The FBI thwarted a plot involving explosive-carrying drones and snipers targeting the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House Sunday night, FBI Director Kash Patel said. 
Patel revealed on Tuesday that the FBI first became aware of the plot on June 10 before arresting five suspects in the lead-up to the UFC event. Officials <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-disrupts-alleged-explosive-drone-plot-targeting-white-house-ufc-event-officials-say">told</a> Fox News that the plot involved using explosive-laden drones targeting buildings to herd people in front of a group of snipers. An apparent “second wave” would have then targeted the White House, an official said. 
Those arrested included 19-year-old Tycen Proper, Bryan Omar Roa, and Michael Alan Thomas, Fox News reported. Proper was arrested in Ohio, and Roa and Thomas were arrested in California and charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
Proper was accused of four criminal charges including conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, attempted murder of any officer or employee of the United States, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and receipt or transfer of a firearm used to commit a felony, according to a criminal complaint viewed by The Daily Wire.
The FBI complaint said that local law enforcement showed up at a home in Knox County, Ohio, after Proper&#8217;s mother called them on June 10 at 9:18 p.m. &#8220;concerned about her son, identified as PROPER, due to his recent conduct, including firearms purchases and communicating with certain individuals online.&#8221;
Proper&#8217;s parents told law enforcement that their son had recently quit his job and started communicating online with unknown individuals about &#8220;missions&#8221; and &#8220;recons.&#8221; He also used $3,000 of graduation money to buy &#8220;several boxes of ammunition (estimated by law enforcement to be in the thousands of rounds of ammunition), two plate carriers with AR-style magazines, an AR-style rifle, and a bullpup rifle painted with an American flag,&#8221; according to the complaint. That equipment was turned over to law enforcement. 
Proper was then admitted to a local hospital based on &#8220;homicidal ideations,&#8221; and local law enforcement contacted the FBI. Proper&#8217;s mother alleged to the FBI that he joined a group that &#8220;expressed ultra-religious and anti-government sentiments, specifically citing grievances about government corruption, the handling of the Epstein files, data centers taking up all the water in communities, and other government actions.&#8221; 
On June 11, a search warrant was executed on Proper&#8217;s phone that found Signal chats &#8220;that laid out detailed plans to conduct an attack in Washington D.C.,&#8221; and &#8220;detailed imagery of the National Capitol Region and maps of the area,&#8221; according to the complaint. The maps highlighted &#8220;sniper locations, potential drone launch locations, and other detailed tactical planning,&#8221; according to the complaint. 
That same day, the FBI interviewed Proper, who &#8220;admitted to planning with others a coordinated attack against the United States government during the UFC event scheduled to take place on the White House lawn,&#8221; according to the complaint. 
He &#8220;stated that the plan was for members of his group to act as snipers and additional shooters, preferably with long guns, staged at or near the southern evacuation point to conduct shootings of members of the crowd and [high value targets] as they fled from the explosive devices which had just been detonated. The [high value targets] included both wealthy people and politicians. According to Proper, this attack was designed to &#8216;jumpstart&#8217; a revolution in the United States,&#8221; the complaint found. 
One of the potential targets was Senator Marsha Blackburn because &#8220;she&#8217;s taken money from the Israel pro Israel lobby and supports them,&#8221; according to a text message included in the complaint. Other purported targets included Senator Jim Justice, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Rep. Carol Miller, and Rep. Riley Moore. Their images appeared to be taken from the website &#8220;TrackAIPAC.com,&#8221; according to the complaint. 
<div style="max-width: 728px; margin: 0 auto;"><iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; max-width: 100%; width: 100%; margin: 20px auto 5px; border: 0;" src="https://player.mux.com/00T00DoxJgLnSAQStOdA2yNFRAdCXG2O79?metadata-video-content-type=embed_video&amp;metadata-video-id=22ee7535-ce3c-4786-b286-1ff8dea5879a&amp;metadata-video-stream-type=on-demand&amp;metadata-video-title=2026-6-16%20White%20House%20UFC%20drone%20plot%20&amp;poster=https%3A%2F%2Fdailywireplus-v2.imgix.net%2Fimages%2Fembedded-videos%2F7a9ad121-a12a-429e-9d1d-74f079d6d439.jpg&amp;autoplay=false&amp;accent-color=%23DB3D3B&amp;primary-color=%23ffffff&amp;secondary-color=%23000000" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
&nbsp;
“On June 10, FBI and our law enforcement partners became aware of a potential threat to the UFC America 250 event in Washington, D.C. involving individuals outside of the National Capital Region — and thanks to the rapid action of this FBI, our partners, and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold,” Patel said. 
A total of 23 individuals were reportedly investigated over suspected ties to the plot. One suspect was arrested in Cincinnati, Ohio, and others planned to travel to Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the days leading up to the UFC event, the official told Fox News. Plans for the attack were found in Signal chats, investigators said. 
One suspect allegedly told officials that he wanted to target &#8220;capitalist elites,&#8221; billionaires, and politicians who received donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Over 4,000 people showed up to the event, including President Donald Trump, key administration officials, and prominent businessmen like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. 
“While the result represented the best of investigative work, it was also nothing out of the ordinary for this law enforcement team — we are built to detect, respond to, and bring to justice those who threaten the lives of American citizens — particularly during large gatherings like the historic UFC 250 fight,” Patel added. “That’s exactly what we did here. I want to thank our great agents and partners, this work remains ongoing and we will continue to update the public as permitted.”
The attack was allegedly planned after a recent surge in Left-wing violence with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, attacks targeting Trump and administration officials, and the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The man accused of starting the Lachman and Palisades fires was reportedly inspired by Luigi Mangione, who is accused of murdering Thompson.

