Two National Guard troops were shot near the White House on Wednesday afternoon.
Both of the troops targeted in the attack are from West Virginia and were in uniform when they were shot. A senior U.S. official told NBC News that both of the National Guardsmen were shot in the head, and the suspect reportedly used a handgun.
The suspected gunman was identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who came to the United States during the Biden administration&#8217;s disastrous withdrawal from the country in 2021. The male suspect was critically wounded and taken into custody. The FBI will reportedly investigate the shooting as an act of terrorism.
Lakanwal was allowed to enter the United States under Operation Allies Welcome, and he settled in Bellingham, Washington.
A little over an hour after the shooting, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey said that both of the National Guard troops had died, but he later walked back his statement and said that there were &#8220;conflicting reports about the condition of our two Guard members,&#8221; adding that he &#8220;will provide additional updates once we receive more complete information.&#8221;
President Donald Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115617866419112089">said</a> that both of the troops were &#8220;critically wounded&#8221; and were being treated &#8220;in two separate hospitals.&#8221;
&#8220;The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen, with both being critically wounded, and now in two separate hospitals, is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price. God bless our Great National Guard, and all of our Military and Law Enforcement. These are truly Great People. I, as President of the United States, and everyone associated with the Office of the Presidency, am with you!&#8221; Trump said.
The president was not at the White House at the time of the shooting as he traveled to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida earlier on Wednesday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth <a href="https://x.com/DOWResponse/status/1993791269580259545">said</a> that the shooting was &#8220;a cowardly, dastardly act targeting the best of America, heroes willing to serve in Washington, D.C.&#8221; He added that President Trump has requested that 500 additional National Guardsmen be deployed to the capital following the shooting.
&#8220;This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington, D.C., safe and beautiful,&#8221; Hegseth said.
The suspected shooter acted alone, according to a D.C. police official who <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11/26/us/national-guard-shooting-dc/85decc03-f7f2-595f-a32d-6426f61ee8a7?smid=url-share">spoke</a> to The New York Times. Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser called the attack on National Guardsmen a &#8220;targeted shooting.&#8221;
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that National Guardsmen had been shot, <a href="https://x.com/Sec_Noem/status/1993771280898916498">saying</a>, &#8220;Please join me in praying for the two National Guardsmen who were just shot moments ago in Washington D.C. @DHSgov is working with local law enforcement to gather more information.&#8221;
Video taken near the Farragut West metro station showed a massive police presence following the shooting.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
BREAKING — massive police and National Guard presence at Farragut West metro station. A block from White House. <a href="https://t.co/Hz2wjjWa6d">pic.twitter.com/Hz2wjjWa6d</a>
— Jay O&#8217;Brien (@jayobtv) <a href="https://twitter.com/jayobtv/status/1993766783271174498?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Over 2,300 National Guard troops have been deployed to D.C. by Trump as he seeks to address violent crime in the nation&#8217;s capital. Trump&#8217;s National Guard deployment in D.C. and other cities around the country has been met with backlash from the Left.
This is a developing story; refresh the page for updates.

US-CRIME-NATIONAL GUARD

Two National Guard Troops Shot Near White House, Afghan National In Custody

National Guard

Shooting

Trump Administration

Washington D.C.

California Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Tuesday, arguing that the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/eric-swalwell-faces-doj-criminal-probe-over-mortgage-fraud-accusations?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Eric+Swalwell+Faces+DOJ+Criminal+Probe+Over+Mortgage+Fraud+Accusations">accusations of mortgage fraud</a> against him are &#8220;patently false,&#8221; and claiming that the Washington, D.C., home at the center of the allegations is his wife&#8217;s primary residence, not his.
Swalwell argues in the lawsuit that the mortgage and tax fraud accusations are motivated by President Donald Trump&#8217;s desire to &#8220;seek retribution against his political enemies.&#8221; The lawsuit names Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as a defendant along with the Federal Housing Agency, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, and Federal National Mortgage Association. Earlier this month, Pulte referred Swalwell to Attorney General Pam Bondi over alleged mortgage and tax fraud related to his home in Washington, D.C.
Swalwell accuses Pulte of abusing his position &#8220;by scouring databases at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—two government-sponsored enterprises—for the private mortgage records of several prominent Democrats.&#8221;
&#8220;He then used those records to concoct fanciful allegations of mortgage fraud, which he referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution. The target of his most recent criminal referral is Plaintiff Eric Swalwell—one of the President’s most vocal and visible critics in Congress,&#8221; the lawsuit adds.
Swalwell was the fourth Democrat in recent months to face mortgage fraud allegations, after Pulte also sent criminal referrals to the DOJ for Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Biden-appointed Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook. The Justice Department is reportedly looking into the handling of the mortgage fraud investigation into Sen. Schiff, and whether the probe was pushed at the behest of Trump administration officials, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-mortgage-fraud-ed-martin-8b29a802d74b90576e0332d610ea99ce">reported</a>.
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Swalwell is accused of claiming his $1.2 million home in the nation&#8217;s capital as his primary residence despite living in California. Claiming the D.C. home as his primary residence would have qualified him for millions of dollars’ worth of loans and refinancing, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/11/13/us-news/eric-swalwells-1-2-million-dc-home-target-of-doj-mortgage-fraud-criminal-referral/">reported</a>. Swalwell pushes back against those accusations in the lawsuit, which states that the Democratic congressman &#8220;disclaimed any intent to occupy the District of Columbia home as his primary residence in a sworn affidavit attached to his mortgage agreement.&#8221;
According to the lawsuit, the D.C. home is the primary residence of Swalwell&#8217;s wife, while the congressman remains a permanent resident of California.
&#8220;Pulte’s referral to the Justice Department was not only a gross mischaracterization of reality. It also represented a gross abuse of power that violated the law,&#8221; the suit argues.
Swalwell&#8217;s lawsuit also accuses the Federal Housing Finance Agency of engaging in &#8220;what appeared to be a coordinated leak&#8221; to news outlets and conservatives on social media after details about the allegations against Swalwell &#8220;appeared simultaneously&#8221; as Pulte referred Swalwell to the Justice Department.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency has not responded to a request to comment.
As Swalwell faces a potential federal investigation over mortgage fraud accusations, he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/eric-swalwell-wants-to-get-out-of-d-c-as-mortgage-fraud-scrutiny-intensifies?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Eric+Swalwell+Wants+To+Get+Out+Of+D.C.+As+Mortgage+Fraud+Scrutiny+Intensifies">announced</a> last week that he is running for governor of California. Swalwell announced his run during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel&#8217;s late-night show, saying he would focus on addressing economic issues and pushing back against the Trump administration&#8217;s policies.

