Sources contradict Trump narrative about Qatar offering plane as ‘gift’

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/19/politics/trump-adminstration-approached-qatar-jet

 The Trump administration first approached Qatar to inquire about acquiring a Boeing 747 that could be used as Air Force One by President Donald Trump, four sources familiar with the discussions told CNN. That’s contrary to the narrative from the president that Qatar reached out and offered the jet as a “gift” to him.

Democrat Warns 'Red Line' Was Crossed After Alina Habba Charges Colleague

 https://www.newsweek.com/democrat-warns-red-line-was-crossed-after-alina-habba-charges-colleague-2074429

Ten days ago, Newark Democratic Mayor Ras Baraka and three local Democratic members of Congress, including McIver, were seen outside Delaney Hall, an ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey, urging federal officials to allow them inside to observe conditions.

Videos outside the detention center show a loud scuffle unfold that day, ultimately leading to Baraka's detainment, according to Axios reporter Andrew Solender.

Baraka's charges were dismissed on Monday, and in a post on X, formerly Twitter, he said that he was "glad," but also noted McIver's new legal problem. Baraka said that he stands with McIver, adding that he fully expects her to be "vindicated."

Paul J. Fishman, partner at Arnold & Porter and counsel for McIver, in an emailed statement to Newsweek on Monday: "The decision to charge Congresswoman McIver is spectacularly inappropriate."

Fishman continued:"She went to Delaney Hall to do her job. As a member of Congress, she has the right and responsibility to see how ICE is treating detainees. Rather than facilitating that inspection, ICE agents chose to escalate what should have been a peaceful situation into chaos. This prosecution is an attempt to shift the blame for ICE's behavior to Congresswoman McIver. In the courtroom, facts – not headlines – will matter."

Netanyahu says ‘minimal’ aid will go to Gaza to preserve U.S. support

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/19/israel-gaza-aid-netanyahu/

Israel plans to take control of all of the Gaza Strip while restarting “minimal” aid deliveries to the enclave, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday, describing potential mass starvation there as a “red line” that could cost Israel its support from the United States.

He said Israel’s “closest friends in the world,” including U.S. politicians who were “unwavering supporters of Israel for decades,” told him that they would arm Israel and defend it at the U.N. Security Council but that “they cannot handle pictures of mass starvation.”

“Trump’s people are letting Israel know, ‘We will abandon you if you do not end this war,’” said a person familiar with the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press

Trump threatens to 'abandon' Israel if Gaza war continues

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/ry11fixyzex#autoplay

Washington Post reports Trump ramping up pressure on Netanyahu amid Gaza offensive and aid crisis, warning Israel to end the war or risk losing US support, according to a source familiar with the talks

We will abandon you if war continues,' Trump tells Israel

 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-854628

US President Donald Trump has been increasing pressure on Israel over recent days, an anonymous source told The Washington Post on Monday.

"Trump has been letting Israel know 'we will abandon you if you do not end this war,'" the source added, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

The increase in pressure from Trump came after Israel called up tens of thousands of reservists and ramped up Gaza bombings, the Washington Post added.

Halacha supercedes ethical principles /Chazon Ish

Chazon Ish(Emuna and Bitachon 3:1-2): Moral imperatives are sometimes halachic issues. In such cases the halacha decides what is prohibited and what is permitted. For example it says in Bava Basra (21b) that teachers are not protected by laws against competition. If a community has truly dedicated teachers and then teachers come from another city - the natural response is not to be happy with the original teachers. Therefore there will be interest in hiring the new teachers and the established teachers will lose their livelihood. The natural response is for the established teachers to hate the new teachers and because of this hatred to try and find and to speak about defects and problems in the new teachers. It will degenerate to a point where the original teachers will make up slander and try to arouse mercy from the residents of the community against the cruel newcomers. This will result in disputes and controversy and at times revenge when they see an opportunity. All of this activity of the former teachers would appear to be justified and free of sin – if in fact the halacha was in agreement with them that they had the right to restrain the new teachers. It would be justifiable if the new teachers were sinners and had violated the halacha of the Torah. Thus the defense against the new teachers – based on moral principles – would not involve prohibited disputes or lashon harah or gratuitous hatred. Consequently it would seem that this is a fight for justice. But in fact the halacha has clearly decided that the governing principle is that jealousy of teachers leads to greater wisdom. This principle overrules the welfare of the individual teachers. Thus the newcomers are actually correct according to the halacha and those who fight against them are spilling innocent blood. The hatred of the original teachers against the newcomers in fact is violating the Torah principle of not hating one’s brother in your heart. When the old teachers speak badly about the new teachers they are violating the prohibition of lashon harah. When the old teachers rally the community to their side they are violating the principle of “not being like Korach.” When they take revenge against the new teachers they are violating the Torah principle of not taking revenge. When Bava Basra (21b) says that the old teachers cannot prevent the hiring of the new ones – many ethical principles are affected. 2) It is one of the obligations of the ethical person to try and establish in his heart this great principle. In every case where people harm each other, it is necessary to establish according to the halacha who is the aggressor and who is the victim. Focus entirely on the ethical consideration create a sensitivity and love for the victim and bitter anger to the aggressor. However there is great danger when this ethical consideration ignores the halacha which gives just the opposite understanding. In the eyes of halacha the pursuer becomes the pursued and the pursued becomes the pursuer. The only true understanding is that of halacha which has been transmitted to us by our Sages.