President Trump Hosts UFC Freedom 250 Fight Topuria v Gaethje At The White House

Suspects Identified In Explosive Drone Plot Targeting UFC White House Fans

domestic terrorism

Donald Trump

kash patel

Washington D.C.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA — Bishop Michael Burbidge is aware that a good percentage of the 432,700 Catholics in his flock are politically important.
“One of the first shocks I experienced when I became the Bishop of Arlington was being in this office and looking out and seeing the Capitol and the Washington Monument from my window,” Burbidge told The Daily Wire in a recent interview. “There are some heavy hitters here who are influencing our country&#8217;s politics.”
For about two years, those heavy hitters included Vice President JD Vance, who, as a first-term senator from Ohio, settled his family in Northern Virginia. Vance’s Catholicism has been a central part of his identity since his <a href="https://www.theamericanconservative.com/j-d-vance-becomes-catholic/">2019 baptism</a> — back when he was still just “the author of ‘Hillbilly Elegy’” and a promising young man.
Vance, who tells the story of his faith journey in a forthcoming book, <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/communion-j-d-vance?variant=45116963192866">“Communion,”</a> may have broken the land speed record for transition from catechumen to prominent Catholic. By the time Donald Trump asked him to join the presidential ticket, he was one of the most well-known American Catholics, second only to the man he and Trump were running to succeed.
Once in office, Vance became the locus for Catholic critiques of the Trump administration’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pope-leo-addresses-narrative-suggesting-he-and-trump-are-at-war">foreign policy</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hours-before-zelensky-meeting-vance-praises-trump-for-pursuing-a-path-of-peace">immigration crackdown</a> — which earned the White House rebukes from Pope Francis and now Pope Leo XIV, whose elevation to the Throne of St. Peter moved Vance a few notches down the list of prominent American Catholics.
Burbidge knows all of this. He’s met Vance, he says, but hasn&#8217;t had a formal meeting with him since he became vice president. And Burbidge realizes the vice president has a particular challenge before him, not just as a Catholic leader, but one with a countryman in Rome. But the bishop — who <a href="https://www.arlingtondiocese.org/2025/01/31/a-pastoral-statement-on-the-catholic-imperative-of-upholding-human-dignity-and-the-common-good-in-american-immigration-law/">encouraged</a> Trump and Vance in January 2025 to “develop a national immigration policy that reflects the Catholic commitment to human dignity and the common good” — stressed that Vance has all the tools he needs to navigate choppy theological-political waters.
“We have a mandate to be not only citizens, but to be faithful citizens,” Burbidge says. “You can&#8217;t separate what you know to be true and what you profess to believe into your life as a politician. And will you have to pay a price for that sometimes? Of course you will. Will you maybe be rejected by others? Of course you will. But there&#8217;s no other path.”
“This is what&#8217;s so great about being Catholic,” the bishop adds. “There&#8217;s a consistency of the gospel of life and the truth.”
“Now, does this become more challenging for a politician? I&#8217;m sure it does. But you can&#8217;t be one person here and another person here.”
A Philadelphia native ordained in 1984, Burbidge began his episcopal journey as the auxiliary bishop of his hometown in 2002. Named bishop of Raleigh in 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI, he held that post for a decade before Pope Francis named him the fourth bishop of Arlington. It’s a role to which Burbidge — a polished speaker unafraid to preach the “gospel of life” to all manner of politicians — seems uniquely suited.
“It really doesn&#8217;t matter who&#8217;s in office,” Burbidge says when asked how he’s navigated the transition from President Joe Biden, a Catholic who flouted the Church’s teaching on abortion, to Trump and Vance, whose paeans to the faith have not kept them out of the fray.
“It&#8217;s always going to be a challenge, because [the Catholic Church is] so beautiful, the way we teach the gospel of life. It confuses people that we can be on this side or that side, but the truth of the gospel, what we&#8217;re teaching doesn&#8217;t change because of who&#8217;s in office.”
The bishop certainly practices what he’s preaching here. Burbidge issued his statement on immigration less than two weeks after Inauguration Day, reminding the Trump team of the Church’s stance before it had finished unpacking.
Burbidge had plenty of practice dealing with politicians by this point. From 2022 to 2024, he chaired the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Pro-Life Activities Committee. In that role, he <a href="https://catholicvote.org/bishop-of-arlington-calls-president-biden-to-repent/">chastised Biden</a> for “causing great scandal when he announces both his faith and his pro-abortion position publicly,” calling on the president to “repent.”
Still, Burbidge goes out of his way to stress that his role is no different than that of other bishops. He does not tell his priests to preach to the powerful in the pews and thinks there “should be no effort at all” for priests to do that.
For all that’s happening in the American church, Burbidge is most excited about the things that get bishops excited: seven ordinations this year and 12 in 2025; 39 active seminarians; mass attendance rebounding to pre-COVID numbers; 27 George Mason students brought into the church this Easter alone, the work of just one campus priest.
“We have so many young adults who are fully engaged in the life of the church,” Burbidge says. “We are very, very blessed with vocations … and we have so many beautiful holy families, holy marriages, from which vocations so often come.”
With a flourishing diocese and rising levels of religiosity among young Americans, Burbidge is optimistic about the future of the country and the church. And he sees even more reason for hope in Pope Leo, whom he praises for “the serenity and the simplicity and the joy” he has projected in his first year as pontiff.
“I think it was a blessing, a gift, that he knows the United States,” Burbidge says. “He&#8217;s lived here, he&#8217;s from here. He speaks the language. He gets us, and I think he understands us, in our politics and our culture and things like that.”
One might say it’s providential, the ascension of an American pope at the dawn of a very Catholic age in American politics. Abortion and immigration, the twin issues of our time, make it clear that Catholic social teaching does not cleave easily along party lines. And yet, the days of Catholics sidestepping politics seem to be over.
The Republican nominee for president in 2028 will almost certainly be Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio, both Catholics. And at least two Democratic frontrunners — California Governor Gavin Newsom and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — are proximately Catholic as well. Our nation’s next presidential election may not just be a referendum on competing political systems, but competing conceptions of Catholicism.
Regardless of whether that happens, American Catholics will certainly be glad to have one of their own leading the church in the coming years. But perhaps they’ll also look to a prelate just two years younger than Pope Leo, another son of a great American city whose ordination came almost two years to the day of the Holy Father’s.
“As a bishop, I have to have full responsibility for every soul entrusted to me,” Burbidge says. “And therefore, I have to speak truth and love, and love involves speaking the truth.”
“So, I think that if you&#8217;re a Catholic and you&#8217;re running for office, your bishop&#8217;s going to be talking to you.”

