President Trump declared on Tuesday that Kevin Warsh might have to sit next to him in the White House.
The president said on CNBC&#8217;s &#8220;Squawk Box&#8221; that if the $2.5 billion renovations at the Federal Reserve are not wrapped up by the time former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh is confirmed as the new chair, he might not have a place to work.
Anchor Joe Kernan <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/04/21/president-trump-i-would-be-disappointed-if-kevin-warsh-doesnt-cut-rates-right-away.html">pushed back</a> on the president, saying, “I don’t know if Warsh will want to sit next to you after what happened to Jay Powell.”
Trump responded, “Maybe I’d like him next to me. Maybe it’s not a bad idea — Jerome Powell. I call him &#8216;too late.&#8217; He’s always too late,” the president said, referring to his infamous nickname for the current Fed Chair, Jerome “Too Late” Powell.
Trump revealed he would be “disappointed” if Warsh did not cut interest rates. “We should always have the lowest interest rate in the world,” he said. “When I was a young guy growing up, we always had the lowest interest rate worldwide.”
During Trump’s first term, the federal funds rate was at a near-zero range, beginning at 0.50%-0.75% and ultimately falling to 0.00%-0.25% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rates peaked at 2.25-2.50% in the second year of his term, which is about half as high as the peak during the Biden administration.
Trump says his new Fed chair is straight out of “central casting” and that “he’s going to do a great job.” While the president seems confident Warsh will lower interest rates, other economists regard Warsh as a hawk. “Warsh’s long-running hawkish views should help to counteract concerns that he might morph into a full-blown Trump stooge,” <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-sp-500-nasdaq-01-30-2026/card/would-warsh-be-a-hawk-or-dove-as-fed-chair--aCblKxbKeE8i0ZN2jla9">said</a> Deputy Chief Economist at Capital Economics Stephen Brown.
Warsh is set to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, which is considering his nomination. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), a member of the Banking Committee, says he’ll block not just Warsh, but any nominee until the Department of Justice probe into Jerome Powell is resolved. Trump’s DOJ is currently investigating the Federal Reserve’s <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/building-project-faqs.htm">$2.5</a> billion renovations, which were approved by Powell.
When asked point-blank if he would turn over the investigation to the Senate Banking Committee in order to get Kevin Warsh approved for Fed Chair, Trump stood firm on letting the Department of Justice complete the investigation.

Day Five Of The Spring Meetings Of The International Monetary Fund And World Bank

Trump Says New Fed Chair’s Office Might Be In the White House

Donald Trump

Executive

Federal Reserve

Jerome Powell

Politics

Trump Administration

FBI Director Kash Patel on Monday sued The Atlantic for $250 million over what he calls a “malicious and defamatory hit piece” that accused the federal law enforcement chief of having a serious drinking problem.
Patel is acting on a promise he made over the weekend to sue <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/04/kash-patel-fbi-director-drinking-absences/686839/">The Atlantic over a Friday story</a> whose sub-headline read, “Kash Patel has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”
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The story portrayed an absent FBI chief concerned about his job security and allegedly struggling with substance abuse, which is said to be affecting key investigations, including the murder of Charlie Kirk.
Patel has forcefully denied all allegations of misconduct.
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&#8220;You wanna attack my character, come at me, bring it on, I&#8217;ll see you in court,&#8221; Patel said in an <a href="https://x.com/FoxNews/status/2045893562026353027?s=20">interview with Fox News</a>. &#8220;We have to fight back against the fake news.&#8221;
The piece, written by reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick, cited more than two dozen anonymous sources alleging Patel engages in “excessive drinking,” as well as “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences&#8221; that &#8220;alarmed officials at the FBI  and the Department of Justice,&#8221; <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/fbi-director-kash-patel-sues-atlantic-court-records-show-2026-04-20/">according to Reuters</a>.
&#8220;Memo to the fake news &#8211; the only time I’ll ever actually be concerned about the hit piece lies you write about me will be when you stop,&#8221; Patel posted on April 18. &#8220;Keep talking, it means I’m doing exactly what I should be doing. And no amount of BS you write will ever deter this FBI from making America safe again and taking down the criminals you love.&#8221;
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Memo to the fake news &#8211; the only time I’ll ever actually be concerned about the hit piece lies you write about me will be when you stop. Keep talking, it means I’m doing exactly what I should be doing. And no amount of BS you write will ever deter this FBI from making America…
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/2045549772044439803?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2026</a></blockquote>
Patel’s <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.291527/gov.uscourts.dcd.291527.1.0.pdf">19-page suit</a> was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., accusing The Atlantic of publishing a &#8220;sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece.&#8221;
&#8220;Defendants are of course free to criticize the leadership of the FBI, but they crossed the legal line by publishing an article replete with false and obviously fabricated allegations designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office,&#8221; the lawsuit reads. &#8220;Indeed, Fitzpatrick could not get a single person to go on the record in defense of these outrageous allegations, instead relying entirely on anonymous sources she knew to be both highly partisan with an ax to grind and also not in a position to know the facts.&#8221;
The Atlantic provided the FBI a two-hour window to respond to &#8220;nineteen detailed allegations concerning complex issues of national security, personnel files, security-detail logs, internal facilities logs, and personal conduct,&#8221; according to the lawsuit.
On Monday, The Atlantic vowed to fight the lawsuit, which seeks $250 million in punitive damages.
&#8220;We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit,&#8221; the company said in response to the lawsuit.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Statement from The Atlantic: <a href="https://t.co/ZoIldjSbzl">pic.twitter.com/ZoIldjSbzl</a>
— The Atlantic Communications (@TheAtlanticPR) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAtlanticPR/status/2046239419422675189?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2026</a></blockquote>

