US History/Trump

Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.

2016 election

In the primary stages of the election process Trump faced opposition from the majority of the Republican party establishment.

Those hostilities remain.

Trump’s bitter rival Paul Ryan used allegations concerning Trump’s ties with Russia to attack him last week. He said that Trump “will learn to appreciate” the intelligence community after the president-elect accused the FBI and CIA of leaking documents.

Ryan also poured cold water on Trump’s plans for a deportation force, saying that there will be no one “knocking on your door this year”.

Allegations about Trump’s personal life and connections to Russia emerged on Wednesday of last week. That would have been an ideal time for Republican opponents to make a move, but most of the party in congress issued statements backing Trump.

Yet tensions emerged again the next day when Trump’s choice for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, faced hostile questioning at a senate hearing into his nomination.

Mark Rubio, who challenged Trump at the primary stages of the election, grilled Tillerson about his ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Covid19

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Starting in January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global health emergency; they declared the end of the emergency in May 2023.

The severity of COVID‑19 varies. The disease may take a mild course with few or no symptoms, resembling other common upper respiratory diseases such as the common cold. In 3–4% of cases (7.4% for those over age 65) symptoms are severe enough to cause hospitalisation. Mild cases typically recover within two weeks, while those with severe or critical diseases may take three to six weeks to recover. Among those who have died, the time from symptom onset to death has ranged from two to eight weeks. The Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità reported that the median time between the onset of symptoms and death was twelve days, with seven being hospitalised. However, people transferred to an ICU had a median time of ten days between hospitalisation and death. Abnormal sodium levels during hospitalisation with COVID-19 are associated with poor prognoses: high sodium with a greater risk of death, and low sodium with an increased chance of needing ventilator support. Prolonged prothrombin time and elevated C-reactive protein levels on admission to the hospital are associated with severe course of COVID‑19 and with a transfer to ICU.

Coronazis

Past research shows that the increase in conspiracy theories during a pandemic is not a new phenomenon: Especially in times of crises, conspiracy thinking increases substantially (e.g., Van Prooijen & Douglas, 2017). For virtually all major events over the past decades, official versions of why these came about were confronted with various conspiracy allegations that proposed an explanation involving plots hatched in secret by powerful agents instead. This is also true for major outbreaks of diseases. A misinformation campaign run by the Soviet Committee for State Security claimed HIV to be a biological weapon developed by the United States (Geissler & Sprinkle, 2013), and the widespread belief that AIDS is a conspiracy to kill Black people has a direct impact on prevention behavior (e.g., using condoms or pre-exposure prophylaxis; e.g., Bogart & Thorburn, 2005; Bogart et al., 2010). During the Zika virus outbreak of 2015–2016, there were speculations that the virus was caused by genetically modified mosquitoes or used by the governments to kill people on purpose (e.g., Klofstad et al., 2019).

Events of such magnitude beg an explanation of comparable magnitude (Leman & Cinnirella, 2007). Providing explanations is psychologically advantageous for several reasons, with one sticking out in the previous literature: granting an illusion of control. Considering this reasoning, it is not surprising that a lack of control has been identified as one of the key drivers of conspiracy beliefs. When people are not able to gain control in the real world, they compensate for this lack by perceiving patterns—even if they are an illusion (e.g., Douglas et al., 2017). The current coronavirus crisis is an almost ideal breeding ground for conspiracy thinking (Van Bavel et al., 2020), as there is no easily comprehensible mechanistic explanation of the disease, it is an event of massive scale, it affects people’s life globally and leaves them with lots of uncertainty.

Such conspiracy beliefs might potentially even be palliative in giving people back at least a sense of control. Nevertheless, so we argue, there are real dangers in such conspiracy theories as they might motivate problematic behavior in the current crisis. During the coronavirus pandemic, many scientists, specifically epidemiologists and physicians, have been the most articulate voices in making recommendations on how to “flatten the curve” and slow down the infections. Conspiracy mentality, however, a generalized belief that powerful forces operate in secret to rule the world (Imhoff & Bruder, 2014), has been connected to distrust in both science in general (as it is perceived as high power; Imhoff et al., 2018) and the biomedical system more specifically (for the same reason; Galliford & Furnham, 2017; Lamberty & Imhoff, 2018; Oliver & Wood, 2014). Thus, people who endorse a conspiracy worldview are particularly unlikely to trust the expert recommendations aimed at reducing infection rates.

