Trump Insists Xi Jinping Will Give Him “Big, Fat Hug” Over Iran War

Donald Trump seems convinced that China loves what he’s doing to Iran.

Donald Trump is going soft on China.

The president posted a strange remark about America’s strongest economic adversary on Truth Social early Wednesday, claiming that Chinese President Xi Jinping will give him a “big, fat hug” when they see each other next month.

“China is very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz. I am doing it for them, also—And the World,” Trump wrote. “This situation will never happen again. They have agreed not to send weapons to Iran. President Xi will give me a big, fat, hug when I get there in a few weeks.”

“We are working together smartly, and very well! Doesn’t that beat fighting??? BUT REMEMBER, we are very good at fighting, if we have to—far better than anyone else!!!” the president added.

Trump is scheduled to meet Xi in Beijing on May 14 and 15 to reopen trade talks, although this time, the U.S. does not appear to have the upper hand. Last year, the U.S. president aggressively repositioned the two countries’ trade agreements, imposing enormous tariffs in an attempt to strongarm China into trade deals that he argued would benefit Americans. Yet foreign policy advisers warn that Trump does not have the leverage to continue that position this time, as the U.S. economy wobbles under whopping gas and oil prices and mass layoffs.

The meeting will be further complicated by reports that China has been cooperating with Iran since at least March 10, sharing military intelligence that includes the locations of U.S. troops and equipment and targeting coordinates. It is not clear why China began distributing intel to Iran, or whether the information exchange was the source of harm to U.S. forces. So far, 13 U.S. servicemembers have died in the war.

China has also conducted cyber attacks against the U.S., and has been selling advanced air defense systems to Iran.

Speaking with Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo Wednesday morning, Trump explained that his suddenly fuzzy feelings toward Xi were related to a “beautiful letter” that the Chinese president had written him about the reported weapon transfer.

“I wrote him a letter asking him not to do that,” Trump said, “and he wrote me a letter saying that essentially he’s not doing that.”

JD Vance Heckled at Embarrassingly Empty Turning Point USA Event

Safe to say the TPUSA event did not go according to the vice president’s plan.

Vice President JD Vance’s address to a puny crowd at a Turning Point USA event Tuesday night was repeatedly interrupted by an anti-war protester.

Speaking at the University of Georgia, Vance was faced with backlash to Donald Trump’s Middle East policies up close and in person. While local activists expected a large crowd at the event, which was heavily promoted by TPUSA, the 8,000-seat arena venue was only a quarter-full. Videos and photographs of the event posted to X showed thousands of empty seats.

Six minutes to go and the scene is the same at the Turning Point event at UGA pic.twitter.com/rhnSrXcVCB— Matthew Boedy (@MatthewBoedy) April 14, 2026

Six minutes to go and the scene is the same at the Turning Point event at UGA pic.twitter.com/rhnSrXcVCB

Despite the meager turn out, not everyone in the audience was a fan.

“How can you say that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword?” Vance asked, describing the liberation of Europe from the Nazis during WWII—a truly ridiculous analogy to Trump’s reckless war in Iran.

“Jesus Christ does not support genocide!” one audience member shouted.

“I agree, Jesus Christ certainly does not support genocide, whoever yelled that out from the dark. He certainly does not,” Vance said.

“Why are you committing genocide in Gaza?” the heckler continued.

Vance: How can you say that God was never on the side of those who wield the sword…Audience member: Jesus doesn’t support genocide. pic.twitter.com/ypaiyr295z— Acyn (@Acyn) April 14, 2026

Vance: How can you say that God was never on the side of those who wield the sword…Audience member: Jesus doesn’t support genocide. pic.twitter.com/ypaiyr295z

The crowd burst into boos at the interruption, and Vance insisted he be allowed to continue his point before he responded. A few minutes later, turning his attention back to the heckler, Vance lied that the Trump administration had ended the killing of Palestinians.

“So, if you want, sir, to complain about what happened in Gaza. Why don’t you complain about Joe Biden and the last administration? We’re the administration that solved that problem.”

“You’re killing children!” the heckler shouted. “You’re bombing children!”