Arlington Bishop dedicates Mass to victims of Las Vegas shooting

JD Vance’s Bishop Wants Catholic Politicians To Do What’s Right

Catholic Church

JD Vance

Marco Rubio

Pope Leo

An ex-Marine fought off four armed teenage robbery suspects in Maryland this week after one of them pointed a gun at him while he was working on his truck.
The confrontation happened around 5 p.m. Tuesday in Oxon Hill, just outside Washington, D.C., according to reports.
Video obtained by <a href="http://facebook.com/FoxNews/videos/four-teens-allegedly-tried-to-rob-a-former-marine-at-gunpoint-outside-his-own-ho/993407659719786/">Fox News</a> shows four hooded teens approaching Jheyco Borda as he worked on his vehicle.
One of the teens allegedly demanded Borda&#8217;s keys, phone, and valuables while pointing a handgun at him. 
After a brief standoff, Borda grabbed the teen&#8217;s arm and threw him to the ground.
The other suspects initially fled, but one returned and attempted to reengage before being tackled by Borda&#8217;s brother, who rushed in to help.
<iframe loading="lazy" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F993407659719786%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=267&amp;t=0" width="267" height="476" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
According to <a href="https://www.fox5dc.com/news/former-marine-fights-off-armed-teen-robbers-oxon-hill">Fox 5,</a> the firearm discharged during the struggle and struck Borda&#8217;s truck. 
No injuries were reported.
Prince George&#8217;s County police later took all four teens into custody. 
 
Marines are trained to maneuver and escape from hostile situations through the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program and the Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape schools. Borda had reportedly been trained in hand-to-hand combat.  
The <a href="https://dcwitness.org/everyone-thinks-youth-crime-is-increasing-d-c-witness-data-shows-why/">D.C. Witness</a> reported that teen crime in the D.C. area has been on the rise. According to the outlet, “the percentage of homicides and non-fatal shootings perpetrated by youth aged 15-to-20 almost doubled in the three years from 2021 thru June 2024.”

Woman inside her car being threat with a gun.

Teens Tried To Rob An Ex-Marine. It Didn’t Go As Planned.

Crime

Marines

Teenagers

teens

Washington DC

It’s been 48 hours since organizers unveiled the lineup for the “Freedom 250” concert on the National Mall, and nearly every featured musical act has dropped out.
Morris Day &amp; The Time say they were never confirmed for the kickoff to The Great American State Fair, while the other acts all posted some version of the same statement.
Martina McBride said she “was assured this was a nonpartisan event,” while Bret Michaels said the event was described to him “as a celebration of our country through music and a chance to honor … hardworking Americans from all walks of life.”
“Unfortunately, what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive,” Michaels added. Rapper Young MC offered a similar excuse, saying he was “never told about any political involvement with the event” and expressed his desire to “perform in D.C. in the near future at an event that is not so politically charged.”
What a load of bullshit.
I don’t expect famous musicians to embody courage and patriotism, but even by celebrity standards, this is an egregious display of both ignorance and cowardice. These artists didn’t pull out because the concert was politicized — they politicized it by pulling out.
The bigger issue is that the event would have been politicized no matter what the artists did. Had McBride and Michaels and the lot stayed on the bill, it would have sent a message to Americans about the importance of separating patriotism from politics. Instead, their actions worsened the problem they pretended to lament. It’s unfortunate, and it’s embarrassing.
Let’s break it down.
<h3>Partisanship Is Neither Bad Nor Un-American</h3>
I want to start here, because this is the subtext of the entire debacle. The artists were happy to sing on the Mall until the media and Democrats started deeming it “Trump’s concert,” at which point they promptly ran for the hills. The real issue, of course, is that they don’t want to be associated with Trump (more on that later). But because they want to seem like they’re above the political fray, they simply say that they want to remain “nonpartisan.”
People love to say this, and it always makes them sound stupid. You can’t touch politics and remain nonpartisan. Bipartisan, sure — it’s possible for people with different party affiliations and ideologies to work together, and good when they do. But nonpartisan? To quote the 21st century’s sleepiest president: Come on, man.
This isn’t even a commentary on our divisive political age, though it’s certainly gotten harder to play at nonpartisanship over the past decade. Partisanship is literally built into the foundation of this country. The Constitution? A document born out of a brutal political struggle. Washington, D.C.? Declared our nation’s capital after a backroom trade between warring factions. Even George Washington’s <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/historic-document-library/detail/george-washington-farewell-address-1796" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Farewell Address</a> — where Washington famously cautioned Americans to avoid “the enterprises of faction” — is a partisan document. Alexander Hamilton wrote the speech with an eye towards Thomas Jefferson and James Madison’s nascent Republican Party. Washington wasn’t warning Americans to avoid political parties as a rule; he was telling them they should <a href="https://dn720706.ca.archive.org/0/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.148237/2015.148237.The-Idea-Of-A-Party-System.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">all be Federalists</a>.
So, even if a celebration is associated with a particular party or politician, that doesn’t make it bad. But as luck would have it for our roster of stars, that’s not even a thing they needed to worry about.
<h3>There’s Nothing “Partisan” About The National Mall Concert</h3>
Donald Trump is a divisive and partisan figure. The former is a matter of perception: if Democrats could get over themselves, he would be seen as the opposition rather than the enemy. But the latter is an indisputable fact: Trump is an elected official and the head of the Republican Party. In that role, he is inherently partisan, no two ways about it.
But Trump isn’t just the leader of the Republican Party. He’s the President of the United States. As ultraliberal President Jed Bartlet says in “The West Wing,” “I&#8217;m the President of the United States, not the president of the people who agree with me.”
So it is with Trump. Partisanship is just one part of a presidency. The other, more important part — leading the nation and all that — was perfectly reflected in this concert. Trump is right to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence with, as John Adams <a href="https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=L17760703jasecond" target="_blank" rel="noopener">once wrote</a>, “pomp and parade, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations.”
Now, Trump will almost certainly make some kind of political speech at the concert. Of course he will. Would it be better if he stuck to patriotic platitudes and avoided potshots at political foes? Of course. But that’s not who he is, and that&#8217;s not what our politics is like these days. But even a presidential display of partisanship is not enough to drown out the broader message of the concert. That’s the entire point of this country – the republic looms larger than, and outlasts, our petty squabbling.
It’s also, to a certain extent, the point of live music. Conservatives take it for granted that their favorite artists hate them, and they go to their concerts anyway. You can sit through a rambling Springsteen monologue about tyranny if it means getting a roaring “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out.” Liberals, having enjoyed cultural hegemony for so long, can’t conceive of this. And so these artists — none of whom are really famous enough to pass up a national stage — chose to stay home rather than play nice with the president for an afternoon. That’s unpatriotic and stupid, but it’s also just really, really lame.
<h3>Everyone Needs To Be Cool About Cool Stuff</h3>
Just because partisanship isn’t inherently bad doesn’t mean it’s all inherently good. And one of the worst expressions of partisanship is when people let their political priors blind them to objectively good things. We see this all the time when politics and entertainment intersect.
Before acts started pulling out of the concert, people were talking about the upcoming UFC fight on the White House lawn. Construction began on the Octagon this week, and liberals naturally took to social media to say that this was an affront to democracy.
If I thought that these critics were arguing in good faith, I would say that a bare-knuckle brawl on the White House lawn is the perfect distillation of American democracy. But of course, these critics aren’t arguing in good faith. It’s not about keeping the White House free of spectacle, or else they would have been furious when Joe Biden turned the lawn over to a bunch of half-naked transvestites. It’s about opposing anything that’s even a little bit affiliated with Trump.
Republicans have this problem, too. It was dumb to pretend it wasn’t awesome when Obama played basketball with <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2020/04/04/barack-obama-basketball-white-house-kobe-bryant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kevin Durant</a>. That was awesome! It was an incredible American moment, just like Dubya telling the White House press corps to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HZ3Tjohwqo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“watch this drive</a>.” A UFC fight on the South Lawn, a concert on the National Mall: these are incredible spectacles, and it’s objectively cool that the president is involved. It would be cool if the president was a Democrat; it would be cool if the president was a different Republican.
Some things are too enjoyable to let politics get in the way. It’s why there are conservative Grateful Dead fans and liberals who love “Yellowstone.” It’s why Martina McBride didn’t object when Americans turned her song “Independence Day” — written from the perspective of a woman fleeing domestic violence — into a patriotic anthem in the wake of September 11.
The song’s writer, Gretchen Peters, has complained about the song’s new life, making it known that she donated her royalties from Sean Hannity’s show (which famously used “Independence Day” as its theme song) to <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/independence-day-martina-mcbride-real-meaning-855248/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Planned Parenthood.</a>
Not so McBride, who famously performed the song while flanked by two giant American flags at Farm Aid in 2001, shortly after attacks on the World Trade Center.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5Q3LyECse3g?si=jySv9mDwogmdTuh4" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The singer would subsequently say that she had “mixed feelings about” that performance, because she doesn’t “want to take away from what the song is really about.” But she was very clear about the reason she leaned into a patriotic interpretation of the song when she did.
“We were all so raw … and trying to have solidarity and pulling together as a country,” she said. “When I realized that the words to that chorus, ‘let freedom ring,’ kind of mirror what we were all feeling at the time, I made that decision to do that.”
Some things are bigger than politics. Americans understand this. The president understands this. There was even a time when Martina McBride understood this. It’s a shame that she and her fellow performers lost sight of this truth.  But hey, there’s still time: maybe Trump can get <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hey-country-stars-do-the-right-thing-perform-on-the-national-mall">Morgan Wallen</a> or <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/country-musics-hottest-star-keeps-pointing-back-to-god" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ella Langley.</a>