Eric Swalwell

Swalwell Sues Trump Official Over Mortgage Fraud Claims, Insists D.C. Home Is His Wife’s

California

Congress

Democrats

Donald Trump

Politics

New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani insists that he can work with President Donald Trump for the betterment of New Yorkers despite believing Trump to be a “threat to democracy.”
Mamdani appeared on NBC News on Sunday to talk about his Friday visit to the White House. The self-described democratic socialist did not back off any of his previous attacks against the president, including calling Trump a “fascist” and a “despot,” but said that he could still work with the president for the residents of New York City.
The mayor-elect was asked about his past comments about Trump, specifically, if he still considered Trump to be a fascist. As Mamdani prepared to answer, the president <a href="https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1991974070527950896">interjected</a>, “That’s okay, you can just say it. … It’s easier than explaining. I don’t mind.”
Mamdani then said he still considered Trump to be a fascist as the two men smiled and Trump laughed. The socialist then doubled-down on his comments on Sunday while attempting to explain how he can come to work with a man who he believes is an existential threat to the United States and, presumably, New York City.
“Everything that I&#8217;ve said in the past, I continue to believe, and that&#8217;s the thing that I think is important in our politics is that we don&#8217;t shy away from where we have disagreements, but we understand what it is that brings us to that table,” <a href="https://x.com/breaking911/status/1992609352578982341">said</a> Mamdani. “I&#8217;m not coming into the Oval Office to make a point or make a stand. I&#8217;m coming in there to deliver for New Yorkers.”
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“I think working for the people of New York City demands that you work with everyone and anyone, and that you always look to find those areas of agreement while not overlooking the places of disagreement,” he added.
The two men criticized each other heavily during the campaign for New York City’s next mayor. Trump endorsed former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran against Mamdani as an independent after losing to him in the Democratic primary.
After their White House meeting, Trump <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/live-updates/trump-mamdani-meeting-white-house-new-york/">offered</a> praise for the self-described democratic socialist. The president said he would “absolutely” live in New York City under Mamdani.
“We agree on a lot more than I would have thought. I want him to do a great job, and we&#8217;ll help him do a great job,” said Trump.
The president said that he was hopeful that he and Mamdani would find a way to work together on immigration.
“I think if we have known murderers, and known drug dealers, and some very bad people, we want to get them out,” said Trump. “He wants to have a safe New York. Ultimately, a safe New York is going to be a great New York.”

Zohran Mamdani, Donald Trump

Mamdani Insists He Can Work With ‘Fascist’ Trump Even Though He’s ‘Threat To Democracy’

Elections

New York City

Zohran Mamdani

The Trump administration is backing more legislation that would crack down on crime in the nation’s capital and support police, according to an official White House document obtained by The Daily Wire.  
In a <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/SAP-HR5107-HR5214.pdf">statement of policy</a> from the Office of Management and Budget, the White House came out in support of a pair of Republican-backed bills that would require mandatory detention for certain violent crimes like armed robbery and removing cumbersome restrictions on police officers. Both proposals were advanced by the House Oversight Committee on Monday. 
“Together, these bills would hold criminals accountable and empower law enforcement officers,” the statement of policy said. “Their reforms would help make America’s Federal city more safe, free, and beautiful and critically advance the President’s broader law and order agenda.”
The policy statement indicated that the White House backed New York Rep. Elise Stefanik’s the District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act of 2025 (HR 5214) and Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde’s Common-Sense Law Enforcement and Accountability Now in DC (CLEAN DC) Act of 2025 (HR 5107). 
Stefanik’s legislation would &#8220;require mandatory pretrial detention for defendants charged with certain enumerated public safety and order crimes. The movement to end cash bail and release dangerous criminals so they can commit more crimes is one of the primary reasons large cities have experienced so many repeat offenders and preventable tragedies. Washington, D.C. is a prime example and this bill will make the streets of our Federal city safer,” according to the statement of policy. 
Clyde’s legislation would “reverse unnecessary and detrimental restrictions placed on officers of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). For example, those restrictions include removing all officers and police union representatives from the Police Complaints Board, requiring juries to consider whether an officer consulted with mental health, behavioral health, or social workers before using deadly force, and imposing approval hurdles for the use of riot gear and less-lethal Projectiles.”
“Police officers are the backbone of any system of law enforcement, and treating them with suspicion and placing limits on their ability to take potentially life-saving action erodes trust, retention, and, ultimately, public safety,” the statement of policy added. “Removing these restrictions would help restore the effectiveness of the MPD and maintain law and order in Washington, D.C.”
Both bills are opposed by D.C.’s Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser and Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who claimed they were an “affront” to the “principles of democracy and local self-governance on which this country was founded.”
The Trump administration has surged federal law enforcement to D.C. to crack down on murder, homelessness, and car jackings. As part of this effort, he sent hundreds of National Guard troops to the capital to patrol crime-ridden neighborhoods.

National Guard in Washington D.C.

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Admin Backs Proposal To Punish Criminals, Support Police In D.C.

