Netanyahu and Trump Got in Heated Fight Over Starvation in Gaza

Widespread starvation in Gaza is corroding Donald Trump’s relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli leader reportedly privately demanded a phone call with Trump after the U.S. president told reporters in Scotland last week that there is “real starvation” in Gaza and that “you can’t fake that.” He added that he had seen images of children in the region who “look very hungry.”

Over the phone, Netanyahu claimed that the images of mass starvation were the invention of Hamas, a senior U.S. official, a senior Western official, and two former U.S. officials who were briefed on the call told NBC News. But Trump was not receptive to Bibi’s narrative, interrupting him and yelling that he “did not want to hear that the starvation is fake and that his aides had shown him proof that children there are starving,” NBC reported.

One former official who spoke with NBC described the world leaders’ interaction as a “direct, mostly one-way conversation about the status of humanitarian aid,” and that Trump had done “most of the talking.”

“The U.S. not only feels like the situation is dire, but they own it because of GHF,” they added, referring to the Gaza Humanitarian Fund.

A U.N.-backed international food security body reported last week that the “worst-case famine scenario” is currently occurring in Gaza, where Israeli forces have restricted local access to food, water, electricity, and medicine. The report fell short of labeling the situation a full-blown famine, though at least 197 starvation deaths have been reported thus far, local health authorities told Vatican News.

Yet despite the harrowing circumstances, help may not be on the way. Speaking with reporters Thursday, Netanyahu said that Trump had effectively given Israel a pass to take over the remainder of Gaza. Trump also noted earlier in the week that any potential military occupation would be “pretty much up to Israel.”

Israel, which was founded in the wake of the Holocaust, has been building up troops and equipment near Gaza’s border, according to commercial satellite imagery. On Friday, the state announced that it would take over Gaza City, a move that critics have warned will only result in more civilian deaths in the region.

A lawsuit seeking a trove of government documents related to Jeffrey Epstein just got passed to the federal judge who made Donald Trump’s life a living hell.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who previously presided over Trump’s federal election interference case, will now oversee a new lawsuit from Democracy Forward Foundation, a D.C.-based nonprofit, requesting the Department of Justice and the FBI release any communications between Trump officials on the Epstein matter, any communication between Trump and Epstein himself, and Epstein’s so-called client list that Attorney General Pam Bondi previously acknowledged having in her possession.

In conjunction with several Freedom of Information Act requests, DFF also requested expedited processing. DFF argued that the swift acquisition of the documents was a “matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about the government’s integrity that affect public confidence” and that there was a particular exigency in light of Trump’s refusal to rule out clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator.

Among the records requested were “all materials prepared or compiled by DOJ officials for Attorney General Bondi’s review regarding the Jeffery Epstein matter,” which would likely include a list of Epstein’s clients to whom he allegedly trafficked underage girls.

Bondi had previously said such a list was sitting on her desk, ready to review, before later claiming it had never existed in the first place.

Chutkan has also overseen another case attacking DOGE’s authority, and more recently blocked the Environmental Protection Agency from withholding grant money.

President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security just asked the Supreme Court for permission to racially profile the immigrants it’s hunting. 

The administration requested that the Supreme Court pause the injunction blocking them from carrying out their “roving” immigration raids in Los Angeles, which involve them being able to simply accost and harass anyone who is speaking Spanish or who looks like they might, whether it be at their job, their school, their place of worship, or more. 

“Likewise, apparent ethnicity can be a factor supporting reasonable suspicion in appropriate circumstances—for instance, if agents know that the members of a criminal organization under investigation are disproportionately members of one ethnic group—even if it would not be relevant in other circumstances,” the request reads. “And, in context, officers might reasonably rely on the fact that someone exclusively speaks Spanish to support reasonable suspicion that the person is here illegally, not least because a disproportionate percentage of illegal aliens in the Central District speak Spanish and do not speak English fluently or at all.… All of this reflects common sense: the reasonable-suspicion threshold is low, and the number of people who are illegally present and subject to detention and removal under the immigration laws in the Central District is extraordinarily high and starts off at a one-in-10 probability just among the general population.”

This isn’t “common sense,” it’s blatant racism. If you live in Los Angeles, if you speak Spanish, and if you have brown skin, you are a target—regardless of your immigration status. The briefing also offered no citation for the claim that 10 percent of the Central District’s population is here illegally and engaged in criminal activity. 