2020 election

Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and California junior senator Kamala Harris defeated the incumbent Republican president Donald Trump and vice president Mike Pence. The election saw the highest voter turnout by percentage since 1900. Biden received more than 81 million votes, the most votes ever cast for a presidential candidate in U.S. history.

January 6

On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup, two months after his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. They sought to keep him in power by preventing a joint session of Congress from counting the Electoral College votes to formalize the victory of then president-elect Joe Biden. The attack was unsuccessful in preventing the certification of the election results. According to the bipartisan House select committee that investigated the incident, the attack was the culmination of a plan by Trump to overturn the election. Within 36 hours, five people died: one was shot by the Capitol Police, another died of a drug overdose, and three died of natural causes, including a police officer who died of a stroke a day after being assaulted by rioters and collapsing at the Capitol. Many people were injured, including 174 police officers. Four officers who responded to the attack died by suicide within seven months. Damage caused by attackers exceeded $2.7 million. It is the only attempted coup d'état directed towards the Federal government in the history of the United States, and has often been compared to the coup d'état in Ten Days that Shook the World.

The January 6 people claimed connection to QAnon, a far-right American political conspiracy theory and political movement that originated in 2017. QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals known as "Q". Those claims have been relayed and developed by online communities and influencers. Their core belief is that a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic child molesters in league with the deep state is operating a global child sex trafficking ring and that Donald Trump is secretly leading the fight against them. QAnon has direct roots in Pizzagate, another conspiracy theory that appeared on the Internet one year earlier, but also incorporates elements of many different conspiracy theories and unifies them into a larger interconnected theory. QAnon has been described as a cult.

The boogaloo movement, whose adherents are often referred to as boogaloo boys or boogaloo bois, is a loosely organized far-right anti-government extremist movement in the United States. It has also been described as a militia. Adherents say they are preparing for, or seek to incite, a second American Civil War or second American Revolution which they call "the boogaloo" or "the boog". Supporters of the boogaloo movement participated in the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack. Some wore emblematic gear or symbols. A follower said several groups under his command helped storm the Capitol, taking the opportunity to strike against the federal government. Rioters also echoed boogaloo themes and used related terminology to express their readiness for "the boogaloo". Steven Daniel Thurlow, 50, of St. Clair Shores, Michigan, a Boogaloo member who wore military-style gear with a "Boogaloo" patch before participating in the January 6 attack on the Capitol, pleaded guilty in May 2022 to storming the Capitol.

A faction called the "Last Sons of Liberty" was specifically involved, with the group claiming participation on social media. Multiple members of the group were arrested.

2024 elections

Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2024. The Republican Party's ticket—Donald Trump, who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021, and JD Vance, the junior U.S. senator from Ohio—defeated the Democratic Party's ticket—Kamala Harris, the incumbent U.S. vice president, and Tim Walz, the incumbent governor of Minnesota.

What is a woman?

A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. The opposite of transgender is cisgender, which describes persons whose gender identity matches their assigned sex. Transgender does not have a universally accepted definition, including among researchers; it can function as an umbrella term. The definition given above includes binary trans men and trans women and may also include people who are non-binary or genderqueer.

What Is a Woman? is a 2022 American documentary film about gender and transgender issues, directed by Justin Folk and presented by conservative political commentator Matt Walsh. It was released by conservative website The Daily Wire. In it, Walsh asks various people "What is a woman?" with the goal of showing them that their definition of womanhood is circular. Walsh said he made it in opposition to gender ideology. It is described in many sources as anti-trans or transphobic. It was released to subscribers of The Daily Wire on June 1, 2022, coinciding with the start of Pride Month.

We are Charlie Kirk

Charles James Kirk (October 14, 1993 – September 10, 2025) was an American right-wing political activist, entrepreneur, and media personality. He co‑founded the conservative student organization Turning Point USA (TPUSA) in 2012 and served as its executive director until his assassination in 2025. A key ally of Donald Trump, he became one of the most prominent voices of the MAGA movement within the Republican Party, publishing several books and hosting The Charlie Kirk Show.

Tennessee lawmakers passed the so-called “Charlie Kirk Act” on Wednesday (15 April), a sweeping bill that could see students and faculty disciplined, or even expelled, for protesting speakers on campus over anti-LGBTQ+ views.

The legislation would bar Tennessee colleges and universities from restricting invited speakers based on their views, explicitly protecting “opposition to abortion, homosexuality, or transgender behaviour”.