Crime

House Oversight Committee

Muriel Bowser

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

White House

Congress gears up for a fight over the fate of Obamacare, Hollywood suffers a monstrous slump, and a federal contracting program aimed at minority-owned businesses fields fraud accusations.
It’s Friday, November 14, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251114-member-exclusive">video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/obamacare-battle-brews-hollywood-suffers-slump-11-14-25/id1576594336?i=1000736722424" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Lawmakers Prepare For Battle Over Obamacare</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1000675" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Obamacare-Reckoning-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Obamacare-Reckoning-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Obamacare-Reckoning-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Obamacare-Reckoning-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Obamacare-Reckoning-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Obamacare-Reckoning.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: With the shutdown finally ended, the fight between Democrats and Republicans over healthcare subsidies and the fate of Obamacare is only ramping up.
Obamacare subsidies were expanded in 2021 during the COVID pandemic. The subsidies, which are technically tax credits, were supposed to last only 2 years, but Democrats extended them through the end of this year.
Currently, about 24 million Americans are on Obamacare plans, up from 11 million at the start of the pandemic. It’s a considerable increase, mainly due to subsidies. It’s <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-would-eliminating-0-marketplace-premiums-affect-insurance-coverage/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">estimated</a> that about 42% of 2025 Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollees pay less than $10 a month, with a vast majority paying nothing at all. Notably, Democrats removed the income cap on subsidy eligibility, so people earning over 400% of the federal poverty level qualify for these subsidies, too.
The cost: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says that extending the subsidies through 2035 would increase the federal deficit by about $358 billion.
Democrats’ message: Democrats reportedly want to make the midterms about healthcare. Their message is that inaction from Republicans will drive up healthcare costs for millions of Americans.
Morning Wire spoke to Ryan Long, a Senior Research Fellow at Paragon Health Institute, to explain all of this. He said that if these subsidies expire as scheduled, people on ACA plans will once again return to paying something, even if it’s just a small amount, instead of having access to $0 plans. Those $0 plans, he said, have actually led to widespread fraud and abuse.
GOP’s message: Republicans generally want the subsidies to expire when the Democrats scheduled them to expire. They argue that Obamacare is a failure and needs serious reforms or a complete overhaul. Premiums, for example, rose <a href="https://www.cms.gov/cciio/resources/forms-reports-and-other-resources/downloads/uninsured-affordability-in-marketplace.pdf">143%</a> in the first six years after the ACA took effect. Next year, premiums are set to rise another <a href="https://www.kff.org/quick-take/aca-insurers-are-raising-premiums-by-an-estimated-26-but-most-enrollees-could-see-sharper-increases-in-what-they-pay/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">26%</a>.
As for the fate of Obamacare, President Donald Trump has ramped up calls to move on from the “Obamacare madness.”
&#8220;I am calling today for insurance companies NOT to be paid. But for this massive amount of money be paid directly to the people so they can buy their own healthcare,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1988810290767548793?s=20">said</a> Trump.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Hollywood’s Serious Slump</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1000673" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Silver-Screen-Slump-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Silver-Screen-Slump-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Silver-Screen-Slump-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Silver-Screen-Slump-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Silver-Screen-Slump-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Silver-Screen-Slump.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: Hollywood is in a major slump, with October marking the worst box office revenues in nearly 30 years. Even Halloween weekend, usually a horror cash machine, failed to draw audiences.
With the exception of the COVID-19 shutdown year of 2020, when theaters were closed, October was the worst box-office month since 1997. Halloween weekend had the worst earnings in 31 years. The biggest culprit appears to be the lack of must-see content.
The numbers: Disney’s &#8220;Tron: Ares&#8221; opened to $38 million — the franchise’s worst debut. A24’s &#8220;The Smashing Machine&#8221; with Dwayne Johnson got $11 million. The Bruce Springsteen biopic earned $9 million. The total October take was $425 million.
The first couple of releases of November aren’t faring any better. &#8220;Christie,&#8221; starring Sydney Sweeney, came out last week and was a major flop. Some are suggesting politics played a role, but given Sweeney’s popularity, that isn’t very likely. The most probable explanation is that Sweeney’s young male fan base wasn’t especially interested in seeing her look nothing like herself playing a boxer.
Expert says: Veteran Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1489424842344237">told</a> finance outlet, Cheddar News, that a couple of Japanese anime movies outperformed expectations, and without them, the story here would be even worse.
“There was just nothing commercially exciting enough to mainstream audiences to drive them in huge numbers. And you know, last year, there was a Venom movie that opened at $50 million in October. We didn&#8217;t have that this year. And so I think that definitely hurt the box office,” said Dergarabedian.
The deeper issues: The ongoing disruption of streaming and social media is always at play, but not necessarily in the way typically thought. Many veteran filmmakers are starting to talk about the problem of what gets greenlit — they say studios are playing it safe and aren’t willing to gamble on creative, out-of-the-box ideas, so audiences are getting tired of seeing the same old thing.
Directors like Michael Bay and James Cameron are warning that something bigger may be broken. In an interview a few months ago, Bay voiced frustration over what he called “a system afraid of risk.” Now, he’s the king of big-studio blockbusters, but he said he’s moving into independent filmmaking so he can be more creative.
And he said that Cameron told him that no individual executives are empowered to greenlight anything anymore. The result is too many sequels, too few original ideas, and a growing reliance on algorithms to decide what gets made.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Crackdown On Minority Contracting Fraud</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1000671" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Contracting-Crackdown-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Contracting-Crackdown-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Contracting-Crackdown-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Contracting-Crackdown-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Contracting-Crackdown-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Contracting-Crackdown.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The Trump administration is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-crack-down-on-minority-contracting-schemes-d-c-s-worst-kept-secret">turning</a> its eye on a long-running DEI program that may be one of Washington’s most corrupt. The federal government awards a percentage of contracts to companies whose owners are “socially disadvantaged.” But they might not even be the ones doing the work. 
At issue is a process known as 8(a) contracting or “set-aside” contracting, where certain contracts, which could be for tens of millions of dollars, are either given to one company with no competition, or limited so that only “disadvantaged” companies are eligible to compete – essentially, racial minorities and women-owned companies.
This way of contracting is likely behind much of the poor performance in government, such as websites seeming old-fashioned and broken. But this has been the way Washington works for decades. Typically, GOP-favored interest groups such as disabled veterans and Alaskan native corporations have gotten a share. And then big, non-minority-owned companies end up doing much of the actual work as subcontractors.
ATI: One company, ATI Government Solutions, seemed to admit to the cozy dealmaking in an <a href="https://x.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/1981042870460252398">expose</a> put out by undercover activist James O’Keefe last month.
ATI is a company that gets contracts because it’s owned by Native Americans, though on ATI’s website, all the executives listed appear to be white.
The website is almost entirely focused on selling the idea that it’s easier for government officials to skip holding a competition to find the best company for a job. Meanwhile, big companies can get a shortcut to a government contract by working with ATI, which essentially has an automatic in because it’s partly owned by an Indian tribe.
Seems sus: Kelly Loeffler, the head of the Small Business Administration, said there’s a “full review of the 8(a) program” underway that has found “institutionalized abuse” to the tune of billions.
Loeffler said ATI’s CEO, Firmadge Crutchfield, had a network of seven companies, all of which had been suspended from receiving new contracts, and that their names were provided to law enforcement. 
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), chair of the Senate Small Business Committee, said the Biden administration tripled the goal for minority set-asides from 5% to 15%, and did little to make sure they were actually doing the work, instead of serving as pass-throughs. 
“Small business contracting programs were never intended to function as welfare systems for favored classes or give no-bid contracts to do-nothing companies,” Ernst said, adding that over the decades, “penalties against rulebreakers have not been swiftly and resolutely imposed.”

