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New large-sample poll: The issues that matter the most to Americans right now

Miles Archer

Panicked Trump, 79, Makes Desperate Move as Devastating Polls Pile Up

(Daily Beast) A myriad of recent polls suggest that Americans are particularly concerned about the economy, the spiraling war on Iran, and how the president is handling those issues. But not in Trump’s mind. In an attempt to regain control of the narrative, the 79-year-old shared a screengrab on Truth Social detailing a poll from an X account named “America First Now.” It cites data from a months-old Wall Street Journal poll—then cherry-picks the most flattering numbers, ignoring the bad. In fact, the post completely ignores the WSJ piece’s headline, which was particularly unflattering to Trump. “It’s Trump’s Economy, and Voters Are Unhappy With It,” it read.

BumRushDaShow

Michigan Refuses Trump Administration Demand for 2024 Election Ballots

(Reuters) Michigan officials on Sunday ⁠pushed ⁠back on a U.S. Department of ⁠Justice demand for Detroit-area ballots and other materials related to the 2024 election, accusing the Trump administration of trying to cast doubt on the integrity of U.S. elections. "This request is as absurd as it is baseless,” Nessel said in a joint statement with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. "If this administration wants to bring this circus to our state, my office is prepared to protect the people’s right to vote.”

BumRushDaShow

Now Trump Reportedly Wants Nation's Highest Military Honor... For Himself

(Huff Post) President Donald Trump has never served in the U.S. armed forces, but reportedly wants to give himself the nation’s highest military honor anyway. The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that Trump has “mused” about awarding himself the Medal of Honor. It’s not apparent how or why Trump thinks he may qualify given that he has never served in the military. During the Vietnam War, Trump received four deferments for college and one for bone spurs in his heels. He later told radio host Howard Stern that avoiding sexually transmitted diseases was “my personal Vietnam.”

BumRushDaShow

Three U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers Will Soon Be In The Middle East

(Forbes) The record-length deployment of the United States Navy’s newest and largest operational nuclear-powered supercarrier continues. The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) has been at sea for 299 days as of Sunday, surpassing the post-Vietnam War-era record of 294 days of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) set during that aircraft carrier’s 2019-2020 deployment. U.S. Navy officials have indicated that USS Gerald R. Ford could be deployed for up to 11 months, equaling and even surpassing the 332-day deployment of USS Midway (CVA-41), which lasted from April 10, 1972, until March 3, 1973, at the peak of the Vietnam War.

BumRushDaShow

Polymarket Faces Congress Over 'Traitorous' Military Bets

(Newsweek) Representative Eugene Vindman, a Virginia Democrat, launched a formal demand for Polymarket to turn over internal records, labeling well-timed bets on U.S. military operations as "traitorous" and "vile." The move follows reports of newly created accounts netting over $500,000 in profit by betting on sensitive geopolitical strikes just minutes before they were made public. “The use of sensitive or classified information to place bets on military actions endangers and undermines national security and risks the lives of our men and women in uniform," Vindman wrote in a letter to Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan last week.

blue-wave

Zelensky Says Ukraine Signs 10-Year Defence Export Deals With Three Middle East Countries

(Kyiv Post) Ukraine has signed 10-year defence export agreements with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as Kyiv expands cooperation with Middle Eastern countries on drone warfare and integrated air defence systems. He made the announcement in an interview with Ukraine’s national telethon “United News” on Sunday, April 19. “We already have requests from 11 more countries – the Middle East and the Gulf, and we are also gradually looking at the Caucasus,” Zelensky said.

bigtree

Jeanine Pirro wants to give taxpayer money to J6 insurrectionists to refund them the fines they paid

(Scott McFarlane) In a court filing, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro asked a court to order the handover of taxpayer-funded reimbursement money to a pair of Jan 6 riot defendants. The defendants had been ordered to pay damages to a fund to help victims and repair the Capitol. Instead, we'll pay for it.

