Some people claim to like it, but personally, I don’t think that scent has a-peel. 🍌
In Case You Missed It
🛳️ The U.S. Central Command has officially denied that an American guided‑missile destroyer violated Iranian territorial waters, according to a USNI News report.
🤑 Jeff Bezos may be interested in buying CNBC. It is for sale since it was thrown out by NBCUniversal along with MSNBC.
📞 Ursula von der Leyen has phoned Volodymyr Zelenskyy with “strong concerns," asking for a formal explanation over a newly passed anti-corruption law in Ukraine that strips the government of its ability to investigate corruption and hands that authority to Zelenskyy's politically-appointed prosecutor general. Zelensky may be backtracking on this due to global outrage.
🧊 China and Russia have relaunched joint maritime research missions for the first time in five years, sending 25 scientists from Vladivostok to study ocean evolution and climate impacts in a move reflecting their growing Arctic ambitions.
*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00 AM ET.
Lead: The Fed Likes to Be Left Alone—Trump Has Other Plans
AI-generated image (ChatGPT/OpenAI)
The White House posted this image, suggesting that President Trump's visit to the Federal Reserve on Thursday will be: 👀
What does 👀 mean? That the President wants to fire Fed Chief Jerome Powell?
Well, it is unusual for a sitting president to visit the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is used to being left alone to pervert global markets to enrich itself in peace.
If Trump truly wanted to serve the American people, he’d End the Fed. But he doesn’t seem interested in that. He wants lower interest rates, cheap money, and a Fed Chair who will cooperate.
Powell has resisted cutting rates. Trump wants someone who won’t.
Can the President fire the Fed Chair? Not exactly. The law allows removal “for cause,” but doesn’t define what that means—and no Fed Chair has ever been removed this way. Powell’s term runs through May 2026, when Trump could simply replace him.
So—is this visit an intimidation tactic? A signal? Or something more?
👀
Breadcrumbs, Not Justice: Still No Answers on Epstein
Photo credit: Getty Images
The Wall Street Journal breathlessly reports that the Justice Department found Trump’s name in the Epstein files and notified him back in May.
BREAKING: We already knew that! Trump already knew that! This isn’t an “exclusive”—it’s a rerun.
Trump was friendly with Jeffrey Epstein for years. Prior litigation revealed numerous messages between them before Trump entered politics. In a 2010 deposition, Epstein refused to answer whether he was ever in Trump’s presence with underage girls. There’s even speculation that Trump may have drawn a lewd cartoon in Epstein’s 50th birthday book.
All of this feels like breadcrumbing—drip-feeding old facts while the public waits for real answers:
Who abused underage girls?
Who was blackmailed?
And who was Epstein working for?
If President Trump was involved in illegal activity, we should be given proof, not innuendo. We're adults, we can handle it.
Meanwhile, House Republicans have subpoenaed Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell for a deposition scheduled for August at the federal prison in Tallahassee where she is serving time. Lawmakers say they seek her insight on “the federal government’s enforcement of sex trafficking laws” and its handling of the Epstein investigation, along with her advice on how to “improve federal efforts to combat sex trafficking.”
At the same time, a judge in Florida has rejected the Trump administration’s request to unseal grand jury testimony from 2005 and 2007. Two federal judges in New York are still weighing the same request.
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Brigitte Macron Files U.S. Defamation Suit—But Will She Face Discovery?
Photo credit: AP
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte have sued journalist Candace Owens for defamation—over claims that the French First Lady is a man.
The suit was filed in Delaware, not France, and Owens says it was leaked to the press before it was even served to her—suggesting this is more PR stunt than legal strategy.
Owens practically dared the Macrons to sue her in her Becoming Brigitte series, which raises legitimate questions about the couple’s murky past and the First Lady’s unaddressed aberrations. She also gave them multiple chances to respond before publishing. They declined.
One of Owens’ central claims is that Brigitte Macron—then a 39-year-old teacher—was in a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student who would later become her husband. Will the Macrons defend that allegation in open court?
In defamation cases, truth is an absolute defense.
So, are the Macrons prepared to prove, under oath, that the First Lady is biologically female? Will they actually comply with discovery? Or is this just damage control—after already losing two libel suits in France against journalists who made the same claim?
If they expect Owens to settle this and let it go, in my opinion, they've poked the wrong Mama Bear.
News By The Numbers
Photo credit: Getty Images
$1.2 billion. That is how much the federal government reportedly paid to open the nation's largest immigration detention center in Texas. It will have the capacity to hold 5,000 migrants at a time.
1. That is how many people the Biden administration assigned to take calls from unaccompanied migrant children to report safety issues with sponsors. That person missed 65,000 calls, according to recent Congressional testimony. 65,000 children reached out for help and got nowhere, according to Ali Hopper, founder of GUARD Against Trafficking.
7,000. That is how many steps you should take every day to reduce your risk of poor health, according to a new study.
What's Trending?
Photo credit: Reuters
Jessica Simpson is trending because her dress slipped during a performance at the TODAY Show but she said her "boob stayed in."
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is trending because a federal judge paused his release so he can remain in custody while facing federal human smuggling charges.
Matthew Perry is trending because a doctor pleaded guilty to supplying the actor with ketamine despite his history with substance addiction.
Columbia Pays $220M Over Israel Protests—Despite Jewish Student Participation
Photo credit: AI-generated image (ChatGPT/OpenAI)
Columbia University will pay $200 million to the federal government and $20 million to Jewish employees because the school made Jewish students and staff uncomfortable.
How did they do that?
By allowing protestors to criticize Israel—which the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) defines as antisemitism in its controversial working definition.
The Trump administration pulled more than $400 million in federal funding from Columbia, accusing the university of tolerating antisemitism due to pro-Palestine protests. Columbia does not admit wrongdoing, but this settlement clears the way for that funding to resume.
So now, protesting a foreign government is a civil rights violation.
And discomfort is the new standard for discrimination.
But here’s the twist: many Jewish students participated in these protests—standing in solidarity with Palestinians and opposing the Israeli government. That directly challenges the narrative that Jewish students uniformly felt “unsafe.” Some were leading the chants.
Meanwhile, the federal government said nothing about the Palestinian and pro-Palestinian students who were detained, harassed, suspended, and in some cases assaulted—right on the same campus.
Only some discomforts seem to matter.
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