TV News LIES

Donald Trump has approved a sharp reduction in the size of two national monuments in Utah held sacred by many Native Americans, in the latest move to open US public land to corporate developers and the oil and gas industry.

The two monuments, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, will see a reduction of “close to a million and a half acres each”, Trump said during an executive order signing event on Monday, undoing protections established by former presidents.

“They took the land from the people quite honestly,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. “We’re giving it back.”

The Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in southern Utah have ancient cliff dwellings, petroglyphs and scenic canyons, as well as coal and uranium deposits that state officials want made available for development.

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Donald Trump may have landed the biggest deal of his life.

In a controversial settlement which avoided a politically unpalatable transfer of Treasury funds into Trump's hands, the president and his family gained immunity from tax audits that could have cost $100 million, according to the New York Times.

The release from tax liability, authored by acting attorney Todd Blanche, who has served as Trump's personal attorney, came a day after the Department of Justice agreed to create a $1.8 billion fund which would benefit Trump's allies.

After political blowback, including from Republicans, Blanche said that the fund won't move forward, but continues to litigate lawsuits questioning its legality. Today, a judge in one of the lawsuits extended an indefinite block on the fund. But Trump's tax deal stood.

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At the Nato summit just ended, Trump lashed out at other Nato members, saying he was “very disappointed with Nato” and asking: “Why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars, and they’re not there for us?” He reiterated his desire to take over Greenland, blasted European energy and immigration policies, insulted Spain, and worried allies by declaring that the fighting between Kyiv and Moscow “doesn’t affect us”.

Yet throughout the proceedings, Trump was treated by other Nato powers with as much courtesy and respect as any US president has ever received from Nato – perhaps more. “It was a great meeting, there was a lot of love in that room, a lot of unity,” Trump said when it was over.

What happened? It’s important to understand the source of Trump’s power.

His power doesn’t come from his being president of the most powerful nation in the world. In fact, his arbitrary tariffs, absurd war in Iran, and outright abduction of Nicolás Maduro have reduced the US’s standing in much of the world.

Nor does his power come from his Maga base, which is now having second thoughts about supporting someone who got the US involved in another Middle Eastern war, caused prices to rise, and whose administration still refuses to release the complete Epstein files.

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Federal officials tasked with implementing the Trump administration’s “mass deportation” program faced an extraordinary campaign of intimidation inside the Department of Homeland Security during the final months of Kristi Noem’s tenure and the arrival of her successor, a Guardian investigation found.

Over the past four months, the Guardian spoke with more than three dozen current and former Department of Homeland Security officials who described a climate of fear driven by Trump loyalists in senior positions, who sidelined or removed career officials who raised concerns about possibly illegal acts, and threatened termination or arrest in order to stop dissent. Several have also claimed they were subjected to polygraph examinations conducted by US military personnel.

In the past year-and-a-half, entire offices were dismantled, and oversight bodies were stripped of staff and authority. The divisions responsible for refugee policy, asylum, humanitarian protections and family unity were among the hardest hit. The practices have continued during the leadership transition to Markwayne Mullin, the current and former officials said.

“I wanted to work with refugees,” said Harun Ahmed, a former deputy chief in the refugee affairs law division at US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in a phone interview from Texas. “I wanted to help. I believe in public service.”

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The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is being drained again for another round of repairs, marking another setback in President Trump’s multimillion-dollar renovation of the historic Washington, D.C. landmark.

Trump had hoped to have the pool ready to be showcased by July 4, when the nation would celebrate its 250th anniversary, but the project quickly ran into problems. Peeling paint was seen on the surface and green algae blooms were seen in the water, prompting yet another round of repairs.

The delay caused disappointment for tourists who traveled to Washington in hopes of viewing the newly renovated pool.

“It kind of makes me sad a little bit,” Lindsay Anderson, a visitor from Nebraska, told DC News Now.

“I think it’s unfortunate that a lot of people are here in our nation’s capital.”

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A federal judge has awarded Hunter Biden $1.7 million in punitive damages in a defamation lawsuit against former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, ruling that Byrne made false claims about Biden’s alleged involvement in a bribery scheme with Iran, according to reporting from The Guardian and The Hill.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson of the Central District of California issued the judgment Friday after finding that Byrne acted with “intentional misrepresentation” and “conscious disregard” for Biden’s rights. The judge also awarded Biden $1 in nominal damages and ordered Byrne to pay nearly $35,000 in court sanctions.

The lawsuit, filed by Biden in 2023, centered on claims Byrne made in interviews and online that Biden had sought an $800 million bribe from Iran while his father, former President Joe Biden, was in office. Byrne alleged that Hunter Biden offered to help persuade his father to unfreeze billions of dollars in Iranian assets and take a softer approach during nuclear negotiations.

Biden denied the allegations, accusing Byrne of knowingly spreading false information designed to damage his reputation. The case had been scheduled for a jury trial, but Wilson entered a default judgment after Byrne failed to appear and the judge said he repeatedly disobeyed court orders and delayed proceedings.

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