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- Trump Attacks LeBron James in Oval Office Rant: ‘Maybe He’s a Racist…’
President Donald Trump cast his vote for the greatest basketball player of all time — and it ain’t LeBron James. The president was asked by Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy to settle who the “best ever” was during a Friday press conference at the White House — hours after James announced he is joining the Philadelphia 76ers. Doocy asked Trump to pick between James and Michael Jordan, and Trump said the decision was a layup — and attacked the newest member of the Sixers. “Well, Michael Jordan is a guy that’s a friend of mine, played golf with him. He’s a really good guy,” Trump said. “And I think LeBron is, may be he’s a racist. But maybe he doesn’t like Trump I don’t know? But I only like people that like me. So I would say Michael Jordan, all the way.” Trump’s pick comes after the “Air Jordan” v. “King James” debate has been a hot topic among hoops heads for years. James has won four titles and four MVP awards during his 23-season-and-counting career, which has included two stops in Cleveland, along with stints in Miami, Los Angeles, and now Philly. Jordan won six titles and five MVP awards while leading the Chicago Bulls during 13 seasons between the ’80s and ’90s; he came out of retirement a second time and played for the Washington Wizards in the early ’00s for two years — an era most fans tend to just ignore. Other basketball fans have floated the greatest of all time — or “GOAT” — title could go to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Magic Johnson, among a handful of other legends. Trump’s beef with James goes back years. James campaigned for Hillary Clinton during her failed 2016 presidential run, and the following year he branded Trump a “bum.” “Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!” James posted in 2017. A few years later, James scoffed at Trump ripping “very dumb” players for kneeling during the National Anthem, and he later endorsed ex-Vice President Kamala Harris during her own failed run against Trump in 2024. Watch above via Fox News.The post Trump Attacks LeBron James in Oval Office Rant: ‘Maybe He’s a Racist…’ first appeared on Mediaite. [TheTopNews] Read More.3 hours ago - Judge Orders DOJ to Hand Over Internal Records After NY Times Subpoena Retreat
Brian Zak/Sipa Press (via AP) A federal judge ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to turn over internal communications about its attempt to keep secret subpoenas targeting New York Times journalists, escalating scrutiny of prosecutors after they admitted errors in court filings and abandoned the effort. In an order issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian directed the government to provide the court, by Monday, with internal communications created on or before July 16 relating to three key issues: the decision to seek a non-disclosure order, whether prosecutors should have disclosed that the subpoenaed records belonged to reporters, and discussions over whether and when journalists should be notified that third-party subpoenas had been issued. The move followed a contentious hearing in Manhattan federal court, where Subramanian repeatedly questioned the accuracy of statements made by the DOJ in its July 14 application for the non-disclosure order. During the hearing, government lawyers acknowledged the filing contained what they described as “inadvertent” errors and apologized for an “oversight.” The DOJ ultimately withdrew the challenged subpoenas, which had sought phone records and grand jury testimony from New York Times reporters investigating security concerns surrounding President Donald Trump’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One aircraft. Subramanian’s written order formally declared the subpoenas “null and void” and dismissed pending motions to quash. But the judge also imposed additional requirements on the government, ordering prosecutors to seek court approval before issuing any renewed subpoenas in the investigation and retaining jurisdiction over related matters while further briefing proceeds. The demand for internal communications marks a new development in the dispute after Subramanian openly questioned prosecutors’ handling of the case during Thursday’s hearing. According to courtroom reports, the judge challenged the government’s explanation for inaccuracies in its filings and expressed concern over mistakes that included subpoenas reaching reporters’ family members. The non-disclosure application at the center of the judge’s order was submitted on July 14. In a subsequent filing, the government acknowledged it had failed to note ongoing discussions with lawyers representing the journalists and had “inadvertently included language” stating the investigation was “not public” even though its existence had already been publicly reported. The DOJ must now submit the requested communications to the court on an ex parte basis by July 27.The post Judge Orders DOJ to Hand Over Internal Records After NY Times Subpoena Retreat first appeared on Mediaite. [TheTopNews] Read More.3 hours ago - Trump Admin Concedes It Targeted Democratic States in Grant Purge: NYT
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon) President Donald Trump’s administration has acknowledged in court that it canceled hundreds of clean energy grants “based solely” on political considerations rather than the cost or performance of the projects, according to a Friday report from The New York Times. The admission emerged in litigation challenging the administration’s decision to terminate more than $7.5 billion in Biden-era Energy Department grants last October. While the White House publicly framed the cuts as an effort to eliminate wasteful spending, government lawyers later told the court that politics alone determined which projects ultimately lost funding. According to the Times, an attorney representing the Energy Department wrote that, “With one exception, the 284 terminated grants had a recipient location and/or at least one place of performance in a state that awarded its electoral votes to [former Vice President] Kamala Harris in the 2024 election and has two Democratic-caucusing senators.” The filing also acknowledged that the grants were not selected for cancellation “based on any programmatic, statutory, cost-reduction or performance-based factor.” The court filing further stated that while the Energy Department initially recommended canceling more than 600 grants spread across both Republican- and Democratic-led states, the White House Office of Management and Budget ultimately terminated only 284 projects concentrated almost entirely in Democratic states. At the time, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought celebrated