HBO, Starbucks and Chase hosted the first free and open to the public Veterans Day Concert for Valor Tuesday, November 11, 2014 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to honor Americas veterans.

What The America 250 Concert Reveals About Our Broken Political Culture

America 250

bipartisanship

Country Music

Founding Fathers

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
This week took a sharp turn for President Donald Trump and his administration: not because of a national security matter or the southern border, but because a bunch of performers decided to bail on a celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
After initially agreeing to perform for the president’s Great American State Fair concert on the National Mall, Martina McBride, Bret Michaels, Young MC, Morris Day &amp; the Time, and The Commodores decided to drop out claiming they were unaware of the event&#8217;s “political affiliation.”
If you’re wondering who most of these people are, you’re not alone. Unless you spend your weekends shuffling through old 8-track collections at flea markets or garage sales, you’ve probably never heard of them. Which begs the question: Wouldn’t it be an honor for most of these “artists” to dust off their finest Zubaz pants and primp the perm one more time to perform in front of thousands of patriotic Americans? The answer is, of course, yes.
It’s certainly worth wondering how we got here. But I have a bigger question, one that I think is the most important thing we can take from this saga: Where are today’s country music superstars?
You can’t go a single election cycle without seeing the biggest musicians in the world put their unwavering support behind a Democratic candidate. Jay-Z and Beyonce famously campaigned with Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen cut ads for Joe Biden in 2020, and Bon Iver showed up to holler in a field for a Harris-Walz event in 2024.
They never seem to feel ashamed to “speak out” and “resist” on behalf of their fans. So, why do country stars?
Every week we see videos of Morgan Wallen selling out football stadiums, Ella Langley hitting the top of the charts with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/country-musics-hottest-star-keeps-pointing-back-to-god" target="_blank" rel="noopener">songs about God</a>, Riley Green putting out conservative-coded songs like “Different &#8216;Round Here,” and new artists like Dexter and the Moonrocks going viral through conservative Instagram reels. Country music is as hot as it has ever been — not because of pink-haired commie liberals, but because of hard-working, patriotic conservatives.
Go to a country concert these days. The parking lots are chock-full of lifted trucks with Trump-Vance stickers. Inside the venues you’ll often find more MAGA hats than band merch. American flags everywhere, Bible verses tattooed on forearms, and not a Bud Light in sight.
Everything conservatives are mocked for in Hollywood is celebrated at country shows. Americans realize this, and they behave accordingly: When certain country stars were swept up in the Left’s cancel culture crusades, conservatives were there selling out arenas and buying their merchandise. These fans have been there at every turn, as steadfast in their support of their musical icons as they are in support of their country.
It’s time country stars repaid the favor.
So what do you say, Morgan? Give the people what they want and dial up one of your famous walkouts with the greatest president of our lifetime — on the National Mall, celebrating the country that gave you everything. I promise your fans will love it because, unlike the Left, they actually love their country.
***
Brad Bishop is The Daily Wire’s senior vice president of public relations.