Kash Patel

We Now Know How Much Kash Patel Is Suing The Atlantic For

Courts

kash patel

Lawsuit

The Atlantic

President Donald Trump on Friday evening hinted at what’s to come when the War Department releases files relating to UFOs and phenomena of unknown origin.
Speaking at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix, Trump said: “As you remember, I recently directed the Secretary of War — how good is Pete Hegseth doing, by the way — to begin releasing government files relating to UFOs and unexplained aerial phenomena.”
The president then remarked on how excited the crowd became, saying, “I figured this was a good crowd because I know you people are really into that. I don’t know if I am.”
“So, I’m pleased to report today — I thought I’d save it for this crowd because you’re a little out there — that this process is well underway and we’ve found many very interesting documents, I must say,” Trump continued. “And the first releases will begin very, very soon.”
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: I recently directed <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecWar</a> to begin releasing government files relating to UFOs and unexplained aerial phenomena. I am pleased to report this process is well underway. We&#8217;ve found many very interesting documents — and the first releases will begin very, very soon. 👽 <a href="https://t.co/kmRTUOefWX">pic.twitter.com/kmRTUOefWX</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2045272284806496558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2026</a></blockquote>
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The hype train for the release of documents and media related to what the United States government knows about UFOs and advanced technology has been gaining steam for months.
Trumps’s executive order on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-orders-release-of-any-and-all-info-on-aliens-and-ufos">February 19</a> directed the War Department and other agencies to “begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.”
In the wake of the president’s order, several congresspeople who have been involved with UFO disclosure efforts applied pressure to the administration to follow through.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), for example, sent <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/UAP-Request-Letter-FINAL.pdf">a letter</a> to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth requesting the disclosure of 46 known videos believed to be in possession of the U.S. government. She gave an April 14 deadline, but the date came and went without the videos being released.
All of this comes in the wake of several blockbuster congressional hearings since 2023 featuring seemingly credible witnesses to UFOs and alleged non-human tech — and even living organisms.
In March, the federal government <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/03/18/us-news/white-house-registers-aliens-gov-domain-name/">registered</a> alien.gov and aliens.gov — likely in preparation for the publication of files.
The Trump administration appears poised to make some kind of release. While it&#8217;s impossible to know with any certainty what documents, photographs, and footage may be published and if they will impact the public&#8217;s perception of the topic in any significant way, the momentum is certainly on the side of transparency and disclosure.

Trump Stokes UFO Frenzy With New Promise

Aliens

Outer Space

U.S.

FBI Director Kash Patel is preparing for a full-scale legal battle against The Atlantic after the outlet published a bombshell report he says is riddled with falsehoods, and he’s making clear he intends to take it to the mat.
“Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court — bring your checkbook,” Patel <a href="https://x.com/S_Fitzpatrick/status/2045273851764859074">told the magazine</a> ahead of publication, a warning that has now escalated into an imminent lawsuit.
The Friday article by Sarah Fitzpatrick, titled “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/04/kash-patel-fbi-director-drinking-absences/686839/">The FBI Director is MIA,</a>” levels a barrage of allegations against Patel, painting a picture of a senior law enforcement official allegedly plagued by instability, heavy drinking, and internal dysfunction. The report claims Patel engaged in “erratic” behavior, suffered bouts of paranoia about his job security, and was frequently absent or unreachable during key moments.
Among the most explosive claims: that Patel is “known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication” in front of colleagues, that members of his security detail have struggled to wake him due to alleged inebriation, and that officials once considered using breaching equipment to access a locked space when he could not be reached. The piece also alleges that meetings had to be delayed due to his condition and suggests his behavior could pose a “national security vulnerability.”
Patel’s legal team has forcefully rejected every one of those claims.
In a <a href="https://x.com/jbinnall/status/2045287437325254768">pre-publication letter</a>, his attorney Jesse Binnall called the allegations “categorically false and defamatory,” emphasizing that most rely on anonymous sources using vague phrasing like “people familiar with the matter.” Binnall argued that such sourcing “could not possibly possess firsthand knowledge” and accused the magazine of reckless disregard for the truth, a key component in proving defamation involving a public figure.
He also pointed to what he described as glaring factual holes, including the alleged “breaching equipment” incident, which he said has “no corroborating public record whatsoever” and appears to be either fabricated or based on a single unreliable source.
Reaction on X was immediate and sharply divided, with Patel allies and critics clashing over the credibility of The Atlantic’s reporting.
FBI media adviser Erica Knight <a href="https://x.com/_EricaKnight/status/2045279436354867267">blasted</a> the article as a recycled collection of rumors that “every real DC reporter chased, couldn&#8217;t verify, and passed on,” while laying out a lengthy defense of Patel’s record. She pointed to internal metrics under his leadership — including tens of thousands of arrests, major increases in violent crime enforcement, and large-scale fentanyl seizures — while dismissing the report’s central claims outright. “The so-called ‘intoxication incidents’ The Atlantic breathlessly reports have happened exactly ZERO times,” Knight wrote, adding bluntly: “Lawsuit is being filed.”
Others with direct ties to Patel echoed that pushback. Clint Brown, who described himself as a “sherpa” during Patel’s transition into the role, <a href="https://x.com/DissidentClint/status/2045310456340840611">said</a> he spent months working closely with him, and never witnessed any of the behavior described in the report. “Your anon sourced story is BS,” Brown wrote, adding that Patel was consistently responsive, detail-oriented, and deeply engaged in his work, often reviewing briefings at all hours.
Patel himself <a href="https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/2045549772044439803">leaned into the fight</a>, framing the controversy as proof he’s doing his job. “Memo to the fake news — the only time I’ll ever actually be concerned about the hit piece lies you write about me will be when you stop,” he posted, adding that criticism would not deter the FBI from “making America safe again.”
On Capitol Hill, the reaction broke along predictable lines. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) seized on the report, <a href="https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/2045524585567723876">saying</a> it confirmed Patel is “completely unfit to serve” and calling for his resignation. But Tom Cotton (R-AR), who works directly with Patel as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, <a href="https://x.com/TomCottonAR/status/2045517520849773053">dismissed</a> the story as a “dishonest smear” and pointed instead to what he described as tangible results from the bureau. Cotton followed up, <a href="https://x.com/TomCottonAR/status/2045517524926705838">adding</a>, &#8220;Here&#8217;s what&#8217;s really happening: Liberal reporters and disgruntled deep state leakers — who have zero knowledge of what the story alleges — are bitter that the FBI is no longer targeting Catholic parents and pro-lifers.&#8221;
The clash underscores what is quickly becoming more than just a media dispute: a political and legal showdown that is now playing out in real time across both the press and the courts.
Inside the administration, Patel has drawn swift and public backing. “Patel has accomplished more in 14 months than the previous administration did in four years. Anonymously sourced hit pieces do not constitute journalism,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said when reached out to by The Atlantic for comment.
FBI Assistant Director of Public Affairs Ben Williamson, who pushed back on the allegations when first contacted by the outlet, didn’t mince words in his response. He dismissed the report as a reheated collection of long-circulating rumors that had never held up under scrutiny, <a href="https://x.com/_WilliamsonBen/status/2045274603455476140">saying</a>: “This article is a compilation of pretty much every obviously fake rumor I’ve heard the last 14 months except the Atlantic is the only one dumb enough to actually print it.”
Patel himself has gone further, <a href="https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/2045327321192599867">publicly accusing</a> the magazine of acting with “actual malice,” the high legal bar required in defamation cases involving public officials. He went further, saying, “See you and your entire entourage of false reporting in court.”
His team is also demanding that The Atlantic preserve all internal communications, drafts, and source materials related to the story, a clear signal that litigation is not just a threat, but imminent.
For her part, Fitzpatrick is standing by her reporting, citing interviews with more than two dozen sources and insisting the story is accurate. 
Neither side is backing down and so the high-stakes collision between a top federal law enforcement official and a major national publication seems imminent. If Patel follows through, the case could become a major test of modern media practices, particularly the reliance on anonymous sourcing in stories involving national security figures, and whether courts are willing to scrutinize those standards more aggressively.
The next round seems likely to play out in court, where both sides will be forced to back up their claims under oath, and where the consequences could be far more serious than a war of words.