A Legacy of Complexity and Truth

 https://www.etzion.org.il/en/philosophy/great-thinkers/harav-aharon-lichtenstein/legacy-complexity-and-truth

What made R. Lichtenstein singular on the stage of Jewish life and learning was not just his intellectual achievements, though they were remarkable. It was how he combined different strengths: sharp thinking with deep feeling, strict commitment to halakha with openness to modern ideas, and personal humility with moral courage. His knowledge of both Torah and general wisdom was not merely academic but shaped everything he taught, uniquely drawing from multiple wellsprings of wisdom while maintaining absolute clarity about the primacy of Torah. 

Torah to be observed with the guidance of metarules - yashrus, tikun olam and the spirit of the law - not just the letter of the law

Update: added Netziv, Toras Avaraham and Rav Kook regarding the legitimacy and importance of using commonsense - as long as it doesn't contradict the Torah.

Some of you have the idea that since the Torah is perfect - it is simply necessary to keep the mitzvos to the best degree possible and that will automatically insure that everything will happen in the proper manner.

If kids are going off the derech - well that means that they are not studying enough Torah or that the didn't say their berachos with enough kavana. If we have a high divorce rate, then the men need to spend more time with their gemora and less time with wives and children. If we have poverty it is obviously a defect in performance of some mitzva such as netilas yadayim. If there is a lack of achdus it must be because people speak too much lashon harah.

 However that is simply not true. It is in fact necessary to understand the nature of society - and be able to observe the consequences of different ways of being an observant Jew but also how to modify and prioritize for maximum benefit to society and the individual. It is necessary to know each individual and what his or her needs are. 

In addition there are times when the Torah laws are either supplemented or supplanted by rabbinic decrees. It is not possible to get it right  solely by learning Torah and observing mitzvos - without monitoring and modifying. Reality must be understood and wise rabbinic guidance needs to be individualized - not only for each society but also for each individual.

Contrary to certain criticism of this understanding, normal human sense is greatly valued as a guide for applying the lessons of the Torah. This of course with the understanding that if there is a conflict between commonsense and the clear view of the Torah - that the Torah position is accepted and the commonsense view is rejected. http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2014/06/commonsense-morality-and-empathy-can-be.html See in particular the views of the Netziv and Rav Kook which I have added to this post.

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Bava Metzia (30b): Jerusalem was only destroyed because they insisted on following the letter of the law and they didn’t attend to the spirit of the law.

Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky (Emes L’Yaakov): According to the Halacha, Avraham was not obligated to risk his life to save his nephew Lot…. Avraham risked his life because the Patriarchs were yesharim (straight) [Avoda Zara 25a]. That means that their actions were not governed only by the strict letter of Torah law—but by straight thinking. G-d made man inherently yashar (straight). According to straightness, there was an obligation to try and save Lot… Avraham felt responsible for Lot’s welfare because Lot’s father had died in a furnace because of his belief in the G-d of Avraham. Therefore, according to straightness (menshlikeit) Avraham had to organize his men and pursue after Lot’s captors. In truth the lives of the Patriarchs—which was before the giving of the Torah—was based on the attribute straightness. This is the meaning of the expression [Vayikra Rabbah 9:3] that derech eretz (civility) preceded the Torah… Therefore, this civility and menshlikeit can be expected even from non-Jews. Even though they weren’t given all the mitzvos, but everyone can live in accordance with the inherent straightness—if he wants.

Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky (Emes LeYaakov Parshas Yechi page 237): A practical example of zealousness which is not based on a correct reading of the halacha is found in the following question. A person has the choice of marrying a Jewish woman who doesn’t observe the laws of family purity or a non Jewish woman. Which is preferable? A student who has not properly served an apprenticeship with an experienced posek will say that it is obvious that the person should chose to marry the non Jewish woman. That is because sexual relations with a nidah is punished by kares while sexual relations with a non-Jew is only a violation of a negative commandment of the Torah which is not punished by kares. The truth is not this way. Rambam (Hilchos Issurei Bi’ah 12:7-8) states that even though sexual relations with a non-Jewish maidservant is only a rabbinic prohibition he rules that, “this sin even though it is not punished by capital punishment from the court should not be viewed lightly. That is because there is a loss associated with sexual relations with a non Jew which you don’t find in the violation of all the other prohibited sexual relations. That loss is that the son from the other prohibited sexual relations is still his son in every respect and is considered a Jew. That is true even if the child is a mamzer. In contrast the son from a non Jewish woman is not his son…. This sexual relationship with a non-Jewish woman will cause him to turn away from G-d and to attach himself to non-Jews. - from whom G-d has deliberately separated us so that we can be close to G-d... “ It is clear from this that the person should chose the relationship with the Jewish woman even though she doesn’t observe the laws of family purity.

Malbim (Mishlei 11:3): There is a distinction between yesharim (straightness) and tzadikim (righteous). The yashar is one who naturally goes on the straight path – whether it is in religious thought or matters of understanding. That is because the majority of issues concerning yashar involve understanding (binah) or moral traits and deeds that are rooted in wisdom (chochma). Therefore when it comes to matters of wisdom (chochma) the yashar is distinguished from the tzadik in that the yashar naturally has the inclination in his heart to do good because of the straightness which is implanted in him. In contrast the tzadik’s conduct is based upon having learnt what righteous behavior is and constantly practicing it until the tzadik conquers his baser drives and trains himself to do the opposite of his nature. The yashar is simply expressing his nature. Furthermore the yashar is not concerned with the letter of the law but is concerned with the spirit of the law - until he conducts himself beyond that which the law actually requires….

Netziv (Introduction to Bereishis): …The praise of yashrus (straightness) is to reinforce G-d’s judgment in destroying the Second Temple which as a generation of tzadikim and chassidim and those devoted to learning Torah—however they were not yashar in the mundane world. Therefore, because of the baseless hatred in their hearts to each other they suspected that whomever they saw who did not conduct himself according to their opinion in fear of G d —that he must be a heretic. Consequently, this led to much killing and all the evils in the world until the Temple was destroyed. Thus, there was an acknowledgement of the straightness of G-d’s judgment in that He would not tolerate tzadikim like these. Rather he wanted tzadikim who were straight in the world. Because even if the non-straight tzadikim were motivated by religious consideration—such conduct destroys the world.

Rashba (3:393): My view is that if the witnesses are believed by the judges, then it is permitted to punish the accused financially or physically depending upon what the judges think is appropriate to be beneficial to society. Because if we insist on doing only what is specified by Torah law and not to punish except as specified in the Torah – the world will end up destroyed. That is because the elementary rules of a functioning society will be breached and consequently it will be ruined. It is an established practice to punish those who physically harm others…Every community makes judgments in order to preserve it and this is true in every generation and every place according to what is perceived as the needs of the times. For example we see (Sanhedrin 58b) that Rav Huna, who was in Babylonia, would amputate hands as punishment. Therefore these judges you referred to who punished the accused not in accord with Torah law – if they saw the need for it to preserve the society – they have correctly acted according to the halacha. This is true when there is a specific order from the king as we see in the case of R’ Eliezar the son of R’ Shimon bar Yochai in Bava Metzia (83a)