Morgan Wallen’s One Night At A Time 2024 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, TN – Night Two

Hey Country Stars, Do The Right Thing: Perform On The National Mall

Morgan Wallen

Upstream

Country, Motown, rap, R&amp;B? How about a little Poison?
The Great American State Fair has it all as part of its music lineup for the Freedom 250 celebration this summer in the nation’s capital, honoring the 250th birthday of the Declaration of Independence.
The fair will feature such diverse performers as Martina McBride, Vanilla Ice, The Commodores, Flo-Rida, Morris Day and The Time, and Bret Michaels.
Those names, plus Young MC, the artist behind the 1989 hit &#8220;Bust A Move,&#8221; Milli Vanilli, and military bands, will entertain thousands at the family-friendly event that will stretch from the United States Capitol to the Washington Monument.
The music will take place on the main stage on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night for the 16-day event. (But in a dream world, at some point, they&#8217;d all sing ‘God Bless The USA’ together in a ‘We Are The World’ moment.)
The event also brings together all 50 states and six U.S. territories in a grand fair celebration.
The evening entertainment schedule can be found below, but for Poison fans, Bret Michaels will close out the shows on July 3.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
JUST ANNOUNCED: The lineup for The Great American State Fair is here — and it’s bringing the hits. 🇺🇸🎶
Martina McBride, Young MC, C+C Music Factory, Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli, The Commodores, Morris Day &amp; The Time, Flo Rida, Bret Michaels …and many more.
16 days. 56 states… <a href="https://t.co/DJdypWJl3P">pic.twitter.com/DJdypWJl3P</a>
— Freedom 250 (@Freedom250) <a href="https://x.com/Freedom250/status/2059658221858553928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
Evening performances:
Martina McBride – June 25
I love the 90s – June 26
The Commodores &amp; Morris Day and The Time – June 27
Flo Rida – July 2
Bret Michaels – July 3
Will Michaels bring the Rock of Love bus? No idea what that is? Sorry, Gen-Z, you missed out.
The music will be the soundtrack behind the 110-foot Ferris wheel and the newly updated Smithsonian National Carousel.
&#8220;The Great American State Fair is America on display and a moment for America to come together,&#8221; said Freedom 250 CEO Keith Krach. &#8220;The performers, innovators, military heroes, and everyday Americans showcased here represent the very best of who we are, and the boundless opportunity ahead.&#8221;
In the upcoming weeks, Freedom 250 will continue to announce more performers, speakers, and participants. So there is still a chance President Donald Trump’s good buddy Kid Rock will make an appearance on stage.
Outside of performances, the state fair will have state and territory showcases from across the country, including robotics and autonomous vehicle demonstrations, augmented reality activations, and innovation exhibits.
The Great American State Fair is from June 25 to July 10 on the National Mall.
Other Freedom 250 signature events include Salute to America, the Patriot Games, UFC Freedom 250, and the newly announced Freedom 250 Grand Prix.
The event is free, but organizers encourage early registration for the fair <a href="https://events.freedom250.org/events/great-american-state-fair">here</a>.

Illustration by Daily Wire staff

Great American State Fair Drops Concert Lineup To Celebrate Freedom 250

Playlist Revealed For The Great American State Fair And There’s Something For Everyone

Freedom 250

News

In the final major debate of the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, D.C., the candidates spent as much time accusing each other of corruption and Republican sympathies as they did defending their own visions for the city — a revealing display in a race where the Democratic nominee is all but certain to win in November.
The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH6ngPu8G9A">hour-long forum</a>, hosted by Fox 5 D.C., quickly became a combative showdown between Kenyan McDuffie and Janeese Lewis George, who repeatedly traded barbs over crime, campaign donations, and ties to President Donald Trump. Businessman Gary Goodweather was on stage as well, but drew less attention, often struggling to break into the sharper exchanges between the two council veterans.
The clash over public safety was among the night’s most pointed moments. After moderators raised a recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/late-night-troublemakers-tear-up-d-c-chipotle-as-trump-admin-vows-to-crack-down-on-teen-takeovers">violent brawl involving teenagers at a Chipotle</a> in Navy Yard, Lewis George defended her opposition to the city’s youth curfew by arguing that enforcement could put minors in danger because of the federal law-enforcement presence in the district.
“Using the curfew as a tool for our young people is dangerous,” Lewis George said. “It is dangerous because we have federal troops who are in our city, mass ICE agents who are in our city, and these are the people enforcing this law on our young people.”
McDuffie seized on the opening to portray her as soft on crime. 
“What they need to do is treat these teen takeovers like the public safety emergency that they are,” he said. &#8220;Doing nothing is not an option.” He went further, directly blaming Lewis George for delaying action on the curfew. &#8220;The council had an opportunity to act just a few weeks ago, before the curfew expired, but they didn’t act, because Janeese Lewis George shut it down.&#8221; 
Lewis George responded by accusing McDuffie of opportunism and trying to appeal to conservatives in a city that remains overwhelmingly Democratic. 
“Now that he is taking big Trump donor dollars and Republican dollars, he’s now using cheap political points from Republicans to score in this moment,” she said. “It’s disingenuous and disheartening.”
That charge became a recurring theme throughout the night, with Lewis George repeatedly invoking what she described as McDuffie’s acceptance of donations from “Trump donor dollars,” while McDuffie countered by accusing her of facing <a href="https://campaignforaccountability.org/watchdog-files-ethics-complaint-against-d-c-mayoral-candidate-janeese-lewis-george-over-financial-disclosure-failures/">campaign finance scrutiny</a>.
“There’s only one person on this stage who’s actively under investigation for violations of the campaign finance laws, and it’s Ms. Janice Lewis George,” McDuffie said.
The debate also underscored just how far Left the race has moved in a city where Republicans are effectively noncompetitive. All three candidates said they would end cooperation between D.C. police and ICE. Asked whether they would direct the Metropolitan Police Department to work with U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on enforcing the youth curfew, both Lewis George and Goodweather answered flatly: “No.” McDuffie likewise pledged to cut off cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, saying he would “sign an executive order to rescind ICE” from the city.
Goodweather had perhaps the most unusual proposal of the evening, suggesting that Washington eventually construct “a fourth-generation air-cooled nuclear reactor on federal land in D.C.” as part of his energy plan, a remark that stood out in a debate otherwise dominated by housing, public safety, and mutual accusations.
In a city where the Democratic primary will almost certainly decide the next mayor, Tuesday’s debate showed candidates not racing to the center, but competing to prove who is more liberal — and who can paint their Democratic rival as secretly aligned with the Right. The Washington, D.C., primary is on June 16.