Patel Unleashes On The Atlantic Over ‘Categorically False’ Report Including ‘Locked Room’ Claim

Media

Media Bias

How do we measure the effectiveness of public policy? As the kids say, there will be signs. For measuring immigration policies, birth data serves as a lagging indicator.
Newly released Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/america-is-on-track-to-literally-die-off-new-fertility-data-warns">data</a> indicate that the number of babies born in the United States in 2025 declined 1% from a year earlier. Some in the anti-natalist camp might tout that number as a positive indication of an upwardly mobile, (mostly white), urban class prioritizing career and climate concerns for such a change. But a closer look at the demographic data reveals something different at play.
Though all demographics are declining in raw birth numbers, non-Hispanic whites are declining by the smallest amount, meaning their overall percentage of births is increasing. In February, non-Hispanic whites accounted for 50.7% of all births in the United States, and could well be a majority this year, the first time in three years.<img decoding="async" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Xg6C!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa2f6471b-e187-49f7-bd9e-5f82942417f4_1714x1126.png" />
With the exception of Indian and Cuban immigrants, all other large populations have seen their birth rates decline by double digits compared to last February.
Births from Chinese immigrants are -17.5%, Colombians are -10.5%, Ecuadorans are -22%, El Salvadorians are -15%, Guatemalans are -16%, Haitians are -16%, Hondurans are -15%, and Mexicans are -13%. The data is computed from the <a href="https://wonder.cdc.gov/natality.html">CDC Wonder</a> website&#8217;s live birth natality data.
<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!N8x9!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7420278a-6542-4e59-ab17-f73799dd53d6_802x760.png" />
Trump’s mass deportation efforts, which include practices such as self-deportation, may be having a large effect.
There still is not much to be done when an illegal alien is in the U.S. and already pregnant; she’ll only need to wait through the term of her pregnancy and have the baby here to grant the child citizenship, as recent Supreme Court arguments look poised to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-weighs-trumps-push-to-end-birthright-citizenship-with-president-in-attendance?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Torches+%E2%80%98Stupid%E2%80%99+Birthright+Citizenship+After+Supreme+Court+Appearance">reinforce</a>.
If she’s not pregnant, then there’s less of an incentive to stay.
In fact, the Trump administration has been reshaping the immigration courts to reflect his policies. The outcome of pressuring judges to conform to stricter parameters for granting <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/us/politics/trump-miller-immigration-judges-purge.html">asylum</a> is a dramatic decrease in asylum grant rates — just 7% in February. This is down from totals above 50% under the Biden and Obama administrations. In conjunction with immigration cases being decided faster, this adds up to fewer potential babies being born to illegal immigrants.
With the immigration crackdown, the U.S. fertility rate has dipped to 1.57 children per woman, which is still larger than most countries in Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America. There are more factors than just immigration to explain the dip.
Aside from American Indians and Native Hawaiians, all other races and ethnicities saw their raw numbers decline from February 2025 to February 2026. This is especially true of black Americans whose numbers are falling by nearly double digits year-to-year.<img decoding="async" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oopR!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb6f67ab-9c8f-4f98-9f05-ed0941086261_1724x1096.png" />
Whites accounted for a majority of births in 34 states and a plurality in nine states. Latinos were a plurality of births in four states and a majority in one. The District of Columbia was plurality non-Hispanic black, and Hawaii was the only state where multiracial births were the plurality.
The decline in black fertility has been so large that many states with historically large black populations have more Latino births in February than black, including Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Other states like Arkansas and Maryland could very well see Latino births outpacing blacks by the end of the year or the beginning of next year.
The birthrate numbers don’t lie. They unequivocally demonstrate the effectiveness of the Trump administration’s policies — policies that are bringing the country back from the brink of an uncontrolled influx of illegal immigrants and the persistent socioeconomic, political, and cultural problems that go with it. Future administrations should continue these policies for lasting change and signal to the rest of the world that America is no longer an open-border free-for-all. Illegal immigration isn’t inevitable; it’s a policy choice. We should continue to make the right one.
***
Ryan James Girdusky is an author, podcaster, political consultant, and writer whose work has been featured in multiple publications including the Washington Examiner, The American Conservative Magazine, The Week, Human Events, and The Daily Caller. He is the host of “It’s A Numbers Game with Ryan Girdusky” podcast and writes at the <a href="https://natpop.substack.com/">Nationalist Populist</a> Substack. Follow him on X: @RyanGirdusky

