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House Democrats to introduce bill to block construction of Trump’s ‘triumphal arch’
Two House Democrats, Don Beyer of Virginia and Dina Titus of Nevada, announced on Wednesday that they plan to introduce a bill that would “explicitly prohibit construction of President Trump’s proposed ‘triumphal arch’ outside Arlington National Cemetery”, they said in a statement.
Given that the Democrats are in the minority, and their Arlington National Cemetery Viewshed Protection Act would need two-thirds majorities in both the House and the Senate to override a veto from Trump, the legislation has little chance to become law, but it does focus resistance to the planned 250-foot knock-off of the Arc de Triomphe the president insists he can build without congressional authorization.
Renderings of the giant monument Trump said last October would be in honor of himself show that it would obstruct the view of the Lincoln Memorial from Arlington National Cemetery.
Beyer, who represents a Northern Virginia district that includes Arlington National Cemetery (ANC), and whose parents, grandparents, and sister are buried there, said:
Arlington National Cemetery is sacred ground, the resting place for some of our nation’s greatest heroes. It is unthinkable that we would desecrate this hallowed space to build a monument to Donald Trump’s ego.
Trump’s vanity project would waste taxpayer money, brazenly violate existing law, and become yet another vehicle for his corruption. The Administration has also given no consideration to potential harmful effects on the region including impacts on air safety and traffic on major roadways.
“Worst of all, Trump is not trying to build this arch to commemorate national heroes, servicemembers who lie in Arlington National Cemetery, or to celebrate freedom. He did not dedicate it to the American people or our country’s greatness. Asked who this arch is for, Trump said, simply: ‘me.’
Representative Titus added: “As President Trump strips away the necessary safety nets from Americans who are struggling to afford their basic needs like groceries and healthcare, he builds his unauthorized, grandiose Triumphal Arch. While destroying historical monuments and artifacts important to our American identity, he is erecting monuments to honor himself.”
Key events
Trump administration re-imposes sanctions on Francesca Albanese, UN expert on human rights of Palestinians under Israeli occupation
The Trump administration re-imposed sanctions on Wednesday against Francesca Albanese, an Italian lawyer who was appointed by UN Human Rights Council to monitor human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.
An entry on the US treasury department’s website was updated on Wednesday to include Albanese, two weeks after a federal judge had temporarily blocked US sanctions against her for criticizing Israel’s war on Gaza, calling it a likely violation of her free speech rights.
Albanese was appointed US special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in 2022, a role filled by an independent expert.
House Democrats to introduce bill to block construction of Trump’s ‘triumphal arch’
Two House Democrats, Don Beyer of Virginia and Dina Titus of Nevada, announced on Wednesday that they plan to introduce a bill that would “explicitly prohibit construction of President Trump’s proposed ‘triumphal arch’ outside Arlington National Cemetery”, they said in a statement.
Given that the Democrats are in the minority, and their Arlington National Cemetery Viewshed Protection Act would need two-thirds majorities in both the House and the Senate to override a veto from Trump, the legislation has little chance to become law, but it does focus resistance to the planned 250-foot knock-off of the Arc de Triomphe the president insists he can build without congressional authorization.
Renderings of the giant monument Trump said last October would be in honor of himself show that it would obstruct the view of the Lincoln Memorial from Arlington National Cemetery.
Beyer, who represents a Northern Virginia district that includes Arlington National Cemetery (ANC), and whose parents, grandparents, and sister are buried there, said:
Arlington National Cemetery is sacred ground, the resting place for some of our nation’s greatest heroes. It is unthinkable that we would desecrate this hallowed space to build a monument to Donald Trump’s ego.
Trump’s vanity project would waste taxpayer money, brazenly violate existing law, and become yet another vehicle for his corruption. The Administration has also given no consideration to potential harmful effects on the region including impacts on air safety and traffic on major roadways.
“Worst of all, Trump is not trying to build this arch to commemorate national heroes, servicemembers who lie in Arlington National Cemetery, or to celebrate freedom. He did not dedicate it to the American people or our country’s greatness. Asked who this arch is for, Trump said, simply: ‘me.’
Representative Titus added: “As President Trump strips away the necessary safety nets from Americans who are struggling to afford their basic needs like groceries and healthcare, he builds his unauthorized, grandiose Triumphal Arch. While destroying historical monuments and artifacts important to our American identity, he is erecting monuments to honor himself.”