VP Vance getting heckled at TPUSA event“You’re killing children!” pic.twitter.com/1rPZzghChb— Acyn (@Acyn) April 14, 2026

VP Vance getting heckled at TPUSA event“You’re killing children!” pic.twitter.com/1rPZzghChb

Vance claimed that there was more humanitarian aid coming into Gaza now than anytime in the past five years. In reality, Israel is still severely limiting humanitarian aid into Gaza, and has closed all but one border crossing since the start of its military campaign in Iran.

When the U.S. supposedly mediated the end of Israel’s military onslaught in Gaza, the Trump administration turned it into a lucrative real estate deal, while clearing the way for Israel to continue its deadly strikes, oppression, and violent land grabs in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, in Iran, the U.S. and Israel are bombing children: at least 22 schools and 17 health care facilities have been damaged since the beginning of the war, when the U.S. conducted a missile strike on a girls’ primary school in Minab that killed at least 168 children.

Toddler Forced Back Into ICE Detention After Nearly Dying

A new report reveals just how horrific life is at the Dilley Detention Center.

An immigrant child detained by ICE with her family in Texas nearly died before receiving medical care.

The New Yorker published a long article Monday about the medical neglect of children under Trump’s draconian immigration crackdown, and the story highlights Amalia, who was detained by ICE with her parents and sent to Texas’s Dilley Immigration Processing Center in December when she was only 18 months old.

At the time, Amalia was a healthy toddler with no known issues. The water at Dilley smelled strange, so her parents, Kheilin Valero Marcano and Stiven Arrieta Prieto, bought bottled water at the center’s commissary for her, despite having no income in detention. (The article noted that nonprofit organizations who work on immigrants’ rights, such as Human Rights First and RAICIES, have found that families detained at Dilley say the water there is “unclean, foul-smelling, and causes stomachaches.”)

Marcano also said that one child found a bug in her food in the facility’s cafeteria, leading other kids not to want to eat. Not long after that, children in the facility began to fall sick, including Amalia. In January, Amalia developed a high fever, and at the facility’s clinic, Amalia was given ibuprofen and her parents were told the fever was “good, because it means she’s fighting off a virus.”

But after two weeks, the fever persisted, and Amalia started vomiting and having diarrhea. Going back to Dilley’s medical clinic didn’t help, as Marcano told The New Yorker she waited in line on eight different occasions without her concerns being addressed. Marcano at one point gave Amalia a cold bath to try to lower her temperature, only for her daughter to pass out. She went to the clinic and shouted, “Are you going to watch my baby die in my arms?”

A few days later, the facility’s clinic measured Amalia’s blood-oxygen saturation levels, which are supposed to be between 95 percent and 100 percent for a healthy person. Amalia’s were in the low 50s, a level so low that it can kill off parts of the brain. This was enough for ICE to allow Amalia to be sent to a local hospital, and eventually a larger hospital in San Antonio, where she was diagnosed with Covid-19, RSV, bronchitis, pneumonia, and an ear infection. She got supplemental oxygen and intensive care.

Even in the hospital, ICE agents constantly supervised Marcano and Amalia, writing down when she spoke with the nurses, and even getting upset when nurses gave her a bag of clothes and hygiene items. After 10 days in the hospital, the pair were sent back to Dilley, and Amalia was prescribed a medicine to be administered by nebulizer, which her mom said was confiscated by agents.

Amalia and her family were released after 57 days in detention without Amalia’s birth certificate, her vaccination records, or the medication. Her story later showed up in a congressional hearing with then–Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March. But as the article states, Amalia was one of many children suffering from medical neglect in ICE custody, most of whom we will likely never learn about.

Trump Rages as His Favorite Far-Right Leader Turns Against Him

President Trump is fuming as Italy’s prime minister scorns him—and Israel.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is no longer on Donald Trump’s good side after criticizing his remarks against Pope Leo XIV.

On Tuesday, responding to Meloni’s comment the day before, Trump told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that he was “shocked by her. I thought she was brave, but I was wrong.”

Meloni had said it was “unacceptable” that Trump called the pope “weak on crime” and “terrible on foreign policy.”

“The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and proper that he call for peace and condemn all forms of war,” Meloni said in a statement. Trump told the newspaper that “it’s her who’s unacceptable, because she doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if it had the chance.”