Yellow and black sign warning motorists of pedestrians on I5 near the Border Patrol checkpoint, Cam

Birthrate Data Shows Trump’s Immigration Policy Is Working

Birth Rates

Illegal Immigation

Immigration

A national grassroots organization is pressing Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to prioritize health care price transparency in upcoming legislative negotiations, arguing that a key pillar of President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda now hinges on congressional action.
In a letter delivered Thursday, Save Our States (SOS) urged Thune to make price transparency “a top policy priority” as Senate committees prepare to take up health care legislation in the coming weeks. The push comes as lawmakers return to Washington and begin shaping what could become the GOP’s next major domestic policy package.
“Price transparency is the essential first step to healthcare affordability and returning accountability to American health systems,” Trent England, the group’s executive director, wrote in the letter, exclusively obtained by The Daily Wire. “Patients without access to clear prices lack the power to act as consumers … often leaving them with devastating surprise medical bills after it’s too late.”
The appeal highlights the Trump administration’s health care agenda, which has elevated upfront pricing as a central reform. Under the administration’s “Great Healthcare Plan,” officials have called for requiring providers and insurers that accept Medicare or Medicaid to publicly post prices in an effort to curb hidden costs and billing surprises.
SOS is now pushing the Senate to translate that framework into statute, warning that without enforcement mechanisms, existing transparency rules risk remaining uneven or ineffective.
As part of its recommendations, the group is calling for stricter compliance requirements on hospitals and insurers, expanded transparency rules covering “shoppable” services like imaging and lab work, and standardized disclosure of real out-of-pocket costs rather than estimates.
“Giving Americans power to act as informed consumers … addresses concerns about the cost of living, wage growth, and our overall economy,” England wrote. “Making healthcare prices transparent and fostering competition will allow Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money and face less financial uncertainty.”
The renewed push comes as polling continues to show overwhelming support for transparency reforms across the political spectrum. A poll released ahead of the 2024 presidential election by <a href="https://www.patientrightsadvocate.org/blog/new-poll-an-overwhelming-92-of-americans-support-healthcare-price-transparency">PatientRightsAdvocate.org</a> found that 92 percent of likely voters support requiring hospitals and insurers to provide real prices upfront, including 94 percent of Democrats, 92 percent of independents, and 91 percent of Republicans.
The same poll found that 98 percent of voters support transparent pricing in health care, higher than support for transparency in industries like airlines, while 91 percent said upfront pricing would protect workers from hidden fees. Another 88 percent said transparency would increase competition and lower costs, and 77 percent indicated they would prefer a president who prioritizes such reforms.
The Trump administration capitalized on that favorability, reviving and expanding federal transparency efforts early in the president’s second term. In February 2025, Trump signed an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/making-america-healthy-again-by-empowering-patients-with-clear-accurate-and-actionable-healthcare-pricing-information/">executive order</a> directing federal agencies to strengthen enforcement of existing price transparency rules and require disclosure of actual, upfront healthcare prices, not estimates.
The order used transparency as a corrective measure to what it described as a system where “prices were hidden from patients and employers,” allowing hospitals and insurers to operate with “insufficient accountability” while driving up costs. It also called for standardized pricing data and more aggressive enforcement against noncompliant providers.
But more than a year later, many of those reforms remain in the implementation phase, with Congress still needed to codify the policy into law and ensure it survives beyond executive action. The letter lands as health care costs continue to rank among voters’ top domestic concerns heading into the midterm cycle, adding pressure on lawmakers to produce tangible reforms.
In the Senate, legislation such as the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act, led by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), has drawn bipartisan support in the upper chamber, signaling that transparency measures may be one of the few areas of health care policy capable of advancing across party lines. The bill would codify and expand existing federal requirements, though its fate remains tied to broader negotiations over a GOP health care package. With committee markups expected in the near future, SOS is escalating its push directly to Senate leadership as a broadly popular, commonsense policy with implications far beyond the health care system.
The moment represents both an opportunity and a test for Senate Republicans, who have rallied around the concept of transparency, but have yet to coalesce around a finalized legislative vehicle. Whether that urgency translates into legislative action, however, remains an open question. While the administration continues to advance its agenda and outside groups intensify their lobbying efforts, the Senate has yet to signal when, or whether, it will move a comprehensive health care package to the floor.
For now, the gap between policy alignment and legislative execution persists, leaving one of the administration’s most politically durable domestic priorities awaiting action on Capitol Hill.