MRN_251114_V1

Morning Brief: Obamacare Battle Brews, Hollywood Slump, & D.C.’s DEI Rackets

Hollywood

Kelly Loeffler

Morning Wire

Obamacare

Small Business Administration

Sydney Sweeney

The Department of Justice has reportedly opened a corruption probe into Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser over a Qatar-funded flight.
The mayor’s office said that it had not been notified of any investigation into the mayor’s travel. It confirmed the flight at the center of the reported probe, but said that all “proper paperwork for this standard donation is on file,” according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/us/politics/trump-muriel-bowser-qatar-investigation.html">The New York Times</a>.
“We have checked with our lawyers, and the District has not been notified of any investigation. This was a business trip; DC representatives regularly travel to promote Washington as a destination for investment and growth. This regular work has helped bring investment, infrastructure, new business, new grocery stores, growth, and jobs to the District,” Bowser’s office told <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/trump-doj-investigation-muriel-bowser-dc-qatar-11007381">Newsweek</a> in a statement.
&#8220;In some cases, economic development funds are used for the business travel; in other cases, the host or organizer cover the expenses,” the statement continued.
The Justice Department reportedly began to scrutinize the mayor’s overseas travels after a local D.C. outlet, <a href="https://wjla.com/features/i-team/washington-dc-code-mayor-spending-travel-expenses-report-dubai-qatar-donation-agreement-luxury-vacation-climate-change-convention-taxpayer-dollars-chamber-of-commerce-middle-east-investigation">WJLA</a>, reported that Qatar paid $61,930 for flights to Doha for the mayor and four of her staff in 2023. Afterward, the mayor and her entourage jetted over to Dubai for a climate change conference.
Bowser kept poor records of her trip to Qatar and other jaunts in the United States and to other foreign countries, according to WJLA. At the time of the report, WJLA found no record of a donation agreement between the mayor’s office and Qatar, which is required by D.C. law.
When first questioned about the trip, Bowser’s office initially claimed that it has been covered by the D.C. Chamber of Commerce before telling reporters that the cost was actually borne by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. WJLA later discovered that the trip was in part funded by the Qatari government after obtaining documents through an open records request.

DC Mayor Under DOJ Investigation Over Qatar-Funded Flight

Courts

Department of Justice

U.S.

This evening, Members of Congress will come together publicly, not to debate or campaign, but to pray for America in a National Prayer Call.
In a first, the House Freedom Caucus and the Family Research Council will host a national call to prayer titled, “Congress Prays for America.” It will unite Members of Congress, Christian leaders, and Americans across the country to do what is desperately needed in this moment: humble ourselves before God and seek His guidance for our nation.
This couldn’t come at a more urgent time. In the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a young Christian leader who devoted his life to calling this generation back to truth and faith, our country is being forced to confront its spiritual crisis. Political violence, moral confusion, and hatred have filled the void where faith and grace once stood. It’s not just a political problem — it’s a spiritual one.
The answer to the kind of darkness America is facing won’t come from another government program or campaign speech. It will come from personal and corporate repentance, humility, and a national return to God.
That’s what this prayer call is about.
For decades, Washington has treated faith as something to be kept private — to be tolerated but never proclaimed. Lawmakers have been told that prayer belongs in the pews, not the halls of Congress. But America’s founders knew better. They opened every session of Congress with prayer because they knew the affairs of men could not prosper without the wisdom of Heaven.
When Congress prays, Members are reminded that we are not the ultimate authority — God is.
On Thursday night, Members will pray for an end to political violence. They will pray for our President, for Congress, for the people impacted by the ongoing shutdown, and for peace and protection in Israel.
The same faith that once guided the founding of this nation can still renew it today. We need a revival of courage, conviction, and compassion in our government. We need leaders who remember that the Constitution protects freedom of religion, not freedom from it.
That’s why this call matters.
When Members of Congress bow their heads together, they acknowledge that the power to restore this nation doesn’t lie in the levers of politics, but in the hands of Providence. God can bring revival to the very place where division has taken root: the United States Capitol.
This isn’t just a national prayer call from Congress. It’s a step toward something our country desperately needs — a spiritual revival and awakening. 
America’s hope doesn’t rest in Washington, but it can start there.
* * *
Tony Perkins is president of Family Research Council and executive editor of The Washington Stand.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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* * *
Correction: The previous title indicated a prayer meeting at the Capitol tonight. The prayer call is in fact a teleconference phone call, not an in-person meeting. The revised title reflects that change.

