boy was killed Tuesday when a tree crashed through his bedroom during strong winds.

“This is obviously unexpected,” Jennings County Deputy Chief Cody Low told the local ABC affiliate. “There’s nothing we can say that is going to make it any better. We’re going to push through this as a community.”

The other victims included a 19-year-old man whose body was recovered Saturday. Officials in Delaware County, located east of Indianapolis, said Matthew Morey had jumped off a bridge into the rushing waters of the Mississinewa River with friends three days earlier.

Family and friends gathered earlier in the week at the bridge to remember the recent high school graduate, who was headed to Purdue University, and warn of the dangers of swollen rivers.

Delaware County officials also said they recovered the body of Stephanie Sallee and her dog in a cornfield on Saturday, not far from her car. They believe the 58-year-old had been driving on a flooded road when the vehicle was swept away. In a statement shared with local news outlets, her family remembered her as a compassionate and loving person who adored her grandchildren and other young relatives.

Recovery efforts are underway

In Indianapolis, flooding from the White River peaked early Sunday morning, with high water levels expected to hold for a few hours before beginning to recede, according to the city Department of Public Works.

The agency said it would reopen the city’s floodgates Sunday and that emergency shelters remained open after hundreds of homes along the river and its canals were evacuated. First responders used boats to rescue people stranded by rapidly rising floodwaters.

Recovery efforts, meanwhile, started in earnest as parts of the state began drying out.

“I must admit it is a good morning,” Christine Altman, president of the Hamilton County board of commissioners, said during a Sunday briefing. “It’s not raining, and the water is receding.”

She said the county, located just north of Indianapolis, escaped without any loss of life, though officials were assessing whether a significant bridge damaged in the flooding could be repaired or if it needed to be completely replaced.

Heavy rain and flash flooding were still possible across portions of the central part of the state throughout the day, the National Weather Service warned.

The weather service urged residents to check river and weather forecasts and “stay out of dangerous, fast moving waters” as heavy rain has caused significant flooding along most rivers and creeks across central Indiana. Roads and bridges across the state have also been seriously damaged or washed out by the rushing waters.

Nearly 130,000 utility customers statewide remained without power as of Sunday afternoon, down from a peak of around 300,000, according to the online utility tracker PowerOutage.us.

Storms brought historic flooding to Indiana

Heavy rains hammered Indiana over the past week, causing rivers to crest and setting new records.

The White River crested at more than 24 feet (7.32 meters) in the communities of Anderson and Noblesville, surpassing records set in 1913.

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said the flooding was the worst the capital city has seen in more than 30 years.

Gov. Mike Braun’s office said more than 350 evacuations and scores of rescue and welfare checks have occurred elsewhere in the state, including at a senior mobile home community north of Indianapolis.

President Donald Trump on Saturday approved Braun’s request for federal disaster assistance to help with flooding response and recovery efforts.

The drenching rains and destructive flooding were among the impacts of severe storms that have wreaked havoc across the Midwest and beyond in recent days.

Tornadoes, heavy rains and flash flooding brought serious damage to communities from Illinois to western Pennsylvania.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

1 Killed, 4 Injured in Shooting at Park in Kentucky

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1 Killed, 4 Injured in Shooting at Park in Kentucky

(Headline USA) Police in Kentucky said one person was killed and four others were injured in a shooting at a park Saturday evening.

Lexington police officers responded just before 7 p.m. to a report of shots fired and found five victims, according to a department statement. One person was declared dead at a hospital while the other four were believed to have non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Local news outlets reported that Police Chief Lawrence Weathers said two children, aged 4 and 14, were among those shot at Charles Young Park in downtown Lexington.

Weathers declined to share any information on a suspect but told reporters he did not believe there was an ongoing threat to the public.

“If you know of somebody who might be inclined to use a weapon, please let us know,” Weather said. “Anything that you can do to let us know before something happens, we’ll greatly appreciate.”

The chief urged anyone with information about Saturday evening’s shooting to call police.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Other Suspects Wanted for Virginia State University Shooting

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Other Suspects Wanted for Virginia State University Shooting

(Headline USA) Authorities were seeking additional people who fired weapons during a shooting at Virginia State University that left five people wounded, police said Sunday, as a 19-year-old suspect remained in custody and investigators sought to unravel what happened.