Rav Yosef Eliashiv (Kovetz Teshuvos 3:231): … Question: If someone is sexually abusing a boy a girl in circumstances which we can’t stop him from continuing his evil deeds – is it permissible to notify the government authorities? Answer: Rashba (3:393) states: “My view is that if the witnesses are believed by the judges, then it is permitted to punish the accused financially or physically depending upon what the judges think is appropriate to be beneficial to society. Because if we insist on doing only what is specified by Torah law and not to punish except as specified in the Torah – the world will end up destroyed. That is because the elementary rules of a functioning society will be breached and consequently it will be ruined. It is an established practice to punish those who physically harm others…Every community makes judgments in order to preserve it and this is true in every generation and every place according to what is perceived as the needs of the times. For example we see (Sanhedrin 58b) that Rav Huna, who was in Babylonia, would amputate hands as punishment. Therefore these judges you referred to who punished the accused not in accord with Torah law – if they saw the need for it to preserve the society – they have correctly acted according to the halacha. This is true when there is a specific order from the king as we see in the case of R’ Eliezar the son of R’ Shimon bar Yochai in Bava Metzia (83a).” We learn from the Rashba’s words that when action is needed for the well being of society (tikun olam), that the Jewish sages have the ability in every generation to act to preserve the society and to repair breaches – even when there isn’t a specific order from the king. The Ritva (Bava Metzia 83b) has stated that this order of the king is “if the king says to capture certain criminals, even though the government will judge without witnesses and warning [as required by Torah law] and there is no functioning Sanhedrin [as required by Torah law] – it is still permitted since he is acting as the agent of the king. Since it is the law of the land to execute criminals without the testimony of witnesses and warning - as it states [Shmuel 2’ 1:5-16] that Dovid killed the Amalekite ger who had acceded to Shaul’s request to kill him -the agent of the king is like him.” However according to what has been said, in a matter which is needed for the well being of society (tikun olam), it is not needed to have been ordered to act by the king [in order to act as needed]. However, it is permitted to notify the government authorities only in the case which it is certain that the accused has been sexually abusing children. Informing the authorities in such a case is clearly something for the well being of the society (tikun olam). However in a case where there is no proof that this activity is happening but it is merely a conjecture or suspicion, if we permit the calling of the authorities - not only would it not be an improvement (tikun olam) - but it would destroy society. That is because it is possible that allegations are being made solely because of some bitterness the student has against his teacher or because of some unfounded fantasy. As a result of these false allegations the accused will be placed in a situation for which death is better than life – even though he is innocent. Therefore I do not see any justification for calling the authorities in such circumstances.

Shulchan Aruch (C. M. 2:1): Every court – even those that do not have semicha from Israel – if they see that the see that the people is corrupted by sin (and thus it is an emergency situation) can issue judgments whether concerning capital punishment or financial matters or any other punishments even without testimony according to Torah standards. If the transgressor is a powerful person than it is possible to punish him through the agency of non-Jews. Furthermore the court has the power to appropriate his money and to do with it what they see fit to strengthen the community. All the activities of the court need to be for the sake of heaven. This license to go beyond the letter of the law is specifically only for the greatest rabbis of the generation or the community leaders. It has been the practice in every place that the community leaders have the status similar to that of the Sanhedrin in that they can give beatings and punishments as well as appropriate a person’s property – all according to the local practice. Even though there are those poskim which disagree and say that the local communities authorities do not have such powers but can only pressure the community according to the local practices or their actions need to be agreed upon by everyone. However according to these poskim they have no power to make any changes in law in situations where there is benefit to one party and loss to another or to appropriate someone’s money without his agreement. Nevertheless one should follow the practices of the city. And surely these powers exist in fact everyone member of the community accepts that the leaders have these powers. The achronim mention in their responsa that some who is deserving of lashes should give 40 gold coins as a substitute for the 40 lashes. This is not according to the letter of the law but is only an emergency measure. Therefore the court has the emergency power to administer lashes or to take money according to what they see are the needs of the times (migder milsa).

