Mitch McConnell Grills Pete Hegseth on Russia in Damning Exchange

The Trump administration is losing its ability to hide its pro-Russia affinities.

In a searing exchange with Senator Mitch McConnell Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed the mental gymnastics at play as administration officials take a soft approach on Russia amid its ongoing war on Ukraine.

“Number one, who’s the aggressor and who’s the victim in the conflict?” asked McConnell.

“Russia is the aggressor,” Hegseth said, quietly.

“Which side do you want to win?” McConnell said.

But the defense secretary couldn’t provide a simple answer for that.

“As we’ve said time and time again, this president is committed to peace in that conflict. Ultimately, peace serves our national interests, and we think the interest of both parties, even if that outcome will not be preferable to many in this room and many in our country,” Hegseth said.

“Which side is President Xi pulling for?” continued McConnell.

That question tripped up the former Fox News anchor even more. After providing a complicated answer in which he pointed fingers at the Biden administration’s policies, Hegseth eventually conceded that China and its leadership would prefer Russia to win in the Ukrainian conflict.

“One thing I’m sure we agree on is that we don’t want a headline at the end of this conflict that says ‘Russia Wins and America Loses,’” McConnell said. “And given the fact that all of our adversaries are communicating with each other, that’s extremely important if we’re going to continue to play the role in the world that the vast majority of members of Congress think we should still play. Particularly now that our adversaries are more significant than they have been since the Berlin Wall came down.”

The White House has played a weaker and weaker hand in its game against Russia since Trump’s inauguration. On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to end the war within days of returning to power—but that hasn’t been the case.

Instead, Trump’s heavy hand on Ukraine and his repeated concessions toward Russia’s enduring violence have been interpreted by Kremlin propagandists as a massive win for Russian President Vladimir Putin, resulting in televised laughter on Russian programs at the downfall of American power. In the months since he took office, Trump has claimed that Russia has come ready and willing to reach a peace deal, even though many of its demands—such as staking a Russian flag in Crimea—reverse long-standing U.S. policy.

Following a deadly airstrike on Kyiv last month, European leaders urged Western countries to enact sanctions on Moscow as a way to reel Putin back to the negotiating table. But Trump responded by wringing his hands, claiming that applying pressure on Russia would “hurt” a deal.

Just about everyone in the U.S.—including Trump’s own party—wants the White House to act. By late May, Senate Republicans resorted to begging Trump to take a stand against Russia while they mulled over the possibility of going over his head to enact the internationally recommended sanctions. Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced last week that the upper chamber would begin work on a sanctions bill sometime this month.

More militant ICE raids are coming to a city near you.

The Trump administration is readying tactical ICE units known as “special response teams” to conduct large raids in five Democratic cities, according to MSNBC. They will be in New York City, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia and northern Virginia. While it’s unclear when exactly the raids will start, all ICE agents in those areas have been told to stand by.

This is going to be a mess. Trump’s crackdown in Los Angeles—with thousands of National Guardsmen and hundreds of Marines patrolling the streets—is the model for his larger deportation campaign: Have ICE pour into a community and make indiscriminate arrests, then when civilians predictably resist, use that to justify sending even more militant forces in to quell the chaos that ICE induced. New York City is already on edge, as 80 protestors were arrested in Lower Manhattan Tuesday night at an anti-ICE protest.

“’Look, this isn’t just about protests here in Los Angeles, when Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard. He made that order apply to every state in this nation. This is about all of us. This is about you,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes, this moment we have feared has arrived.’” He’s right. ICE is planning to expand its campaign of terror to blue cities across the country. If Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”—which includes billions in funding for a mass deportation campaign—passes, it will get even worse.

Elon Musk has come crawling on his hands and knees back to Donald Trump.

The antagonistic technocrat gave a public apology for his harsh words directed at his ally in the White House, in a post on X at 3 a.m. on Wednesday.

“I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far,” he wrote.

But Musk hadn’t simply criticized Trump’s policies during their messy public break.

Musk had implied that Trump was implicated in the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender and alleged human trafficker, and that was why his administration was soft-footing the release of the so-called Epstein files. He’d even backed calls for Trump’s impeachment. In doing so, the billionaire set himself adrift from the MAGA crowd that had readily embraced him.

Obviously, the internet was more than a little curious about which posts Musk regretted and why he’d decided to walk back his hard turn away from Trump.

To some the answer seemed obvious: His feud had cost him too much money.

Others speculated that Musk had decided he’d drawn the public’s attention to his own close relationship to Epstein’s associates.

It’s clear that Musk has been trying to turn the ship on his departure from Trump’s good graces, cheerleading the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration protests in Los Angeles. In a podcast interview earlier this week, Musk declared that he had “no hard feelings” about Trump, and sources close to Musk told Reuters that his anger at the president had subsided and he may want to rekindle their connection.

