The Dictatorship
Democrats’ shutdown wager is paying off. This is how they stick the landing.
Democrats’ latest wager seems to be paying off as they continue to hold firm in a government shutdown as a deliberate act of resistance.
So far, the sticking point for those leading the charge has been our ailing health care systemas Democrats push back against the Trump administration in an effort to maintain pre-existing condition protections, expand Medicare, lower drug costs and stop premiums from shooting up. But at its core, this is and always has been a bigger fight — a refusal to bankroll President Donald Trump’s abuse of power.
At its core, this is and always has been a bigger fight — a refusal to bankroll President Donald Trump’s abuse of power.
And now that Democrats have gained some traction, they can’t afford to miss the opportunity to bring into sharp focus the true challenge of this moment. This government shutdown cannot be just about numbers on a spreadsheet. It must be framed about refusing to fund authoritarianism.
If Trump demands taxpayer dollars to bankroll ICE raids that rip families apart as we saw in ChicagoDemocrats should continue the shutdown. If he tries to funnel money into detention camps like “Alligator Alcatraz,” keep it shut down. If he uses federal budgets to green-light surveillance tools aimed at journalists and activists, keep it shut down. If he seeks to weaponize the Justice Department against critics by pulling funds from its independent functions, keep it shut down. If he attempts to further roll back reproductive health services, LGBTQ+ protections or climate safeguards, keep it shut down.
None of these scenarios are abstractions. They’re happening now. Trump’s administration has moved to bar federal funds from supporting diversity, equity and inclusion programs, restrictions that civil rights groups argue violate free speech and equal protection under the law. Federal grants have been canceled or frozen if they involve what the administration calls “gender ideology.” Abroad, the administration has suspended much of USAID’s democracy and press-freedom workcutting lifelines to independent journalists and activists around the world.
Until now, Democrats have for the most part simply gone along. They’ve extended budgets, passed continuing resolutions, seeming to tell themselves they’re preventing short-term pain as responsible state actors.
But those extensions have been exploited to implement executive orders gutting protections, censoring speech and stripping rights. As Trump is wreaking havoc on American democracy, appropriations become blank checks for Trump’s authoritarian overreach.
Some Democrats argue they should keep the focus on health care because Americans can relate to pocketbook issues they feel in their wallets. I understand this tactic. I’m not arguing Democrats stop talking about health care, but I am saying they should widen the conversation.
Health care is popular — but so are our fundamental rights. In fact, they are inseparable. The challenge, and the necessary ask, is to seize this opportunity to platform what is truly at stake: our basic rights and democracy as we know it.
Because what good is lowering prescription drug prices if women lose the right to control their bodies? What good is capping insulin costs if climate deregulation poisons the air your kids breathe? What good is expanding Medicaid if elections are rigged and voters are purged?
These are the questions Democrats need to be asking now, loudly, while they hold the attention of the American public.
That is also why Democrats must stop Republicans from framing this debate around “health care for illegal immigrants.” They must push to define this shutdown on their own terms, terms that go beyond budget disagreements and financial priorities. They must tell the public: We are not shutting down the government; we are shutting down Trump’s corruption of the government. We are shutting down his abuse of power.
History will not remember who tweaked Medicare copays in the age of Trump. It will remember who had the courage to shut it down to save our democracy.
Republicans never hesitate to weaponize shutdowns to advance their agenda. They did it under Barack Obama, threatened it under Joe Biden. Republicans have shown they are willing to grind norms and procedures to a halt to advance their ideological agenda. They are willing to lie to the American people for power. Democrats need to hold strong and show that they are not going to be the ones who blink. That they are willing to stand firm for their ideological norms of a democracy that protects people’s basic rights. Responsibility now means resistance, not surrender, or even cooperation.
But responsible governance means nothing if the government itself is hijacked for authoritarian ends. In fact, Trump was already given money to spend and his administration is effectively attacking Congress’ power of the purse and its constitutional obligations to appropriate funds. And the majority-conservative Supreme Court goes along with it.
History will not remember who tweaked Medicare copays in the age of Trump. It will remember who had the courage to shut it down to save our democracy from a lawless authoritarian.
Democrats face a choice. They can be the party that manages health care debates while democracy collapses. Or they can be the party that stood up and used this historic shutdown as an opportunity to save the republic.
Ayman Mohyeldin is an BLN anchor who has long reported on the Middle East and the Arab world. He is a host of “The Weekend: Primetime”which airs at 6 p.m. ET Saturdays and Sundays.
The Dictatorship
Lawsuit seeks to stop the UFC fight on the White House South Lawn for Trump’s birthday
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal lawsuit seeks to halt the upcoming UFC fight card on the White House South Lawn in a mixed martial arts show timed for President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and part of the celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The filing Saturday by the Public Integrity Project on behalf of two Virginia residents contends the Trump administration’s authorization of the June 14 event was unlawful. The lawsuit says such approval violated National Park Service regulations prohibiting sporting events on federal parklands, Congress did not consent to the towering arch overlooking the event space and no environmental review was conducted before the construction.