Aerial Shot of Colorful Evening Sky Behind Capitol Building and Washington Monument

Why We’re Hosting A National Prayer Call Tonight: ‘Congress Prays For America’

Why We’re Hosting A National Prayer Call Tonight: 'Congress Prays For America'

Bible

Capitol Hill

Christians

Family Research Council

Freedom Caucus

Opinion

Prayer

U.S. House of Representatives

The consequences of the government shutdown rear their ugly heads, a congressional hearing to examine the origins of political violence, and Trump continues his Asia tour as the Left melts down over his East Wing renovations.
It’s Tuesday, October 28, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251028">the video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Government Shutdown Repercussions</h2>
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Topline: The government shutdown is dragging on, and pressure is mounting on Democrats to end it.
About 13,000 air traffic controllers are set to miss their first paycheck on Tuesday, which is bound to make a bad situation significantly worse. Some reports say air traffic controllers are taking second jobs as DoorDash drivers to supplement their income.
Roughly 18,700 flights were delayed on Sunday. On Monday, more than 3,000 flights were delayed, and more than 100 were canceled. Airports have become a flash point of the shutdown. Air traffic controllers and TSA agents were some of the first employees to see their pay disrupted, and Americans are generally united in hating flight delays.
Uh-oh, Democrats: A couple of major airline pilot unions last week called for an end to the shutdown, and that turned out to be only a precursor of what was to come. Now, the largest union representing 800,000 federal workers, the American Federation of Government Employees, has issued a statement calling for the Senate to pass a continuing resolution to end the shutdown.
Union President Everett Kelley said it&#8217;s time for leaders to focus on solving problems for the American people rather than on who is going to get the blame for the shutdown. He is calling for back pay for every single employee who has been forced to stay home.
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AFGE is a Democratic stalwart. It pushed to stop the Trump administration from making federal workers return to the office, it endorsed Joe Biden for president, and just last week, it blamed Trump and congressional Republicans for keeping the government closed. But while this statement doesn’t lay the blame on one party in particular, the union calls for a clean CR, which Republicans have put forward over a dozen times and Democrats keep rejecting.
Oh SNAP: In addition to flight delays and organized labor turning against them, Democrats also have to contend with the fact that food stamps benefits will lapse starting on Friday.
The expiration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will impact 40 million people. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said on Monday that not only is this affecting airports, but that some states, such as his own, will now have to be forced to cut off SNAP benefits—an example of SNAP becoming one of the big talking points this week.
Food stamps are not an explicitly partisan issue, and lawmakers from both parties will have to explain this disruption in benefits to their constituents. Democrats are working to shift the blame to Republicans. The California Department of Social Services is texting residents, blaming the imminent SNAP disruption on Trump and the GOP.
Republicans dismissed the attack, as California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom is using taxpayer money to spread political propaganda. But each new disruption is likely going to hit Democrats harder than Republicans, increasing the likelihood that some members of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s caucus break ranks in the coming days.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Hearing On Politically Violent Attacks</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-992089" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Exposing-Political-Violence-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Exposing-Political-Violence-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Exposing-Political-Violence-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Exposing-Political-Violence-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Exposing-Political-Violence-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Exposing-Political-Violence.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The assassination of Charlie Kirk has prompted a congressional hearing for Tuesday, organized by Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), on &#8220;Politically Violent Attacks.” The hearing seeks to examine the origins of political violence and extremism, which have come mainly from the Left in recent years. 
Morning Wire spoke with Sen. Schmitt and Michael Knowles, host of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-michael-knowles-show">The Michael Knowles Show</a>” on The Daily Wire, about the nature of political violence in the United States today. (The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.)
Morning Wire: Senator, you’ve organized this hearing, and this issue is obviously a high priority. What are the goals of the proceedings today?
Schmitt: The assassination of Charlie Kirk brought left-wing political violence really front and center, and I think it needs to be exposed. This isn’t a one-off thing. This is sort of an ideology that’s taken hold now. When you have 25% of those who describe themselves as “very liberal” believe political violence is justified, over 55% of those on the left believe it&#8217;s at least somewhat justifiable to assassinate President Trump, there’s a problem. And I think if we’re ever going to get on the other side of this and get to healing – where we can say, free speech, yes, political violence, no – we have to expose the truth, which is that this is overwhelmingly coming from one side.
Morning Wire: Senator thanks for joining us. Among those testifying at the hearing today is Daily Wire host Michael Knowles. Michael, good to have you back on. You obviously were invited to this hearing for specific reasons – tell us about that, and what you plan to address.
Knowles: I was invited largely because I was the target of leftist violence on a few occasions, but of organized leftist violence, specifically two years ago. This was at the University of Pittsburgh. I was doing a debate on the topic of transgenderism, and there was a large demonstration. They burnt me in effigy, lit the street on fire, and then two Antifa operatives showed up and threw smoke bombs at the attendees and the police. And then threw a large explosive firework at the police and seriously injured one female police officer, gave her life-altering injuries that took her out of work for at least a year – and also injured other police officers as well. … Happily, there was one intrepid FBI agent in the crowd, and he had noticed the uptick in left-wing violence at these conservative speaker events. … It was only because he really pushed this up through the DOJ that any charges were brought at all. … So these are two people who are members of an anarchist cell, part of the Torch Antifa Network. The guy had set off TSA scanners with explosive material multiple times. It’s an illustrative example of violence because if you look up left-wing ideologically motivated violence in any of the databases that concern it or at the federal government level, you won&#8217;t find it. It won&#8217;t turn up. That just doesn&#8217;t exist, and this is true for a lot of examples of left-wing violence, perhaps most notably the BLM riots, which are just simply not classified as left-wing violence. … So we’re going to call attention to that fact, as well as to the fact that now even the honest liberals can not hold up the lie that the violence is coming from the right.
Morning Wire: What do you think the federal government’s role should be in addressing politically motivated violence — is there a line which they should not cross?
Knowles: I don’t think we’re at fear of over-policing left-wing terrorists, okay? I think we’re barely policing them at all. And so then the question becomes, well, what tools are at the federal government&#8217;s disposal? And there are plenty. You know, President Trump has said that he will classify Antifa as a domestic terror organization. Now, the government is more limited in its resources to go after domestic terrorists as opposed to foreign terrorists. However, we&#8217;ve done it before. The federal government has successfully dismantled the Ku Klux Klan, has successfully dismantled organized crime using all sorts of statutes; going after them for RICO, for conspiracy, for all manner of things all the way up to tax evasion, I suppose. President Trump putting this renewed focus on it is very important because the Left has dismissed this as a concern by lying and saying that the political violence is a right-wing phenomenon, and it has allowed this problem to fester so much so that we saw its tragic apotheosis in the murder of Charlie Kirk – and we cannot allow that to continue anymore.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Hunts For A Deal</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-992087" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/More-Deals-Inbound-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/More-Deals-Inbound-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/More-Deals-Inbound-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/More-Deals-Inbound-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/More-Deals-Inbound-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/More-Deals-Inbound.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: President Trump continues his swing through Asia as Democrat and media backlash builds following his White House renovation.
Japan: After signing a big peace deal Sunday between Thailand and Cambodia and rolling out new trade deals elsewhere, Trump headed to Japan, where he received royal treatment. Famous landmarks across Tokyo were lit up with red, white, and blue displays.
The Trump administration and Japan reached a deal on rare earth minerals on Tuesday and unveiled a list of projects included in a $550 billion investment proposal stemming from a July trade agreement.
The rare earth deal, which President Donald Trump signed alongside Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, establishes a mutual stockpiling arrangement and stipulates that the United States and Japan will cooperate with international partners to protect the supply chain, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/trump-takaichi-agree-rare-earth-critical-minerals-supply-2025-10-28/">reported</a>. Trump has been pushing to better secure the rare-earth supply chain and cut into China&#8217;s stranglehold over rare-earth minerals.
Along with the rare-earth deal, the United States and Japan released a list of proposed projects to boost Japanese investment in the U.S. economy. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1983119054983287061">said</a> at a press conference alongside Trump on Tuesday that the proposals &#8220;are driven by the Japanese strategic investment initiative, which was created by [Trump&#8217;s] tariff policy and by [Trump&#8217;s] historic trade agreement with Japan.&#8221;
The White House credited the threat of tariffs with pushing our trading partners to make deals favorable to the United States. Deals were announced with Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam on Sunday, and now Japan has been added to the list on Monday. But the world is still waiting to see what will come of this meeting with China on Thursday. 
China: Officials from both sides have continued to meet to hammer out the framework of a deal. The White House says it&#8217;s confident both sides will agree to dramatically lower tariffs and possibly strike a permanent solution to the battle over TikTok ownership.
Trump put it more bluntly: “I think we&#8217;re going to come away with a deal.”
While Trump’s optimism has not always preceded deals, investors seem to think this is good news. Gold, cryptocurrency, and oil prices all spiked on Monday as global markets rallied to all-time highs across Asia.
On Wall Street, the DOW, NASDAQ, and S&amp;P 500 all hit record highs on Monday. Leading the way were tech companies like Nvidia, which have been hobbled this year by massive tariffs on semiconductors. Stateside, shares of domestic mining companies fell, a sign that investors believe China is about to reopen the flow of rare earth minerals as part of a looming deal.
White House remodel: The East Wing of the White House has now been demolished to make way for a 90,000 square foot ballroom. The administration says it’s a matter of practicality and safety, noting that in the past, if a president wanted to hold a large event honoring foreign dignitaries, they were often forced to erect makeshift tents on the White House lawn.
Former presidents such as Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, FDR, Harry S. Truman, Richard Nixon, and Barack Obama added items to the White House, made renovations, or removed items. Though that has not stopped criticism from being leveled at Trump over his plans for a ballroom.
There are already some on the Left attempting to mount a legal challenge to block the project. A Virginia couple filed a motion in a D.C. federal court last week seeking a temporary restraining order against the demolition, arguing it violates the National Historic Preservation Act. The administration says it’s well within its authority to make renovations, the same way so many presidents have done before.