Washington, DC skyline

D.C. Democrats Face Questions Over Teen Takeovers As Mayoral Race Heats Up

Debate

Democrats

Police

A group of rowdy young people flung chairs and threw punches in a Washington, D.C., Chipotle on Saturday night, just one day after U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro vowed to crack down on parents who allow their kids to run wild through the streets.
The chaos in D.C.&#8217;s Navy Yard was captured on camera by a news crew and posted to social media on Sunday. Footage shows at least eight people engaged in a full-blown brawl in the restaurant, with some of the culprits picking up chairs and slamming them into other fighters. Girls were heard screaming in the background, and Chipotle workers watched the fight from behind the counter.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Massive brawl broke out Friday night at a Chipotle in the Navy Yard area. <a href="https://t.co/xqZTliXWvK">pic.twitter.com/xqZTliXWvK</a>
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) <a href="https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/2056153477567438871?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The brawl took place just across the street from a large gathering of juveniles in a grassy area. Officers with the Metropolitan Police Department eventually arrived on the scene and arrested at least one person who was part of the teen gathering, ABC 7 News <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/navy-yard-chipotle-fight-washington-dc-brawl-crime-teen-takeover-caught-on-camera-mpd-investigation-jeanine-pirro-juvenile-curfew-violence-breaking-news-se-violent-restaurant-public-safety-chairs-thrown-in-incident-metropolitan-police-department-zones">reported</a>.
A man who lives in Navy Yard told ABC 7 News that the violent teen gatherings have become &#8220;routine on Saturdays and Friday nights.&#8221;
“It’s not shocking anymore, since this has become routine on Saturdays and Friday nights, but it’s disappointing to know this is still happening,&#8221; Ken Ledet said on Sunday. “I actually come to this Chipotle at least three or four times a week, so thankfully I didn’t come here last night.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teen-takeovers-turn-blue-cities-into-scenes-from-the-purge">Teen takeovers</a> are plaguing Democrat-run cities across the country, including the nation&#8217;s capital. On Friday, Pirro held a press conference to address the growing issue in Washington, D.C., and issued a warning to parents.
&#8220;Starting today, my office will prosecute parents under D.C.&#8217;s curfew law,&#8221; Pirro said.
“If the evidence shows the parent knew or should have known or permitted or failed to prevent participation, we are going to charge them,” she continued, adding, “If you drop your kid off and you fail to supervise them, or you let them skip school to join the chaos, you are going to face fines, court ordered classes, and possible jail time.”
The D.C. city council recently voted to extend the police chief&#8217;s power to impose an 8:00 p.m. curfew for kids under 18 in certain areas. Navy Yard has become a top spot for teens to meet on the weekends in gatherings that often turn violent. D.C. also has an 11:00 p.m. citywide curfew for juveniles on week nights and a midnight curfew on weekends.

U.S.-WASHINGTON, D.C.-TRUMP-SHOOTING-SUSPECT

Violent Teen Takeover Erupts Inside Chipotle As Officials Promise Parents Won’t Escape Blame

Trump Administration

A growing wave of juvenile crime and “teen takeovers” in major Democrat-run cities is prompting renewed scrutiny of leftist policing policies, with critics warning that years of anti-law enforcement rhetoric have created an atmosphere of escalating disorder.
The phenomenon has erupted in cities including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere in recent months, with incidents often coordinated through TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media platforms.
Col. Frank Carpenter, chief of police in Chesterfield County, Virginia, told <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/03/30/us-news/teen-takeovers-turn-city-centers-into-scenes-from-the-purge-cops/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Post</a> these scenes resemble “The Purge,” a dystopian horror film franchise depicting cities descending into lawlessness. Police sources say that massive groups of teenagers have increasingly overwhelmed officers, shut down public spaces, and engaged in assaults, robberies, vandalism, and shootings.
As with Virginia, these incidents are especially concentrated in Democrat-led cities. Chicago, in particular, has emerged as one of the most visible examples.
Last week, a silver sedan <a href="https://x.com/ChicagoContrar1/status/2053107479580479701?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rammed</a> a Chicago Police Department squad car during a downtown street takeover near Grant Park while crowds of teens surrounded the vehicle, cheering, filming officers on their phones, and pounding on the patrol car’s hood. Just two days later, on Friday, a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWl_IufDx1X/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second takeover erupted</a> on the city’s South Side. In another incident earlier this spring, teens allegedly set vehicles ablaze by igniting fireworks inside them.
Similar incidents have recently unfolded in Los Angeles beach communities and <a href="https://x.com/WellsJorda89710/status/2043154989682511888?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Washington, D.C</a>., where viral videos show large crowds overwhelming police presence and turning public areas into chaotic scenes. Though no one was killed, in one Los Angeles-area takeover, gunfire broke out and struck four victims ranging from 17 to 22 years old.
In New York City, police arrested a 17-year-old suspect in the fatal stabbing of 39-year-old Leonides Baez near Times Square. According to investigators, the teen allegedly said he was inspired by a TikTok trend known as “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/nyregion/teenager-stabbing-times-square-nyc-tiktok.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">messing with crackheads</a>,” in which vulnerable or homeless individuals are harassed for entertainment and online attention.
Authorities say several teens approached Baez before he was stabbed to death outside of a restaurant.
Critics say the social media component is central to understanding this crime trend. The Wall Street Journal recently characterized many of the incidents as “performative crime,” that is, criminal acts committed for viral attention and social status online.
But some analysts argue the deeper causes run far beyond TikTok.
Heather Mac Donald, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of &#8220;The War on Cops,&#8221; said authorities are failing to confront the fact that these crimes are overwhelmingly being carried out by young African Americans and reflect long-term breakdowns in the black family structure.
“This is a long-standing problem, and nobody wants to talk about what the causes are,” Mac Donald said during an interview with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/hosts/morning-wire?elementPosition=7&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Browse+by+Hosts&amp;rowType=Hosts+Carousel">Morning Wire</a>. “The criminal justice system is terrified, really, to do anything about it.”
The extreme nature of the takeovers is prompting Republican leaders to act though. On Friday, U.S. Attorney <a href="https://x.com/foxnews/status/2055326776549605474?s=43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jeanine Pirro announced</a> a significant offensive against the parents of minors participating in these crimes. Pirro pledged to pursue criminal charges against parents who neglect their supervisory duties, warning that such failures could result in substantial financial penalties or incarceration.
“If the evidence shows the parent knew or should have known or permitted or failed to prevent participation, we are going to charge them,” Pirro stated, adding, “If you drop your kid off and you fail to supervise them, or you let them skip school to join the chaos, you are going to face fines, court ordered classes, and possible jail time.&#8221;
Another contributing factor Mac Donald pointed to is schools, which she said have historically been reluctant to discipline black students after years of pressure from leftist activists and federal officials who claimed disciplinary disparities were evidence of systemic racism.
“Teachers now have been told they can’t do that,” she said, referring to enforcing discipline and behavioral standards in classrooms. She also blamed the lingering effects of the anti-police movement that exploded after the 2014 Ferguson, Missouri, riots and intensified following the death of George Floyd in 2020.
“Policing obviously has been under one prolonged assault since the Ferguson riots,” Mac Donald said. “The pressure is on them not to intervene at all because they don’t want another George Floyd riot or Ferguson riot in their city.”
The debate has intensified as some blue-city leaders continue pushing policies that restrict law enforcement.
Last week, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to curtail “pretextual” traffic stops by the LAPD. The stops are initiated for low-level violations such as broken taillights or expired tags that sometimes lead officers to uncover illegal weapons or narcotics. The city council&#8217;s vote is now set to be debated by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners, which has the final say.
Meanwhile, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has previously described aggressive law enforcement approaches as a “sickness” in Chicago that he wanted to “eradicate.”
Mac Donald argued that years of political hostility toward proactive policing have worsened violent crime. “There’s nothing more important that the police can do to lower gun crime than these types of investigative stops,” she said.
Although officials in cities such as New York and Chicago often point to declining overall crime statistics, Mac Donald said those numbers can obscure broader public disorder. “Murders don’t lie. You can’t hide the bodies,” she said, noting homicide rates remain elevated compared to pre-2020 levels despite recent declines from their peak.
Police recruitment has also become increasingly difficult in major urban departments. Mac Donald said cities including Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago remain severely understaffed as officers retire early, leave for red states, or avoid entering the profession altogether.
“If current policies continue,” she warned, “people who can leave are going to leave.”