The brief continues. 

“Needless to say, no one thinks that speaking Spanish or working in construction always creates reasonable suspicion. Nor does anyone suggest those are the only factors federal agents ever consider. But in many situations, such factors—alone or in combination—can heighten the likelihood that someone is unlawfully present in the United States, above and beyond the one-in-10 baseline odds in the District. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are entitled to rely on these factors when ramping up enforcement of immigration laws in the District.”

ICE isn’t saying the quiet part out loud; it’s shouting it from the rooftops. Their priority is to detain Latinos indiscriminately and figure out the rest later because that’s what Trump and his white nationalist cadre think is best for the country. 

Homeland Security has gone and will continue to go to great lengths to deny its racial motivations, even calling racial profiling accusations “hogwash.” But its own officers have admitted to chasing people down with absolutely zero confirmation of their immigration status. And for the “if they’re innocent and legal, why would they run?” crowd: What would you do if a bunch of masked men hopped out of an unmarked car or a Penske truck and pounced on you with no warning?  

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene does not take kindly to being compared to a bunch of liberal progressives.

Speaking with One America News on Thursday, Greene responded to criticism from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee by accusing them of “breaking U.S. laws,” underscoring that she was “absolutely furious.”

AIPAC excoriated Greene in a fundraising email to its supporters earlier that day, blasting the Georgia congresswoman for describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide.”

“I’m absolutely furious, and as a matter of fact, AIPAC needs to register as a foreign lobbyist because they’re breaking U.S. laws by donating to members of Congress and by taking them on a fully funded trip to Israel,” Greene told OAN. “Every single freshman member of Congress this year, they just took them over just recently and had them meet with the prime minister of Israel.”

House Democrats were the latest recipients of the AIPAC-funded trip, flocking to Israel on Wednesday, according to Punchbowl News. The trip is led by Maryland Representative Steny Hoyer and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California. They did not confirm the details of the trip to CNN, including whether or not they expected to meet with Netanyahu.

“But let’s frame that correctly,” Greene continued. “They take them over to meet with the secular government of nuclear-armed Israel. Israel who is less than $400 billion in debt. Israel who has taxpayer-funded health care and college.

“Israel is not hurting, and they’ve already proven that they are more than capable of not only defending themselves but annihilating their enemies to the point of genocide, and that’s what’s happening in Gaza,” she added, emphasizing that the “reason why AIPAC is attacking me is because I dared to tell the truth.”

Advocates, academics, United Nations experts, and human rights groups in and out of Israel have said the state, founded in the wake of the Holocaust, is committing genocide against Palestinians. Last week, Greene joined their voices.

“It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” the far-right Georgia congresswoman wrote on X.

A U.N.-backed international food security body reported last week that the “worst-case famine scenario” is currently occurring in Gaza, where Israeli forces have restricted local access to food, water, electricity, and medicine. The report fell short of labeling the situation a full-blown famine, though at least 197 starvation deaths have been reported thus far, local health authorities told Vatican News.

Yet AIPAC derided Greene’s comments as “disgusting,” and likened the MAGA lawmaker to Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar for critiquing Israel.

“If AIPAC wants to come after me and accuse me of betraying my American values—AIPAC, you know what? You can bring it on. I am totally ready for this, and this is a fight that I will fight and I will give it my all, and I can guarantee you, you’re gonna lose because America is fed up,” Greene told OAN Thursday.

“They’re fed up to here with funding foreign wars, funding foreign causes, funding foreign countries for foreign reasons that have nothing to do with Americans while Americans work their ass off every day and pay their taxes and come home and they’re living paycheck to paycheck and their credit cards are maxed out,” she continued. “I don’t care anymore. I honestly don’t care, so I’ll burn this bridge to the ground and I will let the flames light the way ’cause this is a fight that needs to happen.”

The Department of Homeland Security is doubling down on the arrest of the man behind the infamous Donald Trump-themed burger restaurant, who now faces deportation, Chron reported Thursday.

Roland Mehrez Beainy, a 28-year-old Lebanese immigrant, opened the original Trump Burger in Bellville, Texas, in 2020 and has since expanded into a chain across the state. While the restaurants have no official connection to the president, Beainy said that he’d launched the business in support of Trump who he believed had greatly improved the economy during his first term—and even said that he hoped to collaborate with the president one day.