Netziv(Approbation to Ahavas Chesed): ….It says in Yevamos (79a): There are three inherent characteristics of the Jewish people – they are merciful, shy and they do acts of kindness to others. … Nevertheless there are explicit commands in the Torah to do acts of kindness such as Vayikra (25:35): You shall support your brother who has become poor, Shemos (22:24): Do not lend money with interest. The reason for this is to teach us that besides being obligated to do acts of kindness because we are human beings we have an addition obligation from the Torah – just as we have for all the mitzvos which we wouldn’t know from commonsense. The consequences of having both an inherent commonsense obligation as being part of mankind as well as an explicit command in the Torah is illustrated by the obligation to honor parents. The Torah command teaches that even though there is a command from commonsense that all of mankind is obligated to keep and receives reward for do it, nevertheless G‑d has in addition explicitly commanded us to do it as an aspect of the Torah (Shemos 20:11)… As a Torah mitzva honoring parents is a statute which must be done simply because it was commanded and not because it makes sense. For example if a non‑Jew fathers a child with a Jewish woman, than according to the Torah that child has a mother but no father. Therefore there is a greater obligation of honoring the mother than the father because the honor of the mother is dictated by not only commonsense but also from the Torah. …There are also consequences for lending money to a needy person. Even though it is clearly a commonsense obligation but it is also governed by Torah law. In this case the obligation from commonsense is inconsistent with the obligation of the Torah. The contradiction occurs in regard to charging interest. For example, in the case of a person whose life depends upon lending money with reasonable interest. From the commonsense point of view he still performs a great mitzva of lending money – even with interest – to sustain another person who desperately needs the loan. However the Torah specifically prohibits charging interest. Therefore according to the Torah a Jew would not be able to lend the money and thus he is prohibited from doing the kindness to the other person as well as sustaining himself. [This was explained in Harchev Davar - Bereishis 48:19 – concerning the Tabernacle at Shiloh…]

Rav Kook(Shemonah Kevatzim (1:463):  The people who rely solely on their commonsense - because they are not learned - actually have an advantage in many respects over those who are learned. That is because their natural understanding and sense of decency has not become corrupted by errors that result from scholarship and or by the exhaustion and emotional frustrations that result from the burden of study. Nevertheless the unlearned masses obviously need the guidance of the scholars to know the particulars of the halacha. On the other hand, the scholars need to adopt and utilize as much is possible of the unadulterated commonsense of the unlearned masses – whether it is the approach to life or recognizing the natural moral values. This will result in the continued proper development of their understanding. This approach is even for tzadikim and even for those wicked people who retain a natural part which provides them with the potential to build on their natural power and purity to the same degree as the righteous at their highest level. The same can be said in regards to the nations in their relationship with each other – in particular non-Jew and Jews.

Toras Avraham(Toras HaSeichel HaEnushi #1) basing himself on Rabbeinu Nissim Gaon says "The general rule is for mankind is – everything that commonsense can comprehend – man is obligated to do and he is punished if he transgresses. The more obvious it is the greater is the obligation and the greater is the corresponding punishment. That is because man is beloved in that he was created in the 'image of G‑d' and has wisdom which corresponds to Heavenly wisdom

Toras Avraham[(Toras HaSeichel HaEnushi #2) Seichel is not simply intelligence the faculty which a person understands and comprehends. Seichel is the Truth of Uprightness with which G‑d created Man in order to guide him in life. Man has the obligation that this Uprightness does not get corrupted and distorted and that he be an honest judgment to bring things to fulfillment. Man's Torah thus consists not only those of mitzvos which Man was directly commanded by G‑d but also those mitzvos which are dictated by seichel.

Why Trump’s Epic Crypto Corruption Will Go Unpunished

 https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-crypto-corruption-unpunished/

There’s never been an American politician as nakedly corrupt as Donald Trump, who makes even the most notorious crooks of history—a rogues’ gallery that includes William Marcy “Boss” Tweed, Warren G. Harding, and Richard Nixon—look like penny-ante con men. These villains only cashed in to the tune of thousands or millions of dollars, while Trump in his second term has entered the realm of billions.

But Trump’s corruption is more than a matter of the sheer scale of his chicanery or the amount of money in play. No prior crooked public servant has enjoyed such complete impunity from any serious consequences for utter lawlessness. The institutions that have a constitutional duty to keep a criminal president in check have repeatedly folded rather than hold Trump accountable, with the Supreme Court expanding the already generous latitude of presidential immunity to cover Trump’s transgression, and Congress repeatedly refusing to investigate the shady financial deals the Trump family has been engaging in as a sideline to his two terms in office. The majority of blame for this situation falls on the Republican Party, which has collectively decided that Trump is the political goose that keeps laying electoral gold so he must be defended at all costs. The near-total subservience of the GOP was evident in 2021 when, even after Trump incited a riot to attack the Capitol, only seven Republican senators voted to convict him after his second impeachment.

Trump Just Did the Most Corrupt Thing Any President Has Ever Done

 https://newrepublic.com/post/194420/trump-memecoin-dinner-corrupt-president

Imagine that Joe Biden, just as he was assuming office, had started a new company with Hunter Biden and used his main social media account to recruit financial backers, then promised that the most generous among them would earn an invitation to a private dinner with him. Oh, and imagine that these investors were all kept secret from the public, so that we had no idea what kinds of possible conflicts of interest might arise.