MRN_251028_V1

Morning Brief: Shutdown Fallout Mounts & Congress Probes Political Violence

Morning Brief: Shutdown Consequences Coming, Leftist Political Violence, And Trump's China Deal

Charlie Kirk

China

Democratic Party

Eric Schmitt

Government Shutdown

Japan

Michael Knowles

U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro announced on Monday charges against two teens allegedly involved in the attack against a Department of Government Efficiency staffer over the summer.
Federal prosecutors have charged Lawrence Cotton-Powell, 19, along with Anthony Taylor, 18, with robbery, assault, and carjacking in connection with the attack on a DOGE staffer, Edward Coristine, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-staffer-big-balls-hailed-as-hero-after-musk-says-he-saved-woman-from-gang-in-d-c">known</a> as “Big Balls,” and another person in early August. Not long before Coristine was beaten while defending a woman, Cotton-Powell and Taylor were involved in the mugging of a victim named Ethan Levine, Pirro <a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/news-conference/us-attorney-pirro-news-conference-on-assault-of-doge-staffer/667476">said</a>.
In addition to the mugging prior to Coristine, Pirro said that both suspects are repeat offenders who should have been in jail for other offenses and never had the opportunity to attack the two men in August.
“Lawrence Cotton-Powell is 19 years of age. He is now charged with robbery, first-degree robbery for which he faces 15 years in prison. He also faces a charge of assault with intent to commit robbery, another 15 years, and robbery for Edward Coristine, 15 years, assault with intent to commit robbery, another 15 years, and attempted carjacking, five years,” Pirro said.
The U.S. attorney then went on to detail how judges ignored her office’s requests for jail time for Cotton-Powell, instead letting the teen loose on probation. A short time after he was released in each case, he allegedly committed other crimes that landed him back in the crosshairs of prosecutors.
“The codefendant in this case is an individual by the name of Anthony Taylor. He – charged also with the same arrest – he is fraught with the same crimes,” Pirro said.
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The attack on Coristine, which left the federal staffer bloodied, appeared to trigger President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime in major American cities. The president has deployed National Guardsmen to areas such as Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tennessee, to deter crime. He has attempted to deploy troops to other locations, such as Seattle, but has been blocked by the courts.
The charges against Cotton-Powell and Taylor come after two teens involved in the attack received probation, a punishment criticized by Pirro and Trump.
The president called the sentences of probation, handed down to a 15-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, “terrible.” The president and Pirro have called for stricter penalties against youth in D.C. to deter crime that has exploded among the capital’s teens.
“I think the judge should be ashamed of himself,” <a href="https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/president-trump-critical-punishment-two-teens-attacked-doge-worker-probation-jeanine-pirro-attorney-judge/65-f5b45029-3fee-4703-bbb1-f9738f279739">said</a> Trump.

