ICYMI: Weekend Roundup

Trump Led Kennedy Center Cancels Pride Events

Several artists and producers for Tapestry of Pride, which was scheduled to be held at the center from June 5 to 8, told the Associated Press that their events had been quietly canceled or relocated to other venues. In response, DC’s Capital Pride Alliance has disassociated itself from the center.

Trump appointed himself chairman of the Kennedy Center on February 12, 2025, as a new board of his loyal lackeys brought his aggressive right-wing, anti-"woke" movement to destroy Washington's premier arts venue.

The news comes after months of Trump-instituted chaos at the center, including the firing of several board members and installing himself as chair in order to remake the center in his own image, hoping to stage “non-woke” musicals like Cats, honor more conservative stars, and even renovate the building.

Democrat Governor Shocks Everyone by Demanding Action Against Trump

Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker used a fiery speech to call for Democrats to take to the streets “so that Republicans cannot know a moment of peace.” The Illinois governor issued the rallying cry at a dinner event in New Hampshire Sunday eveningthat was packed with Democratic activists, officials, and donors.

“It’s time to fight everywhere and all at once. Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace,” he told the crowd, many of whom jumped to their feet in applause.

The speech also caused a stir in MAGA quarters, with Donald Trump ally Musk leading the charge against his fellow billionaire. “Crazy,” he said in response to the right-wing account ‘End Wokeness,’ which shared a clip of the speech on Twitter.

The 60-year-old scion of the Hyatt hotel group referred to some of his colleagues as “timid” in their approach to politics, and to Trump.

“Fellow Democrats, for far too long we’ve been guilty of listening to a bunch of do-nothing political types who would tell us that America’s house is not on fire, even as the flames are licking their faces,” he said. “Today, as the blaze reaches the rafters, the pundits and politicians—whose simpering timidity served as kindle for the arsonists—urge us now not to reach for a hose.”

“The reckoning is finally here,” he concluded.

Musk Built a "Deportation Machine" Using Stolen Sensitive Personal Data

Apparently, Elon Musk’s DOGE goons are tinkering away on a “master database” to speed up the identification, detention, and deportation of undocumented migrants.

The project is mining sensitive data from across various federal government departments—including the IRS, Social Security Administration, and Health and Human Services—with help from Palantir Technologies, the controversial Silicon Valley data analytics firm co-founded by Trump ally Peter Thiel.

Sources close to the matter describe it as an unprecedented attempt to centralize personal information from multiple agencies into a single source. Officials say the aim is to generate rapid “targeting lists” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. Critics, however, warn it could amount to a civil liberties disaster.

The project, which appears to have sidestepped many of the traditional safeguards, has alarmed Democratic lawmakers and privacy advocates. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) accused DOGE of “rapidly, haphazardly, and unlawfully” combining databases without proper oversight, warning that U.S. citizens’ personal and financial data could be swept up and misused.

The database marks a dramatic escalation in the Trump administration’s migrant crackdown and a potentially dangerous expansion of executive power over Americans’ most sensitive data.

Chuck Schumer Plans on Dying in Congress Along With the American Dream

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has again refused to step down as Democrats call for new leadership and members of his caucus urge him to make way.

“I am staying put, and I’m fighting the fight every day, as is our caucus, in a united and successful way,” he said on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday. “We’re showing America how bad Trump is, and showing that Republicans who embrace Trump do so at their peril.”

Schumer’s remarks came as multiple Senate Democrats have urged the party to embrace younger talent.

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate minority whip who has served in the chamber for 44 years, said in his retirement announcement last week it was time to “pass the torch.” Outgoing Sen. Gary Peters used the same phrase in his retirement post in February.

“I always knew there would come a time to pass the torch to the next generation of public servants and allow them the opportunity to bring fresh energy and ideas to our nation’s capital,” Peters said.

“Sometimes when you’re a leader, you have to do things to avoid a real danger that might come down the curve,” Schumer said last month. “And I did it out of pure conviction as to what a leader should do and what the right thing for America and my party was. People disagree.”

Trump Secretly Gave Memo Telling ICE to Break Into Homes Without Warrants

The Trump administration has secretly allowed immigration agents to invade homes without a warrant for over a month, according to a leaked internal memo.

The memo, obtained by USA Today and issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi March 14, orders Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to break into the homes of suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua without a warrant.

It stated that ICE can curb the “proactive procedures” put in place to obtain a warrant, since they “will not always be realistic or effective in swiftly identifying and removing alien enemies.”

“Given the dynamic nature of enforcement operations, officers in the field are authorized to apprehend aliens upon a reasonable belief that the alien meets all four requirements to be validated as an alien enemy,” it read.

It added: “This authority includes entering an alien enemy’s residence to make an [Alien Enemies Act] apprehension where circumstances render it impracticable to first obtain a signed notice and warrant of apprehension and removal.”

The next day, the administration deported more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, CECOT, including the wrongfully deported Maryland dad Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Trump Embarrasses America at The Pope's Funeral

Thin-skinned, blue suit-clad, smug baby Donald Trump was seated in a prized front-row seat for the funeral of Pope Francis.

The seating location will likely be a source of great satisfaction for the famously thin-skinned president, who mercilessly mocked Joe Biden after he was seated in the 14th row at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in 2022.

Based on precedent, Trump was expected to have been seated in the third row, behind anointed monarchs. In the end, however, he and Melania were seated in the front row, along with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, whose appearance triggered a spontaneous outburst of applause from the assembled crowds.

Donald Trump may have gotten his front row seat at Pope Francis’ funeral, but Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re used the prominence to deliver the homily directly to Trump, critisizing him and calling him out.

“Pope Francis incessantly raised his voice, imploring peace and calling for reason and honest negotiation to find possible solutions,” Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who was a close ally of Francis, said during the homily. “‘Build bridges, not walls,’ was an exhortation he repeated many times.”

Trump and Francis had clashed repeatedly over the years, beginning in early 2016, when Francis criticized Trump’s plan to build a border wall, saying that anyone who thought only of building walls and not bridges “is not Christian.”

Trump responded angrily, calling it “disgraceful” for a religious leader to question his faith and accusing Mexico of manipulating the Pope. The bitter and very public exchange saw Trump label Francis as “a very political person.”

The homily may only have been an implicit rebuke, but after such a public clash over building walls, there can be no mistake that it was a deliberate and pointed one from the Vatican in front of millions watching around the world.

Further embarrassing America and his wife, Trump avoided discussing his wife's low lift birthday dinner aboard Air Force One by quickly pivoting to praising her appearance at the pope’s funeral over the weekend.

The first lady turned 55 on Saturday, the same day the late Pope Francis was laid to rest in Rome. After the funeral, Trump planned to take Melania for “dinner on the Boeing,” he told reporters on Friday. He also admitted he hadn’t “had much time” to buy her a present.

“She’s a great first lady. People loved her, at the funeral," he added immediately, without elaborating on the meal.

As in years past, Trump didn’t wish his wife a happy birthday on social media. Melania marked the occasion with a photo of herself at the funeral with her eyes closed.

Back in the U.S. on Sunday, Trump told reporters, “The funeral was beautiful. It was a beautiful funeral. As funerals go, it was a beautiful funeral.”