John Thune 3/03/26

Hospitals Posting Real Prices Before Care Could Soon Be The New Reality

Healthcare

John Thune

U.S. Senate

The White House came out swinging against a bill, backed by several Republicans, that would prohibit the deportation of Haitian nationals living in the United States, according to a memo first obtained by The Daily Wire. 
The Office of Management and Budget said Wednesday that the Trump administration “strongly opposes” a <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1689">bill</a> sponsored by eight congressional Democrats and New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler that would expand Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians until 2029. The move from the White House comes as the House is expected to vote soon on the measure after four Republicans joined Democrats to force a vote.
“Across several Executive Orders and Proclamations, the President has made it clear that this Administration’s priority is protecting the American people and addressing the criminal threat posed by those who enter this nation with little to no vetting or overstay the visa granted them,” the White House said Wednesday. “Numerous Haitian nationals previously granted TPS have been the subject of administrative investigations for fraud, public safety, and national security.”
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/04/07/haitian-illegal-alien-violently-kills-innocent-mother-repeatedly-hitting-her-hammer">announced</a> that Rolbert Joachin, an illegal immigrant from Haiti accused of murdering a woman with a hammer, was granted TPS by the Biden administration.
In March, Lawler and three other Republicans <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/DischargePetition/2026012215?Page=2">backed</a> a discharge petition from Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) to force a vote on the proposal. The other Republicans who joined the discharge petition included Reps. Don Bacon (NE), Maria Salazar (FL), and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA). The Daily Wire reached out to their offices for comment on the president’s opposition to the measure. 
Bacon said he opposed removing TPS status because it would impact the healthcare industry.
“Removing the TPS status would cost 350,000 healthcare workers their ability to work at a time when we’re already facing serious workforce shortages,&#8221; Bacon told The Daily Wire.&#8221;I’ve heard from healthcare providers and business leaders across Nebraska who are concerned about the impact this would have on patient care and our economy. I don’t see the goodness of deporting people who are here legally, who are working, and who contribute to our country.”
Democrat sponsors of the proposal include Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Florida Democrat and Haitian-American facing expulsion from the House for allegedly funneled millions of dollars into her campaign illegally.
Should the bill pass, the White House said that President Donald Trump would be advised to veto the legislation.
Former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem directed TPS status for Haitians to be terminated on February 3, 2026, saying the conditions for giving Haitians specially protected status from deportation were no longer met. 
Judges have so far blocked efforts to revoke TPS, and DHS said it is working with the Justice Department to “determine next steps.”
Lawler and about two dozen other House Republicans recently faced criticism from conservative lawmakers over their support for Salazar’s “DIGNIDAD Act,” which would provide legal status without a way to get citizenship for those in the country illegally before 2021. Critics say the measure would be de facto amnesty and would significantly curtail efforts to deport illegal immigrants.

New York Congressman Mike Lawler Holds Town Hall Gathering For Constituents In Putnam County

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Admin Comes Out Swinging On Haitian Immigration Bill Backed By Some Republicans

Haiti

Illegal Immigration

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

White House

It’s Tax Day, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reports that more than 5 million children have been enrolled in Trump Accounts, with the primary enrollment method being submitting IRS Form 4547 alongside a tax return.
The accounts will officially launch on July 4, and all accounts opened for kids born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, will automatically receive a $1,000 seed investment from the United States Treasury Department. 1.2 million of the 5 million kids who are signed up are eligible for that seed money. 
Companies and philanthropists have teamed up with Trump accounts in multiple states to match or add additional funds to the accounts. Hedge Fund Manager Brad Gerstner, who is credited with coming up with the idea for Trump Accounts, pledged to add $250 into every opened account for children under the age of five in Indiana. 
Trump Accounts could significantly reshape the financial outlook for many American families. Based on White House estimates, a child born in 2026 may accumulate roughly $5,800 in the account by age 18 without any additional deposits. If parents and employers consistently contribute the maximum allowed amounts, the total could rise to approximately $303,800 over that same period. Looking further ahead, projections suggest the balance could reach around $18,100 by age 28 without extra contributions, and as much as $1,091,000 with sustained maximum funding. 
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent slammed critics at CNBC’s Invest In America Forum who claim it will increase inequality for children whose parents or whose parents’ employers are able to contribute more than others. 
“Look, the wealthy don’t need tax-advantaged funds,” Bessent said, dismissing critics calling them “elitist” and “tone-deaf.” He referenced a conversation with the Mortgage Bankers Association, noting that only about 30% of initiated mortgages are completed, often due to relatively small financial hurdles. “They said many buyers fall short because they don’t even have $1,000 to cover costs like credit checks or title insurance,” he said. “An additional $5,000 could help many more people get across the finish line.”
Each child’s account may receive up to $5,000 per year from a combination of contributions made by family members, friends, or employers. Bank of New York Mellon will manage the accounts in a partnership with Robinhood, which is developing the Trump Accounts app. The investment will be allocated across a broad mix of low-cost index funds, balancing growth potential with risk management. The goal is to launch a child into adulthood with financial support, allowing them to pay for education expenses, purchase a home, or start a business, all from the gains of the American Economy. 
The program was funded through the “Beautiful Bill,” with the possibility that future legislation could expand eligibility to include children born in later years.