Jeanine Pirro

Jeanine Pirro Announces Charges Against Two More DC Teens Over ‘Big Balls’ Attack

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

What do you call seven million old white people gathering all over the country?
Not a Barry Manilow reunion tour.
It is, of course, the “No Kings” rallies, which happened over the course of Saturday with seven million protesters, nearly all of them members of the AARP, gathering around the nation in order to protest kings.
You may have noticed we don&#8217;t have kings here in the United States. We have a constitutional republic.
No matter what you think of Donald Trump, Donald Trump has been subject to the dictates of Congress. He has been subject to the dictates of courts. There are actual laws and regulations on the books that prevent the president of the United States from instituting tyrannical power over the rest of the country.
One of the most amusing things about these “No Kings” rallies is the supposition by the Left that they stand in opposition to grand expansions of executive power.
That is absolute bull. It is nonsense. I&#8217;m old enough to remember Barack Obama. I&#8217;m old enough to remember Joe Biden, who tried to use the Occupational Safety and Health Organization in order to cram down vaccine mandates on 80 million Americans, and our company had to sue to stop him.
I remember President Biden telling the Supreme Court that while they were attempting to stop him from getting rid of student loans, he would circumvent them and find another way to do it.
The idea that these people who are opposed to Donald Trump do so to oppose expanded executive power is ridiculous. It is the Democratic Party in the United States which has, writ large, expanded the power of the executive branch wholesale over the course of the last century. Since Woodrow Wilson, the expansion of the executive branch of government has been nonstop. It has sometimes been paused under some Republicans, but it is rarely reversed.
When it comes to the modern Democratic Party, the idea that they want to delegate power back to the states or delegate power back to Congress is a lie. As soon as a Democrat is in power, they simply want to run roughshod over the Constitution of the United States.
Thus the very premise of these “No Kings” rallies is false.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2299-old-white-people-rally-against-kings"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Left-wing Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/10/18/no-kings-protests-october-18-turnout">reported</a>:  “According to a statement from the ‘No Kings’ protest organizers, Saturday&#8217;s turnout was ‘one of the largest single-day demonstrations in U.S. history’ with over two million more people taking part than participated in similar protests in June of this year.”
Of course, you remember how much of a difference it made when they protested in June.
You don&#8217;t? You forgot already?
You forgot already because it didn&#8217;t matter at all. It is now Monday and everyone already forgot.
“More than 2,700 events were planned as part of the protests across 50 states as of Saturday, as well as several internationally, including in London, Paris, Rome and Lisbon, Portugal.”
I get a kick out of places that actually have kings saying that they&#8217;re going to have “No Kings” rallies.
These rallies are ridiculous. If you look at the pictures of people who are dressed up as lobsters in Massachusetts or Superman in New York City or inflatable chickens, you think to yourself, “I don&#8217;t think these are the folks who are going to change America in any real way.”
<div id="attachment_988687" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-988687" class="size-large wp-image-988687" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2241486145-864x576.jpg" alt="People participate in a &quot;No Kings&quot; national day of protest in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 18, 2025. From New York to San Francisco, millions of Americans are expected to hit the streets to voice their anger over President Donald Trump's policies at nationwide &quot;No Kings&quot; protests. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2241486145-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2241486145-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2241486145-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2241486145.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images</div>
And that&#8217;s putting aside the people who arrived at these rallies in order to promote violence against the president of the United States, or against people on the right-wing. Those people were in plentiful supply. Politicians showed up. They spoke alongside radical agitators and organizers.
We&#8217;re all supposed to pretend that that never happened, speaking alongside terrorist supporters, people who despise the country. If you&#8217;re a politician, like Bernie Sanders or Chris Murphy from Connecticut, and you speak alongside Qatari mouthpiece Mehdi Hasan, or you speak alongside people who have openly promoted terrorism, that&#8217;s kind of a big deal.
My favorite moment of media coverage came when MSNBC <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/msnbc-interviews-a-unicorn-and-bear-at-no-kings-rally-looking-as-ridiculous-as-we-can-to-protest-ridiculous-trump/">interviewed</a> a person dressed up as a unicorn.
(A rally is truly serious when people dress up as inflatable unicorns.)
<blockquote>Reporter: Angel, I&#8217;ve never interviewed a unicorn live on MSNBC.
Unicorn: Always a first time for everything.
Reporter: Angel. Talk as loud as you can. Because you got kind of a big snout here. … I&#8217;ll say that again. I said it&#8217;s hard to hear you, but tell me what brings you out and to be inside this high unicorn costume today?
Unicorn: Well, we&#8217;re here to represent the loving, hardworking community of Los Angeles. We&#8217;re here peacefully protesting, looking as ridiculous as we can, just so maybe we appeal to the president because he is a ridiculous leader that is normalizing abuse of power, and we cannot stand and act like nothing is happening.
Reporter: I&#8217;ve never heard a more serious message come out of a pink unicorn.</blockquote>
I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s true because I think that half of the MSNBC staff are pink unicorns.
It was an impressive showing, with great intellects. People like actor John Cusack, who was last relevant when he was standing outside a bedroom window holding a boombox in a movie from 1989.
But if you thought that Cusack was the only old actor who showed up to pay tribute to the “No Kings” rally, I present to you: (drum roll) Robert De Niro, who seems to have chosen poorly when he drank from his choice of Holy Grails. He is now aging extraordinarily rapidly and also apparently turning into a hobbit.
He praised Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, for saying F.U. to Trump, (which she may be saying from jail soon, depending on how her mortgage falsification case goes).
“I like what Letitia James is doing,” he declared “She&#8217;s fighting back. She&#8217;s saying F*** you. &#8230; I will not be taken down by this person. I am not afraid of him.” He also had comments about Stephen Miller, calling Miller, who happens to be Jewish, a Nazi.
Bernie Sanders yelled, “We&#8217;re here because we&#8217;re going to do everything we can to honor the sacrifices of millions of men and women who, over the last 250 years, fought and sometimes died.”
I can&#8217;t take him seriously. Nothing you do can make me take him seriously, because he&#8217;s not a serious person. The fact that the Democratic Party has elevated him as an ideological thought leader after spending his entire life being a useless pustule on the ass of American society is indeed a reflection of what their party stands for.
Sanders spoke of how much these people loved America.
Yet there were a shocking number of non-American flags over the Washington, DC rally. There was a giant Palestinian flag in solidarity with Hamas, of course. In Los Angeles there were tons of Mexican flags, so many that the CNN reporter noted it.
Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts decided that he was going to give a speech while donning a trans flag. J.B. Pritzker, the would-be presidential candidate from Illinois (who typically has to be lowered into these things by crane) stood in front of a bunch of signs, including a F*** ICE sign.
For the sake of his bodily health, I hope it was a very short march.
A Barry Manilow reunion tour would have been a heck of a lot less screechy.