The war in Iran is unpopular in Italy, and Meloni announced on Tuesday that her government has suspended a defense cooperation agreement with Israel. Italy’s continued refusal to join the war has left Trump fuming.

“They pay the highest energy costs in the world and are not even ready to fight for the Strait of Hormuz.… They depend on Donald Trump ​to keep it open,” Trump said.

Almost 80 percent of Italians say they are Catholic, and Vatican City, where the Catholic Church is headquartered and where the pope lives, is located entirely within the Italian city of Rome. The pope opposes the war in Iran, and told reporters on Monday, “Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent ‌people ⁠are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way to do this.”

A report last week revealed that the Department of Defense had threatened the pope in January after he criticized increased U.S. militarism during his yearly address. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby summoned the Vatican’s U.S. representative, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, and told him that “the United States has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.”

That appears to have caused a ripple effect leading to Trump feuding with both the American-born pope and a right-wing leader whom he used to count as a close ally. Considering Trump’s penchant for refusing to admit when he’s wrong, U.S. relations with both the pope and Italy may be strained for some time.

Swalwell and Gonzales Officially Resign Before Being Forced Out

The Democratic and Republican representatives have each resigned amid sexual assault allegations against them.

Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell and Republican Representative Tony Gonzales both resigned from Congress on Tuesday. 

Both lawmakers were facing House Ethics investigations into sexual assault allegations against them.  Gonzales, whose resignation will be effective at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, was accused of sexual misconduct with women who worked for him, including a staffer who later died by suicide. Swalwell resigned merely an hour after yet another woman, Lonna Drewes, came forward and said she was raped by him in 2018 in an incident that made her think she died.

“I had contact with Eric Swalwell on three separate occasions after meeting him socially. He offered me connections to further my software company, and I also had an interest in local politics. He invited me to two public events. I knew he was married at the time and that his wife was pregnant. He was my friend,” Drewes said on Tuesday afternoon. “On the third occasion, I believe he drugged my drink. I only had ONE glass of wine. He—we were supposed to go to a political event and he said he needed to get paperwork from his hotel room. When I arrived at his hotel room, I was already incapacitated and I couldn’t move my arms or my body. He raped me. And he choked me. And while he was choking me, I lost consciousness. And I thought I died. I did not consent to any sexual activity, although I did not undergo a rape kit at the time, I disclosed this all to the people closest to me.”

”My delay in taking action against Eric was driven by fear, not doubt. Fear of his political power, his background as an attorney, and his family law enforcement ties. I have never doubted what happened, I stand with the other women WHO have come forward. And I will be making a report to law enforcement shortly with my attorneys.”

Lonna Drewes on Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA): "I had contact with Eric Swalwell on three separate occasions...On the third occasion I believe he drugged my drink...he raped me and he choked me...I did not consent to any sexual activity...I have never doubted what happened. I stand… pic.twitter.com/1mJPrZPQrx— CSPAN (@cspan) April 14, 2026

Lonna Drewes on Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA): "I had contact with Eric Swalwell on three separate occasions...On the third occasion I believe he drugged my drink...he raped me and he choked me...I did not consent to any sexual activity...I have never doubted what happened. I stand… pic.twitter.com/1mJPrZPQrx

Swalwell—who has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women—was a leading Democratic candidate for California governor, and Gonzales was actively running for reelection for the House. Now they are both out of a job.  

This story has been updated. 

You Won’t Believe Why Trump Thinks Diet Soda Is Good for Him

Dr. Oz revealed the idiotic reason on Don Jr.’s podcast.

President Donald Trump thinks diet soda is actually good for you.

During the latest episode of Donald Trump Jr.’s Triggered podcast, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the daytime television host the president picked to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, revealed some of the president’s unorthodox beliefs about health.

“Your dad argues that diet soda is good for him because it kills grass, if poured on grass, so therefore it must kill cancer cells inside the body,” Oz said.

Don Jr. laughed incredulously at his father’s apparent delusion.

Oz recounted Trump’s defense when the health official spotted him drinking Fanta aboard Air Force One. “He starts to like, sheepishly grin. He goes, ‘You know this stuff’s good for me. It kills cancer cells.’ And then he tells me, ‘It’s fresh squeezed, so how bad can it be for you?’”

