Wednesday, May 28, 2025

May 28, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Elon Musk says he's "disappointed" by Trump's "big, beautiful bill" and what it means for DOGE . . . Elon Musk says he is "disappointed" by the price tag of the domestic policy bill passed by Republicans in the House last week and heavily backed by President Trump. The billionaire who recently stepped back from running the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, made the remark during an exclusive broadcast interview with "CBS Sunday Morning." "I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," Musk said. CBS News

The legislation radically increases our debt and doesn't include DOGE cuts. And no, the stimulative effect of the tax cuts will not pay for the whole thing, though it will help. Is it a good thing over all? You decide. But let's not pretend it's consistent with the whole DOGE effort.

Politics

'Uncharted Territory': For the First Time, 50% Say America Is Heading in the Right Direction . . . A majority of voters say America is headed in the right direction. That has never happened in the nearly 20 years Rasmussen Reports has been posing the question. A Rasmussen survey taken May 18-May 22 and released Sunday said 48% of Americans say the country is headed in the "right direction," while 47% say the U.S. is on the "wrong track." Five percent are "Not Sure." Daily Signal

Pigford, Again: Biden's USDA Allegedly Excluded White Farmers from Loan Forgiveness . . . The Biden administration allegedly discriminated against white farmers in loan forgiveness, according to a whistleblower — a repeat of the Pigford scandal of 2010, with Tom Vilsack again in charge of USDA. The Pigford scandal was exposed by Breitbart News founder Andrew Breitbart, who noted that left-wing organizers had exploited the real grievances of black farmers to conduct a covert "reparations" program. Breitbart

Trump's pardon of Todd and Julie Chrisley sparks major backlash . . . President Donald Trump's decision to pardon reality television stars Todd and Julie Chrisley has sparked backlash from critics who blasted his use of clemency to benefit celebrities and wealthy donors. The former stars of 'Chrisley Knows Best' were convicted in 2022 for orchestrating a $30 million bank fraud and tax evasion scheme and have been serving multi-year prison terms. Julie was sentenced to serve in Kentucky until 2028, and Todd in Florida until 2032. Daily Mail

NPR Lawsuit Alleges Trump Funding Cuts Violate First Amendment . . . Taxpayer-subsidized National Public Radio, along with three Colorado affiliates, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday morning to stop President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at cutting its funding. Trump's executive order on May 1 instructed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies "to cease federal funding" for NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service. Daily Signal

I just reread it! The First Amendment doesn't include anything about a right to taxpayer money.

RFK Jr. says he may bar scientists from publishing in top medical journals . . . Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Tuesday that he could bar government scientists from publishing in the world's leading medical journals, instead proposing the creation of "in-house" publications by his agency — the latest in the Trump administration's attacks on scientific institutions. "We're probably going to stop publishing in the Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA [published by the American Medical Association] and those other journals, because they're all corrupt," Kennedy said. He also described the journals as being under the control of pharmaceutical companies. Washington Post

Alabama's Tuberville Announces Bid for Governor . . . Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville announced Tuesday that he will run for governor of the Yellowhammer State, following a recent trend of Republican congressmen and senators pursuing gubernatorial races. A former Auburn University football coach, the now 70-year-old senator assumed office in 2021 after winning more than 60% of the vote in the 2020 Senate race against then-incumbent Democrat Sen. Doug Jones. Daily Signal

Culture

Supreme Court Declines to Review Free Speech Case of Middle Schooler Who Wore 'Only Two Genders' Shirt . . . The case was brought on behalf of student Liam Morrison through his father and stepmother, Christopher and Susan Morrison against Nichols Middle School. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the law firm representing Morrison, argued that the school violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and engaged in viewpoint discrimination in 2023 by sending him home for wearing the "only two genders" shirt, as well as forcing him to change his clothes after he wore a redacted version of the shirt with the word "censored" where "two" used to be. Morrison was in seventh grade at the time. Breitbart

Parents Sound Alarm On YMCA Camps Allowing Boys In Girls' Showers And Cabins . . . As kids prepare to head off to summer camp, a conservative group is warning parents that their daughters may not be safe at YMCA facilities across the country. The American Parents Coalition on Wednesday urged parents to "beware" that the YMCA determines access to overnight cabins, locker rooms, and showers on the basis of gender identity. The coalition says that many YMCA facilities may not inform parents that boys could be bunking or showering with female campers, raising safety and privacy concerns. Daily Wire

They should sound the alarm. It's quite alarming.

Internal DHS Memo Details Trump Admin's Moves Against Harvard . . . Harvard is "failing its students and America," according to the memo, which was shared with The Daily Signal on Tuesday. "Harvard University's leadership failed to address antisemitic riots and anti-American extremism on its campus. They even rewarded the most violent offenders," the memo states before listing a number of examples of antisemitism on the Massachusetts college's campus. Daily Signal

National Security

Putin Has Retooled Russia's Economy to Focus Only on War . . . In the early stages of the war, the Russian president put the country on a footing for a long conflict. Putin retooled the economy to churn out record numbers of tanks and howitzers, while using sizable signing bonuses of up to a year's salary to raise a massive army. At one point, more than a thousand recruits were signing up each day to fight. This increase saved Moscow from the initial losses it suffered after failing to quickly capture Kyiv three years ago. Now it is helping Russian forces advance westward again, taking more than 100 square miles in the past month. Wall Street Journal

State Department Halts Interviews for Student and Exchange Visas . . . The State Department is temporarily halting interviews abroad with foreign citizens applying for student and exchange visas as it expands scrutiny of applicants' social media posts. "We use all available information in our visa screening and vetting," the State Department said in a statement, without specifying what could flag an applicant for rejection under a new social media policy. The statement noted that visa applicants have been asked to provide social media account information on forms since 2019. New York Times

International

As Trump Seeks Iran Deal, Israel Again Raises Possible Strikes on Nuclear Sites . . . As the Trump administration tries to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has been threatening to upend the talks by striking Iran's main nuclear enrichment facilities, according to officials briefed on the situation. The clash over how best to ensure that Iran cannot produce a nuclear weapon has led to at least one tense phone call between President Trump and Mr. Netanyahu and a flurry of meetings in recent days between top administration officials and senior Israeli officials. New York Times

Money

Southwest Airlines Sets Fee for First Checked Bag at $35 . . . The days of bags fly free on Southwest Airlines are ending. Starting Wednesday, the airline will charge customers $35 for one checked bag and $45 for a second, unless they hold the airline's credit card or have elite status. Southwest announced the change in March but hadn't previously specified how much it would cost to check bags. It disclosed the fees in a message to employees. Wall Street Journal

You should also know

Watch: Moment SpaceX Starship spins out of control in test flight . . . A SpaceX Starship test flight encountered issues in orbit on Tuesday, spinning out of control shortly before its expected splashdown. The spinning was caused by fuel leaks on board the rocket, which eventually broke up upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. "Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly", SpaceX wrote in a post on X. It comes after two previous test flights resulted in failures. BBC

5 myths about food expiration dates and best-by labels

Guilty Pleasures

Russian state hackers target European diplomats — with fake wine-tasting events . . . Russian hackers sure know their target audience. A hacking group previously linked to Russian intelligence services has in past months targeted European diplomats with invitations to fake wine-tasting events from a European foreign affairs ministry. Cybersecurity firm Check Point said the Russia-linked group known as Cozy Bear had targeted European diplomatic entities with emails bearing subject lines like "Wine Testing [sic] Event" and "Diplomatic Dinner." The emails contained malicious software to compromise victims' security. Politico

Help CTTN reach more people by forwarding it to your family and friends! Click below to write your message and share the signup link by email.