Alexander Willis

CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten was left floored Monday after new polling revealed that voters have “completely flipped” on Trump’s immigration policy, formally among his best-performing acts.

“These numbers have just completely flipped – this was such a strength for the president, the net approval rating on [the] Trump administration's program to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally, it was plus 18 points at the beginning of his presidency,” Enten said. “That is very, very positive, it was one of the most popular things in the Trump administration's agenda.”

Fast forward to January, however, and Trump’s net approval rating on his deportation policy plummeted from plus 18 points to minus 8, according to new CNN polling.

“That's an over 25-point switcheroo in the negative direction,” Enten exclaimed. “Now the program is way, way underwater at minus 8 points. And among independents, it has gone from plus 18 points in the positive all the way down to negative 20 points!”

The new polling also found that 56% of Americans now say Trump is not prioritizing "dangerous criminals,” as his administration said it would in its mass deportations. That's up from 47% in June, and a “big reason why" the public has shifted so decisively against Trump’s immigration policy, Enten said.

Despite Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s assertion on Sunday that 70% of migrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement have “committed or have charges against them on violent crimes,” her own agency’s data shows that only 47% had any criminal convictions. Other analyses suggest the number of arrested migrants with no criminal history to be even higher.

“The Trump administration and Trump in particular has lost the center of the electorate when it comes to a key component of his administration's agenda, and that is to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally,” Enten said. “They think he's taken the eye off the ball.”

Conservative commentator Ike Wingate took to Newsmax Monday to complain about Saturday Night Live’s latest dig at President Donald Trump, which saw the comedy show ridicule the president for accepting a Nobel Peace Prize awarded to someone else.

“I hope everyone had a nice holiday and got what they wanted for Christmas,” said comedian James Austin-Johnson in his depiction of Trump in SNL’s cold open Saturday, its first episode of the year. “I got what I wanted, my very own 'someone else's' Nobel prize!”

Trump was infamously given a Nobel Peace Prize last week from its original recipient, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Machado, and despite recent reminders from the Norwegian Nobel Committee that a Nobel Peace Prize “cannot be shared or transferred to others.”

While praised by SNL fans, Austin-Johnson’s impersonation of Trump apparently fell flat with Wingate, who decried the performance as “not very funny.”

“It was basically all about Trump, again! SNL should be like TNL, Trump Night Live,” Wingate said.

“The guy who does the impression of Trump... I just don't think he's very good, I think I can think of about 10 other people who can do a better Trump impression or impersonation than he can. They just did so much content focused on Trump, it's tired and the ratings have been cut in half since last year already! It's just not good.”

Newsmax anchor Alex Kraemer concurred with Wingate’s complaints, and – while rolling her eyes – complained of being “tired of seeing the same thing over and over.”

SNL’s Saturday cold opening also saw cast mock Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.

President Donald Trump’s bizarre and threatening letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has sent shockwaves across the globe, prompting analysts, journalists and political commentators to openly question whether the president had suffered “some sort of serious mental breakdown.”

“Whatever people's views on Trump's broader politics, these are the words of a man who is having some sort of serious mental breakdown,” wrote Dan Hodges, a British columnist and political commentator, in a social media post Monday to their more than 200,000 followers.

“This is not simply rhetoric designed to provoke a response. I'm not sure how much longer US lawmakers and the US cabinet can ignore this fact.”

The letter – first obtained by PBS News reporter Nick Schlifrin Sunday night and confirmed authentic by Støre himself – sees Trump proclaim that he “no longer [feels] an obligation to think purely of Peace” after not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, which was instead awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Machado by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Citing his newfound lack of dedication to peace, Trump went on in the letter to renew threats to acquire Greenland, warning that “the world is not secure” unless the Arctic island comes under U.S. control.

“I don’t see how you can be a serious person and not find this extremely worrisome,” wrote Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) in a social media post on X Monday. “He is not stable at all and his reality is warped. He was always a bit like this of course but now he’s [79].”

As the oldest sitting U.S. president in history, Trump has increasingly shown signs of aging, both physically and mentally, multiple outlets have reported. And, with his recent letter – the authenticity of which was questioned by critics due to its “jaw-dropping” content and “unhinged crazy talk” – speculation as to the president’s mental well-being only grew louder.

“This is plainly deranged,” wrote British writer and former lawmaker Daniel Hannan in a social media post on X Monday. “He is a threat to his country and to the world. The Nixon, Clinton and, indeed, Trump impeachments were triggered by less.”

"Trump has completely lost his mind," wrote MS NOW columnist Michael Cohen.

President Donald Trump issued a bizarre and threatening letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, PBS News reported Sunday night — a message in which he stated he “no longer” felt an “obligation to think purely of peace” over what he’s perceived as a snub in not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,” Trump wrote in the letter, the text of which was obtained by PBS.

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which last year issued the award to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Machado, who presented the award to Trump last week during a visit to the White House. Nevertheless, the committee issued a statement this month reiterating that the award “cannot be shared or transferred to others,” a statement that apparently irked the president.

In the letter, Trump also fumed about opposition to his efforts for the United States to acquire Greenland, a territory of Denmark that operates autonomously with its own government.

“Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway?” Trump fumed.

“There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you!”

The Trump administration submitted a seemingly innocuous memo to a federal court this month to legally justify its unprecedented attack and takeover of Venezuela, but when analyzed under scrutiny, the memo could be interpreted as an effort to grossly expand President Donald Trump’s authority to deploy the military to U.S. cities, warned columnist Jason Willick Sunday.

The aforementioned memo was submitted by the Justice Department to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Jan. 5, two days after the U.S. attack on Venezuela, in which the agency argued that the attack was justified under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law that grants the president the authority to arrest and deport foreign nationals.

Trump first invoked the Aliens Enemies Act in March to justify his campaign to arrest and deport migrants to foreign nations, including El Salvador. But the Justice Department’s use of the law to defend the Venezuela strike raised questions for Willick about the agency’s underlying intent.

“Technically, the memo was to inform the court of Maduro’s indictment and the ties it alleges between his regime and Tren de Aragua,” Willick wrote in a column published in The Washington Post Sunday.

“But in context, the message is more pointed: This is now a matter of presidential war policy – involving boots on the ground inside another state’s borders – that judges can’t second guess. If Trump says the U.S. is facing an invasion threat emanating from Venezuela, his judgment ought to control. It could work.”

In recent weeks, Trump has increased threats to deploy the U.S. military to quash opposition to the surge of immigration agents in American cities, and is reportedly considering invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act. And the DOJ’s supplementary memo citing the Alien Enemies Act, Willick warned, could very well be designed to help lay the legal groundwork for such an action.

“The Trump administration is offering a glimpse of how an ambitious administration leverage that asymmetry to its advantage,” Willick wrote. “It’s worth thinking about what more brazen attempts might look like.”

A collection of far-right influencers were widely condemned Sunday after video of them chanting “heil Hitler” while aboard a party bus circulated online, amassing more than 7 million views in a matter of hours.

The influencers included Andrew Tate – a pro-Trump influencer who was arrested on rape and human trafficking charges, though has denied the allegations – Nick Fuentes – an outspoken white supremacist and open admirer of Adolf Hitler – and a handful of several other influencers associated with the far right, all seen singing along to the controversial song “Hiel Hitler” by Ye, formally known as Kanye West.

“A collection of rapists, pedophiles, con artists, racists, antisemites, and meth addicts,” wrote X user “AG,” who writes about politics on their Substack and has amassed more than 214,000 followers. “Perhaps the biggest group of losers I have ever seen in my life.”

In the video, Amrou Fudl – better known by his online alias Myron Gaines – is seen giving the Nazi salute while chanting “heil Hitler” before the group disembarks from the vehicle into a nightclub. Given that Fudl is Sudanese, the irony of Fudl praising Hitler – who openly declared Black people to be racially inferior to whites – was not lost on critics.

“If Hitler came back to see this group of mixed race young gay men chanting his name he would immediately kill himself a second time,” wrote Drew Pavlou, an independent journalist with more than 219,000 followers on X, in a social media post Sunday.

Fuentes in particular has emerged as an increasingly influential figure within Republican circles. He assisted Ye with his 2024 presidential campaign amid the artist’s series of antisemitic statements, and would dine alongside Ye and President Donald Trump in 2022. He was also hosted by a major Texas conservative political action committee in 2023, and last year, was featured on conservative figure Tucker Carlson’s show.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem snapped at CBS News’ Margaret Brennan on Sunday after being asked about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross, the agent who earlier this month fatally shot Minnesota woman Renee Good after she was issued conflicting commands.

“Let me talk to you about the officer, Jonathan Ross,” Brennan said to Noem on CBS News’ “Face the Nation."

“Well, don’t say his name!” Noem snapped back. “For heaven’s sake, we should have people continue to dox law enforcement when they have an 8,000% increase in death threats against them.”

Ross shot Good three times this month in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after her vehicle was surrounded by ICE agents, with some ordering her to “drive away” and others demanding she “get out of her car,” according to eyewitnesses who spoke with Minnesota Public Radio.

Ross had circled her vehicle and at one point positioned himself directly in front of it, a move in direct violation of a leaked DHS memo circulated just weeks prior that instructed ICE agents to “avoid unsafe positioning” when conducting vehicle extractions.

Critics have called for Ross to face murder charges, whereas the Trump administration has fiercely defended his actions, with Noem being among Ross’ chief defenders.

To Noem’s opposition to saying Ross’ name aloud, Brennan noted that “his name is public.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean it should continue to be said,” Noem responded. “He got attacked with a car that was trying to take his life, and then people have attacked him and his family, and they are in jeopardy.”

Conservative radio host Dennis Kneale took to Newsmax Sunday to beg Elon Musk to reverse his permanent ban on the social media platform X – which Musk owns – after having joked on the platform about bombing Iran.

“My X account has been permanently suspended! I'm not allowed to post anything, repost anything, like anything, and they say never again can I open a new account on X, from a guy who wrote a pro-Elon book?” Kneale complained, referencing his 2025 book The Leadership Genius of Elon Musk.