Dr. Oz: Trump argues that diet soda is good for him because it kills grass, if poured on grass, and therefore it kills cancer cells inside the body pic.twitter.com/JNDffH8aGY— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 14, 2026

Dr. Oz: Trump argues that diet soda is good for him because it kills grass, if poured on grass, and therefore it kills cancer cells inside the body pic.twitter.com/JNDffH8aGY

“But then, maybe he’s on to something,” Don Jr. replied, boasting about his dad’s level of energy, recall, and stamina.

But we wouldn’t recommend writing prescriptions for Diet Dr. Pepper quite yet. Trump has repeatedly been spotted dozing off during press conferences, bill signings, and Cabinet meetings, among other apparent instances of cognitive decline.

Obviously, Trump’s attitudes about diet soda wouldn’t matter if he were simply any ordinary 79-year-old man. But he’s the president of the United States, who plans to make sweeping cuts to the National Institutes of Health and other federal science and health care programs in order to keep waging war abroad, all while remaining less than transparent about his apparent health issues.

Democrats Formally File 25th Amendment Bill to Get Rid of Trump

House Democrats have filed a bill to investigate President Trump’s mental fitness.

Fifty House Democrats have officially filed legislation that would create a commission to jump-start the process to remove President Trump under the Twenty-Fifth Amendment.

The bill, introduced Tuesday by House Judiciary Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, would establish a “Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of the Office,” a move that would allow Congress to complete its part in the Twenty-Fifth Amendment process. It also calls for the commission to hold “a medical examination of the President to determine whether the President is mentally or physically unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office.”

The bill essentially bypasses JD Vance, as Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment requires either the vice president and the Cabinet or “such other body as Congress may by law provide” to determine the president is no longer fit for office.

“Public trust in Donald Trump’s ability to meet the duties of his office has dropped to unprecedented lows as he threatens to destroy entire civilizations, unleashes chaos in the Middle East while violating Congressional war powers, aggressively insults the Pope of the Catholic Church and sends out artistic renderings online likening himself to Jesus Christ,” Raskin said in a statement. “We are at a dangerous precipice, and it is now a matter of national security for Congress to fulfill its responsibilities under the 25th Amendment to protect the American people from an increasingly volatile and unstable situation.”

It remains highly unlikely that this attempt will be successful, even as some of Trump’s staunchest former supporters call on Congress to “25th Amendment his ass.” If the bill does somehow pass the Republican-controlled House and Trump vetoes it, which he likely would, then at least two-thirds of both the House and Senate would have to agree to overturn his veto.

Two Trump Judges Block Criminal Contempt Inquiry Into Trump Officials

The judges have blocked a probe into officials who ignored court order deportation flights.

The Trump administration won’t face contempt of court charges for deporting immigrants to El Salvador last year in defiance of a court order.

In a 2–1 ruling, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a writ of mandamus Tuesday rebuking U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, saying that he overstepped his authority by pursuing the charges against former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other administration officials. In March 2025, DHS quickly deported over 100 Venezuelans that the administration claimed were gang members, invoking the Alien Enemies Act to justify their removal without due process.

The immigrants were put on planes to El Salvador as part of an agreement with the country’s president, Nayib Bukele, to house them in Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, where human rights abuses are alleged to take place. These flights took place in spite of Boasberg ordering them to stop.

Boasberg subsequently ruled that “probable cause exists to find the government in criminal contempt” for the government’s defiance of his order, but over the next year, the administration dodged the contempt charges with multiple appeals to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which deliberated on whether Boasberg had the authority to hold the federal government in contempt.

The two judges who ruled against Boasberg, Neomi Rao and Justin Walker, were both appointed by Trump, and they claimed the lower court judge abused his power with the contempt probe.

“The district court proposes to probe high-level Executive Branch deliberations about matters of national security and diplomacy,” wrote Rao in the majority opinion. “These proceedings are a clear abuse of discretion.”

Incensed over Boasberg, Trump called for his impeachment last year, earning a rare and light rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who warned about attacks on the judicial branch of government. While Boasberg isn’t being penalized with this ruling, the White House will be happy that none of its officials, for now, will face penalties for breaking the law.