Congressional Republicans aren’t sticking around to watch Donald Trump blow millions of taxpayer dollars on himself this weekend.

Just seven of 50 surveyed GOP lawmakers are planning to actually attend the president’s birthday festivities over the weekend, reported Politico.

Trump’s 79th birthday coincides with the Army’s 250th anniversary. To celebrate, the president is throwing himself—and the U.S. military—a parade and festival that Army officials estimate could cost up to $45 million, with millions in damages to the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Those sticking around include some of Trump’s most stalwart MAGA supporters: Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (who told Politico “of course” she’d be there), Byron Donalds, and Elise Stefanik are all planning to celebrate. Representatives Cory Mills, Rich McCormick, John McGuire, and Lisa McClain are also expected to be in attendance.

But the list of those planning to skip is much longer. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Majority Whip John Barrasso won’t be in town, nor will House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. Senator Tommy Tuberville excused himself to continue his campaign for Alabama’s gubernatorial race, while Senator Markwayne Mullin said the date coincides with his anniversary, reported Politico. Speaker Mike Johnson’s office wouldn’t comment.

Notable veterans are also planning to sit this one out. Senator Lindsey Graham said he’s not planning to attend, and Senators Todd Young, Rick Scott, and Tim Sheehy won’t be there either. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast told Politico that he hadn’t made up his mind as to whether he’ll be there.

And the chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, Representative Mike Rogers and Senator Roger Wicker, won’t be around, either. Instead, they’re planning to be at another airshow scheduled for next week in Paris, where defense contractors will gather for an annual conference.

Trump has wanted a military parade for himself since at least 2018, but the idea was quickly shot down by local and military officials who cited enormous estimated damages to Pennsylvania Avenue, torching the hefty price tag involved in dragging heavy equipment through the U.S. capital. The president was reportedly inspired after watching a Bastille Day celebration in Paris in 2017.

“It was one of the greatest parades I’ve ever seen.… We’re gonna have to try and top it,” Trump said at the time, “but we had a lot of planes going over and a lot of military might, and it was really a beautiful thing to see.”

The parade will include 6,600 soldiers who will represent every era of the Army’s history. It will also showcase some 150 vehicles as 50 aircraft, including 26 M1A1 Abrams tanks, 27 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, two World War II Sherman tanks, a World War I–era Renault tank, eight CH-47 helicopters, 16 UH-60 Black Hawks, and four World War II–era P-51 aircraft, Army officials told CBS News.

The plan was not always to have a march that big. In February, the Army put out a press release indicating that it intended to celebrate its anniversary “with a series of commemorations, including leadership engagements, community outreach events and other events showcasing Army units, history, lineage and esprit de corps.” It did not make mention of a parade.

Donald Trump says he’s finally cracked a tentative deal with China—but why doesn’t it sound any good?

Trump announced on Truth Social Wednesday morning that a long-awaited trade deal had finally materialized, though it was still subject to “final approval” by Chinese President Xi Jinping and himself, and indicated that the U.S. would impose a 55 percent tariff on Chinese goods, while China would impose a 10 percent tariff.

While these numbers are significant deescalations from the whopping 145 percent tariff Trump had levied on Chinese exports and the 125 percent tariff rate on U.S. exports China imposed in response, Trump’s deal still leaves something to be desired.

Before Trump entered office, China and the U.S. both had roughly 20 percent tariffs on exports from each other’s countries. In an initial agreement last month, the U.S. had agreed to lower rates to 30 percent and China had lowered to 10 percent, before Trump blew up the deal.

So while the U.S. will still have to pay more for Chinese goods—a policy that will ultimately raise prices for American consumers—it seems that China has struck a deal to pay even less for American goods than it did before Trump was in office.

Meanwhile the other terms of that deal seemed to provide assets both countries had before Trump’s ridiculous trade war.

“FULL MAGNETS, AND ANY NECESSARY RARE EARTHS WILL BE SUPPLIED, UP FRONT, BY CHINA,” Trump wrote.

China’s grip on rare earths had provided it with a lot of leverage in negotiations with the United States. When Trump first levied his astronomically high tariffs on China, Beijing essentially shut down exports, and even after it agreed to a truce, in Geneva last month, Beijing still required companies to purchase special licenses to buy them, placing a particular strain on robotics and defense companies.

In return for resuming the supply of rare earths, the U.S. would allow Chinese students to attend American universities. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced late last month that he would begin “aggressively” revoking the student visas of Chinese students, claiming concerns over national security. As one could probably assume, the purported threat posed by these students was never real but a bargaining chip for the Trump administration.

Trump noted that allowing Chinese students to study at American universities has “ALWAYS BEEN GOOD WITH ME!”