@Strandjunker The US seems to be oblivious that Trump is implementing #Project2025 on his first day! You know, the thing he didn't know about! Read the list!! Scary times ahead indeed!
🚨 TRUMP SPARKS DIPLOMATIC CRISIS WITH ITALY: Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has canceled his planned June 21–22 trip to Washington after President Trump insulted Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, claiming she “begged” for a photo with him at the G7 and that he “felt sorry for her.”
Meloni released a video firing back at Trump’s comments, calling them “completely fabricated.”
“I am frankly appalled,” she said. “I don’t know why the President of the United States behaves this way towards his allies.”
She added that Trump appears to show more accommodation toward “the enemies of the West” than America’s allies and concluded by saying: “Italy and I never beg.”
My friend Jamie Raskin is one of the most careful and principled people in Congress. So when he says the director of the FBI may be running a taxpayer funded slush fund, I pay attention.
Here is what he found.
Kash Patel directed more than $1 million in bonus payments to a small circle of agents in his inner circle and on his security detail.
Some were getting nearly $8,000 every two weeks on top of salaries that were already maxed out at the federal ceiling. A number of them collected close to $40,000 over consecutive pay periods.
The payments came so fast that the FBI’s bonus reserve accounts ran dry and some checks bounced.
So who got the money?
Agents on Patel’s so-called "director’s advisory team."
That is the unit created in 2025 and described internally as a payback squad, built to dig up dirt on the law enforcement officials who investigated Trump and his allies.
Raskin has given Patel until June 29 to account for every payment, every recipient, and any internal review of whether this was even legal.
Patel should answer for all of it.
https://t.co/HZPeRJ2Kqg
Last night, our long-range sanctions once again reached the Moscow region – for the second time this week, the Moscow oil refinery was hit. Targets were also struck in the Rostov region and in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. This is a fully justified response to Russian attacks on our cities and communities, and another important result of our warriors’ work against facilities that sustain Russia’s war machine. I thank our Defense and Security Forces of Ukraine for their coordinated efforts – the Security Service of Ukraine, the Unmanned Systems Forces, the Special Operations Forces, Defense Intelligence, and our missile brigade for their precision.
In recent days, all of our partners have noted the precision and effectiveness of our mid-range strikes and long-range sanctions. It is time the war ended, and Russia must take the necessary steps in diplomacy.
🇺🇦 MFA Sybiha: One of the most popular questions asked by Muscovites this morning is “What is going on?”
I can answer. Your country started a war of aggression against ours. For years, it has been killing our people.
Now that you know what’s going on, ask Putin when he is planning to end it.
"There's a war." Correct. That's what happens when your country invades its neighbor.
The blame lies with Putin, who started this war and refuses to end it.
If Russians are shocked that wars have consequences, they should take that up with the Kremlin. And they're fortunate that Ukraine focuses on military and strategic targets rather than treating civilians as targets.