Trump Team Is Freaking Out About His Plan for Birthday Pardons |
Trump Team Is Panicking About Plan to Issue Pardons on His Birthday
Even some of Donald Trump’s advisers think he’s going too far.
Donald Trump is planning to celebrate America’s 250th birthday with hundreds of additional pardons.
Some people in the White House have expressed concerns that Trump’s heavy use of his pardon authority could bode poorly for Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections, and that another batch could be even worse, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The president is expected to announce the 250 pending pardons on either June 14—his birthday—or the Fourth of July.
“A White House official said there are always conversations about how to best carry out the president’s priorities, but no decisions had been made,” the Journal reported. “Trump is the ultimate decision maker on any clemency-related actions, the official added.”
Many of the pardons Trump has issued since returning to office have gone to his friends and allies. One went to Changpeng Zhao, who pleaded guilty to a money-laundering scheme that made him billions in cryptocurrency. Zhao worked to boost the Trump sons–backed World Liberty Financial crypto group, which many suspect played a role in his receiving a pardon.
Trump also pardoned Trevor Milton, who was sentenced to four years in prison for defrauding investors in his electric truck company. Milton owed his victims millions of dollars in restitution, but it appears he’s now off the hook thanks to the presidential pardon.
Congressional Democrats are investigating whether the pardons to the president’s friends also resulted in a payout for Trump. Lawmakers are looking into whether pardon recipients paid lobbyists, social media influencers, and lawyers, among others, to sway Trump in their favor.
Trump has big, expensive plans for the county’s semiquincentennial. They include a $2 million project to clean the Washington Monument and repaint the Reflecting Pool, an expansive statue garden that will feature 250 life-size statues of American icons, and athletic competitions for high schoolers called “Patriot Games.”
Elsewhere in Washington, Trump is building a $15 million “Triumphal Arc,” and is constructing a 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the White House that is likely going to cost taxpayers $1 billion (against his initial promises that it wouldn’t cost more than $200 million and that it would be entirely funded by private donations).
Meanwhile, the cost of oil and gas is through the roof due to the ongoing war with Iran, which is costing the U.S. roughly $1 billion per day, according to initial estimates by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The average cost of gas nationwide is $4.53 per gallon, with large swaths of the country pushing $5 a gallon, according to the AAA’s price tracker. That’s about 50 percent higher than prices were before the war started. In some areas of California, such as Mono County, fuel costs are above $7 per gallon.
The One Issue Trump Is Desperate to Avoid in China
Xi Jinping has repeatedly raised Taiwan during Trump’s visit to China. Thus far, the president and his aides have avoided it entirely.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping brought up the issue of Taiwan Thursday during President Trump’s visit to China, warning that the “Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations.”
“’Taiwan independence’ and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water,” Xi said. “Safeguarding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is the biggest common denominator between China and the U.S.”
The move doesn’t bode well for the U.S.-China summit, which Trump had said could be “the best summit ever.” The meeting between the two countries’ leaders is supposed to improve trade ties, with several U.S. executives making the trip with Trump.
“Handled well, relations between the two countries can maintain overall stability,” Xi said. “If handled poorly, the two countries will collide or even clash, putting the entire U.S.-China relationship in an extremely dangerous situation.”
Trump ignores question about if he and Xi discussed Taiwan: REPORTER: How were you talks, sir? TRUMP: Great. Great place. Incredible. REPORTER: Did you talk about Taiwan, Mr President? TRUMP: China is beautiful[image or embed]— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) May 14, 2026 at 9:37 AM
Trump ignores question about if he and Xi discussed Taiwan: REPORTER: How were you talks, sir? TRUMP: Great. Great place. Incredible. REPORTER: Did you talk about Taiwan, Mr President? TRUMP: China is beautiful[image or embed]
Trump didn’t address questions from the press about Taiwan, only saying “Great. Great place. Incredible. China’s beautiful,” after his morning conversation with Xi. The White House’s readout of the meeting didn’t even mention Taiwan.
“President Trump had a good meeting with President Xi of China,” a White House official said. “The two sides discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation between our two countries, including expanding market access for American businesses into China and increasing Chinese investment into our industries. Leaders from many of the United States’ largest companies joined a portion of the meeting.”
This suggests that the Trump administration is taking the issue seriously. In December, the U.S. reached an $11 billion arms deal with Taiwan, which was condemned by China, which has never ruled out invading the island. The majority of Taiwan’s people want things to stay the way they are: neither declaring independence from China nor submitting to Chinese authority. If Xi decides to push reunification, what would Trump do?
Ex-Prison Employee Reveals Ghislaine Maxwell’s Luxurious Lifestyle
Maxwell is getting perks behind bars that don’t even go to other high-profile inmates, the former employee said.
Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted child sex trafficker, is enjoying a range of special privileges at the low-security prison where she was transferred after she played defense for Donald Trump.
Noella Turnage, a former employee of the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, shared Maxwell’s private emails detailing the extent........