“This is fundamentally a private, commercial, corrupt use of our most sacred national monuments for private gain,” said Brendan Ballou, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “And that is what is motivating this lawsuit.”
The White House said in a statement that the legal challenge was “an obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory” attempt to prevent Trump from hosting the fight and that the event was “no different than the various other White House-hosted events on the South Lawn and properly permitted events on the Ellipse and National Mall throughout the year.”
UFC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Crews are erecting an octagon-shaped cage on the South Lawn. Trump has said the finished UFC project will feature “a 5,000-seat arena right outside the front door of the White House.” Additional large screens broadcasting the fights will be set up in a park at the nearby Ellipse, and the UFC has said it plans to issue as many as 85,000 free tickets to accommodate spectators at both locations.
The octagon and surrounding structures are the latest project in the White House building boom Trump is leading.
In an explosive interview with NBC aired Sunday, President Donald Trump cut the grilling short and left the set after peppering “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker with insults.
“You’re either crooked or you’re stupid,” Trump told Welker, who kept a cool demeanor despite the president’s barrage of disparaging slurs.
Moments before he attacked her, Trump — without providing any evidence — said he believes elections in the U.S. are rigged. Then he lambasted television news networks, singling out NBC, CBS and ABC.
“They’re crooked just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked. And ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked,” Trump said.
“To be fair, I’m not crooked,” Welker shot back. “But let’s continue.”
“Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough,” the president told Welker, who is the second woman and first Black journalist to helm the network’s flagship program.
Trump added, “Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”
It was not the first time Trump has berated a female journalist on the job covering his presidency.
In November 2025, he told Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey to stop talking, saying, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.” One month later, he told ABC’s Rachel Scott she was “the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place.” Last month, he called MS NOW White House reporter Akayla Gardner “a dumb person” for pointing out that the cost of his White House ballroom project had doubled since it was first announced.
He has also repeatedly lashed out at CNN’s Kaitlan Collinscriticizing her for not smiling enough.
The wide-ranging interview, which was taped last week on a farm in Wisconsin, was interrupted by the loud sound of heavy rain on the metal roof of the barn where they met. Welker questioned Trump on his war with Iran, his “anti-weaponization” fund and the upcoming midterm elections.
On his nearly $1.8 billion fund aimed at compensating people who say they were wrongly prosecuted, including Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, Trump said “people were destroyed by dirty cops and by weaponization. Many of those people should be compensated.”
He described the people who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as people who were “being ushered into the building” by law enforcement.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the fund last month and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said last week the administration would not be moving forward with the fundwhich faced bipartisan backlash.
When asked if the administration would pursue other avenues to revive it, Trump said he does not know what will ultimately happen and called Welker and her network “the fake dirty press.”
Despite campaigning on a promise to end foreign wars, Trump denied that he made such statements. He characterized the Iran war, launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28, as necessary to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
When asked about the rising cost of living as a result of the war, specifically gas and fertilizer, Trump chastised Welker.
“Are you ready? Am I allowed to talk? You keep asking questions and you don’t listen to the answers,” he said.
“I love the farmers and the farmers love me,” Trump said, adding that prices will come down after the war.
Welker suggested to her viewers Sunday that she and the president had a cordial conversation Saturday, saying they both “acknowledged the complications” posed by the rain. “He agreed to sit down with me for another ‘Meet the Press’ interview,” she said.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
Iran said visas were denied to key members of its national soccer team ahead of the World Cupwhich a U.S. official insisted was necessary so that Iran does not try to “sneak terrorists into the United States.”
In a post on Xthe Iranian embassy in Turkey said “visas were denied to a large portion of the managerial and executive staff, technical advisers, and others” on its team.
“You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team to its highest level,” the embassy said, accusing the U.S. of the “worst possible form of politically biased interference in sport” and “depriving Iran’s national team of its right to play in the World Cup under normal conditions.”
Iranian officials are accusing the U.S. government of violating FIFA regulations and breaching its obligations as one of the host countries of what is widely regarded to be the biggest sporting event in the world. The diplomatic standoff between the two countries comes just days before the World Cup is set to kick off and more than three months after the U.S. and Israel waged war against Iran.
A Trump administration official who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the subject told MS NOW in a statement that the visas “necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including for athletes and necessary support staff, have been issued.”
The official added, however, “We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretenses.”
The statement from the Iranian Embassy in Turkey came in response to a post on X by U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack praising embassy staff for processing visas for the Iranian national team.
According to The Associated Presssome of the team’s officials have not received visas to enter the U.S., which is co-hosting the World Cup with Mexico and Canada. Games are set to begin Thursday.
Problems with getting U.S. visas had already led Iran to move its World Cup training base from the U.S. to Mexico. But Iran is still listed on the official World Cup schedule to play its first two games in Los Angeles on June 15 against New Zealand, and against Belgium six days later before heading to Seattle to face Egypt.
The Iran Football Federation’s secretary-general and its vice president were among 14 staff and officials without U.S. visas, AP said, citing Iranian state television. The federation reportedly accused the U.S. of “vindictive behavior.”
Emily Hung contributed to this report.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
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