Take a minute, close your eyes. Let yourself see Jim Jordan’s face go purple in apoplexy, hear the moral thunder spewing out of Jesse Watters’s mouth, feel the shock (which would be wholly justified) of the New York Times editorial board as it expressed disbelief that the man representing the purported values and standards of the United States of America before the world would begin to think it was remotely OK to do such a thing. The media would be able to speak of nothing else for days. Maybe weeks.

Yet this and more is what Donald Trump just did, and unless you follow the news quite closely, it’s possible you’ve not even heard about it. Or if you have, it was probably in passing, one of those second-tier, “this is kind of interesting” headlines. But it’s a lot more than that. As Democratic Senator Chris Murphy noted Wednesday: “This isn’t Trump just being Trump. The Trump coin scam is the most brazenly corrupt thing a President has ever done. Not close.”

Donald Trump’s Culture of Corruption

 https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/donald-trumps-culture-of-corruption

In the past several weeks, President Donald Trump, who has never been fastidious about separating public and private business, has been involved in a remarkable number of potential conflicts of interest. He recently announced his intention to accept a four-hundred-million-dollar Boeing 747 from the Qatari government, which would be used in lieu of Air Force One for the remainder of his Presidency, after which it would be transferred to his Presidential library; he has continued selling access to himself through his meme coin (a company with ties to China recently announced that it would buy as much as three hundred million dollars’ worth of the coin, $TRUMP); and his trip to Saudi Arabia this week was preceded by his family’s announcement, late last year, of a new Trump Tower Jeddah. The scale of these conflicts may be unique for an American politician, but Trump, who has consistently condemned the Washington “swamp,” is one of many right-wing “populist” leaders and former leaders —Viktor Orbán, of Hungary; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, of Turkey; Narendra Modi, of India; Jair Bolsonaro, the former President of Brazil—who have won election by running against a supposedly corrupt system, and then become embroiled in corruption scandals that often vastly eclipse those of their predecessors.

Will Drug Costs Plummet 90% Under Trump? Experts Weigh In

 https://www.newsweek.com/will-health-costs-plummet-90-under-trump-experts-2072736

While the order aims to tackle the major issue of high prescription drug costs for Americans, experts warn that the fact it relies on manufacturers to voluntarily lower their prices means little change could be felt for consumers.

Anderson said: "The executive order is much ado about nothing. Drug companies are not going to voluntarily lower their prices, and other countries are not going to voluntary increase their prices."

Anderson also thought the order could face political challenges. "Congress is not going to be receptive to this idea," he said, adding that the Democrats proposed a version of the "most favored nation" idea, in the Build Back Better legislation that passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2021.

He added: "But all the Republicans opposed it. It seems very unlikely that the Republicans would make a 180 degree change and now support the idea."

MAGA Goes Beserk After Trump’s FBI Bosses Say Epstein Killed Himself

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-goes-beserk-after-kash-patel-and-dan-bongino-say-epstein-killed-himself/

Two of President Donald Trump‘s appointees to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation firmly stated on Sunday that Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide, causing uproar from MAGA supporters on social media.

This upset the president’s biggest fans online, many of whom continue to assert that Epstein’s death was a government conspiracy—though few mention that Trump was president when Epstein died.

The most widely believed theory is that the government is hiding Epstein’s “client list,” which people claim contains the names of other powerful men who have also committed similar crimes. There is little evidence of this, though Trump’s current Attorney General Pam Bondi has promised to release a trove of documents from the many federal investigations into Epstein and his crimes.

How false "white genocide" claims became central to Trump's view of South Africa

 https://www.axios.com/2025/05/15/south-africa-president-meeting-trump

Trump cut all foreign assistance to the country and parroted false allegations that white South Africans are being subjected to a genocide, while granting them refugee status in the U.S.

Although Trump has closed the door to asylum seekers from elsewhere, he's opened it up for white South Africans affected by the country's controversial new land reform law to counter the lingering effects of apartheid.

Paul S. Landau, a University of Maryland historian and South African expert, told Axios that allegations that whites in South Africa are under attack and of Trump's offer to resettle white South Africans are based on racism and debunked conspiracy theories.