applegrove

Trump's presidency is what evil looks like: absurd, frightening, cruel

(The Guardian) The consequences of violence are secondary to the validation that comes from inflicting it. Trump’s constant self-aggrandisement, his grudges against political adversaries, the fury at being challenged by the press, the revenge he promises to wreak on the Iranian regime. All are ways to erase and avoid what is a permanent terror of humiliation and obsolescence.

mahatmakanejeeves

In Trump's Orbit, Women Aren't the Only Ones Concerned About Their Looks

(New York Times) For all the talk about Mar-a-Lago-inspired cosmetic surgery for women in the Trump orbit, the attention paid to, and efforts to safeguard, the male ego also stand out. ... “It’s constant attempts at trying to cultivate a persona that in their eyes seems strong and powerful and dominant and stoic,” said Zac Seidler, a clinical psychologist and the global director of research at Movember, a men’s health charity. “But once you scratch the surface of that, all you see is fragility.”

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Latest Breaking News

The Onion Has a New Plan to Take Over Infowars

4 min ago - April 20, 2026Updated 3:35 p.m. ET When Infowars, the website founded by the right-wing conspiracist Alex Jones, came up for sale two years ago, an unlikely suitor stepped up. The Onion, a satirical news outlet, planned to convert the site into a par ... (New York Times)

Trump says Energy secretary 'totally wrong' on gas prices not dropping to $3 until next year

42 min ago - 04/20/26 8:37 AM ET President Trump told The Hill on Monday that he disagreed with Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s assessment that gas prices may not drop below $3 per gallon until next year. “No, I think he’s wrong on that. Totally ... (The Hill)

Supreme Court to hear arguments on agency authority over violations

1 hr ago - Posted April 20, 2026 at 10:05am The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Tuesday in a case that could shrink Congress’ power to let agencies internally decide legal and regulatory violations, as two telecommunications giants challenge th ... (Roll Call)

Book bans and attempted bans remain at record highs, with 'Sold' topping the list

2 hrs ago - Updated 8:56 AM EDT, April 20, 2026 NEW YORK (AP) — Book bans and attempted bans remain at record highs, according to the American Library Association. And efforts to have titles removed have never been more coordinated or politicized. The ALA o ... (AP)

Dan Rather, Sam Donaldson and Others Demand Press Call Trump Out to His Face at Glitzy Dinner in Scorching Letter

3 hrs ago - Apr 20th, 2026, 9:34 am More than 250 journalists, including 94-year-old former CBS News anchor Dan Rather and 92-year-old former ABC News anchor Sam Donaldson, signed an open letter on Monday urging the press to “forcefully demonstrate opposit ... (MEDIAite)

Pa. court recognizes 'reproductive autonomy' as a right, strikes down ban on public funding for abortion

4 hrs ago - Published April 20, 2026, 11:19 a.m. ET Pennsylvania’s ban on public funding for abortion is unconstitutional, a divided Commonwealth Court ruled Monday. In reaching that conclusion, the statewide court that oversees government-related matters, ... (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Trump Administration to Begin Refunding $166 Billion in Tariffs

5 hrs ago - The Trump administration on Monday is set to take its first steps toward returning more than $166 billion collected from tariffs that were struck down in February. Just over a year after imposing many of the duties, the government is expected to begi ... (New York Times)

Epstein survivor says it's not too late to expose what happened at his New Mexico ranch

5 hrs ago - April 20, 2026, 5:00 AM EDT STANLEY, N.M. — More than two decades after she was sexually abused at Jeffrey Epstein’s New Mexico ranch, Rachel Benavidez is still waiting for someone to be held responsible for crimes there. She is among at le ... (NBC News)

Supreme Court will decide if preschools that decline children of same-sex couples may receive state funding