US-NEWS-CHICAGO-SHOOTINGS-TB

Teen Takeovers Turn Blue Cities Into ‘Scenes From The Purge’

Chicago

New York City

In 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte established the French Legion of Honor. In 1994, Chef Bernard Loiseau was inducted into this order for his transcendent contributions to French cuisine. It is France’s highest honor, military or civilian. In 2003, he stuck a shotgun into his mouth and blew his brains out the back of his skull.
After a food magazine downgraded his restaurant, rumors began circulating that Michelin would do the same. Rather than see it become true, Chef Bernard took a bow and exited stage left.
This is, to any normal person, an extreme reaction to the opinion of a tire company about your cooking. And I am aware that the normal people are correct. But Chef Bernard was no normal person; Chef Bernard is my hero. He embodied a world in which people aren’t flippant about beauty and craft — the world I want to live in.
My restaurant in Washington, D.C., Butterworth&#8217;s, is in no danger of losing a Michelin star because we have none. But we sweep behind the refrigerators, pressure wash the sidewalk, and prepare food the hard way. Our french fries take three days to make. The sauce for our bone marrow escargot, two. When lamb is on the menu, it is usually a whole lamb, butchered in its entirety down to each cut. We do these things because we cannot help ourselves. Because we aren&#8217;t sure who we would be without it.
Next door is one of many cannabis dispensaries in D.C. Down the block, two more. One block further down Pennsylvania Avenue, three more. They have names like &#8220;BluntSlut&#8221; and &#8220;Highway420” in purple neon and QR codes taped crookedly to the glass. At eleven o’clock in the morning, men stand outside watching videos on their phones at full volume while smoke drifts through the front doors whenever a guest opens it. There have been plenty of nights when I am getting crushed by orders for tartare and steak au poivre while a man in pajama pants leans against a lime scooter and screams into the street.
Washington, D.C.&#8217;s marijuana laws exist in a state of deliberate confusion, which I know because I spent an unpleasant afternoon trying to understand them. In 2014, D.C. voters legalized personal possession. But Congress, which controls the city&#8217;s budget, blocked D.C. from licensing or regulating commercial sales. The result is a market that cannot legally exist and cannot be stopped from existing. For years, the city&#8217;s solution was the “gift economy,”  where if you bought a sticker, marijuana appeared in your hand. It had the logic of children. Then the city cracked down, raided sixty-odd shops, and arrived at its replacement: declare yourself a medical patient by phone in four minutes, walk into a licensed dispensary, and buy whatever you like. The transaction is legal now. The logic is still childish.
It is so glaringly obvious that weed, as it is currently quasi-regulated in D.C., is not working. But no one seems interested in resolving the underlying issues. Congress lacks the attention span, and the city has only barely managed to replace one absurdity with a slightly less absurd one. One week, the city raided dispensaries only to have those same dispensaries reopen under different names with the same employees beneath the same neon the very next week. &#8220;Cloud9&#8221; became &#8220;ZaMuseum.&#8221; Somebody printed new menus, and the whole performance resumed. This week, we have “marijuana lounges” coming, so you can gather with fellow gentlemen and scholars to smoke your weed in person.
I do not especially care if people smoke weed. Civilization has always contained vice. Restaurants are vice. Alcohol certainly is. Butter and cigarettes and beautiful women in black dresses and staying out too late on a Tuesday are, too. Some of the best parts of life are. But D.C.’s haphazard weed culture is not a vice; it’s a cash grab by the dumbest people you’ve ever met, overseen by its laziest.
This malaise seems to be the entire working policy of D.C. Most days feel like the Do Lung Bridge scene in Apocalypse Now. The bridge keeps getting shelled. Music blares in the background. Martin Sheen’s character asks a soldier, &#8220;Who&#8217;s your commanding officer?&#8221; The kid with a machine gun in his hand asks: “Ain&#8217;t you?” 
If you squint, there are times when Pennsylvania Avenue feels vaguely ceremonial. It feels like “The Capital,” “The White House,” “America,” and its great empire. But more soberly, it mostly looks like empty storefronts and a Reddit homepage come to life — a place where you can hand-cut potatoes while down the street somebody sells pre-rolled joints named after cartoon characters.
I do not have Bernard&#8217;s courage. I am still here — still sweeping the sidewalk and butchering the lamb. I have yet to put a shotgun in my mouth. While I take responsibility for every bad meal my customers have or every drink not served perfectly cold, this particular problem is not my fault. In fact, no one can agree on whose fault it is.
Congress says it&#8217;s a local matter. The city says Congress tied its hands. We are led by morons who do not care that the day-to-day exhaustion of this lack of leadership is absorbed by idiots like me, who still show up every day, still caring.
Shortly after Chef Bernard died, Michelin announced that his restaurant would retain all three stars. He never knew. I think about that on the mornings when cooking well is enough and on the mornings when it isn’t.
***
Bart Hutchins is the chef and owner of Butterworth’s. He’s on X @whiteguyfieri.