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

Trump Accounts Get Overwhelming Response In Tax Day Filings

Economy

Families

When an ordinary American takes on a woke corporate giant or powerful institution in court, the question isn’t always just who’s right — it’s who can afford to fight. In today’s legal system, staying power comes from financial resources, not just conviction or correctness. And that imbalance has muzzled countless Americans seeking to challenge the assault on their freedoms.
Conservatives should oppose lawfare and seek major changes to bring back justice to our judicial system — but we should not confuse it with the very tool that helps citizens fight back. In a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/1021457745/Conservatives-Must-Reject-the-Swamp-s-Assault-on-Justice?secret_password=5rkaoit7YpLbbkzfDEV8">report</a> I recently published, I explain how third-party litigation finance (TPLF) is one of the few remaining mechanisms that allows ordinary citizens to take powerful woke corporations, institutions, and government bureaucrats to court on a level playing field. The prevalence of lawfare is exactly what makes this tool indispensable.
Over the past decade, the Left has turned the legal system into a political weapon. Their activists flood courts with suits designed to punish conservative speech, religious liberty, and parental rights. Meanwhile, conservative causes — whether challenging DEI mandates, ESG policies, or Big Tech censorship — often falter because plaintiffs can’t afford the long, expensive battle that follows. Rights on paper mean little without the resources to enforce them.
Conservative nonprofits fight valiantly, but they can’t do everything. Litigation finance can help fill that gap. It provides non-recourse capital from investors who have conducted rigorous due diligence and concluded that a claim has real merit. The plaintiff — a conservative activist, a small business owner, or an everyday American whose rights have been trampled — risks nothing beyond the claim itself. The funder assumes the financial risk in exchange for a negotiated share of any recovery. This structure is revolutionary for meritorious cases that would otherwise die on the vine because the plaintiff cannot outlast deep-pocketed opponents who treat litigation as a war of attrition. Like contingency fees, litigation finance doesn’t manufacture lawsuits; it makes viable ones possible that would otherwise never see the light of day.
For conservatives, this is critical. It can fund lawsuits against woke corporations enforcing DEI mandates, challenges to Big Tech viewpoint discrimination, election-integrity litigation, and defenses or counterclaims against the Left’s lawfare machine. Market discipline keeps this system honest. Serious funders back strong cases and avoid frivolous ones because repeated losses would be financial suicide.
Lawfare is about weaponizing process to punish opponents regardless of merit. Litigation finance, by contrast, depends on the system working fairly. One abuses the law; the other enforces it.
At the very moment conservatives should be embracing this equalizer, some in Washington are trying to strangle it. The <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3826/all-actions">Litigation Funding Transparency Act of 2026</a> and the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7015/text">Protecting TPLF From Abuse Act</a> would force parties to broadly disclose their funding arrangements — a move that would hand corporate defendants a strategic advantage before the first motion is filed. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), meanwhile, is pushing a <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/litigation-finance-tax-fight-heads-for-second-round-tillis-says">punitive tax proposal</a> designed to make litigation finance economically unviable. Even state legislatures in <a href="https://legiscan.com/TN/bill/SB2101/2025">Tennessee</a> and <a href="https://www.senate.mo.gov/BillTracking/Bills/BillInformation?year=2026&amp;billid=539">Missouri</a>, among others, have introduced similar proposals to sharply restrict litigation finance.
These measures would not deter lawfare. They would bolster the very corporations pushing progressive social agendas by choking off the capital that allows conservatives to challenge them. Instead of empowering Americans to fight back, these bills would ensure that only the wealthy and well-connected can afford to litigate.
Conservatives should, of course, guard against genuine national security risks. No one wants foreign adversaries such as China or Russia using our courts to advance their interests. But that risk is narrow and manageable. A straightforward prohibition on funding from foreign adversaries, with strict enforcement, would block bad actors without undermining the entire system. The answer to potential foreign infiltration of litigation finance isn’t to cripple American access to justice; it’s to keep the market clean, so American plaintiffs can continue holding powerful corporations and institutions accountable.
If these punitive measures advance in their current forms, conservative lawmakers will have helped dismantle one of the few tools that can actually help their voters. The small business owner fighting discriminatory corporate practices, the church defending its religious liberty, and the parent challenging school censorship will all be left effectively defenseless unless they are independently wealthy or have the backing of a strong conservative legal organization. And woke corporations enjoy even more insulation from accountability.
Conservative lawmakers and leaders should be leading the charge in the opposite direction. Litigation finance is a pro-family, pro-small business, pro-rule-of-law innovation that restores fairness to the courtroom. They should defend it against overbroad disclosure mandates and punitive taxes, while enacting a narrow foreign adversary ban to keep the system clean.
***
Gene Hamilton is the President and Co-Founder of America First Legal and former Deputy White House Counsel to President Donald Trump.

Gavel and scales with a US flag in the background as symbols of a jurisdiction.