Why the Hell Is Trump Taking His Son Eric on an Official State Visit?

Eric Trump is doing exactly what Republicans accused Hunter Biden of doing.

Don’t hold your breath for an impeachment hearing.

Eric Trump and his wife, Lara, are scheduled to accompany Donald Trump on a state trip to China next month, Kimberly Benza, a spokesperson for the Trump organization, told Reuters Tuesday.

Two sources told Reuters that Eric and other members of the Trump family planned to work on business relations between the U.S. and China, but Benza insisted that Eric was attending the trip in a “personal capacity.”

“He does not have business ​ventures in China nor plans on doing business in China. He will not be ‌participating ⁠in private meetings, but will instead stand alongside the President to mark this historic occasion,” Benza said.

Donald Trump has previously alleged that Hunter Biden made a fortune from business dealings in Ukraine and China thanks to his father’s connections. Now it appears that the president is setting his own children up to do just that. This is the kind of thing that should raise alarm bells in Washington but probably won’t.

Eric serves as executive vice president of development for the Trump Organization, which does not currently have any upcoming real estate projects in China. But during Trump’s last term, China and its state-owned entities paid a whopping $5.5 million at properties owned by the president’s family—far more than any other country.

Eric and his brother Don Jr. co-founded World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance platform that has attracted the financial interest of foreign investors who then benefited from Trump’s policy changes.

Eric and Don Jr. recently merged their publicly traded golf course holding company with Powerus, a Florida-based drone company, with the goal of filling the gaps left by the Trump administration’s ban on Chinese drones, another blatant move to profit off their father’s policy changes.

In October, Donald Trump and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto were caught on a hot mic discussing plans to set up a meeting between “good boy” Eric, the foreign leader, and another potential business associate. In February, speaking from his father’s gilded ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, Eric didn’t bother to push back on claims that the brothers had financially benefited from their father’s office.

Trump’s Acting A.G. Says He Won’t Release Even One More Epstein File

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is behaving like he has no authority to release anything else.

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche claims that his department released every single Epstein file—and that if any weren’t released, it’s because they “were not responsive to the law.”

“You have the authority to go ahead and release more [of the Epstein files], do you not?” Blanche was asked Tuesday on Fox News. “And you have the authority to go to Congress, perhaps?”

“No, we have released everything,” Blanche replied. “So listen, we reviewed six million pieces of paper. What we released with anything that’s associated with the Epstein file. So we are not sitting on a single piece of paper.”

“Nothing that should be released. If we find something else tomorrow, we’ll release it. I don’t anticipate we will. So the misguided assumption that there is more to be released is because we reviewed millions and millions of pages within the department, millions of which had nothing to do with Epstein.… If we didn’t release it, it’s because it was not responsive to the law, and therefore not part of the Epstein files.… By law, we had to make certain redactions.… But we said to Congress, any congressman can come in and spend as much time as they want looking at everything unredacted.”

FOX NEWS: You have the authority to go ahead and release more Epstein files, do you not?ACTING AG TODD BLANCHE: No. We have released everything. We are not sitting on a single piece of paper. If we didn't release it, it's because it was not responsive to the law. pic.twitter.com/i9dnICXNh9— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 14, 2026

FOX NEWS: You have the authority to go ahead and release more Epstein files, do you not?ACTING AG TODD BLANCHE: No. We have released everything. We are not sitting on a single piece of paper. If we didn't release it, it's because it was not responsive to the law. pic.twitter.com/i9dnICXNh9

“I don’t know how this department or this president can be more transparent than saying ‘American people, here is every single document in our entire database. And if we had to redact it … anybody can come look at it if you’re a member of Congress.’”

This is facetious at best. As reported earlier this year, 2.5 million documents in the Justice Department’s investigative files on Epstein have yet to be released publicly, and many of the 3.5 million pages that were released have been redacted to hell.

“Todd Blanche needs a reminder that there’s a legally binding subpoena for documents that is different than the law,” Democratic Representative Robert Garcia wrote on X. “This investigation is not a hoax. The DOJ needs to release the rest of files.”

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