Jeffries blames Newark airport chaos on Trump
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries blames the chaotic situation at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on Donald Trump. Jeffries says Trump has been trying to break the Federal Aviation Administration since he took office. There have been thousands of flight cancellations and delays at Newark due to problems within air traffic control. Trump has ben trying to give his major campaign contributor Elon Musk a massive government contract to use Musk’s satellite system for air traffic control communications. The Trump Administration had kept secret the fact that on April 28 controllers at Philadelphia approach and Newark lost all radio and radar contact for 90 seconds with the airplanes they were controlling.
Pushback on Trump’s movie tariff plan
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is pushing back on Donald Trump’s proposal to impose 100% tariffs on foreign movies. MPA says that the U.S. industry exports three times the number of films it imports and that it was actor Jon Voight who convinced Trump to propose the tariffs. Trump’s proposal talks about motion pictures and not TV shows, which constitute a major share of overseas production by U.S. companies. It also shows a lack of understanding of the extent to which movies made overseas actually are being made by U.S. companies using U..S. actors and U.S. behind the camera talent.
Trump offers $1,000 and a free ticket out of the country
Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is offering illegal aliens a stipend of $1,000 and a free airplane ticket to their country of origin if they self-deport. Homeland Security says that it costs an average of $17,121 for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport someone, so the offer of $1,000 plus a plane ticket would save money. Homeland Security said that people already are taking advantage of the program, even though it was only announced yesterday and more tickets out of the country already are being distributed for this week and next week. It said people who begin the self-deportation process would not be targeted by ICE agents for arrest.
Mainstream news media win Pulitzer Prizes
Pulitzer Prizes for 2025 have been awarded to major news organizations. ProPublica received the public service award for its report on a woman who was denied an abortion. The staff of The Washington Post received a Pulitzer for breaking news coverage of the July 13 assassination attempt on Donald Trump. The New York Times received a Pulitzer for its reporting on the aftermath of the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan. The Wall Street Journal received a Pulitzer for its reporting on Elon Musk and his private communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Other Pulitzers for journalism went to Esquire, The New Yorker, Reuters, writers at the Houston Chronicle and a writer at Bloomberg CityLab.
Israeli attacks on Yemen
Both Houthi rebels and the Israel military say that new Israeli attacks on Yemen have begun and include attacks against the international airport in Yemen’s capital city. Israel’s military had issued a warning that people around the airport in Sanaa should evacuate. The Israeli military said that the airport was disabled as a result of is attacks. The attack on the airport in Yemen came after a Houthi missile struck near Israel’s main airport at Tel Aviv on Sunday.
Trump Administration opposes lawsuit against abortion drug
The Trump Administration has asked a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit seeking to end mail-order availability of the abortion drug Mifepristone. Three Republican-controlled states had sued to prevent the drug from being sent to patients after a video consultation with a doctor. The states are asking that three in-office visits should be required along with restrictions on when the drug can be used to end a pregnancy. The Trump Administration does not address merits of use of the drug in asking the judge to throw out the case. It claims that if states want to sue they should do it in state court rather than in federal court.