Conservatives Can Fight Leftist Lawfare With Litigation Finance

DW Opinion

Lawfare

President Donald Trump ordered two bags of food from McDonald&#8217;s to the Oval Office via DoorDash for lunch on Monday and allowed the delivery driver to talk about the massive tax return she received thanks to Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill.&#8221;
Dasher Sharon Simmons, who wore a shirt that read &#8220;DoorDash Grandma,&#8221; walked up to the outside door of the Oval Office as cameras rolled and was greeted by the president.
&#8220;Nice to meet you. I have your DoorDash order for you, Mr. President,&#8221; Simmons said.
&#8220;Look at this. This doesn&#8217;t look staged, does it?&#8221; Trump quipped as reporters gathered to watch the food drop off and ask Trump questions during a quick press conference.
Simmons told Trump that she was surprised to receive a tax refund of over $11,000 this year thanks to the tax cuts passed in Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill.&#8221; The bill, which was passed the Republican-controlled Congress and signed into law by Trump last summer, allows Americans to deduct federal taxes on tips and overtime. Trump&#8217;s tax cuts gave many waiters, bartenders, and delivery drivers a massive boost in their 2025 refunds.
&#8220;You know, we call it the &#8216;Great, Big, Beautiful Bill&#8217; — we should call it the &#8216;Great, Big, Beautiful Tax Cut Bill&#8217; because it&#8217;s tremendous amounts of money,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;And that&#8217;s on overtime, that&#8217;s also on social security, as you know.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
WATCH IN FULL: <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> receives a <a href="https://twitter.com/DoorDash?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DoorDash</a> delivery to the Oval Office.
&#8220;I have your <a href="https://twitter.com/DoorDash?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DoorDash</a> order for you, Mr. President!&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/lwFHbHmYVk">pic.twitter.com/lwFHbHmYVk</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2043736844144124206?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump tipped the dasher $100 for the McDonald&#8217;s delivery. He also invited her into the Oval Office.
<div id="attachment_1077065" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1077065" class="wp-image-1077065 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270730070-865x576.jpg" alt="" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270730070-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270730070-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270730070-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270730070.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />Photographer: Salwan Georges/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
After dropping off the president&#8217;s McDonald&#8217;s order, Simmons told Fox News that Trump&#8217;s no tax on tips has helped her save up money after she and her husband were forced to spend much of their savings on her husband&#8217;s medical bills when he was diagnosed with stage-three cancer.
&#8220;As you know, going through treatments — even with insurance — you kind of break the bank,&#8221; Simmons said. &#8220;And we pretty much went through our savings, so when I found out about the no tax on tips, I was like this is incredible. You know, it&#8217;s not going to replace my life savings, but it&#8217;s going to help, certainly, with future doctor&#8217;s appointments and future things that we have going on. It means a lot.&#8221;
Simmons added that in 2025, half of her total earnings came through tips. Following the passage of the &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill,&#8221; many seniors also qualified for an additional $6,000 in deductions on their 2025 tax returns. So far, the average tax refund for all Americans in the 2026 filing season has been over $3,600, up nearly 11% from last year&#8217;s refunds, <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-march-6-2026">according</a> to IRS data.
The Trump administration is highlighting the president&#8217;s economic policies as the 2026 election season ramps up. Earlier this month, the White House <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-job-growth-surges-past-expectations-in-march">celebrated</a> a jobs report that showed a net gain of 178,000 jobs in March, more than tripling expectations.
On other economic fronts, however, Trump is taking a hit as the Iran war continues. The president faces criticism over rising gas and energy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-report-shows-iran-war-impact-as-a-key-piece-tells-the-story">prices</a> in the wake of his decision to launch &#8220;Operation Epic Fury.&#8221;

President Trump Highlights ‘No Tax On Tips’ Policy

Trump DoorDashes McDonald’s To Oval Office To Prove A Point On Taxes

McDonald’s

Taxes

WASHINGTON  — President Donald Trump&#8217;s Department of Health and Human Services has gathered a group of states across the nation committed to increasing the number of licensed foster homes, battling an alarming ratio of foster homes to foster children through increased reporting of data and less red tape.
Fourteen states and the District of Columbia have joined &#8220;A Home for Every Child,&#8221; The Daily Wire can first report, a bipartisan initiative of HHS&#8217; Administration for Children and Families. The program seeks to rectify the massive gap in licensed foster homes for children in the United States — for every 100 children in care, there are only 57 licensed foster homes. HHS has been working to close that gap.
The District of Columbia, Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and Iowa have each committed to organizing their child welfare systems around this 57 to 100 metric, to change the national metric to a one to one ratio.
Oklahoma joined first, in February, and was the first state to have its &#8220;Program Improvement Plan&#8221; approved by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Kentucky quickly followed and already have their &#8220;Program Improvement Plans&#8221; both negotiated and approved, ACF said.
&#8220;When we don&#8217;t have enough homes for those children, they get placed in non-traditional settings that are not conducive to long-term growth and development of the child,&#8221; explained Assistant Secretary Alex Adams in a phone interview with The Daily Wire. The kids get placed in hotels, Airbnbs, or other care settings which are known to be locations of vulnerability. &#8220;So we need to increase nationally the ratio of homes to kids.&#8221; 
The Home Every Child Campaign will reduce red tape and paperwork and other onerous requirements, but a major part of the endeavor is that the states involved will report back to HHS with data much more frequently, Adams explained. That will help HHS understand which states are taking action to help foster kids in an appropriate and safe way.
The move builds on the executive order that President Donald Trump signed in November. First Lady Melania Trump&#8217;s Fostering the Future Executive Order focused on improving foster care outcomes.
&#8220;This is the manifestation of that,&#8221; Adams said. He described an &#8220;unbelievable, bipartisan response [from] both red and blue states.&#8221; 
&#8220;I think that&#8217;s a testament to the executive order, the vision that First Lady Melania Trump had in particular, the concrete objectives of both improving data transparency as well as reducing administrative burdens since a lot of the federal requirements in the past just zap time and energy from productive activities.&#8221; 
The Administration for Children and Families will be releasing public scorecards displaying each state&#8217;s metrics in the coming months, HHS shared with The Daily Wire. That will include the foster home to child ratio, meaning that for the first time, this data will be available at the national level.
One aspect that has impacted homes for foster care children, particularly under President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration, was ideological requirements for foster parents. In Vermont, for example, <a href="https://x.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1798022076609319203?s=20">parents who espoused Christian views on gender ideology</a> were blocked from fostering children in need, even though the state desperately needed foster parents.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve never talked to a state child welfare director who said their biggest issue was they had too many families going to foster, and in fact it&#8217;s the exact opposite,&#8221; Adams said, asked about this point. &#8220;Like I said, we&#8217;ve got a nationwide shortage of foster families, so the message that we send to prospective foster parents is so critical.&#8221;
Statistically, he pointed out, members of houses of worship are the &#8220;most likely to raise their hands and volunteer and want to pursue license as a foster family.&#8221; The message that is sent to Christian families willing to be foster parents is extremely important, he noted, as it can either attract or detract from that goal of a one to one ratio. 
&#8220;The policy certainly does play a role, and I think what excites us about this is we&#8217;re gonna get monthly data on each of these states that&#8217;s participating, what the ratio of homes to kids is, and I think we&#8217;ll separate the wheat from the chaff pretty quickly,&#8221; he added. &#8220;We&#8217;ll see some states doing well, we&#8217;ll see some states not doing well, and I think by bringing some transparency to it, increasing the frequency of the data will help inform which policies either facilitate or indeed foster family recruitment and retention.&#8221;