5 hrs ago - Politics Supreme Court will decide if preschools that decline children of same-sex couples may receive state funding By John Fritze Updated 1 hr 15 min ago The sun rises above a facade of the US Supreme Court building in Washington, DC, on March 31, ... (CNN)

FBI Director Kash Patel sues the Atlantic claiming false reporting about drinking, absences

6 hrs ago - April 20 (Reuters) - FBI Director Kash Patel filed a defamation lawsuit against the Atlantic and its reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick following the publication of an article on Friday alleging the director had a drinking problem that could pose a th ... (Reuters)

Ford's CEO said he chose to test-drive a Xiaomi and not a Tesla because the latter doesn't have an 'updated vehicle'

6 hrs ago - "Nothing against Tesla — they've been doing great — but they really don't have an updated vehicle," he said to Safian. He said Chinese car brands like BYD are the "best in the business," considering their cost, supply chain, and manufacturi ... (Business Insider)

Food stamp work rules don't increase employment, researchers say

6 hrs ago - April 20, 2026 / 5:00 AM EDT DELBARTON, W.Va. — A half-dozen cars had been in the queue for nearly four hours by the time the House of Hope mobile food pantry line began to move. Seventy or so more idled behind them by 11:30 a.m., when the food ... (CBS News)

With no end in sight to their deployment, National Guard troops roam Washington

7 hrs ago - Updated 6:39 AM EDT, April 20, 2026 WASHINGTON (AP) — The cherry blossoms draw more than a million visitors to Washington’s Tidal Basin annually. This year was no different, except some strolling the area between the Lincoln Memorial and th ... (AP)

Moya Brennan, Whose Gaelic Pop Band Won Worldwide Fame, Dies at 73

8 hrs ago - Clannad consisted of her uncles, siblings and, briefly, her sister Enya. In a memoir, Ms. Brennan described a stormy youth followed by a Christian reawakening. By Alex Traub April 19, 2026 Moya Brennan, the eldest of nine children from a Gaelic-speak ... (NYT)

Polymarket Faces Congress Over 'Traitorous' Military Bets

8 hrs ago - Published Apr 19, 2026 at 03:00 PM EDT updated Apr 20, 2026 at 04:25 AM EDT Representative Eugene Vindman, a Virginia Democrat, launched a formal demand for Polymarket to turn over internal records, labeling well-timed bets on U.S. military operation ... (Newsweek)

Now Trump Reportedly Wants Nation's Highest Military Honor... For Himself

9 hrs ago - Apr 20, 2026, 03:32 AM EDT | Updated 3 hours ago President Donald Trump has never served in the U.S. armed forces, but reportedly wants to give himself the nation’s highest military honor anyway. The Wall Street Journal reported over the weeken ... (Huff Post)

US military strike on alleged drug boat kills 3 in Caribbean Sea

9 hrs ago - WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said it launched another strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea, killing three people Sunday. The Trump administration’s campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in ... (APNews.com)

US imposed 2-week deadline during secret Cuba meeting

9 hrs ago - Updated April 19, 2026, 9:23 p.m. ET WASHINGTON — The U.S. has given Cuba two weeks to release high-profile political prisoners in a sign of good faith. The demand was presented during a secret meeting on April 10 in Cuba, according to a source ... (USA Today)

Union Now Is America's New Strike Fund

9 hrs ago - The new nonprofit will put money directly into the hands of workers so they can fight harder and win bigger. by Whitney Curry Wimbish April 20, 2026 NEW YORK - The American labor movement will soon have something it's never had before: a centralized ... (American Prospect)

Mar-a-Lago's Catholic Bishop Delivers Sunday Rebuke to Trump

10 hrs ago - Sun, April 19, 2026 at 8:57 PM EDT The bishop of Palm Beach has rebuked Donald Trump for his “disrespectful and violent attacks” on Pope Leo XIV, as outrage over the president’s feud with the pope reaches his own backyard. Bishop Manue ... (Yahoo! News/Daily Beast)