“From a guy who's been a journalist for 30-plus years? What are they thinking? And here's the worst thing of it guys: I have no idea what I did wrong! They don't even specify!”

Upon further reflection, Kneale said he believed it may have been a social media post he published on Thursday that “might have got me in trouble,” a post published as President Donald Trump was weighing whether to authorize strikes on Iran amid protests in the Middle East nation.

“Bob-bob-bob, bob-bob Iran,” read Kneale’s Thursday social media post, referencing the 1965 Beach Boys song “Barbara Ann.” “Bob-Irannnnnn. Leaving out the m to slip past algo censors.”

A Newsmax anchor defended Kneale’s joke about bombing Iran, proclaiming that “everybody knows that song,” and that Kneale’s joke was “just cute.”

Kneale, apparently still hopeful his permanent ban could be reversed, then resorted to groveling to Musk.

“Please, Elon, you gotta help me, baby!” Kneale said. “You are a free-speech champion, and your platform must be doing the same thing to thousands of accounts!”

Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), a Trump-endorsed lawmaker and sitting member of the House Intelligence Committee – one of Congress’ most powerful oversight panels – was widely ridiculed over the weekend after railing against aircraft condensation – a common target of debunked conspiracy theories.

“This is ridiculous,” wrote Steube Saturday in a social media post on X, sharing a video of several condensation trails left by aircrafts.

Conspiracy theories around aircraft condensation, or “contrails,” have existed since the 1990s, and falsely suggest that contrails are actually “chemtrails,” a mix of chemical or biological agents intentionally spread into the earth’s atmosphere for nefarious purposes.

Steube’s social media post was immediately hit with what’s known as a “community note” – a crowd-sourced fact-checking service on X that provides additional context to posts – which clarified that the phenomena seen in the video were, in fact, not “chemtrails,” which the community note dismissed as a “debunked conspiracy theory.”

Given the important role Steube plays as a sitting member of the influential House committee, that frequently receives highly classified briefings on national security threats, helps shape intelligence laws and policy and oversees intelligence agencies like the CIA and FBI, his apparent reference to a decades-long debunked conspiracy theory alarmed some onlookers.

“This man is on the congressional intelligence committee,” wrote Matt Lech, co-host of the “Left Reckoning” podcast, in a social media post on X to his nearly 80,000 followers.

“Florida Congressman shakes fist at sky as he mutters to himself and clicks post,” wrote another, Ben Sharpe, a political strategist and consultant, in a social media post on X to their 6,000 followers.

And Duncan Smith, a frequent sports commentator who’s amassed more than 21,000 followers on X, said he was stunned that someone promoting a long-debunked conspiracy theory had been elected to public office to begin with.

As protests continue to erupt in Minnesota following the ICE killing of Renee Good, Rep. Illhan Omar (D-MN) issued a stark warning Saturday, urging demonstrators not to fall into what she described as a trap set by President Donald Trump.

What appear to be thousands of people took to the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday, a majority of them seemingly protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in the city, though counter protests have also been reported.

However, the ongoing demonstrations, Omar feared, could backfire should they become violent given Trump’s recent escalating threats to invoke an 1807 law that would grant him broad authority to deploy the U.S. military to American cities. The protests are ongoing as of 2:30 p.m. ET, with ABC News reporting of protesters clashing with federal agents.

“We have a president that is itching to have a riot in this city so that he can invoke the Insurrection Act, and that is not something that we want,” Omar said Saturday during an appearance on MS NOW.

“We do not want the U.S. military in American cities and we want to make sure that he is not going to use the anger and frustration that Minnesota residents feel after they watched their neighbor get shot in the face in broad daylight to bring about more pain to our community.”

While the last time the Insurrection Act has been invoked was during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Trump has reportedly been weighing invoking the law in order to quash protests in Minneapolis over his deployment of thousands of federal immigration officials to the city.

CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil, whose “MAGA-approved” takeover of “CBS Evening News” saw ratings for the storied show plummet, was brutally mocked Saturday after a clip of him complaining to steelworkers about how difficult his job was went viral on social media.

“The gift that keeps giving,” wrote journalist Ryan Grim in a social media post on X Saturday, a reference to Dokoupil’s rocky debut headlining CBS News’ flagship program.

Recorded at a steel factory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dokoupil closed out “CBS Evening News” while in front of several steelworkers, who he later offered to swap jobs with.

“I’m gonna talk to these steelworkers – you want to change jobs?” Dokoupil asked one of the workers. “This is not as easy as it looks!”

Considering the high-physical demands of being a steelworker, which was found in a recent study to be among the most stressful occupations, Dokoupil was promptly mocked over his remarks.

“In what world does a privileged news reader making seven figures complain about how ‘hard’ his job is?” wrote Jim Condelles, author and former broadcast journalist, in a social media post on X Saturday.

“CBS News’ new MAGA anchor Tony Dokoupil complains to steelworkers that he has a hard job,” wrote another, Mike Sington, former senior executive at NBC Universal, in a social media post on X Saturday to their more than 146,000 followers. “Dokoupil, who simply reads the news out loud, doesn’t know what a hard job is.”