Amazon MGM’s “Melania” World Premiere

EXCLUSIVE: Years Of Barriers Left Kids Without Homes. How Trump Admin Is Stepping In

Foster Care

The attempted <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/why-the-vatican-and-the-white-house">hit piece</a> on one of J.D. Vance&#8217;s closest allies in the administration fell apart in a day.
Let&#8217;s take a step back to understand the context. For years, Elbridge Colby — currently the Undersecretary of War for Policy at the Pentagon, a prominent and respected realist thinker on national security — has been the target of attacks from those seeking to undermine his status within the policy community. These attacks have come primarily from neoconservatives seeking to undermine someone who has the resume of a future secretary of state or the like.
Now, as with so many other disputes, Colby has come to serve as a proxy for the true target of criticism: Vice President J.D. Vance, who purportedly shares many of his foreign policy views.
The latest assault originated in the The Free Press, which published a freelance writer who made audacious, unsourced claims about conversations that occurred within a January meeting with representatives of the Catholic Church. Concerning a meeting between Pentagon officials and the Apostolic Nuncio Christophe Cardinal Pierre — preceding any critique by the Pope of the current conflict in Iran — The Free Press published claims that read like they were designed by AI to offend Catholics everywhere.
Describing the confab as &#8220;a bitter lecture warning that the United States has the military power to do whatever it wants—and that the Church had better take its side,&#8221; it included the hair-on-fire claim that in the meeting, Pentagon officials — presumably including Colby — &#8220;went so far as to invoke the Avignon Papacy, the period in the 1300s when the French Crown leveraged its military power to dominate the papal authority.&#8221;
The claim was echoed by the ideologically incoherent band of Trump administration critics, in this case including The Atlantic&#8217;s David French, Pod Save America&#8217;s Jon Favreau, and noted resident of the furthest reaches of the galaxy Candace Owens. Bro podcaster Shawn Ryan <a href="https://x.com/ShawnRyan762/status/2041990673222570488">suggested</a> that the Trump administration was literally threatening to bomb the Vatican.
The report led to this question on the tarmac in Hungary of Vance, who was clearly blindsided by the claims:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="JD Vance Reacts to Report US Official Issued Threat to Vatican Ambassador" width="422" height="750" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7DJc5jCOYT4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The only problem with this report is that everyone in the room has said that&#8217;s not what happened. This comment in response from Brian Burch, Ambassador to the Holy See, related the views of Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who retired as the Apostolic Nuncio following his 80th birthday:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I was pleased to speak today with His Eminence, Cardinal Christophe Pierre. As expected, he confirmed that recent media characterizations of his meeting with Undersecretary Colby are “fabrications” that were “just invented.” Given the intelligence and seriousness of Mr. Colby, I… <a href="https://t.co/R2ogLy2HAf">https://t.co/R2ogLy2HAf</a>
— Ambassador Brian Burch (@BrianBurchUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrianBurchUSA/status/2042307511504519366?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I was pleased to speak today with His Eminence, Cardinal Christophe Pierre. As expected, he confirmed that recent media characterizations of his meeting with Undersecretary Colby are &#8216;fabrication&#8217; that were &#8216;just invented.&#8217; Given the intelligence and seriousness of Mr. Colby, I was likewise not surprised when His Eminence acknowledged there were no threats of any kind in the meeting. &#8216;It was a frank and cordial meeting that took place two months ago.&#8217; Threat of Avignon? &#8216;None.'&#8221;
In fairness, the participants were smiling an awful lot for just getting threatened with Dresden on the Tiber.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby <a href="https://twitter.com/USWPColby?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USWPColby</a> had a substantive, respectful, and professional meeting with Cardinal Pierre, the then-Papal Nuncio, and his team on January 22, 2026. During the cordial meeting, they discussed a range of topics, including issues of… <a href="https://t.co/McI0sB2wKC">pic.twitter.com/McI0sB2wKC</a>
— DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DOWResponse/status/2042300020494418303?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Vatican release this morning is as definitive as it gets, reading in full:
<blockquote>
As confirmed by His Excellency Christophe Pierre, former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, his meeting with Mr. Elbridge Andrew Colby was part of the Pontifical Representative’s regular duties and provided an opportunity for an exchange of views on matters of mutual interest. The account offered by certain media outlets regarding this meeting does not correspond to the truth in any way.
</blockquote>
There are denials, and then there are vociferous denials, and then there are unequivocal denials. The Free Press piece remains published, with only an editor&#8217;s note giving comment from the Pentagon. The question we should be asking is this: Why would anyone run such a thinly sourced piece attacking the prominently Catholic vice president unless there was an underlying agenda?

Pope Leo XIV Meets With JD Vance And Marco Rubio, The Day After Inauguration Mass

Don’t Fall Prey To Claims The Trump Administration Wants To Bomb The Vatican

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JD Vance

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