The bill is now headed to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk for signature. Once signed, the policies outlined in the bill will take effect immediately; the rest of the bill’s provisions will take effect on 1 July.

State of the Union address

President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, delivered on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, as transcribed by The Associated Press:

___

Speaker Johnson, Vice President Vance, first lady of the United States, second lady of the United States, members of Congress and my fellow Americans, our nation is back: Bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before.

Less than five months from now, our country will celebrate an epic milestone in American history, the 250th anniversary of our glorious American independence. This July 4th, we will mark two and a half centuries of liberty and triumph, progress and freedom in the most incredible and exceptional nation ever to exist on the face of the earth. And we’ve seen nothing yet. We’re going to do better and better and better. This is the golden age of America.

When I spoke in this chamber 12 months ago, I had just inherited a nation in crisis, with a stagnant economy, inflation at record levels, a wide-open border, horrendous recruitment for military and police, rampant crime at home and wars and chaos all over the world. But tonight, after just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before and a turnaround for the ages. It is, indeed, a turnaround for the ages. And we will never go back to where we were just a very short time ago. We’re not going back.

Epstein

Jeffrey Edward Epstein (January 20, 1953 – August 10, 2019) was an American financier and child sex offender. He began his career as a math teacher at the Dalton School, before entering the banking and finance sector. Over several decades, he made much of his fortune providing tax and estate services to billionaires, and cultivated an elite social circle of prominent individuals. In 2008, he was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution, and was indicted in 2019 for sex trafficking minors in the 2000s. He died in custody awaiting his trial; his death was ruled a suicide.

Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of the United States, developed a social and professional relationship with financier and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that began in the late 1980s and continued into at least the early 2000s. During Trump's prior careers as a businessman and media personality before entering politics in 2015, he and Epstein visited each other's real estate properties regularly. Trump and Epstein socialized frequently throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, including attending parties at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and Epstein's residence. Flight logs released during an associate's trial confirm that Trump flew on Epstein's private jet multiple times in the 1990s, and according to Epstein, Trump first had sex with his future wife Melania Knauss in his private jet. Trump had a falling out with Epstein around 2004 and ceased contact. After Epstein was said to have sexually harassed a teenage daughter of another Mar-a-Lago member in 2007, Trump banned him from the club. Epstein said, in a 2019 email attributed by NBC News and Axios to the event, that he had never been a member of the club.

From Russia with Love

From Hungary to Russia, authoritarian regimes have made silencing independent media one of their defining moves. Sometimes outright censorship isn’t even required to achieve this goal. In the United States, we have seen the administration apply various forms of pressure on news outlets in the year since Trump returned to office. One of our great disappointments is how quickly some of the most storied US media organizations have folded when faced with the mere specter of hostility from the administration – long before their hand was forced.

While private news organizations can choose how to respond to this government’s threats, insults and lawsuits, public media has been powerless to stop the defunding of federally supported television and radio. This has been devastating for local and rural communities, who stand to lose not only their primary source of local news and cultural programming, but health and public safety information, including emergency alerts

Forever War

Since 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel have been engaged in a war with Iran and its regional allies. The conflict began when the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, targeting military and government sites and assassinating several Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The surprise attacks were launched during negotiations between Iran and the US regarding Iran's nuclear program. Iran responded with missile and drone strikes on Israel, US bases, and US-allied Arab countries in West Asia; and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global trade. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait responded with their own strikes on Iran and its regional allies.

Juvenile war hype': Halo voice actor wants out of Trump administration hype video

Hollywood liberals inadvertently lend their talents to clip comps 'supporting' the Iran war. Actors are getting a taste of the social media game as the White House is dropping hype videos about its foreign policy.

After the administration released a video that included clips from "Top Gun," "Iron Man," "Breaking Bad," "Deadpool," and "Gladiator," actors are demanding the content be taken down.

The Gaza genocide

The Gaza "genocide" is the ongoing, intentional, and systematic destruction of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip carried out by Israel during the Gaza war. It encompasses so called mass killings, deliberate starvation, infliction of serious bodily and mental harm, and prevention of births. Other acts include rumors of blockading, destroying civilian infrastructure, destroying healthcare facilities, killing healthcare workers and aid-seekers, causing mass forced displacement, committing sexual violence, and destroying educational, religious, and cultural sites. The "genocide" has been recognised by a United Nations special committee and commission of inquiry, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, multiple human rights groups, numerous genocide studies and international law scholars, and other experts.