Soring Dining Guide 2025

For DC’s Hottest Restaurant Weed Dispensaries Are Like A Hole In The Head

Butterworth's

DW Opinion

Marijuana

restaurants

LIV Golf, the pro golf league backed by Saudi Arabia that was meant to rival the PGA Tour, is in limbo because the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund pulled financial backing after the 2026 season.
LIV was billed as the cool, modern, team-based, 54-hole golf league with a lot of cash from Saudi Arabia. At the time of its creation in 2021, it seemed too good to be true. Five years later, it&#8217;s on life support as tournaments have been postponed — and a scale-back effort is in place as the CEO tries to keep the business going for another year by looking for new investors.
LIV Golf CEO Scott O&#8217;Neil spoke publicly Tuesday at Trump National D.C. for the first time since the news broke that funding was going away. O&#8217;Neil kept his tone positive, saying he feels ready for the moment and is prepared to tackle the financial uncertainty behind his league.
&#8220;This moment for me &#8230; I understand uncertainty is difficult for some people, and I understand that not knowing what tomorrow brings can be a challenge,&#8221; O’Neil said. “This is 100 percent what I love to do, this moment. Everybody is meant for a certain thing in their life. I believe this is what I am meant for. I love this moment.&#8221;
The moment is intense, suddenly navigating without what seemed like an endless cash flow. O&#8217;Neil will have to restructure the business model for LIV, and that&#8217;s how the businessman is framing this next chapter — as a refresh, not a threat.
&#8220;First and foremost, we need to get the players settled, on board, and focusing on golf,&#8221; O’Neil said. &#8220;Secondly, we have to create a plan that&#8217;s a business plan, a business that works from a business standpoint, from a profit and loss standpoint, like every other business in the world, and we are well on our way to that.&#8221;
The league started with a lot of buzz after promising big checks and signing big names — including Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Brooks Koepka, among other PGA stars.
But viewership didn&#8217;t match the energy. Per Awful Announcing, for the 17 telecasts on Fox last year, LIV Golf averaged just 338,000 viewers, compared to its PGA Tour competition that averaged 2.66 million.
Koepka is back with the PGA Tour, but DeChambeau remains with LIV through his contract that ends after the 2026 season. The golf and online personality said on Tuesday that he would focus on YouTube if LIV failed. The golf star was once involved in a lawsuit with the PGA and hinted that golf&#8217;s premier league might not welcome him back with open arms.
Other LIV stars, including Jon Rahm, don&#8217;t have expiring contracts. Rahm said the LIV CEO has a &#8220;lot of hard work to do&#8221; to find funding for the league&#8217;s future, per Golf.com.
The current season isn&#8217;t in complete shambles, although a tournament set for June in New Orleans has been postponed. The tour continues in the nation&#8217;s capital this weekend before heading internationally to Korea at the end of May.
The first round of LIV Golf Virginia tees off Thursday at Trump National Golf Club.

Credit: Hector Vivas/Getty Images

Will A Saudi-Funded Golf League Survive Despite Low Ratings And Low Cash?

Golf

Sports

Trump

President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated photo of himself lounging in the Reflecting Pool on Washington, D.C.&#8217;s National Mall.
The photo showed Trump floating in a gold-colored pool inflatable alongside a smiling Vice President JD Vance, who gave a thumbs-up. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also appeared in the photo, along with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.  <iframe style="aspect-ratio: 9/16; max-width: 220px; display: flex; justify-content: center; width: 100%; margin: 20px auto 5px; border: 0;" src="https://player.mux.com/6KXDHPJQWahYQOR00v7k5eb200PXeg00012l?metadata-video-content-type=short&amp;metadata-video-id=39c7625e-3c29-470d-b682-83f523dfb33e&amp;metadata-video-stream-type=on-demand&amp;metadata-video-title=Trump%20shares%20AI%20pic%20lounging%20in%20Lincoln%20Memorial%20Reflecting%20Pool%20with%20Marco%20and%20JD&amp;poster=https%3A%2F%2Fdailywireplus-v2.imgix.net%2Fimages%2Fshorts%2F20784120-58cc-48de-9585-e1b125441bcd.jpg&amp;autoplay=false&amp;accent-color=%23DB3D3B&amp;primary-color=%23ffffff&amp;secondary-color=%23000000" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The Reflecting Pool has been drained in recent days to allow for construction workers to come in and repaint the bottom with a protective coating — in &#8220;American Flag Blue&#8221; — ahead of this summer&#8217;s events celebrating the United States&#8217; 250th birthday. The coating is supposed to stop a number of leaks and help to avoid more costly repairs to the monument in the future.
The updates, according to the White House, are expected to take about one week to complete and have a price tag of $2 million — and add to the series of major renovations and updates being made by the Trump administration all around the White House and the nation&#8217;s capital.
Not everyone is happy with the updates, however. Charles Birnbaum, former coordinator of the National Park Service’s Historic Landscape Initiative, complained that the blue color made the reflecting pool look more like a swimming pool than a historical monument.
&#8220;The reflecting pool is hallowed ground,&#8221; he told <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/28/trumps-reflecting-pool-spruce-up-fails-charm-preservationists-00895457">POLITICO</a>. &#8220;It shouldn&#8217;t resemble a swimming pool.&#8221;
&#8220;It will look far more beautiful than it did in 1922,&#8221; Trump argued, adding, &#8220;It was filthy dirty, and it leaked like a sieve.&#8221;
The Department of the Interior, headed by Burgum, also championed the effort to &#8220;restore and preserve America’s most iconic landmarks.&#8221;
The Reflecting Pool, according to the National Park Service, is classified as a memorial and is designed solely for viewing. Wading or swimming in the pool are illegal, as is walking in the shadow water.

IMG_2914

SEE IT: Trump Trolls Libs With AI Pic Of Him Lounging In Lincoln Memorial Reflection Pool

Politics

Menu