Trump administration to grant $12m to groups founded by UK conservatives

Donald Trump’s state department intends to allocate $12m to organisations in the UK founded by the prominent Conservatives Jacob Rees-Mogg and Toby Young, the Guardian can reveal. 

The intended grants, revealed in US government documents, are part of a package of support for European groups viewed favourably by the Trump administration. Some former US officials have criticised the funding as a misuse of public money to seek influence over foreign politics...

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/17/trump-administration-to-grant-12m-to-groups-founded-by-uk-conservatives-jacob-rees-mogg-and-toby-young

Lindsey Graham was everything to #Trump #senate #lindseygraham #politics

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/svhB7sTftHw

Trump upended health care. Lobbyists are raking it in. - POLITICO

New disclosures show health industry firms and trade groups are spending more than ever to influence Washington...

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/22/lobbying-health-care-trump-rfk-00886828

"You Will Rule for Them 100% of the Time": Sen. Whitehouse to Leonard Leo aligned judicial appointee

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS04lmJqeck

 

3 AM Calls from Trump | Paula Poundstone

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3aGKxMET4hg

David Kirkpatrick on Trump’s Immense and Shameless Profiteering (Al Franken Podcast)

One of Donald Trump's most successful initiatives in his second term has been making himself and his family richer than ever. We're joined by The New Yorker’s David Kirkpatrick, who earlier this year wrote a piece outlining all the ways the legendary grifters have cashed in during Trump’s presidency.

The Trump family has long been associated with shameless cash grabs, but we have reached new levels of corruption by using his office for their money-making schemes: international real estate deals, Trump-branded merchandise, and cryptocurrency.

David lays out the long list of ethical implications involved and calculates the staggering amount of money Donald Trump and his family have made off of his presidency.

READ David's piece “The Number” in The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/08/18/the-number
Interview: 

https://youtu.be/zjm-RAJ1E2I?si=f95phgoGRB--DKZY

Report says Americans undertook influence operations in Greenland

Denmark’s foreign minister has summoned the top U.S. diplomat in Copenhagen following a news report that claims Americans connected to U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration planned covert influence operations in Greenland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy13HTxGooY 

Trump is driving China and South America’s relationship to its ‘best moment’

The US is targeting its own allies and its withdrawal from the region has left a power vacuum for China to fill in…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/12/trump-china-south-america-foreign-policy

 

Elon Musk’s influence and access questioned

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JBIMtDmzDR0

Psychologist: How to influence anyone who disagrees with you

"Establishing a connection with someone, seeing them as a fellow human being, I think it goes a long way," Gray says… 

"My number one tip is if you go into these conversations trying to win you've already lost, because no one ever admits defeat when it comes to morality," he says…

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/30/psychologist-how-to-influence-anyone-who-disagrees-with-you.html

WATCH: Sen. Whitehouse questions Zeldin about Trump pressure to cut EPA workforce

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoT0ycXnDoY

US sues Elon Musk for allegedly failing to disclose early Twitter stock purchase

In its lawsuit, the SEC said that before Musk's delayed disclosure of his ownership in Twitter, he allegedly spent more than $500m purchasing additional shares in the company and was able to buy the stock from the "unsuspecting public at artificially low prices"...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/14/us-elon-musk-twitter-stock-purchase-lawsuit

 

‘Expect war’: leaked chats reveal influence of rightwing media on militia group | Far right (US) | The Guardian

Disinformation and conspiracy theories – some spread by Elon Musk – fuel group's vitriol and paranoia…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/28/rightwing-media-influence-militia-group

Elon Musk's Power Play UNVEILED In Devastating Republican Financial Revelations

Republicans get cornered by terrifying financial revelations as reports prove Elon Musk is not only donating massively to Donald Trump but his is also bankrolling more than five other GOP campaigns in key House districts, proving the dangerous power he could hold in government. John Iadarola and Wosny Lambre break it down on The Damage Report.

Interview: 

https://youtu.be/zzSr1q7kxmw?si=TJck9Ijae-F0c3Au

Weekly Roundup: Tucker Carlson’s Neo-Nazi Interview Sparks Outrage (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)

In this weekly roundup, we discuss the recent inflammatory interview between Tucker Carlson and Daryl Cooper, where Cooper provides a sympathetic take on Hitler and Nazi Germany. 

The conversation touches on the sweeping implications of Russian influence in right-wing American media, as evidenced by the funding behind prominent figures like Tim Poole. 

We also address the unsettling stance of JD Vance on childcare and family roles, and his troubling comments regarding post-menopausal women. Additionally, the episode covers updates on Trump’s legal battles and the shifting political landscape in the run-up to the 2024 U.S. election.

Interview: 

https://www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/weekly-roundup-tucker-carlson-interview-sparks-outrage/

Charlie Kirk badgers Christian pastors to do more to elect Donald Trump

Rightwing activist urges conference of Protestant leaders to enlist congregants into 'deployments' to swing states…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/12/charlie-kirk-trump

Iran hackers target US officials to influence election, Microsoft says

The report follows recent statements by senior US intelligence officials that they had seen Iran ramp up use of clandestine social media accounts with the aim to use them to try to sow political discord in the US. 

The report also reveals how Russia and China are exploiting US political polarization to advance their own divisive messaging in a consequential election year...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/09/microsoft-reports-iran-hackers-presidential-campaign-election

Trump says he has ‘no choice’ but to back EVs after Musk endorsement

"I'm for electric cars, I have to be because Elon endorsed me very strongly," Trump, the Republican nominee for US president, told supporters at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/05/trump-endorses-electric-vehicles-elon-musk

Inside Ziklag, the Christian-Right Group Trying to Sway the 2024 Election — ProPublica

Ziklag, an invitation-only charity organization for rich Christians, aims to take dominion over what it sees as the seven major spheres of public life, which it calls "mountains": business, science and technology, family, arts and media, church, education and government... 

Ziklag says in a 2023 internal video that it and its allies will "coordinate extensive pastor and church outreach through pastor summits, church-focused messaging and events and the creation of pastor resources." As preacher and activist John Amanchukwu said at a Ziklag event, "We need a church that's willing to do anything and everything to get to the point where we reclaim that which was stolen from us."…

https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-ziklag-secret-christian-charity-2024-election

The Scheme 31: The Crooked Stick and the Supreme Court

April 30 | Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee, delivers the thirty-first in a series of speeches titled “The Scheme,” exposing the machinations by right-wing donor interests to capture the Supreme Court and achieve through the Court what they cannot through the elected branches of government.

Whitehouse compares the prosecutions of government officials for failing to properly disclose gifts of free vacations, event tickets, lodging, or travel, with the lack of accountability for the right-wing Court justices who have received similar undisclosed gifts.
Interview: 

https://youtu.be/A_s-hbbv2Sw?si=ILmcijYQsqMPh1BK