Investigators were trying to determine what led to Saturday’s shooting and if the others who fired did so in self-defense or if they were among the aggressors, said Lt. James Lamb, commander of the Chesterfield County Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit. He did not say how many others fired weapons.

“We don’t have specific locations that we are looking (at) yet as we are working on identifying them,” Lamb said in an email response to questions from The Associated Press.

The shooting, at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, prompted a campus lockdown and came as students were getting ready for the new school year. It happened near the university’s Quad Annexes, where campus police and Chesterfield County officers found five people with gunshot wounds outside campus dormitories.

Many students had just completed the university’s “New Trojans Experience” for incoming students. Classes resume Monday.

A suspect was found in a dormitory closet and arrested more than 14 hours after the shooting — and several hours after university officials already had lifted a campus lockdown, saying that law enforcement did not believe there was an immediate threat.

Camron Harris, 19, of Henrico, Virginia, was being held without bond in the Chesterfield County jail. He is due in state court Monday to face four counts of malicious wounding and four counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

It could not be immediately determined if Harris has an attorney who could speak on his behalf, and efforts to reach his family by phone were unsuccessful.

Virginia State University is a historically Black university located in Ettrick, Virginia, about 24 miles (39 kilometers) south of the state capital of Richmond. The public university has about 5,700 students and was the first fully state-supported four-year college for Black Americans. Most of its students are undergraduates.

The victims ranged in age from 17 to 23 and only one of them was a student at the university, according to police. Harris was not a student, police said.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

With Debt Near $40T, GOP Bills Would Tie Debt Hikes to Spending Cuts

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With Debt Near $40T, GOP Bills Would Tie Debt Hikes to Spending Cuts

(, The Center Square) As the U.S. nears a mid-2027 debt-limit deadline with debt approaching $40 trillion, two Republican bills would bar Congress from raising the ceiling without matching any increased spending with spending cuts elsewhere.

The Dollar-for-Dollar Deficit Reduction Act, introduced separately by U.S. Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming and Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., would require any increase or suspension of the debt limit to be matched by equal or greater spending cuts over the current year and the following 10 years. It would be enforced through a congressional point of order. The National Taxpayers Union supports the measure.

“Congress cannot keep raising the credit limit on the American people without cutting up the credit card,” Steube said in announcing the bill. “If Congress wants to raise the credit limit, Congress must cut spending by the same amount.”

The national debt stands at $39.9 trillion, according to the Treasury Department, closing in on the $41.1 trillion ceiling that Congress raised by $5 trillion in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a tax-and-spending law.

Fitch Ratings projected that the government will hit that ceiling around mid-2027, with several months more before it exhausts the extraordinary measures that stave off default.

The Bipartisan Policy Center, which tracks the deadline, is trending toward the earlier end of that window. Shai Akabas, the group’s vice president of economic policy, told The Center Square that weaker-than-expected tariff revenue and higher deficits are pulling the date forward, leaving “another six to nine months” of extraordinary measures once the ceiling is hit “before the government could no longer pay all of its bills in full and on time.”

The bills would bar accounting methods that let past deficit deals count savings that never materialized. Net interest savings could not count toward the required cuts, and lawmakers could not shift spending outside the 10-year window to meet the target. The Congressional Budget Office would have to score any debt-limit bill and post the estimate publicly for 24 hours before a vote. Waiving the point of order would take 60 Senate votes.

All three major credit-rating agencies have downgraded U.S. debt – Standard & Poor’s in 2011, Fitch in 2023 and Moody’s in 2025 – each pointing to the nation’s rising debt and Washington’s failure to address it. S&P and Fitch specifically cited debt-ceiling standoffs. S&P warned more than a decade ago that “the statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips.”

Neither bill has drawn a Democratic cosponsor. The mechanism draws its force from the debt ceiling itself: because the point of order applies only to debt-limit legislation, the pressure to accept the required cuts builds against the deadline for avoiding a default. House Budget Committee Democrats did not respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.

Both bills have been referred to committee, with no vote scheduled, and versions of the dollar-for-dollar concept have circulated for years without becoming law.

Fitch flagged the November midterms as the variable that will determine whether a renewed standoff, and the risk of default, takes shape before the deadline arrives.

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