the move on social media, writing, “Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being canceled.” The Times reported that the court disclosure came as part of an agreement intended to avoid a broader discovery process that could have required the government to turn over additional internal records. The case is one of several challenging the administration’s cancellation of federal grants approved under former President Joe Biden. The filing also appeared to conflict with testimony Energy Secretary Chris Wright gave before Congress in June, when he said, “No decisions were made on politics.” Energy Department spokesperson Ben Dietderich disputed that characterization, telling the Times the department’s initial review of grants was conducted without political considerations and arguing that Wright had been referring to that earlier evaluation process. “There is no contradiction, and any suggestion of a contradiction is a misrepresentation of the court filing,” Dietderich said.The post Trump Admin Concedes It Targeted Democratic States in Grant Purge: NYT first appeared on Mediaite. [TheTopNews] Read More.3 hours ago - JUST IN: Paramount Agrees to Halt WBD Mega Merger Until June 2027 Amid Lawsuit
(Photo by Ted Soqui/SIPA USA)(Sipa via AP Images) Paramount agreed to delay its proposed $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery until at least June 2027 on Friday while a federal judge considers a lawsuit from a coalition of state attorneys general seeking to block the deal. The agreement, filed in court on Friday, would extend a temporary 14-day pause already imposed by a federal judge in California. The proposed standstill still requires approval from Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, who is overseeing the case. The merger agreement is set to expire on June 4, 2027, if the deal is not concluded by then. The blockbuster deal would combine two of Hollywood’s biggest studios, along with streaming platforms HBO Max and Paramount+ and television networks including CBS and CNN. The delay could prove expensive for Paramount, which agreed to pay Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders $650 million for every quarter the merger remains incomplete beginning in October.The post JUST IN: Paramount Agrees to Halt WBD Mega Merger Until June 2027 Amid Lawsuit first appeared on Mediaite. [TheTopNews] Read More.3 hours ago - Fox’s Peter Doocy Asks Trump About Parasite Causing Explosive Diarrhea: ‘Whe...Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked President Donald Trump on Friday about the viral outbreak causing people to have explosive diarrhea. The CDC’s latest update on the cyclosporiasis outbreak revealed that it spread to an additional four states — Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania — to bring the total up to nine. The virus, caused by the cyclospora parasite, has been linked to shredded iceberg lettuce. Among the notable symptoms of the illness is diarrhea. During a Friday press conference, Doocy asked the president when it would it safe to eat lettuce again. Trump was surprised by the question, then claimed he was weighing the possibility of imposing tariffs on Mexico in response to the outbreak. The exchange went as follows: DOOCY: When is it gonna be safe to eat lettuce again? TRUMP: I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it. It’s the first time I’ve been asked that question. Are you eating lettuce recently? DOOCY: I should always have more lettuce. TRUMP: Because if you are, get out of here, Peter! No, it’s a very interesting question from you. I didn’t think you’d ask that kind of a question. Nobody wants to ask that question, but — DOOCY: Well, there’s this food coming in — I guess, from Mexico. It’s tainted. It’s making a lot of people sick. That is the CDC’s terminology that I was using. TRUMP: I think what we’re gonna do is we’re going to put a major tariff on Mexico because of the lettuce, and we’re going to put a big tariff on Canada because of the smoke. Watch above via Fox News.The post Fox’s Peter Doocy Asks Trump About Parasite Causing Explosive Diarrhea: ‘When Is It Going to Be Safe to Eat Lettuce Again?’ first appeared on Mediaite. [TheTopNews] Read More.4 hours ago
- ‘What Happened There?’ NY Times Reporter Asks Trump If He Derailed Saudi Dea...President Donald Trump was pressed by a New York Times reporter on Friday over whether he had derailed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia by adding a new requirement after administration officials had presented the deal as effectively complete. During an Oval Office event on domestic nuclear innovation, New York Times reporter Shawn McCreesh pointed to the apparent disconnect between Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s announcement of a civilian nuclear cooperation framework with Saudi officials and Trump’s additional demand days later that Riyadh must first normalize relations with Israel by joining the Abraham Accords. “I want to ask about the Saudi nuclear deal. This man over your shoulder announces a big deal after 18 months of negotiating with the Saudis, seems like it’s all done and signed and then you come out and throw some new conditions on top of it, the whole thing blows up,” McCreesh said before asking: “Did he get out ahead of you, or what happened there?” Trump rejected the suggestion that his administration had been out of sync. “Nobody got out ahead,” he replied. The exchange came after the administration unveiled a framework for civilian nuclear cooperation with Saudi Arabia before Trump declared that the agreement would only move forward if the kingdom joined the Abraham Accords. That condition was reportedly not included when the framework was announced. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly maintained that it will not establish formal diplomatic ties with Israel without a credible pathway to Palestinian statehood and has not publicly responded to Trump’s new requirement. Explaining his position, Trump said: “I just said in order to do it they have to be a member of the Abraham Accords which have been very successful, but it’s time now that they do it. They and others didn’t want to do it because of the problem that they had with Iran. You don’t have that problem anymore. You don’t have a great power there anymore, you have a problem, but the problem is disappearing day by day.” He continued: “They were the bully in the Middle East. They won’t be that much of a bully anymore. They probably instinctively want to be, but you don’t have the same problem that you would have had four or five months ago before they had no navy, no military, no anti-aircraft, no leaders – I mean, their leaders are gone. A lot of things have… [TheTopNews] Read More.4 hours ago
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