People Protest in Washington, DC as Part of the No Kings Rallies

Old White People Rally Against ‘Kings’

Ben Shapiro

Bernie Sanders

Chicago

Leftists

Liberals

Massachusetts

Protests

Robert de Niro

WASHINGTON—The Daily Wire team joined throngs of marchers who took to the streets of the nation&#8217;s capital Saturday for the 2025 &#8220;No Kings&#8221; protest.
The Washington, D.C., rally was the focal point of similar events nationwide, meant to counter the &#8220;authoritarian threats&#8221; posed by President Donald Trump and his administration.
Protesters came prepared with posters and costumes. Many of them had gone through media training and learned chants, songs, and dances to perform. But for all that preparation, many of the protesters The Daily Wire encountered couldn&#8217;t answer what we thought was a simple question: “If Trump was elected, how is he a king?”
Responses ranged from blank stares to Kamala Harris-style word salads and vague references to “checks and balances.” Deep in a hole, a self-identified “he/she” claimed that Trump was taking away women’s right to vote. When pressed for information, he/she said “Trump has said that in interviews everywhere.”
[Editor&#8217;s note: he hasn&#8217;t].
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&#8220;No Kings&#8221; is part of the Indivisible Project, itself part of George Soros&#8217;s Open Society Action Fund. The project was created to “support the grantee’s social welfare activities.” <a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?filter_keyword=indivisible&amp;grant_id=OR2023-89662" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Indivisible Project</a> was awarded multiple grants, most recently they received $3 million from the Open Society Foundations.
High-profile Democratic leaders including Harris and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer encouraged participating on social media and in official statements.
Some protests took unsettling turns. A disturbing video from Chicago shows a middle-aged woman making a gun gesture with her hand and pointing to her neck. Towards the end of the D.C. protest, a chant broke out that “Turning Point has got to go.” Many signs featured rhetoric claiming “Trump was a Nazi” and “ICE = Gestapo.” A small fragment of the protest made the event a family affair with children holding signs such as “Stop Kidnapping People.”

No Kings March DC

We Asked ‘No Kings’ Protesters What Made Trump A King. They Couldn’t Say.

The Daily Wire

The teenagers who brutally assaulted DOGE employee Edward “Big Balls” Coristine have walked away with nothing more than probation—no jail, no meaningful punishment, no accountability.
Coristine, a 19-year-old staffer with the Department of Government Efficiency project and a rising star in the effort to clean up Washington, D.C.’s bloated federal bureaucracy, was savagely attacked by a mob of teenagers during an attempted carjacking in early August. The crime occurred in the nation’s capital, just blocks from the seat of American power.
Only two of the estimated dozen assailants were arrested: a 15-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl. This week, in a D.C. courtroom, they pleaded guilty—not to attempted carjacking, not to robbery—but to simple assault, and were sentenced to the judicial equivalent of a participation trophy.
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This was a racist verdict by a racist judge. 
The simple test to apply is if the races has been reversed, the White kids would be in prison.
Equal justice for all! <a href="https://t.co/F8gZ8D3dg0">https://t.co/F8gZ8D3dg0</a>
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1978506015281717272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The boy received a one-year sentence of house arrest. The girl? A mere nine months&#8217; probation and transfer to a local youth shelter. The court emphasized rehabilitation over punishment, and the judge reportedly scolded the girl for drawing on her hand in the courtroom—as if doodling in court were the actual offense.
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The attack was a violent ambush that left Coristine bloodied and concussed. Coristine<a href="https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/big-balls-muggers-evade-prison-sentence-get-probation-for-beating-up-doge-employee/"> told</a> Jesse Watters of Fox News:
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As we get to the car and she begins to fumble for the keys, they begin to shout at us, and really quickly I knew something was really off about this situation. So she unlocks the car, I rush her into the driving seat. I close the door behind her and she’s able to lock the doors. Right as I turn around, they’re right up on me — just a few feet away. They slammed me against the car and started throwing a bunch of punches. I keep my hands up. I’m getting a lot of punches here and I’m just trying to protect my head the best way that I can.
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Footage of Coristine’s bruised face and torn clothes went viral. So egregious was the crime that President Donald Trump personally intervened, deploying the National Guard to D.C. and threatening to revoke the city’s home rule. “Crime is totally out of control,” he <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114977985620971126">wrote</a> on Truth Social. “Time to federalize D.C.” Elon Musk, former DOGE head, praised Coristine’s courage and called for urgent reform, saying, “It’s time to federalize D.C.”
But instead of consequences for the attackers, D.C.’s soft-on-crime system delivered a clear message: attack a federal employee in broad daylight and you’ll get a curfew and counseling.
The D.C. Attorney General and prosecutor objected to the light sentences—but their opposition was ignored. Instead, the court took pains to <a href="https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/legal/teens-accused-of-attacking-doge-employee-sentenced-to-probation/65-66070bc1-a384-4c0c-a961-7bcc619706a3">explain</a> that juvenile justice is about rehabilitation, not punishment.
Even more galling: both teens are free to roam D.C.—so long as they claim it’s for school or “family obligations.”
Coristine, ever gracious, told one attacker via video, “I hope you can figure things out and be ready for the consequences.”
There were no consequences. Not for the criminals. Only for the city.

White House US President Donald Trump

Outrage In D.C.: Teens Who Savagely Beat ‘Big Balls’ Walk Free With Slap On The Wrist

Assault

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