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Donald Trump is charging his supporters nearly $90,000 to take a picture with him. The mother of one of Elon Musk’s children says that he knew the outcome of the 2024 election before it happened. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has now fired or blocked the promotions of more than 80 generals and admirals. And a 20-year-old Haitian honors student in Ohio died by suicide after ICE strapped an ankle monitor to his leg.
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For that price, you could buy a house in most of the districts Republicans are trying to win.
The Republican National Committee is holding its first-ever midterm convention September 9 and 10 in Dallas, and the price list has leaked. You can get a photo with Trump for $88,600 or sit at a roundtable with him for $250,000. And if you’re on a budget, a photo with JD Vance is just $35,000.
Over 45 Republican members of Congress told Politico they plan not to attend. Some pointed to weddings or family events, while others noted that the convention falls during the first week of the NFL season. The timing has also drawn criticism, as the event is scheduled just a day before the 25th anniversary of September 11.
Republicans in competitive races are especially nervous about being seen too close to a president whose approval rating continues to drop. Rep. Tom Barrett of Michigan said he felt he would be more useful back in his district, which is the polite way of saying he does not want to be photographed next to Trump in an election year.
Just call him Nostradamusk.
Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Elon Musk’s many children, alleges in an upcoming documentary that Musk had a “degree of certainty” about the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
According to the film, which was previewed by The Hollywood Reporter, Musk told St. Clair before the election that he was going to unleash “the anomaly in the matrix.”
Musk spent more than $290 million on Trump’s 2024 campaign. He held town halls in swing states, and infamously handed out $1 million checks to random attendees who signed a petition in support of his PAC. He also gained access to the personal data of tens of millions of Americans during his brief stint running DOGE.
As Musk reenters the MAGA fold following his very public breakup with Trump, St. Clair is going the opposite direction. The former conservative influencer recently called the conservative movement a “cult,” and has taken her name off of the anti-transgender children’s book she authored.
A Fox News host is deciding which generals are qualified. No further punchline necessary.
Since taking over the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired or blocked the promotions of more than 80 generals and admirals, impacting about 10 percent of the military’s most senior officers. Most recently, he turned down seven Army officers picked for promotion to two-star general.
More than half of the rejected officers are Black or women. Hegseth has characterized his campaign as a cleansing of what he called the “social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage” that had supposedly overtaken the Department of Defense. He has given no performance reasons for the denials.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned on Monday after months of butting heads with Hegseth. Driscoll had resisted Hegseth’s pressure to fire certain officers, including Navy Secretary John Phelan and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George.
Driscoll lasted for months, which in Trump administration time is a full career.
Pierre Damas Bel came to America to study neuroscience. He was in the National Honor Society, played varsity soccer, and was a member of the Marine Corps Junior ROTC. He graduated from Springfield High School in May and started his first semester at Wright State University in August.
On July 30, he posted on Instagram that ICE had placed a GPS monitor on his ankle after the Trump administration revoked Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants. He wrote that he was carrying unbearable feelings of shame and humiliation.
On August 31, at 8:03 in the morning, Bel video called his father and said he was not feeling well mentally because of the bullying. His dad told him to come home so they could talk. Hours later, police showed up at the family’s door, telling them their son had stepped in front of traffic on Interstate 70 and been hit by a tractor-trailer.
Pastor Carl Ruby of Central Christian Church in Springfield said that Bel had been teased by fellow students at Wright State about his ankle monitor. In his ROTC class, every student was given a uniform except for him. He was told he could not receive one because of his immigration status.
His father said in a statement: “I am calling upon the administration all the time, upon the policymakers to review the policies, because behind them are real human lives. If they can do that, I think that it would be good for the country.”
If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day. Call or text 988 for free and confidential care.
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** House Democrats Vote to Keep the Door Open to Supreme Court Expansion.** House Democrats on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected a Republican-backed constitutional amendment that would have permanently capped the Supreme Court at nine justices. The vote was 212-206, short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage. All but one Democrat — Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina — voted against it. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark called it a power grab, saying the size of the Court should be determined by Congress as needed, not written into the Constitution.
** Texas Right-to-Repair Law Takes Effect, Unanimously Passed by the State Legislature.** As of September 1, Texas law requires manufacturers to provide consumers and independent repair facilities with the same parts, tools, and manuals they provide to authorized service centers. The law, House Bill 2963, applies to smartphones, laptops, tablets, and other consumer electronics with a wholesale price of $50 or more. It passed the Texas House 130-0 and the Texas Senate 31-0, making it one of the few bills in recent memory to gain unanimous, bipartisan support. Texas is only the ninth state to guarantee consumers’ right to repair.
** New York City Public Schools Ban AI Through Middle School.** New York City is banning generative AI for all students in pre-K through eighth grade as the new school year begins, enacting the country’s broadest moratorium on AI. The city plans to study the impact of the technology on learning over the next year before making any further decisions. High school students are not subject to the ban, and will be provided lessons on AI literacy twice a year instead. “The tech industry wants us to believe that AI-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary. We do not see it that way,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.
UnitedHealthcare Drops Prior Authorization Requirements for 1,700 Medical Services. Beginning Oct. 1, UnitedHealthcare will eliminate prior authorization for about 1,700 procedures across its major plans. Prior authorization is when your doctor has to call your insurance company to get permission to perform a procedure or prescribe a medication, meaning corporate suits routinely delay and outright block people from getting the care actual medical professionals already determined they need. UnitedHealthcare has pledged to cut its prior authorization volume by 30 percent before the end of 2026, after sustained pressure from patients, doctors, and one guy in particular.