But in May, Beainy found himself on the wrong side of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown when he was arrested on allegations of immigration fraud. The Department of Homeland Security said they’d received evidence that the marriage through which he had applied for citizenship was a “sham designed to game the system.”

“This person has no Green Card, a history of illegal marriages, and an assault charge. DHS is actively pursuing all legal avenues to address this flagrant abuse of our immigration laws,” the agency said in a statement to Chron. In June, Beainy was granted his request for bond while he undergoes immigration proceedings.

Beainy told Chron that his attorney had advised him not to comment, but did say that “90 percent of the s—t they’re saying is not true.”

“Despite false claims to the contrary, Roland Mehrez Beainy does not have any immigration benefits that prevented his arrest or removal from the United States,” the DHS said in another statement to Chron on Thursday.

“Under the current administration, ICE is committed to restore integrity to our nation’s immigration system by holding all individuals accountable who illegally enter the country or overstay the terms of their admission. This is true regardless of what restaurant you own or political beliefs you might have.”

This isn’t the first time that Trump’s massive deportation scheme has swept up his own supporters, but that doesn’t always make them change their tune. After one mother was ripped away from her family, her husband actually blamed Biden for allowing open borders.

It’s not clear just how Beainy’s arrest will impact his devotion to Trump, or his restaurant chain—where the menu features an assortment of sandwiches stamped with a bolded “TRUMP” insignia, and staked with an American flag toothpick, as well as the Biden Burger, topped with “old tomato and our oldest buns unavailable due to cheating and inflation.”

Donald Trump’s version of a Purple Heart ceremony apparently involves honoring himself.

The president, a reputed draft dodger, likened himself to America’s wounded or killed veterans Thursday: “It wasn’t that easy for me, either,” he said.

The ceremony was attended by 100 Purple Heart recipients—three of whom had given Trump their own medals last year in the aftermath of the Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt.

“Last year, after an assassin tried to take my life in Butler, Pennsylvania, Thomas generously mailed me one of his Purple Hearts. Many of the other veterans showed me the same unbelievable gesture of kindness, including three-time Purple Heart recipient John Ford and Gerald Enter Jr., who also came along with us and did us a great, great favor,” Trump said.

A bullet struck the top of Trump’s right ear during a campaign rally in July 2024.

“Gerald, John, and Thomas, I want to thank you very much. What a great honor to get those Purple Hearts,” the president continued. “I guess in a certain way, it wasn’t that easy for me, either, when you think of it. But you went through a lot more than I did, and I appreciate it all very much.”

Trump’s gifted medals belie his candid disregard for the American military: He has requested that wounded veterans be kept out of military parades; refused to visit a World War II graveyard; derided deceased soldiers as “suckers” and “losers”; and claimed that the Presidential Medal of Freedom he awarded to one of his billionaire donors was “much better” than the nation’s highest military honor, the Medal of Honor.

And Trump never earned his own military honors thanks to a conveniently timed bone spur diagnosis that helped him skirt the Vietnam War draft in 1968.

Donald Trump’s eldest son, Don Jr., clearly thinks it’s hilarious that WNBA players are getting dildos hurled at them on the court: On Thursday, he posted a cringey meme of his dad tossing one from the roof of the White House.

The 44-year old posted a meme on Instagram (already off to a bad start) showing the president during his eerie rooftop walk Monday, and a neon green sex toy flying toward the ground where an AI-generated image of a women’s basketball game has been inserted.

“Posted without further comment. 😂😂😂” the eldest Trump wrote in the caption.

The meme was made in reference to a recent series of incidents at WNBA games where audience members tossed dildos onto the court, as part of a viral trend started by a crypto company. The trend has been used to sexualize and demean athletes during games, with some of the players being purposefully targeted with airborne sex toys. Since July 29, there have been at least six incidents at games, frustrating players, coaches, and fans.

For Trump Jr., the meme seems to be the perfect intersection of furtive interests in both misogyny and cryptocurrency—something he and his dad have in common! Trump Jr. recently purchased 350,000 shares of a hemorrhaging social media firm for a stake in its bitcoin stockpile, as Trump Media & Technology Group has raised $2.3 billion to create a “treasury” of Bitcoin.

A lot of the comments on the post appeared to be people asking for more information on alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein—a promise the Trump administration made but then clawed back. Brian Glenn, a right-wing propagandist and boyfriend of MAGA Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, responded enthusiastically.

“Greatest IG account. Ever,” Glenn wrote.