Jill Biden tells CBS News she thought Joe Biden was ‘having a stroke’ during 2024 debate
In a new interview with CBS News, Jill Biden, the former first lady, said that she was “frightened” as she watched her husband, then-president Joe Biden, freeze up during his disastrous 2024 debate against Donald Trump.
Asked if she was horrified as she viewed the debate, the former first lady said: “I wasn’t horrified, I was frightened, because I had never, ever seen Joe like that – before or since. Never.”
Pressed by the interviewer, Rita Braver, to explain what happened, Jill Biden said: “I don’t know what happened. I mean when, as I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke’. And it scared me to death.”
The comments were made in an interview that will air in full on Sunday.
The admission from the former first lady prompted immediate reactions from hosts of the podcast Pod Save America, former aides to Barack Obama who called for Joe Biden to immediately drop out of the presidential race in the aftermath of the debate. Biden did, eventually, step aside, but only after sustained pressure from Democrats, in the face of resistance from the president’s closest advisors and family, who insisted that he was fine.
“Those of us who agreed with Jill Biden’s actual assessment (i.e., people who could see and hear) were told by the Bidens and the campaign and the online dead-enders that we were all wildly overreacting and that his debate performance was fine — even good!” Barack Obama’s former speechwriter Jon Favreau wrote.
“I think this is how most voters felt while watching that debate, and why it was obvious that Biden had to drop out of the race,” Favreau’s co-host Tommy Vietor added. “The impression left by Biden’s performance was unfixable, and pretending otherwise was insulting to voters.”
As the MS NOW correspondent Akayla Gardner noted, immediately after the debate, Jill Biden stood on stage with Joe Biden and told him: “you did such a great job; you answered every question, you knew all the facts!”
Aram Roston
The day before Donald Trump’s first term ended in 2021, he inked a pardon for Elliott Broidy, a scandal-plagued Republican fundraiser and former Republican National Committee official who had pleaded guilty three months earlier to trying to illegally lobby Trump and his administration.
Last month, a company headed by Broidy won a $106m contract from the Department of Justice, according to federal contracting records.
Under the contract, awarded by the Bureau of Prisons to LEO Technologies, the company will use artificial intelligence to translate, transcribe and monitor prison phone calls. Broidy lists himself as the founder and CEO of LEO.
In a letter to the Guardian, LEO’s attorneys said Broidy sets the strategy of the company but does not run the day-to-day operations.
The company has previously won awards in state and local prison systems, but the new contract with the Bureau of Prisons marks the first time it is doing business with the federal government. On its website, the Texas-based company says that prisoners’ phone calls “represent the world’s largest concentration of criminally-minded activity – all on recorded lines, all legally accessible”.
Analysis: Trump’s iron grip on the GOP has never been stronger. What about the US?
Callum Jones
Ken Paxton’s clear victory in a Texas runoff – the widest primary defeat of an incumbent US senator in almost five decades – highlights the extraordinary loyalty Trump continues to command over his base. But Democrats are still optimistic that Paxton’s extremism and scandal-riddled past will bring disenchanted Cornyn voters to their camp.
Paxton’s confirmation has bolstered Democratic optimism that the party is in with a shot of winning statewide office in Texas for the first time in more than three decades, with the help of old guard Republicans and Latino voters switching back from the GOP.
Donald Trump indicated on Wednesday that he plans to attend this year’s NBA finals after the New York Knicks clinched their place in the championship series earlier this week.
Trump, a New York native, has counted James Dolan, who owns the Knicks, the NHL’s Rangers and Madison Square Garden, as a friend and a campaign donor in recent years. The president said he had been invited to the finals by Dolan and “numerous” others.
“Jim Dolan’s great guy, [he], as you know owns … Madison Square Garden. He’s having a good year. Boy, what a team. They won all their games. They really have some great players,” the president told reporters during a cabinet meeting. “I think I’ll be going to one of the games, yeah. I was invited by numerous people and Jim – and I think I’ll be going. Great to see. The Knicks have really, they’ve really suffered for years. They’re doing right now very well.”
Joseph Gedeon
Republican leaders rushed to throw their weight behind Ken Paxton following his big primary victory in Texas over the four-term US senator, John Cornyn, amid anxiety within the party over his prospects in November’s general election.
Hours after the race was called, Donald Trump – who backed Paxton, despite intense concern among establishment Republicans – took to Truth Social to attack his Democratic rival in the midterm elections.
James Talarico “may be the worst Texas candidate I have ever seen”, said the US president, claiming the Austin state representative and Democratic nominee for Texas senator was weak on crime and an advocate for open borders.