Trump Jr. replied, “you’re welcome.”

A federal judge has ordered Florida to halt construction of President Trump’s “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention facility for two weeks.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams’s temporary restraining order, issued Thursday, gives some reprieve to the environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians who brought the lawsuit against the state of Florida on the grounds that the facility violates numerous environmental laws and is a threat to the region’s rich wetlands in the Everglades. The center would also be a specific threat to panthers, according to Randy Kautz, a wildlife expert who testified in the lawsuit.

“There has been a stable reproducing population of panthers in this area in this range at least over the last 30 years,” he testified in court. “Panthers have succeeded and resided here.… There is a chance that [expanding Alligator Alcatraz] results in putting this species at risk.”

Alligator Alcratraz’s leadership has also disregarded the environmental review process required by the National Environmental Policy Act.

While temporary, this halts a pet project for Trump that has already received accusations of abuse and inhumane conditions for detained immigrants and workers alike. Williams will continue to hear the case.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was finally able to admit that tariffs are indeed a tax on American importers and consumers, as Trump’s tariffs affecting virtually the entire world took effect on Thursday. 

“We’ve got a tariff of 50 percent on Brazil now, I think. And so, if um, someone here, an importer, wants to buy Brazilian products today or tomorrow and import them, they’re gonna pay 50 percent through the Treasury,” MSNBC’s Eugene Robinson said to Bessent, explaining the policy to the treasury secretary as if he were a child. “So who writes that check?” 

Bessent has had some issues answering this question directly in the recent past, and he began to equivocate once again. 

“Well, couple of things. First, we could have substitutions, so there’s very little that only comes from Brazil,” Bessent replied. “It could come from Argentina, it could come from—”

“But assuming it does come from Brazil, say, or it comes from any country with a tariff,” Robinson said, pulling him back to the actual question. “Who writes the check to the Treasury?”

“Well, the check is written to the person who receives it at the dock, in the U.S.” 

“Mhm, the check, is, quote, ‘written by the person who receives it at the dock.’ So the tariff is paid in this country by the importer, is that right?” Robinson said, again highlighting the crux of the matter.

“But the Brazilian exporter could decide that they wanna keep market share, they could lower their price to the full 50 percent of the tariff—”

“Right, they could eat part of the cost.”

“Which is what we’ve seen,” Bessent continued unconvincingly.

“Uh-huh, OK, OK. But the check is written by the importer right, at the dock?” 

“Right, and then the importer can pass it on or not.” 

Not only is Bessent doing everything in his power to avoid the truth of the situation—U.S. importers foot the bill here—he’s also spinning pipe dreams regarding the likelihood of American companies or other countries willingly volunteering to “eat part of the cost.” Trump’s tariffs will raise prices on importers, and those importers will pass those prices on to consumers. Products from Brazil, India, and countless other countries will grow more expensive. Trump has already publicly feuded with Walmart after the corporation said it would refuse to eat tariff costs and would raise prices. 

“Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain. Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS  last year, far more than expected,” Trump wrote in May. “Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, ‘EAT THE TARIFFS,’ and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!” 

American consumers should expect more lies and business confrontations from this administration while prices everywhere rise. 

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is basically a Democrat, according to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

AIPAC, one of the largest lobbies in the United States, excoriated Greene in a fundraising email to its supporters Thursday for describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide,” likening the MAGA Republican to some of the most progressive voices on Capitol Hill.

“You expect anti-Israel smears from Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar,” the group said. “But now, Marjorie Taylor Greene has joined their ranks—spouting the same vile rhetoric and voting against the US-Israel alliance.”

Advocates, academics, United Nations experts, and human rights groups in and out of Israel have said the state, founded in the wake of the Holocaust, is committing genocide in Palestine. Last week, Greene joined them.

“It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” the far-right Georgia congresswoman wrote on X at the time.

AIPAC derided Greene’s comments as “disgusting.”

A U.N.-backed international food security body reported last week that the “worst-case famine scenario” is currently occurring in Gaza, where Israeli forces have restricted local access to food, water, electricity, and medicine. The report fell short of labeling the situation a full-blown famine, though at least 197 starvation deaths have occurred in the war-torn region, local health authorities told Vatican News.

“This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement, underscoring that the “trickle of aid” to Gaza “must become an ocean.”

Yet help may not be on the way. Speaking with reporters Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Donald Trump had effectively given Israel a pass to take over the remainder of Gaza.