Reaching for a favored Republican attack line against Talarico, Trump claimed he was a vegan who “dislikes meat, not exactly a good way to be if you’re wanting to win an Election in Texas”.
For the full story, click here:
Michael Sainato
Three Democratic state attorneys general said their deputies were turned away from a roundtable hosted by JD Vance on Tuesday, sowing confusion about what the White House has billed as a bipartisan crackdown on fraud.
After attorneys general – including New York’s Letitia James, California’s Rob Bonta and New Jersey’s Jennifer Davenport – declined a last-minute invitation to participate in the event alongside their Republican counterparts, they said representatives from their offices travelled to Washington to attend, but were shut out.
“My deputy attorney general went to Washington DC today, and unfortunately was not allowed access to the meeting,” James told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday, after Vance convened more than a dozen Republican state attorneys general as part of the White House’s campaign to root out fraud in government programs.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment. In his remarks at the roundtable on Tuesday, Vance, chair of the White House taskforce to eliminate fraud, said representatives from the Democratic state attorneys general offices in Oregon and Connecticut were present.
For the full story, click here:
Former attorney general Pam Bondi diagnosed with cancer
Former attorney general Pam Bondi revealed that she was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
In an interview with CNN, Bondi, who was ousted by Trump in April over her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, shared that she has already undergone surgery and is still recovering and “doing well, though.”
Although Bondi is no longer leading the justice department, Trump has tapped her for another influential role within his administration, Axios reports.
She will now serve on the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, a group helping shape federal policy on artificial intelligence and technology.
“Pam has been an enormously valuable asset to the president’s team, and I’m thrilled for her and for all of us that she’s going to remain involved in confronting some of the most important issues the administration faces,” vice president JD Vance said, according to Axios.
Trump also said he wants to change the the acronym for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to NICE.
Since retaking office last January, ICE raids under the leadership of Trump have disrupted families across the country, led to widespread protests as well as multiple killings including to US citizens in Minnesota.
Yet during the cabinet meeting, Trump said: “I’d love to change the name called NICE,” before falsely claiming that protestors against the often violent violent immigration raids are paid actors.
In response to a question about whether his administration feels any urgency to strike a deal with Iran amid rising US gas prices linked to the US’s war on Iran, Trump dismissed the concern.
Instead, he said: “I’ll tell you, the primary urgency I have, I said this, it wasn’t covered properly, but the primary urgency is that we can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon, but at the same time we have a tremendous amount of oil, gas, coal. We have tremendous amounts of energy, we’re blessed with something very special.”
“Those prices are going to come down, they’re going to come down fast,” he added.
Hegseth on National Guard troops in DC: ‘We’re going to surge this summer’
Trump has called for the numbers of US National Guard troops deployed across Washington DC to not be lowered.
“Keep them, and don’t lower the number, either. Somebody said, ‘Oh, are there less?’ I said, ‘I hope not, but don’t lower the number, if you don’t mind,” Trump said.
In response, defense secretary Pete Hegseth said: “We’re going to surge this summer too.”
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth is now speaking on Iran, saying that the US has imposed a “world-class blockade” on the country.
“They may have missiles, but they can’t build more right now, and they can’t build more drones right now, and they can’t build more ships, and so they came and cried uncle to talk,” Hegseth said.
“We know from intel that their economy is hurting big time, because that is their lifeblood again bringing them to the table, so whether it is through the efforts of your negotiators that ensure that they never have a new weapon, or we have to go back to the War Department to finish the job, we’re prepared to do that,” Hegseth added, addressing Trump.
On oil, interior secretary Doug Burgum said that the US has opened up lease sales on public land for further drilling.
“When we’re drilling on public land, those companies pay a royalty, and that money comes to all of our citizens, and it goes to local school districts, and it goes to states,” Burgum said.
“This is an opportunity for us to bring prosperity and affordability here at home, but also bring peace abroad,” he added.
Climate activists and Indigenous communities have warned that expanding oil drilling on public land could deepen the climate crisis and damage already fragile ecosystems across the US.
Trump: ‘We don’t need oil, we don’t need the straits’
Trump briefly interjected Marco Rubio’s briefing, saying that the US is “producing right now more oil by double than Russia and Saudi Arabia combined.”
He then added: “We don’t need oil, we don’t need the straits, we don’t need anything but we have more oil now being produced by double, by two times than Russia and Saudi Arabia combined.”
Trump had previously threatened Iran, warning that “a whole civilization will die” if Tehran refused to comply with US demands to reopen the Strait of Hormuz – a critical chokepoint for global oil shipments.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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